Providence

"**Providence**" is a tale in *The Demon's Light*, taking place between "Don't Fear the Reaper" and "Roaming King."

## Narrative

*We are breaking news on reports on of a van speeding down the Port City Bridge to Remnant Rock. The assailants are unknown, and a skirmish is unfolding.*

"I don't even know, dude," Dereece said. "Like one minute I wuz mindin' mah own bidnizz n' tha' next I peep tha' van speedin down tha' Port City bridge, fo' realz. An minute later, tha' whole place explodes. Boom, boom, boom." He shook his head, "Crazy, man."

"These young'uns appeared out of nowhere! They outright nearly hit me! Speedin' and hootin' and hollerin'! Reckless! They'll give a license to anyone nowadays..." Kash grumbled.

*Right now, you can see it live as Alchemilia Gladea is burning to the ground. Riots are erupting throughout Silivia and Gladea as we speak.*

*The assault on Remnant Rock. Just minutes ago, the facility burst into flames. Hold on, we've received a tip from a person who would prefer to stay anonymous confirming the identities of the Alchemilia assailants. There's eight of them, and we'll, uh, we'll from here on out refer to them as the Port City Eight. We'll list them out now. The first assailant is Steven Devlin. Eighteen. Scientist at the Laboratory of the Unexplainable.*

"Man, I admired his dedication. He was my hero. I guess I need to find a new one," Lewis sighed.

"I think he was a punk," Dalia said.

*Melissa Devlin. Also eighteen. Sister to Steven Devlin.*

"No, it can't be. It wasn't them. I know it wasn't them. They couldn't have. They *wouldn't* have. They loved Alchemilia! Everyone does! They are all I ha..." Richard's voice trailed off.

"She was in one of my classes a couple years ago, Modern History of Euclid. She was really weird. She'd, like, chew on the eraser of her pencil when the teacher was talking and would write really loudly," Paul said.

*Samuel Brownlee. Thirty-eight. Neuroscientist at the Maninder Cognitive Science Center.*

"Samuel Brownlee? Do I know him?" Juho asked. "Yeah, I guess. Nice guy. I guess I could say he liked his work. Just not a real interesting guy, really."

"When I hired Samuel Brownlee, I held him in the greatest regards. I said to myself, 'This man is the future of neuroscience!' Well, now this man has no future," Marcus said.

"You know, I saw that, uh, Samuel guy up there with that Rick Devlin guy and his two kids, you know, Steve and Melissa, and Gabriel Arsene about a year or two ago. On TV! Gabriel Arsene was giving a speech about the science and about creating a lab or dedicating a lab or destroying a lab. You think that the Rick guy could be involved with the attack somehow?" Slim said.

*Blossom Cane. Nineteen. Assistant to Samuel Brownlee.*

"What can I say? She was very studious, always enthusiastic about learning. I mean, she loved to learn. She's what now, a doctor?" Erica commented. "A neuroscientist... wow. Wow. Where did it go wrong?"

Hawa could only sob as Faris held her close.

"They're all scientists, huh? What does that say about their motives, you hear me?" Bill warned. "They want all this funding for random shit and whadda we get? Nothing."

*...Wen Li. Seventy.* Estranged *son of the media mogul Shen Li and owner of the flower store Plant Empire.*

"I can't believe he would..." Yu's voice trembled as she spoke, "do such a thing. I thought he *loved* me..."

"It's a shame. I personally thought he was going run for governor. I might've even voted for him. He's been an outstanding citizen for years. Talked to him a couple of times, great guy. Sometimes these things just sort of happen. You snap. He snapped and this happened. Shame," Ernest said.

"I always knew he didn't *like* Alchem, but I didn't know he didn't like them *this much,*" Dante said.

"How does someone that old even do this type of thing? I bet he can barely even walk. What use is that guy to society anyways, right? Worthless. Someone should have put him down the moment he turned seventy," Nana spat.

"Come to think of it, what is that Shen Wen Ling Lang media guy hiding? Where is he now? He has all this money, all this power — I think he was involved too," Slim theorized.

"Is this guy another scientist? No? Thank Xeren almighty for small favors," Bill prayed.

"My daddy said he won a dance-off against Mister Li once," Timmy said.

*Marshall Rooke. Nineteen. Believed to be a criminal with a grudge against the Alchemilia Corporation.*

"What a piece of shit. You're gonna oppose the guys keeping us safe? Ya hippy! Lousy piece of shit, I tell ya," Walt shook his fist.

"I knew him, yeah. Used to call him Mattie. He had some serious anger issues. I don't doubt this was him. It was gonna happen eventually," Damien puffed his cigarette.

"Xeren bless us all," Jeremiah said.

"I reckon he used to work for me — my construction company — a couple months back. I was gonna fire him but he just... off and disappeared. Not disappeared no more, though," Hix said.

*Chris Wellington. Believed to be fifteen. The subject of a weeks-long manhunt by Alchemilia Corporation just a few months ago.*

"I saw the message on every screen in Silivia. I mean, everyone in Silivia did! If only they had got him before now..." Susan lamented.

"I could have sworn I have seen him somewhere. That face looks very familiar..." Manfred said.

"I would have turned him in had I known about the manhunt and reward for his arrest. I didn't see the message that morning, I was working like I should have," Picciotto shrugged.

*And, oh... Atticus Rosington. Seventeen. The son of Governor Theo Rosington, who was previously thought to have been deceased.*

"Son of the Governor, Atticus Rosington, that one? He was a great kid, really promising. As, Bs, the kid really kept his grades up, really... great kid. I can't see him doing this, I just can't. Had a whole future ahead of him and everything. Coulda been the next governor if he wanted to. Damn," Colim sighed.

"The *GOVERNOR* now too? This is a city-wide conspiracy! I think the governor is an angel plant. It's all adding up. I think it's all adding up," Slim figured.

"I condemn the actions of these terrorists whole-heartedly. An attack against Alchemilia is an attack against each and every one of us," Rosington said.

*Do you condemn the actions of your son, Atticus?*

The governor walked away without comment.

*We've received an early list of victims of this wretched attack against humanity. Here are their names:*

*Santo Giovanni. Sixty-eight. He was a former Silivian prison warden and police officer.*

*Tracy Turner. Thirty. She was an engineer and mother of three.*

*Claire Simmons. Twenty-four. She was a talented and charismatic doctor at Alchemilia Gladea.*

*Jack Rivera. Forty-one. He was a physicist and he liked to cook.*

*Selma Klosterman. Forty-eight. She was a security director and a loving wife.*

*And Gabriel Arsene II. Thirty-nine. He was the* brilliant *CEO of Alchemilia Corporation and* beloved *life-long philanthropist, last year's winner of the highly coveted Man of the Year Award.*

*As the names and other news pours in, we'll bring it to you live.*

"It really was a tragedy."