Mark sat in the passenger seat of the car as Jonathan drove them back to base. The only other person in the car was Shelby, and as of yet, he hadn't said a word.

Mark could still hear the sounds of the wooden gavel echoing out across the chamber as the general tried to get everyone under control. It was clear that no one had been listening, but he managed to grab their attention for a few seconds to make his verdict.

"With the evidence presented before this court, I will now make my ruling. In the case of Lisa Howl and Nathan Moore, a fine will be paid of one hundred thousand system points which will be transferred to the religious district."

Major General Faustus cleared his throat and continued.

"In the case of Patrica Williams her sentencing will be postponed until we can confirm the Order of the Sage's claim. Seeing as this is a religious matter we will not intervene before then."

Murmurs began after that again and Yasha's face was black with rage but the general continued.

"As for the Order of the Sage, your claims will be confirmed and you will join us in a meeting tomorrow to discuss the relevant details as this court has not convened to deal with any other issue. Until then this is my verdict."

Mark had seen the frown of Colonel Rachel's face but she still stood.

"All rise, this court is adjourned!" she yelled.

Thus they were in their current position. Mark, Jonathan, and Shelby had taken one car and Sam went with Karter and Ethel.

Jonathan's steely gaze ahead was all Mark needed to know he was pissed.

When he spoke his voice was as sharp as his blade.

"What was that back there? You realize that just about every faction in the city was there, right? What if they believe your little rumor?"

Shelby scratched the side of his neck.

"Look, if you want to be mad, fine, but please understand you would not have been able to hide it for much longer."

Jonathan frowned and glanced at Mark out of the corner of his eye.

"With the information just released by the system do you think people wouldn't question how you knew to gather the tenders?" Shelby asked.

Mark had had a minute to peruse Cartaker's message, which, when he looked through it, was like a transcript of their questions and answers. Each came with an explanation, but it was obvious that the Unbound were important, as was the fact that the questions asked were from humans.

Their only saving grace was that names weren't mentioned.

The fact that Shelby had started this rumor now was unfortunate timing as people might be more likely to put the pieces together, and there was no telling what would happen then.

Jonathan sighed as they pulled into their territory.

"What's done is done. Now I'm not saying that I like what went down, but there is no denying your assistance in this, so thank you, Mr. Miller."

Mark drew a breath and let it out, nodding at Shelby who smiled back.

Getting out of the car they spotted Karter pulling up beside them.

When they had all gathered, they headed up the few steps to the lobby, where Gibby and Holly were waiting at the front doors.

Holly was looking at something on her system, which could only be the Cartaker's message, but Gibby greeted them as they arrived.

"So? How'd it go?" he asked.

Ethal smiled as she stepped into the lobby.

"Better than we could have hoped for. For now, we have guests behind us, let's grab some people and make sure they feel welcome."

At that moment, cheers began to reach their ears as a procession of NAS's people laughed and jeered through the streets. At the front were Lisa and Nathan, who sat atop a limo, waving at everyone.

NAS had been ecstatic when their leaders had walked out the front door. There was still the matter of their fine, but to a faction as large as NAS it was nothing more than a slap on the wrists.

When they got to the front they were all there to greet NAS.

Patrica Williams and Wesley got out of the cabin as Lisa hopped down from the roof.

"Well, well, the prodigal sons and daughter return just in time," Lisa said with a smile.

She closed the distance and took Ethel's outstretched hand.

"Yes they do have a knack for showing up at the right time, don't they?" she said with an amused look.

"Come let's get inside. I'm sure you want to celebrate, but from what I hear from Samantha the mission was a success, with a few hurdles along the way."

They all began to head in but not before Lisa waved to the crowds. Her satisfied expression drew cheers from the crowds.

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As they filed into the twice-repaired elevator, Mark got a better look at the three of them. Lisa and Nathan looked much the same but Patrica exuded a calm that she had been missing for a while.

Mark also noticed how her presence was affecting his Corruption. Even though it was in his body he could feel it slowly burning up in her presence.

She was wearing new gear and as Mark frowned he remembered the purifier's armor set. From the looks of things, she had gathered another piece.

If that were all then Mark could accept that but Patrica's Mana was giving off intense complexity.

The only reason he could come up with was that her Ideal had grown since he last saw her a couple of days ago.

When she caught him staring her usual vibrant smile came to the surface, but there was a shadow of loneliness deep in her eyes.

Mark had not seen any of her fellow worshipers in the crowds outside so it was safe to say she was alone in this.

When they arrived at a meeting room Karter led them in and once they were seated he turned to the four of them.

"Right, tell us everything, and don't leave even the smallest detail out," Karter said.

Like that, they took turns recounted their journey, and went so far as to explain what they had learned about the Corrupted humans.

Lisa ground her teeth at their mention.

"You have got to be kidding me. We just deal with one problem now. Now you're telling me I can't trust my own people."

Mark shook.

"That is not necessarily the case. Outwardly they are hard to differentiate, but they still can't hide from an in-depth scan. So as long as we institute regular check-ups on our people we should be able to take care of any infiltrations. Send them to the clinic, we'll create a screening process for them."

Lisa pursed her lips but nodded.

It was not like this undertaking would be easy but just like healing the people of the city it was necessary to make sure everyone was safe.

Nathan then turned to Wesly.

"And what of the equipment? Did you get what we needed?"

Wesley nodded and began taking out the bulky equipment in the room.

"There was more than enough to share, but Captian Price took similar equipment so it's only a matter of time before they get something up and running."

Sam nodded at the crates and turned to Ethel.

"We'll contact Elizabeth for the engineering department and see how long she thinks it'll take to get it up and running, but I would assume a day or so, You are welcome to join us when that happens."

After that, they devolved into lighter topics and Lisa turned to Shelby.

"What was that in the courtroom, were you going for dark and mysterious, Because if so, you nailed it. I would not be surprised if by this evening everyone in the city is talking about your order,"

Shelby smiled coyly.

"Mrs. Wilson told me to get their attention in any way I could so this was the result."

Jonathan placed his hand on his forehead and shot Ethel a glare. Ethel completely ignored her grandson as though he were staring daggers at someone else.

"Well, whatever the case your suggestion came at the perfect time. Speaking of perfect timing, what about that message from the system? As we already discussed NAS will help in any way that it can. Now that Patrica is almost free. So I gotta know how many have you guys found?"

Mark knew she meant tenders right away, and he was honestly interested as well. He'd heard that Shelby had been working around the clock and they were even having some success but somewhere along the lines, he'd forgotten to ask how many they'd assembled.

Shelby stood up and straightened his shirt with a devious smile.

"As of this morning, we have gathered thirteen of the thirty unbound necessary to open the spire," he said smugly.

Mark's spine straightened at this news.

He knew the man had been working at it non-stop but he never would have expected he'd gatherers almost half of the people in a couple of weeks.

It was like finding thirty needles in a city-wide haystack. Granted they worked together to get as many people tested as possible but still it was impressive.

Add the three of them into the mix and they were already over halfway.

Lisa nodded to her and turned to Mark

"Impressive, why don't we combine our screening at the clinic into a tower visit? That way we can begin looking through our people too."

Ethel nodded to this idea.

"That seems prudent. Though we have already started looking through you people at your request, an organized effort would streamline things."

Lisa grinned.

"Then I think it's about time that we headed out. Tomorrow going to be a busy day and we have the celebration to throw."

Mark would have been happy for them if Sam hadn't leaned over to him and explained that a celebration for NAS was a no-punches-pulled brawl where they dove into the city on a warpath of carnage.

This only made Mark smile dryly at the idea.

Their faction on the other hand was still business as usual, so when NAS left their territory, Sam, Mark, and Jonathan moved to get stuck in, but Ethel held up a hand.

"Hang on a minute you three, you just got back and while normally I'd be grateful for the help, we have everything in hand. Relax and rest. Tomorrow we'll head to the Loyalist's territory and from there we can talk."

Jonathan looked like he wanted to argue but Sam placed a hand on his shoulder and shook her head.

As they broke up, Mark stepped out into the hall and over to one of the windows. From here he could make out the clinic in all its glory. Smiling Mark headed for the roof, seeing as they had finished it so much sooner than he had anticipated, he wanted to see how they were getting along.

By the time Mark opened the door to the roof, he felt their presence behind him. Turning back to look down the stairwell he could see both Jonathan and Samantha following him up.

"What's going on? Do you need me for something?"

Jonathan lifted and dropped his shoulders.

"Why do you think we want something? We just have a bit of spare time on our hands"

Mark shot him a confused look and his eyes moved to Sam who shook her head at Jonathan.

"We know you've put a lot of work into this project, so I want to see it. Can we join you?"

Mark cocked his head.

"You just wanted to come with? Yeah sure."

The three of them lifted off the roof leisurely, escaping through gaps in the plates of amber. They would need to come up with a new method of leaving the base when it was completely in place. Flying over the city again felt incredible after so long out in the wilds.

All the movement down there was humans going about their lives as best they could.

The clinic stood out among the clustered high-rises, not because of its size—it was dwarfed by some of the surrounding buildings—but because of its stark, utilitarian design. Its four-story walls were angled and reinforced, built to withstand more than just the usual wear and tear of city life. Atop its domed roof, a massive red cross was painted in bold strokes, visible to anyone soaring above.

A line of guards patrolled its perimeter, their silhouettes barely visible against the floodlights stationed along the outer walls. The structure wasn't built for beauty; it was built for survival. If the city ever fell, this would be the last line of defense, a sanctuary for the wounded, and a final holdout against whatever threats lurked beyond the skyline.

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