Cheadle's Panic

__________ POV Narration__________

Ashton flew his way towards the third city, where he knew that he would find Cheadle. Probably sitting around a meeting table or looking through documents acting all stressed out.

In truth, Cheadle was not having a great time. The only thing on her mind for the last two days had been her phone call with Ashton.

He had just claimed that he had discovered a new type of calamity. One that would require him to take such drastic measures as to erase an entire mountain range.

It was a creepy thought to the Chairman of the Hunter Association. It didn't help that Ashton didn't really explain anything to her at all.

She didn't know how large of a threat this calamity would pose to humanity. She didn't even know what to expect.

She somewhat hated the way Ashton had left her hanging. But at least the old scientist had promised to tell her the details. Or at least give her a copy of his research on said Calamity.

Well, she could've lived without the suspense. But Ashton had somewhat failed to consider how Cheadle would react to the news he had presented her during that phone call.

He did think she would be stressing out a bit, but not to the extent that she wouldn't even sleep at night.

Cheadle had a rough two days.

The stress of a new calamity being discovered on the continent they were trying to live in, coupled with the stress of managing a colony of people and providing protection and medical attention to everybody.

All of that compiled into her not even leaving her office.

A few problems arose as well, such as an entire group of 20 soldiers that were on guard duty disappearing in the Second City.

They barely had the manpower to protect everybody. Cheadle had to merge two scouting teams and send replacements for said soldiers. Their whereabouts were completely unknown.

But it was believed that they had been killed in a bar. The owner adamantly denied knowing anything about any suspect, and the case was put to rest.

Through that case, Cheadle also discovered the sickening amount of corruption that was occurring in the colonies she was supposed to manage. Leading to even further stress.

She was forced to send Botobai(The Dragon) and Mizaistom Nana(The Ox) to take charge of the first and second cities to quell any corruption.

It was spreading their forces even thinner. The members of the Zodiacs were all needed for scouting and different important tasks.

The corruption was greatly hampering the expedition and colonization effort. And Cheadle couldn't even ignore it. As it directly affected the morale and productivity of all of the colonies.

Thankfully, some good news was appearing, as both Botobai and Mizaistom were making great leaps in their progress.

They had apprehended and executed quite a few corrupted people that were put in power.

There was a slight problem though. They didn't really know what to do with the soldiers and Nen users that were taking advantage of their powers...

There were only so many of them available, executing them would make the situation much harder for Cheadle.

Thankfully, another member of the Zodiacs proposed an idea to solve their shortage of soldiers and Nen users.

Leorio had come up with the idea for an academy that was supposed to train soldiers and Nen Users respectively. It was instantly approved and the building for the academy buildings and facilities had already started.

Cheadle was desperate. And, unfortunately for her. Ashton wasn't bringing any good news with him.

She heard a few knocks on her door and looked at it with a fatigued glare. Thinking it was her helpers bringing her yet another stack of reports.

"Just leave them at the door! I'll get to them eventually..." She said as she rested her head on her desk for a few seconds.

Then she heard the door swing open, she raised her head in annoyance. "I told you t-"

The second she saw the person that entered her office her eyes widened a bit and she turned red in embarrassment.

Not only had she mistaken Ashton for a subordinate and almost scolded him, but she was also not currently looking her best.

Her hair was raised in all directions, her clothes weren't arranged at all, the bags under her eyes were large as could be and her eyes were bloodshot red due to tiredness.

She could usually stay awake for weeks on end. But the stress she had been experiencing lately was just too much for her.

"Why, It's a pleasure to see you, Cheadle... You seem rather unwell, I'd recommend getting some rest." Ashton said with some concern in his voice as he greeted her warmly.

Cheadle smiled a bit, she couldn't really be mad at Ashton. "Sorry for earlier... Many things are happening all at once... I am getting quite overwhelmed, unfortunately." She said, smiling back at Ashton.

"I see... I think you are straining yourself a bit too much. If something were to happen to you this expedition would be quite doomed." Ashton's words were both comforting and reminding her of how crucial her position was.

It wasn't exactly the greatest thing to say to someone that was stressed out by responsibility. But then again, Ashton still had much to learn when it came to comforting people.

Cheadle just sighed. "Please tell me you have some good news for me... Is the calamity still present on this continent?" This was the worry that had been weighing the heaviest on her mind.

She knew how destructive a single calamity could be, she had seen the effects they had on people when visiting the laboratories that the V5 had set up to study them.

"Well, my dear, that's a bit more difficult to tell..." Ashton sat down in front of her and started explaining to her the nature of Shakti, as well as the ways that it affected humans and Nen users.

He didn't go into greater details. He was going to let her read that on her own.

But just the things he had told her were enough to make her headache worsen. They needed to somehow combat something that they could hardly detect.

Ashton himself claimed to hardly be able to notice this 'Shakti' while it was infecting regular humans.

"H-How are we supposed to fight this...?" She asked while clenching her fists. She was currently hoping that Ashton would have some sort of remedy for this situation...

"I'm afraid I don't know yet. For now, I don't think it has spread that far. But the Shakti users seemed to be walking around in the cities at times..." Ashton's words only helped to worsen her state of mind.

She looked at the ceiling of her room with anger as she growled in frustration.

"It's all because of Beyond... He's the one that planned the expedition to the Dark Continent, he left with his group not long after you... This calamity must've been spawned due to them..." Cheadle was trying to pin the blame on Netero, but Ashton just shook his head.

"After my research into calamities... I have reached a conclusion. Humanity has little to do with the appearance of calamities." She looked at Ashton with a bit of curiosity.

She decided not to enquire about his research though. Thinking that Ashton would tell her eventually anyway.

"This thing would've appeared one way or another. I think this expedition, colonization effort if you will, in itself could've caused it." Ashton's words managed to calm her down slightly, but she was by no means happy.

"So... How are we meant to find this 'Shakti'?" Asked Cheadle, hoping to at least get an answer to this.

"Well, that might not be so hard. I suggest creating a rudimentary check-up for all of the cities." His words instantly caught Cheadle's attention.

"The doctors all need to use Nen, and they need to be prepared for 'Shakti' to try and latch onto them. Methods on how to deal with that are mentioned in this notebook."

Ashton placed his research notes on the table. And Cheadle instantly took the notebook to look it over.

"After finding the infected people. I recommend creating a quarantine zone. I don't know a way to purge this 'Shakti' for now. So I don't have any other solution. For now, we need to stunt its spread." Cheadle nodded to Ashton's idea.

The conversation continued for a bit, Cheadle asking some questions about the notes and other methods that they might have to solve this issue.

Eventually, Ashton did have to leave. He left Cheadle with a few words. "I recommend you tell someone to do what I've told you. You should really rest for now. If you don't comply I will actually erase your memories and force you to rest."

Ashton's words, although carrying a threatening tone, only made Cheadle smile as she looked at the old scientist closing the door.

Both of them had quite a bit to do currently. So they couldn't afford to waste any time. Still, Cheadle decided to take some time to rest for now.

With Ashton there, at least she knew that the expedition wouldn't fail any time soon.

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