Log IX: The Journey Begins

"Is this the cargo?"

Abel murmured as he walked towards the human-sized capsule in the middle of the van. He gently traced his fingers along the edges of the capsule, trying to guess what was inside it.

"Reinforced Titanium, seems like. The locks..."

He analyzed the large lock sealing the capsule shut and sighed.

"... are too complex for me to understand. Well, it's not like I would open it anyway..."

The church would probably crush him if he dared to take a peek. Abel wasn't afraid of death, nor was he afraid of the church, but he had goals to fulfil before dying.

He couldn't just drop dead.

"How'd I attach it to the bike... Ah, so there were connectors there..."

The next few hours passed in silence as Abel continued to analyze and check the capsule. After that, he proceeded to dismount it from the holder it was laying on and released the anti-gravity thrusters attached to the hexagonal object.

The capsule slowly floated up and became light as a feather. The walker then pushed it towards the carrier attached to his bike, disabled the anti-gravity thrusters and firmly locked it inside the carrier.

"Well... that's done. Now... I just need to wait for the storm to pass."

"Woof!"

Nightshade barked, as if agreeing with him.

...

The rain went on for hours. By the time it stopped completely, night had already fallen.

Not wanting to get stranded in the middle of nowhere with valuable cargo, Abel decided to wait until morning.

While waiting, he completed the rest of the map until this point.

"I can use this as a temporary base... it's well-secured too. Wait... Can I turn on the convoy?"

If he could drive it around, then he'd not need temporary bases.

However...

As soon as Abel walked to the front of the car, his hopes were crushed.

"Fully busted... it's a miracle that the cargo compartment is still working... Tsk. Talk about bad luck."

Sighing, he came back to the cargo compartment and sat down leaning against the wall.

His eyes focused on the cargo in the carrier.

"Why do I feel so... Restless?"

He pressed his hand on his heart and frowned.

Ever since he had seen the capsule, his heart rate had been increasing.

[Warning. User's heart rate is dangerously high]

A red notification flashed at the corner of his AR Vision.

"Calm down... it's fine... Everything's ok..."

Abel took deep breaths and somewhat composed himself again.

"Woof! Woof!"

Nightshade barked and circled him.

"I'm fine... Don't worry..."

Abel patted the dog and closed his eyes. A good nap would help him... Probably.

...

"Woof!"

Nightshade's bark jolted him awake. Groaning a bit, Abel opened his eyes and stood up.

[You have one missed call]

A notification in his AR vision popped up soon after, causing him to frown.

"There's video signal here?"

A quick look at his terminal showed that indeed, the van was equipped with long-distance communication modules.

"As expected, it's the church, huh."

He sighed and called the contact back. After a few beeps, Bishop Lebeth's face showed up on the screen.

"Abel Walker. It's great to see you alive."

"You as well, Bishop."

Abel murmured indifferently and turned his terminal's camera towards the carrier.

"As you can see, I have secured the cargo. It'll take me a while to reach the holy capital, but rest assured, the capsule will be safe."

"Good, good. I wasn't worried about the capsule anyway, as it's in your capable hands. That aside, how long will it take for you to reach the holy capital?"

"Probably two to four months if I hurry, six if I move carefully."

"Take your time. Make sure the cargo is safe."

"Will do."

"And feel free to take any equipment or weapons you want from the convoy. We won't hold it against you."

"Thanks, much appreciated."

Abel bowed and the call was cut.

After a quick breakfast, he outfitted himself and Nightshade with anti-radiation armour and clothes. Then he hopped on the bike and turned its engine on.

The van's backdoor opened automatically as its sensors picked up Abel's movement.

"Engine... Check. Navi, check. Rad scale... Check. Cargo... Check."

Abel made sure that everything was fine before slowly moving backwards. The bright sun hit his back as soon as he was out of the shade.

"The rain has stopped but..."

The area surrounding the van had changed drastically. The sand had been hardened and had turned black due to the rain. Several of the armoured cars had completely or partially melted. The weapons he had previously seen were nowhere to be found, probably had dissolved completely.

The car he was in had special armour, which had protected him throughout the rain. But even that armour's surface had turned black.

"Hell... Several parts have melted completely... If the rain had kept falling, I would have died..."

As the realization hit him, the walker felt more and more repulsed by the area. He decided to move forward without delay.

Due to the rain, it was unlikely that he would find any good or intact part.

"I'll need to stay on track... There aren't many landmarks out there."

The walker's voice was stiff as he connected the terminal to the bike's front hologram module.

A transparent screen popped up before him, showing him the general route to the holy city.

He didn't really want to use this system, as...

[Warning. It is ill-advised to move through the uncharted path. Please go back and take the marked route]

His AR Vision notified him as soon as he moved forward.

"Tsk... Can't turn this off either."

The terminal would notify him of the "wrong" path every few minutes or so. Normally, this wouldn't be an issue, but it would also map the path as he moved forward in its memory.

Which would later be uploaded to the central server.

"Well, whatever. It's not like anyone would take this path anytime soon. I don't want to go through the desert either but..."

There was a reason why the church didn't try to recover the cargo. Abel knew that the bishop hadn't told him the entire truth.

"Can't dig in too deep... In the worst-case scenario, I'll be taken out to keep the information from spreading."

The thought crossed his mind as he coursed through the scorching desert.

...

The drive went on for days. So far, nothing of importance had happened. Abel took a sip of water as he sat with his back against a large rock.

They were quite far from the radiated zones. The air wasn't exactly fresh, but it was good enough to breathe in.

As the walker sat there, he recounted the past week or so.

For some reason, the Abyss had frequently attacked him. Sometimes even daring to come up to the tent at night despite the UV lights burning their skin.

Thanks to that, Abel had to go through one-fifth of his ammunition to fend off the Abyss.

He wasn't still in danger, but if the attacks kept piling up like that, he'd run out of ammo sooner or later. The unusual attacks couldn't be chalked up to the area either.

"It's probably the cargo."

"Woof! Woof!"

Nightshade seemed to agree as it circled its new master.

"Do I open it... ?"

His restlessness hadn't disappeared at all. An odd feeling stayed in his chest, as if he was missing something.

"Tsk..."

Just like the countless times before, Abel smacked his own head and stood up.

"Just what's up with you..."

A whisper escaped into the air as the walker gently touched the carrier. The capsule slightly vibrated, as if replying to him.

"I'm getting mad... Huh."

That was all he could muster before getting on the bike. After making sure of everything and securing Nightshade, he drove forward.

Thus, the journey began once again.