The Rising Of The Anomaly - Chapter 154

“This is…a lot to take in.”

“Yeah, I know,” I replied with a sigh.

I’d just finished telling her about my Tier One abilities, including the new upgrade to it, and the events I went through today, though I excluded the bombing, instead describing the Crocsnek attack as more destructive than it had actually been, to explain the additional casualties.

And of course, as a result of explaining that, I also answered her most pressing question; what causes people to seemingly randomly fall into vegetative states. Now she knows.

“So, every time that has happened, it’s because you went back in time after they died,” She remarked, before adding with a sigh, “And do you have any idea how many such victims there are after everything that you told me happened today?”

“More than I thought…initially, I just assumed that the influx of Mutants in the training hall was some malfunction, so I didn’t even consider the fact that there might have been more Mutants pouring in from other teleportation platforms,” I admitted with a grimace.

“Fair enough, I suppose…by your demeanor, I’m guessing that you’re not going back in time to try and stop the attack on the south base?” She inquired with a raised eyebrow.

“No, I’m not, for two reasons. The first being that I’ve had enough, I don’t care what else happens today, I’m fucking done. And the second reason is that there’d be no point…I have no idea when Aku infiltrated the base, and that aside, everyone there is probably dead by now, so if I do go back, they’ll all be in vegetative states. Given how far the base is from here, we have no way of stopping Aku completely…preventing him from overrunning the Sanctuary with Mutants is the best we can do, and we’ve done that,” I replied with a sigh.

“Wait, the first time around that you went through today, the Mutants didn’t overrun the Sanctuary, did they?” She asked me.

“Oh, right, good point…hm, or maybe not, Instructor Satou was quick to shut off the teleportation platforms, and we usually take our I-Watches off during training sessions to avoid damaging them, and Instructor Satou usually just sleeps, so it’s possible that we were simply oblivious to what was happening, and I went back in time pretty much the instant that the session ended, so yeah…,” I trailed off.

“Hm, I see…listen, Kilzachs, this might sound like I’m blaming you, but that isn’t it…see, I’m concerned about that time travel power of yours, and I-,” She began with a frown.

“Yeah, I think I know what you’re going to say…and don’t worry, after all the shit that’s happened today, I won’t be using this power except as an absolute last resort, it’s way too risky,” I sighed in response.

“Good, see that you don’t use it so carelessly again. But has anything like this happened before, things going so wrong after going back in time?” She inquired curiously.

“Well…things have often gone differently after going back in time, but never like this. Maybe the additional Save points are resulting in greater potential for variation or something? Either way, I’m not taking the risk of experimenting like this again…though for all I know, there’s every possibility that there’s more in store for today,” I groaned, rubbing my head in frustration.

My body still has plenty of stamina, but my mind is spent, I’m completely worn out mentally and emotionally, I can’t take any more. My XFE is at just eight percent right now, so I might not even be physically equipped to handle something else…

“Hm…well, you did say that you experienced hints of the events that happened right? The lights flickering was the hint for the blackout, the rumbling was the hint for the Mutant attack, and the seemingly minor teleportation platform malfunction was the hint for what went wrong in that south base. What are events like those usually called in time travel movies and stuff, I forgot the word…oh, that’s right, now I remember, singularities! Still, I have to wonder…did that Wight, Aku, fail the first time around somehow? But how?” Mused Director Silva, scrunching up her eyebrows.

“Oh, I just remembered! The first time around, a few minutes after Instructor Satou shut down the platforms and reported the incident, he got a notice that was sent out to all X-Warriors from you, saying that the system that runs the teleportation platforms was malfunctioning, and to not use any of the platforms until further notice…I’m guessing you must have coincidentally noticed and realized what was happening in time to shut off the teleportation platform before it was too late…maybe?” I suggested, after mulling it over.

“I suppose that’s possible…,” She responded uncertainly.

“Wait, that raises another question…the X-Warriors manning that southern base, how did they survive? When I went back in time, the most likely scenario would have been all of them falling into vegetative states…,” I frowned as I tried to figure it out.

“Well, it’s possible that the survivors had barricaded themselves in some of the rooms or something like that…come to think of it, the ones that were reported to have suddenly collapsed this morning were all assigned to areas close to the entrance of the base,” She realized, before shaking her head, “I don’t think there’s any point in speculating…we’ve established that it wasn’t impossible for them to have survived, but there’s no way for us to find out the exact, precise answer, so there’s no point attempting to do so.”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right. But we’ve now got a huge problem on our hands…Aku could easily keep taking down our outside bases one by one like this, and even if we know it’s coming, we won’t be able to stop him. The only ones that’d even stand a chance against him are other Anomalies, but since his powers affect himself, he can still use his invisibility against them, and considering the fact that we’ve only got five Anomalies while the Wights have over twenty, it’s way too risky,” I surmised grimly.

“I don’t think he’s that unstoppable…for one thing, I doubt he can infiltrate the Sanctuary again, he’s unlikely to be able to get past the vacuum layer we’ve installed in the exterior,” She responded.

“How can you be so sure?” I inquired skeptically.

“Because of your last encounter with him…you told me that he said he planned to leave before the vacuum layer was fully implemented, that means he saw it as a threat. So even when he’s intangible, he’s not untouchable…and ever since his first attack along with those other Wights, I’ve greenlit multiple projects for the sake of defeating him. Most of them turned out to be failures, but there was one that I scrapped in favor of the vacuum layer you suggested, because that scrapped method have been too effective, dangerously so,” She answered.

“More effective than the vacuum layer?” I responded, intrigued.

“Yeah, a lot more…it’s so dangerous that I decided against implementing it in the Sanctuary, but…it has been implemented in all the outside bases, though only to be used in emergencies. In other words, it’s currently inactive in all the bases, but could easily be activated with a flip of a switch, metaphorically speaking. Specifically, this method is called Disintegration Field, it destroys anything that comes into contact with it,” She remarked with a hesitant grimace on her face…she’s clearly reluctant to use this method.

“Disintegration, huh? Sure that’ll work against intangibility?” I responded doubtfully.

“Oh, I’m sure. See, while creating this barrier, we tested its effectiveness by activating it around a mouse in a cage…and within less than half a minute, the mouse suffocated and died. In other words…”

“…the barrier disintegrated any incoming oxygen, meaning that no air was getting through!” I surmised in realization.

“Exactly! Intangible or not, I doubt Aku actually disappears completely, the more likely explanation is that his molecules simply switch states from solid to gas or something like that, and as the experiment proved, this barrier disintegrates any gas that comes into contact with it too,” She concluded.

“Wait, then won’t the people stationed inside the barriers, I don’t know, suffocate in no time?” I pointed out.

“Nope! Once we realized how the barrier works, I asked the team to make it manifest in the form of net-like dome shape, with plenty of airholes. Of course, the gaps are barely wide enough to even poke a pencil through, so they can’t be taken advantage of,” She explained, before turning her attention back to her laptop, “The biggest risk of the Disintegration Barrier is that it’s hardly perceptible, it’s practically invisible unless you really focus, and even then it’s barely as noticeable as a mirage…in other words, the smallest amount of carelessness could result in our own side getting severely injured or even killed by the barrier. Unfortunately, we have to take that risk, all things considered.”

“Well, yeah, that risk is preferable to the risk of letting our bases get destroyed by a single Wight-…actually, scratch that, Aku can cast the effects of his powers on others, that’s how so many Wights infiltrated last time in the first place. His abilities are a seriously major threat, let’s just hope that there aren’t any other Wights with such troublesome abilities. I’d much rather take on a Wight with super powerful manifestations than one with a complex Anomaly ability,” I muttered with a frown.

“That’s a little ironic, coming from you.”

“Not really, it’s because of what I am that I know better than most how dangerous Anomalies can be…heh, if someone else had ended up with these powers instead of me, their very existence would bother the hell out of me,” I laughed wistfully.

“Your sense of self-awareness is impressive, I have to say…,” She responded with a wry smile, before clearing her throat and recording a voice message, “To all outside bases, this is an emergency notice. Activate the Disintegration Fields immediately, one of our bases has been compromised, we cannot afford to have another one fall to the enemy. Once activated, follow the safety guidelines in relation to this barrier. That is all.”

“That should prevent any more bases from falling…but I’m guessing the one that just fell is going to take a while to recover and renovate, huh?”

“Hm? Oh, no, not at all…the moment I lost contact with everyone in that base, I activated the self-destruction sequence,” She responded with a shrug.

“Oh, I see, the self destruct-…wait, what!?” I exclaimed in surprise.

“I mean, there must have been a ton of Mutants there, and Aku himself, of course…with any luck, that was enough to destroy him, but…,” She trailed off.

“…I can’t imagine it being that easy,” I completed, guessing what she was about to say.

It would be super convenient if that really had killed him, but somehow, I doubt that’s the case…

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