The Primordial System-Chapter 18: Step One

We left the room without another word.

Jackal's blade scraped lazily behind him, tip whispering across the floor with every step. He didn't seem to notice. Or care.

The Executive was waiting by the lift, arms folded behind her back, gaze steady.

I stopped in front of her.

"We accept."

Jackal didn't say anything. Just nodded once, his stitched grin still fixed in place.

The Executive's expression didn't change, but something subtle shifted in her stance. A flicker of approval, buried beneath the layers of formality.

"I thought you might."

Then she stepped forward, offering her hand, not to shake, but to place it briefly on a scanner panel mounted beside the elevator. A click followed. The doors opened.

She entered first. We followed.

Inside, the lift rose in silence for three floors before she spoke again, calm, deliberate.

"You should've asked for specifics before accepting."

I didn't answer.

Neither did Jackal.

She smiled faintly, more to herself than us.

"But the fact that you didn't? Means you're exactly the kind of pair this mission needs."

She turned her head slightly, eyes meeting mine.

"My name is Reya. Since you're technically on one of my operations, it's only fair to formally introduce myself."

Finally. A name to the figure who'd pulled strings behind locked doors and sealed reports.

She continued.

"You're being deployed to a section of the Amazon Expanse. The region's been tagged High Severance in evolution rate. Five times baseline. Monsters aren't just strong, they're shifting, mutating, adapting every hour."

The lift chimed as it stopped. The doors slid open onto another secure hallway.

She led us through as she spoke.

"Your task is simple in words, complicated in reality, clear it."

"Clear?" I asked.

"Every trace of hostile threat. Monsters, rogue growths, parasitic evolutions—anything that moves and doesn't bow to your will."

Jackal let out a low whistle behind me. "Sounds like a fun week."

Reya didn't answer. But she looked at him, just once. A sidelong glance. Sharp. Knowing. Like she'd been aware the whole time that his silence was a choice, not a condition.

Then her gaze flicked back to me. Focused again. Professional.

"You'll be supplied with resources. Airdropped gear, mana battery caches, rations, though I assume you won't need those," she said, casting a quick glance at Jackal.

He grinned wider, silent.

We reached a glass-walled command room overlooking an active deployment pad. Drones and XML aircraft zipped in and out of the jungle edge.

Reya gestured toward a holographic map glowing on the center table.

"The reason this matters," she said, "is that if your report looks promising after seven days, we'll begin construction of an outpost there."

She tapped the map. The terrain flickered, reshaped into live mana signatures, blooming like heat across the forest floor.

"This is the first serious step in a larger plan. We've been bottled in for decades since the Collision. Our cities are fortresses. Our continents are isolated."

A pause.

"You two may not feel it yet, but the Accord is reaching outward again. Carefully. Slowly. But with intent."

She looked up.

"We want to rebuild the routes to other continents. Right now, only the most elite Explorers can survive the journeys beyond what was priorly Earth."

Her tone dropped a notch, lower. Measured.

"But if we can create stepping stones, real outposts, fortified, then we might finally retake this world in more than name."

She stepped back.

"This mission is one of those steps."

"Sounds good. One thing. What happens after one week?" I asked.

"Depends. If we have people we can place there for continuous protection during the build phase, you can leave. If not," she looked directly at me, "I'd appreciate it if you stayed."

That wasn't a request. Jackal could tell too.

"When do we leave?"

She smiled again. This time, it wasn't cold.

"Well," she said, her tone a bit lighter, "considering you won't be seeing your family for some time, I was thinking of giving you a moment to say goodbye."

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I paused.

"You did your research," I said.

"Of course. I also know the records said you had no aptitude for ever Awakening. Mana resistance off the charts. Physiological rejection."

Her gaze sharpened, like she was flipping through those results in her head.

"Everyone takes the test if they're not awakened by eighteen. You failed it. Completely."

She held my eyes. "And yet, here you are."

Jackal cast me a side glance. No words. Just that stitched grin, unreadable, but I could tell.

He didn't seem to mind me. Might've even been looking forward to the mission. Or maybe it was just curiosity. The feeling was mutual.

"Very well," I said, straightening slightly. "I'll go say goodbye to my family. Which gate should I come to after I'm done?"

Reya shook her head.

"No gates. Jackal can't be seen in public. The Accord has to keep some things secret."

She glanced between the two of us, then added:

"You'll be departing on a private long-range jet. Fastest model we have. Quiet, unlisted. It'll be waiting on Pad Twelve once you're done."

Jackal hummed, blade still dragging behind him as he turned toward the hall. "Fancy."

Reya ignored him.

But something subtle cracked in her posture. A flicker. Like his indifference still managed to land somewhere under her skin.

She'd asked him questions, tried to engage. He'd shut it down, pretended not to speak.

Now here he was, tossing out casual remarks like none of it happened.

It was almost funny. The Executive, flawless, composed, commanding, left just slightly off-balance by a stitched-up lunatic with no shirt.

And yet, she still looked perfectly unbothered. Like irritation was beneath her station.

I left. It was time to go say my goodbyes.

For some reason, I didn't want to.

I didn't know the exact reason myself. Maybe I was tired. Maybe it was the mission. Maybe it was something else.

But lately, I'd felt... distant. Disconnected. Like the version of me that used to care about those things had gotten left behind somewhere back in the Hall.

I hadn't spoken to any of my friends. I didn't know what they were doing now, or if they'd even want to hear from me. And if I was being honest, I didn't feel the need to find out.

The world moved forward. So did I.

What came next wasn't going to wait for anyone.

And neither would I.