Chapter 46: A life
Miles met his gaze wordlessly, glancing between him and an uneasy Jayce.
’Did he single me out because of Jayce?’
It seemed a likely guess. Still, he replied.
"Fine."
Regardless of what Maxwell was scheming, looking at the pylon himself certainly wouldn’t hurt. Plus, it would let him understand the way out that they kept talking about.
"Are you sure?"
Morgan asked him, suspicion lingering in his pained gaze. It was clear to anyone that Maxwell had ulterior motives.
"Yeah, I’m sure."
He doubted Maxwell would try anything crazy, at least not with Jayce here.
’Right?’
It was hard to tell what was on the boy’s mind.
Maxwell nodded slightly, then tilted his head towards Jayce.
"Well, you’ve heard the man. Jayce, take him to the back. We can keep watch here."
Miles stared at Maxwell for a moment, then stepped forward, only to feel a hand on his shoulder. Ryan.
"Be careful."
He simply nodded, prompting the boy to take his hand off. With that, he walked around the crate of beans between them, stopping near Maxwell’s group.
Jayce broke off from the trio, joining him quietly, then slowly led the way towards the pylon in the back.
Behind them, Maxwell began speaking once again, in a low voice.
"So what do you say about joining us, Brandon? You really should be grateful I’m even offering this."
"Fuck off."
"Yea-"
They devolved into another standoff, one Miles didn’t see due to his focus being firmly on the dark pylon in the back.
Jayce remained silent for a moment before hesitantly asking.
"H-How’ve you been?"
Miles took his eyes off the pylon and onto the boy, considering him silently. So many questions roamed his mind, from the blood to the pylon, and to Maxwell.
But...
"I’ve been better. What about you?"
Jayce let out a light, almost inaudible chuckle. He rubbed his hair awkwardly before replying with a bit of relief.
"I could say the same."
That was much more like the Jayce he knew, the joker who always goofed off in class. The closest thing he had to the word ’friend’.
Then he glanced at the bloodstains below, and the anxiety came bubbling back.
’A friend, right?’
His mind had been slowly coming to a conclusion on what happened here. A terrifying possibility that had only been growing increasingly likely.
"What do you need all those points for?"
Jayce shifted his gaze to the pylon, replying stiffly.
"It’s best if you see it yourself."
"Then what about Maxwell? He spoke like he’s known you before. How did you-"
Jayce interrupted him with an answer, growing visibly uncomfortable with his questioning.
"I... he’s from my neighborhood; we tend to run into each other from time to time. So..."
The boy trailed off as they came to a halt before the black box that was the pylon. Standing before it, he felt an almost tangible sense of oppression press down on him.
The pitch-black metallic surface bore no seams, besides some unintelligible carvings and a depression on its front that gave it the impression of a vending machine.
To the side, the pale girl stared at him with squinted eyes. Her eyebags and overall disposition made her look fragile in Miles’s gaze.
He took his eyes off her, looking to the bloodstained glass panes braced against the wall nearby, at the scattered crates on the ground, and finally, the little puddles of blood on the ground.
Then he looked at Jayce.
"What happened here?"
The boy stayed silent, avoiding his gaze.
"Jayce."
"Just check the pylon."
His voice came heavy.
That veneer; he felt it again. A lie clinging to an unknowable darkness underneath. A lie he’d talked to for almost a year.
Miles could only sigh. Something in him shifted at those words, a connection finally linking in his mind.
A wave of numbing cold, one that had nothing to do with the storm outside, spread through him. It smothered something inside him, making the world grow sharper and blurrier simultaneously.
Jayce didn’t seem to notice any of that as he stood silently to the side. Miles blinked, his thoughts becoming much clearer.
Raising his hand wordlessly, he pressed it against the metal. An alien chill crawled through his hand on contact, only lasting a moment before a barrage of notifications popped up.
[User #6734 has connected to an inactive Pylon.]
[Do you wish to activate it?]
[Y/N]
He glanced sideways at Jayce. Seeing no reaction from him, Miles pressed on, mentally selecting Y.
The screen shifted.
[Progress to activation: 330/600 points.]
[Benefits upon device unlock: Suppression field, Status modification, and Information access.]
[Suppression field: A field is generated from the pylon, forcefully stabilizing reality within a radius of 10 meters. Suppresses anomalies below a certain level.]
[Status modification: Allows the user to utilize points to perform upgrades.]
[Information access: Users gain access to information stored on the Pylon.]
’A ghoul is worth roughly 10 points.’
There were at most 22 corpses in the kitchen out back. 220 points. Where did the rest of them come from? At least 110 points.
There hadn’t been any ghoul corpses in the cafeteria.
’Where else would they come from?’
He pulled up his status. Its menu overwrote the two floating notifications before him, revealing a familiar screen.
He skipped most of the text, his eyes only focusing on the lines at the very bottom.
[Points: 50]
Ten for every ghoul he killed.
One after waking up from the illusion, another after entering the corridor to the hall, a third that slipped past the first row, and the final two in defending Ryan.
Yet these four had managed to accrue 330 points just by staying in the store. He doubted any of them had stepped into the hallway.
He dismissed his status and removed his hand from the pylon, automatically dismissing its notifications.
Then he turned to face Jayce, opening, then closing his mouth, almost unsure about how to line his words into a proper sentence.
Almost.
"A human life. How... how much is it worth, Jayce?"