85: Teacher Betrayal

Nyssa and the others did get out of bed before lunch—much to the surprise of Angelica. Of course, in her opinion, the lunch she cooked did help with the task, but even she recognized her limits. Nyssa, in particular, must have expended a herculean effort to leave both Celeste and the bed’s embrace.

Having made rice and stew, she served a bowl of hot rice and steaming stew to everyone sitting around the table. She, herself, sat at the head of the table eating her own portion. “Morning everyone, hope you all are well-rested. We have a long day ahead of us. Well... long couple of days.”

“Couple of days?” Ryker questioned without missing a beat, voicing the concern popping into everyone’s mind. “We’ve only been doing single day excursions up until now.”

“Up until now,” Angelica smiled while motioning for them to continue eating. “This next one will be... two days, I estimate, potentially three, but it depends how fast we finish our investigation. While you all were sleeping, I did you all a favor and packed everything you’ll need, and left them by the doorway.”

Silence descended on the room as all the students stopped eating. Angelica, still smiling, pointed towards the kitchen. “Don’t worry, eat up. I have plenty for everyone to have seconds, or even thirds if they want.”

“How could you betray us like this?” Ryker mumbled. “You were supposed to be one of us. An ally against the forces of evil bureaucracy and responsibility.”

“Well, you and I both know you’ll grow better this way, and it won’t be too bad, trust me. Although it’ll be tiring, it’ll be a good time, a productive time, and well-within your limits. I may be young, but I am an award-winning teacher,” Angelica laced her fingers together and propped her chin onto them. “We’ll be leaving in forty-five minutes. So, once you eat up, grab anything you might want to grab and meet by the front door.”

---

Forty-five minutes later, everyone went through their last preparations. With everything they’d need slung on their back or hanging off their arms, each student gathered outside the cabin—not before doing a double take the moment they passed through the doorway though.

Angelica, in a moment of kindness, had rented out an all-terrain vehicle for their group. Decked out with six wheels, and a high suspension, it seemed like the love-child between a military vehicle and a yellow school bus. The interior, from what they could glimpse on their tiptoes, had a driver’s area in the front, a storage area in the back, and a U-shaped seating area in the middle.

“See, I told you it wouldn’t be too bad,” Angelica shrugged, twirling a set of keys around her finger. “Pack your belongings in the back, I’m going to grab some of my own stuff. I’ll keep it in the front though, so no need to save space in the back for me.”

Still a little sullen, the students gave a quick response before Ryker and Electra led the packing of the car. They directed Albion, Conrad, Titus, Nyssa, and Celeste to help load and organize while pitching in themselves. Before long, after Angelica returned, they saddled up in their own seats, buckled their seatbelts with a click, and leaned back into the cushioned u-shaped long couch chair they all shared, ready for the upcoming ride.

“So,” Angelica fired up the engine as the car-bus hybrid shook with a deep roar. “The details of our mission are quite vague as you all know. It’s mostly an open-ended mission to investigate the north with a reward based on what is discovered. Now though, there is something more to investigate. Some of the further patrol teams discovered wreckages and underground metal plates. In particular, it seems that the natural wildlife began digging in those areas and uncovered them.”

“Why are we the ones investigating instead of those who discovered it then? Wouldn’t they want to monopolize the rewards?” Titus asked as Angelica began easing the car forward.

“They were already quite handsomely rewarded for the discovery. Especially because they traced out a lot of different locations. Therefore, they’re handing out locations to different groups based on combat ability, after all, the group that found this is more reconnaissance focused,” Angelica slammed the gas pedal, letting the vehicle roar forward with an aggressive whine. “We, as a group, are actually rated quite highly, and have confidence. In part because you all are individually very powerful, and in part because there are many of us. Thus, we’re going to one of the larger, more potentially dangerous locations.”

“Man... what a nice privilege...” Albion shook his head, an air of disappointment seeping into the sigh leaving his mouth.

“I expect a lot of ravenous wildlife, but nothing much beyond that. You never know though, and it’d be quite exciting to discover more,” Angelica tapped her chin as they drove around the town and through the wilderness. Checking the rearview mirror, she paused for a second. “ Now, if you look in the compartment below... Electra, you’ll find printouts giving a general rundown of the current situation, objectives, things to look for, and more. It’s big picture stuff that is good preparation. I’d prefer if you all read it now, or have one person read it out loud to the others if people get motion sickness.”

---

Many days ago, as the reconnaissance team uncovered the beginnings of their major discovery. Everyone stayed within half-a-minute’s sprinting distance to each other as they documented every observation and theory they could come up with.

One man traced his finger along the gleaming metal corner peeking out of the ground. Destroyed electronics chewed through by the natural wildlife sat strewn across the ground. His observation here ended up being the first line of their formal document: [This seems to be the traces of a larger organization, every place we’ve found follows similar building practices.]

As another man pieced together the bits of the electronics, they continued the creation of their report. [Color scheme-wise and technologically, it’s very consistent across locations. Technology used seems to be home-made as none of it matches up with known manufacturers. Estimated tech-level though is only a few years behind the most cutting edge tech showing up in research institutions.]

[An estimation of their technological level would be the one of a modern-day consumer.]

The investigation team backed off as the sound of rustling filled their ears from the forest behind them. Taking shelter in the trees, they watched as another herd of animals wandered over before pawing at the dirt surrounding the exposed metal corner. After taking measurements with their devices though, they couldn’t find a signal of any type.

[Each exposed base seems to emit some sort of signal. Or has started emitting a signal that draws over the natural wildlife. Unable to reach the source though, the wildlife leaves after a period of time.]

The current herd of animals, after a quiet, single-minded ten minutes, ended up leaving as well.

[All these observations are corroborated by several different examples.]