It was a few hours until anything happened. The only thing that kept Gunnar awake was the fact that they actually had a lead here.. Finally though, when he began to struggle to stay awake, the doctor from earlier made her way back up the stairs, with a new far less dusty robe.

She noticed Gunnar was the only one fully awake so she walked to his side and cupped her hand at the end of her beak, which likely made very little difference. ‘The Speaker is ready for your friend now,’ she went to turn back round, but stopped. ‘Oh, of course you’re all invited to see him, just please remember he is still recovering.’

She left them to go talk to a small group in the corner of the church. She was definitely someone that pulled influence here as she commanded the group to carry a heavy block of bricks across the room.

Gunnar stopped himself from watching the worker bees any longer and slapped Aethels leg. ‘Come on lad, time to get your answers.’ He kicked Nati who mumbled and tried to kick back even in her half asleep state. Aethel sat up behind him and stretched wide, curving his back. Nati pushed her sister’s legs from her own.

‘Ah. Fuck. Needles!’ She slapped her legs as the blood began to flow through them properly once again. Kat who had shot awake was quite amused by this.

When they were finally done waking up, the group headed down the stairs. The stench of blood filled their noses and also the faint smell of sterilising agents and vomit. The Speaker lay on one of the many beds inside the main room, which surprised Gunnar. Perhaps he didn’t want to cover his own bed in blood, as this one was stained with the stuff.

His mask was off and there appeared a particularly deadly looking cloud hanging high above his head, eroding the ceiling. He smiled weakly as they entered. ‘Sorry about that, you always forget how fragile the human body is even with the blessing.’

As they reached the bed, the Speaker sent his attendees away, including the militia medic that had stayed behind, the Medics many layers of protection burnt and bloody, but still there. He exchanged a few words with Aethel then bid the group farewell, lumbering back up the stairs. As the last of the Gospel left earshot, the Speaker’s mouth curled downwards and his expression darkened. ‘First of all. I believe I owe you an apology. I told you that the Gospel was peaceful, but, it’s more accurate to say that’s just us.’

Aethel clenched his already closed fist even harder. ‘Clarify,’ he ordered rather simply.

‘Yeah. You acted like your God was all peace loving, that a lie?’ Kat raised a brow, skeptical herself.

The Speaker lifted himself up in his chair and sighed deeply, like hauling a great weight. ‘Truth be told, even I don’t know what Puinsee truly wants. All that they convey is a desire for oneness. To join all of humanity together. The problem is the path to achieving that is up for interpretation, there are those that choose peace like I do and then....’ He scratched his neck. ‘It’s hard to explain, but… It’s like, our God will always desire what we desire, no matter what that is.’

Two fists slammed against the ragged bloody mattress the Speaker lay on. Aethel was hunched over breathing heavy. It was probably meant to be intimidating, but it was hard to make violence against a soft mattress intimidating. ‘Are you trying to say that whatever Cultist fuck that killed my family did it because that’s how they interpreted your Gods desire?’ Gunnar placed a gentle hand on his friend’s shoulder and pulled him back.

If he was scared, the Speaker didn’t show it, the only emotion one could read on his face was sympathy. He looked up at Aethel and didn’t turn away. ‘If it were just that, I could understand. Not agree, but understand.’ He looked away and down, clenching his own fists. ‘It was some years before the tragedy that befell your family. He had become beloved by Puinsee, allowed to hear our God’s voice. The third of my flock to do so in all my years watching over it, but he was always troubling to me, I must admit, it was the first time I felt my lord had made a mistake. Devon was always violent, always chose force over friendship. He believed he had to spread Puinsee’s word by fist and rife, give others no other choice than the oneness. He left one day, taking a good quarter of my flock with him. Those that were blinded by his apparent charisma.’

Aethel listened as patiently as he could muster, but Gunnar could tell his anger was rising. He thought it best to hurry this trip down memory lane along. ‘So, what? This Devon guy is the bastard that did it?’

The Speaker nodded. ‘I did not hear from him or his new flock for months, even years. Then suddenly, our lord told me of his actions, I do not know why. Puinsee rarely spoke of the other Flocks, but when Devon tore your world apart I was told and… I was devastated. I know that wouldn’t be any consolation to you, but it’s true, it was not what I had taught him.’

‘So you just had no idea?’ Gunnar asked. The speaker nodded. He thought back to what Puppet had said when they first appeared in the church, Ignorance is a sin… Gunnar assumed they were referring to the cultists not knowing they were hiding in the shadows, but, how could Puppet have known?

Aethel wore a complicated expression, for a moment he tensed grasping the Speakers bed frame, but quickly let go his eyes bulging with slowly growing tears. ‘Do you at least know why it was them? Why my family?’ his voice shook and his body trembled. Kat put her arm around his shoulder, comforting him.

‘I… I don’t know. I could ask my lord, but Puinsee will always protect a Speaker. I don’t even know if Devon or his flock is still alive. I am truly sorry, I will do whatever I can to assist you, Devon was my protege, so I am at least partially to blame.’

Both of them grew silent, the atmosphere was tense and not too cheerful. Gunnar wanted to say something, had to say something, but it definitely didn’t feel right. ‘I think Puppets related to it,’ he forced out.

Aethel grunted a sigh that turned into a growl. ‘Not everythings related to that fucking psychopath Gunnar! Fuck me you’re obsessed!’ He turned away from his friend.

That was true and Gunnar quite agreed with him, but that didn’t change what he had heard. ‘Listen. When Puppet came in they said ignorance was a sin, right? The Speaker didn’t know,’ he looked at the Speaker. ‘You were ignorant.’

The Speaker looked up at Gunnar. ‘Puppet? Is that what you call that metal beast? How could it possibly know…’

‘Unless it was involved,’ Aehtel replied with a sigh. He grunted and pointed a finger at Gunnar. ‘You’re still fucking obsessed.’

Gunnar couldn’t help but smirk, Aethel had to have the last dig. ‘Okay okay. You boys are getting way too ahead of yourselves here,’ Nati stepped forward waving her hands. ‘First, this happened like years ago right? Puppet only became active recently. Second, they could have literally meant that the Speaker was ignorant for not knowing a giant monster was hiding near their home. We’ve got enough actual issues without you two making more.’ She looked between them both challenging them to tell her she was wrong.

Kat joined in. ‘Why are we having to play detective here? Point me in the direction of something I can punch and I’m your girl. This shits straight vexing.’

The Speaker’s eyes fluttered as he lay his body back down. ‘I’m going to need to rest shortly. I truly desire to help you young man, your family did not deserve such cruelty. I do not have a cellpad, but we do keep an emergency pad in a hidden safehouse out back, just in case the other flocks need to communicate. If Puinsee decides to tell me anything of Devon, I shall call you.’

Gunnar handed over his number without delay, Nati wasn’t long after but Aethelstan was very hesitant. He did, eventually as his main goal was to find the killer. Anyone could tell the situation didn’t sit right with him though. The Speaker almost seemed satisfied, he wished them luck before succumbing to sleep. Aethel reached for the gun on his belt but stopped, he sighed and turned around. ‘Let’s go.’

The other three followed close behind, many of the Gospel bowed to them as they left and a few even bid them goodbye. ‘I guess he picks his “Flock” better now,’ Gunnar muttered.

They reached the top of the stairs, there was a lot of evidence of Puppet ripping through the area, plenty of the supplies were damaged, shot up or scattered and the entrance to the tunnel was scratched and bloodied. Aethel who was leading them stopped, he wasn’t facing them but his shoulders were slouched. ‘Did we… Do the right thing?’

‘Ha!’ Gunnar laughed, it was a gut reaction. ‘Honestly not even sure what the right reaction to that is man.’

Nati clicked her tongue. ’We can all agree that what Puinsee was doing to them was kinda fucked up right? It’s like. . . We need doubt, we need that little voice that questions everything we do.’

‘You do,’ Gunnar retaliated only to be met with a glare that could melt through Puppets armour.

‘But then they were peaceful right? And they all seemed like they wanted that thing in their heads.’ Kat chimed in. She groaned in frustration again. ‘I don’t know what the fuck to think. Like, they’re basically brainwashed, but they chose to be, somehow Puppets involved and also Aethels family. This is all a lot.’

Gunnar lent against the railing of the stairs. ‘I dunno about you, but I ain’t ever shot someone who wasn’t shooting back and I’m not about to start now.’ The others fell quiet.

Though he said that, it wasn’t as if he wasn’t also in two minds. There was the side that told him that they were pacifists and shooting pacifists was as far from his to-do list as you could get. Guilt wasn’t something he enjoyed living with and he already had his fair share. On the other hand it was some of their people that murdered his saviours. An off branch maybe, but a branch nonetheless.

‘You guys… You don’t have to get involved with this if you don’t want.’ Ahead of them Aethel stood defeated, he looked like he needed sleep and a lot of it.

All three of them had basically spent the last few minutes ranting and complaining about the situation, it probably seemed like they didn’t want to be involved, which they didn’t, but considering how bad he personally felt, Gunnar could only imagine how his friend was feeling right now.

He walked up the steps and put his hand on his oldest friend’s shoulder. ‘Brother, if we didn’t want to be here we wouldn’t be,’ he looked at his friend. The scared child trapped in an angry man’s body. The one that saved him so many years ago. ‘Let’s get home, yeah? Give us all time to process and think?’ Aethelstan nodded meekly.

They carried on, out of the cultists home. Back through the winding mines where a few of the militia members stood guard and searched for Puppet. Apparently the beast gave them a run around in the caves. To be fair, they had found a way to damage their thick shell. Really big guns. Who would have thought?

Gunnar wondered if Finch would also keep quiet about the Puinsee church. None of the Undercity Front were there when they made the promise save for the technically off duty Aethelstan. So they had no obligation to stay quiet about it, but at the same time the Chief wasn’t the type to endanger civilians if possible, and the Gospel of Puinsee probably counts as civilians.

The others in the group still looked a little dejected as they reached the entrance to the mines. Gunnar wanted something to lighten the mood, which is when it hit him. There was something that might cheer up the group, one piece of good news. The others noticing him stop all pause themselves too. ‘What now?’ Aethel sounded pained at this point.

Gunnar grinned and pulled Puppet’s tail from his jacket. His friends all held an expression of surprise, in different ways, exhausted as they might be, he could see all their moods begin to shift.

‘Is that?’ Nati didn’t finish her sentence, she didn’t need to.

Gunnar gently threw the tail to her. ‘Swiped it before the Gospel or UF noticed. Gonna get it to Walther since he’s got the tech to analyse it properly, but thought you guys might want to see it.’ Nati began to smile and Aethel, who was the most drained, managed to lift the corner of his mouth. ‘We can hurt the bastard. Might need godly toxic gas to do it, but we can do it.’

Natis’ smile vanished from her face and she dropped the tail. ‘You… You made sure the tail didn’t have any like, toxic goop on it when you picked it up, right?’

Ah,’ Gunnar replied. He did not. ‘Well, if it did I probably would have suffered some damage by now right? Ain’t seen that stuff work slow, have you?’

Nati proceeded to scowl at Gunnar, she kicked the tail back over to him. ‘How about you hold on to it then.’

Now he was beginning to feel hesitant. Still, he had to pick it up at this point. Even so, the wrapping he had found for it was also still intact, so he felt decently confident it would remain so.

Aethel stood behind them, unfazed by the fact he had also held the tail. ‘You sure about taking it straight to your Noble friend?’

Gunnar mused on the thought. ‘I guess not entirely. But I ain’t got the resources and the Undercity Front? Besides, if he fucks us over we can take care of one asshole noble and his henchmen.’

His friend raised his hand to his chin. ‘Maybe… Maybe you can also get him to look for Devon. See if you can convince him to search for them without letting on what it’s for. I’ll also check my station’s records.’

A few ideas jumped through Gunnar’s mind. ‘Probably won’t be hard. I can tell him the truth, or at least a small part of it. Cultists with an ability that can damage Puppet and actual proof in my hands.’ He waved his tail about. ‘He’s not gonna turn down a chance to find a group that likely uses that ability as a weapon. What about you girls?’ he asked, turning to the sisters.

Kat slouched, deflating at the thought of more detective work, her sister corrected her behaviour with a sharp elbow. ‘We’ll check around obviously, but there weren’t any mercs involved so small chance of our contacts knowing much. Besides, we’ve asked folks for years if they knew anything of what happened to the Grants.’

Gunnar looked up to the high walls of the city and the towers hanging over it. He breathed a long sigh. ‘Alright then. Let’s get to work.’ The four headed back to the towering wall of the city, each of them would be occupied for an indefinite amount of time. It was a little funny that it took something like this to bring the four of them back together.

Aethel probably had the worst time ahead of him, on top of how closely involved he was already, he had now also dragged a good portion of his station in on this job including chief Finch, They weren’t helping with the Undercity Fronts efforts against the riots and Dropshot which still spread in other Sectors. Finch would be sure to defend him against any naysayers given what she’s now seen, but she already sat in the shitbooks of the council. The militia was already spread thin, he wasn’t sure how much his friend would even be able to accomplish now. Unfortunately it looked likely that they were relying heavily on Walther, for now at the very least.