A large official room with bookcases stationed at each corner of the room stood proud in the upper parts of the building it was in. The carpet rolled out to cover the middle of the room while a mini-fridge hummed endlessly as it was powered by a cord connecting to the wall. The entrance of the room itself was made with rare imported mahogany wood.
Three knocks were heard at the door in front of the mayor, and the assistant came out with her arms wrapped around a thick stack of paper documents.
"Mayor? Someone is here to see you right now. Says that it's urgent. And that you must know something, something's off and they very important..."
"Huh?! Who izzit? I'm busy right now. Can't you see?"
The suited man with his feet on the top of his desk watching the blocky television cube propped up by the dusty empty shelves, comfortably living in luxury as the multiple air conditioning units surrounding him were at full power.
The mayor of the ordinary Standart City, Jerome Whitford, and, as some people would have correctly guessed, the easily disturbed descendant of one of the people who helped the founder of the city's beginning.
The mayor's face twitched from the heat coming from outside the door when the assistant first opened it. In response, he had to crank up the fan's settings for the fan's blades to spin so much that they looked like they stopped moving.
"Turn him away! Meetings and appointments are not allowed during this time and day of the week. He can just go here at another time!" The mayor snapped back.
"But... mayor... he also said that I have to directly say this to you: 'The worth would be judged from the close collective's watchful view', or whatever that means."
Mayor Jerome's movements were halted by what was said. Steadily making himself not blink as sweat began to form.
Slowly, he turned off all the air conditioning units surrounding him, his face hard as stone as he properly sat on his chair. Shallow breaths were heard, and his eyes glistened with fear. He had only one thing to say after that moment of seriousness.
"D-don't turn him away... let him in," he said with his hands crossed and placed on his desk. "I will talk to him."
The assistant nodded in response and closed the door behind her.
After a couple of agonizing minutes for the mayor, as sweat began to pool over his plump neck and tight armpits, the door finally began to open in front of him.
The assistant opened the door first and let in the black-cloaked person, then closed it.
The cloaked man and the mayor exchanged silent looks of seriousness and business before the former grabbed the chair in front of the desk and lounged on it.
"Mr. Mayor, you have heard of what was happening recently..."
Mayor Jerome gulped. "What the hell do you mean?! What could be happening? Do you need more funds, men, equipment, anything? I don't want them to know how I'm handling the city, right now."
One eye was closed on the other man's face while the other eye opened suddenly, revealing the dilating pupil similar to a beast.
"Not any of those," he remarked. "I'm talking about the shadowy creatures that are sparsely appearing all over the city. The ones called Fadens targeting many humans in many places."
"Fadens!?" Mayor Jerome heavily breathed. "I thought we cleared those monsters away last time when they appeared after the city experienced the Green Catastrophe!? My best forces are currently scrambling up ways and ideas to defeat them at all costs after they were spotted by the public yesterday."
"Well, you see," the man began. "If the Fadens are now here disrupting the life of this place, then that means those green crystals that your top secret guys have been collecting so far are in this city in an unrefined state, and that means a second Green Catastrophe has a chance to manifest."
The mayor slumped in his chair from the sheer terror of hearing the word 'second' in front of the Green Catastrophe.
"A second one? That is supposed to be impossible. Those theomin crystals... are pure destruction."
"Not with those green clouds that were up in the sky from a time ago. The usual signs that something's bad coming up."
"Shit...!" The vivid memory of the green gases that were right outside his window played in his mind. "I can't believe this is happening."
"And more bad news for you, Mayor. My team also concluded that a large number of those Fadens are hiding somewhere in Vivid Forest, specifically under the Lone Site next to Lilac Pond. In fact, there was a specific Faden called the Trapsting that killed some citizens in a nearby campsite.
"The Lone Site at Vivid Forest? How come we weren't aware that such a creature lived there? Surely there would've been one person who witnessed it?"
"I assume that something, or rather someone, had purposely hidden these creatures in the deep parts of the forest by hoarding these theomin crystals. It may be a group of considerable fortune, like the missing Nistral family. With all that is going on in Standart, it is plausible that they are hiding more secrets than we realize."
"The Nistrals? My family, the Dovenlofts, along with the Morkiss Museum, worked with them together for many years. Only a few members of the family are alive. If the Nistrals decided to take advantage of this to get ahead in society..."
"Worry not, don't worry too much to make a sweat, Mayor Jerome. My team is involved with a special organization dedicated to capturing these Fadens, as they treat Trapstings in the Vivid Forest as child's play. The organization I am referring to is called Etomia."
"Etomia? What's that?" The mayor asked.
"Just a group that would help deal with your little Faden problem after they settle in the city after a few weeks. They would make sure to make the city as it was before."
"I'm not sure about this, but I do know that I won't let my city's forces slack off and passively wait for other people's help, and those Fadens will be eradicated before they realize it. I'll show them that I deserve the respect. Since I am a Whitford, I never make that many stupid mistakes."
The hooded man chuckled as he stood up from his chair.
"Heh, I wonder what kind of tactics you will use to get the Fadens here. Your city's defense is kinda weak; make sure you properly prepare for anything in the future, unlike the last time.
Mayor Jerome jerked his head away in frustration from the piercing words coming out of the man's mouth. His ego could be felt deflating, so much so that he had to prove that nothing would intimidate him at all.
Before the mayor could process it, the man was finally exiting the room, shutting the door behind him, leaving Mayor Jerome with his own trembling thoughts.
Mayor Jerome wished that he had called for help from Nebulous, an offshoot group that branched out from ACID Science Company, but they are still affiliated with each other. Their goals are simply to study and possibly revive the creatures of the Mighty Ancient Era that were wiped out by a meteor.
Maybe he could ask the director of the Morkiss Museum, Gorman Morkiss, to help gather money for the payment to hire Nebulous and make them sell their useless junk to other cities' museums. The mayor wasn't sure how Gorman would budge about having to sell his things, but if Nebulous was here, they would definitely find the rest of the green crystals and throw them out to the other cities that the Faden would target instead.
But it was what it was with how Standart had to choose the organization to protect themselves if their own internal forces weren't enough. Especially with how Standart's citizens had forgotten the ferocity and power that these Fadens radiated.
The mayor turned on the air conditioners once again.
"Damn my stomach, I need some Orange Curls to eat." The mayor pulled a drawer near his feet and dug inside to find the chips. "And damn you, Sel, for telling me my City's not that strong. This city will not fall if I'm the one controlling things around here."
* * *
"Nate Elfirm: Total Faden kill count as of yesterday is four," a robotic voice chimed on the device in Colten's palm. "Any other details you wish to know?"
"Nah, no need for that, I already got the info that I needed," Colten said to the device, interacting with it as though it was a living person or that his hand was actually a separate sentient being. "God damn, Nate, you actually are a good fighter... for a beginner. Your previous records were just one Faden kill every few days, but this... this is something, though."
"Understandable," the device beeped, its screen now dimming as it turned itself off. "Turning off systems..."
The cliff overseeing the Vivid Forest's lush green canopies and the rising buildings of Standart City gave anyone watching nearby a sense of incredible views, an almost drunk feeling of being above everything the ordinary city had to offer.
But there was a man who thought he swore that he would not stay in Standart after having to retrieve the green crystal from Vivid Forest.
Sitting by a campfire roasting marshmallows while his unfinished tent remained halfway built, sat Colten Marnsip, the bounty hunter as he would call himself.
"Hmph... I wonder how the kid's doing? It's not like I want him to stay alive after having him deal with so many Fadens...
At first, he was only there because of that kid; Nate Elfirm had those Theomic abilities that he was interested in seeing improve, and for it to become a sword. The meeting with the boy made him realize that there were probably more people who must have abilities that grew with them as time passed on.
"Those theomin crystals, it had to be a bother to get them back. But there's definitely proof that more of those green crystals are out there in Green Country. The green gas clouds that were rising above the city weren't nothing normal, but the result of multiple theomin crystals residing somewhere within Standart."
Colten watched as the smoke rose from the embers of the fire in the middle, floating in the air, just like that incident before.
"The Green Catastrophe, the mass destruction that blanketed the whole city a long time ago... is gonna come back, this time bigger than before, might even destroy the whole city without a trace."