Bab 39: Nuuk
Blood, hair, nails, saliva, skin cells, bone marrow, stool, urine. . . in the following two weeks, the Awakened were subjected to every medical test possible and their biology, down to the finest level, was extracted and studied under the guise of the United Nations.
Scientists, researchers, specialists, doctors, surgeons, and many more people were summoned to Greenland. Within twenty-four hours, Greenland received an influx of over eight-hundred personnel called upon by the Secretary-General.
She took every precaution. Approached the situation as carefully and pragmatically as she could conjure. Running every possible test and recording every possible metric, she spared no expense in an effort to understand the phenomena that occurred to the thirty-four people who emerged from the light.
In addition to taking note of their every last cell, the Secretary-General also requested background checks on all of them. And, due to the authority the Secretary-General of the United Nations holds, the Awakened's history left no stone unturned before her eyes.
Records from their birth to their death. . . or in this case, their missing person's report.
This process, conducting the medical tests and investigating their backgrounds, occupied the Awakened's first week in Greenland's underground facility.
Within that first week, also, the Awakened were individually interviewed and asked to recount their experience of the past however many months. Some of the Awakened spent more time in their interviews than others.
Leon, for example, splurged unapologetically.
"So at the top of the screen, it says 'Host' and then a colon and then my name. . . ."
In contrast with Leon, Olive sealed her lips. Metaphorically, of course.
"It was a jungle with some big trees. Killed some Goblins. Eventually found the way out."
Between the various interviews and the multiple retellings of the Awakened's story — the United Nations and their affiliates ended up with a significant pot of more or less accurate information.
And when this information was passed forward, summarized to the UN's affiliates and world leaders across the globe, it went a little something like this.
"For reasons unknown, Earth and its citizens are miraculously being transported to foreign and dangerous worlds. In these new worlds, the transported people are granted a tool called the 'Status' which analyzes its host's capabilities while simultaneously granting some of them 'Classes' and 'Abilities' that defy the known laws of the universe."
"With the Status, the transported people are able to 'awaken' granting them supernatural and magical arts depending. Moreover, within the Status of those that have returned, a timer is counting down for unknown reasons and is set to expire in twenty-two days."
"See attached Doc. for the full report."
Thirty-six hours after the dissemination of the report, a second emergency General Assembly was called — a follow up to the discussion of the mysterious white light that kissed the Earth prior.
The hall filled in under an hour. Representatives from every country involved with the UN appeared in droves. The seats filled quickly and Secretary-General Barber took center stage in front of an audience plagued by murmurs and hearsay.
Before Barber could speak, however, a large man burst from his seat and shouted across the General Assembly Hall.
"What is this nonsense you summoned us for?!!" The President of Brazil shouted.
"If you had read the report —"
"I READ THE REPORT!!" His voice rose in volume, "You expect me to believe in some half-baked superheroes?!! Do you take me for a fool?!"
Barber observed the crowd. Many watched the scene unfold with eyes of agreeance, nodding their heads along and internally thanking the bravery that the President of Brazil exercised. Most, however, responded to the President of Brazil with scrutinous gazes and glares of annoyance; either at his lack of decorum or disagreement of opinion.
Silence pervaded the hall.
Recognizing that Barber wouldn't respond to a tantrum, the President of Brazil unhappily fixed his collar and begrudgingly took his seat.
"Everything written in the report is true —" Barber began and before another protest could ensue, she offered up to the assembly exactly what they wanted.
"— and in order to prove its validity, I brought with me a guest today. If you all would, please welcome Awakened Admiral Sutton Adams of the United Kingdom's Royal Navy."
The doors behind the various world leaders burst open and a tall, old, and lanky man entered the hall. Dressed in a black double-breasted tailcoat with white and gold cuffs, shoulders, and collar — the Admiral strode into the room with his palm laid rest on the hilt of his dress sword.
A vicious gleam in his eyes, the Admiral clashed against many of the glares sent his way and not once did he yield.
He approached the center stage and took his place behind the podium, the Secretary-General now standing beside him. The Admiral leaned into the mic.
"You asked for proof." His devilish smile interrupted him, yellow and crooked teeth flashing the audience, "Then watch closely."
The Admiral flared his mana and an unexplainable breeze began to ruffle his uniform. His medals swayed from the surge of his mana while his cap nearly blew off his head.
An orange hue rippled off the Admiral's person and seeped into the air — coating and surrounding him in a visible aura that seemed to burn off the Admiral himself.
He raised his arm into the air and a silver chain launched out from underneath his cuff and tore into the assembly hall. The chain and its spear-headed tip danced above the heads of the UN's attendees — each sequence arriving dangerously close to the scalps of the bewildered audience.
The President of Brazil, in particular, received the honed end of the chain's advances.
Amidst the shocked expressions found within the crowd, there also existed many who watched the Admiral's performance in glee and wonder.
For some, they dreamt of possessing supernatural power themselves. For others, an army of Awakened painted their horizons. No matter who it was in the audience, they all internally realized one single thing: this was an opportunity!
An opportunity for what?
That remains unforeseen and will likely manifest differently for each and every person present. Nevertheless, it was undoubtedly an opportunity that needed to be reined in.
"Where are the other Awakened?" The representative of South Korea stood and spoke.
"In an underground facility off the coast of Greenland." Secretary-General Barber returned to her position behind the podium.
"I've called this assembly primarily for three things."
"First, we must determine when and how to distribute this news to the general populace. Notice I said 'when and how' and not 'if'. From what we've been able to assess, it's likely that people will continue to disappear under the guise of transporting to another world. These are not soldiers. The death toll is exorbitant and we will make a mistake. One way or another — news will spread. I demand we're at the forefront of it."
"Second, we must determine what to do with the Awakened themselves. As more of them disappear and return, we must be prepared to deal with their consequences: registration, Ability information, threat level analysis, their whereabouts — hell — even their intentions. With the power that has already been demonstrated, I can confidently say that if one of these Awakened turn against society. . . it will be a massacre and it will take an army of us to conquer a single one of them. I understand it sounds harsh, these are people after all — a part of us even — but do not allow your compassion to cloud your vigilance! Within each of them lies dangerous power."
"Third, and sort of piggy-backing off the last point, we need to establish a new department or organization to handle the Awakened matters. This includes their return processing, their reintegration into society and, if pertaining, an appropriate use of their Ability within common society. I sincerely hope everyone here is able to recognize that this is an opportunity not only for us but for our entire race! I urge you to not only accept this change moving forward, but to foster it and walk alongside us into the future and all of the extraordinary things that await us there!"
A scene rarely seen within the General Assembly Hall followed.
The representatives of over a hundred countries stood from their seats and applauded Barber's speech. Raising their hands into the air, they paraded her vision and practically begged to board her vessel.
Shortly thereafter, the General Assembly tackled a topic left out of the Secretary-General's encouraging speech — what to do with the Awakened who are already here?
***
Two weeks after entering the underground facility, Cain alongside all of the other returnees were finally privy to admiring the sun once more.
Released from their detainment, they were boarded onto vans and driven to Greenland's nearest metropolis — Nuuk. The city of Nuuk, in addition to being Greenland's capital, secretly entered a golden-age of technological advancement thanks to the support of Denmark and the United Kingdom.
Isolated both from war and the planet's rapid deterioration due to pollution — Nuuk stood as one of the world's bastions for ecology, marine biology, and meteorology. Diverging from the path of arms dealers and weapon makers, Greenland by and large studied life.
As a result of this surge in funding and scientific advancement, many colleges and laboratories were established in the city of Nuuk. The influx of students and researchers quickly stretched Greenland to its limit, demanding the country tackle a massive societal upgrade; all focused in Nuuk.
Over the past two decades, Nuuk underwent a transformation. High-rise luxury apartments lined the streets all equipped with heated railings and pools — preventing the structures from being snowed in during winter.
The sidewalks too, enlisted the aid of heaters to rid the snow. A healthy selection of skyscrapers overlooked the ocean, less than ten in total, but they created the perfect foreground for the setting sun off in the distance.
Luminescent blue lights lined the streets and a tram ran through all of the major districts of the city which essentially boiled down to the few colleges that opened up in Nuuk — each of them massively contributing to the expansion and architecture of the current Nuuk.
In the north, stood the district Newla or its official name 'New LA'. Colloquially referred to as Newla, the northern district boasted classic American food and housed Nuuk's famous 'strip' — Trojan's Street which was nothing more than an amalgamation of hip bars that included sport, game, western, and beach themes.
In the southeast, Romeson. A district of Nuuk heavily influenced by Italy and many of its surrounding countries. Roman and Greek architecture plagued Romeson, statues littered the streets and obscenely large columns reinforced most of the high-rise buildings here.
Lastly, in the southwest of Nuuk, this district boasts influences from primarily Asian countries as it was constructed as a result of a treaty between Japan and South Korea. The district of Sol, named in respect of the flames of the Rising Sun while simultaneously being a homophone for Seoul, this district largely represented the business and financial portion of Nuuk. It housed the most skyscrapers, reserved the most bountiful estates, and was home to one of the largest marine biology laboratories north of the equator.
In the southern-most quadrant of Nuuk, eight military vans drove around a roundabout located in Nuuk's airport. Momentarily stopping, a classroom of returnees exited the sliding van doors and quickly rushed in-doors to the warm embrace of Nuuk's airport.
Dressed in a new set of military provided clothes and given a single airfare voucher to anywhere in the world, the returnees were almost entirely left to their own devices to scatter across the world as they saw fit.
Of course, their government-provided smartphone came equipped with a tracker — anyone above the age of fourteen should be able to figure out that much. And the records of their flights will likely be recorded, but other than that, they were by and large free to roam like cattle.
"So where's everyone going?" Lily's perky voice attracted all eyes and ears.
"I should probably go see my parents." Church replied first within their usual circle.
"My wife nearly divorced me over the phone. . ." Isaac scratched the back of his head, "if I don't go home I'm confident she actually will."
"I'm not even gonna bother my last girlfriend… I needed a way out anyway." Church sighed.
"What about you, Olive?" Lily asked.
"Um. . ."
At first, Olive thought of returning to her apartment, but after a moment of clarity she realized that nothing of her's would be there. Nine months of unpaid rent alongside literally vanishing off the face of the Earth. . . her shit was long gone by now!
She didn't have any parents to call either. No brothers or sisters to speak of. Olive had been in the midst of attending university, quite a prestigious one at that, but the thought of returning to school hadn't even occurred to her.
Nine months in foreign wilderness pitted against savage and grotesque creatures that remain constantly on the prowl for flesh; either for hunger or pleasure. . . .
When compared to typical university life, well actually that was the problem, the two simply weren't comparable. After experiencing the jungle, Olive could never return to the mundane.
At least, she definitely couldn't fathom doing so right now.
'Is this PTSD?' Olive asked herself.
Olive constantly chastised the others for not training enough, not practicing enough, not investing enough into their skills and techniques. Had she invested too much of herself? Was her critique premature?
So much so that now she couldn't find her way back?
Deflecting the question, Olive looked at Cain.
"What are you gonna do? Go back to Hell?" Olive pawned the talking stick to Cain.
"Nah. It's not a good season right now." Cain shrugged his shoulders, "Probably just sightsee for a bit. You can come if you want."
While Olive considered Cain's proposal, the rest of the cohort stared at Cain with the same query in mind.
'Hell has seasons?'
/////
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