Ch6

The week he'd spent waiting for the mercenary group's arrival was very fruitful, if he could say so himself. He'd found that, despite being able to read everything that's happened in the world by absorbing manna, he still found things that he could still be surprised at.

Like human emotions, for example. And this thing called psychology. And this world's common sense.

Though he couldn't remember much of anything while he was trapped in ice, and everything before that, he could tell that these very 'human' thing is vastly different from what he, as Fae, had known before.

For example, while he'd understood the basics of psychology and the reasoning behind it, he couldn't fathom how such a thing could influence people to do what they did. Like why excessive sadness could push someone to take their own life, or extreme anger could make people stronger and ignore all sorts of warning signs for the sake of venting said anger.

"Humans are pretty interesting," he'd told Charles.

The scientist just blinked at him, wondering where he was coming from.

"The first world war, why did they decide that it was the perfect time to start one when they had peace? Why cause chaos when you already have peace?" he wondered aloud, tilting his head. In his hand, a device made of glass that was displaying information on Earth's history.

"Was the balance then so precarious that a small nudge was all it took for everything to collapse? Was it premeditated, or was it unintentional? Who was the good one, in the end?"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, time out, that's a bit too much for me," Charles said, waving his hands in a gesture to halt Shaquille from continuing his line of questioning. Coughing slightly, he said, "To be honest, not all history is completely correct, as they're mostly stating facts on what's happened, so not many would have understood the reasonings behind their every move. A lot of evidence that might've hinted at how people back then think are either ineligible or destroyed completely due to the war. So to answer your questions, no one knows."

"Then why would you study history, if no one knows the exact reasonings behind it all? Isn't history studied so that mistakes don't repeat itself?" Shaquille asked curiously.

"Though that is true, isn't it true that not everyone understands what other people's thoughts are?" Sam piped in, observing the test tubes lined up neatly on a rack with various coloured liquids giving off almost no reaction to the samples she'd dropped in. "I mean, I personally don't understand why the older generation would insist that their beliefs must be followed by the younger generation, and the same could also apply to the other party."

Shaquille hummed in interest, her statement made sense. Flipping onto another page, he was about to wonder aloud about the contents, when a call connected to Charles' communication device.

"They're here," were the words the Head Researcher said once the call connected. "Head to Gate-4, they'll be waiting for you there."

"We're on our way," Charles replied before he cut off the call. Shaquille put his book down and followed Charles as he left the lab, Sam waving them off with a 'Safe trip!' before focusing back to her samples.

There were a few entry points to the Research Headquarters; the main entrance; the 10 Gates; and the emergency exits. The main entrance functions as the entrance where everyone, be it researchers, visitors, VIP people, etc, come in from. The 10 Gates are where most equipment and samples are delivered. It has a large space for large vehicles to pass by, and a separate space for them to park.

Most large vehicles that were parked there when the apocalypse started were claimed by the Research Guild to be lent to mercenaries, who're commissioned to go on the field. And of course, each and every one of those large vehicles are equipped with AI developed by the Research Guild itself, so if the mercenaries decide to desert the Research Guild for their own reasons, then the large vehicle will lock said mercenaries in and drive itself back to the Headquarters, or a Research building nearby.

And the last entry point, the emergency exits. In case of an emergency, new passages will open and create a network of pathways that leads to other research buildings that are scattered all over the world. It bypasses all sorts of security measures before the apocalypse, as all researchers could be recognized by facial structure, and in case of an unknown person traversing the pathways, said pathway will be blocked to contain said person until they're confirmed to be of no threat.

Shaquille felt that the whole idea of networking all the research buildings and connecting them all together was like a mix of an ant nest and mushroom networking, for some reason. It was quite an interesting thought, one that he would think more about when he's recovered his memories.

For now, he and Charles had arrived at Gate-4, where a group of people gathered; the mercenaries, the Fae assumed.

"Shaquille and Charles Xabel?" someone from the group asked. He seems to be briefing the group of people, so Shaquille assumes that he's the group leader. At Charles' nod of confirmation, he grinned. "Welcome to the Sharp Fang Mercenary Squad, we'll be the ones escorting you to the field. I'm the vice captain, Ted. Nice to meet ya."

"Charles Xabel, I look forward to cooperating with you," Charles said with a smile.

Mimicking Charles' smile, Shaquille introduced himself, "Shaquille. I look forward to cooperating with you."