Blessed by Night

Needless to say, the dinner table took an unsurprisingly somber turn in the wake of Arias' inflammatory remarks.

Underneath the table, Bianca was practically squeezing the life out of Anna's hand so that she wouldn't leap across the table and cause a scene.

For a few minutes, the only sound was that of spoons clattering within a bowl, and Arias' incessant chattering.

"So then, I had to tell the new guy; 'I don't care if you've got a weak stomach, I'm not cleaning that bathroom again! If you throw up then just make sure to mop that up too before you-"

"Arias."

"Yes, Uncle Mal?"

"Don't be funny."

"You were the one who brought up family technicalities first, I was just trying to play along a bit..." Arias pouted.

Groaning, Malachi manipulated the shadows and summoned the thickest folder any of them had ever laid eyes on.

"…Birthday invitations??" Arias gasped.

"Dude."

"No? Wedding plans then?? Can't keep these beautiful ladies waiting any longer than you already have, amiright??" Arias joked.

Finally, Mal snapped.

The lights within the apartment flickered in and out as the world outside rumbled.

Dark clouds formed outside that crackled with brilliant cyan colored lightning.

But looking deeper within, Arias could swear he saw glowing figures running through the thick thunder cloud.

They almost looked like… animals?

"Alright… Guess the time for joking is over…" Arias muttered.

"Been that."

"Alright, alright, fine.." Arias was finally done playing around at the dinner table.

He could sense an extraordinary amount of energy coursing through Malachi at the moment.

Much more than anything he'd ever displayed from their previous encounters.

'This is the problem with being out of the loop, you start missing out on big changes like… What the hell..?'

Arias finally opened up the folder and the first thing that he saw was a sort of coronary report; along with some fairly gruesome photos.

He briefly skimmed over the documents inside while wearing a grim expression.

His face only grew darker and darker with every turning of the page.

"What is that, lad..?" Morgan finally asked.

"The old regime's dream for the future." Mal replied grimly.

What Arias had just been handed were effectively the plans for the doom of the blessed.

Chemical weapons that only targeted specific strains of cells.

Bullets and weapons that superheated and vibrated at a speed that could cut through metal, or metallic skin, as easy as butter.

Investigations on shutting down specific glands in the brain that make telekinesis, or certain other mental abilities, possible.

Deployable neural disruptors had also been developed to prevent the use of blessed powers to begin with, so that they could be shut down and dispatched before they could do anything fantastical.

Opening up a real world of horrors for the blessed.

The only things that they seemed to have a hard time producing countermeasures for were Avatars and those with powers rooted in magic.

But the percentage of individuals who fit that bill were close to 0.5 percent.

Meaning everyone else in the world was at risk.

But there was still more.

Malachi reached over and flipped open the folder to a particular outlined tab he'd had marked at the end.

"Do I even want to know what that is..?" Morgan looked like he had aged fifty years since the start of this conversation.

"Definitely not…" Luna answered as she sipped her wine.

"Tell me anyway." Morgan groaned.

Since Bianca was the smartest, it fell on her to explain the document in a way that everyone at the table could understand.

"A nanite injection and steroidal treatment.

Once injected into the bloodstream of a normal human and subjecting them to a cycle of bone, muscle, and organ conditioning, a newly cybernetic human is created.

They're not very fast, but they are as strong and durable as a B-ranked blessed and their regeneration is close to A-level.

Preliminary trials recorded six hours as the average amount of time needed to regrow a lost limb.

Their bodies are also more insulated against the elements, making them nearly immune to erratic temperatures at either end of the scale.

They also display a low proficiency for technomancy and energy projection. This would be higher, but…"

"By Ymir's beard, there's more??" Morgan cried.

Bianca could only smile wryly and nod her head.

"There is also a report on the very bottom about making these particular enhancements strain of enhancements for the general public.

Police forces, military officials, and soldiers would receive a higher efficiency shot with a significant increase in functionality."

"How much of an increase..?"

"…Seventy percent, but the mortality rate for the procedure is 56 percent. Assuming they haven't worked out all the kinks by now that is…"

Bianca muttered the last part so that things wouldn't seem quite so hopeless, but given how quiet it was in the room, her effort was useless.

For the first time, the reality of war had set in for most everyone here.

The Revival Regime was soon to be, if it wasn't already, comprised solely of cybernetically enhanced humans capable of going toe-to-toe with the upper echelon of blessed.

Not only that, but the other side was also developing weapons and equipment designed to strip them of their powers and enhanced durability.

They were preparing for a witch hunt.

A genocide.

"…Am I still the monster in your eyes…?"

Arias slowly stood up from the table while wearing a much more serious expression than he'd displayed at any point during the dinner.

"You all would cast your judgments and preconceived notions about my motivations when there is a threat as great as this over the horizon?"

"How many times have you tried to kill me again?" Malachi raised a brow.

Morgan snorted.

"I was trying to create a better path forward! You two fools insisted on standing in my way at every turn instead of standing with me! And for what?! For them?!?" Arias yelled back.

"You were trying to harm people I love! You think I would actually sit and co-sign any of that shit?!"

"Your vision is indiscriminate and without mercy when it comes to humanity. You're no better than them." Morgan sneered.

Now, all three men were standing up in a heated argument that could have gone left at any moment.

"Do you think I do not recognize my own hypocrisy, you fools?!" Arias roared. "But so what!? If I must, I will play the role of the villain all that I need to! Because this world is far better in my hands than anyone else's!"

"You think the other side doesn't think the same way?!"

"FUCK what they think!! Look at these fucking pictures again, you bastard! They experimented on our people! There are children in here!! You're still going to sit here and act as if I am somehow the greater of the two evils!?"

Arias picked up the folder and flung it at Mal dramatically, sending papers flying all over the room.

Malachi, who already felt immensely annoyed, became even more agitated.

His claws burst out of his fingertips like foldable knives and his fangs doubled in length.

He would have torn Arias limb from limb right there had Morgan not wisely stepped in between them.

"You've done your own share of dirt here, Arias! The conditions you have humans living in here are barely livable! They work for a fraction of what blessed do and are openly discriminated against by higher officials!"

"And who do you think I learned that from?? I'm just repurposing an age old play out of the humanity playbook!"

"Then you are just like them!"

Arias shoved Morgan hard.

His golden hair began to float above his head as it lit up the still dark room.

"I am nothing like them, you foolish oaf!! I simply understand the psychology behind human behavior!

No matter the class or diaspora if you treat them like animals they will eventually behave like animals and pick each other apart at any given opportunity!

Those on the fence about my ideologies will see I'm right as all of the humans will begin picking at each other for scraps to decide who is the lowest of the lowborn!

They. Are. DOGS!! And they will all die a dogs death!!"

The entire floor shook with the booming of Arias' voice and any glassware close to him shattered.

Malachi had finally reached his limit on 'talking'.

He sidestepped Morgan quickly and was a millisecond away from lunging at Arias when suddenly a much calmer voice came from behind him.

"Then why do you keep them around..?" Joanne asked.

Everyone turned to the former head of the dark angels and found her wearing a very refined and business-like demeanor.

"Among your territories, humanity makes up more than 80% of their total numbers and workforce.

Now you certainly could just be keeping them around for the cheap labor and to make a point, but… somehow I doubt that. Why are they still here, Arias?"

Somehow, such a question seemed to disarm Arias' hostile air.

The light emanating off him finally died down and his hair began to return to normal.

"What a great question." He huffed with a smile.

"On the very rare occasion that there are humans who can rise above, they receive the ultimate honor. They get to become blessed and leave the folly of humanity behind."