“Well, technically, they’re both deep in the shit…” a low male voice interrupted.
“For God’s sake, Every! You’re not helping—so get out!” snapped the woman.
“Yeah, yeah, I’m gone…”
Noah opened his eyes just for a second and caught a glimpse of a worried face. The woman looked much older than he, with sharp, greenish eyes. He didn’t see more—whatever was happening inside his body demanded all of his attention.
The strange energy seemed to be finding its own way toward those peculiar nodes deep inside him. It pushed through his resistance, slow but relentless. He realized his struggle was useless. And he was missing something crucial. Something he probably would’ve learned at the Tourism and Information Center…
“Kids, focus!” the woman’s voice urged again. “The information you’re feeling right now has already become part of you, so don’t try to fight it—or worse, push it out. You should both have noticed something new inside yourselves by now. The seven energy nodes within—”
“Eight,” sighed the male voice. “Eight bloody chakras, Alicia. Try counting properly.”
“Every, seriously! You’re not helping!”
“And you are?”
While the two strangers bickered, Noah focused on the “chakras.” And within moments, he understood what they were for. Each energy node corresponded to a different function of the body. He focused on the one nearest his head—and suddenly grasped its purpose, even if he couldn’t yet put it clearly into words.
“Listen,” the woman continued. “You can either do nothing and let the process unfold on its own. Or you can accelerate it by granting free access to your chakras. You can choose whether—”
Noah wasn’t listening anymore. The green-eyed woman had called that strange force information. Just moments ago, Audrie had been torn apart—and now that same foreign energy was flowing into him. Was this what she had meant by “cannibalism”?
And if so… he already knew what he had to do.
Without hesitation, he opened the first chakra wide. The energy surged inward, filling it like a flood—and he exhaled, relieved.
“…focus it on one chakra, or distribute it evenly across all of them,” the green-eyed woman was finishing.
She blinked, surprised to find Noah staring at her with half-open eyes. A few seconds later, Beata stirred too, looking at the woman even more suspiciously than Noah did.
“You two are quick,” the woman remarked. “I’m Alicia.”
“Noah,” he muttered.
“Beata,” said the girl quietly.
“Pleasure to meet you,” Alicia nodded.
“And I’m Everest York,” came a deep voice from behind her. “Welcome to Regia! By the way, you’re both under arrest.”
* * *
The room they locked Noah and Beata in might have looked like an interrogation room, if not for the few abstract paintings on the white walls, depicting...
Noah couldn’t decide if they depicted anything at all. Was it something specific? Or perhaps the artist had simply flung paint around and then trampled over it barefoot...
Apparently, even the afterlife wasn’t free of abstract art.
Noah went through the horrific events again, surprised by how vividly he remembered every detail. He could still sense that one chakra, stronger than all the rest—somehow tied to his thoughts and memory… or perhaps more to thought itself. It was still hard to describe either of the nodes in words, even though his mind felt sharper than before.
He also wondered if he’d made a serious mistake by rushing things and not letting Alicia finish her explanation. But after thinking it through, he decided his choice had been satisfactory. What else could a dead man possibly need, besides a sharp mind?
Alicia’s gruff partner, Everest, had declared them “under arrest,” but Noah couldn’t shake the feeling that the man wasn’t being entirely serious. Beata must’ve sensed it too—she’d accepted her fate without protest. After all, they were both newcomers, ignorant of Regia’s rules. They’d already made one mistake by straying from the path everyone else followed.
For Adrian, that mistake had ended in complete annihilation… though Noah suspected even that wasn’t truly the end. After all, Adrian’s “information” had been devoured by Audrie, and her “information” now rested within Noah and Beata.
If he were still alive, the thought would’ve made him sick. But his new body felt strangely indifferent to such things. Almost as if it was normal.
His introspection was interrupted by the opening door. Alicia entered, holding a slim folder. She already removed her tactical gear and now wore only a blazer with a silver badge pinned to the lapel. The dark-haired, sharp-featured, green-eyed woman smiled faintly, as if reassuring them everything was fine.
“Hello again! I hope you didn’t have to wait too long,” she said. “Your case is… quite rare, and we had to hold a short meeting to refresh the procedures. So—how are you both feeling now?”
She sat across from them, setting the folder aside.
“What are you going to do to us?” Beata asked nervously. “Are we really under arrest?”
“Yes and no,” Alicia clicked her tongue. “Let me explain. First of all, we can’t arrest you—you haven’t done anything wrong. True, you strayed from the usual route and didn’t go to the TIC, like the other newcomers, but that’s not a strict rule—just a guideline. If someone else had taken you in instead of Audrie Deveraux, you’d never have seen Regia’s darker side. I’m truly sorry about your friend. We’d surrounded Deveraux’s residence and were ready to apprehend her before she struck, but we didn’t realize she’d set up an illegal teleportation link. It took time to pinpoint your location.”
“She would’ve… eaten us. Like Adrian,” Beata murmured.
“Unfortunately, yes. Compared to you, Audrie Deveraux was immensely powerful. I can’t give exact numbers—we can’t measure a suspect’s IP at will, there are rules even here. But we estimate she cannibalized thirty to forty newcomers.”
Alicia sighed deeply, clasping her hands.
“And you two inherited her potential—split between you.”
“And that’s… bad, I assume?” Noah summarized.
“Not exactly,” Alicia tilted her head. “But yes—it’s not entirely good either.”
“She said one in twenty people here are cannibals,” Noah recalled. “Was that true?”
Alicia frowned, leaning back in her chair. She thought for a moment, staring at the polished surface of the table, then nodded.
“That’s… close to the truth. But out of context, it sounds worse than it is. Listen—no one’s blaming you for inheriting Audrie Deveraux’s potential. Honestly, the fault lies with my team. During operations like that, we use specialized containment equipment. If Deveraux had been neutralized according to procedure, her information would’ve been collected and sent to the Dream Sphere for processing. But we didn’t have time to set the gear—not when she was seconds away from killing you. So yes, you became victims of circumstance. She died in uncontrolled conditions, and you happened to be within her field. It happens even to our own people sometimes. So again—no one’s accusing you of ‘cannibalizing’ anyone. The issue is simply that by law, we must ensure you won’t misuse the potential you’ve gained.”
“Ah,” Noah nodded. “That clears things up.”
“To make it even clearer,” Alicia continued, opening the folder and pulling out a few printed pages, “I’ve been instructed to explain Regia’s hierarchy to you in detail. Normally, we avoid categorizing citizens. It leads to discrimination, and no one here wants a repeat of Mother Earth’s mistakes. But in my line of work, classification is unavoidable. Since you’ve accidentally absorbed Audrie Deveraux’s information, you now belong to a different category than most residents. Here—these pages describe the categories in detail. Read them carefully so we can proceed. If something’s unclear, ask.”
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
Noah took one of the pages. He noticed again that the writing wasn’t in his native language—or any language he recognized—but he could read it perfectly. He decided not to ask. There were more pressing questions now.
“Flow Population Categories by IP,” the header read.
“What’s IP?” Beata asked.
“Informational Potential,” Alicia replied. “Basically, the number of absorbed souls—or, to put it differently, units of information. An ordinary citizen’s IP equals one, meaning they possess only their own soul.”
Beata nodded, reading on. Noah noticed many abbreviations throughout the text—it was clearly an internal document.
* * *
0 (Zero) Category — IP below 1
Traits:
-
Optimal form;
-
Teleportation to known locations (sometimes limited or disrupted).
1st Category — IP equals 1
Traits:
-
Optimal form;
-
Teleportation to known locations (unless artificially restricted).
2nd Category — IP between 2 and 5
Traits:
-
Optimal form;
-
Teleportation to known locations;
-
Expanded all chakras, or one chakra is highly developed.
* * *
“Wait, so in the zero category, IP can be less than one?” Noah asked.
“That group is also known as the ‘damaged,’” Alicia explained. “They’re survivors of cannibalism attempts. There aren’t many of them. Despite the trauma, they can continue existing with only minor dysfunctions.”
“Huh…” Noah nodded.
“And these ‘traits,’” Beata looked up. “What are they exactly?”
“They’re… let’s call them paranormal abilities,” Alicia sighed. “Once you reach a certain IP level, you begin developing them. Honestly, if it were up to me, this info would be locked behind nine seals so the public wouldn’t see it. But the higher-ups think differently. Just don’t get too excited about all these ‘abilities,’ alright? I’ve arrested more than a few who lost their way chasing that kind of power.”
She crossed her arms, giving them both a nearly stern look. Noah blinked and went back to reading.
* * *
3rd Category — IP between 6 and 20
Traits:
-
Optimal form;
-
Teleportation to known locations;
-
Expanded all chakras, or one chakra is highly developed;
-
Can manifest in the physical world without assistance;
-
Can cannibalize information directly, without rituals.
4th Category — IP between 21 and 70
Traits:
-
Optimal form;
-
Teleportation to known locations;
-
Expanded all chakras, or one chakra is highly developed;
-
Can manifest in the physical world without assistance;
-
Can cannibalize information directly, without rituals.
-
Can influence the thoughts of other Flow inhabitants (in a weak form).
* * *
“They can influence people’s thoughts?” Noah was appalled. “That’s—”
“Unpleasant, I know,” Alicia smiled faintly. “Now you see what we’re dealing with—and why you’re… semi-arrested.”
“Because we might be in the fourth category?”
“Not necessarily,” she shrugged. “As I said, Deveraux’s IP was probably between thirty and forty. If you split it evenly, you’re both third category—meaning you can cannibalize directly, but not influence minds. If one of you took a larger share, then it’s harder to say without testing.”
“And this IP—can’t we just… give it back?” Beata asked.
“My dear, you really wouldn’t want to,” Alicia shook her head. “The only way to reduce IP is through cannibalism. But that process is unpredictable—it strips memory, skills, and parts of your identity. In theory, you’d drop to the zero category with a damaged soul. Hardly desirable.”
“So we’re stuck,” Beata muttered.
“More or less, yes. But as I said, we’ll test you soon. If you refuse, we’ll have to assume one of you inherited more—and classify both of you as the fourth category just to be safe.”
Noah knew he wouldn’t refuse. He was curious what exactly he’d inherited from that almost pleasant woman. Still, he hoped it wouldn’t reach category four. Discrimination aside—who’d want to talk to someone who could read or alter your thoughts?
* * *
5th Category — IP between 71 and 200
Traits:
-
Optimal form;
-
Teleportation to known locations;
-
Expanded all chakras, or one chakra is highly developed;
-
Can manifest in the physical world without assistance;
-
Can cannibalize information directly, without rituals.
-
Can influence thoughts of others (weak form);
-
Can bypass artificial restrictions within zones, provided restriction strength doesn’t exceed bypasser's IP limit.
* * *
And that was where the list ended. Noah frowned and flipped the page.
“Shouldn’t there be more categories?” he asked. “I remember the tram guide mentioned beings who’d devoured tens of thousands of souls.”
“Oh, there are,” Alicia nodded. “But five will do for today. We still have to resolve your case and get back to normal life. So, let me ask directly: do you both consent to having your informational potential measured?”
“I do,” said Noah without hesitation. “I’m curious myself.”
“Whatever,” Beata shrugged.
“Excellent. Then follow me.”
* * *
“What is this place?” Noah asked as they walked down a white corridor behind Alicia.
When he and Beata had first arrived, it had been via teleportation; he hadn’t seen the building itself.
“Venice City Division of the FIC,” the woman muttered, then added as if realizing. “FIC stands for Flow Intelligence and Criminal Investigations”. Basically, the police. I work in the criminal department. Everest… well, you don’t need to know what he actually does. This way, please.”
She pushed open a pair of wide white doors and stepped in first. Noah and Beata froze in the doorway.
The big room was dominated by a massive silver tube descending from the ceiling and vanishing into the floor. The thing was surrounded by high-tech equipment. The whole setup reminded Noah of futuristic escape pods on a spaceship—minus the airlock to open space.
Two men stood by the monitors, talking quietly. Noah immediately recognized one of them.
Upon hearing footsteps, Everest turned, then sprang from his chair.
“So, the two hardened criminals finally decided to walk the path of light and virtue, huh?” he grinned.
“Go watch a sunset somewhere,” Alicia growled before Noah could respond. Then she nodded to the other man. “Full reading for both kids, Thomas.”
The one called Thomas checked a display.
“Next cycle in twelve minutes,” he said.
Alicia turned to Noah and Beata.
“You’ll have to wait inside while the cyclotron warms up,” she explained. “Let’s see… Noah, take this one. Beata, over here.”
She pointed at two pods with open glass lids. Noah looked around warily, but saw no radiation warnings or anything dangerous.
When he sat down in the cushioned seat, Alicia pressed something on a control panel, and the lid closed silently, cutting off most of the lab noise.
“Aha!” Everest shouted, pressing his palms to the glass. “Got you, bastard! Your days are numbered now! You’ll be liquefied and sent to the Dream Sphere as building material—!”
“Step aside, loudmouth,” Alicia muttered, pushing him away to check something near the base of the pod. Then she looked up and nodded. “Ten minutes till start. Oh, and that big tube behind you—it’ll be noisy. Try not to worry.”
“Yep. You’ll die quickly and painlessly. Nothing to worry about,” Everest nodded solemnly. “If it were up to me, scum like you would die screaming in agony, begging for your mothers and grandmas. And your remains would be used to build outhouses, which, by the way, are useless here—”
“You’re disgusting, Everest,” Alicia sighed wearily. “Could you kindly fuck off and let us work?”
“Nope,” he shot back. “I’m going for a cup of music and hugs. You want one too?”