Just leave them be, Adam. The only way people can learn is through pain. No. You, of all people, should know that isn't true at all—there is nothing to learn from pain but despair and horror.
Adam's hair danced over his eyes, hiding their glimr as they reflected the map on his phone. The wind was still harshly blasting across his body.
"Forger, can you tell about the Agility stat?!"
"I also need you to find a way to make the crowd go ho, just in case they don't listen to ."
"What…?"
"I don't watch cartoons! I don't know what that ans!" Adam shook his head, getting his hair away from his face. "And I don't want to embrace anything. I'm just… ."
"...You don't? I can't find anything about a leader."
Clentine scoffed, and Adam could hear rustling from the background as she seed to scramble around.
"Tell him I'll show myself for a mont," Adam said. "But in return… they need to disperse as orderly and as quickly as possible after."
"I'm not a leader."
"Stop it. I'm… getting close to the church. And—oh."
"What are you—"
A low hum cut him off. Adam turned, spotting a drone drifting toward him.
"A drone? Is that… you?"
A second later, a cascade of tones rose from below. Adam looked down just in ti to see hundreds—no, thousands of people pulling out their phones. Almost in unison, their heads tilted upward.
"What did you—"
"It's him!"
Soone pointed. Then the screaming started.
It spread instantly, rippling through the crowd as people shoved forward, trying to get closer.
"Wait…" Adam's breath paused as his eyes locked onto a woman struggling to stay upright, a baby clutched tightly in her arms as the press of bodies closed in around her. "Wait!"
And as always, when soone was hurting, he didn't think.
He just… jumped.
The crowd gasped as he dropped into their midst, and like a ripple through water, the people nearest to him instinctively pulled back, opening just enough space for him to land.
"Everyone, please—don't push! Give her space!" Adam called out, his voice raised as he pushed forward, not realizing the crowd had already begun to quiet. He didn't even notice the silence.
He reached the woman and crouched slightly, his eyes flicking to the child.
"Is your baby alright?"
The woman stared at him, frozen.
"Y-yes… she's fine," she whispered.
"You shouldn't be here with her. You shouldn't be here at all." Adam glanced at the large bag slung over her shoulder. "Here—let hold her for a second. I'll carry your things. We'll get you sowhere safer. And all of you, please, go ho. It's not safe here."
"You're… here," the woman whispered, her hands trembling as she passed the baby to him. "Here… Here she is."
Adam carefully took the child, adjusting his hold instinctively.
"Ma'am, your bag?"
"My baby…"
"Ma'am?"
"My baby has been blessed by the Endless!"
"Huh?" Before he could react, the woman dropped to her knees in front of him.
"Don't—please, don't do that," Adam said, instinctively stepping back, careful not to jostle the child in his arms. "Please—"
But it was already spreading.
One by one, then all at once, the people behind her began to kneel. It moved through the crowd like falling dominoes, until the sea of bodies around him lowered itself to the ground.
"Wait… no," he said, his voice quieter now, constrained by the child he was holding.
The drone hovered nearby.
He glanced down and saw the woman's phone lying on the ground, the live feed coming from the drone reflecting his own image back at him. He stared at himself for a mont, and then briefly closed his eyes and sighed.
"I'm not who you think I am," Adam said, his voice now calm despite the weight pressing in from all sides. "I'm not a god. I'm not a savior."
His gaze swept across them, slower now.
"And I don't want you on your knees for . Just because I was born with… a mutation, it doesn't an I'm more than you."
He adjusted the child in his arms, almost unconsciously.
"If you're here because you're afraid… then go ho. Protect your families. Stay alive."
A breath.
"I know that's not enough. But we do with what we have."
His voice dropped—not louder, but heavier.
"So, please stand…
…rise."
And they did.
Thousands of people rose at once, the sound of it rolling outward like thunder, the ground itself seeming to tremble beneath the collective motion.
[The Administrators like what they are seeing…]
Adam almost ignored the ssage at first, but then he realized what was about to happen.
"Wait…"
[…and have decided to offer you another gift. Rejoice, Adam the Endless!]
And then ca the sharp crack.
Adam turned back, and there it was—a Leak.
"…Put all my free Status Points into Agility."
[Na: Adam | Planet: SS4E | Strength: 100 Agility: 20 Endurance: 1 Perception: 1]
[Free Status Points… 29]
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