Chapter 157 - EVO

Chapter 157 - EVO

***Tirnanog, Thich Fortress City***

***Magnus***

The Thich guard ran down the street towards me, screaming for me to stop. For the last ten minutes, they had been tracking me by smell or some other sense. I had no clue how. Worst case, they had some stupid psychic ability which allowed them to follow the path I took no matter where I went.

Whatever they did, it was bullshit overpowered and I was getting tired.

“Curse Gunnar and his stupid plans!” I lamented, hissing as I flash-stepped five times in a row.

Carrying a dead body while doing so wasn’t easy and it made my muscles burn. The spacial distortion field which allowed me to ignore air resistance had some restrictions in size and shape, meaning carrying an unshapely mass as large as myself went with exponentially more effort. And a dead body was an excellent example.

I just hoped Gunnar wouldn’t get too used to me coming running whenever he used the UI to call for help. He was already giving me the feeling that he was using this option much too liberally.

My final flash step brought me onto the roof of one of those living cubicles which looked like the fever dream of an architect from the eighties. Though on second thought, there must have been some serious drug usage at play. Otherwise, I couldn’t imagine how someone could cobble together a setup as disturbing as Thich City.

Dropping the body, I ducked and turned around while narrowing my eyes to prevent the faint glow which was emanating from them to give away my position. It was night and I had skipped approximately fifty metres ahead of the guard, hoping it would be enough to throw them off my trail.

While I watched what they would do, I reached for the axe at my side, firmly intending to dispose of two bodies tonight if I had to. The stupid guard had been on my tail ever since I left the living compound where Gunnar deposited the body whose identity he stole for his next excursion.

Of course, I ran as soon as I left the compound and realized a guard was coming my way. They kept following me with uncanny precision ever since. They just didn’t know when to give up.

The guard ran to the spot where I had been running down the street just moments ago and stopped. For a moment, they looked confused while they surveyed the street. Then the guard made a decision and kept running straight ahead and around the corner of the closest alleyway. A few seconds later they returned and tried it with another side-alley.

I let out a breath of relief and turned to pick up the body which Gunnar wanted me to dispose of. I had it wrapped in a carpet for easy transportation and to not look all too suspicious while carrying around a dead body.

Turning around, I watched the guard for a few more moments to make sure they were just trying random streets to pick up my trail once more. Thankfully, it looked like flash-step threw them off their game.

With the body back on my shoulders, I used Second Sight to check the area for potential witnesses before I flash-stepped to the next roof. It was a blessing that most people tended to stay indoors at night even if the city was supposedly safe.

Despite the short distance, it took me a good hour to sneak the body out of the city where I disposed of it in one of the many crevices which scoured the rocky landscape. It wasn’t a perfect solution, but I doubted it would be found all too quickly. My solution just had to suffice for a few days and it would be fine.

Once I was done, I returned to the Caravaners with haste.

I could have jaunted the body out, having it gone in a second, but that would have taken even more energy out of me. It was power which I didn’t want to waste in case our cover was blown.

“Then there was a miscommunication. Though she talked to me at first, she isn’t answering my messages now,” elder Casey replied, sounding slightly miffed. “So I decided to send you after her to clear this up. I figure your ‘dream ability’ will not allow her to turn a deaf ear to you.”

“So what’s the problem?” I asked, getting tired of hedging around the core of the matter.

“Gaia began chatting with all our churchgoers and is giving them relationship advice,” Casey grumbled. “As soon as they enter a place of worship, they get bombarded with all those suggestive messages! It’s creating a ruckus, which we don’t need at the moment!”

My expression went blank and my attention slipped away from Constella’s wriggling body, allowing her to slip from my arms. It was fine though, since I caught her with my billowing filaments and wrapped her up tight so she wouldn’t get up to mischief while I was distracted.

“She did what?” Why would she begin messaging random people? The last time we spoke at length, she didn’t want to have anything to do with the general population.

“She is giving our faithful relationship advice once they visit one of our shrines!” Casey clarified the problem.

I gaped at the elder. “She is some unknowable energy entity. Aside from choosing a female name and form in our dreams, she doesn’t even have a gender as far as I am aware. Nor is she interested in such things. How, for all that is holy, can someone like her give relationship advice? She is like some shut-in who experienced human lives from an outsider’s perspective!”

However that wasn’t the true problem. “No! Forget all that. What shocks me more is that people are listening to her! Didn’t they climb on the barricades as soon as the first ‘suggestions’ inevitably went down the drain?”

Casey looked slightly embarrassed. “To be clear, she isn’t giving that kind of advice. Nothing concerning personality, or life experience, or even whether one person would like the other.”

“So what kind of advice is she giving then?” I asked, becoming slightly confused.

The elder waved her hand. “You know... compatibility stuff. Who is the most likely to successfully partner up with who and have babies? She just lists off potential matches with a high likelihood of success.”

I stared at the elder with a blank expression. “While having a near-omnipotent entity like Gaia looking into such a topic may be embarrassing for some, I don’t see how that is a bad thing. Gaia may be the best-suited entity in existence to advise on that particular topic. Now I don’t understand the problem.”

The elder’s gaze swept to the three children hanging off of me before her attention returned to me. “While that may be true, I don’t want our chapels to turn into dating sites! The Church of Gaia is more than who can with who! We are about enlightenment and bringing out the best in people.”

I pursed my lips. “I see the problem and I promise I will talk to her as soon as I fall asleep. Though, I have no idea how to sell this to her.”

Casey brought out a sheet of paper. “I am not only here to complain. I am not blinded enough to deny how much good Gaia could do with this as long as don’t find a way to switch off the nanites. Everyone knows we need to increase the birth rate. Here are a few suggestions on how to manage the situation. Mainly by shifting her ‘service’ to dedicated localities or times so that other worshippers aren’t bothered by those who are searching for a partner.”

“Bothered?” I asked.

“Bothered!” Casey emphasized with a meaningful glance at the kids.

Oh boy! What had been going on in those chapels for Casey to be so upset? I could only imagine the kind of discussion I would have with Gaia.