Chapter 44 – Confession

Neuro closed the door after him and gave Erika a pointed look. Without so much as a word, she stood off to one side of the room and clasped her hands behind her back. Divinity and Sal shared a look of confusion as they remained seated in the chairs in front of Quest. Neuro withdrew the tablet that Quest had given him and strode purposefully toward the headmaster.

“He didn’t have any trained resistances that I could detect, but there are other findings. Would you like to be debriefed privately, or have them hear it?”

Neuro didn’t look at Sal and Divinity as he spoke. The coldness of his tone was unfamiliar, and Sal wondered whether this was him in crisis mode. It was different from when the dungeon raid was happening, so Sal found himself theorizing what circumstances were different. Was it because he was an Influence type, or because this threat was the Bastion instead of demons?

Neuro turned his head in Sal’s direction and gave him a tight smile. “I can see that Quest has enlightened you to the Bastion fuckery in my absence. Let any anger and indignation strengthen your resolve.”

Quest gestured that it was fine for them to remain in the room and extended his hand to receive the tablet from Neuro, giving him an almost defeated look.

“No matter what we discuss, Divinity will need to be briefed so she can look into the future for us. Salvatore will need to step in if we need to look farther ahead. They might as well be here for this.”

Sal couldn’t determine whether he was gaining Quest’s trust, or whether the headmaster felt so utterly defeated by the circumstances that he didn’t care whether they heard or not.

Neuro turned to look at him with a chuckle. “Option one, Mr. Argento. I assure you.”

Sal’s eyes widened and before he could open his mouth, Neuro apologized. “I won’t be holding back on using my power while there are traitors in our midst. Rest assured that I won’t be prying, but listening to anything that may be a threat to the students or the academy. I hope you understand.”

Sal nodded. It made sense, but it didn’t feel nice knowing that someone was listening to his every thought. Divinity looked equally as conflicted, but didn’t say a word about it.

Quest remained quiet as he looked through the contents of the tablet. “So, a smear campaign? That’s what they’ve been up to? I expected something much more nefarious, if I’m honest.”

Neuro shook his head as he stepped around the table to stand at Quest’s shoulder. “His name is Wester Templeton. He’s a Bastion brat, from one of the connected families. There wasn’t room for every loyalist on the ship, so we’ve got plenty left on the surface. No coercion was necessary as he’s been indoctrinated from birth by his family, seeing the Bastion as the true saviors of humanity.” Neuro could barely conceal his distaste as he spoke.

“The nature of his ability is to make small lies sound reasonable. Building on those fears to eventually create larger lies. He has absolutely no remorse for any of his actions, which was a slight surprise.” Neuro pointed at the tablet screen. “You can see him laughing at us.”

Quest flinched away from the screen, which drew a grim smile from Neuro.

“Erika could have shown more restraint, but I can’t blame her. She gave him the stick rather than the carrot, for lack of a better term. Young Mr. Templeton has been operating for the Bastion since he entered the academy. There have been quite a number of events orchestrated by him and his group, which he was more than happy to share with us after a few mental exercises.”

Sal turned around in his chair to see Erika staring straight forward, not even looking at them. There was a small smile on her face, but that was the only indication that she was listening to them.

Sal felt a sudden surge of guilt for how he was sitting down while she was standing. Just as he was about to stand and offer his seat, Erika gave him an imperceptible shake of her head. Sal froze as he stared at her.

Wasn’t her ability supposed to be Mind Control? Was she actually able to read minds? As if in answer, Erika’s stoic expression broke to reveal a slight smirk. In a heartbeat, it was gone, and Sal was left wondering whether he imagined it at all. If Erika was able to read minds like her father, then she was much more formidable than Sal had expected.

Divinity raised an eyebrow at Sal, but he shook his head to indicate that it was nothing to worry about. Sal was definitely worried about it. She could puppeteer people with her control ability, but being able to read thoughts made her much more terrifying as a strategist.

Neuro glanced over at Erika with a disapproving look. “Stop it.”

Erika gave Neuro a defiant look. Her eyes then locked onto Divinity. Sal couldn’t read any emotions on Erika’s face, which was disconcerting, and he wished he had the monocle to figure out what was going on behind the facade.

With a shake of his head, Neuro returned his attention to the tablet, which Quest was still studying.

“Rather than targeting the wider student population, Wester focused his efforts on two groups. Healers and Controllers.”

Quest closed his eyes and cursed under his breath.

Neuro nodded as he glanced toward Sal and Divinity, offering a brief explanation. “The leaders on the battlefield and the ones who can save lives. If they have the two most influential functions in any team in their pocket, then there’s no telling how broad their reach would become in the future.”

Quest placed the tablet down on his desk and looked off into space before speaking. “What lies has he been spreading? You said they had to be small and believable at first.”

Neuro straightened and swept a hand through his fading blond hair. “That Quest Academy’s registration machines are capping powers. Stunting the developmental growth of every student so the United Guilds Association can control which Heroes gain the most power. Since it’s a process that every student goes through, and the lie targets the student’s feeling of inadequacy, it has some sticking power. Wester bragged that Healers and Controllers were typically the most insecure about their power levels in comparison to the Offense and Defense classes.”

Sal’s brow furrowed. “No mention of Support classes? I’d have thought they’d be the most insecure.”

Neuro gave Sal an almost pitying look as he shook his head. “The Bastion is made up of elitist bastards. They likely won’t even have the Support classes on their radar. They want to create a network of influential people who are secretly Bastion sympathizers, and aligning with Supports isn’t likely to get them toward their goal. Healers and Controllers are much more vital on the battlefield and likelier to be recruited into the top guilds.”

Divinity frowned. “You said he bragged about it? Is he an idiot? I would have thought that a Controller would have had more sense than that.”

Erika’s crisp voice carried through the office. “He was bragging to his peers. As far as Wester Templeton is concerned, he’s just had his performance review with his Bastion handler. He was very attentive and didn’t leave out a single detail, which my father can attest to.”

Her tone was devoid of emotion and simply a statement of fact. Divinity clearly had another question, but Sal laughed at the ingenuity of it.

Neuro didn’t give Divinity an opportunity to speak as he continued explaining the events of the interrogation, or rather, the interview.

“So, if we break down the facts. Wester wasn’t acting independently. He told us that he didn’t interfere with targets that had been assigned to others. He started with only five people, and managed to coerce three of them. That number grew while he was in his first year, and he got more assignments from his handlers. He’s currently responsible for coercing nearly a hundred students, spending the majority of his time in the academy reinforcing the lies he’s planted.

“Wester told us that the core group of Controllers who are loyal to Bastion, residing in the academy, number nearly twenty. The others are all at varied stages of indoctrination, with him expecting to graduate with a number closer to fifty under his influence. If we’re to believe him and the numbers are accurate, then it’s safe to assume that the other agents Wester isn’t to interfere with are doing similar missions. If they’re having the same level of success, then we could be looking at the entirety of the Controller and Healer classes being compromised by the end of next year.”

Sal’s jaw dropped, and Divinity was no better as she gaped at Neuro.

Quest shook his head and chuckled humorlessly. “It all happened under my nose. We can’t afford to lose those classes. The first-years are clearly being targeted now, and they’re being selective. Erika and Divinity haven’t been approached, but Barry has.” Quest fell silent as he ruminated over the information.

Neuro smiled as he gripped the edge of Quest’s chair. “And that is where our opportunity comes in. Wester practically gushed about how promising Barry Francis was as a talent. The Bastion are very keen about securing him into their ranks, because of his ability. Having someone who can control illusions would be a huge benefit for their campaign, and they’re planning to fast-track him with all the resources at their disposal.”

Neuro chuckled. “Or rather, the academy’s resources. Q-Cred has been compromised for the last year, with Wester getting you to fill the Bastion fund on his regular visits. He’s been meticulous in covering his tracks, and has been interviewing you for information on struggling students with excellent abilities. That’s factored into their recruitment process, which put Salvatore Argento onto their radar.”

Sal pointed at himself in disbelief.

Neuro nodded with a frown. “Yes, we’ve confirmed that it was reported to the Bastion a month ago. Mere days after your Skill Registration. Since Wester had been the one in Quest’s ear, he was tasked with quite a lot of responsibility and information. I need to apologize, Sal. Erika was the one who pulled the information out of Wester, and she heard about the Mythcrafter and Skill Master abilities. I assure you that she is discreet and won’t divulge the information to anyone around campus.”

Sal waved his hand as though it were nothing. “I feel like everyone knows at this point, so there’s no issue. I trust your judgment.” Just to be sure, Sal turned in his seat and looked at the statuesque form of Erika. “I trust you too, Erika.”

The slightest lift of her eyebrow was the only indication that she heard him, but it was enough for Sal. He gestured to Neuro to keep explaining his findings.

Divinity looked conflicted, and before Neuro resumed speaking, he glanced at Divinity and smiled.

“That’s a good question. The opportunity that I referenced is Barry Francis. If we can convince him to go into the viper’s den, we should be able to find this corruption at its roots. For everything Wester was able to tell us, there was much that he didn’t know. Most of the reports were made to his family, and they relayed it to the Bastion. If we were to try to take on the Templeton family, we’d be in for a clusterfuck of a time. They’re heavily influential in the city and not people we can take lightly.”

Divinity scoffed. “You’re not going to let this go because a family is influential, are you?”

Quest shook his head as he propped his elbows up on the desk. “No, we’re not going to drop this. It’s a slap in the face to everything we’ve set out to achieve in the academy. To think that they would be so bold as to use me as a puppet for their plans…”

He went quiet for a few moments as though collecting his thoughts. Neuro nodded as he took a step back, waiting for the headmaster to continue. Quest gave the students a somber look as he linked his fingers and rested his chin on top of them.

“We have two avenues available to us right now. We can report this to the United Guilds Association and accept the slap on the wrist for our methods of extracting the information from Wester Templeton. It would throw the academy into chaos and parents would likely pull their children from our care. It would lessen our authority as an institution and inadvertently give the Bastion more publicity. That’s the first avenue.”

Sal waited patiently for Quest to continue. His fingers gripped the armrests of his chair tightly.

Quest glanced down at the tablet on his desk. “The second avenue is a counteroffensive. We play the game with them and root out their influence. Planting Controller students among their ranks and destroy them from within. We wipe Wester’s memory of the last day and keep tabs on their actions going forward, not alerting them to our knowledge of their scheme. Protecting our students is the primary goal. If this subterfuge fails, we can always fall back on the first method and report it to the United Guilds Association and Hunter Bureau. I’d rather we settled this in-house. Thoughts, Neil?”

Neuro shook his head with a smile. “Rather than asking me, why don’t you ask the person who’s looking for the best course of action already?”

Sal followed Neuro’s gaze to Divinity’s milky-white eyes.