'Well... I guess that's another job done,' Nova thought. He lowered his hands once he was sure the battle was over. 'Now...'
He frowned slightly as he took a closer look at his surroundings. Part of the block had been destroyed: the pavement was broken, the sidewalks cracked, and shards of glass were scattered among the rubble. Many of the vehicles were crushed like cans. Smoke was still rising from the flames left behind the explosion caused by Rober.
'Poor owners of those cars. Insurance definitely won't cover that much damage.'
Shaking his head in disappointment, he dusted off his trench coat and approached his friends. He looked for any injured or dead civilians.
'No injuries, no deaths. Excellent. If I leave that aside, the damage to buildings and cars will be covered by the government. Ha... Everything turned out as it should have.'
His thoughts echoed in a rather relaxed and calm voice, as if he really didn't care about anything.
After a few steps, he bent down to look at Rober. He touched his neck with two fingers and felt his pulse. He nodded in approval after confirming that the canine boy was still alive, then looked back.
'Girls.'
Elara was pulling the shield off the ground, and Miyu was helping her. When the roots crushed the girl in armor during the fight, the shield became embedded in the pavement. Now, as Miyu pulled on the straps inside the large silver shield, Elara held the upper edge of the shield.
When they managed to pull the shield out, Miyu fell backward. Elara looked at her with a cool smile and helped her up.
At such a simple and kind gesture, Nova smiled softly. He walked over to the girls, leaving the unconscious Rober on the ground.
"Are you okay, Elara? Are you feeling overwhelmed?" he asked.
Elara looked at him, shaking her head.
"I'm fine. Miyu is fine too."
Miyu gave a relaxed smile.
"We're fine, Nova. You don't have to worry so much about us. We do this every day, after all."
"Okay, okay. I'm sorry for my own concern."
He stepped back to look at the long street. In the background, a strange black light illuminated the sides of the street.
Suddenly, he felt a soft touch on his shoulder. It was Miyu.
"Are you distracted again?"
Nova raised his eyebrows, curious.
'Do I really look that distracted? Everyone keeps saying the same thing...'
"No. I'm not. It's just that we have to close the portal."
"Oh, right. Follow me then!"
The feline girl ran toward the light on the street. Nova sighed as he watched the storm on legs leave.
'She never misses a thing,' he thought with a wry smile.
Miyu had always been a cute, cheerful girl. You could tell her mood just by the way her tail and ears moved.
It could be said that this is a disadvantage for humans who have the special conditions generated by the Psychological Virus, as their emotions are revealed by their bodies' reactions.
The creaking of Elara's armor drew nearer. She passed Nova to follow Miyu, but before leaving, she stopped and, without turning completely, looked at him over her shoulder.
"Do you want to take Rober, Nova?"
"Your hands are full. I guess it's my turn."
"Great. Then let's finish the job and go home."
They continued toward the source of the disaster. There, the landscape was the same. The street was destroyed, cars crushed, windows broken. It seemed that the Aberration had been able to move a few blocks away from the area, but the destruction it left in its wake was evident.
The circular expanse of black light floating above the broken asphalt seemed like a manifestation from the beyond. Its edges, bright and purple in color, were completely irregular, as if the air and the portal had merged into a blurry vision. Soft, ghostly murmurs came from within; the interior of a dark circle that resembled boiling tar, but with soft flashes of purple light and white rays appearing from time to time.
The feline girl, who had arrived first, took a mysterious small, rectangular metal plaque out of her fish-shaped bag. She held the plaque high, as if pulling it out of thin air was a triumph.
"Let's hurry," Elara suggested when she reached Nova.
"I'm coming. Don't rush me," Miyu shook her head, looking at the plaque in her hand.
Meanwhile, the leader carried Rober over his shoulder. Noticing the size of the portal, he looked at the sides of the road to compare the size.
'I'm sure it's two meters in diameter. Ugh, I don't want to think about how many more Aberrations are hiding on the other side.'
Having an army of plant-type Aberrations constantly emerging from the portal would be catastrophic. That would cause the Elite Empaths to have to move in to save the city. It was extremely fortunate that only one Aberration came out of the portal.
Since the asteroid struck and reshaped the planet, Dimensional Portals and Aberrations have been coming out nonstop. How the portals work and where they lead has always been a mystery to humanity. They only knew that the mysterious energy brought by the asteroid was the cause of this.
Too many things changed with the impact, from the geography of the planet to the races that inhabit it. A very notable example of this are the humans who survived the impact, who were infected with a primitive version of the Psychological Virus and mutated.
At first, the Psychological Virus was a deadly disease that appeared with the asteroid, but those who survived the disease became stronger and gained a wide variety of powers thanks to the mutation of the virus. There are cases in which the morphology of some humans changed.
Miyu and Rober are descendants of those humans whose morphology changed dramatically.
"That's it for work today!"
The plaque in Miyu's hand was silver, with geometric lines that looked like wires sealed in resin; it even had a company logo stamped on the edges [Daytech]. Without waiting long, the cat girl pressed a button on the corner of the plaque and threw it under the portal.
The metal plaque, making a metallic noise, stretched out into a long, thin platform. Now the platform was the same width as the portal. Then, a high-pitched sound, like a rattling metallic clang, was heard coming from the platform. Immediately afterwards, an aura as transparent as the wind began to absorb the portal.
The platform did not absorb the portal itself; what it absorbed was its energy. After all, a portal without energy is just a closed one. Now the portal was getting smaller, weakened by the lack of energy. It emitted spectral noises that sounded like moans of agony from the beyond.
What is on the other side of the portal? If you want to die, you are welcome to enter the portal. You'll probably meet a beautiful female Aberration who will cut or crush you a thousand and one times.
'That makes two portals this week. The mission reward must be big this time!' thought Nova, slightly excited.
When the portal closed, the platform contracted loudly with a loud metallic click. It turned back into the small metal plaque it had been before.
Excitedly, Miyu took the plaque and held it up high.
"Mission Completed! Now let's go to lunch!"
Nova smiled slightly when he saw Miyu. She's the kind of girl who makes a scene wherever she goes. She has a bit of an ego, yes, but she's a lovely and friendly girl. Although her clothes are a bit revealing for normal people.
Miyu always wears a white blouse with a brown vest over it. Her hot pants, the same color as her vest, revealed her exquisite thighs. Her red hair was cut short to her shoulders, and her blue eyes were like the sky shining down on humanity. Her big red boots gave her a cartoonish look, yet she remained every bit a beautiful city girl.
To interrupt the group of friends, shouts of celebration were heard throughout the street. The people who had been hiding were now grateful to live another day in this hostile world.
'Oh, man...'
Sometimes these kinds of situations were a bit stressful, but nothing could disturb the calm Nova Asmodai.
People came out of hiding, shouting:
"Thank you, Empaths!"
"You guys are the best!"
"Let me take a picture of you!"
Empaths were like local celebrities. They are the humans who decided to risk their lives to fight the Aberrations from the asteroid and the Dimensional Portals.
Although all humans have the ability to develop powers based on their Spectrum, many decide to leave that to those who are talented.
The Empaths of the Local Factions are those talents, who have the ability to use the energy that covers the planet. This allows them to use the mutation to its fullest potential as if it were magic.
"We should leave right now."
Elara, as calm as Nova, looked at the boy as she listened to him speak.
"But people are praising us... Let's go say hello!" Miyu insisted.
"Even though you like to be the center of attention, we have more important things to do. First, we need to take Rober to the Doc. We have to treat his burns and get him some new clothes."
"I think so too," added Elara, agreeing with Nova.
Miyu's ears drooped, falling onto her soft, silky hair. Like her depressed tail, Miyu responded with her head down:
"You guys always agree on everything you say."
She had no choice but to accept.
Nova approached the feline girl and put his hand on her head, ruffling her hair a little. With his natural calm, he said:
"Let's leave the public for later. I'll buy you something delicious on the way. Now let's get out of here because a crazed crowd is coming."
Behind them, a crowd of civilians—who finally felt safe—ran like wild beasts. Nova glanced at them and wondered if, deep down, humans weren't also Aberrations, but that didn't matter anymore.
"Okay. Let's go!"
'This girl changes her mind very quickly.'
It seemed that that slight caress made Miyu change her mind.
"Come on! Let's go!" said Elara, jumping over one of the cars that had been crushed like a tin can.
Nova smiled to himself and, together with his friends, looked at the civilians one last time. They jumped mysteriously and ran away over the buildings.
The civilians watched them. Empaths always had style. It was like an unwritten rule in human history. Their powers turned them into killing machines, but their hearts with intense emotions made them people of this world.
That is the source of humanity's power, their emotions.
The Psychological Virus ceased to be a disease when the strongest emotion in the human heart awakened. Anger, Melancholy, Love, Trust, Fear...
In the past, the Spectrum was forced to awaken, but today—.
Faced with cataclysm, faced with Aberrations, many stressful situations caused the surviving humans to forcibly unlock their powers. But that had changed by then. The Psychological Virus is a fundamental part of human life, for the Spectrum that their heart chooses will dictate the path of their life.
The set of emotions that humans have, and that awaken their powers, was called: Emotional Spectrum.
The group jumped between the rooftops of the buildings. The wind caressed their bodies, conveying a deceptive calm.
Suddenly, a notification sounded on the group of friends' communicators. As they jumped and ran across the rooftops of the lower buildings, Elara, Nova, and Miyu took out their communicators, which were nothing more than simple smartphones with cutting-edge technology.
The three opened their eyes in surprise and looked at each other.
Elara, who had remained serious until now, smiled in a way that perfectly matched her cold beauty and emerald eyes. She is so beautiful that the blue sky and white clouds make her look like a mysterious and enigmatic being.
Miyu began to laugh, jumping happily on the rooftops as the wind blew her tail back.
Nova looked very relaxed and excited, but not as exaggerated as Miyu. He smiled softly, accepting this fleeting happiness.
It was a strange, subdued happiness...
'I had forgotten that this is the best day of the month.'
On February 1, 1325 after Impact, the screens of these young adults' communicators notified them of a transaction to their bank accounts.
Today was payday.
"Do you know what we can do today?" Miyu asked.
Nova and Elara looked into each other's eyes.
"We have to celebrate."
'Of course we have to celebrate, damn it!' thought Nova.
If human emotions are what drive humanity, then money drives the entire world. And if you have enough money, why not spend it until you go bankrupt?