Genesis Sync

“Well, it helped that you pulled the book out of nowhere right in front of me,” John said with a smile.

Sajiko laughed and nodded. “Very true. Ok kiddo, now off you go. Come back here when you finish so that these two can direct you to my shop.”

"Wait, you're not coming with me?" John asked as the quest description only said to help Sajiko, not that he had to do it himself.

"What sort of a test would it be if I tagged along to help you?” Sajiko asked with a smile.

“Plus, if she did that, it wouldn’t be classified as her fobbing off the menial task to you,” David muttered, causing Sajiko to snap her head around and glare at him.

John didn’t like the idea of Sajiko blowing the two brothers up with a spell out of anger, so he distracted her by asking, "What if I get attacked out in the forest? I don't even have a weapon."

"You made it all the way here without a weapon? What did you just drop from the sky or something?" Sajiko asked while the two guards also looked surprised.

"Something like that, I guess," John answered offhandedly.

Sajiko studied him again before replying, "You’ll be fine if you don't stray too far from the village and stay near the stream since the herbs I require will be near there

"Fine." John sighed before turning to leave and saying. "I will try to finish as fast as possible."

“Good luck, kiddo,” Sajiko waved before turning on the two brothers. “Now, I think the three of us need to have a little talk, don’t you?”

“No ma’am,” The two brothers simultaneously replied.

John heard the commotion as he headed back towards the forest but decided it was best to stay out of it. Sajiko seemed like a woman with a short fuse, and he decided it was best to try and stay on her good side.

Shortly after he reentered the forest, John soon came across the stream before he once again started to follow it. {Hmm, I have the book to help me find the herbs, but what are the herbs? Maybe the quest itself can tell me.}

"Quest Status"

[Current active quests: 1]

[Help Sajiko gather her alchemy materials (Ordinary)]

[Sajiko has taken an interest in you after noticing how your magic feels strange, causing her to test what you're truly capable of.]

[Gather the requested materials and deliver them to her.]

[Quest Progress:]

[Peacebloom 0/5]

[Silverleaf 0/5]

[Quest success reward: Sajiko’s increased interest and the possibility of another quest.]

[Quest Failure punishment: Sajiko’s loss of interest and being barred from the alchemist shop]

"Ah, there we go,” John mumbled. “Seems I need Peacebloom and Silverleaf." Opening his inventory, he selected the 'Encyclopedia of Common Herbs and Where to Find Them' tile before clicking on the withdraw button.

Immediately after the book materialised in his hand, he started to look through it. "Ah, here we go. It says they're both commonly found mixed in with normal grass; peacebloom is mainly white with a yellow bud and green stalk while silverleaf is all green and looks like a long leaf."

John returned the book to the inventory before he started to explore, while trying out his new Inspect skill.

[Rock]

[Water]

[Grass]

[Deer poop]

{Oh, nasty.}

[Dead mouse]

{What the fuck, seriously? Well, I guess there isn’t much info to tell about those items, but why does it even identify poop?}

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He kept walking and searching around with his inspect skill until he saw a leaf that seemed to be growing amongst the grass and fit the description of the silverleaf he had read.

[Silverleaf]

[Common herb used in alchemy]

"Nice, found it, but now what? It said herb gathering was a passive skill, so I guess I should just try pulling it out?”

He shrugged before grabbing the herb in his hand and yanking it out.

[Herb gathering failed]

He stared at his hand as he saw the herb he failed to gather burst into particles of light before vanishing, and then remembered one of the two items he had received, “Right, the trowel.”

He retrieved the trowel from his inventory before looking around for another silverleaf, which was only a few feet away. Hurrying over to it, he bent down before sticking the trowel into the ground next to the herb and yanking it out.

[Herb gathering failed]

"Shit," John cursed before getting up. “It’s a damn flower; why is it so hard to pick a flower?”

After complaining, he once again looked around to see if he could find any more and found another a few feet away, which he again hurried over to.

This time he tried being more careful while gently digging the herb out.

[Herb gathering success]

[Item received: Silverleaf]

[Quest progress:]

[Silverleaf 1/5]

[Peacebloom 0/5]

"Nice," John said with a smile before he got back up and went to look for more herbs.

***

Empress Alexia Bristle sat in her study discussing the matter of the investigation into her privy council with her oldest daughter Adria and her personal maid and assistant, Roberta.

"Other than when John arrived, we have been here for several hours now. What do we know?" Alexia asked.

"Not much, Majesty, because you are unable to give me much information and the investigation is limited to just the three of us; we have only had time to look into the bank records of Minister Joseph Dawn," Roberta replied.

"Unfortunately, until Tia lifts the silencing order, I cannot tell you anything less; we risk increasing the punishment," Alexia replied before asking. "What did you find in his bank records?"

“Nothing, my apologies,” Roberta replied.

“Well, perhaps this was restricted to those two then,” Adria remarked.

“Possibly, but there are still many government officials in Dawnscape City that need investigating, as well as my privy council and the ministers,” Alexia replied before a voice they all recognised said. "There is no need."

The ladies all looked at Alexia's access band to find that a holographic Tia had appeared above it.

"Tia, how can I assist you?" Alexia asked politely.

"While the investigation of ministers is normally the job of that race, I personally conducted an investigation since this incident is tied to Genesis,” Tia explained. “I conducted a check on the bank accounts of all the Dawnscape City government officials, your privy council and the human race's ministers and found that several of them had secret accounts which showed suspicious activities. I will send you the data later.

With this, I can confirm that Frank Hargreaves was sending money to the secret account of Jasper Dawn, Mayor of Dawnscape City and younger brother of Minister Joseph Dawn. That and other evidence I have collected indicates that Jasper Dawn was receiving payoffs in exchange for covering up Frank Hargreaves' scheme against John Michaels.”

“Upon hearing this, Alexia turned to Roberta and ordered, "Roberta, leave us."

Roberta was about to bow and do as instructed, but before she could, Tia said: "There is no need; she has been your loyal attendant for many years, and she will learn of this in two hours anyway. Now, what is the status of preparing to apprehend those responsible?"

"As I am sure you're aware from their access bands, I have sent General Vimes and the military to secretly infiltrate Dawnscape and await your judgment before apprehending all those you classify as involved in this incident," Alexia answered.

"Very well, take these and send the one labelled John Michaels to your general," Tia said before two files appeared on a holographic screen that appeared above Alexia’s desk.

"The John Michaels folder contains the list of those believed to be connected with his incident and although they might not be directly involved, they still need to be apprehended and brought in for questioning. The file will grant your general the real-time location of each individual's access band.

"Those at the top marked in red are to be apprehended at all costs, specifically the three names at the top, Frank Hargreaves, Mary Brown and Jasper Dawn. Because of this and the fact that Jasper Dawn has a security detail, I am using my authority to temporarily lift the restriction on the use of force without due cause for your military personnel as long as it is used to apprehend solely the people on this list or those protecting them. While the names on this list must be brought in alive for questioning, lethal force may be used against any individuals protecting them if left with no other option.”

The three women were shocked; in all one hundred and twelve years since Genesis launched, the restriction on the use of force by security personnel had only been lifted once. That was in the Orc kingdom where a terrorist group tried to conduct a coup against the royal family.

Because the coup placed innocents at risk, Tia lifted the restriction and the coup was swiftly dealt with. From then on, everyone knew that if you did something that endangered too many innocents, Tia would not sit by and do nothing.

What surprised them most was that Tia was lifting the restriction when innocents were not in immediate danger, causing Alexia to ask, "Tia, why..."

"That is not your concern,” Tia interrupted before continuing. “The second folder contains the information regarding your privy council and the human race's ministers.”

“Thank you, Tia,” Alexia said appreciatively. Tia, however, only said one sentence before disappearing. “You have two hours to get into positions."

“What could she be thinking?” Adria asked in surprise. “Why would she lift the use of force when no innocents are in immediate danger? Heck, she even authorised our military to use lethal force.”

“Could it be a warning to all the races?” Maria suggested. “It has been over sixty years since the Orc coup attempt. Perhaps she thinks we need reminding.”

“Possibly,” Alexia replied before sending the folder labelled John Michaels to her general while she opened and began to read the contents of the second.