Chapter 20

A quick change by Jon, followed by a return trip down the conveyor tunnel and through the damp snake pit…which Henry again accidently slipped in, saw the duo on their way away from Security-Widefield, on a quest to find a rift. At least, that was the mission. They first stopped to get gas at a 7-Eleven right by Henry’s old high school. Surprisingly, while Henry was filling up, Jon went in and grabbed them drinks and snacks. Sure, he may have zapped a human being with mystical powers, but right now, he actually seemed like a rather laid-back guy.

“And just so you know,” Jon mentioned as they continued towards their destination. According to the Strike Team leader, because of Henry’s resonation potential, there were a few locations that would essentially guarantee a rift would form up for them. At which point, it would just be a matter of waiting for a D.E.D. to emerge. Given the events of the night previously, Henry already knew of such places. Luckily though, the location Jon had them traveling to, was not at the top of a mountain. Instead, it was the Chapel Hills Mall. The large gathering of people, combined with all the cars, store fronts, and such, was a great place for gathering energy to create a rift. And because of the mall’s shape, it actually funneled the energy into a spot near the water fountain within the mall.

“When we get there,” Jon said as they made their way up Powers. Thankfully it was after lunch, so the road was clear. “it’s important that you do your best not to draw attention to yourself.”

“You don’t say.” Henry responded dryly. Jon was the guy who had seemed like he was about to head out of the headquarters in full on Exorcist garb. Now, he’d changed into rather tight black jeans, some black combat style boots, and a shirt with a pentagram on it. To any passerby, he’d seem quite unexciting, especially at the mall.

“What I mean,” Jon said with a chuckle. Though for a second Henry could have sworn he felt the electricity in the car spike, “is you can’t go around just yelling out commands for your D.E.D. People will look at you funny.”

“Then what, I just let my D.E.D. handle the battle on their own?” Was there an auto battle function? To be fair, the D.E.D. were intelligent, and probably knew how to use their powers better than Henry did.

“Well, you could.” Jon laughed, “or you can just do what everyone else does, and send them commands through the app. That way, it just looks like you’re playing D.E.D. and none will be the wiser.”

“Send them commands through the…” Henry trailed off. Why he hadn’t thought of that before, he didn’t know. It made perfect sense. Everyone would be battling D.E.D., whether in the game or as actual exorcists, with their phones out. So if they could send the commands directly to their D.E.D. through their phone, which was part of the connection between exorcist and D.E.D., they could avoid drawing any suspicion.

“Yeah, most people don’t think about that. And while it’s funny watching someone shout out Tackle or Air Burst or whatnot, it’s terrible for OPSEC. So, I figured I’d give you the heads up, before you make a fool of yourself.”

“Thanks.” Henry was still caught off guard by Jon. On one hand, the instructor seemed helpful. On the other hand, there were still so many unknowns about the man. Plus, there was the constant lingering in Henry’s mind from Loki, about not trusting other Exorcists. The fact that Henry also had no idea what D.E.D. Jon had at his disposal, was doing little to help his trust of the instructor.

“No problem.” Jon flashed a smile and popped open the energy drink he’d picked up for himself, pulling down his sunglasses as he did. “While I’m a firm believer of learning as you go, I figured there are some things that are just helpful early on, and you know, relevant to the mission. And, considering you’ll be working for me after you finish this little training mission, well, I can’t have you giving Strike Team Alpha a bad name.”

“Speaking of Strike Team Alpha.” Henry looked at Jon. The guy was now snacking on a box of Mike and Ikes. He was completely relaxed and uncaring. You would not expect him to be as dangerous and powerful as Henry was certain he was. It was very off-putting, and had Henry on edge. Like, he wanted to drop his guard around Jon, but at the same time, that feeling made him cautious. “What exactly will it mean, when I’m part of the Strike Team?” Henry knew the Strike Teams were assigned to patrol Colorado Springs and stop any rifts that opened up. But that was it.

“Glad you asked.” Jon ate another handful of candies, before he continued. “I’m sure the Director mentioned Strike Teams are tasked with keeping their assigned areas safe from D.E.D.”

“Mhmm.”

“Well, it’s that at its core, but it goes a little deeper.” Another handful of candies. “We try to ensure each strike team is balanced in that they can handle their assigned areas without any concern. Stronger members are sent to areas with higher rates of powerful D.E.D. coming through rifts, while newer members are often sent off in groups. After all, it’s easier to gang up on a D.E.D. coming through a rift with multiple D.E.D., than to try and fight one on one. Strength and numbers and whatnot.” More candy.

“Strike Team Alpha is unique in that I rarely actually get new recruits. We have some of the stronger members in the area, and only those with a Resonation Tier potential of A or higher are even considered for my Strike Team. Even then, because of the caliber of my current members, the director often gives individuals with great potential to the other teams, who may have power gap.”

“Then how did I end up with you?”

“Special request?” Jon smirked. “Or call it a favor. I recently lost one of my up-and-coming Exorcists-“

“I’m sorry,”

“Don’t be. It’s not like they died or anything. Just reassigned to the Denver Branch, to take up a quick response position. It was actually a promotion for them, but still, weakened my team. So the Director promised I would get the next high caliber candidate.” Jon turned his gaze to Henry’s Evil Eye, which was floating silently in the back of the car. “The fact they gave you an Evil Eye as your first D.E.D. though…is kind of insulting.”

Henry opened his mouth, finding his anger flaring then and there. Sure, he knew his Evil Eye wasn’t exactly strong. But he was really getting tired of people insulting it. Especially because so far, the Evil Eye had been nothing but pleasant to deal with. And the fact it just stayed there, silent, acknowledging its own weakness, just made the situation even more annoying to Henry.

For a brief second, Henry almost mentioned the rift last night, and the fact his ‘weak’ Evil Eye had helped him secure a Blade Drakeling. However, he held his tongue. Even though he was going to be working under Jon, he didn’t need to tell the man his secrets. And Loki’s warning still echoed in his mind. Not to mention, Henry found it hard to believe that Loki would be the kind to purposefully set Henry up for failure.

Jon, seemed to notice there was some sort of internal conflict going on through Henry, especially after he closed his mouth, and turned his eyes angrily back to the road. They’d come up to his exit, and he’d turned onto Woodmen heading West. Great thing about living in Colorado, the mountains were to the West, so you always knew what direction you were traveling. From experience, he knew they were almost to their destination.

“Look,” Jon offered him a somewhat apologetic shrug, “support D.E.D. are great and all, and Evil Eye’s do have, some sort of potential. It’s just a massive slog to try and train one up to the point that they become something worth having around. Most Exorcists don’t have the time to waste nurturing a weak D.E.D. As you know, the tiered Demon attacks are increasing in frequency, and the D.E.D. coming through basic rifts are starting to increase in strength as well. Meaning you’ll likely either store away your Evil Eye, or it will get killed, before it ever becomes truly useful to you.” Jon shrugged. “Those are just the facts man.”

Henry’s chest went cold. Jon was treating it so nonchalantly. The Evil Eye was a living thing. It had intelligence. Sure, they were using the D.E.D. as magical companions to fight against invading creatures from another dimension, but they weren’t just tools. However, Henry was getting the feeling a lot of the Exorcists in the organization didn’t share that sentiment. To them, D.E.D. were just that, tools. Capable ones, powerful ones, but tools, nonetheless. After all, it was easier to throw a tool into battle, without regard for its safety, rather than view them as a living, thinking, feeling thing.

“We will see what happens.” Henry said simply, ending the conversation. He could feel Jon’s gaze on him as he continued driving towards the mall. From the way Jon’s body language changed, Henry could tell the Strike Team Leader was not impressed with Henry’s mood regarding his Evil Eye. However, it didn’t matter. Henry was going to get strong, and he was going to do it without just throwing his D.E.D. away like they were nothing. He would find a way.