Artificial Truths

Kan'na reached out and gathered a few pieces. Individual gears in odd shapes and patterns. Once they fell into her hands they began to crack and fall apart, crumbling to dust, "I expected as much."

"What did you figure out?"

"The devices wield Artificial Truth, like I told you. Whoever designed this place managed to recreate the effects of Truth to a incredible degree. However they're very limited in how you could utilize them. One trick. Not to say they aren't dangerous, just limited."

"Were you able to tell which Truth each one recreated?"

"The typewriter was 'Select'. The Organ was 'Sorrow'. The Gramophone was 'Insanity'. The Cube was 'Axis'. The Telegraph was 'Reality'. The Projector was 'Act'. The Polaroid Camera was 'Moment'. The Clock was 'Reset'. And finally. . ."

Kan'na picked up the doll and broke it in half with mana. A small gear inside of it fell to the ground and shattered apart, "The Doll was 'Humanity'."

Tilia massaged her temples, "I have a feeling things regarding Truth will continue to be troubling to deal with. Do we have any methods to counter?"

"In this particular case I was able to alter the outputs to be more in our favor, but without wielding a Truth of our own it will be rough."

Kan'na put a finger to her chin as she suddenly spoke a thought, "Or there might be other techniques to close the gap. Akiol's traveling west to learn from the masters over there, he might come across something."

"Is that so? So what was the chrysalises for?"

"The doll couldn't fully recreate humanity, so to be 'real' it utilized a combination of the devices to kidnap victims to siphon their humanity. Since we interrupted that the doll never became real, nor human."

"Would there be any side effects?"

"In theory no, it wasn't siphoning their humanity until the end of the fight. . . I'm a little concerned for the oldest of the victims though. Let's go check."

A quick teleport brought them to the storeroom. There Tilia witnessed the several victims no longer hanging on the ceiling. Instead they looked dazed, confused of their surroundings. Her eyes darted and she found the two she was looking for.

"Your Majesty! Thank the Gods you're alive.", Hala stumbled as she rushed to the King's side.

Gently touching his wet clothes Kayne slowly came to his senses, "Hala. . ."

Flinging magic circles about Kan'na began to perform various scans. Teleporting to Wyrell she tenderly touched his cheek. The long lost man slightly flinched at the touch, but his eyes seemed to glaze over. This caused Kan'na to grow concerned, and she began to check the other victims.

Meanwhile Tilia greeted Hala, "It's good to see you're okay. Do you remember anything?"

Hala shook her head, "No, I remember you and Kan'na conversing. Now I'm here, and so are the others."

Hesitating to speak further Hala viewed the thousands of individuals inside of the storage room, "There's a lot, but I fear it's not all the missing people."

"It's all the missing people taken by the same cause. The others. . . you can imagine."

"A shame.", Hala nodded before turning to Kayne, "Your Majesty, are you alright?"

"Yes Hala. . . just dazed."

"You've been in stasis for weeks, your mental clock is off course and it's going to take some time before it can heal.", Tilia informed.

This was a case of severe jet lag. The subconscious is aware that time had passed, but due to the effects of stasis the body wasn't giving much sign on how long it has been. Causing all the victims to be off put. Include their sudden shift in surroundings and it led to mass confusion.

Of course this excluded Hala since she hadn't been taken for too long. With her vast experience she quickly adjusted and made conclusions on her own. No matter the confusion her top priority was the King and his safety.

"Hala. . . what had happened?", Kayne was slowly gaining clarity in his eyes.

"You will be informed once you've returned. We'll have to get everyone back home. . ."

At this point Kan'na teleported next to Tilia. Immediately she spoke, "Unfortunately there is side effects. The Stasis performed by the Artificial Truth of 'Moment' is full of flaws. The consciousness of the older victims aren't quite here yet. I can't do anything to help them though, they'll need help from a Priest."

Hala nodded, "We'll arrange for a mass treatment from the Churches. You mentioned Artificial Truth?"

"We'll inform you later. What matters right now is getting everybody away from here."

"Right, send us to the courtyard. I'll have soldiers get that help from the Churches, and we'll have everybody checked by our physicians."

"That's easy enough, I'll be torching this place too.", Kan'na had a massive magic circle form underneath the feet of all present.

"What? We'll need to send people to investigate the origins of this place!"

"Unfortunately this has powers at play that I do not wish to be replicated."

"This is a matter concerning a King!"

"This is a matter concerning a Goddess.", Kan'na tapped into her authority.

"R-Right. Of course, as you wish.", Hala bit her tongue.

There was a huge flaw with the Artificial Truth. That was the incredible amount of loopholes it had. Once Kan'na had an understanding of what was happening she was easily able to manipulate the Artificial Truths to her advantage. This wasn't just because of her authority over mana and her knowledge, rather they were just that easy to access! So much so that machines could automatically operate with it! 

If by chance the method used to create the Artificial Truths was reverse engineered, then that would spell a number of trouble. Especially the 'Reality' Artificial Truth. Thus Kan'na decided to erase the place from existence and trace down the origins herself to remove the Artificial Truth.

Although she was interested in the matters of Truth, it was secondary to preventing an outbreak of overpowered abilities. Such things would only throw the world into chaos.

With a snap Kan'na teleported the thousands of victims to courtyard of Kayne's Castle. This frightened the guards and they immediately called for reinforcements. It was only when Hala's commanding voice rang throughout the courtyard did they calm.

"Do not draw your weapons! By my order you are to gather volunteers from the Churches, and any physician willing to lend a hand. The mass disappearance victims have been found and they may need treatment!", Hala's voiced echoed as it carried across the entire castle grounds with mana.

The soldiers and guards moved quickly. Dispatching groups to the Church locations in the Kingdom, and finding volunteers to help. Others built up care stations, tents with basic medical, food, and other necessities for the victims. A quarantine was put up around the castle perimeter preventing anyone from entering or leaving without proper authority.

These steps were necessary to ensure mass panic and chaos wasn't spread. Hala was the head of command and she rapidly arranged for the King to be brought to safety and prioritized in the medical exams by both physician and Priest. 

Kan'na kept a thorough look at the side effects brought by the multiple effects of Artificial Truth. As both a part of her research regarding the topic and to attempt to find a way to treat it. Tilia helped with more physical tasks, assisting the victims with movements and gently guiding them. 

In just a few hours a system was set up and treatment began through the various Priests. The gentle guiding of the subconscious of the weaker victims required a careful and experienced hand. However those who weren't suffering as much proved to be fantastic training for the newer and less experienced. 

As this became known more Priests were sent from the Churches to help with this emergency. Training Priests to learn about mental ails and their treatment, and experienced Priests for the worst conditioned.

Wyrell proved to be in the worst condition. He wasn't responsive to anything except for touch. Once anything brushed his skin he would flinch away in a subconscious reflex. Yet that was all. This was the one Kan'na paid most attention to, even her deepest scans didn't show anything wrong. 

The shock from being in such poor stasis for so long left a deep scar on Wyrell. Even a volunteered Archbishop found their treatment to be useless. So Kan'na sat by his side and gently held the hand of Wyrell, allowing mana to fill the gaps so their skin didn't touch.

The first victim of the Artificial Truths. She wondered if there was even a conscious thought in his mind.

Slowly days passed, and many of the kidnapped we sent back home. Their trips funded by the Kingdom, their relatives informed. Some of the oldest missing no longer had family or a home to return to. Their loss wasn't as easily compensated so a dedicated group was designated to handling these matters. 

Everyone except Wyrell were treated. Some victims needed scheduled treatments and were informed, while others were functional after a experienced Priest handled the matters. Considering the thousands of victims this process slowly spanned the course over a week. Tilia and Kan'na spent most of their time in A World's Legacy cleaning up the mess.

During this process Kan'na returned to the strange lab, and with a large magic circle folded it upon itself and buried it under rock. This way even if somehow it was excavated it would be basically impossible to find anything. Any item inside the rooms besides the walls were crushed into a tiny ball and stored within her subspace. Preventing anything from finding it.

Once the situation was finally under control, Tilia and Kan'na were called upon to explain what happened.