95 According to the plan

The squad gathered in a room where Toatre had been extracting data. They had a lot to digest and discuss while Nowa left them on their own. They were sitting on the floor in a circle around Toatre, and nobody wanted to start the conversation. After half an hour of complete silence, Toatre decided to let her hands rest and said without a hint of worry in her voice:

"A thrice-evolved Beast is the Avatar of the Spire? Isn't it exciting? I would love to study it in detail. But I must say, it certainly didn't look like a Beast to me."

"Scratch that, so Dippo is, in fact, Nowa's subordinate! I knew they were connected somehow," Kanai burst out, overwhelmed by the news.

"Nowanzi is a terrorist and can not be trusted. W-w-we should avoid associating with him at all costs," Tiana added, still angered by the previous event.

"I support Tiana's opinion. This Nowa looks dangerous, unpredictable, and unconcerned about the people around him. It would be beyond hopeless and reckless to follow him," Iten voiced his thoughts.

"Man, my head is going to explode..." Orisa groaned and dropped on her back.

"Do you really think Nowa is a bad guy?" Kanai asked, poking Orisa's shoulder.

"Why does it matter? For now, he is doing the same thing as us and doesn't look hostile. If we are lucky enough, we can go through the rest of the vaults with him," Orisa said tiredly.

"We can consider the fact that he is after the shelters that contain data on how to deal with the Spire a sign that he is on our side, mhm."

"But that Dog Knight is after the shelters, too. It kinda doesn't make him good, though," Kanai chuckled.

"Why the Dog Knight?" Iten asked with a slightly raised eyebrow.

"Well, Nowa says he is a Beast. Plus, Nowa calls him something similar, too. So why not?"

"Wow, such knight, much Beast, very powerful, so wow..." Orisa mumbled under her breath.

"His v-v-voice sounded so strangely familiar..."

"Yep. You freaked out so much that even I was worried," Orisa sat up and patted Tiana's shoulder. "We'll figure it out eventually, don't think too much, or you'll get wrinkles."

"Toatre, is there anything of interest so far?" Iten asked to switch the topic.

"It depends on what you consider interesting, Iten. There is a work log here, which is not as detailed as the previous one, and apparently, more than one person was in charge of keeping the journal. It doesn't look like you would be interested in such matters, mhm."

"Do you think she is doing it on purpose?" Kanai quietly nudged Orisa.

"Honestly, I have come to doubt it myself recently, but it's hard to tell. It's Toatre we are talking about..."

"There is an issue with my current task," Toatre suddenly switched a topic. "It is well beyond my capabilities to extract all data in the time allocated."

"Why? It's something complicated even for such a bright head?" Orisa chuckled.

"It makes me happy to see my skills recognized, thank you. However, this matter isn't something to be solved with abilities alone, mhm. You see, besides several large texts about Dualcasting and other researches, there wasn't much information to go through. Here, the journal alone covers a few centuries."

"What?!" exclaimed everyone.

"Are you saying this thing goes beyond the Cataclysm?" asked agitated Kanai.

"As of now, I have only a vague understanding of their calendar but can say that the log goes on at least for two hundred years since the fateful day."

"Can you skip to the last entry and read it?" asked Iten, showing a hint of excitement as well.

Toatre gave Iten a curious look as if noticing a faint presence of something solid inside of his skull and turned to a screen-projector on the wall. A few minutes later, she cleared her throat and said:

"Here are the last two entries since they appear to be connected."

---

---

Millim Nava; 2312.7.12.

A message has arrived today from Judan Kavenfenn of the third government. There isn't much written there, but he suggests a conference between the Attendants to discuss the Apocamorphing problem. He states that he might have found a solution to this issue.

---

---

Millim Nava; 2312.7.13.

I'm leaving for the meeting. I haven't told the others about it - they are doing another Clearing. We will have a talk when they are back. For now, I'll close the door because it doesn't seem wise to leave it open even if I'm the only one who can unseal it. Hopes are, I'll return before them.

---

---

An uncomfortable silence settled amidst the group. Everyone felt too uneasy to look at Tiana, who was sitting with her head hung down.

"I don't know w-w-what to say."

"Well, I suppose they didn't pass this episode through your family history books," Kanai said with a slightly sarcastic but a bit more sympathetic voice.

"You can't be more right," Tiana suddenly agreed. "Most knowledge in our family is passed v-v-verbally from the previous g-g-generations to the next one, and only from the head to the following head. I can't say I know a lot about our history..."

"A dark past of the greatest Noble family is unveiled. An article for the first page," Kanai chuckled again and earned an elbow smack from Orisa.

"My father didn't look like a decent person, but I hoped it w-w-was an exception, a stain on our family."

"Looks like you are the stain instead," Iten said. "A white one, that is."

"Anyhow, let's stop brooding for now. I'll ask Nowa what to do with all these logs," Orisa said and was about to get up when they heard a voice coming from the room's entrance:

"Scratch the logs, we don't need them. Focus on everything related to the Spire and Nava's technologies."

"Scratch the logs!? But we can finally learn more about the past and what actually happened back there," Orisa protested loudly.

"I have a general picture already, so there is no need to dig deeper and get further involved since it won't help us in the slightest."

"You do? How so?" asked Kanai with a doubt.

"I've already been to the rest or have seen their contents' description, obviously."

"Wait, I'm certain we've sealed the entrance to the mountain complex, how could you..."

"He went through our notes," Orisa said with a dry voice.

"Umu. You are rather swift to grasp the truth, a commendable trait."

"You've been rummaging through our belongings? Eww, gross!" groaned Kanai. He tried to raise the comedy level of the situation, but Orisa noticed how tense he became. She could understand his anxiety since a feeling of complete vulnerability had also dawned upon her after Nowa's words. Someone had sneaked, peaked through their notes, and left without them noticing.

"Can you brief us on the history matter so that we wouldn't get distracted any more?" she brought the conversation back to a less unpleasant topic.

"Less distracted? I can see it being a valid reason, umu. Well, here is a quick summary. There was civilization before the Cataclysm, nothing especially great or advanced but not too shabby either. Their higher-ups got too greedy and decided to solve all of the world's problems with one trick. They built a tower that was supposed to transmit a spell all over the world. That trick failed, vanishing all the participants, and summoning the Beasts. The tower became their home, the source of their regular appearance.

The general population was left in the dark, and raging monsters came as quite a surprise for them. Among the people left after the Cataclysm were five big shots with their families, and they were one way or another related to the government or the experiment. You know them as Great Noble Houses - Kavenfenn, Todo, Flamie, Nava, Saetan.

Two of them, Todo and Nava, lost access to their respective vaults right from the very beginning. Some of their members still survived, continuing the bloodline and keeping some of their knowledge and power. Why they failed to regain access, I don't know. My only assumption is that they didn't know of the exact location or something along these lines. Among the rest, one was, let's say, less naive or noble than the rest. Rulers of Kavenfenn took the opportunity and subtly got rid of the other two families' heads. I assume their original goal was to gain access to the vaults, but we'll never know.

The rest you should have already figured out - this whole Noble system was introduced, lifting five families above the rest with Kavenfenn as a supreme ruling faction. Why it was decided to keep the other four families, I don't know and don't care. To this day, only vas Kavanfenn has kept their vault functional, obviously using its contents for their own benefit."

"You don't have to believe him," Orisa was quick to speak up when Nova finished his history lesson, squeezing Tiana's hand.

"Hoh? Do you doubt my words? I'm confident you'll find this complex's log ending around two hundred sixty years after the Cataclysm, exactly the same time as in Saetan's diary."

"It's alright, Orisa. You don't need to sugarcoat things anymore. On top of his w-w-words looking believable, I no longer consider myself a member of v-v-vas Kavenfenn family anyway."

"I think you need to employ another way of thinking," Iten suddenly spoke up. "Isn't it better to consider them outsiders unfit to be a part of your family? I can see quite a number of signs hinting that you'll become a great head of your house, unlike your predecessors."

"Umu. With that, get back to work and focus on things I've mentioned earlier."

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With that, Nowa left the room, leaving the group with even more mixed feelings. Again, a huge load of information had been dumped on their heads, and everyone was digesting it silently. Only Toatre shrugged and returned to her duties. The silence went on.

Orisa was mulling over the fate of people who participated in the experiment. One other topic that she had mixed feelings about was the reason behind a complete lockdown of all shelters since it looked rather strange that every family except one had lost it. She found it hard to swallow that every house had been so divided on the inside that they hadn't trusted each other with the vault's access or location.

"Are you okay, dear?" she asked Tiana, who was staring at the wall absentmindedly.

"Please, stop parenting me. I am fine," answered Tiana with a hint of irritation.

"Sure, then I'll go talk to Nowa some more."

"Wait a moment," Kanai suddenly spoke to her . "Are we suddenly now trusting Nowa and following his orders?"

"We aren't. But what do you suggest?"

"I don't know, don't talk to him?"

"Dude, this sounds kind of childish and counter-productive," Orisa answered with a slightly raised eyebrow. Since there was no follow-up, she left the room.

Orisa found Nowa sitting on the floor and leaning his back against the wall inside the main hall. Since his helmet was on, it was hard to tell if he was sleeping or not, so she carefully approached the man and stopped a few steps away to observe him.

"Is there something that still prevents you from doing what I said?" he suddenly said without moving. Orisa shivered, feeling as if she was talking to a statue or a corpse.

"Toatre is doing her best, and it's not like all five of us need to be there," she grumbled with a hint of irritation.

"It is better for you all to get used to it, or you won't be able to achieve your goal."

"Get used to what exactly?" asked a now confused Orisa.

"To my instructions, of course. You have the same goal as me, and I have people and resources to achieve it even without you. Setting even that aside, I have already pieced together a team that is fully operational and successful. I know how to fulfill the task on our hands in the most efficient way. Everything is going according to my plan."

"So?" Orisa asked blandly, getting even more irritated.

"So stop being a child and start following the procedures if your aim is to save this world."

"And how do you know about my aim?"

"I know everything that is needed for my plan, of course. Again, and for the last time, I will repeat this - you and your people will fit well into my organization that has the same goal as you, so you either do what's right or continue being an arrogant child who doesn't want to follow simple orders. In the latter case, pack your things and get going already."

"Such a pleasure talking to you, Hunter Nowa..."

"It is, as long as you don't waste time and do what I say. You have a chance to learn it firsthand. By the time my team arrives here, you'd better come to a decision."

"Is it just me, or you were quite different back when we first met?" questioned Orisa defiantly.

"I thought I didn't need to be different with people like you," he answered coldly.

"Like me? You are constantly implying that you know a lot about us, our goals, and even me. How come?"

"Intel gathering, obviously, to scout possible skilled individuals. Now, enough questions. You may learn more after agreeing with my terms tomorrow. For now, rest or do something useful. Or don't."

Orisa was frustrated for a somewhat unexpected reason. She agreed with Nowa, with his goals, and even his general approach. It was only his directness, disregard for the atmosphere and people's feelings, and overall demeanor that pissed her off. First and foremost, she was frustrated because he reminded Orisa of her old self. Back in her old days, she had been directing people of her team with an insensitive, cold hand. The fact that she had been right had blinded her completely, leading to an extremely blunt and straightforward approach. Nowa was the same.

In such a mood, Orisa returned to her new team and recounted the conversation with Nowa. What followed was a long and heated discussion on their future plans, their goals and methods. The general opinion was that they completely disliked him but saw no alternative at all. If they were to ignore his invitation, they would be free. But on the other side of the coin were several downsides: Beast Knight completely outclassed them, and it was obvious that they would meet him again; splitting with Nowa meant that they might clash with him in the future; it would be hard to continue working with The Hounds, whose leader was Nowa's subordinate.

Swapping the work of data extraction between Orisa, Kanai, and Toatre, they stepped into the following day. By the time Nowa came to check on them, two notepads had been riddled with data. The squad's mood was mostly neutral, with a hint of anxiety and discontent. They had agreed with the inevitable, but it still didn't help the mood.

"Good job, everyone. We have four minutes until the specified time, so it's a good moment to hear your decision," Nowa said with his usual calm but strong voice.

"Can we hear your final goal, mister Nowa?" went Orisa with a question. "It's good to know the exact intention of our possible boss, you know?"

"Umu. Nothing prevents me from lying to you, and there is no known to me method to guarantee that someone is telling the truth. Do you still want me to continue?"

"Of course."

"Hoh, suit yourself. My final goal is to stop Waves from overwhelming the world by any means, be it the Spire's destruction or any other solution. If it is possible to stop them from occurring at all or reset the delay to its initial state, both outcomes are good enough as well."

"What will you do after that?" suddenly asked Kanai.

"Irrelevant. Your answer?"

"We agree," finally said Orisa with a heavy voice.

"Umu. I expected nothing less. Now, to the surface."

"Isn't it quite likely that there are hordes of Beasts waiting outside with this white knight as well?"

"I would like to see him again, umu!" Nowa was in a good mood.

When Toatre sealed the entrance, and the group stepped outside, they found the following picture - the whole field around the cave was smoking and riddled with corpses of Beasts. Four armored vehicles were parked nearby, and a mixed bag of people was lazily chatting by their side. Among them, Orisa found two familiar faces - their Captain Dippo, and an almost completely forgotten Lieutenant Reezpauzo. The latter came as a big surprise but also helped Orisa understand the source of Nowa's information on her. She wasn't even mad at all this, only surprised and slightly overwhelmed.

"According to the plan, umu," Nowa declared and walked towards the group.