Mistrunner 3 - Chapter 54 - Evolution (Patreon)

I sometimes wonder how I can be with someone who can do the things Mira has done. Aside from the morality of killing literal millions of people, I often look at her and see someone that’s so far above me – at least in terms of power – that we’re barely even the same species.

Patrick Ward

I stared at the notification, wondering how I was supposed to react. On the one hand, I was excited about the possibility of evolving my class. Becoming a real {Mistrunner} had changed everything, instantly giving me far more power than I’d ever thought possible. And since then, I’d only grown stronger. So, it stood to reason that I would experience a similar increase when I chose to evolve the class.

But on the other hand, the weight of my actions was overwhelming. I had killed millions. Before, I had suspected as much, and the number of levels I’d gained supported that suspicion. Despite my lack of guilt – we were at war, and they were enemies – there was no way I could uncaringly kill so many people. Even if they were androids who depended on a central hive mind, they were still distinct enough that, under the strictest definition, they were at least close to being designated as people. Certainly, Alistaris seemed to think of them in that way.

And I had killed millions.

Sighing, I pushed those thoughts aside. I couldn’t allow myself to get tangled in the resulting emotions. So, after sequestering them in the back of my mind, I moved on to the choices laid out before me.

The first was {Wraith}, which had the following description:

{Wraith} – You flit from one shadow to the next, bringing desolation in your wake. Requirements: [Combat] (Tier 5), [Fieldcraft] (Tier 5), [Infiltration] (Tier 5), Kill Count: >1,000,000. Abilities Granted: Silence, Invisibility, Domineering Presence, Genocide

Upon reading the name, I got a little choked up. That was what they’d called my uncle. The Wraith. A legendary fighter, feared all across the world. And the class clearly lived up to that description. I wasn’t certain as to the effects of the abilities granted, but from the names and the class’s requirements, I felt sure that they would be powerful.

However, the kill count and the name of the final ability left me a little wary. I knew I was on the verge of fighting a war, and like any war, there would be plenty of death to go around. If I wanted to win – or at the very least, make the aliens pay a steep cost for victory – I would have to kill thousands. Maybe millions. So, Genocide seemed appropriate for my circumstances.

Still, I couldn’t divorce the word from the negative connotations. Genocide implied the death of innocents. Combatants, too. In fact, it was characterized by the death of an entire population. And while I’d killed millions of Pacificians, I hadn’t really meant to do so. My intention was to simply cut the androids off from their hive mind. That they’d died was an unintended consequence of my actions.

Besides, I still wasn’t entirely certain where the Pacificians sat in regard to whether or not they were people. They seemed like they were, but that didn’t mean anything. At best, they were person-like.

Or maybe I was just clinging to that so I could excuse my actions.

In any case, I moved on to the next choice:

{Hacker} – You have spent countless hours perfecting your ability to Misthack, infiltrating thousands of systems and felling hundreds of enemies through the use of Ghosts. Requirements: [Mistrunning] (Tier 5), [Infiltration] (Tier 5). Abilities Granted: Hack (replaces Misthack), Overwhelm, Inflict Error

I frowned. The class, though seemingly powerful – I was especially interested in an evolution of Misthack and whatever benefits that would bring – was a bit of disappointment. It said nothing about my any of my other skills, which suggested that it was probably much more focused than my current class.

And given that I was on the verge of fighting a war, it felt a little shortsighted to disregard any potential weapon, even if the specialization might make Misthack much more powerful.

So, I pushed it aside and looked at the next class evolution:

{Devastator} – You are a peerless combatant, developing a wide array of skills devoted to battle. Requirements: [Combat] (Tier 5), [Fieldcraft] (Tier 4), [Demolition] (Tier 5). Abilities Granted: Conjure Weapon, Fortify Position, Entrench, Devastate

“That’s more like it,” I said. I certainly liked the sound of those abilities, and {Devastator} definitely looked like the sort of class I’d need to inflict maximum carnage on my enemies. However, it was held back by the lack of focus on my [Mistrunning] abilities. Sure – they wouldn’t just disappear, but if possible, I wanted something that could take advantage of all my skills.

So, I moved on to the fourth option:

{Hidden Blade} – You are a killer. A blade in the dark. A weapon meant to destroy anything your way. You will use any available method to accomplish your goals. Requirements: Kill Count < 7,000,000. [Combat] (Tier 5), [Demolition] (Tier 5), [Mistrunning] (Tier 5), [Infiltration] (Tier 5), [Fieldcraft] (Tier 5). Abilities Granted: Attrition, Infusion of Mist, Overwhelm

Upon reading the requirements, I couldn’t help but let out a gasp. For one, the fact that the system granted me credit for killing more than seven million people was quite a shock, and I certainly wasn’t sure how to feel about it. Pushing past that, the skill requirements were intimidating. That I’d met them was both frightening and, if I was honest with myself, a little gratifying. I’d worked incredibly hard to progress my skills, and to see it rewarded gave me a sense of accomplishment.

{Mist Warden} – You are a defender. An avenger. A vengeful avatar who will protect your home using any means necessary. Requirements: Kill Count < 5,000,000 in defense of your home.  Tier-7 Nexus Implant. [Combat] (Tier 5), [Fieldcraft] (Tier 5), [Infiltration] (Tier 5), [Mistrunning] (Tier 5), [Demolition] (Tier 5), [Cybernetic Mastery] (Tier 5). Abilities Granted: Orbital Strike, Planetary Defense, Mist Deprivation

My jaw dropped at those requirements, and an audible gasp escaped from between my lips when I read the abilities the class would grant. The only reason I didn’t immediately select {Mist Warden} was because of the class’s description. Avenger, I understood. Vengeful avatar made sense, too. But I’d never really been a defender.

Except maybe I was.

Perhaps my commitment to the coming war was why I had been given the opportunity to select a class that looked incredibly powerful.

I sighed. Did I even need to go through the pros and cons of each option when the final choice seemed to be head and shoulders above the rest? Probably not. But I chose to do so anyway, going back and forth as I considered the potential strengths and weaknesses of each class. Most of it was conjecture, though, and at the end of the day, I made the only choice that made sense.

You have chosen the class, {Mist Warden}.

Merging skills: [Combat], [Demolition], and [Fieldcraft], resulting in [Warfare]. Disengage, Double Jump, Stabilize, Mend lost. All other abilities associated with merged skills maintained or evolved.

Merging skills: [Infiltration], [Mistrunning], resulting in [Espionage] . Skeleton Key, Rewind, Bluff, True Sight lost. All other abilities associated with merged skills maintained or evolved.

Evolving Skill: [Acrobatics] into [Combat Maneuvers].

Evolving Skill: [Cybernetic Mastery] into [Mist Infused Body]

I didn’t know how to react to the transformation. Sure, I’d expected something like what had happened, but in no way, shape, or form had I anticipated that my seven skills would merge into three. Suddenly, I had four open slots, which meant I needed to head to the Bazaar sooner rather than later.

Before that, though, I needed to catalogue the changes. First, I’d lost a few useful abilities. Disengage was one I’d used sparingly, but I didn’t like the loss of Double Jump. And the sudden disappearance of Mend and Stabilize would definitely hurt. I didn’t use the abilities that often, largely because they were both very situational, but if the appropriate situations were to come, I would definitely feel the lack.

As for the ones I’d lost when [Infiltration] and [Mistrunning] merged into [Espionage], I was a little less disappointed. I could count on one hand the number of times I’d used any of the four, and Skeleton Key had never actually seen use. It wasn’t that the ability wasn’t useful, but rather that I always preferred to use Misthack or Mistwalk to bypass any system’s defenses. Anything else would be a wasted opportunity for training.

“What are you doing?” came Caden’s voice.

“Nothing. Shut up,” I said, opening my status.

It was much as I’d expected, though I was a little surprised to see that many of my modifiers had been combined. I fiddled with it a little, and I saw that I could expand those categories to see the individual effects. However, I didn’t feel the need to micromanage things to that degree, so I left the cleaner display as the default.

As I’d expected, after I opened my status, a familiar warning flashed across my HUD:

Warning: You have recently lost four (4) skills. Replace them withing sixty-two (62) days (Planet 2341-M Standard Time) or you will forfeit any attributes exceeding your new, lower potential.

That wouldn’t be the huge loss that it was the first time I had seen that message. Still, I wanted to avoid it if possible, which highlighted my need to visit the Bazaar as soon as possible. For now, though, I focused on my new skill trees, starting with the one associated with [Warfare]:

Like the modifiers I saw on my status, the new tree looked a lot simpler than before. Instead of enhancing specific abilities or facets of my skills, the new modifiers granted broad increases. And they weren’t weak, either. If I managed to progress all the way to Tier-5 in any of the branches, I would grain a significant amount of power.

Next, I moved to the tree for [Espionage]:

[Combat Maneuvers] didn’t have a tree associated with it, but that didn’t make it any less powerful. The movement speed modifier alone was incredibly potent, and I could already imagine how I could use that to my advantage. However, I could also sense that it was going to take quite a bit of training before I could use the full effect of my new speed.

The same could be said for [Mist Infused Body]. The modifier for my cybernetics was insane, but I was a little disappointed that the number of slots available had dropped. But that disappointment didn’t last long. I didn’t really depend on cybernetics anyway.

I sighed, leaning back against the wall.

It was at that moment that Caden chose to attack me. I saw it coming, of course. My new class had come with a significant improvement to every aspect of my body and abilities, so when he tried to stab me with a blue-glowing knife, it was like he was moving in slow-motion. So, slapping the knife away was easier than breathing.

I heard his wrist bone snap upon impact, and my other hand shot out. I pushed out of the chair, feeling every injury I’d sustained in the recent battle, and wrapped my fingers around his neck.

“Why would you do that?” I asked.

“Because you ruined everything!” he screamed. “All my friends…everyone is dead because…because of you!”

I sighed. “You would have died anyway,” I said. “That’s what they do. They copy your brain, then kill you.”

“Better than –”

Before he had the chance to finish his sentence, I infiltrated his system via Misthack, then used a Ghost to knock him out. It happened in the space of a second, surprising me with how easily I’d torn through his innate defenses. His system’s Mistwall was laughably flimsy – most people’s were – but it still usually took me a few seconds to bypass them. Already, my new class and skills were showing their worth.

Sighing, I relaxed, then dozed off. I awoke only a couple of hours later, but by that point, the injuries I’d sustained felt much better. They hadn’t completely healed, but it wouldn’t be long, either. The benefits of my increased recovery speed, I supposed.

Shaking my head, I contacted Patrick. Or I tried and failed.

Again, I attempted to establish a Secure Connection, but no matter how many times I tried, the results were the same. My heart jumped into my throat, and my stomach twisted into knots as I imagined all the reasons my Secure Connection might have failed. None of them were good.

So, it was with that in mind that I threw Caden over my shoulder and left the building behind. Once I reached the road, I summoned the Cutter, mounted, and sped off. It would take me a few hours to reach Fortune, but I was determined to cut that time in half. Luckily, my new modifiers trivialized moving at such high speed, so I had no trouble keeping up as I sped across the landscape.

Still, I could only go so fast.

At some point, Caden woke up, but I ignored his terrified screams as the Cutter ate the ground before us.

When I saw the smoke twisting toward the sky, I knew the worst had happened. But I still held out hope that Patrick had somehow escaped the destruction I knew I’d find upon reaching Fortune. When the city came into view, I saw that half the city had been destroyed. Most of the buildings had fallen, and the ones that still looked anything but structurally sound.

Still, I kept hope alive as I sped toward the dock, where I found the Leviathan completely untouched. The same couldn’t be said for many of the other ships, which had experienced much the same fate as the city. When I spotted the dock master, I wasted no time before approaching him to demand, “What happened?”

“The city…people…they just blew up. All over town. I don’t know…I just…my own wife…”

My stomach dropped.

It was my fault.

When I’d activated the Ghost that had severed the connection between the Pacificians and their hive mind, I’d seen the remaining citizens of Olympus explode. And given the number of kills with which I’d been credited, it was clear that it wasn’t an isolated occurrence. Clearly, their infiltration into human society was far more ubiquitous than anyone suspected.

“Your wife,” I said. “What did she look like?”

“Huh?” the stunned man muttered. I repeated the question, and something about my expression must have gotten through his grief. He explained, “She was…dark skinned. Like you. But she…I don’t know…”

Then, he reached in his pocket and retrieved a tablet, which he turned in my direction. There on the screen was a plump woman who could only ever be described as homely. I think that’s when I realized how erroneous my assumption had been.

Until that moment, I’d thought that every Pacifician looked the same. Blonde haired. Blue eyed. Perfect bone structure. But clearly that wasn’t the case.

In a daze, I left the dock master behind. Caden said something to me, but I didn’t hear him. Instead, I soon found myself racing between crumbling buildings. I ignored all the carnage. In the back of my mind, I recognized that the number of casualties had to be ridiculously high. I only saw a few bodies here and there, though. Most had been buried by the fallen buildings.

Soon enough, I reached my destination.

Cyrilla’s workshop, like so many others, had collapsed into a pile of rubble.