Chapter-11 : New beginning
24.6.19
2 Months into the game
Arthur Gulliver Walsh~
Arthur alighted from his car and walked down the stairs to his bunker. It was a structure built around fifty feet underground, all from the fortune that Arthur had accumulated throughout his life. His footsteps echoed in the small tunnel that followed the staircase. It was a two minute walk from where the stairs ended to the the entrance to the bunker's storage area.
An attendant greeted him as he neared the door. Arthur acknowledged him with a nod, and turned the wheel of the reinforced door.
He stepped inside, and a sense of power flooded through him. The massive storage room, once designed to store grains, was now filled to the brim with assault rifles and ammunition.
"Sir, the rest will be delivered to you within this month." a man spoke out behind him.
Arthur turned around to find his right hand man standing before him, which was a weird thing to say since William Thane didn't actually have a right hand anymore.
"Ah, William, how's the arm. "
"It's healing."
"Its truly a shame to have you out of action. You were, and are, my best. You know, I'm looking for the best Healers out there. But none so far have shown the capabilities to restore a lost limb."
" You have my gratitude for that, but you really don't need to."
" I do, William, you are needed for the plan."
" I see."
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Thomas~
Thomas woke up slowly. He first began to feel things around him. The fabric of the bed he was sleeping in. The weight of a blanket on him. Next came the sound of people talking. It took him a whole minute after that to finally open his eyes.
Jake was sitting on a chair to his left, playing chess with someone he didn't recognize. When he turned his head towards them ,Jake noticed him immediately.
" Look who finally decided to wake up."
Thomas tried to sit up , and despite the glucose drips in his hand and not having moved for who knows how long, it was surprisingly easy.
"What day is it?"
''24th of June, around 2 months since you, you know, murdered a poor snake."
Thomas raised his eyebrows, and soon burst into a grin. "Yeah, how will I live with myself? Could you call the doctor?"
The man playing chess had already stood up and was beginning to take off Thomas's drip. "That's me."
Thomas nodded and then looked back at Jake. He had known him for barely a day before passing out, but he felt comforted by his presence, like one feels with their brothers. "Thanks for staying."
"I can't leave a guild member just like that, can I?"
Thomas looked at him in disbelief as the meaning of the words dawned upon him. "Oh you didn't."
"I did. We didn't decide upon a name yet, since we need to have 10,000 collective points to keep one."
"Damn man."
"Yep . Also , we couldn't exactly add you into the guild, since you were unconscious, so I just sent you an invite on your terminal. Accept when you feel like it."
"Sure." Thomas turned towards his doctor. "Hey, aren't you kind of surprised?"
"No, why should I be?" said the doctor, confused.
"Maybe because I just woke up from a coma."
The doctor chuckled. He was young, not more than a decade older than Thomas. "You weren't in a coma. We have a girl with a healing power here. The only condition is that she makes you sleep for a long time. Your wounds were severe so you took so long to wake up."
"Oh," Thomas turned towards Jake again. "Where's Jess?"
"She's busy. Because of your win, we got quite a few members, and also a contract from UGARP."
"Contract?"
"We help them maintain order and they pay us a hefty salary."
"So you're telling me, that I became a member of a guild and got employed just by sleeping for two months?" Thomas said sarcastically.
"You sure did buddy," Jake said with a grin on his face. "Although I think it's because of your endeavors before going to sleep."
"Alright," the doctor said, interrupting them. "We'll just do some tests, and you will be good to go."
"Thanks doc' ", replied Thomas.
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A few hours later Thomas had been discharged. He stood outside the hospital gates, the evening sun reflecting on the glass doors. Jake was still inside, finishing up some paperwork. Because of his employment under UGARP, all expenses were covered by the government.
"All right." uttered Jake as he walked out the doors.
Thomas turned to face him. "So, what's next."
"Next...", said Jake, straightening the cuffs of his shirt. "Next we go to our office."
"Office?"
"Did you forget that you got employed while sleeping? You gotta work for those wages, man."
"What are we doing anyway?"
Jake cleared his throat before speaking. "We'll be, and I quote, " subduing and recruiting rogue guilds and solving cases regarding illegal uses of Power." "
Thomas raised his eyebrows. "Woah! Who are you even quoting?"
"Our Commanding Officer?"
"Alright hold on..." Thomas said exasperated. " Wha....are we in the military or something?"
"Lets just catch a ride, I'll explain on the way. This will be a handful of information."
They stopped a taxi, and Jake gave the driver the location. On the way, Jake explained to him the working of the Special Division.
Their guild was registered as Guild no. 3, Area 5, Sub-division 120, Special Division 13. Once they got big enough, they could choose a name, but they currently stood at a mere eleven members, with the Leader being Jake. For now, according to the terminal, they were Unnamed Guild 289914.
Their office was connected to a call center, from where they would receive requests and be dispatched to deal with incidents caused by illegal uses of Powers.
" Wait, so they imposed restrictions on uses of Powers?"
"Well, that's the government for you."
Thomas scoffed weakly. "I fear I'm gonna side with The Anarchists one day.", he blurted out before he could think about what he was saying, but the meaning of the statement dawned upon him soon enough, and he shook his head, suddenly becoming quiet.
'What am I even saying?!' he thought. 'Those people are the root of all problems. All MY problems, at least.'
William Thane's face flashed in his mind, and his eyes turned yellow involuntarily. He heard Jake say "We're here." The car stopped, but he was still lost in thought.
"We're here!" Jake repeated louder.
Thomas shook his head. "Sorry."
The Office building was huge, probably a renovated fire station.
When they entered the building, Thomas quickly realized that the weren't the only guild operating from that station. The place was buzzing with activity. People were being dispatched, people were coming in after dealing with incidents, and orders were being given here and there. Jake beckoned him into a large room, where he saw a familiar face. Jess.
The walls of the room were lined with rifles, pistol, machetes and some bulletproof vests. There were tables and chairs arranged in the far left corner in a U shape.
There were five people in the room. Jess stood a few meters away from the table, adoring the machetes, completely oblivious to the presence of Thomas and Jake.
"Umm...hey?" said Thomas, feeling weirdly unsure of himself.
"Oh! Hi!" replied Jess loudly, suddenly startled.
"You like swords?" said Thomas, trying to make small talk.
"Not exactly, but they work well with my Super Speed. "
One older man stood up and approached him, and offered a handshake. "Nice to meet you Mr. Alinac."
Thomas shook his hand. "Likewise. Uh.. do I know you?"
"Ahhhh...", the man said, " I assumed you were told. My apologies, I assume a lot. That must have been awkward." He was now grinning slightly. "I'm Colonel Richard Roberts. You can call me Richie. I'll be overseeing your guild. "
" I see, I hope we can make good acquaintances. " Thomas was surprised by the confidence with which he managed to say it.
"C'mon." said Jake, ushering him onwards. "Let me introduce you to everyone."
There was Roddy, a thirteen year-old boy , talkative , cheerful and very excited to meet Thomas. He was the youngest in the group, and barely met the age requirement to be part of the Special Division. His Power allowed him to make plants grow out of solid surfaces.
There was Enrique, who was more than fifty years old and yet the only signs of ageing on him were his slightly greying hair. The man smiled like the world had no sorrows, but his eyes bespoke the he'd seen his fair share of the world's unkindness. His Power allowed him to reinforce parts of his body, making it extremely hard to hurt him in any form. He spoke kindly, and Thomas couldn't help but feel a certain kind of respect towards him, the one that's earned in return for generosity.
Then there was Vanessa, competitive, confident , bold , and the first to actually ask Thomas about his fight with the snake. When Thomas replied vaguely, she pushed him further until she got every drop of detail out of him. Her Power allowed her to summon a giant needle that could, in Vanessa's own words, "pierce anything you could dream of." The exact nature of that power, they were still discovering.
And next comes Robin. She had a flirtatious, playful nature. When Thomas asked her what her Power was, she replied, "Showing you will be much faster ,honey."
She stretched out her palm, and pointed it towards Enrique. A muzzle came out of the center of her palm, it's ends morphing with the skin. A bullet shot out and hit him on the back of the head, but because of his reinforcement Power, it bounced off, producing a soft clang.
"Not again, niña!" he complained. Robin broke into a grin, while Roddy burst out laughing.
Thomas couldn't help but smile too. From what Jake had told him, these people had been together for only ten days, but there was a comforting warmth about them.