397. Etched Coins, Stolen Magic and A Vital Link – Resolution

397. Etched Coins, Stolen Magic and A Vital Link – Resolution

What Descartes 3 brought up next was the Corrupted. The Nex Megalopolis was swarming with sapient Corrupted that were easily mistaken for other races and even the Impuritas. The only way one could detect them was through ImpulseWorks’ thorough investigation, although this had proven to lead to many false positives in the past.

Enoch touched upon this.

“We have had a 200% surge of detainments just this week alone compared to the last few months. Hard to tell if they’re false positives. You would know though, Amalgam. I heard you helped a green haired thing get out.”

“That was a relative of the Green Composer. I hope you realize that.”

“It was? Sorry~ It’s not like we can tell when they’re also Blessed.” Enoch pointed out an important distinction that made it frankly near impossible to tell normal people from the Corrupted apart.

Especially those afflicted by the Piece of the Fallen Star’s power.

“... I’ll be careful.” Enoch sunk back after being met with Frost’s glare.

“Repenters alone cannot handle the Corrupted. I’ve consulted ImpulseWorks ahead of time and their Anomaly Recovery Teams are best suited. Your Moons can deal with much stronger Corrupted. The problem comes twofold. The first is detection, and the second is that there are sapient Corrupted for a lack of a better word.”

“How can you be certain that they are Corrupted but not people that appear to be Corrupted?” Frost asked.

“Aside from appearances, some showcase abnormal powers. If a brick speaks to you and there is no evidence of magical interference, then we should assume it is a Corrupted.” Descartes argued. “Admittedly, many are cosmetic changes. Sapient Corrupted, however, are something we wish to study. I find it difficult to believe that a Corrupted can have its wish granted, but here we are.”

She knew that these Corrupted existed because she was informed about Mimicry. Thankfully, Descartes did not seem to know anything beyond that. The other Beholders didn’t have much to add regarding this, so, Frost added a single condition.

“I can allow it so long as I’m also involved. If they look like me and I find that they are in your possession, then expect to be expunged from the Nexus.”

The reason being was what if they found an Alter Frost? She wanted to be the first to know what kind of other sapient Corrupted were out there thanks to the Piece of the Fallen Star.

Descartes was displeased. She accepted the condition, nevertheless as there was no other way out.

“I regret it after seeing the White Doves having their wings plucked.” Beholder E.’s liquid tubes flashed red for a split second. “We don’t know if it is Midas Company itself, or if it’s their technology that has fallen into the hands of the Impuritas. This is a major consideration to make, because it is a factor that absolutely allows them to tinker with our technologies.”

“Preposterous. The power of our Aspects can’t be stolen as it is not magic.” Knalzark begged to differ.

“But it is a ‘value’ tied to the Genesis Stones.” Galia countered. “We still haven’t understood how they were compromised in the first place. As much as I also want to believe that Midas Company has had a role in it, I can’t see it being the sole cause. My Hyperlink Relay Sites were impenetrable. The only other thing that could penetrate them is...”

Her eyes then moved onto Frost’s lips.

“The maw of the Amalgam. It would be a surprise if they had something capable of achieving a similar feat.”

“If they did, then Iscario would’ve used it on me first.” Frost argued. “They had plenty of chances to kill me when I was at my weakest. Instead, they chose to imprison me. Midas Company’s technology sounds like the largest lead we have... I don’t see how we can come to a resolution on this other than a pledge of unity.”

“We’d have to find out where these Etched Coins are being made to learn something.” Jury suggested.

“Will all due respect, if we could find them, then we already would have. Oboros Infinitas has been probing long enough. The issue is that we don’t have direct access into the Derma Layer. It’s a one-way journey for the most part. Even a Beholder would find it difficult to escape.” Knalzark said, suddenly causing Frost’s eyes to widen.

“Then what if we had a way?” She slowly asked.

“We could then establish a foothold in their territory. Invade them as they’ve done to us.” Knalzark swiftly answered. “I’ve struggled myself down there. It takes a massive machine to generate a Spatial Distortion large enough to send infrastructure beneath. Something as small as a Train Core will never allow us to achieve the same thing.”

Enoch suddenly tilted her head curiously. “Amalgam. Your eyes tell me you have an answer!”

Frost firmly nodded, and right in the center of the Council she opened a gateway into the Derma Layer. Through the warped lens of the portal one could see the corpse of a colossal heart.

The Moons and Stars stared in disbelief, for they knew exactly what that thing was.

“It’s nothing large, but this might be what you’re searching for. I can keep it open without the risk of it failing. If it does, then I can simply reopen it. The problem is that it weakens me to maintain it... we may have not arrived at a resolution or a method to deal with the immediate dangers of the Impuritas, but we do have a pipeline into their world.

Knalzark. If you allow me to devour your larger machines – then I could create a much larger link to the Derma Layer. If we’re lucky, then I may not even need to maintain it. But by then you would have already established your own link I presume.”