I kept the cruiser steady, every instinct in my body demanding I turn around and march back into that hallway. The urge pressed against my ribs like a physical weight, but I forced my hands to stay wrapped around the wheel. Going back would only add another body to the pile. Moving forward felt like betrayal, yet stopping would mean nothing but more loss.

  The air inside the vehicle felt thick enough to slow every breath. The mix of sweat, lingering gunpowder, dried blood and shock hung around us, a suffocating cloud that matched the heavy silence. Everyone stared through the windows as though the trees might offer answers. No one spoke. The hum of the engine filled the space where words should have been, accompanied only by the uneven rhythm of breathing.

  My thoughts replayed the hallway whether I wanted them to or not. The scattered brass casings. The gouged walls. The heavy wooden door. And Mikey, seated against it with the calm stillness that came only after a person had given every ounce of fight they had. He never ran. He never tried to save himself first. He chose that position because people were behind that door, and he had decided they were worth more than his life.

  He had no system window, no skills, no enhancements. He had gone into that fight with nothing but a service pistol and the stubborn courage that had defined him long before the gates ever appeared. That truth dug deep into me and refused to let go.

  I began chastising myself. Why did he go when we knew gates could open any minute. Why didn’t I go with him. Why did I leave him alone when he wasn’t a player.

  My grip tightened on the steering wheel until the leather groaned under my fingers. Mikey had been steady, reliable and the kind of partner who made the worst shifts feel manageable. Something fast, sharp and unseen had torn him apart while he tried to protect people who would never know his name. The thought left my vision burning at the edges.

  I tried to force my mind back into its old patterns. Suspect, scene, evidence. That was how I had made sense of chaos for my entire career. This time nothing fit. The creatures left little evidence, no prints, no clear transitions of movement. They struck like the air itself had teeth. Every familiar rule had been shattered in that hallway, leaving nothing but the cold reality that Mikey had never had a chance.

  The memory of killing the first one pushed its way into focus. The prickling along my arms. The way the air shifted around me, as though a storm sat inches from my skin. I had felt the same charge right before Kira was nearly cut down. That instinct was the only reason either of us was alive.

  Then came the shimmer. A faint ripple in the air that came and vanished in less than a heartbeat. Flow State Activated had flicked across my vision at the same moment, sharpening everything until the world felt painfully detailed. For a short time I had been able to see what my eyes normally could not. Mikey never received anything like that warning. He died before he ever had a chance to understand what was coming. He knew something was coming and fired blindly but died without knowing what killed him.

  The unfairness of it hit hard enough to make my teeth ache.

  “What are you thinking about?”

  Kira’s voice cut gently into the heavy quiet. She sat angled toward the passenger-side mirror, her eyes flicked towards me as her fingertips hovered over the thin healing line on her cheek. The wound stood out clearly in the fading afternoon light.

  “Mikey,” I said. The name settled between us like a stone. “How he died. How close you came.”

  She turned toward me. Her expression carried that familiar, level seriousness she used when the truth mattered. “That thing never appeared on my senses at all.”

  “It showed itself for a moment,” I said. “Right before it went for you, and before I killed the first one. The air shifted in a pattern. Almost like heat rising off pavement.”

  “You saw it?”

  “A glimpse,” I said. “Only when something inside me reacted first. It felt like a warning. Some kind of instinct I did not know I had.”

  She listened closely while I tried to describe the sensation. The tightening skin, the drop in my stomach, the spark of certainty that danger was directly in front of me. Something deeper than eyesight had reacted.

  “I think the System is changing more than our bodies,” I said. “If I can learn to use that sense instead of waiting for it to surprise me, we might stand a chance.”

  A small shift in her posture told me she understood the weight of that possibility. It offered no solutions, just a place to start.

  Sunlight angled through the windshield, catching the drifting dust motes floating through the air. They swirled lazily in small spirals. I watched one cling to another, then fall apart again. The sight nudged a practical thought forward.

  Dust. Water droplets. Fire extinguisher spray. Anything that could cling to something invisible long enough to outline it. Primitive, yes. Imperfect, yes. But far better than swinging blindly into empty air and hoping for a lucky strike.

  The walls of Valen appeared at the far end of the road, a jagged line of concrete and steel rising against the sky. From a distance, the structure looked secure and absolute. The closer we drew, the more its imperfections stood out. The real danger was not the monsters clawing at the outside. It was the ones that moved unhindered within our borders, unseen and silent.

  We were bringing survivors home, but we were also returning with a warning carved into our minds.

  Theo’s voice broke through the quiet.

  “So this is the screen Mikey told me you Players kept seeing.”

  The wheel twitched under my hands before I steadied it. I checked the rearview mirror.

  Theo stared at something invisible just in front of him. His eyes narrowed, focused on a space the rest of us could not see. He was a large man, built like someone who had worked hard his entire life, yet the exhaustion carved into his face aged him beyond the moment.

  A second later, his hands moved. A box landed in his lap. When he lifted the lid light poured into the interior of the cruiser. Jace explained how he had to reach in the light and pull the item out. A wooden staff twisted with old vines and crowned with a softly glowing blue crystal materialized across the full length of the backseat.

  “Mikey would have loved this,” he said.

  His voice was low, fragile as he remembered his sibling. He sounded like a man who had spent years watching out for his little brother, only to be left holding the pieces. The weight of that truth pressed into the quiet.

  “Yeah,” I said. “He would.”

  Jace spoke quietly from the opposite side of the back seat. “Pain like that doesn’t go away but you can use it. You can take that feeling and turn it into something that hits back.”

  Theo didn’t respond. He stared out the window with the staff resting across his knees, jaw set hard enough to push the muscles tight. The grief did not weaken him. It made everything about him sharper.

  I didn’t press him. Some things needed time.

  We reached the detachment and unloaded the survivors. The medics guided them to the infirmary tent with practiced calm while Kira moved through the group offering healing to every person she could reach. Her mana wrapped each individual in a soft, warm glow that smoothed away tension and steadied their breathing.

  Theo carried Mikey alone to the row of bodies near the fence. He lowered his brother carefully and stood over him with both hands clenched at his sides. I knelt beside Mikey, placed my hand gently on his shoulder and felt the cold weight of what had been taken from us.

  A prayer rose automatically, the old habit of honoring the dead. The memory of the creatures behind these attacks pushed the prayer aside. The beings that commanded monsters like tools. The fury that sparked in my chest felt natural and immediate.

  I made a vow instead. A promise of retribution, vengeance, of justice for Mikey, for Charlie, and every name we had failed to save so far. I made the vow to the female being who had given us this power. Deep inside, the Shard responded with a faint, warm pulse.

  Theo pulled the sheet over Mikey’s face. When he stepped back, the grief in his eyes had grown heavier but steadier, the kind that fuels resolve rather than collapses under it.

  The moment settled between us with a finality that reached straight into my chest. We turned and walked back to the infirmary tent.

  Inside the tent, the survivors formed a loose line near the registration table. Clipboards, pens, and a stack of ration vouchers sat beside an officer who looked like he had been awake for far too many hours. The people moving through the tent came from a dozen different places, faces etched with strain, hands trembling faintly even when they tried to keep still. Some had no visible injuries at all, yet they stood as if every muscle in their body had forgotten how to relax.

  Kira moved among them with a quiet gentleness. Every time her hand touched a shoulder or forearm, the faint green shimmer of her healing mana flared softly. The change in each person was striking. Breathing eased. Posture straightened. Eyes brightened. The relief that washed over them made the tent’s stale air feel lighter.

  I watched her for a moment, grateful for the calm she brought to the room. Then two names caught my attention.

  “Owen and Darla Hemming,” the officer called. “You will need to remain here for a short while so we can record your story. Welcome back to Valen.”

  The couple stepped forward. Their clothes were dusty and torn, their exhaustion visible in every motion, but something about Darla’s face tugged at my memory. I stepped closer.

  “Owen and Darla Hemming?” I asked, even though I already knew the answer.

  They turned to me so quickly that fear overtook them before recognition had a chance. Darla clutched at her chest.

  “How do you know our names? Please tell us nothing happened to our family.”

  Owen steadied her, although he looked just as close to collapsing.

  “No,” I said quickly. “Your family is safe. I met Otto, Lita, and Atlas a few days ago.”

  Relief spread across their faces like a sudden sunrise. Darla stepped forward and embraced me before she seemed to realize what she was doing. The move stunned me for a moment; my body went rigid before I managed to place a hand lightly on her shoulder.

  “Sorry,” she murmured, wiping her tears. “How are they?”

  “They are doing well. They are staying in the house behind Otto’s shop. Have you spoken to them recently?”

  Owen shook his head. “No. We left our phones in the car when it broke down. We thought they had no purpose anymore.”

  “You can use one of ours,” I said. “Finish giving your statement, then I will drive you there myself. Consider it repayment for the help Otto gave us during the riots.”

  That word caught them both.

  The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

  “Riots?” Darla looked frightened again.

  “They are safe,” I said firmly. “Otto let us hide our vehicle in his shop so we could reach the detachment. He helped us more than he knows.”

  Some of the fear left Owen’s face. He extended his hand. “Thank you, Officer.”

  “Stormson,” I said, returning the handshake.

  When we stepped outside the tent again, the sun had shifted lower across the sky. The yard was alive with quiet movement. Survivors received blankets and water bottles. Officers directed small groups toward temporary shelters. The sounds were hushed but steady, a welcome contrast to the chaos of Oakhaven.

  Theo walked beside me. His posture carried the weight of someone trying to hold himself upright by sheer will. We moved toward the detachment building.

  Chief Dobson waited in the briefing room. The map behind him still hung on the wall, covered in pins and lines that felt too clean compared to what we had just escaped. The Chief looked at us with eyes that had seen more than they ever should in the last few days.

  I gave my report. My voice stayed level, though each word carried the weight of memory. The silence in Oakhaven. The signs of a battle fought alone. The surgical slaughter. Mikey’s final stand. The creature with chitin armor and bladed limbs. And the detail that changed everything.

  “They can turn invisible,” I said. The words lingered in the stillness. “Not camouflage. Complete disappearance. Fighting them felt like fighting empty air.”

  The Chief’s expression shifted almost imperceptibly. A small tightening around his eyes. A slight pull in his jaw. He was recalculating the enemy in real time.

  “We need a different protocol,” I continued. “Walls will not stop what we can’t see. We need a detection strategy. Something that alerts us the moment they enter a space. And North District needs to hear this immediately or they will walk straight into a catastrophe.”

  He raised a hand to pause me. He stepped toward the window and looked out at the scattered groups of survivors, the officers guiding them, the construction teams working along the far wall.

  “I will make the call,” he said. His voice carried the steady weight of authority. “North District will be warned. As for a barrier, we will find a way.”

  He turned back to us. The exhaustion on our faces was impossible to hide, yet something in his gaze softened.

  “You did good work today,” he said quietly. “You brought people home. You brought Mikey home.”

  He looked directly at me. The words landed deep.

  “Go get some rest,” he said. “All of you.”

  We left the briefing room and paused in the hallway. The others looked ready to collapse where they stood.

  “You all did everything asked of you,” I said. “Go home. Sleep. As much as you can.”

  They nodded and began to walk off.

  “Theo, hold up” I said before he walked away. As he turned I could still see the sorrow in his eyes. “Mikey was my friend. Would you like me to come with you to talk to his family?”

  He looked down, his eyes brimming with fresh tears. “No, I want to be the one to tell them. Thank you though.”

  I nodded solemnly. “Tomorrow come by the detachment at eight am, bring the others who awakened as Players. We will go over your powers and how to unlock more abilities before we look for the dungeon.”

  “Thank you Elias” he paused for a moment as his voice cracked. “And thank you for helping me bring Mikey home.”

  “Of course,” I responded softly. “If you need anything, anything at all, please let me know”

  He nodded before turning and walking away, his shoulders hunched as if he carried the weight of the world on them.

  I turned to leave as well and saw Kira leaning against the far wall, watching our exchange.

  “You okay?” she asked as I approached.

  “Would you believe me if I said yes?” I gave her a forced smile as my own tears threatened to spill over.

  “No” she said softly and pulled me into a hug.

  I embraced her like the last lifeline in a raging river of death. The faces of the dead swam through my mind on an endless sickening loop.

  After a few moments I let go. “before we go home I have something to do”

  Kira looked away blushing at the way I said home and I pretended not to notice.

  “Is it the people from the survivors?” Kira asked as I led her downstairs.

  “Yes and Jace.” As we reached the bottom of the stairs he was waiting in the hallway still wearing his armor.

  “Thank you for waiting Jace” I said as we approached.

  “No problem, when are we hitting the source of those monsters” his eyes burned with vengeance.

  “We will make a plan tomorrow. I realised we took you from your home. Do you want a vehicle to go back?”

  Something shifted in Jace and I watched as his body tensed up like he was suddenly carved from marble.

  “I don’t have a home to return too” he said a little too intense as the air itself seemed to lower several degrees.

  “Oh okay,” I said not wanting to pry as the man clearly did not want to talk about it. “Go talk to the workers at the tent, they will set you up with a bed for the night. Meet here at eight am and we will go over a way to raid the dungeon”

  “is that the weird message that popped up in Oakhaven?” Jace asked.

  “Yes, it’s the source of those monsters. I think it is close to the town hall. Considering how many monsters were there.” Jace nodded at my words.

  “Okay, I will be here at eight tomorrow. I’m going to wander around a bit” he turned to leave.

  “Jace” I called “add my number to your phone so if anything comes up you can text me”

  “Sure” Jace walked backed to me to exchange numbers before heading back to the staging area for survivors.

  My cop’s instincts screamed for me to figure out Jace’s story. The mystery there itching at my brain with nothing for me to scratch it with. However it was not my place to push. Something tells me Jace will be an asset in the dungeon and was worth the risk of the mysterious past.

  I exited the detachment shortly behind Jace scanning the crowd around me.

  Darla and Owen Hemming were sitting on a bench against the side of the detachment. They were leaning against each other under an emergency blanket but rose as I approached.

  “Ready to go home?” I gave them a small smile as their faces lit up.

  “God yes,” Owen said as Darla cried softly.

  We quickly got into a Police Cruiser and drove to the auto body shop.

  As we drove around the shop to the house behind, a familiar little face peered through the blinds. Her eyes lit up as they saw me wave from the driver’s seat and Kira in the passenger.

  Little Lita screamed something and disappeared from the window as I rolled to a stop just short of their door.

  I got out of the vehicle and was opening the back door for Darla as the front door swung open.

  “Officer” a small voice called from the door way. Lita waved her arm with all her might as Otto and Atlas joined her at the door.

  “Lita, I brought you a present.” I beamed at her.

  I closed the door and Darla came into view. “MOMMY” Lita and Atlas screamed as tears began pouring down their faces. They stumbled down the couple of stairs before racing to Darla who was running to meet them, tears falling freely down her face.

  “Thank goodness” Otto exclaimed as he rushed to embrace Darla in a protective hug. Owen came running around the other side and the family embraced in a long hug, tears and sobs were flowing freely from every eye.

  Kira joined me leaning against the front of the Police Vehicle watching the exchange.

  A warmth surged through me, softening the sharp edges of the broken pit inside.

  This was a much needed victory. A small one but a victory all the same. This was what Mikey had been protecting.

  I nudged Kira, gesturing to the passenger seat with clear meaning. It was time for us to leave and let the family celebrate the reunion in peace.

  Kira understood immediately and moved towards the passenger door as I opened the driver’s door.

  Darla lifted her head from the embrace, tears streaming down her face.

  “Where do you think you’re going?” she called from her spot, drawing the attention of the rest of the circle.

  “It’s time for us to return to work and let you celebrate your reunion” I smiled gently.

  “I don’t think so, come inside. I will cook us a hot meal. Should be lots of food still stocked up. I have to thank you for bringing us back together.” Darla wiped at her tears as she gave me a serious look.

  The idea of them wanting to share their supplies was touching. “I’m sorry but please don’t waste those supplies on us. You may need them in the future. Make sure you ration them properly.”

  Lita broke free of the circle and ran over to me, leaping in my direction. I quickly bent down and scooped her up as she wrapped her little arms around my neck in a hug.

  “THANK YOU” she yelled between sobs.

  “You are very welcome Lita” I beamed as I ruffled her hair again before setting her down.

  This time she didn’t complain. Just rubbed at the tears falling down her face.

  I bent down to her level and reached into my pocket. I pulled out her picture from the day in the line up.

  “I will come visit again soon. In the mean time I have this picture to keep me safe. Can you draw another one for my partner to keep her safe?” I indicated to Kira, who was watching the exchange with a warm expression. “That way we will have to come back to visit.”

  Lita’s face brightened instantly. A wide smile on her face, her tiny head bouncing up and down in a vigorous little nod.

  “Okay, go say bye to Kira before we leave” Lita needed no further encouragement and raced to Kira, throwing herself into her arms for a hug.

  Darla, Owen and Otto approached with Atlas holding onto his mother’s leg like he was afraid she would disappear if he let go.

  “Thank you again,” Owen said offering a hand. I shook it, then shook Otto’s outstretched hand. Darla pulled me into a quick hug before saying a quiet “Thank you.”

  “It was Mikey who saved you. He was the officer who stood defiantly outside the town hall door to protect everyone. I just brought you back together.” Darla and Owen nodded knowingly, not saying a word in front of the children.

  “We will make sure to pay our respects” Owen said grimly.

  “Thank you.” I turned to tell Kira it was time to go but the sight stopped me dead in my tracks.

  Lita was running her hands through Kira’s ponytail on her shoulder.

  “You’re pretty” Lita said as she stared at Kira’s face.

  “So are you” Kira replied giving Lita a little poke in the side that made her giggle.

  “Will you come visit soon” Lita asked

  “Absolutely! Every chance we get,” Kira was beaming at the little girl in her arms. “Plus you got to draw me a picture too remember.”

  “Oh yeah! I’ll make you the best picture ever,” Lita replied smiling back.

  Kira placed Lita on the ground. “Okay deal, now go be with your mom and dad. I bet you all missed each other!”

  Lita bounded to her family as we got back into the vehicle. They all waved together until we had pulled out of the driveway and continued down the road.

  “Nice family.” I said to Kira as we drove.

  “Very.” Kira smiled.

  “Ready to go home?”

  “Yes please, it has been a VERY long day.” Kira’s smile shifted to one a little more solemn.

  “Very long indeed.” The memories of the day flashed through my mind, catching on the image of Mikey’s dismembered body and the smile slipped from my face.

  __________________________________

  I still hadn’t gotten used to how different my home had become. The smell of someone else’s cooking lingered faintly in the air. Soft voices drifted from another room. It should have offered comfort, but the heaviness in my chest followed me through every doorway.

  I stepped onto the back porch, sitting on the patio sofa and poured a glass of whiskey. The first swallow burned its way down, familiar but ineffective. The images from Oakhaven pushed in relentlessly. Mikey slumped at that door. The shimmer in the air. The cold intelligence in the creature’s eyes.

  The sliding door opened next to me. Kira stepped out with a kind of quiet tiredness that matched my own. She sat beside me without speaking at first.

  “I can still feel it,” she said softly. “That moment. I never sensed anything. Then you pulled me and I was bleeding. I would have died without knowing how. That terrifies me Elias. How did you see it?”

  “I had Flow State active,” I said. “The air shifted. My instincts reacted faster than thought.”

  I looked down at the glass in my hand. “We can’t rely on something that unpredictable.”

  She let out a long breath. “There are no guides for this. No ancient texts with answers. Sometimes I wish there was a book that explained everything.”

  Her words sparked a thought that cut through the haze.

  “Your skill,” I said. “Anatomical Insight. You gained it after understanding the concept from that medical encyclopedia, not from the book itself.”

  “Yes,” she said, confused. “My mom explained how the nervous system works.”

  “It was the understanding,” I said. “The underlying system. Not the text.”

  A possibility formed in my mind with sudden clarity.

  “We keep trying to see the monster,” I said. “Maybe we need to understand how sight works well enough to sense the mana itself.”

  I stood and re-entered the house, Kira close behind. The large medical encyclopedia still lay open on the table. I turned the pages until the diagram of the human eye stared up at us. Rods, cones, nerves, pathways.

  “Elias, what are you doing?” Kira asked.

  “Trying something,” I said.

  I studied the diagram, then closed my eyes and imagined the structure as clearly as I could. I called up that familiar hum of mana beneath my skin and focused on pulling it upward. Not into limbs. Not into weapons. Into the delicate machinery behind my eyes.

  The pressure fought me at first, like forcing water up a slope. I persisted and for a long moment nothing changed.

  Then a sharp pain stabbed behind my eyes and forced a gasp out of me. Kira reached out, but I steadied myself and waited for the pain to subside. A warm tingling spread across my forehead and eyelids.

  When I opened my eyes, the world had transformed.

  The air was filled with soft currents of blue light that drifted like smoke. They curled and twisted, flowing through the room in patterns I had never seen. My own hands glowed faintly with a blue aura.

  Then I looked at Kira.

  Her mana radiated like a vibrant green storm around her, swirling in dense waves at her chest and hands. Each breath she took drew in more energy, shaping and shifting her aura like a living thing.

  I stared at her for a long moment, hardly breathing.

  “I can see it,” I whispered. “I can see mana.”

  A slow, determined smile formed.

  “I think we finally found a way to fight back.”

  A blue screen appeared before me:

  New skill unlocked: Mana sight

  As I closed the window a sharp pain brought me to my knees and I fell to the ground, squeezing my eyes shut as the pain radiated from behind my eyes to the back of my head.

  “Elias?” Kira’s voice was full of concern as her hand touched my arm.

  I felt something wet run down my cheeks, dripping onto my hands.

  Was I crying?

  Kira made a sudden gasp and I felt her healing magic sweep through me.

  The pain faded to an odd pressure in my eyes. I opened them and the pressure became a dull throb.

  However the sight of blood on my hands shocked me more than the pain.

  I reached my hands to the wet tracks on my cheeks, my fingertips coming away bright red.

  “Elias?” Kira said again softly.

  “I’m okay.” The pain was already receding.

  I turned to her and smiled. The image must have been unsettling because another wave of healing magic coursed through me.

  “Seriously, I’m okay but I should clean this off before I give your parents a heart attack” I stood and Kira’s hand fell away. I made my way to the bathroom and looked at myself in the mirror.

  Two streaks of blood tracked from the corner of my eyes to my chin. I began cleaning it off, the blood already starting to coagulate and coming off in sticky flakes.

  I washed my face and hands thoroughly and re-examined my face in the mirror. The blood was gone but I hardly recognized the face staring back at me.

  My hair had lost the little bit of silver that had began creeping into the hairline. The sharp stubble which was usually peppered with white was a pristine dark brown.

  My features were more angular, sharper, features that resembled someone who was around twenty, not late twenties.

  My eyes seemed to burrow into me with unknown depth and power. The irises drawing me in like the female being from the void crack. Except there seemed to be something else hidden there, crackling, surging, consuming.

  I quickly looked away. What the hell was that.

  I slowly looked back into the mirror and my irises appeared to be completely normal.

  Was I imagining things…

  “Hey, check your phone. I created a a group chat with the other players in North District and Valen. So we can relay what you found” Kira said from the doorway, completely startling me.

  “Errrr thanks” I said sheepishly like I had been caught doing something I shouldn’t be doing.

  “You sure you are okay?” Kira asked again.

  “I’m sure” I smiled warmly. I gave myself one last look in the mirror and left the bathroom, Kira beside me.

  I pulled my phone out of my pocket and saw the invite to the group chat. I accepted and was immediately greeted by texts.

  [Logan: Ehhhhhhh there he is! About time]

  [Ryker: Hey Elias, sorry about your friend.

  [Shanira: Sorry for your loss.]

  [Gideon, Flynn, Jon, Ivan: Sorry for your loss.]

  [Thanks everyone. Been a long day. Did Kira tell you all about another gate?]

  [Ryker: Apparently there are invisible monsters?]

  [Gideon: How are we supposed to fight invisible monsters?]

  [Flynn: Spray and pray?]

  [Shanira: I don’t have enough Mana for that!]

  [I may have found a way to see them. I unlocked a skill called Mana sight. Allows for me to see Mana in the air, I am hoping it will allow me to see the monsters]

  [Logan: so you will mark them and we will smash them! Simple enough]

  [Ryker: Or. He can tell us how he got the skill and maybe all of us can unlock it, so we can all mark them for all of us to smash.]

  [Kira had a medical textbook that described the anatomy of the eye. The rods and cones, pushing the Mana into each individual part. Be warned… it was painful]

  [Kira: and he bled from the eyes…]

  I glanced up at Kira who gave me a glare while sticking her tongue out over her tea. I gave her a glare back.

  [Shanira: HE BLED FROM THE EYES!!]

  [Ryker: …That’s not good]

  [Jon: Definitely not good]

  [Flynn: …]

  [Logan: No thank you.]

  [I recommend trying it with a healer near by]

  [Kira: always saving his ass like the damsel in distress he is]

  [Logan, Ryker, Jon, Shanira, Gideon, Flynn, Ivan, Jamie, Chief Dobson have liked this message]

  [Even Chief is in this chat?]

  [Chief Dobson: Of course I am, I’m a player too. Also please call me Marcus when it comes to Player matters and Chief at work lol]

  I looked up at Kira stunned as she returned the look.

  “Did Chief really just LOL” Kira asked dumbfounded.

  “I… I think so”

  I don’t know how to process this.

  [Sounds good… Marcus] I cringed as I typed it. [Are the North District Players available to come to Valen tomorrow to attack the gate. I don’t want more invisible monsters pouring out.]

  [Ryker: … we want to, but things have gotten strained here. The mayor and Chief are refusing to let the players out of their sight. They are treating us as their personal armies.]

  [I don’t know if we can do this without you. We have a few more players but nothing on your levels.]

  [Jon: I will go]

  [Shanira: I will go, fuck those politicians.]

  [Gideon: If Shanira is going, I’m going]

  [Flynn: …see you there]

  [Ivan: I don’t want to break the rules.]

  [Ryker: We will see what we can do]

  [Thank you, I could use all the help I can get. We will be meeting at 0800 at Valen Det. Try the Mana sight if you can

  The more people who can use it the better.]

  [Ryker: Okay see you tomorrow]

  I put my phone on the coffee table and leaned back.

  There is so much work to do.