Chương 2: Barghest(2)

The moment we rolled into the checkpoint, two things became abundantly clear. The chances of getting out of this were incredibly low. The checkpoint, as I guess could've been expected, was set up in such a way that there wasn't any other way through. The second was even worse. The people I thought had been manning the walls? They weren't people—not in the truest sense. At first, I thought I just saw it wrong. When I refocused, the hair along my neck shot up sharply.

Below the helmets and armored uniforms, pure white alabaster skin shone through. As if noticing my gaze, one of the soldiers turned to face me. It didn't have any facial features. Its entire head was just a faceless mask of white skin following the rough shape of a human head like some kind of messed up mannequin. I mentally pulled up the image of the banner I'd used earlier and activated Seek. An intense bout of vertigo washed through me to the point I couldn't tell if down was left, or if right was left.

My tail coiled around my waist, and I cut off the psionic ability before it could make me puke.

"Please stop." The voice came again. My ears twitched as if to find the source, but the radio-like noise came from all around us like the air itself spoke. The driver side-eyed me, and I nodded. As long as nobody forgot the rules the blazing script had laid out for us, there was a good chance we might just get out of this one alive. Anomalies that used rules were bound to said rules. Hopefully. Of course, that was assuming surviving the Overlap was even possible.

I dunno about the others with me, but I was only ever trained in how to deal with calamities and people. Surviving anomalies and Overlaps hadn't even been on the docket during my education. One of the faceless soldiers walked up to the side of the driver's window and tapped on it. The nervous man in the back's hand twitched down to his rifle.

"Mmph!"

"…" I shook my head, and fully dropped my own weapon. We weren't going to get out of this by fighting. Not even considering the fact that we had no idea what we were dealing with, there were several heavy gun emplacements set up around the checkpoint. The moment we tried to fight our way through, our vehicle would be torn to shreds.

"Please roll down the window, and honestly fill out the form." The voice came again. It was closer this time, like it came from inside the car itself. The driver shot me a look, and slowly started to roll down the window. Contrary to what I was kinda expecting, the faceless soldier didn't lunge in to twist his neck. Instead, it simply handed over a clipboard and a red ink pen.

"…!" The driver didn't hesitate to hand me the clipboard. I shot him a look, though just accepted it. Someone had to do it. It was an order. The form seemed pretty normal for the most part. There was a spot for our reasons for traveling, designation, destination, and all sorts of information. I uncapped the pen and stared down at the paperwork. Did I lie? Did writing a lie count as telling a lie? Or was it two different things?

And yet writing down all of the information made an ominous premonition flood through my system. Giving it the full truth felt like suicide. I stopped just before I could lie about our destination, and thought back to what it said. The entity's order had been to fill out the form truthfully. Whether writing counted as telling didn't matter. As long as it didn't make us speak, we were supposed to comply with all orders. Instead of writing down Silverport, I simply wrote down Walled City as our destination.

It wasn't technically false, and also saved me from giving too much information away.

"How far have you come?" A garbled voice came from the soldier just outside the window. I glanced up, but its attention was fully on the driver.

"Oh, not too far. We still have quite a bit of fuel in the tank." The driver laughed brokenly.

"We should be able to get there before too long." It seemed he was thinking along the same lines as me. It said we couldn't lie, but it never said anything about giving the full truth. Nothing happened, which just confirmed my speculation. It gave me a surge of confidence to work down the checkpoint's form.

"Where's there?" The soldier asked casually.

"…" The rabbit Apex bit his lip instead of speaking up once more. His ears twitched erraticly, and his eyes dilated entirely like he was about to have a heart attack. My pen froze on the paperwork, and the tip of my tail flicked irritatedly. Tension built up in the vehicle. The three in the back seat shifted uncomfortably. The faceless soldier just continued to 'stare' at the driver with its sheer face of pale skin.

"Back passengers, please exit the vehicle." The radio-like voice came once more, and broke the tension. Six more faceless soldiers, all ever so slightly different, approached from further in the checkpoint.

"Mmph!" The nervous man made a terrified sound, and gripped his rifle like he was about to start shooting—"…!" Gunner grabbed the gun and ripped it out of his hands a moment later. The large gunner glared at the man while flicking on the safety, and tossed his rifle to the side. The woman opened her door and slid out, completely ignoring the two of them. Both of the guys in the back paused just before a fight could break out, and followed the directions. Soon, it was just me and the driver left in the hummer.

A faint crackle like a radio out of tune hummed across the space. A second later, the soft voice returned.

"Please proceed to the front of the vehicle and comply with a pat down." All three of them moved forward to the front. I followed them with my eyes for a moment, and then continued to fill out the form. Next was our reason for visiting Checkpoint Alpha-Omega. I jotted down to pass through to the other side.

"What's your name?" A voice called from the front. One of the soldiers, the one patting down the woman, tilted its head to the side curiously.

"I-I'm…" The woman's eyes flared open in panic. Rule 4–never tell ——— your name. A shiver went down her spine as her silence continued to linger. All around the checkpoint, more and more figures slowly approached. Every head, including the soldier still standing at the driver's window, slowly started to twitch and twist in her direction. Some even twisted their heads a full 180 degrees and stared at her. This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

Footsteps came from afar, and distant soldiers walked in our direction. They weren't rushing quite yet, but with each passing moment it felt like an inevitable tide pushed down on us. The woman's eyes scrunched in confusion, and her silence lingered.

"… I'm sometimes called Pookie by my clients." Her words flowed out in a rush of desperation. Her cheeks flushed a ugly red, and she adjusted her glasses. It seemed the loophole worked, and nothing happened to her. Instead, the soldier asked a different question.

"How often?" She opened her mouth like she was about to answer the soldier—"…!" I waved at her through the windshield and cut my hand across my throat repeatedly to warn her against answering again. Rule 1 was to only answer one question. Her chin dipped in my direction. In place of an answer, she simply asked a question of her own.

"W-will you tell me all the ways I could become powerful? T-to the point no one'll ever dare mess with me again." A sharp whine picked up in the air. It built up louder and louder like the static feedback from a mic left too close to a radio. My ears thrummed with pain, and I dropped the clipboard to clutch at the top of my helmet where they were safely tucked away. Beside me, the driver likewise fell into a similar condition. For that matter, even the two humans at the front were entirely debilitated.

Only the woman who initially asked the question didn't react. Instead, she nodded her head as if listening intently to a set of instructions. Several minutes passed by, with her head nods turning more and more frantic.

"No… no stop. It's too much." She groaned, and clutched at her head.

"It's too much. Stop!" The sharp whine intensified to the point my vision started to flicker at the edges. At the front of the vehicle, she collapsed to her knees. Her previously confident expression contorted into one of pure agony.

"Stop! STOP IT! PLEASE STOP!" She crumpled backward, and screamed into the sky. Fire flickered at the backs of her eyes. The fire intensified more and more until her eyeballs erupted into flames. FWOOSH!

"TOO MUCH! IT BURNS!" The fireball grew and the smoldering pork scent of burnt human flesh wafted sharply into the air. My stomach clenched at the scent. With one last agonized scream, the woman crumpled into a blazing fireball. The high-pitched noise of interference steadily decreased until it faded entirely. Two of the soldiers at the front bent down and scooped up the charred remains of the woman and carried her off further into the checkpoint. None of us made any moves to stop them.

Rule seven, be careful what you ask for. I swallowed dryly, and quickly scratched in the answer to the next box on the paperwork. What are you transporting? People.

"Please tell me how you feel after witnessing that." The gentle voice returned. All the gentleness in the world couldn't hide its true nature any longer.

"Checkpoint Alpha-Omega has top class psychiatric assistance to help you." All four of us remained perfectly silent. A moment later, as if being released from a stunlock, the nervous man's legs gave out from underneath him. He collapsed backward, and stumbled away from where the woman had just spontaneously combusted. A wet patch steadily grew on the front of his trousers.

"Please, stand up and comply with the pat down." The radio-voice ordered softly. It was quiet like it was hoping the man would be too panic-stricken to hear. After a moment, just before the soldiers could start approaching him, he shakily got back to his feet. Soldiers returned to pat him down a moment later. They moved swiftly, and checked him for contraband. In the end, they didn't bother with his weapons and just let him go. The other pat down went through just as quickly for Gunner.

Before either one of them could return to the car, one of the soldiers turned to the man who just pissed himself.

"Are you uncomfortable?"

"Extremely. I'm extremely uncomfortable." The man's words came out in a rush. His breath, likewise, was rushed. He was on the verge of hyperventilating, and just barely managing to hold on.

"What are the three most realistic and achievable ways for me to save my mother from severe corruption?" His mother… right, someone was waiting for him back in the city, too. My ears twitched uncomfortably. As much as I wanted to hate every single person in the syndicate for what they'd done to me, even the grunts had their reasons to join. The sharp whining returned and covered up the radio-voice's words. Unlike before, it didn't end with the man collapsing to his knees and burning into a fireball.

Instead, the whine receded like a tide. He stood there, perfectly fine, with a relieved expression on his face. I likewise let out a breath. Be careful what you asked for. It seemed like a double edged sword. As long as we didn't reach for too much information, we could successfully survive the trial. From the way the man looked, it'd even give us the answers we were looking for. He opened his mouth as if to say thank you, though managed to pull back at just the last second.

"…"

"Please return to the vehicle." The radio-voice released the two of them, and instead turned its attention to me. Instinct screamed to stay on my guard.

"Please hand over the completed form." I had one last box to fill out on the form. Are you carrying any contraband? I rapidly scratched down an answer into the last box on the page. It depends on what you count as contraband. The second one of the soldiers approached me, I handed over the clipboard with the fully completed form on it. Every single box was filled in with the truth, although none of it actually gave away any information. They were partial truths at best, outright misdirects at worst.

Thankfully, the faceless soldier accepted the form, and walked away further into the security checkpoint. One of the guards approached the driver's window once more, and leaned forward to inspect us. Beside me, the driver's ears twitched, and he let out a rough breath of air. A flicker of emotion passed through his eyes. He'd already been asked a question, and he wanted answers.

"What're the three very best and most achievable ways for me to become filthy fucking rich?" The moment he asked the question, everything around the checkpoint stilled. Every soldier in the nearby area slowly turned to look at him. Why—? Oh… Only speak when spoken too. It was a rule that seemed harmless at first glance. Our driver realized his violation of the rules at the exact same moment that I did. His greedy expression melted into one of unwilling despair.

"Wait! Fuck! Wait, it was just a fucking accident!" The soldier at his side ripped open the door. It was a feat of inhuman strength, and fully tore the metal door off its hinges. The moment it was open, three soldiers lunged at the man. Our driver panicked and pulled his side arm from its holder at his hip. Bang! Bang! Bang! The shots rang out, though the bullets proved far from useful. They slammed into the soldiers, and simply melted into their bodies.

One after another useless hit their targets until the gun clicked empty. Behind me, the guy that pissed his pants tried to go for his rifle. I snatched it just before him, and pulled it into the front with me. I, too, thought about trying to fight our way out. These things tanked bullets like they were nothing, though. I doubted even my vi-rifle would be able to do much against them before I was swarmed and killed. That wasn't even considering the armed soldiers.

And, while it was true that I was a Psyker, my ability was purely non-combat focused. It didn't matter how much I tried to use Seek, it wouldn't do a thing against these creatures except point me toward them. Even then, it didn't work on living creatures… if these things were even alive. Maybe if I had something stronger, we could try to blow our way through with firepower. Maybe the full convoy could stand a chance. That was just at a surface level.

There was no telling what nasty surprises Checkpoint Alpha-Omega had in store. As things stood, attempting to fight would only end in death for all of us..

"Let go—argh!" He tore into an agonized scream as his pistol-holding arm was ripped clean off its socket. Red spurted out and painted the cabin in vibrant streaks.

"Wh-what are you guys doing? Help me!"

"Do not assist the driver." The radio-voice crackled back to life, and totally sealed his death sentence. Without his arm, he was ripped clean out of the vehicle by the swarming faceless soldiers. He vanished under a mass of combat fatigues and pale skin. His screams, though, echoed off the walls of the checkpoint all the way until he was pulled inside a door.

"Well done. You should feel pride in yourselves for obediently following orders." The gentle voice returned.

"Afterall, here at Checkpoint Alpha-Omega, we only wish to keep you and those we protect safe. Please tell me how proud you are."

"…" Safe. Heh, right. That was the reason it was laying so many traps for us. A shiver went down my spine. The air crackled with radio interference once more.

"Now, please proceed forward so we may inspect your vehicle." Up ahead of us, a security gate lifted along the road. Red lights flashed, and illuminated a stop sign just past the gate. I shared a look with the last two remaining people of my squad, and crawled across the bloody dashboard to take the wheel.