Athanasia: My Hacker System

"We can’t risk someone stumbling through the base we establish," John said, his voice dropping into a low, firm tone.

The second option he and his friends had discussed before was playing at the back of his mind.

"Let’s keep looking. You know the academy better than we do, teacher. It doesn’t necessarily need to be within our department if there’s a better spot elsewhere."

"It must be in our department," Nikolas interrupted, his expression sharpening. "I don’t know that much about the other departments.

I have no authority there and even fewer eyes. If we stay here, I can easily secure the perimeter. I’ll dig hard and deep into the old blueprints until I find a suitable, neglected spot."

"Good," John concluded, satisfied with the teacher’s initiative. He moved on to the next requirement. "Can you then arrange detailed files regarding the teachers and their specific affiliations? It would also be good to have something similar for the students."

John had already processed the general information Nikolas provided about this point, but he needed more organised data. He wanted files that he and his team could study, cross-reference, and memorise.

The neutral teachers would be mapped as potential recruits. At the same time, those affiliated with the Paragons would be marked as threats to be monitored or neutralised.

"I can help with the teacher side," Nikolas replied, though he hesitated, a shadow of frustration crossing his face.

"But the students... No one actually knows that information with absolute certainty. We only gather general data during induction. Unless there is a clear indication or a direct reference, like a student being a known descendant of a family publicly tied to a Paragon faction, we can’t easily tell who belongs to whom."

"This much about the students will do just fine for a start," Ricky chimed in.

"Once we’ve identified the core groups, we’ll start our own work to further investigate the rest. In my experience, those who belong to different Paragons tend to stick together in exclusive circles. They can’t help but flaunt their status. We can filter the list that way before preparing the final tally."

"A list for what exactly?!" Nikolas asked, his curiosity finally getting the better of him.

Ever since he’d been shown the reality of the Source Code World, he had felt like he was playing catch-up. These kids weren’t just reacting to their return; they had a blueprint, a pre-set plan they were following strictly.

Every question they asked served a purpose; every decision they made was a step toward a predetermined outcome. He realised now that his recruitment hadn’t been a fluke of luck or a desperate gamble because he was the one escorting them.

They had already marked him. If someone else had led them to this building, they would have stayed silent, biding their time until they could catch him in a secluded, secured location to make their move.

"A list of potential recruits," Cissel said calmly. She stepped forward, her eyes reflecting the same cold resolve as John’s.

"We won’t stop with just you, Teacher. We don’t just aim for the academy. The teachers are the strongest shield we have for desperate times, the ones who can hold back any attack from our future enemies, but the real target, the lifeblood of our expansion, is the students."

She continued, slowly unfolding the logic behind the plan they had refined during their nights at the zone.

By recruiting the offspring of neutral families, they could eventually pull the weight of those entire families to their side, creating a political and military bloc that would be the core of what they were going to build next.

"Speaking of that," Nikolas said, his eyes flickering with a new light as he digested the scale of their ambition.

"I’m an elder in my family. We’ve always been like I am, neutral, stubborn, and anti-Paragon to the core. We’ve suffered for it, losing out on trade routes and positions of power because we won’t bow. Shall I speak with them about this cause?"

John paused, his mind immediately weighing the risks of involving an outside family this early. A family meant more resources, but it also meant more risks if something went wrong.

"That’s a good point," John said, leaning forward. "But before we open that door, I need to know everything. Tell me more about your family first, their size, their influence, everything."

Nikolas began to speak, and as the tale of his family’s history unfolded, everyone in the room realised the source of the hatred he held for the Paragons. His family history shared a weird similarity to Luke’s; they were once a prestigious Sword Family, the official martial power for a Paragon.

They had bled for their Paragon, secured borders, and expanded territories, only to be met with cold-blooded betrayal. They were stripped of their ancestral privileges, their assets were seized under false pretences, and they were eventually expelled from the inner circles of power.

"Our Paragon feared our growing influence," Nikolas said, his jaw tightening as he spoke the words. "It was a pattern we later learned is a custom within the Paragon circles.

These people are too arrogant, too paranoid to let anyone else enjoy the fruits of their hard work if that elevation comes at the perceived cost of their own absolute status. So, from time to time, they start their dirty little games.

They backstab the strong families on their side, gutting them from within to replace them with weaker, more submissive ones. To them, we were never allies. We were just mere puppets, meant to be cut from the strings the moment we moved too independently."

The hatred in Nikolas’s voice was a multi-generational fire. For decades, his family had survived in the shadows, harbouring an antagonistic stance against the Paragon system.

While they weren’t massive in terms of sheer numbers, their overall combat strength remained formidable. According to Nikolas, despite their fall from grace, they could still stand shoulder-to-shoulder with any active Sword Family in terms of raw martial prowess.