Maids VS Apocalypse

[Friend: There are two things you need to know.

Just so you wouldn’t be caught off guard.]

Mark stopped slamming his fingers on the digital keyboard, leaving a half-written message in the small box at the bottom of the screen.

[Friend: First of all, The Complete Dimensional Collapse is much closer than you think.

You should get to Amberwood in the next two days.]

Right away the time the countdown accelerated returned to Mark as well as when Natalie explained that it represents the integrity of the Dimensional Border. He didn’t need Friend to explain more to him as he instantly understood that the invisible partition between worlds was going to suffer a devastating blow, enough for the remaining time to be cut in half.

Once this world is swallowed by the Underworld there was no telling if it would be possible to locate Amberwood in it, and that’s if the entire city wasn’t scattered in the process.

’Two days...’

Amberwood was on the west coast and the drive to it would take at least one day if no obstacles came in their way, which was unlikely. He would barely make it if he were to depart now. The problem was that he didn’t have a say on when they would leave since he and the other members of Squad Four came to join the reinforcements being sent to investigate the city.

[Friend: Second.]

More messages arrived before Mark finished thinking.

[Friend: You should be careful around that doctor.]

The line gave him pause.

[Mark: You mean Dr. Goodman?]

’Why?’

The last person he expected to be warned about was the friendly black woman. She did embarrass him quite a bit when she played his game right in front of him. Other than that he didn’t see any reason why he should be on guard against her.

[Friend: She’s a Knight Rank Level 4.

And likely has the Interrogator Constellation.

That means she has an Ability that allows her to see through lies.

And another one that compels others to say the truth.

]

’The Interrogator Constellation...’

Constellations were sets of Abilities that share some connection, or so Mark had learned while fiddling with his System the previous night. The name Interrogator alone pointed to the nature of the Abilities such category contained and the purpose behind them.

’Could it be...’

Thinking back to his time in the PK headquarters, Mark counted the times he had talked to the dark-skinned doctor. It couldn’t have been more than three, with each being too friendly to be called an interrogation. Still, Mark remembered feeling something odd back then. He had readily answered every question the doctor asked, not hesitating to tell her about his stats and aspects of his System.

’Seriously...’

It wasn’t just the doctor; he had divulged things to Natalie without a second thought. Back then, he felt compelled to tell her the truth, believing that to be the only way he could exchange information. Now he was having second thoughts.

[Mark: How do I know they’re using those Abilities?

Friend: You can’t.

That’s what makes them tricky to deal with.]

’You got to be kidding me...’

[Mark: How do I deal with them, then?]

One of the Abilities compels others to tell the truth, and even if one were to evade its influence, any lies they tell would be detected by the second Ability. The combination seemed flawless, and faced with it the only right choice seemed to be telling the truth.

[Friend: Having a high Mind stat would be a good start.

The user can still tell when you are lying though.

That’s why you have to pay attention to each question you’re asked and choose your words carefully.

There are ways to avoid telling the truth without lying.]

’So it can only detect blatant lies?’

Mark had a vague idea of what the mysterious Friend was trying to say. A 150 in Mind should be high enough to resist the influence of the compulsion Ability. As for lie detection, telling only a part of the truth should be enough to bypass it.

[Friend: Well then, that’s all from me this time.

I will contact you again if I hear anything interesting.

If you have any questions just ask them.

Though you might need to wait a while for the answer.]

The messenger app on the fake phone didn’t have any functions to tell if the contacts were online or not. Despite that, Mark felt that he could tell the exact moment Friend went offline.

His mind was a mess to begin with then he learned things that added to the chaos rampaging through it. The Red Hoods were crazy cultists from hell who desired to kill as many people as possible, and the Peace Keepers had been using both a lie detector and a truth serum on him.

’What the f*ck...’

He couldn’t help but go back and reexamine his life, looking for instances where he might have been influenced without his knowing. Nothing stood out, and at the same time, everything appeared suspicious.

’A knight Rank Level 4...’

He had been told that his Mind status was far too high for someone who had just Awakened. It was the reason why he had been able to resist the Whispers for so long, and if an eldritch horror was incapable of influencing him, how could humans do it?

In short, not just anyone can do it, which would exclude almost everyone he met in his life. Everyone besides Rebecca and Natalie. He had no doubt that the latter had higher Mind and Soul stats than him; the fact that she defeated Malarak with a single strike was proof of that.

In the doctor’s case, she said she had a Level 4 LRGS, and one that specializes in healing. That hinted at her nonphysical stats being much higher than the average, and though they might not have been as high as his at the start, leveling up should’ve closed the gap and allowed her to surpass him.

’They only ever asked about my System and Stats...’

Those were things they couldn’t have known from spying on him. Mark had thought it was a little weird that they bothered asking those questions, thinking they had proper methods of extracting such information. Turns out the way they do it is by asking direct questions.

’What should I do...’

The doctor’s appointment was the next thing on his schedule. He had no doubt that Rebecca would use her Interrogator Abilities at some point so he wanted to be on guard against it.

He had no reason to be afraid of them discovering he was lying; joining the PKs didn’t make him obliged to answer everything truthfully. Still, if they were to see through him it would surely strain his relationship with the organization.

’Damn it...’

The past couple of days allowed him to forget it a little. He was stuck. Trapped. Although he had made escaping the Peace Keeper’s hold his goal, that wasn’t doable, not any time soon. He needed their guidance and protection. Without them, he didn’t know what to do.

’I... I don’t have any goals...’

He had long since arrived at that realization yet the weight of it was starting to make its presence known only now. Getting to Amberwood and meeting his parents was his next objective, but what about afterward?

Going to the Overworld, joining the PK academy, graduating, and working for the organization. That was the path set for him by Natalie and the others. Mark had decided to follow that path until he got strong enough to defy the organization and escape its clutches. What comes after that, he had no idea.

’What kind of protagonist am I?’ He let out a self-deprecating snort. ’The readers are probably tired of my bullshit...’

Whether it was a novel or real life, Mark knew that not having a goal was a problem. He didn’t have to worry about it when he was under the impression that he didn’t have long to live, but now was different.

Becoming the Hokage, the pirate king, the magic emperor, or the number one hero. Those were all goals famous protagonists aimed for, but Mark wasn’t the same. He didn’t have such grandiose desires. He didn’t have any at all.

’Of all times I’m having an existential crisis now...’

He noticed that his thoughts had drifted quite a bit. Rebecca and her Interrogator Abilities should’ve been his concerns at the moment so he opted to leave thinking about his goals for the future.

’I can always just live a happy slow life with Lara...’

~[ ]~

Coming out of the bathroom, the first face to meet him wasn’t that of his maid, as he had expected. Instead, it was his stalker of a superior, Ramsay Rider.

"Still taking thirty minutes to shit?"

"Sorry but, unlike yours, my backdoor hadn’t been stretched."

The mood grew heavy as the two exchanged glares and continued being so even as the Sergeant waved the white flag.

"I just wanted you to know that I already talked to your friend, but..." He said. "To be on the safe side, make sure you two are on the same page."