"That's… an alien. I thought aliens weren't supposed to be this close to the cities? Why are they here?"
"I think she's a Torte. You know, those animal hybrids."
"Hm, I don't think so."
The S-tier Heroes were now whispering to each other—once again, try as they might to keep their voices low, the meeting room's architecture made it… impossible. Perhaps it was designed that way.
Only those who were in the middle and back rows were chatting, however. Those in front mostly either had their arms crossed or were just lazily looking at the alien. Their lazy expressions, however, changed as soon as the alien spoke.
"Greetings, ladies and gentlemen."
The alien was speaking English, and strangely enough, with a British accent.
"My name is Sisa. For those of you who are curious, yes—I am speaking your language, and have been doing so for the last eleven years, two months, twenty-two days, and sixteen hours."
Sisa didn't even stutter, and she didn't break eye contact at all to those who were actually listening to her, only straying her eyes away once they blinked or looked away. The staring contests didn't last long, however, as Sisa hadn't blinked ever since she started talking—no.
She hasn't blinked at all since making an appearance.
"I know a lot of you have questions, and I hope my answers will at least provide some solutions," she continued. "I come from a civilization very much similar to yours—while I could say our technology is better than yours, that is not always the case. Perhaps it would be better to say that our technology is different. But that doesn't matter now, as my civilization no longer exists."
If everyone in the room wasn't paying attention to her earlier, they were now. She glanced at Beatrice, who quickly nodded in response and changed the image on the large screen behind them.
The screen was now showing… ruins of a city. And from what Sisa said earlier, this was more than likely her city.
"As you can see from the image behind me—my city." Sisa's quiet words confirmed their assumptions. "The beings known as bellethers did that to us…
…and they will do the same to your cities."
Sisa glanced at Beatrice again, and she showed several more images of the destruction the bellethers caused.
The second image was of her people, being taken into… what looked like space ships. They'd seen this before in the incident eighteen years ago, when the bellethers tried taking people into the Leak with them.
The third image was of her people… dead. Perhaps thousands, or millions of them, floating in outer space. The S-tier Heroes all held their breaths upon seeing all the blood and death.
The fourth image, however, was what made some of them stand up from their seats.
A moon, shattered like a cracked egg. They all could see a crater with a deeper hole pierced through the other end.
"Like your people, the Game started approximately fifty years ago for my people," Sisa said, sighing as she seemed to lack the strength to even glance at the image behind her. "Thirty years ago, the almighty beings you know as Administrators allowed us to meet other Combatant races—but they also introduced the concept of Survivor Leaks, very much like your people's case."
Adam, who'd been quietly listening at the back, lowered his head upon hearing that.
"We have met a lot of friendly civilizations, like yours." Sisa motioned to everyone there. "But unfortunately, we also encountered the bellethers. A race much more advanced than us—just like that, the abilities granted upon us by the Game, our superior weaponry… were deemed useless in the face of these warmongers."
Sisa paused for a moment, clutching her chest before looking ahead.
"But their threat was a normal occurrence for us, who had been numbed by the Game and the Leaks," she continued. "Little did we know, however, that these beings tracked the location of our planet—and that is the result."
She pointed back at the shattered moon.
"There were twelve billion of us before the Game started. Half of that when the bellethers invaded. And now… now…" Each strand of Sisa's sur stood up on its end. "Now there are only ten million of us, and ninety-eight percent are with the bellethers…
…as their slaves."
"What?!" One of the American Heroes almost leapt from his chair. "That ain't right, man! Fuck those motherfuckers!"
Sisa waited for the crowd to calm down before she continued.
"Our people are scattered now," she revealed. "Our planet is still livable underground, but not for long. And so, we sought refuge inside the Leaks—with luck, a Survival Mode Leak opened in our world ten years ago, which led to this world. And on behalf of my people, thank you for letting us live here."
Sisa's eyes scanned the crowd in front of her before settling on the back, looking straight at Adam.
"Thank you," she repeated, not looking away from Adam at all. The others didn't really notice this at all, as Sisa had always been staring at them from the start.
"In our world, one of the gods we worship is what your people would call fate. I believe Fate allowed our people to meet—you saved us, and now we will help in the defense of your planet against these slavers…
…They will destroy your planet's satellites first, and your moon will be the first to be shot down."
"Can we start asking questions?"
The person sitting right beside Sylvie raised his hand. Everyone looked at him, and most of them began whispering to each other.
"It's… Naval. How'd they even get him to come here?"
"I thought he was in Africa arranging the hills?"
"It…"
Their whispers died down, however, as Sisa motioned for Naval to speak.
"Thank you." Naval stood up, then glanced at the rest of the people behind him. "I was wondering why there are only thirty of us here when there are a hundred S-tier Heroes around the world. Given the threat we are facing, the IBAA would have definitely called for everyone. This is just my guess…
…but the S-tier Heroes present here today, in one way or another, would be capable of fighting in space?"
"Yes," Sisa answered immediately.
"There's just one problem with that—as strong as we all are, I am sure only a few of us could survive in space. I know I can't," he admitted.
"As I said, it is fate that our people met," Sisa said, a smile crawling on her face. "With the help of your scientists and mine, we have developed technology that would help you survive the harsh climates of space, albeit briefly."
"Wh—"
"Questions will be answered later." Beatrice stood next to Sisa. "Right now, all of you will be briefed on—"
"Wait a minute!" One of the S-tier Heroes from the back raised his voice. "If our entire planet's actually in danger. Why aren't the strongest of our people here?!"
"What do you mean?" Beatrice tilted her head.
"I mean the X-tier Heroes?! What? None of them even bothered to come here. Is that—"
"I said, 'what do you mean'?"
"What? It—"
"One of the strongest people in the world is here," Beatrice cut him off.
"He is sitting right beside you."
"...Huh?"