Anomaly

Chapter 404 – Worship of the true gods [50]

(POV - Emily Parker)

Emily stared at the massive pillar of light rising into the sky like a divine spear, her expression completely unreadable as it tore through the clouds with an almost unbearable brilliance. The intense glow bathed everything around it in pale white tones, making it difficult to keep her eyes fixed on the anomalous structure for too long.

Considering everything she had gathered so far, it apparently was impossible to stop whatever that pillar was doing, or at least, that was what both Eve and the mysterious man seemed to imply.

In their own different ways, both carried a strange sense of certainty about the situation, as though they knew far more than they were letting on. Emily would have bet anything that the two of them had some kind of direct connection to this entire chaotic mess.

Did she believe the man when he claimed there was nothing that could be done about the pillar? Absolutely not. Still, disbelief alone solved nothing. Up to this point, Emily hadn’t managed to come up with even a remotely plausible strategy to contain or interrupt the phenomenon, whatever its true purpose might be.

Destroy something? Summon something? Transfer energy? There were far too many possibilities, and the lack of concrete answers only made the situation even more frustrating. Emily was intelligent, absurdly intelligent, in fact, but even the brightest minds had their limits.

What was anyone supposed to do without enough data? Without patterns, without testable hypotheses, without any solid foundation for analysis? At this point, trying to solve the situation with what she had was the equivalent of blindly groping around in the dark.

Emily let out a long sigh, visibly irritated by her own thoughts, one finger tapping incessantly against her now crossed arm. The repetitive, impatient movement betrayed the turbulence in her mind far better than any facial expression ever could.

She definitely didn’t want to place her trust in Eve and her eccentric partner. Just the thought of it sent a faint sense of discomfort crawling down her spine. Still... what other option did she even have? Emily had already realized she wasn’t going to get anything useful out of the sisters of the [Angel of Death].

The two of them were like sealed vaults, or worse, silent tombs guarding their secrets with unsettling devotion. And to make matters even worse, Emily didn’t exactly have the resources or influence necessary to force them to talk.

That left her in an incredibly frustrating position. Her thoughts inevitably drifted back to everything she had uncovered so far: disconnected pieces of information and theories she had pieced together during all the time she had spent around the [Angel of Death].

The more connections she made, the less she liked the picture forming in front of her. The future looked darker with every passing second. Emily couldn’t pinpoint the exact cause, much less explain the logic behind the strange feeling that had been haunting her lately, but an unpleasant certainty was steadily growing in her chest: Ever since the appearance of the [Angel of Death], something had been set into motion.

Eventually, realizing she wasn’t going to discover anything just by staring at the colossal pillar of light from a distance, Emily let out a frustrated huff. The sound echoed faintly through the otherwise silent area as she ran a hand through her hair, clearly trying to suppress her irritation.

With little patience left, she abruptly turned toward her two new “companions” or whatever this improvised alliance was supposed to be at this point. Her brow arched in annoyance, and the expression on her face made it painfully obvious just how much the current situation was beginning to wear her down.

“So that’s it?” she asked, folding her arms across her chest: “We can’t do absolutely anything, and we’re just supposed to stand here waiting for that pillar to wipe us out or something?” Her voice carried a sharp edge, though there was also poorly concealed anxiety beneath it.

Emily’s gaze shifted between Eve and the mysterious man, carefully analyzing every subtle reaction: “You two seem weirdly calm” she continued, narrowing her eyes: “Considering how confidently you’re both talking about all of us getting exterminated in a few hours, I’d expect at least a little more panic”

Emily kept her eyes locked on both of them, her rigid and unmoving posture making it clear she had no intention of leaving without answers, or at the very least, some remotely satisfying explanation. Eve was the first to respond to Emily’s obvious attempt at provoking her.

Not that she actually cared. With a casual shrug, as if they were discussing something trivial rather than the possible extinction of humanity, she replied indifferently: “Death comes for everyone, sooner or later. We should not fear it, but worship it. Without death, the world would collapse”

The words left her lips naturally, calm and effortless, as though she had just stated an undeniable truth capable of ending any debate. Spoiler alert: it didn’t. In fact, her words didn’t even remotely answer the question Emily had just asked.

Emily released a restrained sigh, feeling a small spark of irritation flare inside her chest. It wasn’t as though she was entirely against death, quite the opposite, actually. From a purely logical standpoint, Emily understood perfectly well that human immortality was far from a blessing.

The limitations of the human mind alone made it fundamentally unsustainable. Sooner or later, too many memories, too many experiences, and centuries of existence would cause any brain to collapse under the crushing weight of eternity itself.

That said, acknowledging the natural importance of death and passively accepting the mass annihilation of humanity were two absurdly different things.

Because no matter how philosophical Eve tried to sound, it still didn’t justify the fact that every human on Earth was about to die in a completely unnatural way because of that damned thing called the Death Ray. And honestly, Emily found it hard to believe that “embrace death” was even remotely an acceptable plan in a situation like this.

With that thought in mind, Emily finally spoke. Her expression remained rigid, almost as if carved from stone, while her eyes stayed locked on Eve with unmistakable suspicion.

“Death may be something normal to you” she said in a cold, controlled tone: “But I highly doubt you’re talking about unnatural deaths like the one we’re all about to witness if that Death Ray completes its objective”

As she mentioned the colossal beam threatening the horizon, Emily raised one eyebrow even higher, her gaze sharpening: “Unless, of course, your relationship with death isn’t as impartial as I originally assumed” Her words lingered in the air for several moments, heavy as lead.

Eve didn’t respond. No verbal reaction, no attempt to argue or justify her own words. Still, Emily noticed something subtle: the brief narrowing of Eve’s eyes and the way her expression seemed to drift into distant thought, as though she needed to analyze, and perhaps reevaluate, some of her own beliefs. That alone said more than any direct response could have. For now, that was enough for Emily.

“Boss!” Still caught up in her own thoughts, Emily took a brief moment to react. She blinked a few times, as though only just returning to reality when Laura’s firm voice finally cut through the tension-filled atmosphere.

Turning her head, Emily looked at Laura. The other woman had two fingers pressed against her ear, touching the small communication device clipped there, a standard piece of equipment used by the organization’s agents to coordinate large-scale operations.

Once she had Emily’s full attention, Laura slowly lowered her hand and continued, her serious expression making the gravity of the situation obvious: “I already informed Victor and Arthur about the current situation and ordered them to mobilize the organization immediately. They’re beginning civilian rescue operations across the city”

Laura paused briefly, glancing toward the gigantic pillar of light tearing through the distant sky. Even from far away, the brightness was uncomfortably intense: “We’ll probably need to evacuate everyone out of the city” she added in an even graver tone: “We still don’t have enough data to determine the full extent of the area affected by that pillar of light... and honestly, I don’t think it’s wise to stick around and find out”

Emily nodded in agreement. Deep down, that was exactly the course of action she would’ve taken herself if she weren’t so occupied trying to find a solution to the issue of the enormous pillar of light splitting the heavens like an open wound.

At that exact moment, Emily caught herself seriously wondering where the [Angel of Death] might be. If it were her, dealing with all of this would be infinitely simpler.

Unlike her sisters, who had the incredibly irritating habit of answering everything vaguely, as if every sentence needed to sound like some deep and completely unnecessary riddle.

Emily genuinely hated that habit. For a brief moment, almost out of reflex, she wondered whether there was still any punishment that might actually work on them. Grounding them, maybe? The idea sounded just as ridiculous now as it had the first dozens of times she’d tried something similar. Not for lack of effort, either.

She had already tried everything: threats, restrictions, extra assignments, and even long discussions that inevitably ended with evasive answers and irritatingly calm smiles. In the end, every attempt had proven the same thing, it was completely pointless.

Letting out a quiet sigh, Emily rubbed her forehead, feeling a faint ache pulse at her temples. Between the mysterious pillar of light and her unbearably cryptic sisters, she was beginning to suspect that dealing with a cosmic catastrophe might actually be the least exhausting part of her day.

“Actually...” Emily began, immediately drawing Laura’s attention. For a brief moment, Emily shifted her gaze toward Chronas, Victor’s supposed “sister”

She didn’t have particularly high expectations. Any hope of getting useful information out of that tiny creature was practically nonexistent. Still, if there was anyone capable of getting any kind of reaction from her besides the [Angel of Death] herself, it was definitely Victor.

And considering no one had the slightest idea where the [Angel of Death] had gone, or when she’d return, Victor was the best available alternative. With that conclusion in mind, Emily turned back to Laura and issued her order in a firm tone that left no room for argument.

“Call Victor and Rupert here. Send both of them our location. I have a feeling they’ll be more useful with us than helping the evacuation team” Laura gave no verbal response, only a brief nod of acknowledgment.

A moment later, she stepped away a few paces, one hand raised to her communicator as she began relaying the instructions. Watching Laura walk off, Emily let out an almost imperceptible sigh before turning her attention back to the gigantic pillar of light in the distance.

The luminous column sliced through the sky like a divine scar, so intense it seemed to distort the very air around it: (Well... time to figure out exactly what we’re dealing with here) Her eyes narrowed as she studied the anomaly: (A deadly pillar of light. Fantastic) At least for now, all they could do was gather as much information as possible and wait: (At least until the [Angel of Death] comes back with something more concrete... something we can actually work with)