022 - Spill the Blood

[Tullaryx]

Anselmo was already sending out new instructions to all the agents currently in the field. Mystics of substantial power levels need to be identified and locations relayed to home base post haste. The incident in the San Simeon compound put Lionel's goal several months behind schedule. The scientists were easily replaceable. He already had alternate teams working on the same project at other secret compounds, but the mystics were harder to come by. Those not already working for the other major powerbrokers on this world were either solitary nomads who wanted nothing else but to be left alone or were of the ambitious sort who may be a problem down the line.

Lionel settled himself into his chair as he poured another tumbler full of single-malt whisky. It was his third and he knew that another wouldn't be far behind. The camera footage of the lab sealed lab areas played on a continuous loop on the wall-sized LCD screen in front of his desk. He had seen most of it already first-hand. It was the scenes after he had left for the compound helipad which peaked his interest and at the same time fill him with some dread.

His consligliere was off to one side sending out his new instructions but he knew that Anselmo also saw what was being replayed over and over on the wall-screen. While his right-hand man was usually quite stoic about things the scenes which unfolded before the acid bath and cleansing flames started shook the man to his core. Lionel heard the man's heart increase in its beat rate for at least a full minute before he could calm himself down.

"Anselmo, what do you think caused the staff who were already down to attack the others?" Lionel asked him as he took a huge sip of the whisky in his hand.

There was a momentary pause as Anselmo put the agent on his headset on hold.

"It could be a side-effect of the interdimensional spell they had been monitoring. I've already had research check all known contagions, hexes and curses. They're still doing a thorough search but so far they've come up with nothing which matches the symptoms and effects shown in the footage.

"Did you notice how some who came back were faster than the others. If I'm not mistaken those who were faster in their attacks on those still living were the mystics who had fallen early on. Those who moved much slower were the normals," Lionel set down his glass and pressed the pause button to settle the footage on a particular image on the wall-screen. "I'm not sure if what I'm seeing is true or not, but in my own world we've heard and seen such things but only in films and stories."

The scene frozen in time on his wall-screen showed one of the mystics who was down a minute before in the process of ripping out the throat of one of the scientists. The man being attacked looked more surprised at what was happening than in pain as blood fountained out. Several other similar attacks could be seen in frozen image.

"Sir, do you think the problem may not be form the spell itself but from the transmission which they received before the alarms sounded?" Anselmo studied the image much more closely.

"I was thinking just that, but I don't want to discount the idea that the spell may be the cause for some reason we haven't figured out...yet," he unpaused the scene and let it play out once again. "I do know one thing I need you to start working on and that's to send a clean-up crew back to San Simeon and gather up whatever ash is left after the cleansing. It's too late now to get a much more viable sample subject, but we'll at least be ready for test number two on what may happen."

"There's already two teams ready to touch down at San Simeon to do just that, sir."

"Excellent. Now, on to this business of this so-called mystic in the region around Ohio you think may be of help to me..." Lionel finished his tumbler of whisky and poured himself a fourth.
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