Shadow Slave

Sunny left the Academy with a lot on his mind.

As a Master and a high ranking citizen, he had the right to acquire a PTV license and more than enough money to purchase one. However, Sunny had no idea how to control a personal transport vehicle and was too lazy to learn, so he still used public trains to move around the city.

Around the… Northern Quadrant Siege Capital.

Paying no attention to the captivated glances people threw at him, he looked into the window as the train slid forward on its magnetic guideway, flying through district after district with incredible speed.

The city… was a nice enough place, as long as you were not born in the outskirts. Tall buildings burrowed deep underground and rose high into the sky, connected by tunnels and aerial bridges into a complicated maze of graphene composite and reinforced alloy. Here and there, artificial trees and grass broke the white monotony with vibrant shades of green, yellow, orange, and red.

Everything seemed clean and bright despite the heavy snowstorms that were prevalent this time of year, not at all like the dirty, dim, poisonous clutter of the outskirts. There were large screens displaying beautiful vistas of breathtaking landscapes that had not existed on planet Earth since centuries ago, and propaganda projections that had been masterfully designed to brighten the mood of the citizens.

…Most of all, the city seemed full of life. Endless streams of people were crowding the crosswalks, with a rare PTV or two appearing from time to time. Millions… hundreds of millions of humans called this place their home. Only here, protected by the colossal outer barriers and protective air filtration systems, as well as powerful Awakened, could they survive and thrive.

It was strange to imagine that many similar human shelters in Antarctica were going to be abandoned and destroyed by the endless tide of Nightmare Creatures very soon.

Sunny had seen the panic and mayhem that an unexpected manifestation of a Gate could cause. However, his imagination failed when he tried to envision what would the same disaster, but magnified hunderfold look like. All he could picture was the horde of abominations that the Dreamer Army had faced under the Crimson Spire suddenly appearing on these peaceful streets.

image made

he still stood by

owe these people anything. Sure, if a Gate opened right in front of him, Sunny would have been inclined to fight and buy the civilians time to run away. This was just human nature. But he was not going to go out of his way and seek death just to fulfill some abstract obligation. No one had helped when he had been desperate for help. He

he would continue to put

Most likely.

Master Jet did not put a seed of doubt in his heart. Sure, the expedition to Antarctica seemed like a suicidal exercise

going to flood the Southern Quadrant soon, he could still collect plenty of soul shards and Memories, maybe even Echoes. There would be more than enough

did not believe in the government's ability to accurately predict what would happen there. They seemed to think that only lower category Gates would appear during the chain reaction, but was that assessment right? Who could say with certainty that another Category Five Gate would not manifest itself

it happened, the likes of Immortal Flame and Smile of Heaven perished in the fight. Could Sunny guarantee that he would fare any better? No, he

down to a simple choice that

able to achieve much better results than the expedition to Antarctica could ever provide, and with

illustrious clan Valor. By now, he had more than enough value to negotiate a supremely lucrative deal. With

that stood between him and Transcendence would instantly disappear, too. Instead, he would be in the best position possible to attempt conquering the

for creating incredible Memories, after all. He had also seen how proficient the representatives of the Great Clan

Clans seemed to be preparing to abandon Earth in favor of the Dream

Were they even wrong?