A Mountain of Information

[Nox]

Nox smirked at the comment. And he had a feeling that the man himself meant it. He didn't necessarily believe he was a god like THE almight God. But Zeus or Odin or one of the other main figures - men who could weild the powers - yes, Nox could see the Ascendancy riding those currents along with the men and women of those times - the ones they hunted. This was the most powerful man on the planet and he was once again growing his power if the news had anything right. And he was pretty sure they did. His home land was in turmoil and he was sitting in the lap of the reason behind it. Nox held no loyalty to America though. He was an American. But patriotism didn't run in his blood. He fought for humanity, and his choice told Nox more about the Ascendancy than just the power hungry god worshiping power he wanted. He had all of that already. But he at least cared about his people.

So Nox started the tale. "The day I met Aria, I was in the tunnels with two of my friends. We were playing with the power and Aria was hunting monsters. I didn't remember who I was, or what I was. Only that I was a man with a strange power and a knack for blowing things up." Nox went on to tell the Ascendnacy about his first encounter with the monsters. How he and Aria along with Bas and Pytor killed a hoard of those things, barely getting away with their lives thanks to a carefully placed wall of ground in the earth.

"Aria and I started roaming the tunnels instead of the streets, trying to kill as many of these things as we could. That's how I got the maps I." Nox held up the data stick in his hand and set it on the table close to him. "But Domovoi isn't equpipped to fight them. My last encounger with Ivan and Lih resulted in several things. " Nox took a deep breath as he went out of order with this tale, but it was relavant now. " We found out that this thing can make the dead walk. But I think it's the same reason why I can control the litte beasties to some degree now. I can weild the power of the gods. The man who Dorian is one thousand percent sure he shot three times in the head - and who had channeled at him when he was walking and talking and not being all zombie lie - was Alistair Pavlo - a missing Scientist from Vaia Plus. And the reason I was in the tunnels. He coudln't channel, Hell he couldn't die. Bullets didn't stop him. Fire did. But the rookie with us decided to jump into the foray, and into the mass of things to try to take down Pavlo. I managed to save my life. But in the process left an opening for one of the beasties to attack me up close and personal. The first one Nova got at the cost of his own life, but a second one followed. It bit my arm." Nox lifted his arm to show the result of the bit.

"These things are too numerous and too regenerating to not be linked to the chupacara in some way. In another prior tunnel visit we ran into a man dragging a chup. He was wearing a white scientist lab coat and had a Vaia Plus security card on it." Nox didn't mention who he was with or what happened to the body. That wasn't the point of this whole thing. "So my reasoning is if you cut it off like you can with a chup bite you might survive. I was dead one way or the other, so I'd rather go out with at least trying to save my life. Ivan cut it off with the power, cauterising it so I wouldn't bleed out."

Nox knew he wasn't going in any semblence of order but it was how it was and how it was all coming out. "I woke up in the hospital missing an arm finding out that someone drew blood - blood now potentially contaiminated with the parasite or venom or whichever way this thing is commuicated to other beings to turn them into monsters that they are. And now it's gone missing." Someone stole it. Someone who knew what they were looking at or hopefully more protecting the masses than self serving but it was probably the later. "But that' isn't the scarest fact about this all yet."

"I got angry as I'm prone to do, but I think it had a little more to do with being in a regular hospital instead of an Atharim infirmary that had me on edge. No one there knew how to handle me correctly. And they sure as fuck shouldn't have just let me walk out without being cleared, but what can humans do really when they don't know that monsters exist. They thought I was crazy. And I'm not. I'm still me except for this sludge that now exists between me and my power. And a very growing hunger - both in the terms of actually needing to eat and the need to for a lack of a better word procreate. And since my tasts have shifted slightin those tastes aren't going to result in biolocial procreation but the desire doesn't seem to care, or differentiate. I'm sure it could if I were like them, but I'm not. But the scarest thing is that I think I'm connected to them now. When we were escapeing an Atharim came after me - following my cousin to me beause I was longing for family and found it on the internet. But she is real, but the Atharim used her to find me. They attacked. We ran. Into the tunnels. And once again, the hoard was there. So close to the surface. They were in a frenzy and they didn't attack. This time Nova was with them and I didn't know it yet. I called Nova and Nova came towards me. The hoard came too - like eager little puppies waiting to be pet. I yelled for them to go away and they did. They fled at my command - I sent them after an Oni nest I hadn't cleared out. I feel them. I could over run the city with them. I think in a way during the fight they were coming to me to help me agains the Atharim. I need to contact the Atharim. The man who came after me can weild the power of the gods. I don't think he knows it. I am going to use that against him - I'll help him survive if he promises my safety and lets me talk to someone who might know more - Someone in the Atharim has to know more about the fucking monsters than us grunts." Nox growled and knew that his anger wasn't all his own. It was the darkness. The trechery reaching to them welling up inside. Nox leaned forward and hung his head. Each breath in he kept for a count of three before releasing with the same count. "This is the scariest part about it all. The whole fucking desire to rip someone's throat out, or to fuck them until we are both done and over. I won't become one of them." There was fear in his voice. Fear he couldn't do it in the end - fear he'd become one of the monsters. He didn't have Aria to put him down, not anymore - he did that already - did his job. He took a deep breath and looked up at the Ascendnacy. "But if I do I will fix the problem. I owe myself that much." Nox knew he was stronger than his own beleifs - he'd killed Aria when it mattered. When she'd become the monster.