(Three days before the attack on East High)
Far away from New Chicago, in an unknown location that had somehow survived the harsh environment and radiation exposure for years, an underground facility was operating as usual. The facility seemed to have been carved from the very earth that surrounded it, seemingly one with the ground itself. Inside, a huge, dark chamber could be found. In the middle of this chamber, five holographic figures could be seen staring at each other and a the only physically present figure inside the chamber; it was obvious that whatever this meeting was, it had only just started.
The holographic figures were arranged in a circular shape, making it easy for them to look at each other through the projection. All of them wore the same attire, a long, oversized black hooded robe that extended around their bodies and reached the ground. Inside the robe, their garments seemed ragged and layered, with white layers of cloth, giving them the appearance of occult figures.
Their faces were completely concealed beneath the hood of their robes, with their faces were covered with a dark mask, making it seemed that there was only darkness were faces should be. All of their masks had a glowing circular sigil across the center of the mask. It was a bright ring intersected horizontally by a thin, blade-like line, making the shape looked like an eclipse being cut in half. If one looked closely, a band with a Roman numeral could be seen wrapped around their left arm.
They were known as the Elders withing their organization.
"What do you all make of the situation?" said the elder with the 'III' symbol. "The number of excursions from the cities keeps increasing each month, and it seems all the Mayors intent to capitalize on it for their campaigns" he continued.
"We have been redirecting the flow of resources sent from the capital to our controlled lands" the figure with the 'VI' symbol responded with a feminine voice. "and the amount of veiled creatures seems to be increasing too. It is only a matter of time before either one of them to find our settlements."
"We cannot afford that" she continued.
The elders nodded at that. All of them, except the one with the 'I' symbol, who seemed to just stare at them without saying anything.
A few seconds of silence follow her sentence.
"This is something we have been dealing with for years, ever since we were exiled," the silence was broken by none other than the first elder, who seemed to be the leader of the organization. "Our situation is not new, and we already have countermeasures for both scenarios…use them." He said with a stern raspy voice.
All of them vowed to him when he concluded his sentence. The symbol on their arms was not merely for show, it represented the hierarchy within the elders. It was clear that Number 'I' was respected and fear among them, as none of them complain or questioned him.
"Let's get to the point of this meeting," he said as his head turn to look at the elder that wore the symbol 'IV' around his arm, "Fourth elder, why have you called for this meeting?"
The fourth elder's back stiffened at being addressed by the first. Taking an unnoticeable breath, he answered, "Three weeks ago, a Voranth made contact with the east branch."
All of them straightened and perked up upon hearing him.
They all knew what the Voranths were; they were the intelligent creatures that passed through the veil during the second wave of invasions. Each one of them was a force to be reckoned with; they were all humanoid in shape, very intelligent, and capable of human speech. The only way to differentiate one from a human being was that each one of them, while humanoid in overall shape, had physical attributes that did not match those of a normal human.
All of them were immensely strong, with a strength usually around the fourth and fifth rank.
"What!?" The fifth elder asked, clearly a woman with her feminine physique and voice.
"Why is this the first time we're hearing of this? Why did you keep this matter hidden from us? Do you know what happens when a Voranth makes contact?" She continued as she started firing questions in rapid succession. Based on the panic in her voice, it was clear she knew the answer to her questions.
Every Elder wanted to ask similar questions; nobody understood why the fourth Elder had kept this information hidden for this long. It was only because the first Elder had raised his hand towards the fifth in a motion that was clearly meant to silence her that they too stood silent.
The fifth Elder simply went silent at that.
"Why did you keep this hidden from us, Fourth Elder?" He asked.
"I apologize for not informing all of you, but it was due to the nature of its request that I needed to confirm the validity of the information it provided us first before presenting to the committee." The fourth elder explained.
"What was its request? And what information took you three weeks to confirm before informing us?" the first elder asked.
"Four weeks ago, an entity unnaturally crossed the veil…creating an unnatural imbalance at the seam that could eventually affect both our realities." The fourth elder immediately answered. "It requested information on the educational facilities and training grounds of the nearest city, New Chicago."
"It seems they intend to capture this entity before it can cause any tangible harm to any reality." He continued after a brief pause to let the other digest the information.