BXBX NOVEL Chapter 87: House of Light
It was a mission and he'd receive rewards from it. And since he had nothing better to do, he decided to accept, whether he succeeded or not, it would look good on his Public Profile anyway.
His destination was the Lighthouse, the place that maintained light and visibility to the city during the Black Sky. Apparently, the Lighthouse wasn't working properly since after the Black Sky so the Guild invited all sorts of experts to inspect it in hopes of repairing it.
Cedric left early to prevent being stuck in a traffic jam. This was the first time he'd be participating in a group mission and he wanted to leave a good impression, so he decided to come early.
Upon arriving there, he discovered that the area was strictly guarded. He needed to prove his identity as well as his profession to the guards before he was allowed entry to the compound where the Lighthouse were.
Thankfully, the process was smooth. Once his identity was proven, he was granted access and the guards became more polite to him.
He parked his car at the parking lot and got off. He walked towards the admission office to ask for directions and he was led towards the room where he could wait until everybody else arrived. He did come early after all.
When he arrived at the room, there were already other people there. They glanced at him before ignoring him right after. Cedric smiled wryly under his mask, it seemed that these so-called experts weren't that friendly.
Shrugging, he occupied a seat and watched something online to pass the time. He got absorbed into the show but still surveyed his surroundings from time to time.
Cedric turned off the stream once he felt a rather intimidating presence approaching the room. He sat properly and the doors opened. Then came a group of people; three were wearing military outfits while the other three were wearing white robes with golden hems. He also noticed that all of them wore a badge that looked like a sun on their left breast pockets.
The man with the intimidating presence who also looked like someone from the army, stepped forward to address them:
"Good morning to all of you. We, of the Black Thread City's Branch of the 'House of Light', appreciate you responding to our call and gracing us with your presence."
Despite his rather intimidating presence, the man spoke rather calmly and gently.
'The House of Light...' Cedric mused inwardly.
He knew about them, of course. It'd be weird if he didn't since they're one of the integral organizations of Human Society.
The House of Light was an ancient organization that was founded during the Dawn of Superhumans. They are a key element to Humanity's daily lives because, without them, today's civilization would've been plunged into darkness.
They often call themselves 'Keepers of the Light', for that's what they do...somewhat.
It is said that their founder was the one who brought the idea of Lighthouses to being. He invented them with the purpose of returning light to this world, giving his people hope for a better tomorrow.
The House of Light Organization was the one responsible for keeping 'Daylight' for humanity, allowing the current generation and the next to have some semblance of normalcy.
Together, they built the fake 'Sun', 'Sunlight', and 'Daytime'. And since they're an ancient civilization, Cedric doubts that the current generation even knows what the real thing looks or feels like...
"My name is Wilson Keller, this branch's Field Commander. Next to me is Archbishop Thomas Fisk. We will be presiding over this mission so if any of you have questions, please don't hesitate to approach us."
"For now, though, let us lead you to the site where your work will take place. Please follow us." Commander Wilson unhesitatingly left the podium and left the room along with the Archbishop and their aides.
Cedric and the rest of the experts stood up and followed them. They made their way through a series of hallways until they arrived at the base of the Lighthouse itself.
Keeping the range of his sensory field, Cedric already had a mental map of this place, meaning that even if he were to roam around, he wouldn't necessarily get lost. He didn't dare to go overboard though since this is private property. Who knows what kind of security they have here? He might accidentally trigger them and cause trouble.
The supervisors led them up, and once they were at the top, they paused.
Cedric had already seen it when he scanned the area earlier and even before that, since he regularly scans the city anyways, but still, looking at the complicated machinery eye to eye brings forth a different sensation.
The top of the tower was open but it was by no means not defenseless. Cedric already saw the several layers of formation around this area. Though they might appear invisible to the naked eye, they couldn't hide under his gaze.
As for the Light Source, it's attached to an obelisk that's installed on the entire tower itself. It was built in a way that it couldn't be destroyed unless all the formations on the tower and the tower itself were destroyed first.
Though the real Light Source was the small orb embedded in the center of the obelisk. It was protected by layers upon layers of gears which also act as lenses that amplify the brilliance of the Light Source.
'Neat!' Cedric was impressed by the design. However, he also noticed that it's turned off right now.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, this is the reason why we called you today." Archbishop Thomas announced to them.
"As you all know, we experienced a rather challenging event not too long ago. Yes, I'm talking about the Black Sky. More specifically, a Lv.3 intensity Black Sky."
"Although we constantly perform maintenance to the Lighthouse as a whole, and it performed wonderfully during the Black Sky, it seems that the event stretched out its longevity, causing it to malfunction."
"Thankfully, it lasted until the very last moment or else, it would've been terrible for all of us." The Archbishop sighed. "Right after it malfunctioned, we sent our team to repair it. Sadly, even after many attempts, we remain at a loss."
"Our team couldn't discover the part where we went wrong. We did multiple checks already, combed through every possibility we could think of but still couldn't find the issue."
"Although the Black Sky just passed and it's guaranteed that we will have a brief period of peace, the Lighthouse must remain functional because it is the tool that allows us to experience daytime. Without it, the entire city will slowly be plunged into absolute darkness and we can't let that happen."
"That's why we called you here." It's Commander Wilson who spoke this time. "We need your expert opinion. Perhaps, some of you could discover the part that we missed. We will be relying on you on his mission, please work hard and we promise that your efforts will be repaid in kind."
"Most of you here are Masters of your respective professions. We've invited Smiths, Scribes, Engineers, and Mechanics. We are hoping that you all could work together and discover the real source of the problem here."
Cedric and the rest of the experts didn't argue with that. Then, they were told to group themselves according to their profession. In total, there were 5 Master Scribes, 4 Master Smiths, 6 Master Engineers, and 5 Master Mechanics here, a total of 20 people.
"We will disassemble the Light Source for all of you to inspect later. Please handle them with care, every piece is necessary for the whole thing to function. If you want an explanation for what each piece does, please don't hesitate to approach us, we will gladly give you more information for the sake of repairing it." Archbishop Thomas declared.
Then, the supervisors began disassembling the Light Source piece by piece.
Cedric watched from a distance, still he saw and memorized the entire process. As soon as they were done, Cedric was at least 90 percent confident that he could put all those pieces back in the order they removed them.
Once the disassembly was finished, the pieces were then brought to the respective expert group. The Smiths decided to take a look at the obelisk first, getting up close and personal with it. The Engineers and Mechanics inspected the gears since it was brought to them.
As for the Scribes, they were presented with the Core of the Light Source and were given explicit warning to handle it with utmost care.
The five of them gathered around the core and inspected it. Others wanted to touch it but Cedric kept his hands to himself, he didn't need to do that anyway since he already sensed everything about this core.
'There's no problems with the core...it must be on the other parts.' He mused after carefully inspecting it.