INTERLUDE --- 4

Where did willers come from? That was the billion dollar question that Pablo Frederick pondered as he walked in the chilly streets of Manhattan. People from different walks of life have different theories about the existence of willers.

Some scientific minds think they are the next step in human evolution but to Pablo's knowledge, willers have existed almost as long as humans.

Some also say that the ability to control will energy is a genetic disorder that is hereditary.

But Pablo's favorite theory was those that proclaimed willers were demons whose presence signaled the end of days.

It was funny how the human brain comes up with different scenarios for something it doesn't understand.

Nobody knows where willers come from, except maybe the council of elders but the immortal bastards who proclaimed themselves the first willers were very stingy with such information.

Even though humans keep trying to figure out where powers come from, very few know much about how said powers work and even fewer knew about the existence of the elders.

Since the enlightenment war between Dumba and the elders, humanity has devised a way to pretend willers don't exist among them, they found it easier to be ignore their own reality. This reasoning played right into the elders book, they were all about minimizing contact between humans and willers.

But the farce was not holding out, the rapid emergence of fresh breakouts are threatening to destabilize the truce between the two sides. Not far from where he was walking, a willer had an altercation with a police officer. The same has been happening all over the world.

Willer quantity has increased exponentially and all these events keep making Pablo's work a lot harder.

He stopped in front of a small but modern bar that was locked. He walked up to the door and knocked twice then waited, he stuffed his hand into his coat and focused his will to increase his body temperature to fight against the chilly air.

The door opened and a big muscular man stopped in front of him. "Private bar." The muttered like he had said the word a thousand times before.

Pablo refocused his his will into his eyes and they glowed. "I want to speak with Gerrard."

The man studied him for a while. Pablo wondered if he should show his badge to the man but decided against it, he wouldn't get what he wanted if he threw his weight around.

The big guy finally decided he was not a threat. For now. "Follow me."

Pablo followed the man into the dull lighted bar with at least fifteen men and women inside.

He felt a familiar trickle at the back of his neck, he knew immediately that he was been scanned by the occupants. The man led Pablo to the bar where a man in his late fiftes was cleaning glasses behind it.

"He's here to see you, Gerrard."

Gerrard looked up from the cups he was cleaning. When he laid eyes on Pablo, his lips curled in distaste. "Thanks Bruno." Bruno grumbled and left.

"You don't look too happy to see me, Gerrard."

It's never good to see people like you on a day like this."

"I am here on unofficial business, you have nothing to fear."

"Council emissaries are never on unofficial business."

The people in the room shifted uncomfortably. Pablo forced down the danger warning in his mind, these people would have to be incredibly stupid to attack an officer of the council.

He changed tactic. "Aren't you going to pour me a drink?"

Gerrard folded his arms in childlike defiance. "Do I have to?"

Pablo sighed. "You can either make this easy or difficult. Either way, I get what I want.

Gerrard stared at him stubbornly for a few seconds before caving in. He poured a clear liquid into a glass and pushed it forward.

Pablo scanned the drink with his will. He didn't think Gerrard was stupid or brave enough to poison him but he did it anyway.

"So, what can you tell me about the clusterfuck that has been going on in this city?"

Gerrard shrugged. "It is as you've already guessed, someone is trying to take over from Victor."

Pablo cocked an eyebrow at the middle aged man. "Are you sure? The events that have these occurred these past few days don't point in that direction."

"My sources say it's one of Victor's crew who is stabbing him in the back."

"What does a coup have with breakouts?"

"No idea."

Pablo had a sense that the man knew was letting on but he decided to leave it.

"What can you tell me about this crew member that is trying to take over."

"The name is Nathan Merlyn, he is in his late teens and he joined them ten months ago."

Pablo frowned at Gerrard in confusion. "A ten month breakout is responsible for this mess?"

"He is not a breakout, I saw a footage of him against King's team, he definitely knows how to handle himself."

"Where did he come from?"

"This is the tricky part, our dear Nathan doesn't seem to exist before he joined Victor's team."

Pablo took his first sip of his drink while of the situation.

"It is not like the council to care about things like this as long as no humans get hurt."

"I already told you, I am not on official site."

Gerrard grunted as if to say 'You are not fooling me kid.'

"Is there anything you can tell me, any information would be useful."

Gerrard leaned forward. "Something big went down at Victor's club today. I heard the kid decided to storm the castle."

"Any idea who won?"

"Still too early to say."

Pablo sighed, this was even bigger than he thought, even if Victor won, he would be too weak to defend his territory from outsiders who would see this as an opportunity to take it from him. With the war going in China, the last thing the council need is a territory war in one of the biggest city in the world.

"You can feel it too, can't you?" Gerrard asked as he refilled his glass.

"Feel what?"

"Like something big is coming, I can feel it in my bones, like events before a big storm."

Pablo said nothing but he took another sip of his drink, he couldn't disagree with the man. A big was coming and it is his job to stop it.