Once led inside the factory shelter, Adam told his people to be on standby since more aliens were coming within the hour, but Megan immediately rushed to meet someone the moment she entered.
"Sarah!"
"Megan!"
A blonde young woman in a gray flannel over jeans emerged from the shelter's common area and met Megan, running to her. As they hugged, Adam recognized the pale, sickly face of Sarah as the one who had been unconscious when they rescued Megan's team from the church in Harper Square.
Sarah wanted to say something, but she seemed weak and emotional, so Megan comforted her and apologized for not being there for her when she was recovering. She then introduced Sarah to Adam.
Sarah seemed too sickly to return to the field or go on loot runs like before, which was unfortunate for Megan, who wanted to recruit her former teammate to Adam's camp. Still, Adam kept the door open for a recruitment opportunity for Sarah as soon as she recovered.
Elena followed Adam, who was following Professor Hendrick upstairs to wait together as representatives of each faction, along with Envoy Kahori, who was already up there. Adam saw that Elena didn't want to leave him alone with the alien, but as soon as she saw Kave and Candice together, looking at her, she tensed a bit, resisting the urge to join them.
"You can go." Adam said with a wink, aware of the threesome that went on between those three, which made Elena look a bit distressed as she realized that he knew.
"Sir, it is…" She tried to say something, but he interrupted her.
"It's alright. Go and ease up a bit. Nothing formal will happen anyway." He said so, effectively getting rid of her so that he could drop the xenophobe act for a while around Kahori.
As she complied, Adam joined the Professor and the alien envoy in the upper-story office. He knocked on the door and was told to come in, only to find that the old, gloomy room from before had completely changed.
"Excuse me, Professor." Adam said, walking in politely.
"Oh, come in, dear boy." The Professor said, scanning with his eyes around Adam, "Sergeant Elena won't be joining us?"
"She had made friends with Candice, so I let them have a word together." Adam said and closed the door behind him, looking around for a seat for himself. The Professor got off the seat opposite and closest to Kahori, emptying it for Adam, before moving to his own chair behind his desk.
Adam thanked him, glancing with curious eyes at the alien.
"Your kind strike me as a sophisticated race, Ms. Kahori." Adam spoke immediately, seeing the Alfari lift a cup to her slender lips, before sipping from it.
"Sophisticated is a word of many meanings, Vindicator Clay." Kahori said, turning to him with an elongated stare from her almond-shaped eye, "Usually a compliment blended with caution, but knowing your tribe, I wouldn't know how to translate it."
"It is as you say." Adam nodded, scanning Kahori with the eyes of an artist who knows all there is to know about body composition. He didn't notice it before, but the Alfari didn't seem to possess eyelids, a thought he couldn't easily dismiss. "I am interested in your kind. I would love to know more about you, your seven minor ways, and three major ways."
"Oh!" Kahori leaned back, a surprise forming on her face from the curling of her lips, the only way Adam could assess her emotions. "I see you have been curious."
"I was." Adam nodded. "Labourers, Farmers, Houseworkers, Merchants, Builders, Doctors, and Scientists. That's how you built your society. Quite comprehensive, I must say."
"It is as you say, but you worded it simply." Kahori said before elaborating, "Our society doesn't function in rigid ways. It flows like water along a river path, reshaping itself with ideas. It is a living concept: ideas that can speak back to you."
"The System." Adam said.
"Right, you call it that, a term familiar to your logic. In our logic, it is the path you feel when you close your eyes, the power that pulsates from every thought and gathers them together, then gives back power and phenomena." She elaborated further, her hands moving in mysterious gestures, like the motions of a dancer.
"The Runes." Adam leaned forward, eyes narrowed, translating her words.
"You have understood, as I see." She said, smiling as an understanding was established between her and Adam.
He tilted his head, putting all that she said inside the blender of his brain, letting the Sage skill draw conclusions.
Don't feel surprised! The System, the Runes, the Monsters, and even the Aliens: they are all part of a bigger puzzle. The Mental Power that is drained when using Runes is a price you are definitely paying for something. It is true, you exchange them for power, but who is on the other side of that exchange? Who is giving you power?
Adam's thoughts settled after arriving at a question. He learned how to control the Sage skill, which turned out to be a no-brainer. Thoughts give birth to other thoughts, and the Sage chases every thought pattern in search of an analytically correct answer through all the knowledge in his brain, but the skill needed guidance and focus to attain clarity.
From that, Adam knew the right question to ask.
"Did the System make the Runes?" He asked, but as clarity hit him mid-question, "Or was it the Runes that did?"
Kahori and Professor Hendrick exchanged looks, surprise apparent as this was one of the topics they had extensively spoken about.
"It is a mystery. A paradoxical one." Professor Hendrick said. "It might not be something grand, but the Alfari have records of the two phenomena, Runes and System, emerging at the same time."
"Like the chicken and the egg paradox." Adam concluded.
"Something similar." The Professor nodded.
"Assuming that the System is something intangible, like thoughts and knowledge, then what are the runes?" Adam asked.
"More tangible than the System in my opinion." The Professor said, showing Adam a stone with a rune glowing on top of it.
"What is that?" Adam asked, narrowing his eyes at the sight of the polished stone with a glowing symbol.
"A Runestone." Kahori replied, extending her arm to the Professor, who handed her the runestone, before she placed it in Adam's hands. "A naturally occurring marriage between the Nature of the Frontier World (Rifts) and the Nature of Worlds."
Adam held the runestone up, carefully examining its shape.
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[ Minor Runestone of Recovery ] < Common Runestone >
A fluorite stone that has attuned to the rune of Recovery. While it is unusable in its stone state, if transferred onto an item, it will grant that item the power to slowly heal its bearer if the bearer is damaged by any harmful energy, by transforming bits of harmful energy into healing energy.
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"Oh, fluorite. It's a beautiful stone indeed. Pretty common, from what I heard, and a pretty nifty power, too—Recovery." Adam said and handed the runestone back to Kahori.
"While useless as a stone, a Runesmith can inscribe it on a piece of equipment, transferring its powers to something easily usable." She added.
"Like the weapons used by Gobzkins." Adam added.
"Indeed." Kahori nodded.
"How is this Runesmithing done?" Adam asked, fully expecting an answer.
Kahori, on the other hand, mechanically lifted her shoulders, a tense pose. Adam frowned at her movement, making her hesitant.
"I… I was told this conveys not having the knowledge." She said, looking towards the Professor, who nodded.
"Shrugging, you mean?" Adam smirked, "I get it, you people don't shrug."
"No. We have different gestures." Kahori said, a faint expression of embarrassment in her voice.
Strange! Adam thought. He didn't find the Alfari displeasing, but all her answers led to more questions. It was natural when you met with an alien lifeform, of course, you'd have a ton of questions, but her answers always felt grand when in fact they weren't much.
Adam, Kave, and Megan had no less than a hundred theories regarding everything, but what he was hearing from Kahori aligned with the most basic theories.
"So, Runestones naturally occur in our world. They are valuable, but come in different qualities." Adam recapped, trying to summarize.
"Yes, it's due to the stone's structure, specifically its crystal lattice and natural aptitude for energy containment." the Professor replied for her.
"She didn't answer what a Runesmith is." Adam said, pointing at Kahori.
"A person who can inscribe runes from runestones onto weapons and armor." Kahori replied with a faint smile.
"How?" Adam asked, a dangerous light shining in his eyes.
"If I were to know, Vindicator Clay, I wouldn't have been just a simple peddler." Kahori said and offered another hollow answer: "It is a secret jealously guarded by the twelve Elden clans."
Adam's smile became clear; he shook his head and commented:
"And yet another game of power." His words were mocking, but he then delivered another question: "If the Runesmith methods were jealously guarded, how do the Gobzkin have runic items?"
Kahori didn't flinch and replied:
"Because they have their own methods. Ones that require live sacrifices, dark rituals, and bloodshed in the name of their God, the Gardner of Envy, as we call him."
Adam laughed and turned to Professor Hendrick:
"Hear that, Professor? Atheism just exited the chatroom."
"Don't rub it in my face, dear boy." The Professor also chuckled, but then pointed out, "For all we know, we have no God on our side. This makes atheism still a viable option."
"Here's where you're mistaken, sir." Adam said, stood up, and walked around the room. "There is something that is using the System and the Runes to assist, but not directly. Here's what I believe:" Adam stopped and walked closer to Kahori. "The aliens know of greater entities that inhabit the Rift, ones that are probably behind the Runes. With a civilization like theirs, they must have figured out many things and walked many paths."
"We did." Kahori said, a smile forming on her face.
"So they have their own God for sure. One that is assisting them and subsequently can assist us." Adam continued and looked closely at Kahori. "But you jealously guard that secret too. Let's call him: the One Behind the Runes… the Rune God… the One Rune to Rule Them All. Tsk… not feeling any of them. Anyway, there is one."
"I will not deny it." Kahori replied.
"But you will not give us more information without a price. Am I right, merchant?" Adam asked, finally putting two and two together.
"It is the purpose of my stay. I have traded much knowledge with Professor Hendrick." Kahori replied casually, as if Adam's discoveries weren't worth much.
"And the price you gave her, Professor." Adam turned to the old man. "I assume it is the dead knowledge of our dead world."
"How can you say that, Adam?" Offended, the Professor stared at Adam as if he had heard the wildest thing ever. "No knowledge is dead knowledge. It is always worth what it is worth."
"Not to them, Professor." Adam said and smiled. "I assume the most critical knowledge, which would help us survive, has a higher value in the exchange. I'd set it as steep as possible if I were you, alien."
The professor didn't seem to like how Adam replied, but he still considered his words, as Adam wasn't mistaken so far.
"I didn't do…" Kahori tried to say something, but Adam cut her off.
"I get it; it is basic supply and demand. What we have isn't up to the standards of what you offer." Adam said and returned to his chair. "But you are doing the right marketing tactic: Give us bite-sized knowledge so that we can prepare the right price for the right knowledge."
Adam extended his hand and took out the Runestone from Kahori's hand, which resisted him a bit before letting go.
"That's what you aliens want." Adam said and turned to look at the Runestone. "Currency laced with power. Kind of poetic, I admit."
"Is this something wrong in your culture, Vindicator Clay?" Kahori asked, no longer smiling.
"Of course not. Personally, I respect a good hustle." Adam shrugged before tossing the runestone back to her, which she received with finesse. "But I like clear negotiations, not selling mysterious glamor to an old man fascinated with everything with the word Alien slapped on it." Adam straightened his face before turning to the Professor. "No offense, sir."
The Professor smiled and cleared his throat:
"None taken… Justiciar Clay."
"Perfect!" Adam stood up once again. "What I like is direct, straightforward transactions. If you want me to look for Runestones, though, you'll have to give out the information, and I'll be happy to make an exchange for information and probably some sort of agreement, provided that Professor Hendrick and his people act as our middlemen. I assume they are easier to negotiate with than I am." Adam said to Kahori, but it was more like a declaration.
"It is understandable." Kahori stood up as Adam did.
"Professor, Envoy." Adam said with a nod, leaving the two to themselves.
Professor Anthony Hendrick may be a man of great science and knowledge, but he's too engrossed by curiosity and the useless information Kahori was feeding him.
Actual useful information that can ensure humanity's return to be the masters of their worlds wasn't given, and this was both clear and natural. Whether it is alien or human, everyone wants the upper hand in any negotiation, especially when riches are involved.
Kahori realized, as well, that unlike the smiling Sage who listens attentively and exchanges knowledge with passion, there are those who are calculative and power-hungry, just like that man who leads unidentified Rift travellers that somehow look human.
As for Adam, he was now aware of what the aliens, the Alfari, wanted, and since it was about currency and power, he was able to get a read on them, know a bit about them, and subsequently, figure out how to deal with them from a more favorable standpoint. Still, it was far from enough to know how to strategically defy them if they proved too powerful.
They have their own technology, their own economy, and their own politics; it all sounds mysterious and different, but when all is put in perspective, they are driven by the same motivations that drove humanity.
Now, it was time to make use of them.
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