53 The Birds

Joshua had monitored the whole sequence of events with Luna, who kept reporting everything that Catherine was undergoing. He was so stunned by the extreme success of the operation, he almost fell over when she embraced him and clumsily took a step backward. He quickly stabilized himself and hugged her back. He let go after a few seconds though, as a part of his body seemed to react a bit too enthusiastically about the situation.

"Ahem", he coughed, "Well, congratulations on your advancement! Hmm, is it just me or have you become more beautiful?"

This cheesy charming attempt was unfortunately quickly burned to the ground as a voice resonated in both their minds.

[Negative, while User Catherine's body has undergone a physical evolution, her physical appearance remains unchanged.]

They stared at each other blankly for a few seconds hearing this before Catherine burst out laughing while Joshua became all red and yelled: "Shut up, Luna! I wasn't asking you!" This caused Catherine to laugh even harder and Joshua eventually joined in.

Eventually, they calmed down and debriefed the situation.

"Anyway, considering the nature of that seal, I'm not too surprised your body managed to progress but I wasn't expecting your soul to rank up as well."

"It's thanks to Damien, not only did the fragments he gave me allowed me to spare a lot of time, his soul world was similar to mine so it gave me a good base of inspiration."

"I see, makes sense."

Part of him was a bit worried about Catherine progressing her world too far, although after consideration, even if she learned about the true nature of energy, her world wouldn't need a drastic rework like his. As long as it was done carefully, he could help her alter some parts if necessary. Of course, he had to complete his soul world redesign first.

"So," Catherine started, "unless you have something to add, I'll start removing the seal in our friends."

"I suppose that's the most logical thing to do, although…"

A doubt crossed his mind. He still wanted to erase the existence of this seal from the world, starting with their party members. Yet, seeing the effect on Catherine, he couldn't help but feel there might be a risk attached to it. He remembered the tale of Easa, how in the end, everyone had become a powerhouse. The day all hell broke loose, it led to the country's destruction. Yes, he needed to take some precautions.

"Can you wait for a bit? I would like to monitor the state of someone whose seal has been freshly removed, just to make sure there are no side-effects."

This was mostly true, although he had another idea on the back of his mind.

"Nah, it should be fine by tomorrow morning."

"Very well then," she replied.

"OK, I'll get to work," he said and vanished.

Joshua entered his rune lab as he wanted to prepare something by the next morning. However, as he entered, he saw something he had almost forgotten: the cog wrapped in chains. Diana had given him the key to that memory, he could, therefore, see what was inside of it. He contacted Catherine and she immediately joined him.

"Do you have any idea what's in there?" she asked.

"Well, it should be something I've forgotten, and since I can't remember it, no I don't," he replied, smiling.

"Fair point," she grinned.

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"To be honest, I'm a bit scared to find out. Do you mind looking inside along with me?"

"Not at all. Let's do it."

They sat down at the table inside the lab. Joshua picked up the cog and placed it on the table. He put the key in the lock and the chain vanished immediately. They both placed their hands on the gear.

"Ready?" she asked him.

Joshua nodded and activated the cog. Without delay, they both entered the memory it contained.

And thus began the true tale of the last day of Joshua's life.

They appeared inside a forest. Joshua recognized it immediately, as it was the place he used to take his daily walks. Since it was his memory, he was able to identify when it took place as well. He looked over and indeed, in the distance, he saw himself happily taking a stroll.

"This is… the day I died," he told Catherine, "I was walking through the forest as usual and suddenly, I was hit by lightning."

Catherine nodded while remaining silent.

However, the Joshua in the sequence passed by the point he should have been hit and happily continued his walk.

"Hu?" Joshua was confused. He clearly remembered dying there and yet… seeing this memory, he also clearly remembered walking through the forest without any trouble. The two memories were overlapping which didn't make much sense. Of course, this new memory was hidden behind a lock in his mind. Something he had forgotten? He was beginning to think it was something he was made to forget. He didn't know why but he was clacking his teeth. He unconsciously grabbed Catherine's hand and held on to it very tightly.

"Something's not right here and frankly, I'm terrified," he told her.

"Do you want to stop for now?"

"No, I have to get to the bottom of this. I'm done running like a fool."

They followed the other Joshua from a distance until they reached the familiar old shack. A figure was apparently waiting for him there. As they were currently mere spectators, the only thing to do was to watch the upcoming tragedy unfold.

###

Joshua was in a good mood. The development of Luna was coming to an end and the release was scheduled for the following year. As its inventor, he had the honor to be the first human equipped with the chip and had been using it to scan about everything he came across. He was happily executing a few silly dance moves when he noticed someone was near the shack. Immediately, he straightened his position. His eyes went wide as he recognized who it was.

"Good day! It's been a while since we saw each other, but I've heard you've been doing pretty well for yourself!" the old man said, greeting him with a smile.

"You…" Joshua got tears in his eyes as he recognized his old friend. He ran up to him and gave him a hug. The old man gave him a pat on his back in reply.

It was a strange thing, he had only met this man once before, nearly fifteen years ago. And despite that, he had never felt closer to anyone than him. A moment later, they went inside the shack and had a long talk. They shared many stories together, some funny, some sad. Time flew by and soon, dusk was nearing.

"We should probably head back for now. How about we go to dine somewhere?" the old man said.

"Sure thing, I'm actually pretty hungry!" Joshua replied as they exited the place.

Joshua looked up to the sky, it was indeed getting dark.

'Hmm, there is an unusual amount of birds around here today. Maybe they're migrating?'

He didn't know why but he was feeling uneasy.

"Let's go before it's totally dark!" he said.

His friend smiled and followed him. As they walked they kept hearing more and more birds cawing.

'This is kind of creepy, where are all those crows coming from?'

-Because, of course, they were crows.-

Without warning, a couple of birds dived at them. Joshua let out a 'waaaah' as he covered his head with his arms. He screamed out of fear and pain as he felt claws scratching his skin and even a beak poking him. The old man wasn't fairing much better as he had ducked to protect himself as the birds were attacking him.

"What the hell?!" he yelled while removing the backpack he was carrying, he was always keeping a laptop on hand. He began waving it around him as a weapon and even hit a crow that was attacking his friend. This caused the birds to momentary retreat. He helped the old man stand and they both ran for it. Already, they heard the birds chasing them.

'In what sort of Hitchcock movie did we just walked into? Luna, get us out of here!' he ordered.

This version of Luna didn't possess the radar function Joshua had later added in his soul world, however, it was connected to a satellite used for the GPS function. Luna used it to survey the area and began giving them directions and warning him of incoming attacks. Thanks to that, they slowly made their way toward the exit of the forest. Furthermore, Luna was programmed to contact emergency services if its user was in any form of danger. Streaming footage straight from Joshua's eyes, the local police department was notified. If the situation wasn't so dire, Joshua probably would have paid good money to see the reaction of the police department regarding a crazy bird attack.

Unfortunately, the number of birds was multiplying like crazy. As they were nearing the entrance of the forest, they realized they weren't out of the woods yet. A whole murder of crows was waiting for them, blocking their path. Joshua slowed down and looked at his friend. Age was catching up to him and he couldn't run much further. He was already several meters behind Joshua.

"Don't worry about me, Joshua. Get out of here!"

"You know I can't do that!"

Joshua watched in horror as a group of crows were about to strike the old man from behind. He didn't have time to duck. However, to Joshua's relief, they ignored him. Instead, they were charging straight at Joshua.

"Whaaaaaaaa!" he yelled as he ducked, barely avoiding the charge.

'They're after me?'

Indeed, now that there was some distance between them, the crows were ignoring his friend. Seeing this, he ran further away from him and as he expected, they followed him.

"I don't know what I did to Alfred, but they're after me. Help should be here soon, just stay down and they'll ignore you. I'll find refuge in the shack!" he yelled at his friend as he was running.

Thus, he ran in the opposite direction. By the time the shack entered his field of vision, his body was full of scratch wounds. He had been running for a while so his speed had dropped and even with Luna's help, it became more difficult to dodge the birds' assault. Using his last strength, he sprinted until he reached the door and slammed it shut after entering the place. The only light in the place was a small window which he quickly covered with the shelf, as he saw crows were already trying to break the glass. He also blocked the door with a chair. Only then did he feel a bit at ease.

Joshua felt extremely tired, fell on his butt and took a few deep breaths. He kept an eye on the outside via Luna's footage. The place was being swarmed by crows. He heard glass shatter as the birds broke through the window and saw the shelf tremble. Actually, the whole building was trembling as the crows were relentlessly slamming into it.

Unsurprisingly, Joshua was terrified. This whole situation made no sense at all. At least they left his friend alone, but he was becoming more skeptical about surviving until help arrived. And he would be proven right. It didn't take long for cracks to appear on the wooden door and on the shelf. The strength those birds were deploying was ridiculous. He had no way out, no matter how much he thought about it. Well… Actually, there was one thing he could do.

Soon, a few holes were formed in the door by the repeated bird attacks. One by one, they stormed into the place, surrounding Joshua on all sides.

'This is it, hu. Well, Luna's in good hands. I did my part to help the human machinery forward at least.'

As the crows stormed him, he executed his last plan. And then? Darkness.

At least, that's what he thought. Instead, he found himself floating in the air. He opened his eyes and saw he was still inside the shack. However, he was no longer in his body. He looked downward, the crows were busy devouring his corpse.

'Good thing I didn't feel any of that. So ghosts are actually a thing? Maybe I should go haunt a dictator or two.'

Joshua had overwritten Luna's security protocol and created a short circuit of the chip inside his brain, killing him instantly. Of course, only Joshua was capable of something like that, normally a maneuver like this was impossible. Still, Joshua chose to die instantly rather than to be eaten alive by a bunch of crazy birds.

The crows kept pecking at his corpse for a few minutes. When they were done, his body was in a sorry state. The crows exited the place, leaving him alone. Finally, although a bit too late. He suddenly heard some gunfire. The police had finally arrived and shot several rounds, scaring the birds away. A couple of them entered the shack. They were all wearing a helmet and some body armor. When they saw the state he was in, they all gasped. One of them even vomited. His corpse was soon covered with a drape.

A few minutes later, his friend entered the place, sat next to him and cried for a long time. This made Joshua happy in a certain way. Apart from his family, not many people would cry over his disappearance yet someone he genuinely cared about did.

While looking around, he overheard two middle-aged agents talking.

"A report just came in. A massive flock of crows was seen flying away from the city. We lost track of them."

"Jesus, man I've never seen a case like this. What do we do in such a case?"

"We've sent out a warning through all the official channels. If they've struck once, they might attack again. Ideally, we find the flock and eliminate them."

"I dunno, buddy. We've been partners for over twenty years, and I tell you. This must be the work of the Devil!"

"The Devil huh? Maybe, but what would he want with me?" Joshua said out loud.

"I'm no Devil, merely a God," he heard a voice say behind him.

Joshua's expression froze and he slowly turned around. A massive black bird was standing there, observing him.

"Good Day, Lockman," the bird said.

Joshua took a few steps back. He didn't know what this thing was, but it was clear it was related to his death. He thought of running, but it's not like he had anywhere to escape to.

"You know, I'm not an expert in socializing, but even I know you usually greet someone before murdering them, not afterward."

The crow cackled in response.

"I suppose that's a fair point. Our partnership might have started on the wrong turn. My apologies."

"I'm not a vulgar person, but you know where you can shove that apology of yours?"

"Things didn't go as planned. You pulled quite a stunt there. Such a waste."

"Me pulling a stunt? Is this some kind of joke?"

"Not at all, you're the kind of person I need. I spent quite a lot of resources locating someone like you and even more traveling to this world."

"All of that to murder me? What did I do to you to piss you off like that?"

"I told you, I'm a God. More precisely, a God of Knowledge. And I'm not angry at you. I'm always looking for exceptional individuals. They are far too few of them. While painful for the target, devouring someone alive allows me to acquire their memories. You wouldn't have really died though, I would have turned you into a core to be part of me."

"Alive? You mean…?"

"Yes, by killing yourself like that, the process failed. Worse, you caused irreparable damage to your brain, it's unusable!"

Joshua grinned.

"I'm not sure what you mean by turning me into a core, but seriously, I'm glad you failed. Who the hell do you think you are?"

The crow shook his head.

"Your insolence doesn't matter. I've already invested too much into you. You will work for me willingly in the end. It's a longer process, but I will refine your soul into a core. I'm sure someone of your talent will be glad to meet the other cores."

A black aura surrounded the crow. Before he could react, it was launched at Joshua, and wrapped itself around him.

"Let me go, you birdbrain!"

The crow ignored him and opened some sort of portal behind him and went through it, dragging Joshua along with him. Ignoring his protests, he continued talking.

"You have a lot of potential, but your soul is currently too weak to be of any use. I will place you into a soul-feeding room. You will remain there until you have grown powerful enough to be worthy of me. Do not worry, the process is painless and will be extremely beneficial to you."

"You think I'm just gonna accept to work for you after what you've done?"

"I suppose you won't. I will alter your memories of today's event. I told you, in the end, you will work for me willingly."

A feather detached itself from the crow's body and planted itself between Joshua's eyes. It appeared he was losing conscience as the memory became blurry before disappearing completely.

###

Catherine and Joshua remained quiet during the whole scene, acting as the spectators they were meant to be. Still, as the scene went on and Joshua progressively remembered the true events leading to his death, he trembled more and more. Catherine wrapped her arms around his waist, hugging him from behind, which calmed him a bit. They waited patiently for the show to end. Finally, they found themselves back in the rune lab. Joshua was still trembling and buried his face in his hands. Catherine waited for him to say something.

A few moments later, Joshua put himself straight and looked at her. He was grinning, although it felt more like a self-reassuring thing.