Jack felt a little bad deceiving Lucy, but Jack had no regrets. Exhaling a sigh of relief, he made his way out of the courtyard and and started walking somewhere quieter.
The courtyard was in Central Business District of the City, where most of the government agencies are located including the City Hall along with biggest commercial establishments including hotels, stores, malls, and various businesses.
Crios City has over 500, 000 residents, so it was almost crowded everywhere.
But Jack soon found himself in a shrine located at an elevated hill rich in pine trees and stone statues. It also happened to be a tourist spot, that was as famous as the others, but the law required its visitors to be peaceful and silent otherwise they may be fined. So it was just the right place for him to think.
Jack sat at a bench where he could see the overview of the city and enjoy the calm soothing breeze while thinking of his circumstances.
[Vital signs: stabilizing.]
[System detects rest. Initiating recovery mode.]
[Peaceful environment detected. Mind and body alignment improving.]
Everything seemed to be going too fast. From time to time, these system windows pulsed faintly. Everything that was once familiar to him suddenly seemed so foreign as thought he had stepped into another world. Figuratively, he actually did which was also absurd.
Jack had also lost his bag last night, and hadn't had an idea where it was. Thus, he got no money and cell phone.
Jack had to go home already.
'If I went home now, I would probably be required to explain. But they must be worried sick.' Jack kept sighing, 'I had never stayed outside without letting my parents know where I'm from. How could I tell them that I got into a fight with someone I don't even know and got abducted into a secret organization that's located under the city?'
'Brian said that the organization had already prepared everything, but who the hell knew what he actually meant? School is important too. I still have to attend class tonight and I haven't read a thing. Surely, I can just not to go for today.'
The glow of the system windows reflected off his tired eyes, as he closed his eyes.
Inhaling the scent of pine and incense, Jack relaxed at the bench. There he had a great overview of the wide bricked alley leading towards the bustling food court like a royal palace, letting the tranquility wash over him.
People poured in from all directions while he sat there watching in silence.
If only he could laze around like this forever, was what he thought. But knew he wasn't a child anymore. He needs to return to Lucy and make his situation with the organization clear.
With a clearer mind, Jack walked down past the trees and stone statues and was about to head back when a sudden massive brown-out happened, causing the lights from building to building to go out. Even the power in the shrine's structures went out. And some vehicles refused to run.
Almost the entire. No, there was suddenly a power outage in the Central Business District!
'???'
The world turned quiet for a moment, before a large explosion roared towards the skies and echoed in everyone's ears followed by a big black smoke rising towards the clouds against the afternoon light.
'An explosion and a power outage?!'
Around 1o0 years ago, power outages commonly happened in the country. But after the international shift to electrical energy, everything became advanced and today nearly every aspect of life was powered by electricity, ranging from cars, buildings, household appliances, etc.
It wasn't just because of the cheap costs of electricity that drove this change, but necessity. Oil reserves had long since dried up, and other natural fuels became too scarce to waste. In response, the Global Resource Accord imposed a permanent ban on nonrenewable energy, ushering in an era of absolute dependence on electric power.
Ever since, energy monopolies rose to dominance, their influence rivaling that of entire nations and today it was no exaggeration to say that electric corporations became the new empires of the modern age.
The system windows then added something for him to see.
[Reminder: Terrorists has appeared in the city to kill someone important. Red flags floats above the terrorists' head. Stop them from acquiring what they set to obtain. A blue flag floats over the target's head.]
'Huh? Activate map…'
In the next moment, straight and curve black lines showing the map of the city appeared in front of him and in it, he could see few red flags moving in and out and in one area and then there was a blue flag in a certain building.
Around the city though, it wasn't just a few red flags. There were about fifty scattered in various places! All of them was in the Central Business District.
'What is this? There's a terror attack?!' Jack's voice trembled between confusion and shock.
[System Note: User Emotional Activity — Elevated.]
His chest tightened and his mind reeled as he started walking towards the direction of the blue flag in the map which was fortunately just nearby. And for some reason, it wasn't in the same direction of the explosion which happened just a block away from the food courtyard.
'What is happening?'
Jack pushed his body through the crowd.
He wasn't panicking, but curious at the matter.
'The system could tell things like this? Is it telling the truth?'
Jack started to get worried and that feeling seemed to exist only in him as the everyone around moved with detached curiosity, faces calm, steps unhurried, as if the explosion a block away and the power outage were nothing more than distant thunder.
"What is that?"
"It's an explosion."
"Luckily, the Bureau of Fire is just nearby. They'll take care of it. This is a big thing though. It's not everyday you see the Central Business District like this."
Normally, Jack would have reacted the same. Who would even believe that there were terrorists in the city? It was the same as saying there was an underground facility underground.
Only reporters, armed personnel, concerned public servants and curious onlookers too curious for their own good would act like him.
Jack frowned reading the new system notifications for the nth time.
'I need to find out if this is real.' He thought.
He hated the system to be correct, but while Crios City was known to be peaceful, things had actually changed. Things started to change 20 years ago when the financial contrasts between the upper and lower districts became too sharp to ignore.
The upper districts could always live well.
It had the nice streets and skyscrapers, but when something as simple as a storm happens, the lower districts sufferers from flood, mostly containing dirt and garbage from the drainages of the upper districts. Most developments in the lower districts were also rumored to be substandard and sometimes even abandoned midway.
Overtime, people started to do protests, which eventually became more violent and violent every year, and soon even the most popular "revolutionary" international terrorist group 'Justice' were rumored to have set its eyes on the city. However, so far, most of those who made it to the news were just admirers of 'Justice' like local gangs and syndicates.
Even without the system and his recent learnings, Jack knew of this.
In reality, Jack in particular already knew the gravity of the matter due to his father's occupation as a member of the police force and the fact that some of his classmates in law school were also high-ranking members of the government.
Jack couldn't help but laugh at himself who was now running before he knew it, stopping and slowing from time to time, implying his hesitation.
'What am I doing right now? What if this is true? I already know I probably wouldn't be able to help anyway… What's the right decision?' Jack gritted his teeth, but chose that he should at least head to the building where the target was. It was the nearest place where a red flag could be seen anyway.
Several minutes later, Jack slowed down and gritted his teeth.
'I knew it's nearby but to think the target is in the City Hall!'
The City Hall, the Bureau of Fire Protection and the City Health Office were just next to each other, so most of the fire trucks and ambulances had already moved out.
Walking through the crowd, Jack ignored the front entrance and entered through the right wing.
The city hall was one big building with several other buildings around it. It was wide and composed of many annexes connected together, and once he had entered the vicinity, the interior map design started to form on his mind as he walked.
'When was the last time I came here?' Jack thought.
Employees could also be staring at the direction of the explosion outside, and was freaking out about the power outage, making them unable to work for now.
"Even the generator isn't working. My cell's service is also gone. I got to call home."
"What happened all of a sudden?"
The flags also became easier to locate as Jack saw at least seven red flags in the building located in different floors. Then on the third floor, a blue flag could be seen.
From the ground floor lobby, Jack looked up. There he could see the third floor but it was too high. He then eyed the building plan display on the wall and noted that the third floor annex belonged to the mayor's office.
'So the mayor is the blue flag? If the mayor dies, it will certainly cause chaos.' Jack mused.
Jack knew the layout of the city hall well because he had been here numerous times during his internship days and to think even this place had been jammed couldn't help but make him feel he was trailing the tracks of some really dangerous individuals.
'The terrorists thought this well. I don't know how they did it, but to think even phones are out of service. Should I just tell everyone that the mayor is in danger?'
Jack imagined himself telling everyone right there and then and almost punched the floor. That would only make him look crazy, and if the system wasn't right, that would bring him problems that could derail his future!
Jack ran towards the stairs.
The mayor's office was located in a building that had six flights of stairs to go up and down and each one of them had at least one red flag guarding it in the map.
Panting, Jack was about to enter the third floor when a government employee with glasses and id hanging on his neck blocked him from advancing. And to no one's surprise, he had a red flag mark on top of his head.
It was naturally one of the terrorists.
[You have encountered a terrorist.]
[The terrorist is suspicious of you.]
[Grid J. Smith]
[Occupation: Government Employee]
[Status: Enemy.]
[Level: 6]
[Race: 32 % Human, 21 % Salamander, 10 % gnome, 12 % hobbit and 25 % dwarven]
[Kill count: 2]