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Chapter 248 - Protocol Sisyphus—Activated

[RESTRICTED] CONCORD ARCHIVE: INCIDENT REPORT

INTERNAL ID: YWN-VIRG-1892-139 CLEARANCE: LEVEL 4 (VIRGO-ORANGE)

1. ADMINISTRATIVE OVERVIEW

• Filed By: Senior Clerk Thomas Blackwood

• Region / Directorate: Yellow Garden (Thalvar)

• Zodiac Department: Virgo (Ontological Hazards)

• Subject: POI-7222 (Designation: "Alvie Nerys" / The Glass Architect)

2. INCIDENT SUMMARY

• Location: Whitechapel (Alleyway behind Public Library)

• Duration: ~45 Seconds

• Summary: POI-7222 was intercepted by a Class-V Metaphysical Entity (Solar Sovereign). Upon the Entity's high-yield thermal manifestation, POI-7222 issued a verbal command declaring the heat "Structurally Inapplicable."

• Result: Thermal energy (4000°C}) was deleted from the local environment. POI-7222 executed the Sovereign using an unmodified Webley Mk I revolver.

3. WITNESS TESTIMONY: AGENT BLACKWOOD

"The air didn't just cool down. It was as if the concept of 'hot' was edited out of existence. My sensors didn't drop to zero; they ceased to recognize the environment as a valid measurement. When the masonry collapsed on them, they bled like a human. But the skeletal construct—The Courier—that pulled their 'will' out... it looked at me. It felt like reading the final period at the end of a sentence."

4. TECHNICAL DATA & \Lambda ANALYSIS

• Ambient Shift: Instantaneous drop from 4000°C to 8°C. No thermal displacement (convection/wind) recorded.

Lambda (Lambda) Signature: Absolute Null.

Environmental Aftermath: The site is suffering from "Grammatical Density." Local physics are now alarmingly rigid; probability-altering devices (Luck-charms/Chaos-generators) are 100% non-functional in this radius.

5. CONCORD THREAT INDEX (CTI) SCORING

Axis, Name, Score, Justification

I. Manifestation Scale-2: Localized to immediate street/perimeter.

II. Agency - 4: Highly strategic; aware of Concord observation tactics.

III. Lethality - 4: Terminated a God-class entity with kinetic lead.

IV. Containment Resistance - 4: Immune to all standard Reality Anchors.

V. Metaphysical Sensitivity - 4: Ability to permanently rewrite Axiomatic Laws.

TOTAL SCORE: 18 → TIER IV (OMEGA REVIEW PENDING)

6. FIELD RECOMMENDATIONS

• Combat Protocol: DO NOT ENGAGE WITH MAGIC or QI. Use long-range kinetic ballistics (Sniper) only.

• Tactical Note: Subject utilizes tactile anchors (a metal bracelet) and auditory anchors (4/4 rhythmic foot-tapping) to maintain their link to baseline reality.

Disrupt these anchors to induce cognitive overload.

INTER-REGIONAL TRANSFER ALERT (RTA)

STATUS: OMEGA ALERT | ROUTING: LISORIA → THERIAN

1. THREAT IDENTIFICATION

• Designation: POI-7222 ("The Glass Architect")

• Type: Rogue Operator / Ontological Hacker

• Status: Escaping via MOR-99 "Courier" Protocol (Post-Mortem Will Transfer).

2. PREDICTED ENTRY POINT

• Target Region: Eastern Front Directorate (Therian).

• Expected Arrival: Immediate. Subject is suspected to have pre-established PET/CT Cloning Vats in subterranean medical facilities within this sector.

3. QUICK SUMMARY FOR COMMAND

Subject is an Ontological Hacker in a fragile human shell. They do not use "spells"; they edit the structural grammar of the universe. They cannot be "anchored" because they control the baseline reality the anchors rely on. Engage with lead. Do not allow them to speak.

[ADDENDUM: SCIENCE DIVISION NOTE]

The Subject's power follows the Mavrick Principle: Reality is a series of "Arguments." While standard Concord operatives tries to win the argument, POI-7222 simply deletes the opponent's premises.

---

After a night that felt endless, morning finally came.

I rushed out of bed, preparing to bathe and head to the office—then stopped.

Someone was standing beside my bed.

Shinkage.

They held a folded note.

For a moment my mind stalled between relief and alarm. I took the paper, read it quickly, then looked back at them.

"You need—"

"Who's that?" Min asked suddenly, already half out of bed.

"No time," I said quickly. "We need to report to the Liaison office."

She followed me toward the bathroom.

"We were told not to carry out any actions."

"I know," I said, turning on the water. "But her—"

I hesitated.

Even now, I wasn't entirely sure what Shinkage was.

"Her summon brought news."

The shower drowned the rest of the conversation.

Within thirty minutes we were on the street.

---

The building was wrong.

The Concord liaison office normally hummed with activity.

Now it was silent.

No guards outside. No clerks rushing between departments.

But I could feel eyes on us.

Watching.

We entered carefully.

Min whispered,

"So… this is what Protocol Sisyphus looks like."

I didn't answer.

Our team leader looked furious when we found him, but he listened as I explained the message.

Then he escorted us upstairs.

---

The second floor held people I had never seen before.

They wore Concord uniforms.

But the air around them felt dangerous—like standing too close to a thunderstorm.

Then I noticed the blade.

A nodachi resting across the lap of a lean man seated near the center of the room.

The saya was unmistakable.

The same one from the forest operation.

A map covered the table—a bird's-eye projection of the surrounding region, several areas marked in red.

These must be the operatives.

Our leader handed them the paper.

"And you said you got this from whom?" the man at the head of the table asked.

Aries Alpha.

I searched for a way to answer without sounding insane.

Then Shinkage appeared beside me.

One of the operatives sighed.

"And this is why you don't let potential minors roam freely," he muttered, pale blue light glowing in his eyes.

Another operative spoke quietly while stroking the snow owl perched on his shoulder.

"A cultist of the Blooded Eclipse… and two missing minor constellations."

He looked toward Alpha.

"We have our location."

Alpha stood immediately.

"Move out."

---

"I'm coming with you," I said before anyone could stop me.

They moved like people who had already dug two graves.

One of the women looked at me, then glanced toward the man with the owl. He looked to Alpha.

Alpha considered for half a second.

"Okay."

That was all.

We moved out.

I didn't look back at Min or the squad leader. I knew they were annoyed.

---

The airship lifted into the grey morning sky.

"Friend of yours?" one of the women asked.

"Aries Rho," she introduced herself.

"Heiwa," I replied.

Her hair was white, though streaked faintly with grey like several of the others.

She offered me a piece of cake.

"Want some?"

Everyone else was eating as though this were a casual morning flight.

"Thank you," I said, taking a bite.

Below us the land stretched quiet.

A few scattered houses.

Too quiet.

---

We landed a distance away from what looked like a village.

There were five of them.

Which made six of us.

"Beta," Alpha said.

The last operative stepped forward.

He tossed something upward.

When it fell, it didn't reach the ground.

A halo formed above his head.

With revolver drawn, he ran toward the village.

"Should we help?" I asked.

Rho shook her head.

"We'd just get swept in."

I turned back in time to see debris lifting around him.

People.

Wood.

Stone.

Entire sections of buildings.

Everything began orbiting him like a collapsing star.

"Pretty nasty, right?" Rho said casually.

Beta moved forward slowly.

The orbit expanded.

Bodies and rubble grinding together into a terrible ring.

A figure was pulled into the orbit.

Crushed instantly.

Then absorbed into the rotation.

We followed at a distance.

So these are the people who carry out the missions.

"Are they even human?" I wondered.

I'd been briefed that the cultists had already surrendered their humanity.

But watching this…

The line felt blurred.

---

"You're late."

The voice stopped everyone.

At her feet lay Victoria.

And beside her—

The girl from before.

Eudora.

Alpha spoke carefully.

"Lady Alvie Nerys. Glad to see you are well."

No one stepped closer.

Every operative remained combat-ready.

"Phi, I made that for you," she said lightly, stroking Eudora's hair. "A little rude of you all." she said looking to the empty sky.

Then she smiled.

"Let's make her Aries Omega."

No one responded but everyone looked at the unconscious Eudora.

I looked at Victoria.

A cloth was tied around her lower body.

I stepped forward instinctively, but Rho grabbed my wrist.

"Don't."

Alpha spoke calmly.

"That can be discussed later. You've sustained damage from earlier. You should rest."

Alvie waved the suggestion away.

After a moment she stood.

Victoria and Eudora lifted into the air behind her.

Floating.

Then it clicked.

Like Li Hua once did.

The same principle.

The entire encounter felt strangely anticlimactic.

But maybe anticlimactic was good.

Victoria looked terrible.

Pale.

Eyes swollen.

Then Lady Alvie looked directly at me.

"Sorry for ruining your knight-in-shining-armor moment, Heiwa."

My blood ran cold.

Because she knew my name.

And in that moment—

I no longer knew who the villain was.

---

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