Project Seraphina [LitRPG, Magitech, GL]

That same barrier of light goes up around Chloe, Clara, and I, but not before I catch the silhouettes of another half a dozen individuals skulking around as though they’re not drawing attention to themselves. Just because they are pretending to act like– I sigh. Better to save the mental effort for after I know what they’re doing here rather than allowing my temper to boil over before we’ve had so much as a ‘how do you do’.

“Miss Mortensen, Miss Jacobs. Good to see you again, and nice to meet you.”

“You know her, Sera?”

“The woman who showed me the picture of the other Seraphina.”

“I’m guessing this isn’t just a courtesy call,” I say. “Can we please get on with it?”

“Very well; I’ll be brief. I’ve received reports from my contacts that Miss Jacobs’ mother has been kidnapped. We are here to offer our services in getting her back.”

I blink twice. This is unexpected, to say the least. I had been certain just moments ago that they were the kidnappers, come to declare their intentions and make their demands for Alicia’s continued safety. Now they say they want to offer their services, just like that?

“What’s your angle?” I ask.

“Angle?”

“I doubt you’ve shown up right here and now out of the goodness of your heart. And I don’t think you and your team are here to help on this particular case–”

“Let me stop you right there, Miss Mortensen,” Clara says. “My angle, if you want to call it that, is bringing fugitives to justice. Anything we can do to whittle away at the Legion’s numbers and fighting strength is a win in my book. And if my interests align with the interests of the two most powerful individuals for two hundred miles, then it would be a bout of foolish pride not to make use of the resources at my disposal.”

“I don’t trust her,” I telepathize to Chloe. “First of all, she just called us resources. And secondly, it sounds exactly like something the FBI would do. False flag operations, that is.”

“Sera, if there’s even a chance they have information or resources that will help, I want to hear them out.”

“Of course.”

“You said you had information. What kind of information?”

“The identity of the kidnapper of Alicia Jacobs. Likely co-conspirators, locations of probable hideouts, even an, admittedly incomplete, list of Skills and fighting style.”

“And you’re just going to hand all that over?”

“No. But if you work with us instead of treating us as your enemy, we will have a greater chance of success in this operation. My information, your strength. I want to see Mrs. Jacobs returned safely just as much as you do.”

Six high-level operatives for a kidnapping that happened less than an hour ago? This is too suspicious. Almost like they expected this was going to happen. Which begs the question.

“If you already have this many operatives present and ready to investigate, why didn’t you stop the kidnapping?” It’s Chloe who ends up asking the question on both our minds.

Clara demurs. The lack of response speaks louder than anything she could have verbalized. False flag operation, incompetence, or worst of all, they’ve volunteered our mother as bait to trace them back to their headquarters.

“I hope, for your sake,” I interject, “that the answer is incompetence on your part.” I brandish Filia for a few seconds before returning them to my [Inventory]. “Otherwise, the three of us are going to all have a long conversation after this is done.”

“It’s as you say,” Clara says, still poised and in-control as ever. “We had received intelligence that there was a potential operation afoot against Alicia Jacobs. According to our sources, Alicia Jacobs is considered a particularly high-value target for Legion operatives.”

“Because of her connection to us?” Chloe asks.

“Unfortunately, even with the intelligence and collection of Skills we have access to, the space of potential abilities their operatives may have access to is almost incalculable.” Her gaze narrows on me. “I would not have thought it possible myself, but seeing that Miss Mortensen just demonstrated the ability to teleport seemingly at will, such a Skill would have made apprehending and absconding with the target a trivial matter.”

I note the lack of answer to Chloe’s question. Proof that Hank Jacobs is someone vital to this whole scheme. If only we knew where on Earth he was and what exactly he’s been involved with for the past twenty years. Clara better hope that he’s better secured and protected than Alicia was.

I turn to Chloe. “We’re going to do this, I take it?”

“Anything to get Mom back safe and sound.”

“Agreed.”

“Okay,” I say. “We’re in agreement.” I offer a hand. “Let’s work together.”

“I’m glad you both made the wise decision,” Clara says, contemptuous as ever. A manila folder appears out of her [Inventory]. “This is the dossier we have about the suspect, Maxine Fredeross.”

I look over the documents, sharing them with Chloe as well. Age: 32, female, scarlet hair, blue eyes, former CIA operative gone rogue in the days following the Legion’s takeover of Washington. Classes specializing in reconnaissance, antidetection… Attacks which dealt psychic damage. Suspected level of 65. No information about a second class, even conjectures, but the very notion of getting a second class at Level 64 wasn’t common knowledge. I’d said as much in my lectures, but that was two days ago, and I wasn’t— to my dissatisfaction— considered a sufficiently ‘reliable’— read: credentialed— source in many circles.

“Reconnaissance and antidetection,” Chloe says. “No wonder they had so much trouble.”

“I’m still suspicious. Everything is a little too convenient. Reeks of a conspiracy a lot deeper than just this incident.”

“Agreed. But right now, the top priority needs to be getting Mom back home. We’ll make use of every ally and temporary alliance we can muster. And if anyone tries to stab us in the back, we’ll make sure they regret it.”

Uncharacteristic coldness coming from Chloe, but considering the circumstances, not unjustified or unexpected.

“You said you had information about her whereabouts,” I say.

“She’s trained with the best of them. Slippery as an eel, sharp as a viper, and cunning as a fox. Nevertheless, we do have bits and pieces. Some information on her operations from before she went rogue, along with bank account information, home and auto registration, even satellite surveillance.”

Satellite surveillance? I guess the feds are still plenty resourceful even after having their central control apparatus ripped out by the Legion.

“Question,” Chloe asks. “What caused her to go rogue?”

“We don’t know. There was no manifesto, not even an exit interview. Exemplary agent right up until then, not even a write-up or a less-than-stellar recommendation from her superiors. Just cut contact the day of the Legion’s assault, started taking what we believe to be assignments for them the next day.”

I stare at the remainder of the notes, taking them in.

“Go ahead and keep it; it’s a copy,” Clara says. “It’s not like either of you are just going to lay them out somewhere where the eyes in the clouds can snoop.”

Again, satellites, as well as whomever else might be listening to, well, everything else that transpired. With teleportation and probably at least a few long-distance surveillance Skills out there, it was probably best to assume we were being watched until proven otherwise.

“So, what do you want us to do for now?” Chloe asks.

“For now, just wait.”

“Wait,” I say. “Do you know any dungeons in the general area fit for levels in the range of 65 to 70? I’d rather use this time productively than just sit around on our asses.”

“65 to 70?” Clara pauses, then taps some device in her pocket. Images flicker in front of her— encrypted messages, and I don’t have a [Decryption] glyph. Probably the glyph or Skill I’d need in order to get into those files Nicholas has on his computer. Again I curse my powerlessness compared with my original form.

“Here,” she says after a minute. “About two hundred and fifty miles southeast of here, right on the border. Why the System put a high-level dungeon right there in the middle of nowhere with nothing around for eighty miles, only God knows. But, it’s the closest one that’s been marked.”

“Thank you, Chloe says. How long do you think we have until the operation starts?”

“Probably longer than you would like. Tracking someone like her will be… challenging, to put it mildly. I would expect it to take a few days before we have the sort of intelligence needed to safely mount an assault on her place of operations without jeopardizing Miss Jacobs’ safety.”

“I see.” Chloe purses her lips; I can sense the rage burning underneath. “Then, we will take our leave.”

“I know I’m the last person who’s in a position to offer any advice to you, and I don’t know how well you’ll receive it, but please. Take that anger and properly temper it, and when everything is said and done, take some time to properly rest. Even professionals who’ve been in the business for decades and seen everything still take time to debrief and recenter themselves before new assignments.”

“We’ll take that into consideration,” Chloe says. “Now, if you wouldn’t mind removing this veil before I cut it down.”

“Very well.” The astral veil starts to dematerialize. “I know you both distrust me, and I won’t try to tell you otherwise, but we are aligned in our purpose, on this much at least. And I do genuinely pray for your success in this outing and your safe return thereafter.”

“Thank you for your time,” I say. Taking Chloe’s hand, I take inventory of the faces and approximate levels of Clara’s subordinate operatives. Unfortunately, their badges are occluded and they have some sort of anti-perception warding on their person that prevents [Valkyrion’s Perception] from gaining any information about their identities, to be researched later.

Without further ado, the two of us head back. First home, to salvage some lunch and anything else of use. Then off to the site of this dungeon, which better not be a trap. The very idea that we’d be betrayed yet again on what is quickly turning into the worst day in the world fills me with a fury I find myself unable to describe in words.

“I’m sorry, Sera,” Chloe says once we’re a couple minutes away and back over midtown.

“You have nothing to apologize for, Chloe. She’s my mother too, in every way that matters. Besides, I think they’re after your father as well as me. All of this. Mom’s kidnapping, the assassination attempt, this other me in Chicago. Maybe someone would call me a conspiracy theorist, but it’s hard not to smell a conspiracy afoot. If only we knew exactly what everyone knows or suspects about who and what I am.”

“Thanks, Sera. But that’s not why I wanted to apologize.”

I pull her into a hug as we fly. We’re both stressed, but knowing that we still have each other helps a lot.

“It’s just… When the System first arrived, I thought you were reckless and foolish, jumping headfirst into danger, going right off to start exploring dungeons and the Tower just days in, before anyone had any idea what was going on. It wasn’t our business, or so I thought. But now, here you are as some great savior, putting your life on the line time and time again, saving lives, maybe even the whole universe. It’s… not at all what I would have thought we’d be doing if you’d asked a year ago.”

I shake my head. “Maybe we know that now from my dreams, but I wasn’t thinking about anything so selfless as saving people. I just wanted power for its own sake. The power to chart my own course in life, undeterred by whatever higher power tried to interfere. Freedom, really.”

“Freedom?”

“Freedom to live my life as I see fit, without having to worry about others’ disapproval.”

“The freedom to kiss me in front of the capital and not have to worry you’re going to get fired?”

“Something like that, love. Now then, I think there’s a dungeon calling our name, and I dunno about you, but I’m feeling particularly antsy this afternoon.”

“What a coincidence, Sera. Because so am I.”