Chapter 517 – Putting the cards on the table [1]

(POV - Emily Parker)

Emily watched the activity outside the small café with mild boredom. Her table, which had enough room for two, was positioned near the window, giving her a good view of the street and the few people passing by.

The weather was still relatively cold, although Emily expected it to start warming up over the next few weeks. After all, December was already coming to an end, and with the new year approaching, temperatures would probably return to normal.

Or at least, that was what she hoped. Another thing working in her favor was that, apparently, there were no longer any completely out-of-control anomalies trying to turn the city into the new North Pole or something along those lines. Just thinking about it made Emily shudder again.

She still remembered all too well how quickly the situation had spiraled out of control. The unnatural cold, the ice spreading everywhere, and the possibility of an entire city being transformed into one gigantic frozen wasteland were things she had no desire to experience again anytime soon.

Emily let out a quiet sigh. Whatever that anomaly's objective had been, she definitely didn't want to find out what would have happened if it had managed to complete its plan.

Just imagining the possible consequences was enough to send a chill down her spine: "Yeah... better not think about that" she muttered to herself before turning her attention back to the street. For now, everything was peaceful. And Emily intended to enjoy every second of that peace while she could.

Considering the power the [Angel of Death] had acquired after the anomaly's death, and the fact that this power was essentially a version adapted to the [Angel of Death]'s own characteristics, it wasn't difficult to conclude that she wouldn't have had all that much trouble initiating a global cooling process if she'd been given enough time.

The conclusion alone was terrifying. Emily had needed a considerable amount of effort not to simply lose it when she finally realized just how close she'd come to another disaster on a global scale.

Maybe the fact that she'd been dealing with dozens of other problems at the time had caused her to overlook that little detail. Now, however, with things relatively calmer and her head a little clearer, Emily could analyze everything with much more perspective.

And the more she thought about it, the worse the conclusion seemed. The crown-shaped anomaly the [Angel of Death] had described could probably have caused a cooling event capable of affecting the entire planet if it had been given enough time to fully develop and utilize that power.

The mere possibility was disturbing. Especially for humanity, which, after so many advances, had grown accustomed to the comforts and security provided by modern society. For most people, the climate, agriculture, energy, and entire infrastructure supporting their lives simply existed.

They rarely had any reason to stop and think about how fragile all of it really was. Imagining all of that slowly freezing over because of a single anomaly was... Emily decided not to finish that thought. She sighed and pushed those thoughts aside, returning her attention to what she'd been doing moments before her mind had been flooded with them: drinking her coffee.

She didn't consider herself addicted to caffeine. At least, that's what she liked to tell herself. But it would be a lie to say she didn't feel an almost immediate sense of satisfaction whenever she had a good cup of coffee during the day. It was practically a ritual.

The familiar aroma. The warmth of the drink between her fingers. And, most importantly, that gradual feeling that her brain was finally starting to work properly. Maybe it was all psychological, but Emily didn't care. After so many years, she'd grown accustomed to this little moment of peace.

A faintly ironic smile tugged at the corner of her lips: "I'm definitely not addicted..." she muttered to herself before bringing the cup to her lips again. Her little break was interrupted, however, when the café's front door, only a few feet from the table where she sat, opened.

Ding.

The quiet chime of the bell attached to the door caught her attention. Emily blinked once, pulled out of her thoughts, and casually glanced toward the entrance. A figure had just walked in. They wore a thick coat, seemingly better suited for weather far colder than what was actually outside, and held a cane in one hand.

The figure gave the cozy café a brief once-over, their eyes discreetly scanning the room. The place was relatively quiet, filled with the low murmur of a few conversations, the occasional clink of cups, and the pleasant aroma of freshly brewed coffee. Their gaze eventually settled on a particular table.

Emily's table. The figure gave her a small nod. Emily returned it with an equally subtle movement of her head, keeping her expression calm before turning her attention back toward the window beside her. Outside, the street continued as usual.

People hurried along the sidewalk, a few vehicles passed through the street, and every now and then, someone stopped for a few moments before continuing on their way. Emily watched it all without really focusing on anything in particular. Then, footsteps began echoing across the café's floor, gradually approaching her table.

She didn't turn around. She recognized the presence. The figure stopped beside the table for a moment before quietly taking the seat across from her. For several seconds, neither of them said a word. Emily continued staring through the window, her mind wandering through too many thoughts for her to properly organize them.

The silence, however, didn't last long. She let out a quiet, almost resigned sigh and finally pulled her gaze away from the window. Her eyes met those of the figure sitting across from her. More precisely, Arthur's.

“Though I have to admit, being invited out for coffee on a quiet day like this is actually pretty nice...” Emily began, lowering her eyes to the mug between her hands. She gently rotated it, watching the coffee for a moment before continuing: “I doubt you would’ve actually considered doing something like this if there wasn’t something serious going on” Emily looked up again, meeting Arthur’s eyes across the table.

Arthur didn’t answer right away. For a few seconds, he simply held her gaze. Then a small smile appeared at the corner of his lips, subtly ironic but far from mocking: “Believe me, I hate having to keep bringing you one piece of bad news after another just as much as you do”

He shook his head and let out a quiet sigh, as if he were already tired just thinking about the subject. Then he looked back at Emily: “But I won’t drag this out. There are a few things I want to check on after this, and honestly, I’d rather get them taken care of before the day is over”

Arthur paused briefly, shifting his arms into a more comfortable position: “Before that, though, I wanted to bring you up to speed on some of my recent discoveries” His tone grew slightly more serious: “After all, we’re allies. I think you have a right to know what exactly we’re getting ourselves into”

Emily remained silent for a moment, looking at him over the rim of her mug: “When you put it that way...” she murmured with a faint sigh: “I’m already starting to miss the part where this was just coffee”

Arthur gave a short, breathy laugh: “Same here”

Allies was... a somewhat strong term, but it wasn’t entirely inaccurate. At least from Emily’s perspective, Arthur was far more helpful and pleasant, whether they were discussing work or simply sharing the occasional mundane moment between two scientists working in the same field.

It was easier to talk to him, exchange ideas, or simply discuss some detail of a research project without every conversation having to turn into a contest of competing interests. Of course, there were limits to that. Even so, compared to the High Council, Arthur almost seemed like a trusted colleague.

Not that this was particularly difficult. Most of the time, all the High Council did was give orders. Orders that, to make matters worse, often seemed completely illogical or utterly disconnected from the reality faced by the people who actually had to carry them out.

Then there was the money. The Council poured enormous amounts of funding into anomaly-related projects, paying for equipment, facilities, and research that could hardly exist without that support.

But from Emily’s perspective, it was far from an act of genuine goodwill. At the end of the day, it was an obligation. They were the ones demanding that research in the first place. The problem was that most people within the organization had very different interests.

Even among the scientists most obsessed with studying anomalies, few actually shared the Council’s enthusiasm for understanding them. For most of them, the end goal was much simpler. Find a way to exterminate them. Studying an anomaly to figure out how it worked was, for many of them, simply a means of figuring out how to kill it.

Emily sighed at the flood of thoughts running through her mind before finally turning her attention back to Arthur: “I’m all ears”

Arthur nodded. Then he began to speak. The next several minutes passed with Arthur laying out fact after fact for Emily, some of which she already knew and others that were completely new to her. He spoke in a relatively calm, almost casual manner, as though he were simply laying the pieces of a puzzle out on the table one by one.

Emily, for her part, listened in silence. The more Arthur spoke, the harder it became to maintain an indifferent expression. If there was one thing she had genuinely feared throughout most of the conversation, it was the not-so-subtle revelation that there were beings, possibly entities, whose levels of power could be extraordinary.

Powers comparable to those of the Virtues. That alone would have been concerning enough. But the worst part came afterward. According to Arthur, these entities most likely weren’t even on humanity’s side. Emily remained silent for several seconds, absorbing the new information.

And, to make matters worse, the last anomalous incident Arthur had taken part in alongside the [Angel of Death] seemed to have given him some answers. Or at least, that was how he had described it.

Enlightening. It was a simple word, but coming from Arthur, it carried a much more unsettling meaning. Enlightening about what? The entities? The [Angel of Death] herself? Or something even greater, something Emily didn’t even know existed? She had no idea.

And judging by the way Arthur had spoken about it, Emily had a strong feeling she wouldn’t like the answer one bit: “So...” Emily finally murmured, narrowing her eyes: “When you say that situation was “enlightening”, exactly how worried should I be?”

Arthur remained silent for a moment, as if carefully choosing his next words. The pause, however, lasted long enough for Emily to feel a slight knot form in her stomach. She knew this kind of silence. If Arthur was hesitating like this, there was only one possible conclusion: The situation was far from good.