The Tale of Mythia

Chapter 47: The Meeting

(Sunday, 12th of Dancing Fool Moon, 2021)
Jack was back at Sanctuary, standing in Herakles' office. He was lined up between Elizabeth and Nikola, with Maui and Sobek on either side of them along with some other teachers and the librarian. Jack was standing in front of Herakles, who was sitting at his desk, while Geppetto paced behind the man, biting his fingernails as anxiety overcame his own body. Cheng was leaning against the doorway behind Jack while Simo sat in a chair in the corner of the room. Lorelei was standing at the door next to Cheng. Mansa was sitting on a nearby table whilst reading a book and a sack rested beside him. Catherine and Juana were on the edges of the room, because they were also in on this all too, meaning they also knew Hero was not normal. However, Jack wasn't sure if they knew more than him, or if they were in the same boat as him.

"So...it appears Alice has started hearing the voices. And manifesting the forbidden power" Herakles informed them all about the situation. "She attacked several Hinoden Mercenaries, but given the circumstances, their government is hesitant to press charges in international court because they know the circumstances are not in their favor."

"Headmaster, do the symptoms mirror the 'cause' of 12/12/12?" Nikola asked with curiosity. "If so, we can try a surgery to cut off all her connections to magic."

"While her symptoms do mirror the 'cause', it's still too early to tell." Elizabeth answered in the Headmaster's stead. "Thankfully, Alice is cooperating with us unlike the 'cause' did back then. Alice explained to me that she started hearing the voices in her fight against Dorian when her friend was in danger. However, she thought she was just hearing things. This is the second time where she's heard these voices. Considering her friend Mifu was in danger, just like Jack was back then, maybe that's a trigger?"

"I think it's safe to assume triggers are different from person to person, because if that applied to the 'cause' back then there was no reason to suddenly hear voices." Herakles' expression was hard to tell, but Jack could notice one major thing behind his eyes.

Fear.

"Is there anything we could do to deal with the voices?" Jack questioned the headmaster. "Like a potion or anything like that?"

"I'm afraid I don't know." Herakles then looked towards the librarian. "Librarian, look for a way to deal with the voices. Elizabeth, keep monitoring Alice's condition until the next mission begins. Nikola, I need you to make devices capable of monitoring the voices and Alice's condition remotely, like an accessory. Cheng, have your agents keep an eye on her 24/7-"

"Except when she uses the bathroom, but when she's done, have someone check the bathroom for any irregularities." Geppetto stepped in before he began pacing. "Better yet, Cheng, can you do that?"

"Of course, I didn't master the ability to go without sleep forever to do nothing now did I?" Cheng smiled.

"Forgive me for interrupting, but I have already prepared something designed to monitor internal voices the day I heard about 'the cause'." Nikola pulled a black choker out of his pocket and Jack noticed a skull design on it. "This monitors neural activity, and it's connected to a computer that I have in my lab. The monitor can also identify whether it's conscious, unconscious, or an external source."

"Well done, Nikola, you aren't called a genius for nothing." Herakles was handed the choker by Nikola, who bowed simply in response. "By external source, what do you mean?"

"I have a theory that if this 'cause' was incredibly different before the voices and was changed by them, I'm assuming that an outside source was sending those voices directly to her head, like telepathy." Nikola guessed, and this man's intellect was making Jack feel dumb. "While the choker won't be able to identify the source of the voices if it is from the outside, it can monitor irregular thoughts while keeping conscious thoughts private."