New Eden: Live to Play, Play to Live

In the meantime, Alex was grinning to himself, imagining the man's reaction when he found out what he had done.

'I wonder what silly scenario his mind will try telling itself as his mind fails to understand how I pierced his engine bloc. He'll probably try imagining a new kind of weapon. Something top-secret. Heh he.'

Of course, it was nothing so elaborate. Alexander really had just punched a hole into the engine block.

Considering the power and speed he could attain using his demon form's strength, it was pretty easy.

The mercenaries in the back of the armoured truck with him couldn't help but feel weirded out by his wide grin. He almost looked like a maniac, imagining his next evil ploy.

Alexander eventually refocused on the situation at hand.

He was annoyed that he now had to head to Jack's compound, and the man would assuredly ask for a debrief on what happened, and what led to Alex calling him. It was a massive waste of time.

But he could hardly deny the old man this courtesy after calling in for his help. It was the least he could do.

But it put a massive setback on his plans to check out all the mana signatures he could find in the immediate region.

He had initially thought this would be a breeze. He would simply drop by each one of their homes and quickly explain that there was a place where they could go to get checked out and registered.

He had already planned on dumping them all on Jack's plate and making them his problem while he was gone. But now he would have to loop Jack into his plan before leaving, and there was a chance the old man would refuse.

"Why does everything always go sideways?" he muttered.

"Huh?" the mercenary to his left asked, turning to look at him.

Alex looked at him, realizing he had said that out loud, and shook his head.

"Nothing. Talking to myself. Keep your eyes on him," Alex said, pointing at the still-unconscious young man.

Alex could tell the man wasn't about to wake up anytime soon, but it was better to stay vigilant than get caught with their pants down.

The ride was brief, as the trucks practically plowed their way through traffic, with emergency vehicle lights turned on when needed, to get cars to move out of their way. Alex wondered how Jack had gotten permission to use those, but he hardly cared.

They arrived at the compound in less than ten minutes. Alex felt the trucks descend into the underground parking lot and felt like passing through jello as they crossed into the shielded area.

When the vehicles came to a stop and the doors to the armoured truck opened, Alex jumped out first, falling face-to-face with an angry old man.

"Young man, what do you think you are doing? Going around and pulling awakened people out of hiding… Are you trying to spook them? What was your big plan? Alert them all to our presence and dump them onto my lap?" Jack growled, arms crossed behind his back.

"Uh… Something like that?" Alex replied, scratching the back of his head.

'Hah… Caught red-handed…'

Jack sighed, angry that Alex had tried to do something stupid without first asking him.

"We already had a plan to get the awakened people to contact us, Alexander. You might have just scared them away… Would it hurt you to ask other's opinions before doing some dumb shit sometimes?" Jack admonished him, as he rubbed his eyes tiredly.

"Sorry, I guess? Listen, I was just trying to save us some time. Since David, Kary, and I are leaving soon, you will lose most of your leverage. Violette will come, too, and I'm sure your grandson will want to join in. Who will be left that will be strong enough to keep these people in check?" Alex asked, trying to justify himself.

Jack shook his head disappointingly.

"Jonathan will not be accompanying you around the world. I've already talked him out of it. As for strength, I think you underestimate the progress the others had in your absence.

"I may not be as strong as you, but I sure as hell can kick most of these people's asses to the curb. How about you have faith in your partners and allies, huh?" Jack said, looking at him with expectation.

Alex shrugged.

"It's not that I don't trust that you've become stronger, Jack. Or anyone else, for that matter. But that is the problem in itself. If everyone has progressed even fifty percent as fast as you did, how do you expect to catch them?

"Soon enough, with the game no longer accessible, the rotten apples will start acting out in the real world. What will you do if they haven't been rooted out by then? You want to appear as the face of good. But what will you do when forced into a corner and someone needs to die to save many others?"

Jack looked at Alex with narrowed eyes.

The young man wasn't wrong. He had already imagined this worst-case scenario.

Many times, actually.

But that didn't detract from his point, either.

"We'll cross that bridge when we get there, won't we? Why are you trying to rush things ahead of time? How little faith do you have in humanity that you assume there will be more rotten apples than good ones?" Jack asked him.

Alex huffed.

"Have you watched the news in the last decade? I refuse to believe you are naïve enough to think humanity is good. Not you."

Jack sighed.

"You are right. I know that humanity has a poor track record of finding itself in power so suddenly. But I also refuse to believe that everyone is fundamentally bad. Shouldn't we keep hope in a situation that all but spells disaster?"

Alex shook his head no.

"I don't believe we should. I may sound pessimistic when I say this, but I think we should assume everyone is a threat until proven otherwise. In the long run, it will save lives…"

Jack stared at him for a while, trying to understand where this heavy mind came from. Alex had been much more positive before his incident. What had caused him to see the bad in people first?

Why would he go from being a person who wanted to see the good in everyone to a person who assumed the bad would take hold first?

But it wasn't a question for the now.

"We'll have this discussion later, in a more… private environment. For now, how about you tell me about these people you are bringing me?" Jack asked, looking at the family disembarking the two SUVs.

"Sure, let's do that," Alex said, shrugging.

"Randall West, his wife Claire, his daughter Annie, and his son Daniel. I know Randall is awakened, and the others are still regular people. I also know that Randall is most likely a druid, and a powerful one at that.

"I was going to scout them out, and maybe take him in, when two other awakened people attacked him. I killed one of them before he could hurt the child, but I managed to take the second one alive," Alex explained.

Jack looked at the young man being unloaded on a stretcher, his back curved inward, and he frowned.

"Only barely alive, I see. Restraint isn't your strong suit. You should assume that even if they are awakened, people can't take full power strikes from you. Because they can't…" Jack admonished.

"Eh, whatever. He was trying to kill them, and I chose not to go easy on him. His life or theirs kind of deal. But, regardless, I think he has info on his boss."

Jack's eyebrow raised.

"Boss? You don't think he was working for himself?"

"Hell no. I know for a fact he wasn't alone, either. As I apprehended him, I spotted two other awakened people leaving the area. I marked their car so I could find them later. But I can assure you he didn't work alone, especially not after what Randall told me when I tried talking to him. Someone was after him and his powers."

Jack frowned.

'Is there another person trying to amass awakened people? Who the hell would know to do this?' he mused.

"In any case, you should put him in a mana-locking cell and interrogate him. I don't know how well the cell will work on him, but I do know it has to be done. If I'm right, another power has made its way into town, and they are hidden from us—from me, even."

This was a worrying declaration. If Montreal suddenly became a turf war for two different powers amassing awakened people, there would assuredly be casualties.

And that was the last thing Jack wanted to see. Innocents dying for something they wouldn't even understand…

"Alright, I'll get to it. But Alex. Don't go hunting until we know more. I don't want you to kick a hornet's nest inadvertently. Think of the civilians, please," Jack pleaded.

Alex sighed, but nodded.

"Fine. But hurry up and find out who he's working for. Because I'm sure it won't be the last we see of them."