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VENTURE #1

[In-Progress Release]

✧ Chapter 1 ✧

Valor

The last thing that Shade needs is just a little bit of bravery. Just one last push and she can win over her mother.

She’s a kid again. For some reason, Shade’s a kid. And in her favorite old outfit: a two-tone dress with a lavender blue bodice, turquoise green flared skirt, and short puffy sleeves. Her hair’s long, the cyan strands surrounding her small frame, the ends grazing her fingertips. She’s standing in the center of a white room, several eyes watching, judging.

Shade tilts her head, trying to scan the place, only to wince at the harsh lights above. Covering her eyes, she catches a glimpse of something, which blooms in her closed vision. There is some furniture in front of her, over a long beige carpet, the lights forcing some blurry shadows against the tiled floor.

“…come on, sis…”

The whispered words catch Shade’s attention, drawing her to look left. Her sister stiffens, fingers tightening around her brother’s hand, but she pulls together a shaky smile. Her brother stands slightly taller, smiling back too and just as wobbly.

Shade can feel a pressure form behind her eyes. An urge to run hits her. She wants to cling to them, dangle off their necks.

But Shade doesn’t move. Can’t move. Her body has already done this.

“Begin.”

Her mother’s voice cleaves through the silence like a blade. Her weathered glare tracks Shade from her right, her dark cyan eyes sharp with expectations.

Shade’s throat tightens. She holds her right hand with her left, thumb and index finger forming a loose ring over her wrist. Then she twists her arm inside her light hold. One twist. Then another.

When Shade glances back at her two siblings, she finds Riegal standing between them. He’s towering over both, looking as severe as ever. Like most of the adults in her life, Riegal is far from gentle, able to silence a room with just a fiery stare. Yet ever since she’s known him, Riegal never shot her those stares, never raised his voice. Unlike the other adults, he was always warm to them. The only real warmth they had.

His eyes soften when they meet Shade, his strong cheekbones rising. While her siblings’ smiles tremble with nerves, Riegal’s stays calm, even after placing his hands over her siblings’ trembling shoulders. His lips form words, ones that she quickly recognizes.

“Embrace the space.”

But a throat clears.

Shade doesn’t even need to look to feel her mother’s darkening glare.

She forces her eyes back to the center, to the three objects waiting for her:

  • A refrigerator—large but empty.

  • A table—black and wide with books over it.

  • A broom—fibers dirty and bent.

She tracks the objects, doing her best to really look at each one. She has to memorize each design; note every quirk put there for a reason; look past her ideas of each object and focus on what they REALLY are instead.

She cycles through the routine, sensing a growing link, a bridge becoming clearer and stronger. Closing her eyes, she whispers her words…

“Embrace the space.”

Tightening her right hand, Shade makes a fist and raises it above her head. Her world narrows, becoming smaller and smaller, until all she sees is her mark, the spiral over the back of her hand. Each bit of darkened skin forms a curved line, with a thicker line making a circle at the center of the spiral. Heat gathers, spreading over each line, all slowly crafting light.

She steadies her glowing fist, bringing in the objects and reforming them, again and again. The empty fridge. The black table. The dirty broom. The fridge. The table. The broom.

The more she repeats, the stronger the link, the greater the sense that these things are her—not just hers to have, but a part of her being. And feeling that, knowing that, gives her the push that she’s been waiting for, let’s her create her own valor to move forward.

When it’s over, she slowly opens her eyes, unsure what kind of room is going to greet her.

She carefully looks around, trying to at least brace herself. It’s seemingly the same place, with the same people, with the same expressions. Yet… something IS different after all. Something did change because of her.

The beige carpet in front of Shade, the one at the center of the room, the one everyone here is staring at now… is empty.

There is no fridge. No table. And the broom is gone too, no specks of dirt even where it once stood.

What happens next is too fast. It’s much too blurry for her, but what Shade knows is that she proved everyone wrong. Whatever they were expecting, Shade did the opposite. And that made the room come alive, the excitement surrounding her, caging her in a circle of joy. She can only really see her sister’s smoky-pale hands as they move, going high and low and grabbing her arm.

But it’s not this movement that stays with her, not what keeps her focus. It’s something different, something Shade had never seen before. It’s new to her here, yet old to her now. Something which made it her turn to be surprised.

Her mother stands closer, among a crowd, with a crescent line over her lips that curves up. The typical straight line is gone, replaced with a smile. The very first smile Shade ever got from her mother.

And with that smile, the white room fades, along with the Shade that had a family.

✦ ✦ ✦

Three glass bottles hit the bottom of a garbage can.

“That’s a NO on cactus juice,” Shade mutters, shaking her head.

She slides her brown shoe off the can’s stepper, moving it up to push the trash back under the kitchen sink. With a sigh, she turns on her cold water, holding pools in her hands and splashing her face. She grabs a towel off a hanger as she turns to her living room, wiping her face dry as she walks, catching the drops that cling to the ends of her hair around her neck.

She fluffs up a pillow, then sits on her sofa, looking at the stacks of books in front of her. She was gonna get so much reading done today, but the tower took a lot out of her this morning. She keeps staring at the books, willing the energy of reading to come, but her eyes wander—eventually down the pages, over the hardcovers, to the black table underneath.

That table… it was so much larger back then. She grimaces and looks away, ringing her right wrist with her left hand.

“Of all the things to dream…”

Shade falls silent then, letting herself live in nothing.

The only mementos she had of them were somewhere in her vault, but she refused to look at them, refused to even go there. Only a single item in that space gave her strength, a simpler one she could quickly find, one that always gave her warmth when little else would, but the rest…

Why’d this have to come back to her now? It had been so long since she last saw them. After last time, she promised herself to stop looking back, to only look at what she had now, focus on what her life was really like. But that was the problem, wasn’t it? When her life had so little, how could she resist the urge to look back? Apparently, by keeping herself busy. Too busy.

She forces herself to look back at the table, moving her hands without thinking. She grabs the book from the bottom of the stack, letting the others tumble, and holds the thing in her lap.

She opens the cover, blitzes through the lengthy intro section, and begins the dive into a new world. She scans the beige pages, flipping after reaching the last lines of each page, but the black letters just sit there, briefly under her gaze then replaced by another. By the time she has a small stack of pages under her ‘read’ thumb, she still feels alien to the story, as if she’s still waiting for the dive to occur. She can’t picture what anything looks like, can’t even recall any of the characters’ names. When her stomach growls, the book ends up back in the pile.

Shade runs a hand through her face, frustrated at the lack of her ability to connect, to distract herself. Drawing the hand back, she looks at it once it lies on the sofa, over the armrest to her right.

The spiral mark, her birthmark. It’s almost like the shape is an eye, staring at her, watching her, judging with a glare.

She grips her armrests. Should she…? No, work on the tower was over. She spent the entire morning working on it, now it was time for her to do something else, something more that would make today different from the rest. But the pull to the tower… it was feeling less like a pull the longer she thought about it, and more like a push to her future, a way to move forward.

She sighs, and before any objections can form, she pushes her palms against the sofa, rocketing herself up. She walks through her living room, climbing up the staircase tucked into the far-left corner, and doesn’t bother glancing at her bed as she enters her bedroom, eyes already fixed to her walk-in closet to the right. She steps into the smaller space, sliding her hand into the soft sweater section and pushing it aside, exposing the built-in closet bench under the sweaters.

She steps over the bench, using the extra height to touch the square panel on the ceiling. Pushing the panel upwards and resting it on the floor above, Shade grips the edges of the hatch and pulls herself up. Her head instinctively tilts up, eyeing the massive spire of glass around her home.

The night really does make this place look so beautiful, the moonlight clear even through the thick layers of glass. Row upon row, the Hyalo-Tower rises, such that it overshadows the two-story cabin below it, along with even the tallest trees around this part of the forest.

It stuck out so easily by now, she might as well stop hiding and just give herself up. The tower did blend-in better at night, but every glittering surface caught the light so clearly during the day. Yes, this forest was huge, but this wasn’t something she could keep on ignoring, but just like another stomach growl, she does. She has to focus on the present this time, and this is all she truly has.

Shade closes her eyes, sensing the innermost layers of glass first. Feeling no emerging cracks and no weaknesses in the foundation, she shifts her attention to her way up the tower, to the platform that she senses halfway up. With a flick of her hand, the platform moves, Shade opening her eyes just in time to see it descend down the spire. Once it reaches her ankles, she steps over the glass rectangle, ready to move on up.

The view grows more beautiful the higher Shade goes up the tower, until she finds herself suspended in a veil of radiant blues, royal violets, and shimmering lights. Halting the elevation, Shade steps over the glass floor, approaching the closest wall and placing her hand flat against it. With her fingers spread out wide and the spiral of her birthmark facing her, Shade gets to work on her tower, once again.

As Shade works, she stares at her mark, eyes roaming over the curved spikes, noting the near-symmetry of the full shape, but settling on the circle at the center. She can faintly sense the nutrients leave her as shards of glass crystallize around her hand, hovering in place briefly before they float up the tower. Finding the next incomplete row at the top floor, the shards melt into the tower, each contribution seeming insignificant by now, but Shade knows better than to question what a single shard adds. It’s about the progress after each day—not after each shard.

Continuing on, things slowly narrow, further and further until her world is just that circle on her mark, the entire universe on the back of her hand. Her mind drifts, moving to the massive cities, the open coastlines, the countless people. All the things she only ever really lived through in pictures, all the things that are still very much a mystery, as distant to her as the paths she never took on her way here.

What would her life really look like if she stayed back there, back in that facility? What would life be like if her mother didn’t take their choice to stay away? Were the new tests really gonna be THAT bad? If she was really that special, couldn’t she strike a good deal? Couldn’t she demand a life better than one in constant—

The birthmark vanishes from Shade’s sight. So does the rest of Shade’s hand, and arm too. She’s looking down, down to the glass floor under her, no longer parallel to her wall but slumped up on it, empty spots in her vision.

She squeezes her hands, feeling nothing but pins and needles pulsing through her fingers. Did something happen? Is this what happens if she activates her mark against herself somehow? Was there even more to this ability that she didn’t—

Her stomach growls. Loudly. REAL loudly this time.

Maybe if someone else was there, they wouldn’t have thought it was that bad, but internally, this was not a great feeling. If her body had words, it would be yelling them at her.

Shade carefully moves, keeping her hands over the wall as she shifts closer to it, sliding down to sit gently on the floor. Laying her back on the tower, she lets out a shaky bit of air, placing her still-tingling hand over her stomach, trying to calm her speeding heart, bring full sensation back to her fingers.

Maybe this was a mistake, ignoring her body and its demands was costing her now. But this was the last thing that Shade needed to spend her time on. She’s out of food, has been for some days, that defrosted cactus juice she tossed out having been the last thing in her fridge. She figured she could go on even longer, she’s done it before, but maybe the years really have taken their toll, worn her down. Maybe she couldn’t keep counting on being the same person anymore, the same Shade.

Taking a deep breath, Shade focuses, forcing herself to be as present in this moment as possible. If she wants to keep doing this, keep building this tower, she’s gonna have to stop working for now. She’s gonna have to go back down, open her front door, and enter the cold darkness of the Hollow Woods.

It wasn’t the emptiness of the forest that kept her out, nor the temperature at this hour—she had her trusty cloak for that—but it was the need to finish this tower that pushed her away. She has to have this fortress behind her, needs something to have her back when no one else does. Maybe if they were still here, if she could rely on her sister to—

Shade swallows. She shakes her head. She has to live here, live now, not back then, not in a world that didn’t exist anymore.

When the platform reaches the bottom of the tower, Shade waits until the glass actually touches the wood of her attic, and then she moves. She places her trembling palms over the glass, then pushes herself up slowly, real slowly in anticipation of any weak link in her body. When she’s finally standing over the wood, Shade lets out her long breath.

The trek to her entrance feels foolish. Even now, there is an urge to go back up, to power through the hunger in favor of the safety, but she powers through that urge instead, shuts out any more thoughts, and raises her fist above her head.

She searches through her belongings, the many things she found no room for around her. Every time she’s here, she could swear the space changes, grows with her, almost like an invisible tracker of her age. What she’s looking for is quick to find, and find it she does, but another urge forms, a temptation to summon or at least think about those other things, the mementos she wants to forget. She’s thought about discarding them, the physical reminders of things past, but that would require her to really think about them, see them fully again first.

With her simpler target in mind, Shade squeezes her fingers tighter, the shine audible and lighting the area around the entrance. And as the light clears, there is her item: A long black cloak on the ground, between her and the door.

Shade carefully kneels down and lifts the cloak, fingers grazing the thick cape, entering the hood to remove debris. Standing up, she twirls the cloak around her, the cape passing over the doorknob, almost as if it blessed her exit before settling around her back. Tucking in her bob cut into the hood, she covers her ears with her hair, shifting her arms too to let the warmth of the cape cover them. At last, she moves her hand, wrapping it around the doorknob, leading with her right hand—her marked hand.

The symbol stares back, Shade nearly feeling its judging glare again. But as she twists the knob, she feels something else too, something warmer as she moves with her cloak, a brush with something that smiled, someone that helped her create her own valor to move forward. And with that around her now, Shade pulls the door open, whispering her words.

“Embrace the space.”

Venture #1:

THE EXPERIMENT

Beneath the cloak of night, a shadow moves with purpose.

Two scarred students have become targets…

…But he will not let them get hurt again.

✧ Chapter 2 ✧

Recon

Sylvia and Oswin are runaways, a fact that’s not super noticeable at first glance. The biggest clue is Oswin’s huge scar, which lies straight across his stomach, from his abs to his chest, while Sylvia’s own is easily missed. Really, the most alarming thing about these two is their tendency to wear their lab coats outside their university, even during off days like this.

They walk through a nice park in their new home city, their hands held together, approaching a bench by the park’s hillside. Sitting down, they lean on each other’s shoulders, taking in the cool and sparse night.

Sylvia pipes up first. “This is nice.”

“Which part?” Oswin asks.

“You, of course.”

Sylvia smirks and playfully nudges Oswin, who smiles and puts his arm around her back, brushing the top of her head with his hand. He’s the younger one by three years, his skin ever so slightly tanner than Sylvia’s sandy peach complexion. Her hair is a long light blonde that cascades behind their bench, Oswin’s brown hair just barely grazing his shoulders.

With a happy sigh, Sylvia closes her eyes and relaxes on her scout. She’s so grateful for this, so content she silently thanks something inside for this second chance. After a beat, Oswin closes his eyes too, humming softly as he gets ready for a nap by his colonel.

Their light blue lab coats make for the perfect blankets, worn down enough from their few failed experiments but still strong enough to keep their structure. Seeing them in a park like this is a little odd, but the worst the coats ever do is prompt new questions from the kids around the beach, like their quite curious eight-year-old neighbor.

“Do you guys work with those giant glass thingies? Or are you the ones that work with those white bottles?” Oswin would always kneel to match her height and explain that they’re really only students. If anything, these coats help reinforce this studious and caretaking image—one far from the military.

In his near-nap, Oswin’s hand drifts to his stomach. He gently rubs there, fingers pressing against the faint, familiar ache that passes through the scarred area underneath. It’s more of a mindless reflex than anything else at this point, but Sylvia catches the move right away, turning to look at him.

“Hey, Oswin?”

“Hm?” He turns to her now. “What is it, Syl?”

“You ever…” She considers the exact nature of her question wisely. “…miss it?”

“Miss what?”

Her hand carefully slips down to his stomach, her fingers finding his, and traces his knuckles. “Normal food.”

Oswin moves his head back, thinking. Food wasn’t on his mind right now, but he does decide to think about how he actually feels on the subject, trying to find the truth. Does he actually miss being able to hold a sandwich and take a bite? Drink something real sugary and unhealthy? “Yeah… Yeah, I think I kinda do.”

Sylvia moves a bit in her spot, a thin frown finding its way on her face, but at the sight of that Oswin flips his arm up, linking their fingers together.

“But I’d miss you more, Syl.”

Sylvia looks up at him. After a silent moment, she moves up her palm, softly cupping his cheek.

“Me too.”

They could stay like this forever. Their struggle is done and so far away. They could continue their studies, hoping for success someday, but more than fine without it. They’re in the aftermath, bathing in the calmness of their escape, enjoying lives made lighter—but not perfect. Never perfect.

Something watches them from a tree down the slope of the hill. Something peeks out from the bark. Someone.

His head is angled up, his cloaked figure hiding well thanks to the night. His maroon eyes jitter, a careful gaze over the bench. His gold skin and wisps of grey hair are faintly visible through the shadows of his black hood. The darkness hides the tightness in his jaw, which grows the longer he looks.

His heart races, more than it usual, whatever relief he felt at first seeing them already gone.

They were supposed to be strangers, random vulnerable civilians, just normal people trying to live with the time they had left. The targets weren’t supposed to be this, THEM.

Oswin and Sylvia. Sylvia and Oswin. A couple that Javier immediately recognized.

“Not good,” Javier whispers. “Not good at all.”

It was during Javier’s last mission where he found all this out. Well, not EVERYTHING; clearly the identity of his targets would’ve been great to know ahead of time.

Javier sighs, rubbing his forehead with the fabric glove of his right thumb. He rests his back against the tree behind him, opposite to the bench on the hill. The bark’s jagged edges dig into him, but he doesn’t care.

The mission was fast. And it was in a zoo. He felt some joy at going to a fun and colorful place like that, a reminder of the life he once had, even if going there was to perform a rescue. He wasn’t fully prepared for that mission either, but he did go through with it in the end. That’s some reassurance at least, perhaps a sign this mission won’t be a COMPLETE disaster.

Yet something strikes him then, an image that’s haunted him before, a remnant of a newer wound. Oswin is on the ground, his mouth is wide open, and no sound comes out of him.

Javier shakes his head. This won’t do; this mission won’t work with him like this. Plus, this isn’t about him anymore.

He forces himself to look back up at them. Sylvia is leaning back on her seat, her head tilted up to the night sky. Her hair is falling lower, almost a foot above the ground. Oswin is saying something to her while pointing at the crescent moons in the sky.

Javier can’t quite decipher Oswin’s words at this distance, but he does catch the tone of his earnest voice, his gentle inflections towards Sylvia. He sounds the same as he did back then, his admiration for Sylvia so clear, even now. For a moment, Javier wonders how they closed the gap between them, who made the first move. After the rubble. After he ran.

The old idea comes back to him, of somehow working with Sylvia and Oswin again, of somehow sparing them the prosecutions. He’d somehow convince the rest to formally let them into the investigation, clean-up anything that would tie them into the mess that followed. He knew things would get worse while he did his time, that after the official shutdown, the military’s desperation would grow, would let them find new ways to ruin their legacy. Their name was GearTerra, and they were group that once saved the world. Once.

It was thanks to GearTerra that everyone lives like they do now, or arguably lives at all, considering the gloom. Yet, it was that praise, that high level of wide acclaim that led GearTerra to get away with so much later. Too much, eventually. Whatever relief Javier felt after they were finally held responsible didn’t last, as while his former comrades worked hard and did a great job of catching a lot of them, some did slip through their fingers. And these remains? “Low Priority”—the official classification.

When Javier had first arrived at that zoo, he noticed GearTerra there right away. Some five of their scouts, clad in their gold and brown armors, were pulling an elephant into a truck, surely the first of many planned for that night. The poor thing wasn’t even trying to fight back, the scouts more than capable of handling it, but not without causing some noise. They still had to do it slowly, and that’s when Javier stepped in.

With the advantage of being unseen, Javier got a hold of them quickly, turning their own chains against them after a brief scuffle. Bound tight as a helpless cluster, every single soldier was too shocked to even shout. They didn’t have their weapons on them, so Javier made sure to change that before he left. With a smug smile, he took the soldier that looked the most scared, all the way back to his hideout.

Within the empty interrogation room, Javier ripped away the soldier’s helmet, ready for his harsh array of questions. And it was then that Javier realized the scout was young. A young boy, barely an adult, trembling and—before Javier could even begin—was already talking.

Javier had to scramble to start his recorder then. He reaches for it now, his left hand digging into the deep pocket of his charcoal-colored pants. Once the device is out, he brings it into his hood, right up against his ear, and presses ‘Play.’

“—but he wants us to take their experiment before that,” the young scout starts, his voice playing at the lowest volume. “Wants us to be fast and accurate. Fast AND accurate! How the mutt are we supposed to do that in a school like that?! College, whatever! I j-just don’t know what he’s even thinking anymore… It’s like our colonel’s trying to do his own thing, but… this is just like it was before, like with Prion.”

Javier pauses the playback. That part definitely caught his attention then too. He’d heard of him, the one who claimed power over GearTerra after Javier was locked up. The same one who supposedly led them now, given he wasn’t caught after the shutdown: General Prion.

He didn’t get a chance to meet Prion back then, but he’s heard enough of him since then to make an impression. Something about making some changes, restoring the order… Prion seemed genuine at least, but then so did all the others before him.

Javier plays back the rest of the tape, which largely has the soldier babbling nervously, seemingly talking himself into some state of understanding. At some point, it was like he forgot Javier was there, in the same room as him.

As the tape comes to an end, Javier can almost see the moment again. When the soldier stopped talking, they both stayed silent. He stared at the scout, slowly processing everything he just heard before nodding his head. Minutes later, Javier went into the kitchen and grabbed a soda from the fridge. It was an absent-minded action, just something he took to help swallow down the information. When he cracked open the can, it echoed harshly in the interrogation room, catching the soldier’s attention, made him look up from the table in front of him. Javier didn’t even think of giving away the soda until he found himself doing just that. The soldier gently accepted the cold drink, muttering a quiet “thanks” and taking a sip, his arms trembling.

Javier frowned with a softened expression. He wasn’t angry anymore, couldn’t get there seeing those raw shakes then. It wasn’t pity but recognition lining his sight. He’d been there before, completely out of moves, left wide open to the world.

A knee-jerk reaction hit him then, the words forming over his lips: “I’m sorry.” But he stopped them.

Sorry for what? That his life led him here? He never even learned the boy’s name. His words wouldn’t be vapid, he would MEAN that “sorry.” But what would saying that change? What would hearing them do? This situation called for something else, something more substantial, something that would change this. So rather than rely on his words, Javier shut his mouth instead and took action.

After Javier left him, the soldier raised his head, looking up at Javier confused, as if the world had changed while he wasn’t looking. Why were they here, at a mall of all places? The last hour of walking was a blur, the soldier fully expecting handcuffs and blue uniforms at the end of their journey, not an empty juice stand.

With their eyes meeting, Javier gave the soldier a small smile. He shifted the bag in his grip, drawing the scout’s attention to it, recognition quickly striking.

Weapons, armor, GearTerra… All his mistakes contained in one place, all just in a bag.

It was then that Javier turned, walking away with the bag, no instructions and no goodbyes. The soldier didn’t move, stunned but still standing in a world that chose to not end him.

Javier slides the recorder out from his hood, tucking it back into his pocket. He turns around the tree, his gaze running up the hill, over Sylvia and Oswin once more. Tracking their presence on that bench, Javier thinks back to that young soldier he let go, the boy’s final expression now fixed as his lasting memory of him.

He feels his right knee shift, a small tug pulling him up that hill. He could give into it, force his legs up, pull off his hood, and face their eyes. His lips open, trying to form a worthwhile explanation, trying to find the perfect words that would answer all their questions, the exact phrasing that would make everything right once again.

But nothing comes out, nothing fits there perfectly.

Instead, Javier draws back into his tree, saying different words, which come out low but clear.

“You’re not getting hurt again.”

✧ Chapter 3 ✧

In Tow

Sylvia closes her eyes, focusing on the nice breeze passing through her. She can hear the still unfamiliar city move around them, the sounds of a busy but present peace.

Oswin speaks up, a little hesitantly. “I know it’s probably an unhealthy habit, but… think we could go back to the lab tonight? The doctor said he’d be catching up this weekend.”

Sylvia chuckles, shaking her head. “Sure. I mean… what ELSE could the two of us be doing tonight at this hour, hm~?”

At Sylvia’s quick wink, Oswin can only rub the back of his head, his face warming.

“Geez, Syl.”

She smirks, satisfied with his reaction, until something catches her attention: A distant jingle. Looking to her left, she sees an ice cream stand sitting at the edge of the park, a small group of spirited teenagers leaving it with waffle cones. Ahead of a stomach growl, Sylvia stands up.

“Give our esteemed driver a call, while I go fetch us a nice, doctor-recommended sugar bomb.”

“Little one for me, please,” Oswin says, the last of his blush fading as he pulls out his phone.

Behind his tree, Javier places a hand over his stomach. He swallows, as if the saliva could somehow quell his growing hunger. He’s always been a rewards-eater, just the thought of trying to do these kinds of missions bloated shutting up his appetite, if only for now.

While Oswin’s voice fills the nearby area as he talks into his phone, Javier keeps his attention on Sylvia, watching her as she kindly approaches the ice cream stand clearly run by his people (the banners of colorful flags around the counter were a dead giveaway). The thought of Sylvia speaking a heavy-English-accented Spanish to them almost makes Javier chuckle—definitely producing a smile at least.

“Hola amiges. ¿Pod-dría comprar unes helados, per fabor?”

When Sylvia returns, she’s beaming and carrying two cones: vanilla and chocolate. Her silky hair sways as she walks, each joyous step making the ends of her coat bounce. Upon reaching Oswin, she hands him the vanilla cone with an exaggerated little bow.

“As ordered, one little snack for you, my scout.”

Oswin receives the cone with both hands, accepting it like a gift from the heavens. “A true honor, my colonel.”

Settling back on the bench, Sylvia takes her time with her chocolate treat, not just to prolong the nice taste, but also because half her attention is already going to Oswin, almost automatically by this point. Her glances are constant, and not rooted in admiration. She likes to look at him, of course, but she has a deeper purpose here, has to slow him down if he gets too enthusiastic.

When Oswin catches her looking, he dramatically slows down, moving almost like a sloth. “Thisss… slooow… enooough… doctooor…?”

Sylvia smiles a little. “I’m just trying to make sure you don’t ruin your pants again, Ossy.”

Oswin involuntarily twitches, the image of his old pants in a trash bag flashing through his mind. And when he remembers the flies, their circular patterns over the garbage bin, there goes his appetite.

“He’ll uh… be here soon by the way,” Oswin says, setting his cone to one side.

Oblivious, Sylvia nudges him, still playing along with a quip. “Still no excuse to speed up, right?”

Speed up? Oswin looks down at his cone, knowing that it’s a lost cause. But then he brightens when an idea comes to him.

“Gonna have to finish mine then!” Oswin says as he charges the ice cream cone into Sylvia’s face.

“H-Hey!” She dodges the vanilla, playing along with avoidance until he gets too close and manages to get some on her cheek. As payback, she bites off a giant chunk. “Delicious!”

Oswin moves the cone back, gawking at what little is left. “M-Mission complete,” he chuckles nervously.

Sylvia grins, wiping away the drops on her face with her sleeve.

✦ ✦ ✦

A taxicab pulls into the park, driving through the narrower dirt road, and arrives by the curve in front of Oswin and Sylvia’s hill.

Seeing the car first, Oswin stands up and slides down the hill, rushing to the door and holding it open. Sylvia warmly smiles, standing up and making her own way down. Closer to Oswin, she kisses her palm and rubs it tenderly over Oswin’s cheek, brushing it softly with her thumb. “My scout.”

From the other side of the hill, Javier squints his eyes, shifting around his tree to look past the hill. He can just barely see them enter the yellow car, straining his ears to follow its engine. When he hears the tires turn in place, the rubber squishing the pebbles underneath, Javier makes his move, carefully leaving the shadows to begin his mission.

Inside their taxi, Sylvia glances out the window, her eyes passing over the park, its trees, and varied light posts. The radio is playing some news, something she doesn’t even register until a question arrives.

“You guys don’t mind this stuff, right?”

Their driver shoots them a friendly look from the backseat mirror, brushing away his dirty blonde hair covering his beady eyes to see their reaction. Oswin looks to Sylvia, who responds with a minor shrug. They try to avoid the news these days, but they’re also not opposed to it either or anything like that. In response, the driver turns up the volume, a woman’s voice filling the small space.

“—yet the head zookeeper denied any involvement,” the reporter continues. “After the squad finished analyzing the area, Captain Sabrina confirmed the break-in was too messy, ruling out foul play from the zoo itself.”

Oswin tilts his head back on his seat, joining Sylvia as they watch the city zoom past them outside. Sylvia rests her right hand over Oswin’s knee, tuning out everything in the ride except for him. Only bits of the radio fades in and out of their attention.

“Zoo-this… zoo-that… elephant…”

It’s only when the radio hits a commercial break that Oswin and Sylvia abruptly return to the taxi, exchanging bewildered glances at the increasingly silly, over-enthusiastic ads. When a chipped voice starts talking about probiotics and how to maintain a “happy-happy stomach,” Sylvia cuts in, clearing her throat a little too loudly. At the sound, their driver looks at them innocently.

“Pretty crazy, huh?” he says.

“Yeah… that’s right,” Sylvia replies.

“I mean, zoo break-ins? These days?” Clearly, the steering and turning made the blonde driver tune out the ads, but he at least does turn down the volume, which Sylvia is grateful for.

“Sure, real wild.” Sylvia exchanges a glance with Oswin, who leans in a bit to join the conversation.

“Really feels like things would’ve calmed some with the uh… new Chief of Police,” Oswin adds.

“Well, they kinda have,” the driver responds, while turning the taxi through a street corner. “But you know how these reports can be sometimes. At least this station’s good though, this reporter’s got some restraint.”

Sylvia smirks a little at that, shaking her head as she still catches bits of the digestive ad below. “Yeah, TONS of restraint.”

Outside the taxi, Javier is running, his silver boots bouncing off the pavement. Thankfully, these parts of the city still ring familiar, shortcuts coming back to him, even after all this time. He finds the perfect corner to hide behind again, staying right on the taxi’s tail. Slowly but surely, he approaches the end of this city—the faster they can leave his hometown the better.

Javier spots another corner and runs to it, keeping himself out of view of the taxi, which he makes sure to always keep somewhere in his sights. Exposing himself to them is not an option, at least not yet, not when he still doesn’t know what he’d say. He knows deep down inside that he WILL have to make contact some point, but that might be easier with some answers, at least in regard to the current dilemma facing them. What happened before will have to be addressed too, but what’s happening now, what could happen soon… Javier needs to know more.

The big reason why GearTerra is hunting them is still a mystery after all. Javier doubts this had to do with their desertion, but there is still a non-zero chance that that is the motive. On the other hand, the young soldier from the zoo did mention something about an “experiment” during their interrogation, but there were no specifics beyond that, no clue about what exactly this “experiment” means or even is supposed to be. He starts turning that word—experiment—over in his head as he keeps tailing the taxi, trying to find some value or connection that isn’t immediately obvious.

Diving in further after more repetitions, Javier tries to grasp onto something solid, ultimately shifting to facts, the things he does know for sure:

  1. Oswin worked with Robo.

  2. Sylvia led a Robo division.

  3. They met thanks to GearTerra.

He knew this much was true, at least according to Oswin. They got drinks together once, during Javier’s first investigation into GearTerra, Oswin’s affection for Sylvia clear as he recounted how they met. Whatever this “experiment” was… could it be drawing on this? Not on Javier’s failed investigation, but… on their associations with Robo? Could those strange machines now be endangering Sylvia and Oswin somehow?

The taxicab comes to a stop, waiting by a red traffic light. The volume on the radio goes back up, but thankfully with the sounds of news instead of ads.

“Tina Bernard, reporting to you back from the Fulcrum City Zoo,” the reporter starts, the taxi driver moving closer to the radio, ready for more juicy details about this zoo story. “Captain Sabrina’s earlier statement on the captured soldiers remains unchanged. However, during a personal walkthrough of the scene, this reporter found several burn marks, several ELECTRIC burn marks. These match those found in other recent arrests, all linked to GearTerra.”

That name-drop instantly makes Sylvia’s hand tense up. She squeezes Oswin’s knee, her grip harder and longer than what she aims for. Oswin, meanwhile, goes completely rigid, his jaw tightening at the name.

“Investigators haven’t confirmed a connection yet,” the report continues, “but signs suggest the zoo attack may involve one of our new axisguards: the electric and elusive vigilante, the Faradforcer.”

“F-Faradforcer?” Oswin manages through a wobble, as if aiming to draw attention onto anything else.

“Sounds like it!” the driver adds, turning up the volume.

“The Faradforcer is far from the police’s favorite axisguard,” the report goes on, “his lack of collaboration with them likely behind his absence from their official reports and statements. But this DOES mark the fourth GearTerra-related attack the Faradforcer is linked to. Is this just a coincidence, or… could there be something tying him to GearTerra?”

GearTerra, GearTerra, GearTerra…

Oswin bites the inside of his lip, his paled face looking to Sylvia, whose hand over his knee keeps tightening with each and every mention of the military, THEIR military. Her gaze remains fixed outside, trying and failing to focus on the buildings passing by.

Their driver eyes up the roads and signs as they approach Provenance City, preparing for a lane change onto the correct exit. Looking through his side-view mirrors, he catches a glimpse of Sylvia’s face, which has gone far paler than Oswin’s, the sight of both nearly making him slam his breaks in surprise. He keeps it together, but the more looks, the more puzzle pieces start to fit. A frown finds its way onto his face; concern and tension now in his taxi, and it’s all his fault. Shame coursing through him, the driver lowers the volume of the radio, twisting the circular knob fully to zero.

With that horrible name no longer vibrating in the car, Sylvia lets out the breath she hadn’t realized she was holding in. She steadies herself for a moment, trying to gauge her expression on her window’s reflection, calming herself down as best she can before she finally looks at Oswin. He smiles nervously at her, and in response Sylvia forces a smile too, moving up her hand to brush away part of his brown hair.

Leaning into her touch, Oswin utters, “S-So much for a calm night.” She can only manage a nod back in response.

The rest of the ride is in silence.

By the time the taxicab comes to a stop, it’s in a large but empty parking lot. Oswin undoes his seatbelt, going for his pocket under his lab coat for coins, but this time Sylvia beats him to it, grabbing a handful of copper-marks and reaching over the seat in front of her, lightly tapping their driver’s shoulder with her closed hand. He turns his head, eyes widening a little once she opens her palm, revealing the coins.

“W-What’s this?” the driver asks, taking the coins in his hand with some residual regret from before.

“Call it a thanks,” Sylvia says, smiling more truthfully now. “For such a late favor.”

The driver smiles back and nods, while Sylvia slips out the taxi, passing Oswin who’s holding the door open for her again. Before he closes the door, Oswin peeks his head inside the cab. “Night, Theo!” he says to their driver, who grins and waves them a goodbye.

Pulling out from the car, Oswin can feel Sylvia place her hand over his shoulder. He turns to her and smiles, while she slides her hand down to intertwine it with his.

“We’ll be alright,” Sylvia says softly.

Oswin nods, giving her hand a gentle squeeze. They shift to their usual way of walking, holding their hands together and walking side-by-side closely, Sylvia resting her head on Oswin’s shoulder, and move towards the campus entrance in the distance. The taxi remains by the curb for just a few moments, and when they seem close to the actual entrance doors, the car pulls away.

Javier makes sure to wait until after the taxi leaves before he gets out from his hiding spot behind a dumpster. He moves slowly, keeping his distance just in case Sylvia or Oswin looks back at the darkness of the lot. He makes sure to step carefully over the cement, avoiding any loose pebbles or out-of-nowhere cracks that could accidentally give him away. The more he moves, the closer he gets to the entrance of this curious place. By the time he can make out the monument sign over the grassy curb, Oswin and Sylvia are already inside the building.

He can read the sign now, but he can’t quite believe what he’s reading. Moving closer, the truth cannot be denied, as the sign proudly declares: “Provenance University.”

Javier’s eyes widen, face entirely brightening, mouth slightly opening in his surprise. It’s true, they really found their way here—a strange mix of pride and relief coming over him, a major blank finally filled. He knew they were both brilliant, they had so many great ideas and suggestions when they worked together, but here? In this prestigious MEDICAL university of all places?

Maybe their lab coats should have given it away, but that was the last thing that Javier paid attention to when he first spotted them at the park. Just the impossible sight of their healthy LIVING faces got to him, made him revise one of the cracks in his heart, sent in a sharp rush of relief that… they made it. After all the chaos, all the bloodshed and dirt and courts and arrests… they really were able to piece things together. They found the chance and strength to persevere, to move forward into… this. Into a life of peace, a life of learning, of helping people directly. No more battlefields.

And that image, of them having survived through it all, even when it felt so hopeless before… that pushes Javier forward, fortifies his will, brings about a stoic expression over his face, one that makes it even more clear than before that he will NOT fail this mission. Unlike last time, he won’t even think of himself anymore. He doesn’t matter here, only their survival does.

As Javier’s eyes run over the entrance to the medical campus, he imagines this will be the first of many times he’ll come here, take this exact walk over the streets. It’s like he can almost feel the ghost of his future-self over him, replicating his movements but with greater confidence and even greater resolve than now, a resolve that keeps growing instead of diminishing.

Nearing closer, something bright sparks through all these feelings. Something nerve-wrecking, but also exciting. The idea that… he’ll talk to them again. He brushed past that idea earlier, but now that he’s here, now that he’s walking where they recently were and can even faintly hear them nearby, the idea is becoming a reality, something that cannot be denied, something that can’t change based on moods or doubts, but instead something that simply IS. This might not happen tonight, or even the next night, but it WILL happen soon.

Some moment soon, Javier will talk to them again. He’ll keep it together, he’ll figure out all the details first, he’ll find the perfect way to address it all, and he’ll talk to them. He’ll talk again with the friends he betrayed.

✧ Chapter 4 ✧

Diagnosis

Oswin takes the black clipboard over the empty front desk, scribbling in Sylvia’s information first, then his own, making note of the time that they’re checking-in. After placing the clipboard back on the counter, Oswin quickly moves to Sylvia, who’s going around the corner in the hall leading to their lab. Reaching the entrance door, she takes out her ID badge, about to scan it over the panel by the handle only for Oswin to cut in, scanning his badge first so he can open the door for her—the third time tonight.

Sylvia smirks, crossing her arms. “You know… I can open doors for you too sometimes.”

“I know,” Oswin says, rubbing the back of his head. “I just like being useful.”

As she steps through the open door, Sylvia taps Oswin’s nose with her finger. “You, sir, are ALWAYS useful.”

Oswin grins goofily, shortly following Sylvia inside, the heavy door slamming shut behind him. The echo of the slam is harsh, but it dies away, the surrounding halls settling into silence, even when—seconds later—a bit of black cape peeks through the corner. Carefully, Javier sliders around the hall, his eyes finding and narrowing at the closed door.

Inside the lab, Sylvia waves a hand in front of her, activating the motion sensitive lights. The familiar room comes into view, computer monitors lining the walls, blueprints on the tables, scent of disinfectants in the air, but no one else inside. Not what they expected. The only “living” thing in there is their robotic prototype, whose faint hums leaks from the back of the room.

Oswin approaches a table, moving some papers over it, giving them a cursory glance before turning to Sylvia. “I guess… he’s not really here today after all?”

Sylvia picks up one of the blueprints she developed, looking over the various unfamiliar notes and diagrams sketched over it. “Unlikely,” she says, flashing the newly highlighted parts. “I swear, he LIVES here.”

Outside, Javier kneels by the door, his hood down, ear pressed against the metal. He grits his teeth, unable to hear anything past the thick barrier. This won’t do either, he NEEDS to keep surveillance on them, if not through sight, then through SOMETHING else. He takes a step back, putting his hood back on and looking over the door, trying to find some weak point to exploit, a rusted edge or loose bolt, anything at this point. However, the more he looks the less options he seems to have—not without giving himself away, at least. He starts patting down his body, digging through ideas, checking, double-checking, triple-checking for anything he might have that he could—

He pauses. He looks down at his left arm. There’s always… “that.”

Javier swallows. It’s risky. It’s crazy! It’s locked…

He’s tried to practice it before, but it’s just so… strange to him, so unpleasant. And now? He’s got to consider this now?! One second, he just needs one more second to make this choice. But he doesn’t get that lucky, because then… the silence around him shatters, with footsteps cutting through the hall.

The tall Dr. Cormac strides calmly through the hallway, the loose empty sleeves of his lab coat shifting as he walks. His white beard and steady gaze lend him a quiet authority, the kind that helps keep his students’ attention during his lectures.

When he arrives at the lab entrance, the door is just as it should be, the tiled floor around it neat and completely undisturbed—at least at a casual glance. He leans in close to the panel to scan his badge, which rests within his chest pocket, but as he does so, his view naturally moves to the floor, where he spots something below him: a faint footprint of dirt.

“Hm?” Dr. Cormac quirks an eyebrow.

Around the corner, Javier lays flat against a wall, holding the ends of his cape close. Why’d he HAVE to wear this longer during this specific mission? His eyes look forward, doing his best to remain completely still, but as he does so, his eyes flick to the front desk, where a black clipboard rests on the counter. Despite the tensing circumstance, an idea starts blooming.

Cormac kneels down, getting a closer look at the footprint. He balances himself on just the soles of his feet with a lifetime of practiced ease, even with these larger pair of work shoes on. He looks to his left, then his right, but seeing nothing unordinary, he pushes himself back up with his legs, standing to scrutinize his nearer surroundings.

Javier feels the need to swallow in his nerves, almost sensing Dr. Cormac’s gaze as it passes over the exact corner he’s hiding behind. But after a moment, Cormac looks back at the lab door, lowering his weight a bit. When the door panel finally beeps, he carefully pushes the door open, using his right foot to lightly press against the steel pedal at the bottom. Entering the room, he walks in slowly, his body coiling in further, legs tightening as he braces for possible combat.

“Hello? Is someone…?”

“Doctor!” Oswin comes into view, his bright expression as welcoming as ever. “You ARE here today!”

“Ah, Oswin!” Dr. Cormac brightens in return, his posture immediately relaxing. He stands up straight as Sylvia and Oswin approaching, accepting each of their warm hugs. “What brings you both here? It’s the weekend, figured you’d be busy elsewhere.”

“HIS fault,” Sylvia teases with a sly smile as she gestures to Oswin, who shrugs with a grin. She crosses her arms, leaning slightly against a nearby table. “So, doc, seems you’ve been QUITE busy here today.” She grabs a blueprint, which is particularly dense with what looks like mad scribbles. “Hiding something from us~?”

Cormac laughs. “Not at all,” he starts, walking to a table at the back of the room, his protégés following his lead. “I was actually just testing out Oswin’s new directive for Nuclei.”

The small group nears their blue prototype, which has its chest cavity open, its robotic internals exposed, the power cell humming within the bulky frame around it. Its large, exaggerated forearms rest on its side, Nuclei’s form vaguely resembling a humanoid shape by now.

“Did it work?” Oswin asks.

“Partly,” Dr. Cormac responds. “Seems the Robo is indeed able to gather the residue and compress it into a more compact shape. However, it does require a lot of force, which for us means a lot of energy. But the good news is the results stay intact.”

Sylvia listens carefully, tilting her head into the machine’s internals, making sure her contributions were up to par. “The energy problem should be okay for now,” she says. “We can always iron out that part later in future revisions.”

Cormac lowers his head in agreement, turning to use his right knee to pull out a slide-out platform under Nuclei’s table. Both Oswin and Sylvia let out minor gasps at what’s placed over this hidden compartment: several small crystals.

“A-Are these…?!” Oswin stutters out.

“Yes,” Dr. Cormac starts. “I’ve been compressing lots of residue today, making note of the results while I let the crystals sit around for a while, see if they keep their form. So far, it seems this crystal shape is the ideal structure we’re looking for.”

Sylvia steps closer, drawn in by the sight of the first products from their project that actually stay in one piece. She picks up a crystal, holding it carefully between her fingers. Bringing it up close to her face, she studies the jagged but beautiful surface.

“So, they keep this crystallized form,” Sylvia murmurs, very gently squeezing the crystal to judge its hardness. “Brittle enough to break with the teeth, but… I think we’ll have to adjust this later too, make it as soft as we can possibly get away with.”

Cormac hums, promptly moving to his desk and kneeling by it. He uses his teeth to carefully grab a pen off the table, smoothly jotting down some of Sylvia’s ideas. Oswin meanwhile looks over another crystal, waiting until the doctor is finished writing before he pipes up with a question. “What about the actual healing gas? Have you tried to see how that affects the crystallization process?” That gets Sylvia’s attention too, leading her to set the crystal she was looking at back over the lower platform.

Standing back up, Dr. Cormac smiles, his students’ curiosities palpable and infectious. “I figured we could get on that after this weekend, but since you two are already here…” He approaches another table, this one real wide and holding rows of vials, blue gas swirling within each one. “Sylvia, mind doing the honors here? Your hands are steadier than mine, mostly because you still have them.”

Oswin chortles at that, covering his mouth in embarrassment as it comes out a little too loud. Sylvia chuckles, rolling up her sleeves as she shakes her head. “You’re terrible,” she teases.

Sylvia very gently and carefully picks up a vial, moving to their Robo as steadily as she can. Oswin beams proudly at the sight, almost visualizing the dozens—if not hundreds—of hours they’ve spend to finally get here, to arrive at this exact moment. Sylvia slowly lowers the blue vial onto Nuclei’s chest cavity, approaching the correct slot, her hands completely still, arms doing the movement. While Oswin and Cormac pay close attention to Sylvia, something stirs behind them. Something… tries to slip through their door.

Near the bottom of the thick lab door, a small rectangle is pressing against the metal. Then, it fully passes through, entering the lab, its edges flickering with what looks like… faint purple flames.

On the other side of the door, Javier grits his teeth—far harder than before. His left arm is trembling, holding the clipboard and wrapped in the same ethereal flames, which extend from his shoulder to his hand, all just on his left side. With these flames coating the board, it is half-sunken into the metal, along with Javier’s hand, phasing through the physical structure unnaturally, almost like a ghost. The fire ripples and distorts against the steel of the door, almost like its fighting the metal, forcing open a space where none would exist.

Javier’s breath stutters as he lets it out of his shaky body. This trick… it’s actually working. He gradually leans forward, pressing his ear against the thin plastic of the clipboard, his nose and hair almost grazing the purple flames as he passes the open slot they formed. HE formed.

Even now, it’s difficult to interpret this moment as something Javier is doing, commanding and allowing to happen. The moment he makes contact with the clipboard though, a sound bleeds through the weaker material, muted at first but then clearer and unmistakable: the low hum of machinery.

His body quivers as he forces himself to stay like this. He tries not to think about the pain starting to run up his left arm, or the sense of heartburn getting worse with each passing moment, or just how unstable this all is. He can’t think about this flimsy foundation, can’t consider failure now because… this is working. With just a thin bit of plastic between his ear and the lab, Javier can continue his mission and keep guard over Oswin and Sylvia once again.

Sylvia focuses entirely on the task at hand, her fingers steady as she carefully secures the vial in place. A click comes out as the vial snaps into the slot within Nuclei, the hum of the growing louder in response too. She takes a step back as the blue machine closes its chest cavity. “That should do it.”

Oswin moves to the computer connected to Nuclei, turning on the monitor with a key store. “Can I start, doctor?” he asks.

“You don’t need to ask, son,” Dr. Cormac replies. “This project is yours as much as it’s ours.”

Sylvia gives an encouraging bob of the head while she rolls down her sleeves. With some more confidence, Oswin types in his password to unlock the computer, then grabs the microphone connected to it to start.

“Nuclei, begin the ARC directive,” Oswin speaks into the microphone, his grip on the tool tightening a bit as some nerves start passing through him.

Nuclei’s visors briefly flash on. “Axionite Residue Compression directive acknowledged,” Nuclei’s feminine voice responds. The lights behind the visors then slowly become solid, a curious orange color radiating from them, casting over the group.

Sylvia is a bit taken aback by the orange lights, as it goes against the typical red of Robo emissions she’s used to. “You changed the preset lights?” she asks Cormac.

“I… was tinkering with some settings before,” Cormac replies, a bit sheepishly as he was no designer. “Figured we should have something that was unique. The red just looked… angry on it. I tried a more health-coded green first, but the contrast wasn’t great. What do you think?”

“It’s different, for sure,” Oswin says as he moves around his computer, standing by Sylvia. “But different is good.”

Sylvia gives Oswin a small, knowing smile as she holds his hand. They shortly turn their attention back to Nuclei, and for a moment nothing grand seems to be happening, other than the Nuclei’s lights getting ever so slightly brighter. Then… a low rumble builds within.

The shakes start beneath Nuclei, almost below its body, before they turn, becoming full on rattles. The table and platform under the blue Robo start shaking, the orange lights intensifying more rapidly.

Dr. Cormac draws back, eyeing the fire extinguisher by the lab door.

When hears Cormac’s sudden approach, Javier stiffens, the ghostly flames around him wavering. In a split second, the fire almost spills over, beyond him and into the lab. He can feel a powerful reflex strike: to let go of the clipboard. It’s so overwhelming and sudden, he very nearly does it. But instead, Javier forces his grip even tighter than before, inversing the reflect, fighting his base instincts. He shuts his eyes, trying to find the flames, feel them around the board, draw them back in, out of sight. But it’s so difficult; these flames don’t respond to him like his other energy does. This is like trying to move a limb he can see clearly but can’t feel at all, like trying to command someone that should obey but just refuses to.

Of all the things for his mind to conjure then, it’s an old memory that hits, of once trying to teach a certain pink-haired girl what feels like ages ago, a completely different life. She had all that ire and defiance, listening but acting only when she felt like it. Oh, just what would Sabrina say to him now?

In spite of the struggle and certainty that Javier feels that he’s been caught, Dr. Cormac doesn’t actually notice the stuttering flames on his door. He’s far too busy anticipating new flames in front of him, not seeing the existing ones behind him.

“Careful, kids,” Dr. Cormac says as he uses his foot to open the fire extinguisher door. “It might flare up soon, usually at this point is when it—”

On cue, sparks burst out of Nuclei. Oswin and Sylvia quickly recoil, the spray nearly grazing their lab coats. The lights in the room flicker as more power is drawn into the experiment, this affecting the other lights in the building too, which Javier is quick to notice on his side too. Within the same breath, Javier turns on himself, for that micro-slip of focus is enough to make his flames lash out.

The clipboard warps, the edges curling as they melt. “¡Pucha máquina!” Javier hisses, his thumb muscles spasming as he clamps down harder on the board, pushing through the growing aches. His breaths come out uneasy, but they slowly relax as Javier drags himself back into control.

Nuclei’s rattles spike in the lab, some of its panels throughout its body springing open as a result. Sylvia and Oswin stagger back further, fighting the urge to tend to the Robo as it keeps working.

“This really IS a lot of energy,” Sylvia shouts at the blazing sight of more sparks.

Cormac slides his foot behind the bottom of the extinguisher, pulling his leg in to snap the tank out. Before he can hook his foot through the handle, Oswin moves, catching the handle and swinging the whole thing upright. Rushing to Nuclei, he readies the extinguisher, anticipating the first flames.

The machine keeps rumbling, suddenly stiffening as it bends on the table. Oswin’s hand moves over the handle on the extinguisher, preparing to discharge, while Sylvia steps forward protectively, tightening her legs in place. Her eyes flick to the large tables, the computer towers, Nuclei’s slow rise—calculating what might lash out at any moment and how she’d bring it to a complete stop with one palm, her muscles already contracting in anticipation.

Jerking up once, Nuclei outs out a wave of sparks, its orange lights quivering now. But the sparks… they start to falter, their arc over the surroundings pulling in. The Robo’s body slides back down on the table, as if the machine was cooling down from a wild outburst, regaining its calm. Its body vibrates gently, the sharp and harsh movements fading, what few sparks eject now barely crossing its arms. The internal hum lowers, the ceiling lights flickering unevenly, but with lesser pauses between the lit intervals.

As the seconds pass, the lights overhead become fully solid, Nuclei’s body stilling, its lights stead, some of its open panels closing by themselves.

“Axionite Residue Compression… complete,” Nuclei’s voice echoes in the tense room.

Oswin exhales as the voice passes through him, setting the extinguisher down, resting it by a table. “We’re… we’re done.”

Sylvia slowly nods, her muscles loosening, tension leaving her stance. A faint hiss escapes Nuclei as its chest opens, a fog of cold air flowing out, drifting into the lab. The misty air swirls around Sylvia’s legs, a coolness surrounding her, matching her demeanor as she calms down and eventually smiles, saying in acceptance, “Embrace the space.”

Dr. Cormac moves towards the motionless Nuclei, meeting Oswin and Sylvia who stand over the Robo, waiting for the big reveal. The cool fog finally clears, and there, in the center of their creation, lies a new object, seen for the very first time: A small crystal, pulsing with a shiny blue glow.

“Woah…,” Oswin murmurs, leaning in with Sylvia as they are drawn in by the color. “It’s… a bit smaller with the healing gas inside.”

Sylvia reaches out a hand, as if to touch the crystal, but she stops, glancing at her comrades. “You think it’s alright if I…?”

“Just… be very gentle,” Cormac says with a quieter voice, almost afraid that if she speaks too loudly, he might somehow damage what they just achieved.

Sylvia eases her hand into the machine, inch by inch, her fingers making first contact before they carefully curl around the crystal. The rock is cooler than the air around her, almost weightless between her fingers as she gently dislodges it from Nuclei. She brings it close to her eyes, the ceiling lights refracting off its jagged surface, briefly making the whole thing shine beautifully in her grip.

“It came out so… pretty,” Sylvia utters, gazing at their product in awe.

Oswin can only really lower his chin now, gradually smiling and moving closer to Sylvia, sliding his arm around her lower back as he joins the quiet appraisal. She meanwhile beams, leaning her head on Oswin’s shoulder as she keeps looking over the crystal, turning her wrist to admire how it keeps reacting to the world around it. It’s like she needs a constant reminder that they’re finally here, finally looking at real, tangible results.

Behind them, Dr. Cormac stands still. Only after a full minute does pride start to fill him. Only after a long-tend tension is gone does Hal Cormac come forward, allowing himself to smile at what they just started: a way to make this world just a bit better than before, instead of the opposite he’s used to.

Behind them all, Javier waits, staying silent as the distractions camouflaging his presence are gone. Now, the true nature of his spying has to hold up on its own, his uncertain and light hold over his flames no longer having any room left to falter.

✦ ✦ ✦

Sylvia sits by a counter, a large magnifying glass attached to the wall by her, twisted to hover over the blue crystal underneath. She moves the crystal around, scrutinizing its structure, gently poking any weak-looking spots with a long metal probe, the crystal remains firm, pushing back, no mass imperfections.

“The blue is really eye-catching,” Oswin says, sitting by Sylvia. “I almost just wanna keep looking at it. Will they always come out like that?”

“Perhaps not always,” replies Dr. Cormac, snapping the fire extinguisher back in its box with his foot. “It’s only blue thanks to how cold we made the healing gas. If we can change that, I suspect the color would change too.”

Sylvia hums. “It might take much more energy during the compression though,” she adds. “I mean, a hotter substance might present some challenges to the crystallization. At the same time, it does feel much too cold to use still.”

“Efficiency and comfort…,” Oswin ponders. “Definitely more we’ll have to work through later, but we at least got a sample! Enough to present, you think?”

Dr. Cormac confirms Oswin’s thought with a beaming nod, moving them from one major phase of their project to the next. With a rush of excitement, Oswin asks, “What should we name it?” He looks to the crystal in Sylvia’s hands, brainstorming already. “I mean, branding it to Nuclei in some way might be smart, but the idea is EVERYONE will be able to produce their own healing crystals eventually. Might it be better if we future-proof ourselves and just called it something completely different from the start?”

Sylvia studies the crystal a bit closer through the magnifying glass, pondering Oswin’s ideas. “Something simple,” she says. “And you’re right, no mention of Nuclei, or any of us, obviously. Should be something people can remember easily.”

Cormac approaches them, looking over the crystal under the glass too. After a silent moment, he hesitantly adds, “Would love to call it ‘Blue Gloom,’ for… obvious reasons.”

With a softening expression, Sylvia stands up from her chair, placing a supportive hand over Cormac’s back. “What we’re making,” she starts, “It’ll out-live us, along with everything else we’ve made, the failures and… before.”

Dr. Cormac closes his eyes and nods, Oswin smiling at the sight. He knew Sylvia would make an amazing physician once they finally graduated. It’s years away, but he can almost see that reality already. Looking over to the crystal, which Sylvia left under the magnifying glass, Oswin starts to study its light refractions, his mouth slightly opening as a tiny threat starts to form within his brain.

“Hey, Syl?”

Sylvia turns to him, along with Cormac. “Yeah?”

“You uh… remember those protein packets? The once for my breakfast shakes?”

She makes a face, half-laughing, half-shivering at the memory. “How could I forget? Those vile things took forever to go through, I still can’t believe you made it through the entire box. Why bring those up?”

Oswin turns in his chair, fully to face them. “I got curious,” he says. “I thought maybe there was something in them that made them bad for you, yet alright with me.”

“You still need to follow that strict diet, Oswin,” Dr. Cormac interjects. “Anything too harsh and…”

“I know,” Oswin responds, the memory of the ice cream from earlier coming back with a tad bit of shame. “S-Still, I couldn’t help but think if it had to do with the macronutrients. You know, on the packets? I started to look more into them and… I guess I’d always wondered something about them, mainly… what did they even look like?”

Sylvia exchanges a glance with Dr. Cormac at that. “You mean, the nutrients?” she asks.

“I know they always come in food and stuff,” Oswin continues, “but I guess I always wondered what they were actually like, like physically, in their purest form. If you could somehow rip them out of those protein packets, or maybe even something like ice cream…”

Sylvia raises an eyebrow, connecting the dots. “Wait, you mean…?” She reaches by Oswin, taking their crystal and holding it up as if to signal to it.

“Yeah!” Oswin responds, a little proud of himself. “Nowhere near as big, and not ALL the nutrients out there, but… that’s what they would supposedly look like. If you isolated them, and put them under a microscope, they would be like that: crystals.”

Cormac now starts nodding, following Oswin’s train of thought. “I’m no expert on nutrition,” Dr. Cormac starts, “but our healing gas… it does somewhat mirror the same pathways and absorption methods in the body, from what I understand.”

Sylvia smiles wide, proud of Oswin’s idea too. “Plus, it establishes the oral ingestion of the crystal.”

“M-Maybe we use that then!” Oswin says. “Call it… a nutrient! A ‘healing’ nutrient.”

Sylvia turns the crystal over in her hand. “A healing nutrient… It’s perfect, Os. Maybe even…” She shoots Oswin a glance, grinning. “An ‘h-nutrient’ for short?”

Oswin beams, liking the sound of that. “H-Nutrient. No ‘an’ before, just… a proper noun. H-Nutrient. ‘H’ for healing!”

“Or health,” Dr. Cormac adds, chuckling. “Must’ve snuck in some marketing classes when I wasn’t looking, hm?”

Oswin rubs the back of his head, still grinning at their accomplishments. While he stands up off his chair, Sylvia moves to put the crystal back under the magnifying glass.

“It’s quite late,” Dr. Cormac says to them, “so feel free to reject this, but… I think what the three of us were finally able to achieve here tonight was extraordinary. So much so, I think we should celebrate.”

Oswin brightens at that, while Sylvia shoots a glance at the clock on the wall. “It IS real late,” Sylvia starts. “But… who are we to turn down a surely delicious meal?”

Cormac chuckles, turning to the door. “You kids have someplace in mind already?”

“Maybe,” Oswin says, shooting Sylvia a glance. She’s fiddling with the crystal, as if she’s considering NOT putting it back down on the table. “You should keep it, Syl.”

“Hm?” She looks up at Oswin, a little alarmed at being caught.

“A memento,” Oswin grins out. “Of our first successful experiment! Plus, maybe you could turn it into a bracelet or something, it looks good on you.”

Sylvia lightly chuckles, gently grasping the crystal—her crystal of H-Nutrient now—and slipping it into the right pocket of her lab coat. “Oh, you,” she says warmly to Oswin, wrapping her arm around his.

They approach Dr. Cormac, nearing the entrance to the lab when…

“Oh, no you don’t!”

Sylvia quickly disentangles herself from Oswin and abruptly rushes the door, nearly hearing the gasp on the other side, but actually hearing something fall. She was just about to grab the door handle to open the door for Oswin this time (and Dr. Cormac), when she stops and looks around, processing that sudden sound.

“Syl?” Oswin asks.

She slips her hand into her pocket, thinking maybe she somehow dropped the H-Nutrient she just put there, but nope, the crystal is still there. Makes sense, she was careful with it, but also… that sound… it wasn’t of a crystal falling or even something like glass. It sounded like something lighter and disposable. Something like… plastic.

“I thought I heard something fall,” she says, looking around her feet now. “Thought maybe I dropped—”

“Huh?!” Oswin says, with an extremely puzzled look.

He walks past Sylvia, going to her left, and kneels down. When he stands back up, Oswin is holding something, something shows to Sylvia and Dr. Cormac.

“It’s… burnt,” Oswin says, holding up a black clipboard.

✧ Chapter 5 ✧

Prey

The pain around Javier’s left arm shot up intensely as soon as he finally let go of the clipboard. What he guessed was Sylvia’s voice was the only heads up he got to make a move. Unable to hold back another reflex, Javier vanished in an instant, disappearing through a blue flash. The vacuum of Psionic energy he left behind makes a loud noise as the air around where he once stood collapses, something he was sure would give him away this time. Oswin and Sylvia both knew of his ability to teleport, so he watches the lab door from his distant corner of the hall, dreading what comes next.

Fortunately for him, the door opens well after the echoes of the vacuum fades. Sylvia comes out first, holding the door open for Oswin and Dr. Cormac, Oswin occupied with the clipboards in his hands, looking at it quizzingly. Javier swallows at the sight, kicking himself for having left that behind.

“I swear, I’m pretty sure I left it over…,” Oswin utters, looking over to the front desk at the reception area. He very nearly catches a glimpse of Javier then, only a bit of his black cape visible in the view, but it blends into the darkness of the unlit area.

Oswin approaches the reception, Javier going further into his hall as Oswin passes by. He sees Sylvia and Cormac pass in front of his hall too, the whole proximity to them feeling so surreal, a brush with something imagined becoming real—if only for a second. Carefully, waiting a bit after they pass him, Javier peeks around his corner.

Oswin places the ruined clipboard on the front desk, scratching the back of his head. Sylvia’s smirking, with her arms crossed and leaning back on the front desk, standing by Oswin.

“You’re just a little scatterbrained,” she says. “It’s no big deal, really.”

Oswin shakes his head. “It IS past bedtime, but… why is it so burnt? If I really forgot to put it back and brought it into the lab… you don’t think the sparks caught it, right?”

Sylvia places her hand on his shoulder. “Come on, my scout. I think we need some brainfood before we start playing detective this late.”

Dr. Cormac approaches the exit, turning to face his students upon opening the first door with a foot panel.

“So, just where would you kids like to go tonight?” Cormac asks. “I’m buying, so feel free to pick—”

And just like that, things change. All this here, this peace they all found… is over.

Before Sylvia can step forward and cross the exit after Cormac, a beam of red energy cuts past her, shooting in-between Sylvia and Oswin to strike Cormac in the chest. He flies back, crashing through the second door leading outside.

Javier kept his eyes on them still, and he stared. This shift happened so quickly, so abruptly, his mind does not catch up, almost refusing to accept this reality. The students, meanwhile, can’t even begin to process what just happened to Cormac when a metal wall slams down in front of the exit—several of them, one after the other, harshly down on the floor, digging into it. A red hue comes over the room, a voice echoing around the area.

“Security level Maximum. Adamant Shields active. Seek shelter immediately.”

An instinct hits Javier then, hearing that voice, taking him back to before, back to all the evacuations. A command starts to form, fuzzy but sharpening alongside the dread: “Move.” However, his body doesn’t obey, mind still in a world where he just had to hide, just keep his distance, just watch them.

Sylvia blinks, staring at the metal barrier right in front of her. A spike of blood strikes her heart, her hands start shaking, her stomach drops. She turns to face Oswin, who’s face is pale as he stares at something facing them. It stands behind the front desk, towering over them.

It’s… a Robo. Tall and gray, with a humanoid frame that is as sleek as it is imposing. It has thin lines that emit red light, scattered throughout its segmented metal body, some lines concentrating around its face. Two red visors as eyes and a mechanical jaw at the bottom. The entire machine almost has a skeletal look, as if each piece could shift or lock in place to apply great pressure.

It takes a loud step forward, its filtered voice coming out low and clear. “RUTH. TARGETS ACQUIRED.”

“T-Targets?” Oswin stutters, moving back to Sylvia. He draws a hand back, a transparent orb with a green shell forming over his palm, but Sylvia comes forward, her hand over Oswin’s arm, Javier’s breath loosening at her movement. This… was really happening.

“Stand down, Robo,” Sylvia says with a strict and authoritative voice that surprises even her. “T-This is Colonel Sylvia Nora Pressfield. You are to disengage all—”

RUTH suddenly dashes, heading straight for the two. Oswin quickly thrusts his hand forward, forming an incomplete green spherical barrier around them. RUTH strikes it with a hard fist, the barrier shattering with a brilliant flash that pushes Oswin back, while RUTH stands its ground. Javier’s body starts reacting, sparks gathering over his palms, maroon eyes turning blue.

RUTH’s jaw opens, revealing a cylindrical cannon inside that turns red with heat as it gathers energy, preparing another mouth-bream that it used on Cormac. Sylvia doesn’t hesitate; she grabs RUTH’s face with her bare hand and slams its mouth shut, then picks up the machine and rotates it. RUTH spins once, managing to re-open its mouth after a moment, only to be met by a brutal punch from Sylvia, which sends it crashing away towards the back wall—but ultimately, RUTH doesn’t crash.

The machine twists its body as it flies, allowing it to plant itself safely against the wall. Sylvia lets out a gasp at the sight, Oswin standing up to see a thick red beam eject out from RUTH’s mouth, headed straight for Sylvia.

They weren’t going to make it—not by themselves, and not like this. No more hesitations, no more personal anxieties, and no more questions, only actions now. Javier raises his hand.

The beam cuts through the air, Oswin too slow to react, too rusty and out of training to form a quick barrier against light speed. He still creates an orb over his palm; he MUST protect his colonel. The entire action happens like in slow motion, Sylvia crossing her arms over face, just before the beam hits. It moves, closing the gap, ready to singe Sylvia’s sleeves, but… it stops.

The beam of light lies there, in the air, suspended for micro-moments, enough for Oswin to get the time to push his barrier in front Sylvia, who keeps her arms in a cross, still bracing for an attack that never comes. When a full second of nothing happens, Sylvia’s arms weaken, she briefly lowering her guard. In front of her, in-between her and RUTH, is the mouth-beam, but… it’s just there, still in mid-air. She squints her eyes at the energy, noticing what appears to be… a thin blue aura around it.

Suddenly, RUTH twists its head to the right, the light behind its visors intensifying.

A boot comes down the hall in the distance, a lone cloaked figure with a shadow over his face, hand raised, a blue aura surrounding it.

“RUTH. THIRD ENT—”

A mass of electricity engulfs the area, bathing RUTH in pure light. Oswin and Sylvia shield their eyes, and when they open them again, the cloaked man stands in front of them, his back turned to them as he faces RUTH.

“You, pest,” Javier speaks with a stern tone, “picked the wrong targets.”

RUTH detaches from the wall, its body crackling with residual electricity. Oswin stands by Sylvia, who coils in her body bit, ready for a fight, but Javier extends his arm out, protectively over the two students, who look to him in surprise.

Javier turns his head ever so slightly, seeing their shocked faces. Unable to have moved sooner, he feels like such a fool. Yet, they’re still standing, and for that, he’s grateful. At the same time, he isn’t really sure what to say to them, no words in his mind. But what he finds himself actually doing is giving them a light smile, unsure exactly how visible he is past his hood.

“What…,” Oswin whispers, his breath trembling.

RUTH then propels itself forward, but unlike RUTH’s other foes, this one isn’t rusty. In fact, despite all that’s happened this past year, all the chaos he’s had to deal with, Javier actually now feels stronger than ever, like a lightning rod charged by every strike from the heavens. His movement is instant, his right palm extended out, landing right on RUTH’s face, meeting it with a point-blank electric pulse that sends the machine crashing away.

RUTH is pushed back so fast and hard that it breaks through the wall behind the front desk, the movement too harsh for the Robo to react to this time. Sylvia and Oswin’s mouths open at the sight, Oswin even letting out a little gasp at the speed and strength their protector possesses.

With his right hand forward surging with electricity, Javier keeps his attention on the destroyed area in front of him. Without averting his gaze, Javier speaks up, his first words to the friends he once had. “You both okay?”

Yards away, RUTH’s body lies over a rubble. Despite the harsh assault, none of its metal panels have a scratch on them yet, no damage sustained. RUTH shortly stands back up, its lights burning—but only to a limit, a limit set… by someone else.

“RUTH. THIRD ENTITY BEARS SIGNIFICANT POWER.”

Moving aside a large rock in its path, RUTH’s body starts to hum, its internal logic running, until its filtered voice comes out again.

“RUTH. REMOVAL OF FIRST LIMITER… BEGUN.”

The power cell within RUTH’s chest buzzes, producing a red glow from the massive increase in heat, so much so the light emits out of the machine’s body. The cell shines brightly then, shattering past the restraints, the red lights around RUTH’s body intensifying more than before.

RUTH grabs the next rock in its path and tosses it aside, crashing against the nearest wall.

✦ ✦ ✦

Shade gasps, her cyan eyes opening up wide. The bunch of apples around her arms drop to the muddy ground under her. She keels over, knees digging into the mud, her hand coming up to rest over her chest, right over her heart.

She’s in the middle of her forest—the Hollow Woods—which surrounds her isolated home. It was quite the long trek to get here, all the way to the next tree that actually had fruit. She’d made the mistake of eating everything near over her year here, and now she had to go quite far to find anything.

Her knees sink deeper into the mud, as the sharp sensation over her being fades. She keeps her hand over her, not quite soothing a pain as much as trying to find it, locate something different within herself, convince herself that she’s not sensing things that aren’t there, that she’s not losing it.

“Just… what was that?” Shade utters.

She swallows after a moment. Shaking her head, she tries to bring herself back here, focus on her current sensations of the world around her, recall what she was doing. She looks down, seeing the mud, and only then does she quickly stand up.

The mud clings to her, and she groans, moving her head back at the sight of her ruined dark blue pants. However, they look great compared to her brown shoes, which she can already feel soaking through with the wet mud.

“Rats.”

She lifts her legs as she moves away from the terrain, bits of the wet earth still stuck to her knees and shoes.

“Rats, rats, rats!”

Reaching a pine tree over some clean grass, she leans her back on it, swiping away the mud from her clothes. She initially uses her hands, then then decides on an alternative as she witnesses her lack of progress, her fingers really just moving the dirt around.

With a bit of focus, she produces a small slab of glass, instinctively making the edges round and dull, the cross section in the shape of a right triangle. She uses the thicker part of the glass to scrape away the mud, holding the makeshift tool carefully around the middle. As she uses this small piece of glass, she finds herself brushing something warm.

“A lot of people think glass is naturally weak, always a fragile thing,” Riegal was saying to her as he held up a wine glass. “But that’s only because we’re used to glass in small forms like this.” He handed the cup to Shade, which she turned around with her hand as she absorbed the words. “Make your glass as big as a brick, Shade. Do that, and it can smash right through the earth, even before you give it your power.”

As Shade finishes the scraping, she’s smiling, as small and brief as the memory passes. With at least her pants clean, she proceeds back to the mud, picking up the apples she dropped, a part of her still wondering about what the rest ignores: Just what happened to her?

✦ ✦ ✦

“W-We’re… We’re fine,” Sylvia says as she lets go of Oswin. She doesn’t even bother to check on herself; as long as he’s okay, she can be too.

Javier nods, feeling a tad bit foolish as they can’t see him. He’s still not facing them, his back turned to them as he continues to anticipate an attack. Unlike most human soldiers, Robo are unrelenting, not done with an ambush until their batteries run—

Red lights invade the area, a metal palm coming over Javier’s face. It reaches into his hood, grabbing his skin, his cheeks, his hair, and slams the rest of him down, the ground cracking around him, a crater blasting into place. He can only let out air at the sudden attack, the speed far greater than he’d seen before.

“Os—!”

Sylvia tries to push Oswin aside to take the blow meant for him, but the Robo is smart, twisting its lariat at the last moment to strike Sylvia’s hip. She bursts right past a wall, blowing past another, her unprepared muscles unable to break her fall.

Oswin can’t even move his hands open before the Robo grabs his wrists harshly, Oswin feeling his joints scream before a metal arm comes over his neck.

“RUTH. FIRST TARGET ACQUIRED.”

Oswin can’t breathe, can’t even think. Were his hands just broken? Did that hooded man survive? Neither of these thoughts even have the time or energy to form as RUTH reaches Sylvia, who’s gasping for air, trying to recover from the broken structures around her. In one swift movement, the Robo grabs Sylvia by the hair, lifting her up and turning her around, putting an arm around her neck in the middle of a breath.

“RUTH. SECOND TARGET—”

A boulder slams RUTH’s back. What might have originally knocked RUTH back before can barely make it stagger now. RUTH turns to see Javier behind, who limping over the crater on the ground. Javier wheezes, his hands glowing a blue color, some more large rocks around him starting to levitate, the same blue surrounding them.

“P… Pest!” Javier gasps out. “Put them down! NOW!”

RUTH remains still, Sylvia and Oswin’s gasps for air making Javier’s race that much faster, the sounds hitting his heart like needles digging into him. Gritting his teeth in rage, Javier slams his hands together in a clap, which shaves the floating rocks down to form spikes, a barrage of sharp earth sent flying towards this metal monster.

However, right before the rocks can pierce RUTH, they halt, Javier’s breath stopping as Oswin and Sylvia’s faces are right there, put right into the path of his attack. Javier only had the briefest moment to stop, a red light already building behind them. The student’s faces then pull away, RUTH’s face bursting between them with an open mouth, a beam striking Javier right in the chest.

Javier is blasted away, dragged by the energy engulfing him. RUTH takes some hard steps forward, ensuring maximum damage onto its target. The dust shortly clears, and no sign of Javier remains in proximity.

Something comes out of RUTH then, something at the sight of its triumph, Oswin and Sylvia’s gasping bodies still dangling off its arms. Before RUTH leaves, something almost like a chuckle comes out of it, echoing in the halls.

✧ Chapter 6 ✧

Cage

Shadows and halls are all Oswin and Sylvia can interpret. By the time the metal comes off their necks, the world was a fuzzy affair of dark whites and browns. Both hit the floor at roughly the same time, coughing and wheezing as they were freed from RUTH’s cruel grasp.

They don’t even bother to check on the state of their own bodies, they instinctively reach out to each other first, Oswin himself surprised his hands were still responsive after such a rough handling from their captor. He desperately pats all over Sylvia’s back, trying to verify that she’s still in here and okay, while she does the same back to him, albeit much faster and harder. Though both of them stopped sparring long ago, Sylvia kept up her exercises with the same regularity, while Oswin struggled to—though she never pushed him.

“That is quite enough,” a dark voice said, cutting through the students’ panicked reunion and their non-verbal sounds.

In front of them stands a man, who’s skin is a smoky-pale color, with refined cheekbones and light maroon eyes. He has a short beard and moustache, with light brown hair that is wavy in the front but trimmed short behind. He bears a deathly serious expression, very much a man looking older than he likely is, with an air around him that tolerated nothing out of his boundaries. A serious man for serious times.

A moment passes before they notice the ribbed and spiked weapon of bone that he’s holding, which he points at them, right between them, as if putting some space between them. The man is wearing a dark brown outfit, accented with gold gear, a short black cape behind him.

The recognition of the attire was immediate. "G… GearTerra!” Sylvia gasps out.

The man’s light reaction—a small, nearly imperceptible smile of smugness—confirms the accusation: they’re facing a member of the past, someone from the military they left behind, a warrior of GearTerra.

Whoever this man is, he looks up, beyond Sylvia and Oswin, who remain silent but hold each other’s hands tightly, skin growing pale as they process just what this all means for them. The man squints his eyes at the machine which hums behind the students.

“You’re late,” the gray man says to RUTH.

RUTH doesn’t respond to that, simply standing there, but not in any approximation of fear. It doesn’t cower away in the slightest, almost like the machine isn’t even registering its words, whether purposely or unintentionally. At the lack of response, the man from GearTerra scowls.

“RUTH,” he starts. “What exactly happened? Why bring these to two to me in this shape?”

“RUTH. SHAPE OF TARGETS UNSPECIFIED.”

The Robo’s response comes out immediately this time. It also doesn’t make anything better. The man moves his ribbed weapon away from Oswin and Sylvia, then points it at RUTH.

“Repeat your mission, Robo,” the man says.

“RUTH. ACQUIRE TARGETS SYLVIA PRESSFIELD AND OSWIN BARISH. DELIVER THEM TO COLONEL RAUL ROCHA.”

This gray man, a GearTerra colonel named Raul, grits his teeth, tightening his grip on his weapon. When his voice comes out, it slips through the small gaps in his teeth. “Then tell me, what EXACT part of those parameters said you had the clearance to activate the maximum-security levels here?”

RUTH doesn’t respond to that right away either. But after a moment, its filtered voice comes through.

“RUTH. MAXIMUM SECURITY EQUALS MAXIMUM PERCENT OF MISSION SUCCESS.”

Colonel Raul scoffs at that, stepping towards RUTH and harshly planting his weapon over RUTH’s chest. “Stupid machine,” Raul spits out bitterly. “Do you have ANY idea the conundrum you’ve put us in?!”

RUTH stays silent, but then… its hand comes up. It grabs Raul’s weapon and twists once, making Raul tumble away. RUTH calmly drops the weapon, while quickly Raul goes into a deep pocket, pulling out a remote control.

The sounds of several clicks are heard then, all around the area. It’s only then that Oswin and Sylvia realize that they are not the only ones here, the only ones besides Raul and RUTH. All around them, beyond their captors, are several soldiers, most seemingly young, all clad in brown and gold, like Sylvia and Oswin were once long ago. There are nearly a dozen soldiers, each of them having guns drawn, all pointing at RUTH, watching and judging the tall Robo with nerves.

Colonel Raul points the remote right at RUTH, an expression of tense surprise over his face at the rebellious act. RUTH just stands there, not budging to the soldiers around them. Raul, meanwhile, scans the Robo as he keeps pointing his remote at it, suddenly tensing further as he notices something.

“Your first limiter,” Raul stammers. “It’s inactive.”

“RUTH. YES.”

Raul swallows, eyes roaming over RUTH’s body, which appears mostly the same as he’s used to seeing, except… the red circuit lines around its body are brighter, thicker than before. All the effort they went through, all the men he lost, to capture, restrain, and power this thing… and now it’s blown past their first level of protection, past their first method of control.

Colonel Raul nearly considers forgoing this—they have five more limiters that are still active—but this… This mission was supposed to be quick, a simple capture. SIMPLE. How exactly did two presumably rusty deserters force THIS Robo to this point, especially when so many of his men couldn’t?

Raul’s thoughts darken, and fast. His mind immediately goes to an intruder, maybe the same third party that intervened his commanded attack at the zoo. But this idea is quickly overshadowed by an even more dire one: What if RUTH… WASN’T forced to this point? What if RUTH itself simply…?

He doesn’t let the idea gestate any longer. Focusing in on Ruth, forcing all his attention onto the machine, Raul captures it.

Suddenly, bone erupts from under RUTH. A spherical object rises, a large chamber of bone, horned and spiked. It tightens, locking in place, hiding the violent Robo within.

Raul is about to speak, about to give RUTH a stern warning, when he feels the intense heartburn strike. The Robo already moved, striking the chamber with a fist of metal.

Colonel Raul doesn’t need to control the instant compression of the chamber; it does that by itself when it’s attacked. Harder, stronger, tougher force than Raul can normally produce, only for the steep cost of… his soul. Giving himself into the chamber makes the strain against it feel personal, like acid burning through his insides, but the containment… he needs it. He won’t let this machine revolt in the middle of his plans.

The sounds of energy creation start to fill the area as Raul’s soldiers take hold of their weapons, igniting their ends and pointing them at the chamber, ready to fire at the first sign of RUTH.

Raul cuts in, trembling with the continued strain burning him. “Don’t attack! The c-chamber… it’s working…!”

Indeed, it was working, at least… to a limit. He could feel RUTH strike the chamber harder than before, and his heart could only take so much. This was only PART of the containment plan, thus he needed to move fast. Holding his remote, he clicks on a setting, the words he speaks to the device repeating within the chamber of bone, directly into RUTH’s core being.

“Stand down, Robo. This is Colonel Raul Rocha. You are to disengage all offenses and stand down IMMEDIATELY.”

RUTH fights the command, almost as if trying to ignore the directives that are already coursing through it. Resistance can only last for so long, especially at this fundamental level within. The power cell in RUTH clicks in acceptance, a low hum of deactivate shortly coming out of RUTH, the Robo’s face locking into an unseen wrath.

With that, the chamber of bone around RUTH stops shrinking. Raul lets out a breath as his intense heartburn finally halts. He lowers his hand, the surrounding soldiers lowering their weapons too, tension leaving.

Sylvia had been watching the whole thing, her heart doing flips as the Robo kept pushing back against the colonel. Clearly, whatever this machine—this RUTH—was, it was no standard or even advanced-grade model of Robo. She had seen plenty of those in her old line of work, and this… it was beyond what she’d seen Robo do. The closest thing to such a unique performance she’d seen before had been Nuclei—which was a custom-made model, the only single one in the world.

“You… didn’t build that thing,” Sylvia utters under her breath. That catches Raul’s attention, who turns to her, frowning.

“Well, aren’t you a clever little nurse,” Raul says with an edge of disgust. He picks up his ribbed weapon off the ground and points it at Sylvia. “Not clever enough, however.”

Sylvia scowls, but she can’t say anything before Oswin stands up, a defensive green orb already within his palm.

“Shut it!” Oswin yells. “Who the mutt are you?! Why’d you make that Robo get us—?!”

The sound of Oswin choking cuts him off. Sylvia’s eyes widen at the sight of Oswin, strained by a column of bone that protrudes out from Raul’s outstretched hand.

“Don’t you touch him!!”

Sylvia leaps to her feet and charges at Raul, ready to rip him apart. Her burst of speed is surprising, but a burst of flames gets in her way, cutting in from her right. Two soldiers, each with guns, stand with flames shooting out to Sylvia, she narrowly escaping the singe. She can’t see them for very long before ice is shot her way too. She manages to shield her face with an arm, but moving it back, she sees it encased in ice, the cold sharp and intense over her skin.

When the fire clears, Sylvia can see Colonel Raul looking at Oswin, tilting his head a bit in inspection.

“Just what IS your story?” Raul asks Oswin. “You serve your little colonel over there, like a dog? Or… was SHE your dog all along?”

Anger flares within Sylvia, but she has to stay calm. She’s surrounded, a dozen soldiers with their guns drawn, her arm already frozen. She swallows, meeting Raul’s gaze when it turns to her.

“Stop,” Sylvia says. “Just… put him down. We’ll do whatever it is you want. You clearly still wanted us in one piece, so quit this and talk.”

“Hmph.” Raul releases Oswin, the grip of his bones opening, letting Oswin drop the floor, who coughs harshly—the second time tonight. Whatever happens, Sylvia promises herself one thing: She’ll never hear this sound from Oswin again. “Looks like you’re more clever than I thought, Colonel Sylvia,” Colonel Raul says as he steps away.

Sylvia eyes Raul with ire, but it’s hard to maintain that as her concern for Oswin surges at the sounds of his coughs, the pathways of emotion conflicting. She shifts a bit, wanting to go tend to him as he recovers, but she hears the unmistakable sound of another gun clicking, ready to shoot something else her way. She hopes Oswin can manage, his sounds being her only clue to his state as she watches Raul, closely anticipating more.

“Yes,” Raul starts. “You’re right, RUTH isn’t ours. I wouldn’t back such a vulgar tool. But it’s not THAT Robo you need to be thinking about right now. Instead, why don’t you tell us about…” Raul produces a blue folder, pulling out a paper within and reading from it. “…this Nuclei Project?”

Sylvia’s eyes widen then. “N-Nuclei?” Her ears pick up on Oswin’s coughing stopping, hearing as his body relaxes, which makes her instinctively relax too. She swallows, trying to regain some sense of control here, in this crazy moment. “Just what do you know of Nuclei?”

“It’s been some months since you started building this rather… special Robo, yes?” Raul flips through the folder, smugness starting to tint his words. “That little light show you put on earlier must mean it’s finally operational, considering no Fire Department was called this time.”

Sylvia feels a pit form. The experiment they did… that must’ve spread out further into the university campus than they realized. There’s a reason they ran their experiments at night, yet… this might’ve sealed their fate.

“Just what do you want with our Robo?” Oswin asks, stepping forward but halting once hears the dozen guns click towards HIM now.

Raul shoots Oswin an unimpressed look before he looks back at Sylvia. “I want you deserters to make up your debt to us,” Colonel Raul says plainly.

“D-Debt?!” Sylvia couldn’t even imagine what Raul even meant by that. Her dumbfounded sight makes Raul smirk.

“You really thought you could just leave us? Just walk away from GearTerra? Especially during our most trying times? Do you have ANY idea what we’ve been through just to get here?”

“GearTerra is dead,” Oswin cuts in.

Colonel Raul glares at Oswin. “And who’s fault is that?”

"Oswin draws back at the accusation, but Sylvia doesn’t. “You’re ridiculous,” she starts. “You’re seriously not blaming US for—”

“Oh, I do,” Raul coldly interjects. “But that’s beside the point. What you created, this ‘Nuclei,’ is only the beginning. A cornerstone if you will, of which you two will hand me the keys.”

The urge to exchange a glance with Oswin, see his reaction, passes through Sylvia. She couldn’t believe this man, this supposed colonel, making just blatantly wrong demands. If people like him were indeed not just allowed to join but grow within GearTerra, then despite the good they did, GearTerra deserved to be shutdown—a confirmation that started way before but is intensified in this moment.

Of course, Sylvia doesn’t actually get to see Oswin’s reaction—she can’t, not with these guns around—but she ultimately doesn’t need to see to find out the truth.

“You ARE crazy,” Oswin bitterly spits out. “Do you have ANY idea how much we worked on for this project? The failures we had to go through? And what, now you’re just gonna demand that we, what, just hand Nuclei over? Just like that?”

Raul smirks. “Yes, just like that.” He raises his hand, and with it the guns of his squad click in unison as they take aim at Sylvia. “Unless… you think I’m being unreasonable here? I figured the price of your colonel would’ve been MORE than a fair trade for you, Scout Oswin.”

Oswin immediately back down at that threat, the preemptive orb in his hands dying at the sight of his colonel—his Sylvia—in danger. She cradles her arm, which lies frozen on her lap, and their eyes finally meet again. No words need be spoken here between then, their mutual worry for one another evident, plus the value of Nuclei… There was nothing they wouldn’t sacrifice for each other, even if it meant turning over so many months of hard work to this man of their past.

Looking at Oswin still, Sylvia nods, her next words coming out as confident and least heartbroken as she can manage. “Disengage,” she says. “We’ll give you what you’re asking for, Raul.”

The grey colonel grins a toothily at that, lowering his hand. For a man who seemed SO serious before, he sure has been doing a lot of smiling tonight.

The sounds of Raul’s soldiers putting down their weapons passes around the area, a wave of reactions at their superior’s brief gesture to disengage. One after the other, the guns are lowered, Sylvia’s head dropping too. She truly can’t believe this night has led them here. All the guns are lowered, disengaged as requested. All… save for one.

Raul is about to speak, to congratulate his men for a mission well done, when notices that lone marksman, off in the distant corner, still holding up his weapon. His gun as still active, an energy forming over the tip of it, as an expression of fear is coming over his face. Colonel Raul considers asking for an explanation, but then… he turns to see it himself. A black knee to the face.

The colonel’s body flies through the area, cutting through the space above Sylvia and Oswin, landing by the distant marksman, nearly planting on the concrete wall that Raul slams into. The soldiers all immediately notice and start to raise their weapons, trying to re-enter the offense frame of mind they just abandoned, but the collective delay is enough for the attacker to land in the middle of the room. His boots land right by Sylvia, who looks up to see his black cape spreading behind him, witness him shooting out his hands.

“Like I said, WRONG TARGETS!!”

The psionic power that courses through Javier’s limbs overwhelms his surroundings. The dozen soldiers are flung up harshly, crashing onto the ceiling above, their weapons ripped away, left on the ground below. The vengeful axisguard then slams his hands down, shooting the collective back down to the ground, some digging into the surface several feet deeper than the rest.

Sylvia stands up, Oswin quickly rushing to her side, giving her a side hug as he simultaneously checks on her frozen limb. “S-Sylvia!” Oswin manages.

She buries her head in Oswin’s neck, taking in his sweet aroma, her ultimate comfort in the world. “My Oswin.” Sylvia smiles at him as they pull away.

“Just… A-Are you okay, Syl? I don’t see any wounds…,” Oswin stammers, double-checking his diagnosis as he speaks.

“I’m okay, my scout,” Sylvia says. “Truly.” She takes in a breath then, contracting the muscles within her frozen arm. She promptly slams the thing onto the ground, the action somewhat tearing the sleeve of her lab coat, but her skin underneath remains sturdy, if only red with the residual cold.

Oswin puts both hands over Sylvia’s arm, rubbing it to give it heat, blowing hot air into her hand too. He does this only for a moment before he tenses up a bit. At that, Sylvia turns to see what’s behind, only to see their rescuer. This… cloaked man.

Javier pants a bit, his side facing them, before he notices their looks over him, something which makes him tense up now too. Here they are, the friends from his recent past, a past that feels so much further away than what reality says, all the events that came after they last saw each other distorting his sense of time. Here they were now, clearly seeing him, as clear as this somewhat shady part of the campus allowed.

He clears his throat before he turns away a bit, feigning looking at their surroundings, scanning for more danger, when really all he wants to do now is go back into hiding. If he could somehow re-enter the world before, where he could at least pretend to form a more worthy reunion. And find a way to address… well, everything at this point.

In Javier’s line of fight lies Raul’s unconscious body, knocked out by the hard knee to the face he just made him eat. Part of him wants to scowl, wants to blame this colonel for not just putting them in danger, but also for being so impatient. Here Javier was, thinking this would be the first night of many to watch over Oswin and Sylvia, yet now… Now, he’s gotta talk to them. Destiny came in much fast than he hoped.

“You’re both truly okay?” Javier asks, awkwardly doing his best to conceal his signature somewhat-deep yet anxiety-ridden voice. He’s made a mistake already, of talking normally before, even with his yells, and here he is, trying to retroactively obscure what he didn’t at the start.

Both Sylvia and Oswin nod to Javier in unison, an almost child-like action that briefly—ever so tinnily—reminds Javier of his little niece-like cousin. With a melting heart, Javier swallows, once again opening his mouth to talk, but he’s interrupted.

“W… Who are you?” Sylvia asks. Her voice is sharpened, guarded as she pulls Oswin to stand behind her. They can’t see his face fully, but the few lights in this part of the campus make it clear that he’s at least human. His maroon eyes are faintly visible through his hood, eyes of concern. REAL concern that takes Sylvia a bit aback once she sees them.

“A-Are you, um…,” Oswin utters, shifting a bit behind Sylvia to try to get a better look at this man. “Are you here to help us? I-I mean, you fought that… that Robo.”

Oswin’s eyes drift to the spherical chamber of bone that is by them, guiding Javier’s own gaze there. Javier’s eyes narrow at it, carefully approaching the structure and looking it over.

“This is…?” Javier asks.

“Yes,” Sylvia responds. “Raul… t-that colonel, the guy you kicked… he locked RUTH away. Put it in that… that thing.”

Javier nods, placing a hand over the chamber. He closes his eyes, focusing on the inside of the chamber, as if trying to sense any movement within it, anything that presents a further challenge. But there’s nothing.

“I AM here to help,” Javier finally says, reopening his eyes and shifting a bit to Sylvia and Oswin. “And I’m sorry you were hurt. This machine, this RUTH… it was unlike any other Robo I’d seen.”

Sylvia exhales slowly, relaxing upon hearing that this man was indeed here not to add any more trouble onto their lives, but do the opposite. Oswin places a hand over her shoulder, applying some comfort as he steps forward past her.

“H-How about you, sir?” Oswin asks. “Are you alright? That last blast you took… me and Sylvia here, we’re not quite doctors yet, but if you need any care…”

Javier shakes his head, smiling. “Don’t worry O— erm, young man. I’m fine. But… we might not be if we stay here.” He signals to their surroundings, which have Colonel Raul and his soldiers still. Granted, they are all knocked out, but Javier wasn’t looking forward to another showdown with that metallic beast.

Oswin and Sylvia nod, catching on to their need to leave. They approach the cloaked man, who quickly turns, at least hiding his face. He points to the hall past them all, which hangs to their right.

✦ ✦ ✦

Reaching an opening that’s supposed to contain windows to the outside world, the trio of Javier, Sylvia, and Oswin are instead met with barricaded windows, locked-in by layers of steels. At that, Sylvia gasps.

“Oh my gosh, Hal!”

Oswin’s eyes widen at that, a reminder of their mentor who was blasted away. How could they forget him, even during all this? Sylvia runs to the nearest metal wall, Oswin running behind. Javier is taken aback by their sudden rush, his mouth opening to ask what they’re doing, before he notices Sylvia pulling back her right arm as she nears the metal.

“No! Wait!” Javier yells out, but he’s too late.

Sylvia’s hard first swings in front, striking the wall dead-center and clean, but instead of the walls yielding to her massive physical strength, a powerful shockwave ripples out from the point of contact. The blast is immediate, flinging back both students.

Javier quickly reacts, their bodies surrounded with a blue aura as his mental power takes hold of them, halting their momentum before they crash onto anything.

“Just… What…?” Sylvia stammers out, still reeling from the reaction.

Slowly and gently, Javier sets the students down, approaching Sylvia first, then Oswin to assess the damage. “You alright? Sylvia? How’s your hand?”

“Ack.” Sylvia twists her wrist, placing a hand over it to make sure she didn’t break anything. “I’m fine, but… what just happened?”

Javier sighs, then looks over to the wall that Sylvia struck. He walks over to it, taking off a silver glove as he nears it, exposing his gold skin underneath. Oswin, meanwhile, looks over Sylvia’s wrist too.

Sylvia smiles a bit at Oswin’s care. “I said I was fine,” she whispers.

Javier places his bare hand against the metal wall, rubbing it a bit, feeling the very faint rougher texture within. “It’s as I feared,” Javier starts. He looks back at Oswin and Sylvia, slipping his glove back on over his hand. “These walls are lined with Axionite.”

“A-Axionite?!?”

Oswin and Sylvia both say that at the exact same time, quickly returning to Sylvia’s hand then, inspecting it once again, this time much more seriously. Axionite was an EXTREMELY hard and durable substance; there’s a reason why they had to make do with just the fine residue of the material for their experiments with Nuclei, the actual substance quickly dismissed out of fear of destroying their Robo, if not the whole campus along with it.

“J-Just why would there be Axionite in these walls?!” Sylvia exclaims, partly relieved her hand was still in one shape after putting so much of her strength behind that punch.

Javier looks back to the wall, inspecting it once again for any clues. After a moment, some distant information starts to seep through, something he learned of early in his life, came up again during his time at the police, something of great panic back then, yet now… it’s unlikely to even be taught in schools anymore. “Perhaps,” Javier starts, “this place, this campus… maybe it served a greater purpose long ago.”

“Greater purpose?” Oswin asks.

Sylvia’s eyes then widen, the same dots connecting in her head.

“Wait,” she stammers. “Wait, Oswin. You… You remember those sheets we had to sign? When we moved in here, to the dorms before? Before Aster City?” Oswin looks to Sylvia, concerned but nodding, Javier meanwhile bristling a bit at hearing the name of his hometown just dropped in conversation like that. “R-Remember that really long section? The one we mostly skipped over?”

Oswin nods again, his concern increasing. “Just what are you getting at, Syl?”

Sylvia swallows, looking to Javier, who nods in confirmation of her growing fear. “Maximum-Security Disclosures,” Javier says. “The part you skipped over, yes?” She nods, while Oswin still looks lost. Javier approaches them as he continues. “They stopped teaching it, past a point. You were probably at the tail end of the generation that still taught it, Sylvia?”

She nods. “Oswin here, he’s three years younger than me.”

Javier lightly smiles at that, a fact he already knew but can’t suppress a reaction to. “Well,” Javier begins. “Some time ago, when the big relocation to the three cities happened, there were concerns. Major ones felt by serious people, that by putting all of humanity all together in just three spots, we’d really be speeding up our doom. Putting ourselves on a platter.”

Oswin nods, already familiar with this old pattern. “For the gloom,” Oswin says.

“But not just for that,” Javier adds. That surprises Oswin. “You see…” Javier pauses, his thoughts already darkening as they brush closer to… ‘THAT’ moment. The moment from a year ago, the moment in the ruins, where Oswin… when he nearly died. At least, that’s the version of events now. NOW. Before, when it actually happened, Javier was sure that… that horrid thing had just claimed Oswin’s life, like it would claim so many others for the rest of that day.

Javier shakes his head, but his hand tightens, more and more as he speaks. “There were these… beasts. Their exact existence was highly scrutinized, by… by all sorts of people.” ‘By me,’ Javier nearly adds there. “But if real, these beasts… they would hunt. And not like that Robo, RUTH, either. They would be far, FAR more dangerous than even that.”

At that, Sylvia bites her lip. She never did get a great look at that monster in the darkness of the ruins back then. But she did see… the red. That dim glow of its scars, wide and large, as it crawled around the place, its front claw fresh with Oswin’s blood.

“You’re talking about Mythborns, right?” Oswin asks. The sound of that word coming out of his mouth of all places takes the wind out of Sylvia.”

“O-Os? You… You know…?” Sylvia can’t even bring herself to say it, the word of Mythborns almost as cursed as GearTerra is in her mind. But at least GearTerra represents a variable she can understand.

Looking at Sylvia, Oswin feels puzzled, like there’s a big piece missing here, something unclaimed that’s somehow causing the same tension they felt in the taxi, when that news report about GearTerra came into their lives. That’s something that’s an omen now, considering the things that have occurred tonight.

“Yeah, Mythborns,” Oswin says, a little wary now. He reluctantly shifts his gaze a bit from Sylvia to the cloaked man. “Just what do those monsters have to do with this?” He points to the metal walls keeping the moonlight away.

Javier was pale now too, but at least within the safety of the veil his hood provides. His fist, which was tight, now hangs free, Javier’s mouth agape with the knowledge that Oswin knows of Mythborns. And judging by Sylvia’s reaction, Oswin clearly is unaware just how close he got to one.

Javier swallows before speaking again. “W-Well, those beasts, the Mythborn, these walls… these special walls lined with Axionite, they were made to keep Mythborns out. To protect us from them.”

Now it’s Oswin’s turn for his expression to worsen. He looks to the walls, these blast shields… some of the puzzle is snapping together. “T-Them specifically?” Oswin asks.

Javier slowly nods. “Yes.”

Oswin audibly gulps then, this sight over these metal walls shifting, the barriers almost growing mightier, more mythic as the information about them sets in. His hand finds Sylvia’s hand, the one that she used to hit these Adamant Shields with her might, and he gently caresses it. Then, he whispers what all of them know now.

“We’re caged in.”

✧ Chapter 7 ✧

Agreement

“There HAS to be some way out,” Oswin utters. He looks over the blast shields, the small group having moved some, further into the campus.

Javier shakes his head. “These barriers—these Adamant Shields—they’re a rarity. Set and controlled by the government. We’ll have to wait until they deactivate them.”

Oswin frowns at that. Sylvia comes up to him and places her hand over Oswin’s back. “At least this means we’ll be okay, Os. All we have to do is just wait this out. Once the barriers come down, Cormac will be there with the cavalry.”

Oswin looks to Sylvia and nods. He wants to bring up Dr. Cormac, wonder about his current state. He was blasted away by RUTH, and unlike their rescuer, Cormac is no warrior. Oswin doesn’t voice any of these concerns though; he can just tell by her restrained uneasy expression that Sylvia bears the same worries.

Thinking of their rescuer for a moment, Oswin looks over to him, who stands away, keeping his distance. A kernel of an idea starts to form the, born when Oswin looks over his silver gloved hands.

“H-Hey,” Oswin starts, moving a bit closer to Javier. “That blue energy you had, the aura over your hands when you caught us… That was the Psychic Axiom, right?”

Javier gets a little nervous at the apt observation, unconscious drawing back a bit and adjusting the position of his head, letting his hood drape over his face a bit more. “Y-Yes, that’s correct young Oswin.”

Sylvia quirks an eyebrow at that, the odd phrasing of ‘young Oswin’ catching her attention, but she doesn’t bring it up, filing it away under one of the many odd quirks of tonight. Plus, she can tell Oswin is onto something here.

“Then, maybe you can teleport! Past the blast shields!” Oswin offers. “You CAN teleport, right? Please tell me you know how to do that.”

Javier blinks at that, then looking at the nearest metal barrier. Teleport? As in THROUGH these walls? His ability to warp to a different location, including those unseen, was certainly something he could do, but through an Adamant Shield? Through Axionite? Supposedly, it wasn’t just the Axionite that made Adamant Shields so durable, but some strange, unknown modification to them within the metal which allowed them to counter any power used against them. Proof of that trait was clear now, considering how that other wall reacted to Sylvia’s Power Axiom. If the barrier did that to Sylvia, push her back with such force, just what would they do to him?

Javier shakes his head, he couldn’t discard the idea. He didn’t have much experience with wartime defenses, but he at least had to try this. He has to remember that he doesn’t matter here, only the safety and lives of Sylvia and Oswin matter now. Whatever risks he had to take, he could take them tonight.

“I can try,” Javier says, approaching the wall he was looking at. “Just… stand back.”

Sylvia smirks a little at that, wrapping her hand around Oswin’s hand. “We’re already quite far back, you know.”

“R-Right,” Javier stammers, smiling a little to himself. “Just being careful, Sylvia.”

This man, whoever he is… Interacting with him, his way of speaking, it’s all ringing overly familiar to Sylvia. It’s a faint layer of recognition, but it’s too deep, crushed under all the concern for danger, which is a lot more present in her, in this area where GearTerra lurks. Another quirk to be filed away.

Javier lets out a short breath, focusing in on himself, closing his eyes. He imagines where he’s going, somewhere outside of here, beyond the trappings of the campus. He focuses in further, going in deeper, tapping into his heart to summon forth his power, his Axiom. A sharp blue light erupts around him, Javier then vanishing, the psionic energy filling the space where he once stood, forming a vacuum. His body is swallowed in a brilliant flash, but before anything else can happen, Javier blitzes back into existence, shoulder-first into the Adamant Shield with a harsh crash, the azure energy of his psychic power rippling away.

Javier staggers back, the air knocked out of him, a splitting headache already forming. Sylvia and Oswin quickly go to him, Sylvia catching him and Oswin coming around to tend to his forehead. Their proximity is sudden and too close, his face nearly exposed as Oswin’s hand reaches into his hood. Before that can happen, Javier vanishes, appearing some feet away, interrupting their attempts to examine him.

“Hey, you okay?” Oswin asks him.

“Y-Yes,” Javier says, fixing the cloak around him. “T-The psionic burst must’ve reactivated somehow. S-Sorry.” He hopes they buy his flimsy excuse for teleporting away.

“Right…,” Sylvia says. She looks to the wall and sighs. “Well, guess that’s it for an easy escape. At least the countereffect wasn’t so destructive this time. Are you sure you’re okay though, sir? That looked like a pretty hard slam.”

Javier rubs his shoulder, wincing a bit. “I’ll manage. That wall though… it got in the way, unlike anything else.”

Oswin can only frown, looking guilty. “I’m sorry, I didn’t think it would play out like that. It was a reckless idea.”

Javier smiles, shaking his head, letting go of his own shoulder. “Don’t worry about it. We’d best keep moving, find someplace more discreet to wait out the government dropping these walls.”

Sylvia nods. “Let’s go.” As they leave the area, she looks to Oswin, who looks a little lost in thought. “You holding up too, my scout?””

He blinks, knocked out of his thought, glancing at Sylvia with a smile of his own. “Yeah, I’m good, all things considered. I think I even… have a good place to hide in mind.”

She moves her hand up, caressing his cheek gently. “My clever scout. Remind me to thank you properly later,” she whispers. Oswin reddens, chuckling goofily. They don’t see it with his back turned to then, but Javier can’t help but smile hearing that chuckle as they walk.

✦ ✦ ✦

A hard door scrapes the floor as it’s pushed open.

“Just… a little more…,” Oswin whispers to himself. The door keeps scrapping harder and louder as it’s pushed, until it finally passes a subtle hump on the floor. It swings open fully, Oswin letting out a breath at the easy movement at the end. “There.” He walks into the dusty room, compact with bookshelves of massive reference texts, all of them highly outdated by this point in time. He looks, finding a long string connected to the ceiling and pulls it down. The sole bulb flickers on, struggling initially but remaining fixed after a short moment. Oswin turns to Sylvia outside the room and grins. “See? This place is perfect! No one comes in here.”

Sylvia smirks, stepping inside and looking around the place. “Smart thinking. What is this, the archives from the Gold Age?”

Oswin shrugs. “I asked about this room once to Cormac, but even he didn’t know. You might be right with that guess, Syl.”

Outside, Javier stands. They’re in a library within the campus, wide and large, on the top floor, tucked away in a corner, overshadowed by massive rows of books and other reference texts. He knows the longer he stands out here, the more likely he’ll give away this perfect hiding spot, but going inside means he’ll be close to them. Close enough that they might start asking questions, that they might notice who’s really under the hood. He swallows, trying to come up with some excuse, some reasoning that lets him stay outside. He’s not ready for this, not ready to talk about what happened between them, to shine a light on his biggest mistakes. But at the same time, he can’t find the perfect excuse, because the real reason would give him away, and so would anything near it. Going inside is also the logical move, the best way to keep them safe, the perfect way.

Sylvia turns to look outside the room to Javier, who rubs his forehead with his thumb, looking lost instead of nervous (thanks to the shadows of his hood).

“Um, are you coming inside with us?” Sylvia asks. “Or are you gonna stand guard outside?”

Javier’s lips feel dry as he stands, mouth opening to respond. There is it, the perfect opening for him to not go in there. Yet, no words come out. He can’t talk, his hands start shaking, his heart races. He… doesn’t matter. Can’t matter in this mission. Every move he has to take has to be for THEM, nothing else of him matters. Thus, his boots start shuffling. He steps forward, entering the room with just Oswin and Sylvia inside.

“Excuse me,” Oswin utters as he brushes past Javier, grabbing the edge of the door and moving it to shove it back closed.

Javier’s head is spinning barely taking in the information in front of him. Sylvia is reaching up to grab a reference book, brushing the ends of her fingers against the book’s spine. Meanwhile, Oswin grunts, hands over the door, pushing it. Finally, the door passes the same hump from before which made opening it trouble.

“There we go.” Oswin shuts the door, passing Javier only a bit as he looks at Sylvia too. “What’re you looking for, Sylvia?” Oswin asks, near Javier.

“Ah, just curious,” Sylvia responds, drawing her hand back. “I guess it can wait.” She stretches her arm, rubbing it, as Oswin comes around to be with her.

“Arm still cold?” Oswin asks her. She shakes her head, looking to Javier who’s rubbing his forehead again with his thumb.

“What’s that?” She asks, her concern growing. “Your head in pain? From the crash?”

Javier draws his hand away at his tic called out. “No, I’m just…” Nervous? He would say that, but it would make little sense here to them. “…just thinking. There’s… there’s a lot of variables.”

Sylvia nods in understand, his head must be swimming with information to account for in a situation like this. They stay quiet for a moment, heads not blank but organizing thoughts and questions. Finally, Oswin pipes up.

“So, the Psychic Axiom, huh?” Oswin says. “That’s quite the strong one.”

Javier, taken out of his mental retreat, hums in confirmation. “I’ve had plenty of practice with it,” he responds. After a moment, he adds, “Seems I need a bit more, clearly.” He rubs his shoulder as he says that, alluding to his earlier collide.

Sylvia chuckles at that. “Don’t we all? I didn’t realize just how rusty WE were until this night. Might need to pick up sparring again after this, my scout.” She smiles at Oswin, who nods in agreement.

“Hope it um… doesn’t trouble you much,” Oswin adds.

A needle close to home. Javier swallows. “W-What do you mean?” He can’t help himself asking.

“It’s just… we’ve see how complex of an Axiom like that can be,” Oswin says, rubbing the back of his head.

Sylvia immediately frowns at that, her reaction visceral and clear. At the sight of that, Javier feels a cold sweat pass right through him, his hands trembling within his gloves.

“W-Well, like I said,” Javier desperately adds, trying to end the topic. “I’ve had practice.”

Sylvia remains quiet, however, scoffing after a moment. “He was a leech anyway,” she says. “Only there until he got what he needed.”

Oswin looks to Sylvia, putting his arm around her and rubbing her shoulder. They gently lean their heads together, the image beautiful, but Javier feels horrid, the moments of his mistake replaying through him.

The rubble around them then. The dust. Their bodies under the beast, his mouth dry, legs shaking as he stepped away.

“Sorry,” Sylvia says, cutting through the moment, the memories.

“N-No, it’s… fine,” Javier utters. “It’s okay.” ‘It’s appropriate,’ he almost says. ‘He deserves it,’ he thinks. ‘I deserve it.’

“By the way, what um… what should we call you?” she asks, trying to lighten up. “Unless you’re okay with ‘sir’ and ‘mister’ all night. You have a name? Maybe… an alias?”

Javier lowers his head, thankful for the shift, but a little embarrassed. “Y-Yes, um… I’ve an alias of sorts, something you can call me. It’s… a little odd, since I didn’t even come up with it, but you may call me Faradforcer.”

Sylvia’s eyes widen at that, while Oswin gasps.

“W-Wait, so… you’re an axisguard!” Sylvia utters in her shock. “An ACTUAL axisguard!”

“That certainly explains the unique look!” Oswin adds, his expression brightening. “You were the one on the news earlier, about that zoo!”

“I… was?” Javier was genuinely surprised anyone cared about axisguards these days to actually make reports on them, or even listen to them in the first place. “Sorry, I don’t watch the news, or hear it. But yes, I’m an axisguard.” He finds himself chuckling ever so slightly as he says that. How things have changed for him. “And I’ll make sure you’re safe from GearTerra.”

Oswin nods along with that, Sylvia chiming in. “Just… how much danger are we really in, Faradforcer?” Her voice is steady, but there’s tension behind her words, not wanting to keep succumbing to fear, and clarity usually helps make the fear go away. Usually.

“From what I understand, you’ve both become targets,” Javier starts. “That colonel was definitely after you, that I much is clear. Anyone else however… I’m not sure.”

Sylvia sighs, the clarity provided not as much as she hoped.

“How’d you even find us?” Oswin asks. “I mean, you stepped in right on time, when RUTH attacked us before. When it… captured us.”

Javier frowns, hanging his head a bit in disappointment. “I’m sorry again that you were hurt. I just… when I heard you were in danger, I wanted to make sure you were safe. Guess I wasn’t fast or strong enough.”

“No, please don’t apologize,” Oswin says, smiling. “You were there for us, and you did your best. Frankly, I’m not sure how Raul even managed to control that Robo in the first place. It was vicious and fighting him back!”

Javier’s expression softens. ‘I’m so glad you’re both okay now,’ he almost wants to add.

“You’re really quite the fighter,” Sylvia adds. “And really, thank you for this, for trying. I don’t know how and if we could’ve gotten away from Colonel Raul if you hadn’t stepped in. Do you, um… do you know how they found us here? We took several precautions, deleted lots of information, put a lot of distance from us and… and them.”

Javier shakes his head. “No, that part is still unclear. They didn’t contact you though, right? You didn’t have any contact with GearTerra? Any interactions at all after you left them?”

Sylvia finds that odd. ‘Left them?’ How does he know that…? “No, none. G-Granted, none have really come up, but after… after we left them, we hoped we saw the last of them. So far that stayed true, until… well, until tonight.”

Oswin holds Sylvia’s hand, giving it a gentle squeeze. “The only person who really knows where we live now is our mentor,” Oswin says. “His name is Dr. Cormac. I guess there’s also our taxi driver, Theo, and Sylvia’s sister too.

Sylvia’s face shifts, a regretful smile forming, one equally tinged with some sadness. “Sally,” she whispers.

A doctor, a taxi driver, and a sister… Javier’s mind already runs through several scenarios. None were exactly prime candidates for betrayal. Then again, neither was he.

“Oh, I guess there’s also… that little girl,” Oswin adds, rubbing the back of his head. “One of our new neighbors in Aster City.” Javier raises an eyebrow at that, while Oswin looks to Sylvia to fill in the blank. “What was her name again, Syl?”

Sylvia crosses her arms, lowering her head and closing her eyes, trying to envision that girl. Just what WAS her name again? She would spend the mornings around the small beach right next to Oswin’s log cabin, using her Axiom to collect small amounts of water from the sea and mix it with the sand to build castles. Despite all the grains of sand around, her long blue hair would remain pristine. Whenever they would take a stroll through that beach, she would approach them and ask questions, mostly pertaining to their lab coats in curiosity over their jobs. Suddenly, Sylvia’s eyes shoot open. “Lequa,” Sylvia says. “The girl’s name is Lequa. Lequa Shadus.”

Javier’s own eyes widen at that name. He was already suspicious, but now those suspicions were confirmed. It couldn’t be, but yet it was. It really was HER. Life really found a way not just to give Sylvia and Oswin peace far from GearTerra, but… find a way to make his friends meet… his family.

At Javier’s unclear reaction, Sylvia speaks up, her concern greater now. “You don’t really think SHE has anything to do with this, right? I mean, she’s a little nosy but… Lequa’s just a kid! The remnants of GearTerra… surely they wouldn’t—!”

Javier firmly shakes his head. “No,” he says. “That girl, she has ZERO involvement in any of this.” His voice sounds almost fierce and protective at the harsh rejection.

That… is one too many quirks for Sylvia to keep ignoring. Now, they cannot be ignored. Her demeanor changes, growing more suspicious as her heart starts to race. She instinctively moves a bit over Oswin, standing between them and this axisguard.

“You sure sound sure of that,” Sylvia says, her words carefully firm, staying as close to accusatory before sounding blatant.

Javier is taken aback by the sudden change in her, his own heart racing now too.

“Syl?” Oswin whispers, his hand gently coming over her arm.

She shifts her hand to hold his tightly, keeping her eyes on the Faradforcer. “I’m sure Lequa has nothing to do with GearTerra too,” she says. “But you sound especially certain. Why is that? Do you know her?”

Javier swallows. His field of vision seems to narrow, yet it grows fuzzy at the same time. It’s like he’s no longer here, viewing the events that unfold from a distance, like an observer. He feels his uncertainty and nerves fully overtake him, invade his core, laid open to the world, to Sylvia and Oswin’s now judging eyes. Some part of him wants to let go and just let things fall where they may, while another wants to go be surgical, to find a way to logically and calmly talk his way out of this. He doesn’t know which side to fall into, which side he’s actively falling towards. He can’t even think anymore, all he is are just the results of his past actions, his history, the things that have brought his body here. His mind and soul are distant, reactive but without strength.

Slowly, Javier dips his chin. “I do,” he says. Indeed, he does. It’s been a year, but he still know his little niece-like cousin, he knows Lequa. To deny that would be to deny himself.

“H-How?” Sylvia firmly asks.

This is it, his last chance, the last action Javier will get as the Faradforcer—JUST the Faradforcer—on this mission. He can still twist this, still find a way to move away the suspicion, to move the focus off of him and onto what actually matters: Sylvia and Oswin’s safety. Yet, regardless of his feelings, that he shouldn’t matter here, that he only needs to do what will keep them safe, he can’t escape this moment. He’s fallen onto the side that lets go, the side that stops resisting, the side that stops delaying the inevitable.

“Lequa is my cousin,” Javier speaks out softly.

That surprised Sylvia, making her step back. “She… She what?” Oswin is speechless now as well.

The three of them stay silent then, the lack of sound feeling like an eternity to Javier. Oswin and Sylvia’s minds go into overdrive thinking, processing the information, and all that it implies. Javier should stop this. This isn’t about him. What he did, how he left them that day… None of that is supposed to matter now. None of that will make Sylvia and Oswin safer!

Yet… Javier can’t stop this. He can’t stop these trains from colliding. The pieces have all been laid out to them; trying to recall them now would be fruitless.

Oswin opens his mouth first. “Y-You’re… you’re a… Shadus?”

Javier remains still, unmoving, too full of conflicting emotions to react to what’s about to happen.

Sylvia swallows, her hands shaking, her face pale, her own vision starting to grow distant as the puzzle pieces start to snap together, all the little quirks pointing towards a single solution.

She steps forward, nearing Javier, to him the action happening almost in slow motion. She reaches up to his hood, grasping the cloth gently, and pulling it down. She reveals a man with gold skin, maroon eyes, and spiky gray hair. She reveals Javier. Javier Shadus, the man responsible for the worst day of her life.

She sucks in air in her gasp, everything around her vanishing, returning to the exact last time she saw him. There were rocks everywhere, her ears were ringing. Her body was twisted, a massive beast above Oswin. Javier was in the distance, clad in his officer uniform back then, both Sylvia and Oswin wearing their GearTerra armor. The gold on their bodies didn’t offer protection, cracked under the massive weight of the Mythborn. Javier’s eyes were wide, his own body covered with dirt. Sylvia tried to move then, tried to open her eyes further, tried to do anything that showed she was there, that she was still alive. But then Javier’s face was gone, as he backed away into the shadows, the same shadows that hid him now.

He stands here now, the sight of him truly surreal. His face is pale, jaw trembling. What she confused as an expression of confusion or thought before is now clearly exposed as fear. Fear of recognition, of judgment.

She swallows, her hands dropping to her sides as she looks him over. His height is the same, his build is mostly the same, if a bit more muscular. He’s wearing an all-black outfit now, traded in his prideful blue for some robe-like apparel at some point. Was that before or after he was imprisoned? She watched the trial with Oswin, a mix of satisfaction and anger seeing the man who used them held accountable for his actions.

Javier had come to Oswin first, came up with something that seemed like the start of a genuine friendship. Oswin started to spend some time with him out of work, his changes evident in his confidence growing. It wasn’t super clear to her then, but that’s likely when she first realized her growing feelings for her subordinate, for Oswin when he got a friend in the police, the great and high-ranking officer Javier.

Her first experience with Javier was terrible. He was looking into the high-publicized, still-unsolved murder of General Myriam, GearTerra’s leader back then—a massive blow to the group that would change the course of their history forever. Like the rest of the military, Sylvia wanted answers, so she approached Javier, and he rudely brushed her off. “Really? The same Javier?” She remembered asking Oswin when he finally told her about his new friend.

Their second interaction was better. Oswin and her were investigating a suspicion around the murder, a connection between Myriam and Prion, one of Sylvia’s fellow colonels. They ran into Javier then, mid-search, but instead of ratting them out like she expected, Javier surprised her by actually joining them and really helped out their search. Working together, they got access to new information which permanently removed Colonel Prion from suspicion, something which Sylvia thought would make the rest of the investigation flow easily.

The third time Sylvia spent time with Javier, it was after a long day at the military base and he offered to take Oswin and her to dinner. It was an even better moment, as they were able not just find out more about the investigation and its complications, but a little about Javier too. He was—and still is—part of the Shadus Family, so had to carry along great expectations, something he was struggling to manage, along with the usual stresses of his job. Sylvia remembers trying to pay for her drink at the start, only to be discreetly told by their waiter that meal had already been paid. She looked to Oswin then, yet he signaled to Javier with his eyes. He was “busy” reading some pamphlet on the table, but he stayed on the same page even well-past a slow reading speed. Poor guy was clearly embarrassed at being caught, the cheeks of his honey-brown skin darkening, but she remembers thinking how nice it was for him to do this, plus charming that he was shy about it too.

Javier never did apologize for his behavior when they first met, but… he didn’t need to. He was always apologizing for lots of other little things later, always making sure his actions were okay. She didn’t know exactly when it happened, but Javier and her became friends. She wasn’t envious of the time Oswin was spending with him anymore, long-past by that by the time she noticed Oswin’s own jealously towards her spending time with Javier. Yet, Javier seemed aware of this, took him out to drinks some, and then Oswin’s envy seemed gone too. It seemed he was there for the two of them to be together, their matchmaker of sort, the one that pushed Sylvia to “someday take a risk,” to “not be afraid” of the risk that being with a subordinate would bring.

Yet… all that, all these moments… they were all destroyed, all called into question by that encounter in the ruins. The moment that changed everything not just for the three of them, but for so many others in GearTerra.

They found what Javier had been truly looking for all this time: some secret Robo project that General Myriam had created, which produces a hologram of the late general, loaded with the information they knew of her death. She never spoke to Myriam, but that hologram… it spoke the truth. In the end, they were just tools to Javier, a means to help him live up to the Great Shadus Legacy.

“Are you going to tell them?” Myriam’s hologram had said, diverging from Javier’s questions. “Or… are you going to keep up this charade? That you simply needed them to get to me?”

Javier tried to counter this, tried to move the conversation back onto its intended course, but that’s what the hologram kept coming back to, the only thing of interest to the general’s image. She could live with Javier’s scummy motivation to befriend them. She could live with him leaving them behind after the ruins collapsed. But she couldn’t live with both.

Yet here she is, still alive, still standing after that day, all this time later, a year much longer than the days it contained. One year since they deserted GearTerra, since Sylvia chose Oswin over the military, and he chose her over them back. Oswin and her were together now, their lives had gone on, their time had continued, their fate steered elsewhere, but now here was this man, this phantom of their past, still standing too, looking as changed as them, but all of his look for the worst.

Sylvia takes in a deep, deep breath. A deep, cleansing, stabilizing breath that brings her back into the dusty room, an abandoned corner of the library, face-to-face with the man who abandoned them. With Javier.

“You…,” Sylvia starts, “…you look terrible.”

Javier blinks once, lowering his head. “Y… Yeah.”

She lets out a sigh, looking over his body. She can see his shoulder more clearly at this distance, how it’s lowered and out of place. She lightly scoffs. “Liar.”

Sylvia places her hand over his other shoulder and pushes him down. “W-What are you doing?” Javier asks.

“Just sit down,” she says, forcing him onto the floor to sit. She looks to Oswin behind her, who looks to be in the middle of his own memory-blitz. He jolts at seeing Sylvia look at him, snapping back into the room. “See if you can find some pills or packs or something in here, Os. There’s gotta be something.”

Oswin blinks at that, but nods. “R-Right.”

He quickly moves about the room, looking for what he was told, while Sylvia moves down to sit right behind Javier and starts to look for a way to access his bare shoulder. Javier, meanwhile, is stunned, dumbfounded, everyone and everything moving too fast for him to process.

“This robe-thing got an opening somewhere?” She asks.

“W… What?” Javier breathes out.

“An. Opening,” Sylvia enunciates. “I need to look at your shoulder. You might’ve dislocated it in that crash.”

“O-Oh, um…” Javier reaches around his body, finally slipping his arm inwards and pulling it back out through the flexible opening around his neck, stretching the black cloth under it. His shoulder is exposed then, his light-bronze skin marked by faded scars of youth.

“Ugh, I knew it,” Sylvia says. She places a hand over his shoulder, aiming to be careful. “Next time someone asks if you’re okay, tell them the truth, alright?”

Javier turns his head to look at Sylvia, still stammering. “J… Just… W-What…?”

Sylvia lets out some air through her nose, almost mixed with a frustrated chuckle. “Be. Honest. You CAN do that still, yeah?”

Javier swallows, then nods. “Y-Yes.”

“Good.” She places her other hand over his affected shoulder. “Now, brace yourself. I’m still learning, so this might sting.”

Javier nods, returning to face forward and closes his eyes. She then uses her hands to apply a slow, controlled rotation on his router. She does a surprisingly decent job of keeping the minimal force on him, considering the dozens of other thoughts and emotions coursing through her right about now. But tending a patient… she can do that.

Javier breathes in, feeling the rising pain over his body, but then he stops moving, Sylvia removing her hands.

“Better?” She asks.

Javier breathes out, almost a little afraid to move his arm. He thinks, very much focusing on the sensations around his shoulder. Slowly and gently, he moves his arm, anticipating a sharp spike of pain, but instead… nothing comes. He keeps moving slowly and carefully, bit by bit approaching the end of his movement, until… he reaches it, no pain in the entire move.

“It’s… It’s good,” Javier says. He looks at Sylvia in shock. “It’s great even. T-Thank you, Sylvia.”

She can almost feel a smile come on, having at some point entered an auto-pilot healing state of mind, but she quickly halts the reaction, instead just nodding. “Sure,” is all she can manage before standing up.

Javier pushes up with his knees to stand, about to cover up himself back up, when Oswin returns, carrying several items over his arms.

“Not exactly a pharmacy in here,” Oswin starts as he approaches. “And most this stuff is WAY out of date, but I found this.” He picks up a shabby and real aged-looking instant cold pack, handing it to Sylvia.

“Good, thanks Oswin,” Sylvia says. She brings the pack up to her face, inspecting it closely, but finding no tears or leaks on the plastic, she activates the cold by folding it a few times, then applying it over Javier’s affected shoulder.

He shivers a bit at the cold touch to his bare skin, but now’s no time to complain. “T-Thank you,” he says, already feeling some relief.

Sylvia hums in response. She’s looking over bottles of pills and tablets from Oswin’s arms, but sighs, shaking her head at each one she reads. “No good, all this stuff’s basically poison by now. Might at well toss ‘em. What about those creams?”

Oswin is already inspecting a small tub, leaning in and smelling the thing, retching in response. “Definite no, Syl. This stuff might just burn through him.”

“It’s fine,” Javier says, looking a little embarrassed as he slides his arm back inside his clothes. He takes hold of his hood too and places back on, putting shadows over his face once again.

“Is that really necessary?” Sylvia asks. “We already know it’s you, Javier.” She doesn’t mean to sound quite so harsh then, but she does.

“I-It’s not just for hiding,” Javier says, fixing his gray hair to fit under his hood. At their incredulous looks, he whispers, “Long story.”

“I bet,” Sylvia breathes out, trying to keep her cool. This is not how she wants to do this, not that she wants to tonight of all times for THIS to have happened.

Oswin places a hand over Sylvia’s shoulder, trying to comfort but also tag-in. “What are you even doing here, Javier?” Oswin asks, going for something more curious, but also tinged by his hurt. “A-And make sure to keep that cold pack on! It was a hard crash!”

“R-Right,” Javier utters, moving the pack over his shoulder. “Sorry.”

“Always struggled following directions,” Sylvia almost whispers, before speaking louder. “Just… Why ARE you here? And free? We both saw that trial. H-How are you even HERE?! And… and an axisguard?!”

Javier sighs, lowering his gaze, voice quietly shaking. “I… I only spent a month in that prison. After… after everything.”

“J-Just a month?” Sylvia spits out, flabbergasted.

Javier closes his eyes and nods. “I didn’t fight the charges. After the force, my comrades… after they took me in and told me all the details, I knew the trial was gonna be brutal. A ‘circus’ they called it. I didn’t want that, I didn’t want anyone else to… to suffer. So, I didn’t fight anything. I just… let them have me.”

Oswin looks on, the memory of seeing that moment still clear to him. They were just moving into their dorm with the few things they had when the important trial began. All week they’d been hearing about the case against Javier, “The Collapse of the Phantasy Ruins” the papers called it. Yet, when Oswin and Sylvia sat down to watch, all that happened was that someone—one of the judges—was reading off the long list of charges Javier would be facing. Oswin himself tuned out most of it, but he could feel the moment was big to Sylvia, who’s hand over his kept squeezing with each and every charge read out loud. All that build-up for Javier’s mousy representative to simply state “guilty” in response to the plea, to the shock of most in attendance.

Oswin remembered seeing Javier’s miserable look on the TV then. He wanted to feel bad for him, but then he looked at Sylvia, saw her reaction, the light of the screen in her eyes, and realized him lacking all the facts meant he could not capture the full story. Who was he to judge anyone here, when he was out right when the collapse occurred? He still frowns at the thought of that, all the pain and anguish Sylvia had to endure all by herself while was unconscious—in what turned into a month’s long coma.

“Yet, you broke free,” Oswin finally whispers.

Javier vehemently shakes his head, saying, “No! No, it wasn’t like that. I… I didn’t want an early withdrawal, I even… they wanted me to prepare for the future parole hearings right away, but I… I ignored all that.”

“Then, how?” Sylvia interjects. “How are you out, Javier?”

“S… Someone,” he starts, “broke into the prison. Sh—They broke in to break me out. I didn’t want to leave yet! I didn’t think I deserved a second chance. B-But that person… they risked too much to get there, so…” He sighs, shakily. “So, I left.”

Sylvia stays silent at that, already knowing what that means for him, a thought Oswin vocalizes.

“So, you’re a fugitive?”

Javier opens his mouth to talk, but no words come out. He simply nods, the shame and regret of all the details crushing him under their weight.

“I g-guess… now we know why the Faradforcer doesn’t work with the police,” Oswin whispers.

At that, Sylvia speaks up. “You still could’ve told them about us, couldn’t you? I-I mean, that famous protégé of yours leads the whole force now! Surely you could’ve—!”

“I didn’t know it was you,” Javier interjects. “When I stopped that zoo attack and… I learned about the targets GearTerra had, I… I really had no idea it was you.” He finds the courage to look up at them, a pressure forming behind his eyes, his voice getting shaky as he talks. “I t-thought you were dead. B-Both of you. I didn’t… I didn’t find out you were even alive until… until I saw you two earlier. Tonight, on that bench in… in Aster City.”

Sylvia’s eyes widen, and Oswin beats her to it. “Y-You’ve been following us?! S-Since then?!”

Javier gulps, nods, closes his eyes. It’s too much. This is just too much. “W-When I followed the information I got, I really didn’t… I didn’t think it would be you two. I thought it was gonna be someone else, just… just normal people I didn’t know. But you have no idea how I… the r-relief I…” Javier stops himself then, taking a short pause.

Surprisingly, Sylvia and Oswin let him take it, Oswin’s gaze over their former friend softening despite himself, while Sylvia… She can’t even begin to label all the things she feels now.

“I d-don’t… I’m not here to get…” Javier swallows, trying to keep it together, to make his point. “I have a lot to do. Here—and not just in this campus—but… everywhere that needs me. To live a normal life, to… to have friends… I have to earn that. S-Standing here, saying and making promises… t-that’s not gonna change things, affect the world, or… or make up for what I did that day, not that anything might. N-Not a day, not a second goes by that…” He stops himself again, shaking his head.

“My regret and my apologies don’t matter. You two, however… you do. That’s why I’m here, and why I’ll stay here with you. I don’t know what’s gonna happen, if there’s more to this or if there’s other players, other hunters, but I promise you, with my life, that you—Sylvia and Oswin—you ARE BOTH getting out of this. And n-not just this campus and this danger, but… but all of it. Once I’m done, you two won’t have to worry about anything like this again.”

Javier stays there, letting the emotions course through him. He’s already regretting himself, picking apart his big speech, his weaker words, wanting to add more or have said less to make his resilience clear, to make it clear that… he won’t let anything like last time happen again.

Sylvia and Oswin look at him, speechless as they hold each other’s hands. Sylvia swallows down her own emotions, taking it all in, embracing the space. It’s… a lot, and this, whatever ‘this’ is must just be getting started. But if there’s one thing that’s clear through all this mess is that… they’re not alone. Whatever challenges await them, he’s here, Javier’s here.

Could they really trust him? SHOULD they trust him? At this point, they can’t choose, they’re out of option. All they have is a shared goal: to get out of this locked campus.

Sylvia shifts in place, Oswin quickly reacting by looking at her. He thought she was somehow falling, but in reality, was just fortifying her position, taking a seat on the floor.

“O…,” Sylvia starts, her lips trembling. “…okay.”

Javier takes that in slowly, nodding as he comes to terms with her brief, nearly silent, but present reaction.

Oswin slides down too, sitting by Sylvia, crossing his legs. “Okay,” he says.

Javier waits a moment, wanting to make sure it’s clear before he joins them, sitting down, keeping the cold pack over his shoulder.

“Okay,” Javier responds.

✧ Chapter 8 ✧

Midnight Special

“Colonel?”

Colonel Raul grunts as he’s awoken, his soldiers helping him stand back up, off the ground.

“Ugh… What happened?” Raul rubs his face, which still stings with residual pain. “Last thing I remember—” Suddenly, his eyes shoot open. “The deserters! Where are they?!” He looks to his soldiers, who look at him with lost—if not embarrassed—reactions. “WELL?!”

A nearby soldier approaches, speaking with a hat in his hand. “Sir, we um… we can’t find them.”

Raul’s head shifts back, the shock coming over him. “W-What?! How?!”

“We were attacked, sir,” says another.

“Attacked,” Colonel Raul repeats bitterly.

“It… It looked to be some axisguard, sir. We think… it might be the same one who attacked our operation in the zoo, the one who the reports call… the Faradforcer.”

Raul grits his teeth in anger at that. “He’s the one kicked me, right? In my face?” His question is phrased harshly, as if to test his soldiers’ opinions, test his current standing, see if his leadership has been affected.

“S-Sir, we’re going everything we can to see if we can locate the escaped targets, but at this hour, on the weekend, this place is mostly empty.”

“So?” Raul questions. “Should make finding those two that much easier, no?”

The soldiers exchange a glance then, some of them… looking to the bone chamber, which still remains in the middle of the room. Raul raises an eyebrow to that. Surely, they don’t expect him to…?

“S-Sir,” another soldier chimes in. “Maybe we could use some um… more specialized help here. I mean… you’ve been out a while and… well… we’re not the only ones here.”

Colonel Raul swallows. They DID expect him to go through with that after all. He looks to the chamber, thinking over the variables. “H-How much time do we have left? Before the others…?”

“N-Not much time, sir,” one of the soldiers responds. “We think they might already be inside the campus. They must’ve been here before the walls came down, waiting. Frankly, we’re lucky they haven’t intervened yet.”

Lucky? Raul almost wants to yell at the soldier that said that. Instead, he locks his lips; there’s a time for lecturing, and this wasn’t it. Moreover, he was gonna lose his prize. Those students, those deserters… they held the key for him, the perfect tools for him to start to make things right in this world. Yet… he was about to lose this path, and he could not afford that. Even if it meant… dealing with pure chaos now.

He looks at the bone chamber, biting his bottom lip.

“How about the machine?” Colonel Raul asks. “Any sign of action since I was out? No rebellions?”

Some soldiers are enthusiastic in shaking their heads, while others less so. “RUTH has been silent this whole time,” a soldier adds. “I think it might behave so long as we give it space to hunt.”

Raul swallows, taking some steps towards his chamber of bone. “H-How about the limiters?”

“The others still remain active,” one soldier reluctantly adds.

That wasn’t a disconfirmation that the first limiter was still broken. They really DO want him to do this. They probably all just wanna go home now. So does he. The young night has already tired some out.

Colonel Raul places his hand over the chamber. “And you really haven’t been able to find a trace of them? None during all this time?”

His soldiers can all at least agree on that, their heads nodding around him, some looking more despondent at their answer.

Raul turns to the chamber and rubs it. If they were gonna do this, set this Robo free, they would have to be careful, EXTRA careful this time. Whatever mission parameters he gave, they had to be very specific. Who knows what this thing could do to mess things up even further?

“V-Very well,” Colonel Raul finally says, trying to project as much authority and calm as he can muster.

With a press against the bone, the chamber crumbles away, RUTH revealed again to the world. However, its eyes quickly turn red, shining with fury.

✦ ✦ ✦

“Whew!”

Shade finally finishes picking the apples, filling out her basket. The bad ones are discarded, and the good ones are free. She brushes the bit of sweat off from her forehead, using her other hand to grab another apple and brings it close, taking off a bite.

CRUNCH!

This is good, very good. The refreshing and sweet fruit is flowing through her system, she can already feel herself re-energized by them. She can’t believe she let herself go on for so long without any food. Just what WAS she thinking?

Munching on her apple, Shade looks over the large tree she took the fruit from. Part of her feels a little strange doing this, like she should be asking someone for permission. Maybe it’s not the way she was raised that makes her feel this way though, but the eerie emptiness of the whole place.

She’d heard about this forest before, the “Hollow” part of the Hollow Woods name clearly in reference to this: the emptiness here. Still, she expected SOME beings to be around the forest, some insects or birds… SOMETHING. Nearly one year here and… and nothing.

Shade takes hold of her cloak, adjusting it to cover herself more as she feels a chill coming on—one from the environment or… her thoughts?

Still, things hadn’t been so bad. When she first came in here, she had no idea what exactly to expect, but really it ended up being like it was back then, like living back home. Back with… her family.

She shifts in place, adjusting her cloak once again. There it was, another shiver, this time clearly her own mind was at fault. She grabs the basket by her side—wanting no more delays—and looks into it, seeing the apples there, nearly a dozen of them, all clean. No mud, no bites, no nothing. Not that there would even BE any bites out here.

“Gotta keep moving,” Shade whispers to herself.

She moves to a tree up a small hill and hangs the basket handle on a sturdy-looking branch that reaches her eye level. She then prepares her right hand. She makes a fist, turning her spiral mark to the basket, ready to activate her power, ready to bring the food into her vault, when… a sharp sensation strikes. Sudden, unmistakable, and there.

Shade clutches her chest, keeping over, her heart racing, a sense of heartburn striking—all for the second time this night! It’s like a part of her is doing something, something she didn’t order herself to do, an action she didn’t anticipate.

“J-Just…! Just what was that?!”

Her voice echoes around her, a sense of dread filling her as both the sensation fully clears and she realizes she yelled out loud. Here, in the middle of a forest, at night, all by herself. She shakes her head. This place is empty, it’s empty! Why should she be worried here anyways? One year here and nothing ever bothered her, no sound she didn’t anticipate. So why the fear?

Shade shifts closer to the tree, hanging onto the branch as she tries to keep it together, but she ends up pulling down on the branch with too much strength, so much so the basket falls, and down go her gatherings.

“Rats!”

She quickly squats, trying to pick up all her fruit before they get dirty or badly bruised. She manages to save most of them, but some roll down the short hill around the tree. At the sight she sighs, almost wanting to just let the fruit go, leave them to the birds. But again, what birds? There’s no birds here, nothing but her. Leaving anything outside would be a TRUE waste, something she’ll never quite get used to.

She drops the apples back onto the basket, then heads down to where the apples rolled away.

“I-I’m not seeing things,” she says to herself. “T-There’s no way that wasn’t real. That… that feeling was the same as before. N-No way I’m… I’m going crazy here.”

Some of her desperately wants to believe that. Solitary lives can be prisons, they can and have made some go mad, she knew that. Yet she really thought she was different, that she could withstand all of that, that she could make it through here, through a life all alone. She couldn’t be losing it, not now, not here, now when… she’d been through so much worse, not when she survived what she has.

An empty forest couldn’t be the thing that beats her. It just couldn’t.

✦ ✦ ✦

Javier looks over his left arm, twisting it calmly and carefully. Oswin and Sylvia are sitting across from him, Sylvia quirking an eyebrow at Javier’s action.

“Uh, I’m pretty sure it was the other one,” she says.

“Hm?” Javier is knocked out of his thoughts by her interjection, but he can’t ignore her. “S-Sorry, what did you say?”

Sylvia sighs, but only very lightly. “Your arm, I’m sure it was the other shoulder you hurt.”

“O-Oh,” Javier utters, looking to his right shoulder. “That um… that’s doing fine. I wasn’t…”

Sylvia crosses her arms, while Oswin leans forward.

“How’s the rest of your body doing, Javier?” he asks. “I mean, that RUTH… it really didn’t go easy on you.”

“I’m alright,” Javier responds, a little too quickly for Sylvia’s taste.

“You sure?” she asks. “Don’t go hiding the truth again. If you’re really hurt, say something now. Could get worse untreated.”

Javier’s expression softens, smiling a little. “I’m truly okay, guys. Really. I’ve fought plenty of other tough foes before. Yes, the Robo was brutal, especially that last blast, but… I’m doing okay now. Honest.”

“Alright,” Sylvia breathes out, only partly convinced.

Sensing her unease, Oswin quickly pipes up again. “So, what WERE you doing there? I mean, you seemed to be pretty deliberately looking over your arm.”

“Oh, that.” Javier lowers his gaze a little. “I was just… I was thinking.”

“About what?” Sylvia asks, a bit annoyed by the avoidance. She shifts forward to make her point, but at the same time tries to soften her tone. There’s still a lot of feelings here, hard memories coursing through her, but now’s not the time. “What I’m trying to say is… you should share your ideas, if you have them. We’re gonna in here for a while, probably all night by the looks of it, so…”

Javier looks to Sylvia, then back to his left arm. She’s right. After all, as medical students, they might actually have some insight, some valuable input here.

“I-I’ve…,” Javier stammers, in a bit of surprise to himself. After the OTHER big thing that happened to him, he thought he’d be okay with talking about this. At the same time, this was his first time grazing the subject with someone else. “I’ve gotten… a new Axiom.”

Sylvia and Oswin’s eyes open in unison to that.

“A… A new one?” she says.

Javier nods, eyes roaming over his arm. “Technically, I’ve always had it. I just… I learned more about it.”

“What Axiom is it?” Oswin asks, genuinely interested to know.

“I’m… I’m not sure,” Javier responds, looking back up at them. “It’s locked.”

“Locked?” Sylvia asks. “You can’t use it?”

“I can. Just… very little. Only enough to cover parts of my left arm here.”

“What does it do?” asks Oswin.

“It’s very strange,” Javier starts, leaning his back against the wall behind him. “But essentially, I can pass through objects with it. Phase through them.”

“P-Phasing?” Oswin reels back. “L-Like a ghost?”

“That actually sounds… really useful,” Sylvia notes.

“It is,” Javier says. “It’s um, how I… how I kept track of you when you went into that lab earlier.” He speaks a bit sheepishly now, averting his gaze.

“W-What?!” Sylvia stammers, standing up. “J-Just how long have you been following us, buster?! What, were you creeping on us too when we were—?!”

“Sylvia!” Oswin yells out, turning bright red.

The implication makes Javier blush too. “N-No!” he stammers out. “I-I’ve just been following since Aster City, n-nothing more! Honest!”

“Hmph!” Sylvia sits back down, arms crossed, her own cheeks dusted with red. “You better not be lying.”

“I’m not lying!” Javier says, his blush fading as he tries to change the topic. “A-And that experiment you guys did, just what was that? What did you make? The power and lights were going quite crazy.”

“Oh, um, we made… this.” Sylvia reaches into her pocket of her lab coat, pulling out the H-Nutrient crystal shard, which was still in one piece this whole time.

“Woah…” Javier’s eyes widen, him moving closer, but halting at some point; he didn’t want to make them uncomfortable, especially after he just admitted to basically stalking them. “W-What is that? Axionite?”

“No,” she says, holding up the crystal so the light of the room refracts off its edges a bit. “We used Axionite residue to make it, but it’s something else. We call it…” She looks to Oswin then, so he can jump in with the name.

“…H-Nutrient!” Oswin says proudly, even grinning. “The H stands for healing-slash-health.”

Javier brightens at that. “A healing crystal?”

“Yes,” Sylvia says. “Once we iron out the kinks, you’ll see this everywhere! We don’t want to privatize it, so we’re making it for mass-production in mind, all competitors welcome.”

“It’s… It’s sort of our way to give back to the world,” Oswin adds, a bit shy. “Our way to make up for… well, you know.”

Javier saddens at that, indeed knowing that perfectly. “You don’t need too—” Javier gets cut off by Sylvia.

“Yeah, we do,” Sylvia says, lowering her glance. “Just because we weren’t involved with those horrid GearTerra projects doesn’t mean…”

They fall into silence then, one born of not just regret but still some lingering tension between to really broach what happened. Javier swallows, thinks, tries to come up with something that will hopefully clear their consciences. Finally, he speaks up.

“N-No one blames you for… for those atrocities. I certainly don’t.”

Sylvia and Oswin look up to him then, both surprised and… a little touched by that. Javier never liked GearTerra to begin with, Sylvia knew that. Maybe that was to blame for some of their initial friction. Yet, him not blaming them, not shoving them in with the other guilty parties like everyone else did… She shakes her head, trying not to let this man get there.

“T-That’s nice,” she awkwardly stammers out.

Oswin looks at Sylvia and frowns a little, but he’s still nodding along; maybe part of him agrees with Sylvia too, that they SHOULD be blamed. After all, they were there. They were in that military for a long while. They could’ve looked into things, should have at some point. They may have never known or suspected those darker experiments within the group, but… they should have. They really should have.

“Is that…” Javier finally speaks up again, gently. “Is that why Colonel Raul is after you, for that crystal? This H-Nutrient?”

“P-Partly,” Sylvia responds. “Seems like his eyes are on Nuclei. That’s the Robo we built to make—”

Suddenly, there’s a loud crash. A very loud one. And it’s near. All three of them jump up immediately, Javier’s hand going right to his hip (a cop’s instinct).

“What was that?” Oswin asks.

“N… No…” Sylvia whispers, already expecting the worst. “Don’t tell me they reactivated…”

Javier grits his teeth, his hand digging into his right pocket and pulling something small out, concealed within his palm. “If it’s what we think it is, you guys run and find someplace else to hide, you hear me?” He turns to the door, nearing the handle.

“W-Wait,” Sylvia says, moving forward in instinct. “If it IS RUTH, then you’re not gonna be able to do this alone!”

“Don’t worry,” Javier says, flashing the couple a confident smile. “I got something special for it this time.”

And with that, Javier vanishes in a blue flash.

Outside the old archive room, in the bottom floor of the library, moves about the tall and violent Robo. It’s hulking, semi-skeletal body moves through the bookshelves, knocking them over, along with everything else in its way. Its metal feet stomp over the books under it, cruelly and carelessly shredding years of work in seconds. Its body hums louder than before, the lights circuiting over its body even brighter, with a change behind it.

Javier reappears on the top floor of the library, standing on a large bookshelf, careful not to topple it over. He narrows his eyes down at RUTH, immediately clocking the change on the machine: an orb-like light behind its neck, along with the rest of its lights like a beating heart.

He opens his left hand, which crackles for a quick moment with electricity, quiet enough that the Robo doesn’t notice. Javier momentarily looks over at the room they were hiding in, slowly seeing as its door opens. He can see Sylvia’s eyes peek out from the small opening, her eyes scanning and quickly finding him.

Javier slowly nods his head, then signals to his left with his eyes, confirming their suspicions. He can see her faint response, her head nodding back. He places a finger over his mouth as his last communication with them, then shifts his attention to the Robo.

RUTH stomps around, its visors scanning the massive area and all its quirks. “RUTH. HEAT AND SCENT SIGNATURES OF TARGETS NEAR.” It scans the left sector of the library, it’s internal systems humming as they calculate the—

A spear suddenly strikes RUTH! The sharp and long electric bolt strikes its red orb, bull’s eye.

RUTH screeches loudly, turning around, the spear still lodged into it. The Robo’s mouth is already open as it turns, only to be met by a large bookshelf flung its way.

The shelf strikes the Robo, but RUTH cleaves the wood with its arms, ripping it apart, revealing Javier calmly approaching, now on the same bottom floor of the library.

“You know,” Javier starts, a stern focus coursing through him. “I still remember when your kind used to be a little board, coated with scraps. I still don’t know why we had to change that, but I do know this…”

He raises his right hand, a blue aura surrounding his hand.

“…you’re still just a tool.”

From Javier’s hand, a grey crystal floats out, surrounded by the same aura over his hand. Suddenly, the crystal starts to spin in place, sparks of electricity striking it from Javier’s palm. As the crystal is struck, it starts to glow bright, shining so brightly, that RUTH’s visors are overwhelmed.

The Robo still fires its signature mount-beam at Javier, making direct contact. Yet Javier remains standing.

As its visors return to normal, something is in front of Javier, covering the middle of his body. It’s a long and large grey crystal shard, with smoke rising from it, right where the beam hit. However, the shard remains unharmed, as unblemished as RUTH’s body or the metal walls caging them in.

In one end of this large shard are two smaller shards, sharpened like a blade and floating around the larger shard, an orbit resembling a drill-like movement. The shards are moved back, revealing Javier wielding the whole collective, a weapon held from the other end, where the original crystal—the smallest shard—remains, tight under Javier’s reverse grip.

Ready to strike, Javier charges RUTH.

“Fated to be trash!”

✧ Chapter 9 ✧

Thunderstruck

Javier’s drill strikes RUTH’s face, knocking away a mouth-bream before it has the chance to fire at him. RUTH stumbles back, but quickly regaining a hard footing on the ground, the Robo stares Javier down.

“RUTH. INTRUDER TARGETTED.”

RUTH suddenly propels itself up in the air, slamming down on Javier before he can dodge the attack. Moving his crystal weapon over himself, he blocks the brunt of the force, face coming up to see RUTH’s mouth cannon up close. Javier’s eyes shift from their usual maroon to a yellow, causing the spear lodged into the back of RUTH’s neck to disperse out, electrocuting the Robo.

As the machine reacts with a screech, Javier moves up a hand, taking hold of RUTH’s face and bringing it down. He vanishes mid-way through his slam, teleporting away so the Robo quickly hits the ground.

RUTH rapidly recovers, looking to its left to see Javier reappear through a blue flash. Its mouth opens up, reading another mouth-bream and firing off a weaker but faster version. Javier just manages to dodge this one, following the momentum of his movement to twist his body fully around, his hands covered with a blue aura as he does so. RUTH immediately looks down then, too slow as a chunk of earth beneath it flips over, squashing RUTH under it.

Before the Robo can recover and burst out, Javier takes psionic hold of the new earth under RUTH, trapping the machine in floating slabs of concrete, which Javier slingshots away. He turns around as he does so, sending the projectile through a wall by the entrance to the library.

Letting out a pant, Javier turns his gaze up to the top floor, just in time to see Oswin and Sylvia rush out of the Archive Room.

“Go!” Javier yells out, turning back to face where he just threw RUTH. “And don’t look back! This thing’s stronger than before!” He grips his crystal drill tightly, his other hand crackling with electricity.

Sylvia runs out of the room first, charging forward through the door, with Oswin right behind her, green orbs formed over his palms. As Sylvia runs, she eyes the ventilation ducts above, while also the distant window in front of them, considering their options. The moment is all too brief, as the window shatters.

“Gah!”

Sylvia stops dead in her tracks, grabbing Oswin by the collar of his lab coat before he can get any closer to RUTH, who lands some feet in front of them, crunching the glass shards in its path.

“RUTH. TARGETS ACQUIRED.”

The Robo dashes forward, only to be tackled by Javier, who charges in through the left via a teleport.

Momentarily holding RUTH against a large bookshelf with his psychic power, Javier yells at the students. “Keep going!” He grits through his teeth.

They don’t need to be told twice. Holding Oswin’s hand, Sylvia jumps through the open window. Landing on the ground first, she taps into her Power Axiom, using her great strength to easily carry Oswin in her arms as she runs.

“I run, you shield!” she says to him as she dashes forward.

Oswin quickly situates himself over her arms, facing behind them, hands open with his green energy to protect them with his Defense Axiom. From their growing distance, Oswin can hear and see several red beams and electric ray shoot out of the library.

Javier finally crashes through the wall of the library, seeming to hang in the air for a moment before RUTH comes over him. Holding his arms and legs with its limbs, RUTH propels itself down onto the ground, smashing Javier, blasting away a crater on the hard surface.

The dust clearing, Javier grits his teeth, struggling in place as RUTH’s face hangs near once again. A low growl comes out the Robo then, a sound of anger mixed with satisfaction, the machine’s jaw almost twisting to form… a smile.

“Just… what are you… smiling at, wretch?!” Javier grits out, his arms trembling as they struggle against the Robo’s might.

RUTH pulls its head back then, winding back, keeping Javier’s body pinned down, then moves to slam down, to break Javier’s face with its own. However, a small barrier stops it, coming over Javier’s head.

Its attack stopped, RUTH twists its head to see Oswin for a split second, before he disappears as Sylvia makes a sharp turn around a hall. The Robo screeches in rage, its mouth opening, only for it to be filled with crystal. Javier’s weapon flies in, charging into RUTH so strongly that the Robo is knocked away from its foe.

Javier pushes himself up, panting and taking hold of his drill as it quickly returns to his grip. RUTH slides across the floor, halting its movement with its four limbs on the ground, crawling like a spider, lifting rubble and permanently slashing the floor open.

RUTH stands and screeches again at Javier, its mouth cannon coming out to fire. Javier swipes his crystal drill, rotating it in his grasp to return it to its usual reverse grip.

“What? Want more, lata?” Javier spits out.

The mouth-cannon ejects out further from RUTH’s mouth, gathering more energy than before, the end heating up and burning bright. In response, Javier winds his right arm back, then swipes just as the thicker mouth-beam fires.

As Javier’s weapon is swiped through the air, the two smaller shards on its end are launched, the shards spinning around each other as they close the gap on RUTH. The spiral tanks the red blast and strikes the Robo, pushing it away as it cuts the surroundings.

While RUTH deals with the crystal spiral, Javier moves his left hand in front of him, opening his palm, somewhat near his chest. RUTH pushes its arms forward, shifting its tactics to try and grab the spinning crystals. Electricity then sparks out from Javier’s left palm, gathering and collecting in one plane, creating a sphere in front of Javier’s chest.

RUTH’s arms keep getting struck, but eventually its metal fingers find and clamp onto the shards, halting the assault and hunching its body, pushing forward its cannon, but Javier is already set. The shards vanish from RUTH’s grip, in time to Javier to make his move. The electric sphere sparking in front of his chest, held underneath by his left palm, Javier pulls his right arm back, making a fist, then strikes.

“Eat THIS!”

With his fist punching the sphere, Javier sends the electricity rocketing forwards. The orb cuts through the long hall almost instantly, blasting RUTH in the chest.

The Robo’s body is engulfed with electric power, RUTH bathed in the crackling light, the sphere dragging it away, blasting the machine through wall-after-wall of concrete.

Having reached a staircase, Sylvia runs down the flight of stairs, cradling in Oswin closely.

“I don’t hear anymore fighting,” Oswin says, turning in to look up at her in her arms.

Sylvia bitterly laughs through her panting as he runs. “You’re not getting me to put you down for one second, my scout!”

They lightly stumble as Sylvia slips on a step a little, but she keeps her balance and uses the momentum to keep running.

“You gotta slow down, my colonel! It’s getting slipperyyy!!!”

Sylvia slips again, this time enough for her to fall. Before she hits the floor and tumbles down, she tosses Oswin up in the air, rolling down steps before she grabs some with her hands. She quickly pushes herself off the ground with her strength, propelling herself through the air just fast enough to land right where Oswin does, catching him in her arms just before he hits the floor.

“You… were… saying…?” Sylvia pants out, forcing a smiling as a drop of blood drips down from her mouth.

“Syl!” Oswin says, getting off her arms to tend to her as she sits down in exhaustion. He carefully moves her to a wall, where she relaxes against it as she gasps for air. “You’re hurt.”

Oswin looks over her body, checking the biggest problem areas—her neck, joints, spine—while Sylvia keeps on panting.

“Oh…? I… am…?” She breathes out. “That’s… too bad…!”

She hangs her head down, but Oswin carefully catches her, steading her head with both hands. “Sylvia, stay with me. Did you hit your head? Any neck pain?”

“No… I don’t… think so… Man… my cardio… really sucks…!”

Oswin leans in close, double-checking her body, finding no evidence of any damage around her head—save for the drop of blood rolling down her cheek from her lips. He takes a closer look her, narrowing his eyes.

“Hey, I think… Maybe… you bit your mouth?”

“Huh…? Really…?” Sylvia moves a limp hand up, shoving it into her mouth, then groans as she pulls it out with more drops of blood there. “Aw, rats…! I bit… my cheek…! That’s… gonna turn… into a canker sore…!”

Oswin can’t help the smile that comes over him, relieved the only damage she sustained was relatively minor. Taking hold of his long sleeve, Oswin gently wipes the blood off her cheek.

“No more ice creams,” Oswin says, offering her his hand.

A blue flash shortly appears, followed by Javier, who sees as Oswin helps Sylvia off the ground. “You both alright?” He desperately asks them. “Either of you hurt?”

“Technically, yeah,” Sylvia says, still a bit peeved off at herself, rubbing the outside of her cheek, but breathing more normally now. “How about you? You doin’ okay, Javier?” She asks Javier that so casually, she surprises herself as the words leave her mouth, having so quickly put aside… well, everything about him. She closes her lips, unsure how to take back some of that.

“I’ll manage,” Javier responds, rubbing a wrist. “That Robo, it’s truly an advanced one.”

“Sure is,” Oswin says, rubbing his chin in thought. “Not one from GearTerra, that much is certain.”

“Were you able to defeat it?” Sylvia asks.

“For now,” Javier says, moving a hand over his right shoulder, wincing a bit. “Something tells me it won’t be long before we see it again.”

That makes Sylvia frown, but it only makes sense. Thinking of RUTH, she imagines Nuclei, hesitantly wondering if they’ll get to see THEIR Robo again—or anything else outside the campus. She shakes her head; she can’t go there now. Reaching into the pocket of her lab coat, she pulls out her H-Nutrient crystal, still in one shape.

“We really did make it too sturdy,” Oswin comments as he looks at it, Sylvia nodding as she slips it back in her coat.

“You said RUTH wasn’t with GearTerra?” Javier interjects.

“Oswin’s right about that,” Sylvia answers. “All the advanced Robo had to go through us. I saw some pretty intricate prototypes, even had to decommission some units myself. But I never saw anything like that before, nothing like RUTH. It must be a custom-made model, not meant for third party reproduction.”

Javier nods, unable to help himself banter back, “Not like that healing crystal of yours.”

“R-Right,” she says, unclear what—if anything else—to say to that.

Oswin still looks pensive, off in his own world, too distracted to notice the minor moment. “Its outer shell is dense,” he says. “If only we could get some of it under a microscope…”

“That… won’t be necessary,” a filtered voice cuts in.

The trio immediately tenses up. Sylvia puts up her hands into fists, Oswin opens his palms with green orbs over them, while Javier stands in front of them both, arm stretched out, his body and cape covering them as he faces his foe.

From the dark hall, a familiar low hum of energy is heard. The sound of harsh metallic steps echoes through the hall, the hum moving closer, two red eyes cutting through the darkness.

Javier grits his and quickly summons for his crystal drill, a sudden action that makes Sylvia and Oswin jolt in surprise—their first time seeing this up close.

“You two don’t stop running,” Javier says to them. “You go and run. Find a safe room and stay there.”

The closer those red eyes get, the more Javier’s heart races, his left hand crackling with electricity, ready for another battle. Oswin and Sylvia just stand there, too shocked by the intrusion to move right away, and sensing his old friends still near him, Javier yells out.

“What are you waiting for? Go!”

Oswin snaps out of it, quickly turning and grabbing Sylvia’s hand, pulling her along as they run the opposite direction. However, Sylvia keeps thinking… about those eyes. Then, she suddenly halts, planting her feet in place, drawing Oswin to a stop. He faces Sylvia, looking at her in fear.

“Sylvia?”

The metal steps keep coming closer, keep coming, until they reach the edge of the darkness in the long hall in front of the group. Javier moves his left arm back, ready to unleash something, when… Sylvia arrives, putting her hand over Javier’s arm.

“Wait!” she says.

Javier looks at Sylvia with a shocked and horrified reaction. ‘What are you still doing here?’ he wants to scream at her, but… he doesn’t.

“Last time I saw you, it was in gold and brown,” the filtered voice says.

The metal feet step into the light, revealing… not RUTH. Not a Robo, but instead… a man.

A long black cape flows behind him, his body clad in a gold and brown armor that would put Raul’s apparel to shame. The man’s feet are metal, same as RUTH. His left arm is metal, same as RUTH. But the rest of him, GearTerra.

He wears a mask over his face, a metal one with red eyes, all framed by very dark green hair, looking unkempt yet refined. The man’s right arm, a human one under a long brown sleeve, comes up over his face, pulling off the mask which releases some steam in its removal. Under the mask, lies the face of a man—a human man—who’s face has been mostly replaced with Robo technology, almost resembling RUTH’s face, with only a single red eye behind the mask.

“Colonel Sylvia Pressfield,” the man speaks, his voice more human without the mask. “Long time.”

Sylvia’s eyes widen at the sight, while Javier looks at this cyborg with… a faint recognition. Not of RUTH, not of anyone he met personally, but… certainly someone he saw before. Then, Sylvia speaks, and the puzzle snaps together.

“…Prion…”

They were now standing in front of General Prion, the leader of GearTerra.

✧ Chapter 10 ✧

General Terms

Oswin had already seen what General Prion looked like now—a year ago, during the big announcement that followed the collapse in the Phantasy Ruins. After he came out of his coma, Oswin watched as the reports kept coming in, day-after-day, where new GearTerra soldiers were declared missing or deceased. But the hardest one to stomach was the disappearance of General Victor, the newly appointed leader to replace the late General Myriam. Yet so soon after he was declared the new leader, Victor was gone too.

Sylvia and Oswin tuned into the TV one night, from the Oswin’s hospital room, all to see a “Hopeful Message” from their former group. And thus, out came their comrade Prion on the screen, but now… completely unrecognizable, most of his body taken by the ruins, replaced with metal.

What struck Oswin the most that night wasn’t Colonel Prion breaking the long-held traditions of GearTerra and claiming control of the group as the new general publicly, it was the way Prion’s body sharply keeled over after a simple cough, frozen and locked in pain before he was assisted. Suddenly, Oswin’s own pain, his massive scar and removed stomach, it all seemed like a small inconvenience compared to what Prion must’ve gone through.

And now here Prion is, standing in front of them, in a dark hall of their medical campus, in flesh and bone—what little remains.

“You’re… you’re really here,” Oswin finally gets out. It’s mixed to see him; surprise, affection, fear, all stirred into one pot. Oswin looks Prion over, truly still stunned by the dramatic change from the simple man they once knew. His eyes are momentarily drawn to a bit of gold which peeks out from within Prion’s large cape.

“I am,” Prion responds. He moves his mask back on over his face, covering himself with more metal.

Javier doesn’t wait any longer. His eyes shift to blue, as the sparks over his left hand are infused with his Psychic energy. With that, he moves his arm up, pointing up his index finger, as the now blue electricity gathers over his fingertip as a small sphere.

“You…,” Javier growls. “Stand back!”

Javier then points his arm up even higher, sending the sphere above, teleporting right above General Prion. By pointing his finger down, Javier makes the sphere cast down a thick bolt, striking Prion with blue light.

Sylvia covers her eyes, shielding herself from the massive shine, the collision making her hair and coat flow out with the wind. Javier’s angered and protective expression changes as the sight before him does, the blue light moving up, rising above Prion, gathering around something else, hitting something which the cyborg general wields.

Above General Prion, griped by his human hand, is a long rod, the lower half of which has a blade, while the upper half has a gold baton, the latter of which tanks the electric attack like a lightning rod. As the attack diffuses, Prion remains unharmed under it. And as the intense light clears, both Oswin and Sylvia quietly gasp at the sight. The legendary rod—the Orichalcum Rod—the symbol of GearTerra’s leadership, the weapon all their generals wielded, and which has been passed down generation-by-generation, an object Sylvia nor Oswin had ever seen up close like this, is now here, under Prion’s grasp.

“Are you done?” Prion calmly asks Javier, drawing the rod to his side.

Javier swallows, but no, he’s not done, not even close. His left palm opens up, crackling again with bolts, but that’s when Oswin steps forward, stopping Javier from more by placing a hand over his shoulder.

“Just wait,” Oswin speaks, trying to be soft while also managing his own hurt around Javier.

“B-But…”

Javier looks to Sylvia, who’s facing Prion now, in awe.

“You… You really have it,” Sylvia whispers. “The… The rod… after all this time.”

General Prion simply nods, no ounce of arrogance radiating off him as he snaps the rod back over his belt, by his hip, shifted in to be mostly hidden by his cape. His eyes then look to Sylvia, who steps protectively in front of Sylvia. “So, you’re the famous Faradforcer,” Prion says. “The one who’s been so… passionate about our erasure.”

“I said, stand back,” Javier says with a serious and sharp tone, gripping his own weapon tighter. “These two aren’t with your group anymore.”

“Hm.” General Prion looks to Sylvia, his human eye behind his mask narrowing at her. “Colonel Sylvia.” He then quickly shifts his gaze to Oswin. “Scout Oswin.” He finally stares into Javier’s eyes as he speaks to them. “Is this axisguard correct? You indeed no longer wish to be with GearTerra?” Prion’s filtered voice makes it hard to tell if he’s mad, serious, or just trying to make his words clear over the filter.

Sylvia swallows, gauging her options. She knew Prion. Back then, she didn’t know him nearly as much as Oswin, who became her best friend in GearTerra, but still, she KNEW Prion, had worked with him as colonels before. His interest in Robotics meant he often sought her out for her input, as she did lead the military’s Robo division. Even when Prion’s division was Field Operations, he sought her thoughts. At some point, she suspected he might try to take her job someday, which would’ve made things real complicated for her—professionally and personally—but Prion never did that. He never went behind her back, never applied to move. They had a mutual respect.

It was even thanks to the three of them here—Oswin, Javier, and her—that Colonel Prion was cleared of suspicion for General Myriam’s murder. Sylvia remembers his emotional response when he was cleared of the charges, she can even still recall… the night after the murder, when Oswin and her found Prion crying in that attic, how they talking to him that night, how they helped him sober up and walk back home. That was a real special night also because… that’s when Sylvia started to notice the signs that Oswin might like her.

All these memories… they course through Sylvia in the moment, while looking at the new Prion that stands before her now, asking if she truly didn’t want GearTerra. It’s impossible for her to see this cyborg as that same man from then, the one they once bought coffee for, the one they tried to help recover from the death of his mentor in Myriam. This half-man/half-machine… is it truly the same Prion she knew back then?

She’s not sure if she should respond, how she should even sound, the words stuck in her throat as she tries to figure out the danger he poses. Seeing what else she’s also looking at, the other man in front of her—Javier of all people standing there… it makes her realize that this… is a night of risks. They had to get out of this campus, and if she can trust her former friend in Javier to get them out, then maybe… she can trust her former comrade too.

“T-That’s right,” Sylvia finally says. “Oswin and I are done.”

General Prion looks at Sylvia again, then at Oswin, who tenses up under Prion’s gaze. Oswin opens his mouth, about to say something too, something to make Sylvia’s words clear, something that could get across that all he cares about in the world, in life, is her. But he doesn’t get the chance.

“Hm.” Prion simply hums again. Then he turns around, cape flowing behind him. “That’s a shame.” Then, just like that, he walks away, his metal feet clanking on the floor as he moves.

Javier looks dumb-founded by the action, staying still, trying to figure out what just happened, if this is someone a trap or not. Sylvia’s on the same boat, until the feeling of Oswin’s hand sliding into her, their fingers intertwining as he comes to stand by her, snaps her out of it. Still, the trio doesn’t move, unsure exactly of their immediate next more, watching Prion calmly walk away.

General Prion suddenly stops walking in the darkness, but he doesn’t turn around. “Well?”

The trio exchange a glance, Javier speaking up. “Well, what?”

“Are you all just going to keep standing here, allow yourself be prey to RUTH?” Prion asks, now turning to them. “Or are you coming with me?”

The tension leaves Oswin first, who steps forward. “W-Wait, you’re not mad?”

General Prion stays silent for a moment, before speaking up. “No,” he simply says. “But even if I was, what does that matter here? You’re in need of help, and I’m doing what any self-respecting general would do: Helping.” And with that, Prion turns back around and keeps walking.

Javier is stunned at that, his crystal drill deactivating, turning to its smaller single shard form in his hand. Sylvia sees the motion happen, not fully understanding how Javier’s peculiar weapon works, but now’s not the time. She looks up at him. “Hey,” she says. “We better go. I think… we can trust him.”

Javier blinks, shaking his head a bit, but only to pull himself together, then looks back at Sylvia with concern. “You sure?”

She nods, then looking back at General Prion, whispers, “I think.”

✦ ✦ ✦

They’ve traveled for some minutes now in silence, the trio of Javier, Sylvia, and Oswin now a quartet with Prion. However, the initial trio still keeps their distance. Unable to stand the tense silence forever, Javier speaks up.

“Where exactly are you taking us, Prion?” Javier asks, a stern edge in his voice.

“A safe place,” he responds. “And to a way out.”

“Way out?” Sylvia brightens at that hearing. “You found a tunnel or something not blocked by the lockdown?”

“Not exactly,” Prion says as the group reaches the end of a hall. He looks to his left, then his right, while Javier looks at Oswin and Sylvia, confused.

“Um, General Prion?” Oswin asks. “What are you doing?”

“Just ‘Prion’ is fine,” he starts. “And I’m trying to determine the fastest route.”

“What, why?” Javier asks, tensing up. “Is RUTH nearby or—?”

“No,” Prion cuts in. He places his metal hand over the brick wall in front of him, laying it flat against the surface.

Javier tries to take a closer look, curious about just what the general is doing, getting a slight look at his metal limb before… a cracking is heard. Prion then simply steps back, the entire wall coming off the structure of the area, almost as if the wall was somehow glued to Prion’s hand.

The sudden and strange action makes Javier stumble back a bit in surprise, along with Sylvia and Oswin too. Turning to his side, Prion simply drops the wall, letting it detach off him, it falling flat on the ground in an instant.

“Friction,” General Prion says to the unasked questions. “A useful tool, as you can see.” With that, he walks forward, facing the dark opening below the removal of the wall exposed. “Come. Bottom level.” And just like that, Prion hops down.

Javier swallows, letting out a breath shortly, before he turns to face Oswin and Sylvia. “Stick close to me. No matter what, I’ll keep you safe.”

They nod their heads in unison, still a bit uncomfortable yet grateful for Javier’s aid. They watch as Javier jumps down, taking a step to see as he makes it safely down the void. Gripping each other’s hands tighter, giving each other a mutual squeeze, they let out a breath before both utter Sylvia’s catchphrase.

“Embrace the space.” And thus, the duo jumps down.

The shadows overwhelm them quickly and fully, the bottom of the chasm darker than even the halls above. Move down the void in complete darkness is disorienting, as the movement is rapid yet the jet black view doesn’t change.

Their sense of space kicks in, the sounds of their fall growing smaller and move compact.

“Brace, Oswin!” Sylvia yells, tightening her legs for the impact. Oswin adjusts in time too, landing on concrete.

“Ah!” Javier rushes to their sides. “You alright? I was trying to catching, but I can’t see a thing in this complete—"

Light interrupts Javier from his back, illuminating the group in the dark corridor. Turning to the light, they see Prion, the light coming from his left Robotic eye within his mask.

“They’re capable, axisguard,” General Prion says, then looks to his front, the light moving along with his sight. In front of the group is just more darkness, some walls faintly visible on their sides, concrete everywhere. “On my mark. It’s easy to get lost here.” He then starts moving.

Javier turns his attention to Sylvia and Oswin, both surprising him by just walking. “You’re… alright, then?”

“Yeah, fine,” Sylvia says. She ALMOST smiles at Javier again, but catches herself again too. “We um, we are capable, like Prion said.”

“R-Right, of course,” Javier responds. “I just…” But he doesn’t finish that thought, as his old friends keep moving forward to stay with Prion.

“S-So, uh…,” Oswin starts as he reaches Prion. “Where exactly is the ‘here’ that we’re in?”

“Basement,” Prion says. “We’re nearing the underground parking.”

“Parking, huh? Never been down here,” Sylvia adds. “Yet you have?”

“No.”

“Huh? Then how—?” Sylvia gets interrupt by Prion as he taps his own forehead with his human hand. It’s here that Sylvia notices that Prion’s right hand… isn’t complete. His index finder is missing, replaced with more metal, which is what he is tapping his head with.

“Downloaded schematics,” Prion says. “An upside to the extensive surgery.”

“R-Right,” Sylvia utters, lowering her glance as a bit of shame comes over her. They were there in the collapse and… if they weren’t, then maybe Prion…

General Prion quickly notes Sylvia’s shift, but before he can ask anything, Javier interrupts.

“You mentioned RUTH earlier,” he says. “Anything you can tell us about it?”

“What do you want to know?” the general asks, a slight bitter edge in his filtered voice.

“It’s a custom-made Robo, right?” Oswin chimes in. “Who built it?”

“We built it,” General Prion flatly states.

That almost makes Sylvia stop walking. “W-We?”

“So, it IS from GearTerra then?” Javier asks, almost too eagerly and accusatory.

“No,” Prion responds.

“I don’t… I don’t understand,” Sylvia breathes out.”

“We is me, me and a friend of mine in Robotics,” Prion starts, right as they reach a sharp incline that they must climb over. As they move, he continues. “We built that Robo and it was supposed to remain decommissioned, only in one piece to be studied.”

“Tell that to Colonel Raul,” Sylvia as she makes her climb, offering her hand to Oswin to help him up.

“Raul?” Prion stops moving, either waiting for them or halted.

“He’s the one who sent RUTH,” Javier notes, climbing up by himself once Oswin makes it over. “Sent it after them, the swine.”

“Hm.” General Prion lowers his head, the pieces within his Robotic eye moving as he thinks. “I… see.”

“Um, Prion?” Oswin asks. “Any ideas as to why RUTH is just so… harsh? Sylvia tried to pacify it before with the usual voice command, but it um… didn’t work.”

“You’re right, Oswin,” Prion says, facing the darkness in front of them. “Most Robo aren’t like RUTH, taken from safer places within Cyberspace.”

“Cyber… space?” Asks Javier, the first time hearing this term in relation to Robo. Prion stops, looks at Javier, then Sylvia.

“Erm, ignore that. He’s uh… a civilian with this stuff,” she says. Javier never did like Robo too much, back then.

“If you say so,” Prion says, turning back towards the path in front. “In any case, RUTH’s drive was taken from a Bad Sector. I suspect that’s the culprit behind RUTH’s… demeanor.”

“BAD sector?” Javier says incredulous. “Why would you do that? Actively put something ‘bad’ in a Robo of all places?”

“It’s a computational term, Faradforcer,” Prion replies coldly. “A part of Cyberspace that we struggle to fully comprehend—not inherently ‘bad’ as the name would suggest. Besides, the whole thing was an accident, a mistake in panicked thought. Surely, you must know what that’s like, axisguard.”

Javier angers; indeed, he does know that perfectly, has the hair and scars to show since he was a teen, but he doesn’t like the general’s tone. Before they can argue, however, Sylvia interjects forcefully.

“Is there a way to stop RUTH, Prion? We’ve had our encounters with it already, and Raul is unlikely to stop controlling it. He’s after US.”

Controlling it? Prion almost scoffs at the idea of “controlling” RUTH to do anything—as if that failed machine would even allow it. Instead, however, he decides to answer Sylvia’s question. “Yes, it can be stopped.”

“H-How?” Javier asks, possibly the most curious to know.

“The same way one stops anything else,” the general responds with cold implication.

“What, kill it?” Oswin asks in shock. “That thing can’t be killed! It’s tanked attacks from all of us by now, and not a scratch on it for show!”

“Exactly,” Prion says. “So, unless you can somehow depower it or rip out its battery, you are all better off keeping your distance. Has it caught your information yet?”

“Information?” Oswin asks.

“Scent, DNA, anything like that?” Prion asks back.

“I think it has,” Javier notes. “It said something about scent back in the library.”

“Ah, so YOU’RE the one who made that mess,” Prion says, shifting his attention back to Javier, taking on a scolding tone. “You really are an expert at leaving things in pristine shape, aren’t you, Faradforcer?”

At the sarcastic taunt, Javier grits his teeth a bit. “Sorry I couldn’t clean up, but I was trying to keep them safe!” He can’t see the general’s smug smile then, but sure can feel it, even through the metal mask.

“If you say so,” Prion says. He then shifts his attention to Sylvia. “Tell me, Sylvia, did you see exactly how Raul was supposedly controlling RUTH?”

“Oh.” Sylvia lowers her head as she thinks, going back to not exactly a fond memory, something she has already started to erase parts of in her. However, some bit do come back. “He put it in some king of chamber first, must’ve used his Axioms to make all that bone. Beyond that… I think he had some device on him. Maybe… a remote?”

“Lokk’s remote…,” the general whispers under his breath. Javier’s eyebrow quirks up at that.

“It wasn’t working great, though,” Oswin notes. “RUTH just… it was like it was fighting Raul’s directives, or at least… it really wanted to. I’ve never seen a Robo do that before.”

“Hm… Not good…” Prion utters, not halting his continued movement but starting to slow down his pace. “Rebellious actions already… How about its limiters?”

“Limiters?” Sylvia asks, the notion of restrictions upon a Robo feeling foreign, even to someone like her. They were already obedient devices, not unlike their only pre-Cyberspace counterparts that followed code. Though, in RUTH’s case…

“We were able to apply six limiters over RUTH,” Prion starts, “right before we decommissioned it. Given its apparent rebellion, I suspect it has already shattered some. How many limiters has it broken?”

Javier looks at Oswin and Sylvia, who look about as lost as he does. “I’m… I’m not sure,” he finally says in response.

“Allow me to rephrase then,” Prion says, facing them as he stops walking in the darkness, his Robo eye briefly flashing orange. “How many times has RUTH’s appearance changed tonight? Physically and permanently? Surely, its power has risen since your first encounter, yes?”

Javier takes a moment to think, and he doesn’t have to think very long. “Twice,” he says. “Once during our first fight, and then… in the library it already looked different. It has this um… red orb behind its neck now.”

“Then that is definitely two limiters down,” General Prion clears up. “You’re lucky to still be alive, axisguard. It took many of my scouts to restraint the Robo at that level.”

Javier swallows, nods, almost envisioning the scene, dreading the thought of dealing with any more broken limiters.

The group stands there, looking around for a moment, waiting for Prion.

“Uh, Prion? Are we uh… done walking?” Oswin asks.

“For the moment,” he responds.

“Shouldn’t we keep moving?” Sylvia asks. “I mean, if this stronger RUTH is after us, then…”

A low rumbling is heard then, Javier’s right hand going to his hip in reflex. He calms, however, as the sound is much too weak yet fast to be RUTH. And indeed, it isn’t the Robo.

Nearby, just behind General Prion, comes in another light source: an open elevator, lit with an orange light, sliding up through the slot on the apparent wall around it. It makes a low buzz to indicate its arrival, Prion heading to it promptly and opening the small gate door to it.

“After you,” the general says, signaling to the platform inside with his left metal arm.

Sylvia and Oswin nod, walking forward and carefully entering the small space.

“Thanks,” Sylvia says to General Prion, flashing him a small smile.

Javier follows them inside then, looking a bit more carefully at the general as he passes him—namely, at that metal arm of his. He noted its similarity to RUTH’s arms before, but now there’s no mistaking it: they’re the same. EXACTLY the same.

Prion may have been telling them the truth all along, but as the general then enters the elevator and closes the gate, causing the platform to start to descend, Javier can’t help the kernel of a small idea start to grow in his mind. And once they have descended for at least a minute, the idea is clear enough that Javier could say it: There’s a lot more between RUTH and Prion here, a LOT more.

✧ Chapter 11 ✧

Stirrings

The orange lights around the group flicker a bit as the elevator moves down the campus, their color reminding Sylvia of Nuclei’s new light. She reaches her hand into her coat pocket; her H-Nutrient crystal is still there. Oswin notices the move right away, shifting a bit in the cramped elevator to slide his arm into hers. She jolts a bit at the feeling, knocked out of her own thoughts, but looks to Oswin with a warm smile.

“How you holding up?” he whispers.

She considers responding to that vocally, but instead gently kisses her palm and gently rubs it over Oswin’s cheek.

Javier sees bits of them from his peripherals, but shifts his attention to Prion as they get tender. He tries to study the cyborg general further, see what this man is really about. Yes, he’s been helping them so far—providing some answers to RUTH’s mysteries—and is supposedly leading them somewhere fade, somewhere they could somehow escape. Supposedly.

He tries to remember more about that rod that the general used, the one that seemed to entrance Oswin and Sylvia so much. If things went south here, he’d have to find a way to get that weapon away from Prion. Javier moves his hand over the crystal in his pocket, Prion shifting a bit to look at him, as if sensing his unease.

“What?” Javier asks at the look, simultaneously gripping his would be weapon harder.

“We’re almost there,” Prion simply says, shifting his attention back forward.

Indeed, they don’t have to wait much longer before the elevator comes to a stop, the orange lights fading to reveal the normal lights of this part of the campus. It appears to be another basement-like area, but more compact than where they just were, still with concrete walls, but refined as a place where people are expected to traverse through.

Prion steps forward, once again holding the gate of the elevator open.

“Just where are we now?” Javier asks, passing Prion.

“You’ll see, axisguard.” He looks at Sylvia and Oswin, who exit the elevator after Javier.

“Well, this place certainly seems safer than above,” Sylvia says. “But I’m guessing there’s an actual room where going to?”

“Apt prediction,” Prion says, shutting the elevator. Because he uses his metal hand to do this, the sound of the door closing is harsh, likely an unintentional slam, but Prion doesn’t apologize, for that at least. He walks past the others, moving down this new hall. “Sylvia, Oswin… I must apologize.”

Sylvia swallows, her arms already tightening, preparing for the worst. “For… what?” she breathes out. She can see Oswin’s own hands open up in preparation, Javier also keeping his right hand in his pocket, his other hand starting to brighten with parts.

“For…” General Prion’s hand comes to his side. Out comes the Orichalcum Rod, pointed towards them, all too fast. “…this.”

The trio tenses up, moving to defend themselves, but then… Prion turns, jabbing the rod into the wall right next to him. He twists the rod in place, almost like a key. And then, another wall starts to react, the one right in front of the group, at the end of the hall in the distance. The wall slides up, revealing row upon row of other walls which slide up, all of which leads to… a room inside. A room that they can already see is filled with monitors, even from a distance.

“W-What…?” Sylvia breathes out. She walks forward, as if in a trance, an equally stunned and horrified Oswin following her.

Javier turns to Prion. “Just… what have you done?”

The trek to the newly revealed room could have been long or short, that time fades as both students walk inside and scan their new surroundings. Rows upon rows of computers, monitors showing different parts of the university. THEIR university. And that’s not all, for crammed in this space are soldier, nearly a dozen, all too busy working to look up at Oswin and Sylvia.

They both already know what this means, the organization of it is all too familiar to ignore. Still, Sylvia wants answers, right now. Answers and explanations.

“We had no intention of breaking your quiet peace,” says General Prion, who steps into the room now. “We were only here on temporary means.”

Javier steps in too, cutting through the space between the general and his friends. “Everything is temporary, isn’t it? What, did you run out of warehouses and factories? You wanna tell us—tell THEM—what you’re doing here, forming a base of operations in a MEDICAL campus?!”

Prion swallows, trying not to get into a screaming match with the very man who forced their hand, especially not in front of his subordinates. “Formed,” Prion blankly corrects.

“W-What?” Sylvia stammers out. Now she steps forward. “What do you mean ‘formed?’”

The rising voices start catching the attention of the soldiers in the room, who turn in their seats to look up at the scene, some even going so far as to place their hands over their nearby weapons. Maybe Prion should have scrutinized this action more before, but he couldn’t lie to Sylvia and Oswin, especially when he still owed them much. Still, this gathering isn’t playing out quite as he hoped. And now his soldiers were preparing for battle—the wrong fight. He quickly raises his hand, along with his voice.

“NO.”

Prion’s filtered voice vibrates through the room, his scouts shocked and some even a little scared, withdrawing their hands, some on instinct. The general closes his eyes behind his mask, sighing deeply. Definitely a harsher reaction than he aimed for; he still had much to learn about this new body.

General Prion steps forward, right in-between Javier and Sylvia, and addresses his forces. “Forgive me, my troops. Just… please pack your belongings and ready your exit. This place isn’t safe anymore.” Indeed, it wasn’t. For even if his old comrades weren’t here, the police would be soon; no place goes through a maximum-security lockdown without some investigations. Still, he would take advantage of the opportunities this exit would present.

“You are lucky, axisguard,” Prion says, turning to face him. “If you were alone here, somehow found us on your own, then trust me, the actions here would’ve been VERY different. But… you aren’t alone.” He looks at Sylvia and Oswin for a moment, before he continues. “I owe them. If it weren’t for them and some police officer, I might be behind bars right now. Maybe I might still bear my human body, but… my soul would never be at peace.” He walks, coming up to Sylvia. “Consider this… making us even.”

Sylvia swallows hard. She looks behind Prion, seeing the annoyed if not frustrated faces of all his soldiers behind him, likely all of them angry for having to be moved away from here, tonight of all nights. Things can’t have been easy for them since the government shutdown GearTerra, and while their group deserved it, some specific members didn’t. And is she so special? Are Oswin and her the only one allowed to escape punishment? Don’t these other people have a chance to leave the past behind too?

She takes in a deep breath, a purifying one, letting it all out through her nose, attempting to calm herself and stay there, to let herself remain on the logical side here. Javier might have been able to take down Raul and his soldiers before, but with Prion here… calm and mature conversations were the only valid choice, the smart choice.

“Just…,” she gets out. “Just promise me you didn’t hurt anybody. I don’t… I can live with you having stolen data and information, just… not lives. Tell me you didn’t do anything like… like the others did.”

Prion’s sole human eye darkens at the memory, the allusions to those within GearTerra that did those atrocities. The ones who ruined their name, and the ones who were ultimately responsible for their current status—beyond anyone else. He strongly and firmly nods his head. “If anyone even starts thinking of doing something like that here, I will PERSONALLY end them before any blood is drawn. Don’t you worry, Sylvia.”

The tension leaves her hearing that. Yes, this was this horrid, having had GearTerra under them for who knows how long. But, knowing no blood was ever spilled here… it changes things, dramatically. Plus… this helps to confirm it. Prion IS here, the old Prion. He may have physically changed almost entirely, he may be a bit rougher and more intimidating, but the old Prion she knew was still here, in some way she can feel.

Through all this, Javier’s head spins. He can’t quite get a good reading on Prion after all. Every time he thinks he’s figured out a facet of him, Prion complicates things with contradictions to his ideas of him. On the one hand, this does mean Prion could be the leader that GearTerra really needs, but on the other… it was too late. And regardless of his apparent decency, the remains of GearTerra were fractured, decentralized, not all reflections of their leader.

Oswin steps forward, looking up to Prion. “S-So, is this the safe place you were telling us about before?”

Prion nods, turning and inserting his weapon on a side panel nearby, causing the walls leading out of the room to come down, sealing them all safely in this emergency bunker.

“Then, um… where’s the exit?” Oswin asks, looking around. “I mean, I don’t see a secret tunnel here, or a duct, or…?”

“I’m… unlikely to be the one to directly free you,” Prion says, walking forwards to a computer, the soldier there moving aside to give Prion access.

“What?” Javier breathes out. “I thought you said you had a way out for them?”

“No natural way,” replies Prion, as he works away on the computer. Just then, the largest monitor in the room, the one in front of the group, turns on, showing a blueprint map of the entire Provenance University campus. “That colonel, Raul, made a big mistake. Trusting RUTH to hunt here… the Robo’s actions steer it to get maximum success for itself, even if it means catastrophe for everyone else.”

“We know about the Adamant Shields,” Javier says. “Already tried and failed against them.”

General Prion nods to that, skipping over some of the information he was about to say. “So long as the shields remain active, all natural means of escape here are non-existent.”

“H-How about unnatural one?” Oswin chimes in, signaling so Sylvia. “I-I mean, um, Sylvia here, she’s got the Power Axiom. I know these shields are made of Axionite, but m-maybe there’s a way we could… I don’t know, somehow use her Axiom to make an exit?”

The general walks back to Oswin, looking to Sylvia. “Indeed, in terms of maximum destructive potential, Sylvia’s Power Axiom is formidable. But… it’s not enough here. These shields were made to withstand strikes from Mythborns, beings far greater than all of us here combined.”

Sylvia bites her lip. “So what? What other means of escape do you have for us? Did you just sell us a bill of goods before, saying you had a way out? Or is our way out just… waiting in here? Waiting who knows how many days for the government to lift these Axionite walls?”

General Prion sighs. “Usually, yes. Situations like this would mean us spending days here just waiting. But no, Sylvia. I didn’t trick you. I simply found… the right unnatural exit.”

Slowly, something strange starts to happen. It’s a strange sensation that Javier reacts to right away, moving closer to Sylvia and Oswin, eyes widening, trying to prepare himself for… whatever’s going on. His eyes scan the room, trying to understand exactly what is going wrong here. It’s something he can’t quite specify, but it’s there, something really big is… off.

Javier keeps looking around, keeps wondering, about to voice his anxiety when… he notes the physical change. The exact thing that’s making everything strange. The shadows in the room… are moving. Not in response to a new light source, but moving by themselves, slowly and unnaturally. All the shadows, even the ones in his hood.

Everyone else in the room, besides Javier and shortly then the students, don’t react with fear or strangeness. Instead, it’s almost as if this change was… expected. Some even look a bit… annoyed?

The trio looks up at the ceiling, at the walls, at their own hands, as all these shadows slip away, away from where they are supposed to be. They move to a single place, a space to the left of Prion, bunching together, clumping together to form something that rises, a shape of a flat circle, filled with darkness. The flat circle is standing, perpendicular to the floor, almost like a hole through reality itself.

“Well, well, well~” A wicked-sounding voice chimes in. The shadow circle starts to lose its flatness, the edges twisting, fracturing out, changing into a spinning spiral of darkness, a complete abyss of jet black color, devoid of all light. “If you told me the party was gonna be so big… I would’ve brought snacks.”

Suddenly, two pure white circles—two white beady eyes—appearing in the darkness, piercing through with a sharp contrast. They are shortly followed by a white toothy grin which cuts in under the eyes.

Oswin stumbles back at the sight, gasping, caught by Sylvia who’s shaking and pale. “W-What is this…?”

Javier gulps, never having seen something this… wrongly bizarre. He can’t express it, can’t even think it in a clear way, but something deep in him feels it. That whatever this is… It’s about to be important to everything that follows. Not to this campus or even this night, but all nights to come.

From the black spiral, something steps through, a brown shoe stepping on the floor. It’s short, the source of both the white eyes and grin. It wears a dark purple suit—shirt and pants—with a purple top hat and pure white hands matching the eyes, and a long black cape matching the jet black head, whose face still bears that same grin. All of this… is a man.

The soldiers in the room tense as the man looks at them, while Prion steps forward, his grip over his weapon tightening. With a scowl, the general utters one word, equal parts annoyed and distained: “Despelder.”

✧ Chapter 12 ✧

Zones of Comfort

Dr. Cormac sat on a bench outside of Provenance University, a blanket draped over his shoulders, burn gel over his chest, which is exposed to the cool night—bandages over his pale skin, his lab coat and under shirt open. He’d seen lockdowns like this before, especially when the migrations to the big three cities first began. Back in his day, lockdowns only lasted an hour, thanks to GearTerra’s connections with the government keeping everything a tight schedule. Now there’s no GearTerra, and it’s been well over an hour now since Cormac was blasted out.

Unable to stay sitting forever, the doctor stands up, only for a nearby paramedic to quickly move towards him and try to settle him back down.

“Please, sir, you have to rest.”

Cormac instead shifts a bit in place, his way of brushing them off. “I know that. I just need to stretch my legs.”

Walking past the ambulance, Dr. Cormac walks past the curb, facing the campus’ parking lot, which is now crawling with all kinds of vehicles. Other ambulances, police cars, firetrucks, and—of course—news vans. He frowns at that, but doesn’t get to wallow in his distaste for long.

“Is there a Hal here?” A police officer is shouting nearby. He’s a tall man, with a blue uniform that hangs long, doing down to his knees, the officer’s dark blue spiky hair almost just as long. He’s near a larger police car, must’ve just arrived.

“I’m here,” Dr. Cormac says loudly, approaching the officer. “You’re the one in charge here, young man?”

“For now, yes,” the officer responds. He’s carrying around a small notepad, consulting it for a moment. “And you, Hal, you’re the one who was inside when the lockdown was triggered?”

“Please, just call me Dr. Cormac, or just by my last name, if you have to. And yes, that’s correct, I was inside, knocked away by a blast.”

The officer’s gaze lowers, seeing the bandages and burn gel over Cormac’s chest. “I see. Well, what can you tell me about—”

“Forgive my intrusion, Officer…” Cormac leans in a bit, finally seeing the officer’s name on his badge. “…Officer Warren, but I was expecting the Chief of Police here. It was my understanding that unlike her predecessors, she would handle these kinds of urgent matters herself.”

The officer—Warren—sighs. “Yes, well, our captain is quite occupied with handling the mess downtown. Whoever triggered this lockdown here, they likely didn’t anticipate the others in Provenance City.”

Dr. Cormac’s eyes widen. Yes, of course, how could he forget? Maximum-security lockdowns—the ones that bring down Adamant Shields like those around his campus now—were chained together with others, like groups of dominoes. You knock one down, the few around it fall too. He can just imagine it, the chaos that must be brewing in the city thanks to what’s going on here.

“Speaking of which,” continues Warren, “where you able to see exactly what triggered the lockdown? The information we’ve been able to gather… it paints an odd image.”

Cormac’s turn to sigh. He shakes his head, already having had to retell this story nearly a half-dozen times tonight. “I was on my way out of the university campus,” he recites with practice cadence. “I was struck on my chest by a beam which sent me back. I was dragged along the front entrance to the campus by the beam, nearly struck my head on the curb, but I am fine now. When I looked up, the Adamant Shields were already down.” Finishing up his statement, he opens his eyes, back up to look at the officer. “Any chance of opening the campus tonight? I have two students inside, and they… they’re likely in trouble with whatever shot me.”

The officer shakes his head, looking over his notes for a moment. “I’m afraid it might take a few days for your students to be freed, Dr. Cormac.”

Cormac exhales in response, closing his eyes. He was afraid that was gonna be the case.

“We’ve already contacted the Hallsham Central,” Officer Warren continues. “Opened up communications with them as soon as we became aware of the lockdown. The proper channels are open with them, now we just have to wait.”

Defeated, Cormac shuffles back to his bench. “Right, wait.” He sits down, his last image of Sylvia and Oswin being their trembling jaws, paling faces as he was attacked. He hopes and prays that this is not the last of them he ever sees.

“Doctor,” the officer says as he takes a seat, right next to him on the bench. “You mentioned an energy beam that struck you.”

Cormac looks up, turning his gaze to Warren. “Yes? It was a thin beam, pushed me right to the—”

“Yes, I know. But, what color was it?”

The doctor reels back a bit at that. “The… The color?”

Warren nods. Oddly enough, that was something no one has asked tonight, not even Cormac himself. Everyone wanted to know if he was hurt, where the burn marks were, if he saw anything inside before he was forced out—besides the horrified look of his students. But the color… Cormac gets the feeling this question wasn’t part of the protocol, something this officer was asking possibly due to his own personal experience.

Cormac closes his eyes then. Just what WAS the color of the beam? He’d spent so long trying to remember details of his attacker, yet… maybe the biggest clue…

“Red.” Dr. Cormac gets that out before his mind has a chance to taint the memory or any second-guessing to occur. “The beam was red.”

Officer Warren nods along to that, opening his mouth to confirm what Cormac might have if he’s had more time to sit with the information he just let out.

“Given what we’ve gathered, plus the color of the attack, I think we can reduce our culprit down to have been… a Robo.”

“A-A Robo?!”

Cormac’s heart races then. A Robo struck him? But why would a Robo of all things do that? Why would a machine that was built to help lock down the campus? THEIR campus, their home? More importantly, what could this mean for Oswin and Sylvia? Just what kind of danger could they be facing now?

“S-So a Robo authorized it? The lockdown?” As the doctor asks this, he’s already fearing the truth as they near it.

“Possibly,” Warren responds, rubbing his chin. “The authorization codes that were used to initiate it belonged to a colonel. Someone from… GearTerra. We suspect that this person was truly behind the recent attack on the zoo in Fulcrum City.”

Cormac’s stomach dropped. GearTerra… their remains… they were behind this. And Oswin and Sylvia… they worked so hard to distance themselves from them, made sure nothing and no one could trace them back here.

A flash of those days passes through Dr. Cormac. The days of the trial, where GearTerra’s foul actions were exposed, and the days that followed, when the shutdown was certified, and the hunt for them began. He knew from their reactions the true horror coursing through them, and to fortify his trust, to let them know their secrets were safe with him, Cormac told them his own secret, something he’d shared with no one else, something he himself wished to forget. They weren’t just mentor and students then, or even friends, they became a family of sorts in those days, the only ones who truly knew where each came from. And now… Now they had to face their past alone, without him being there to help this time, without the strength Cormac could still give.

Standing up in a daze, the doctor turns to face his campus, his home, and all the entrances that remained blocked with metal.

“Hold on kids,” Dr. Cormac whispers. “This won’t end like this.”

✦ ✦ ✦

The man in the purple suit stays there, grinning in the bunker, the eyes of all the soldiers—not to mention that of Javier, Sylvia, and Oswin—are over him. General Prion is looking at this strange man too, the mask over Prion’s face hiding his glare. The general suddenly pulls back his long cape with his left metal arm, exposing a small cloth bag hanging over his hip.

“Hm.” Prion grabs the bag and dangles it from his taller height. The man in purple shrugs, unbothered as he nonchalantly walks up to Prion and opens up his pure white hand, catching the bag in his palm once Prion lets it fall.

“Look at you,” the man in purple says, inspecting the bag with a glance. “Being so kind for once in your life, Midge.”

Sylvia and Oswin exchange a glance, equal parts startled and confused by this newcomer. “Despelder” Prion called him, and “Midge” he called Prion back. Prion’s last name? The only one who did that, who preferred to be called by their last name, was their own mentor, Dr. Cormac. But that was different than this, because he requested others call him that. Yet here was this man, this “Despelder,” calling someone by their last name—seemingly unprompted.

Maybe the pattern’s proximity to their mentor was what made Sylvia and Oswin feel weird, or maybe… it was everything else about this moment. The shadows moving, this Despelder coming in, his extremely odd and off appearance. He was clearly a man, yet… everything about him felt like it was resisting that simple label. His face was a pure abyss of darkness, yet his eyes were pure white. White and… beady. Could this man possibly be… Artunian? Artunians were rare, but they had met and even befriended some before. Their taxi driver was Artunian, yet there was a worlds of difference between Theo and the man from the shadows standing before them.

“Hm?” Despelder looks to Oswin and Sylvia then, their stares having caught his attention. His expression upon seeing them shifts a bit, from his grin to Prion to… something no one could place. But the moment is over just as quickly as it showed, another grin quickly back on him now as he approaches them. “Well, well, well… the two students.”

Javier is quick to step forward, unable to get a word before Despelder’s eyes land on him next. “Ah, and you. The cloaked axisguard.” Despelder takes off his hat with his left hand, dipping his head a bit in… mock-respect? “Hat’s off to you.”

Sylvia can see that under his hat, Despelder seems to have no hair—another common trait of Artunians, most of them preferring baldness. Though she doesn’t miss a different trait before the hat comes back on. Just… where are this man’s ears? Despelder’s head appears to just be round, having no ears and… no nose. Artunians had rounded noses, yet Despelder… had nothing. Just a rounded face, only interrupted by his eyes and mouth.

Javier swallows, his right hand producing his grey crystal, quickly feeding it electricity from his palm, changing it into his drill-like weapon, gripping it tightly. “Keep your distance from them, you…”

“Me… what?” Despelder chuckles wickedly. “Laying on your stern role there a little thick, sunshine. But still, I do appreciate the sight of a good gem.” His eyes are over Javier’s unique weapon now, his right hand opening up to form a shadow. The shadow swallows the cloth bag from Prion, before manifesting a different object in Despelder’s grip: A long wooden cane with… a white diamond at the tip. “Your gem is quite impressive too, axisguard. Perhaps you’d be willing… to accept a trade?”

“W-What?” Javier stammers out, protectively moving his weapon closer to him.

“T-R-A-D-E. I’ve got lots to offer in exchange for a good gem.”

General Prion steps forward, his metal foot clanking on the floor. “Enough games, Despelder.”

Despelder sighs. “Yeah, yeah, yeah… Speaking of sunshines…,” he utters in slight disgust. He turns back to Prion, as does Javier.

Javier truly can’t begin to get a reading on this strange joker of a man. Who IS he? What’s he doing here? He and Prion clearly don’t seem to like each other very much, and despite Despelder’s short physical stature, he casts a large shadow over the room.

“As you likely noticed, we are in lockdown,” General Prion says coldly to Despelder. “Maximum-level security, thus Adamant Shields. As per our agreement, I require your services.” As the general talks, he signals to Despelder’s right hand, as if to allude to the cloth bag he just gave him.

“That and more,” Despelder says, looking over Prion’s soldiers, some of whom jolt or wince at Despelder’s gaze—something Javier is quick to note. “And, let me guess…” Despelder shifts his attention back to Prion. “You wish for me to spirit you away from here? Away from this lovely little nest?”

“That would be the plan, yes,” Prion says that with a hint of annoyance at Despelder’s continued lax demeanor. He signals to the students behind him. “You can take Oswin and Sylvia here first. I imagine the axisguard will want to accompany them as well. You can come back for the rest of us later, I still have to—”

Despelder laughs, breaking Prion’s flow.

“Just what is so funny?” the general says, now gritting through his teeth in frustration, his grip over his weapon tightening.

“Oh, just your vast assumptions, Midge,” Despelder gets out through his grin.

“Assumptions?”

“You really thought it was gonna be that easy? That I can just bring you all into the Shadow Zone, then back home? You disappoint me, Midge. I figured you’d be at least a little bit aware of the notorious luck that’s always on your tail.”

“What are you talking about?” Prion manages out severely, his frustrations reaching a boiling point.

Despelder smirks, moving to lean his elbow on his cane, the rest of the object oddly not tipping over despite the short man’s weight on it. “There’s no full moon tonight. All crescent moons. A pretty view, but no full moons means no Shadow Zone—safe only for yours truly.”

Javier’s frustrated now too, somehow life having found a way to put both him and the leader of GearTerra in the same position. “Just what are you blathering about? Are you gonna help us or not, pest?”

“Oh, language!” Despelder says, shifting over his cane to signal to Sylvia. “There’s ladies present.”

Sylvia scowls, stepping forward now, with Oswin of course not far behind. “Spare us your antics,” she says. “And just get us out.”

Despelder sighs, moving fully off his cane. “You don’t listen very well either, do you Pressfield? I can’t get you out, not how Midge wants anyway.”

She’s a bit surprised at that, hearing this strange man somehow know enough about her to call her by her last name. But that feeling get quickly shutdown by the hard confirmation that he’s unable to get them out the campus. All this time, that hope of leaving soon, retreating to complete safety away from RUTH and GearTerra… all just a carrot on a stick.

Oswin, however, isn’t willing to throw in the towel just yet. “Why c-can’t you get us out?” he asks. “I mean… isn’t there something you could do? S-Someway you could… I don’t know, make your shadows stronger? Slip us out through the cracks or…?”

Despelder has a loud laugh at that. “Oh, you. I like this one, he’s a thinker. But sadly no, my Axioms do not work that way.”

General Prion lets out a frustrated, shaky sigh, putting his right hand over his metal mask. “So then, what? I gave you that bag of gems for nothing? Just why are you even here, Despelder? Other then to hand out migraines?”

The man in purple chuckles. “Getting feisty there, Midge! You love to see it.” He then turns, walking towards the center of the room. “But have no fear, friends. For I do plan on keeping my end of the bargain.”

At the center, the darkness coating Despelder’s face moves over his eyes, closing them as he concentrates, his hands lifting a bit as he takes hold of the shadows, all the shadows. So many dark areas, in this room, outside, all throughout the campus. He lets himself feel each one, extending his touch to every inch and corner of the site. By the time he’s got it all in him, it’s almost as if the campus IS him—not that he even matters to the world, much less himself now.

Javier watches the man work from a distance, nothing the shadows move in place as he works. He hears Oswin whisper to Sylvia, quickly catching what they say.

“Just… what kind of Axiom is that?” Oswin whispers.

“I’m really not sure,” Sylvia whispers back. “I’ve never seen anything like it before.”

Javier gets an urge to tag in with “a night full of surprises,” but he keeps his mouth shut. Frankly, he of all people doesn’t get to banter with them like they’re still friends. Especially when he still has so much more to do tonight.

Despelder’s eyes shoot back open then, a smile of white over his shadowed face. He moves up his face, pointing to the top right corner of the campus map on the monitor in the room. “There.”

General Prion looks up, approaching the map to get a closer look. “There… what?”

“No structure is 100% perfect,” Despelder responds. “And there, lies our biggest weak point, a fracture where the wall meets the ground. We go there, our big point of freedom, and I dig.”

Javier approaches the map now too, standing by Prion to analyze the map, especially where Despelder points. “You’re not serious.”

Despelder smirks. “I try not to be. But that spot is our best bet of getting out of here. Well… all of you, at least. I could always leave and… let you use that crystal drill of yours, Faradforcer. If you’re up to the task.”

“M-Me?” Javier looks down to his right hand, where he’s holding his weapon. “The Tourbillion… it wasn’t exactly made to dig out tunnels.”

“Oh~?” Despelder steps forward, his cane in his grip. “You gave it a name too, hm? Must be quite the special bit of Axionite for you to do that. Guess there really is no negotiating a trade here, is there?”

Javier frowns at Despelder. “No.”

“Hmph, you’re no fun. Good thing that… I’m the drill tonight then.” He turns to the general then, continuing. “But are YOU up to this task then? It’ll be quite the trek to the freedom point, Midge. And we’re not alone here. You really up to settle this little land dispute tonight of all nights? Now that you have me here?”

Sylvia’s jaw clenches at that, her fists balling up. “What… land war?”

General Prion sighs once again, turning to face Sylvia and Oswin. “I’ve been trying to claim parts of the city, those hosting the remains of ou—my military. Colonel Raul… he has not an insignificant number of troops following him.”

Sylvia exhales in frustration, all this dealing with GearTerra taking a toll. Oswin rubs her shoulder gently, piping up. “So, what? This whole thing’s gonna get messier? I can’t imagine how that colonel’s gonna give up his forces without putting up a fight.”

“Especially with RUTH on it’s side,” Javier says, tagging Oswin’s words. He couldn’t help himself, the old habit having come to him too naturally to swat away. He doesn’t look at Oswin, a little afraid to see his reaction, but he says nothing at least.

“I just want to free those soldiers,” Prion says. “Raul… I don’t suspect RUTH is the only rebellious one under his grip. A good leader knows his power is only temporary. And a privilege. A leader who doesn't know that can never be a real leader.”

Despelder shoots Prion a subtle glance at that, something only Sylvia notices, for its that same faint expression he gave when he first looked at Oswin and her.

Javier, meanwhile, is deep in thought. He knows there’s a few ways this can all play out tonight, all of them stemming from the precise choices he’s about to make. He still has to get rid of GearTerra—finish the work that his comrades couldn’t. At the same time, this moment, this whole night, it wasn’t about him. And if GearTerra has to be out there in some form, then… he’d rather go with them under someone like Prion than Raul.

He steps forward, closer to Prion, getting his attention as Prion turns to look at Javier. “One day… I’m wiping out the rest of you,” Javier starts. “But for now…” He goes silent for a moment, biting the inside of his lip, looking to Sylvia and Oswin as his reminder of what matters tonight. “For now… I’ll… follow your lead. Anything to… free them.”

General Prion silently looks at Javier, like a part of him could understand and—in another life—sympathize with his struggle to say what he just did. He could even rub it in, but that is a thought for lesser leaders. All Prion does is simply nod his head down once, in quiet acknowledgement of his rival’s dedication to his primary goal.

Sylvia moves her hand out of her pocket, removing her fingers from a brush with her H-Nutrient crystal to hold Oswin’s hand, preparing for what comes next. And through them both, Despelder watches Javier. He narrows his eyes at him, a serious expression finding itself on his shrouded face, a thought forming in his mind the longer he looks at the axisguard.

“Maybe… he might just be the right one.”

✧ Chapter 13 ✧

Lingering Frame

Shade finally reaches her cabin, the trek back through the Hollow Woods having felt far longer than what it took to get out there. She grips her door handle tight and ends up flinging the door open far stronger and harsher than what she aimed for. She approaches the couch in her living room, sets her cloak over the armrest, and flops onto the seat with a frustrated sigh, quickly lowering her face onto her hands.

Once is a coincidence, but twice? Shade still can’t let go of that strange feeling that came over her earlier, first when she just got to that fruit tree in the forest, and then when she was done picking all the apples. Surely there couldn’t be a link there? This couldn’t be some kind of issue with her power, could it? Some kind of reaction between her power and… fruits of all things?

The sensation which struck her felt acidic, a distinct heartburn she only ever felt when she was a kid, when she would gorge on cookies with her sister. Her sister…

Shade lifts her head, turning her right hand over to look at her spiral birthmark. Her sister had the mark too—all three of them did, the three Ventra children. But her sister was special, for she had two marks, one on the back of each hand. She’d brag about that sometimes, getting show-offy, placing her hands over her hips, claiming she “was the best” having twice the marks Shade and her brother had. Moments like that pass through Shade when she looks at the spiral sometimes, but this time she doesn’t smile.

Instead, Shade gently caresses the back of her right hand, that spiral feeling like her closest gate towards them. All of them.

She lets out some air, putting her right hand down over her lap. “Have to keep going,” she whispers. “For them.”

As Shade stands and moves to her kitchen, she considers her mementos of them. However much she’d want solid reminders of them, she couldn’t risk going through the heartache that always followed. Maybe she would be fine tonight and even the next night, but she knew by now that more dreams would strike, just like the one from earlier today.

Some of the raw fragileness that that dream sparked has faded somewhat by now, but only because she’s kept herself busy tonight. What happens later when she has to sleep? Shade shakes her head, trying to snap herself out of the anxiety of that. She has to remain focused on her goal: her work with the glass tower. Especially now that she has some food. With a turn of her hand and a flash of her spiral, the fruit basket comes back out into the world, over the counter in her kitchen.

Turning on the water faucet, she grabs each apple off the basket, moving it under the stream to give it one last cleaning before drying and going in the fridge. Apple after apple goes into the water, Shade liking the refreshing feeling of her hands under the water, tempted to turn up the temperature so the feeling is even more comforting, but deciding against it for fear of ruining the apples. Would too much heat even ruin them? Shade didn’t even want to risk it.

She reaches her hand in the basket to grab another apples, but then her eyes widen and she yanks her hand back as she feels something else in there. It’s something solid, but not the apples OR the basket. It’s something made of wood, small enough to… fit at the bottom of the fruit basket.

She swallows, almost not even wanting to have a look at it out of fear that it is JUST what she wanted to avoid the most. Yet her power, that related to her birthmark… it supposedly worked off her mind. Surely in her avoiding “it” she couldn’t have really summoned “it” forth… could she?

Shade shifts a bit in place, keeping her eyes looking forward, trying to see if she could spot the thing with her peripherals, but no dice; the basket’s walls are too tall.

She closes her eyes and swallows again, trying to prepare herself. She hadn’t since this in months, possibly more than half her year here—she lot track. But… she’d be able to know right away if this object was indeed what she feared. Opening up her eyes, she shifts her gaze down, carefully so, seeing the basket, nothing but the basket until… wood. The wooden picture frame, exactly what she thought it was.

Shade quickly looks up, away from the frame. At least it was flipped upside down. Her heart races now, the brief look at the frame still lingering through her. How could she have done this? Could the frame simply have moved there, on its own while in her vault? Or maybe… did she somehow move it there, even subconsciously?

She takes in a deep breath, trying once more to center herself in the present—not in the past, no matter how recent her mistake was. She could still fix this. All she had to do was move her hand over the frame and it would be sent back into the vault, her Ventra-Vault. Or better yet, she could just point the back of her hand at the basket, no need to see the picture frame again. After all, she’d gotten plenty of apples out of the basket so far, and she didn’t NEED the basket to pick more apples anyways. Or even better yet… she could throw it away.

Not the basket, but… the memento, the picture frame. She had been considering getting rid of all those mementos before, but the struggle was always getting them out of the vault. But now that this memento was out… she could follow her plan and just toss it. One of the few things from her family… she could get rid of it now, right? Fate gave her the perfect chance to ditch that part of her past, right?

Her shaky hands move, grabbing the basket, her feet moving her back outside, all the way to the side of the cabin, past the glass tower over it, facing a hill with a river down below. She takes hold of the frame, letting the basket drop to her side, and moves the frame to literally throw it away. But… she pauses, right before she winds up the throw.

Her arm remains still, shaking in place with the frame, whole body unmoving for too long. Too long as she’s able to see a tilted view of the picture within, the familiar sepia tone already making one thing too clear: she’ll never get rid of this.

How could she toss this, when it’s one of the last things she has left of them? One of the few bits of proof that her past wasn’t all some crazed fabrication, but real. The memories of it may alter, the remains of those days stay, forever fixed into the world.

Shade pulls the picture frame onto her chest, holding it tight as her legs slump in, moving her closer to the ground.

“Sorry,” she whispers—both to the memories and herself.

She knows what this will do to her, what aches it will bring. This will ruin her work patterns, tarnish her only means to prepare herself when the military comes for her again. It’s nearing the time she can’t escape from, a full year since the last attack, a limit she’s never been able to cross with them before they find her again. But for once, Shade doesn’t want to keep forcing herself to live in the present or the future. For once, she simply lets herself be and slip back into the past. Her past, when she was still whole.

Shade pulls back the picture frame and turns it around, seeing the nostalgic image before her once again, one lodged in her memories and now confirmed by reality. She’s in the middle of the picture, her hair long again, in her favorite old dress, that two-tone dress, with her two siblings hugging her. And besides the three of them, their parents. Mother, father, and children. All together, all in one place, and all smiling—for the first and last time.

✦ ✦ ✦

“RUTH!” Colonel Raul yells out into the empty halls of the campus. “Just where is that vermin? That stupid little lata…”

Reaching another chunk of earth in his path, Raul opts to take out his frustrations on it, rather than move it aside or walk over it like the others. Making sure his subordinates aren’t too close by to see, the colonel takes hold of his ribbed bone weapon and jams it into the rock, piercing it cleanly, enough to crack the floor underneath.

“Stupid Robo. First it sets off those shields, then it breaks containment…”

He grunts, placing a hand over his black eye, an aftermath of RUTH’s earlier rebellion. The Robo went off on its own as soon as it was freed from his chamber, hunting the targets right away, no chance for new directives or adjustments. Doing all of that to the machine might’ve even peeved it off even more, their attempts to re-capture RUTH already resulting in it shattering its second limiter. Two were down so far this night, but at least four more remained.

“Colonel!” A voice of his soldiers.

Colonel Raul turns in his trek, facing a trio of scouts as they approach him. “What is it? Did you locate the Robo?”

“Not quite, sir. But… there’s something you should know.”

“Something I should know?” Raul quirks an eyebrow at that, looking over his soldiers for them to continue. “Well?”

The soldier in the middle lowers his glance, the others jabbing him with their elbow to get the words out. He swallows before looking up at Raul. “S-Sir, it’s about… P-Prion.”

Raul’s eyes shoot open at that, breath catching. “Prion?! As in, the general?”

The soldier reluctantly nods, Raul moving forward to invade his space.

“Where? And when?”

“It was… um…”

Finally, the soldier next to this shy one speaks up to continue. “He saw him a while ago, sir. We just found him with another search squad.”

The colonel rubs his face, deep in frustration. “Wonderful, so Prion decided to pay us a visit. Did you happen to see what he was doing? Who else he was with?”

The shy soldier stayed quiet for a moment before he responds. “H-He was walking through a hall. A-And… he was all by himself. I-I don’t know really know where he was going…”

“By himself?!” That sure was risky. Colonel Raul almost wants to yell at the soldier for not taking an aim at Prion then. For to just be strolling through the campus like that… that would’ve been the perfect moment to strike. Yet… Raul wasn’t a fool; he knew there was more to this simple moment.

For starters, the colonel knew how much respect and even admiration Prion commanded within GearTerra, even now in their post-disbandment. Somehow, the adding of a simple “General” to one’s name magically shifted reputation and judgement, made everyone conveniently forget that Prion was once thought to be involved with the death of their late General Myriam. Prion also didn’t get along very well with her successor in General Victor, the two having had quite the intense rivalry as colonels, to the point where there were rumors that Prion had some involvement with Victor’s disappearance too.

As an Artunian, General Victor was of course made special after he couldn’t be found—formally included as one of the Dispelled the month after his disappearance, the fate of all Artunians who’s deaths are unaccounted for in a post-war world. The reasoning behind all that still mystified Colonel Raul, but he’s gotten in trouble for sharing this viewpoint before. The complexities of all this, and the ultimate respect that GearTerra generals command still… Raul has to keep all that in mind. At least, until he can finally start changing things around here, make things better.

So rather than yell at his soldiers or question them, Raul decides to drop the subject; they can deal with Prion later. What they need to do now is find RUTH.

“Keep looking for the Robo,” Raul says. “He has to be somewhere around here.” He looks to the open library next to him, eyes the mess of rocks and wrecked shelves everywhere, and shakes his head, continuing onward, crossing over a mass of rock.

As he walks, Colonel Raul runs over the scenarios in his head that could play out here. They knew they weren’t alone here, this campus having been a suspected new base for some of GearTerra, and suspicions were certainties at this point, which those who were captured by the police failed to understand. A hint of danger had to mean actual danger now, and Raul considers Prion with that mindset, what his presence here could mean to the rest of them here. They’d all be forced to spend some spent some days here, and the moment the Adamant Shields were finally lifted, cops would be swarming the place. They had to find a cover, someplace to hide well before that happened, and if Prion was indeed walking so lax and carefree through the halls as he envisioned him being, then he must know the layout well, enough perhaps… to even hide.

It’s when he reaches that idea that Raul spots the massive hole on the wall, crashed through by something big. Something big enough to possibly be… the Robo. HIS Robo.

“On my point, scouts,” Raul speaks into his radio mic. “I believe I’ve found our trail.”

It takes the group a while to venture through the crashed walls and damaged floors, but Raul keeps going, keepings running through the possibilities. If Prion is here, indeed using this place as a hideout, enough to walk the halls by himself, he must not be alone in the end. And with their coverage… could they have found RUTH first? Or worse than that… could Prion and his forces have possibly found the others? The axisguard and… his targets?

Raul almost refuses to flirt with any of these horrid possibilities. Almost. He NEEDED those two deserters, Oswin Barish and Sylvia Pressfield. Well, maybe he could do with just one of them, but both would maximize his success here. If he wants to claim that Nuclei Project of theirs and use is as a means to kickstart his own plans, to make things right in this world, claiming both deserters was best. He could also end up needing both their knowledge in the end.

“Colonel, sir!”

Raul turns to face a soldier, one who’s pointing to their side. Besides them, way past the expected trajectory they were following, lies more destruction, more mess. The colonel signals to the area, some soldiers going off ahead of the rest.

“Return at the first sign,” Colonel Raul says. If General Prion was there, and if he did somehow claim his Robo… he would need every soldier he could get.

As the rest of the group moves forward, it isn’t long before the soldiers return.

“S-Sir! We—!”

But they’re cut off by a harsh landing behind them, RUTH cracking the floor under him, rising its glowing red eyes, the lights are at least the same as before. The soldiers around Raul quickly draw their weapons, but Raul is quick to raise his hand, halting their attack. He knows by now how conflict with RUTH end (he’s got a black eye now to show), so at least confirming that RUTH is still a free agent—not under Prion’s grip—was encouraging.

“RUTH,” Colonel Raul gets out a bit shaky, trying to temper his residual anger at the machine in this key moment. “What’s the status of your condition? This is Colonel Raul—”

“RUTH. TARGETS HAVE ESCAPED. THIRD ENTITY INTERVENED.”

Raul swallows at that. It seems the deserters are still with the axisguard. “A-And General Prion?”

RUTH stays silent for a moment, thinking, calculating. Then it speaks up again. “PRION MIDGE IS THE CURRENT GENERAL OF GEARTERRA.”

Colonel Raul blinks at that, not just because the information was completely useless, but… something about it was off. Not what was spoken, but… how. “I meant… Did you know that Prion was here? In this campus? Have you encountered him yet?”

Another silent moment from RUTH before it simply responds, “NO.”

Raul lets out a breath. So Prion has been able to keep out of RUTH’s radar. He considers that for a moment now. Prion DID have a part in building the machine. But… perhaps those other rumors were true as well? Did Prion really use RUTH to—

“RUTH. TARGETS DETECTED.”

The colonel raises his eyes, his soldiers shuffling in place, ready to move. “W-What? The deserters? Where?!”

“RUTH. DISTANT LEVEL. MULTIPLE HEAT SIGNATURES DETECTED WITH THE TARGETS.”

“M-Multiple?” Raul’s heart starts to race. The pieces are fitting together, but just as he feared. Still, there was a chance he could be wrong. “H-How many?”

“RUTH. FOURTEEN OTHER HUMANS WITH THE TARGETS.”

“Fourteen?” Raul swallows. “Is the axisguard among… a-and Prion…?”

RUTH takes a break of silence, its static expression almost shifting as it calculates. An expression… of darkness. “YES.”

Colonel Raul reels back at that, taking some steps back, so much so that some soldiers move, ready to catch him if he faints. But Raul stands his ground. Just… what is he gonna do now? He was RUTH at least, but his foes… maybe this was too much for even RUTH now.

“RUTH. COMPLETE SHATTERING OF ALL LIMITERS IS SUGGESTED.”

Complete? Raul’s eyes widen at RUTH. He’d never even seen RUTH at such power before, never even considered voluntarily shattering any of its limiters before this moment. He looks to his soldiers, all of them looking back at him, all just waiting for what he commands, uneasy or nervous expressions all around. That’s the thing about being a leader: one becomes the last resort. When all other options have failed, when all roads point to catastrophe, that’s when leaders have to come in the most, have to command and act. There was no one else Raul could look to now. He had to make a call, a choice.

Six limiters to shatter… He’d only ever seen RUTH after shattering four, and that was in a controlled and fortified environment, a place for war. Here, however, in a medical campus of all places, they were flying blind, and if it nearly killed him obtaining RUTH at three shattered limits, then just what would a complete shattering do? Where would that lead?

As much as Raul needed success tonight, the unknowns of a full power RUTH were just too great, even now with the threat of Prion on the table. Who knows, the Robo might simply stop taking all orders by then, become a TRUE free agent, nothing but chaos. And that felt like the most dangerous thing to him in this whole campus tonight—as far as he knew.

Still, some risks had to be taken here, and if two shattered limiters wouldn’t cut it, then… perhaps just three shattered limiters might be enough.

“R-RUTH… permission to shatter the third and JUST the third limiter… has been granted.”

And just like that, RUTH keels over. But not in pain, only power. Its light intensifies further than before, its inner power cell cracking, a pulse like shattered glass radiating out from the machine. Three exhaust tubes protrude out from the top of its head, small bits of red energy emitting out from them. But as this shattering passes and RUTH courses with greater power, someone distant gasps. They grip their chest, heart burning once again.

✧ Chapter 14 ✧

Bone and Steel

The group walks through the campus, Javier lingering near the back with Oswin and Sylvia, as per General Prion’s plan.

“Listen,” Javier whispers to the students, who walking behind with hands held together. “I know the plan, but… the moment you two get an opening to leave the campus, take it. Don’t worry about anything else, just take each other and go.”

Sylvia’s looking at Javier, seeing his determination behind the shadows of his hood. She nods once, squeezing Oswin’s hand a little tighter. “We will,” she whispers back.

They had good odds here, now with a group of their own to face their foes. But still, they were in danger within the campus, and luckily for Oswin, he made sure to check out the campus way before all this, finding some decent places to hide besides that Archive Room in the library. Those days which follows the GearTerra trials and raids were indeed challenging to witness, but at least they pushed him to do that, to find safety even within the sanctuary of their new lives here. Looking to Sylvia, he wonders if she did the same thing too—possibly more so considering the month the spent in a coma after the collapse in the ruins.

Javier gives the two a small smile before he turns his attention back forward, back to their “Ace” as Prion labeled him, back to Despelder. Like Sylvia, Javier’s been trying to decipher just what Despelder is. He was human and likely Artunian, that much is certain, yet it wasn’t just his unique appearance that caught Javier’s speculation, it was also… this strange sense of detachment Despelder carried around him. Javier couldn’t neatly place it, but it was almost like Despelder’s didn’t really “see” himself. Almost like he was constantly erasing his own sense of self, as if he didn’t matter here. All those jokes and that carefree attitude of his… Javier had seen that before, BEEN that before when he was younger. He knew that frame of mind well, then and now, maybe just not as extreme. Even at his most detached, Javier couldn’t ever himself teasing people in dire help, especially nowadays.

Almost as if sensing Javier’s gaze upon his back through the rows of soldiers between them, Despelder smirks, speaking up, voice cutting through the tense crowd. “Don’t leer so hard, axisguard. It’s rude.”

Javier frowns at that tease, narrowing his eyes. Just what kind of man WAS he? Was he someone like himself? Did he make big mistakes too, some recent and some older, one of them or both leaving permanent scars too?

“Quiet,” Prion utters. His Robo eye and metal mask are working overtime as they scan his surroundings. They were no longer in the area near the secret bunker, traversing up to the ground level of the campus through the dark and quiet underground parking ramp.

No light was shining in front of General Prion this time, the group instead sticking close and following the general’s directions, guided by his internal schematics of the building. With Raul and that Robo around, Prion needed to take as many precautions as he could, not for his own sake and not specifically those in his group, but the others with Raul, his soldiers. No one got more easily hurt in a skirmish than those following an un-fit leader.

The general suddenly comes to a halt, a mechanism over his mask beeping loud enough to be heard by those around him. With Prion stopping, so does everyone else.

“What going on?” Javier is quick to ask.

General Prion stays quiet, his Robo components humming as they work, his Robo eye beneath his mask jittering in place. Finally, he moves up his human hand, pressing a button on his mask that makes the continuous beeping stop. He then turns around, looking at Despelder.

“Hm~?” Despelder ask-hums.

“Perhaps it’s time… you took a break,” Prion says enigmatically.

A wicked grin grows at Prion’s coded message. Despelder moves a white hand behind him, pools of shadows forming a spiral behind. “Whatever you say, Midge…” He steps back into the portal, sinking into the shadows within.

“Just what are you doing?” Javier breathes out as he steps through the crowd, closer to the general. “I thought you said the plan was—?”

“RUTH has changed, Faradforcer,” Prion cuts in, the weight and implications of that fact quieting down Javier instantly.

“Y-You mean… the Third Limiter…?”

“Yes.”

Javier takes a step back, shooting Sylvia and Oswin a look. To his surprise—and likely theirs too—both students have come closer to him, enough to where they step back right upon meeting Javier’s gaze.

“Hmph.” Prion turns back around, continuing to walk forward through the darkness. “If I were you, axisguard, I would spend less time worrying and more time preparing for what comes next.”

Javier… actually agrees with that, 100%. Snapping out of it, he pulls out his crystal, gives it the electricity it requires, and thus summons forth his weapon, the Tourbillion. “Remember what I said,” Javier whispers to Sylvia and Oswin once more before the follows the rest of the group onwards.

The silence of the hour that follows makes the exact passage of time unclear, untrustworthy. Just how long has it been since they came here? Just how long did they have left? But more than any of that, the one question that keeps replaying within Javier’s mind is just what Prion’s new plan is now. Originally, the group was to leave most of the work to Despelder, who would use his strange power over shadows—this Shadow Axiom—to put distance between Raul’s forces and them. But with RUTH now at a new level of power—three shattered Limiters—just what was Prion shifting Despelder to do?

Ultimately, Javier and the rest didn’t have to wait long to get their answer.

General Prion stops walking again, making the rest of the group stop, Javier’s heart racing as he can feel what’s coming next. Still, Javier has to ask, to whisper.

“What now?”

The general doesn’t answer Javier vocally, instead tilting his metallic head up at the upper ramp level crossing through in the distance. From here, another group emerges, nearly the same size as their own, one man in front to mirror Prion’s same position. He jumps down a level, his soldiers quick to follow, weapons drawn.

“Bold move,” Colonel Raul says, lit by the flashlights of the scouts around him.

Sylvia tightens her jaw at the sight of that man again, remembering how Raul handled Oswin before, plus how he was ultimately responsible for all the madness here tonight. She grips Oswin’s hand tighter, already wanting to give the colonel a black eye to match the one on his right.

Sylvia’s tight grip makes Oswin’s hand redden, but he doesn’t complain, instead shifting closer to her, enough to place his other hand around her upper back, his hand coming around her furthest shoulder. Javier’s arm and cape comes over their vision next, protectively over them just as fierce as he has been throughout the whole night. His expression grows cold, teeth gritting but not showing, Tourbillion tight in his grip, ready for anything—especially RUTH.

Prion moves up a hand, placing it over his mask, the sound of a hiss following as he removes the mask, re-exposing his true mostly-Robo face to the world. “Raul,” he speaks calmly, addressing his rival with as much neutrality as he can muster.

In return, Raul looks at Prion’s group and scoffs. “Look how far you’ve fallen, slug. Allying yourself with deserters and vigilantes. No wonder GearTerra is where it’s at today.”

“So you say,” Prion replies calmly. He shifts his gaze to the soldiers around Raul, directing his next words at them. “Have the rest of you been holding up alright? I realize our current times have been rough on everybody.”

Gritting his teeth at Prion ignoring him, Colonel Raul steps to the side, getting in front of his soldiers, interrupting Prion’s sight of them before they can reply to Prion.

“You don’t talk to them. You talk to ME. You don’t get to come here and try to sympathize with our struggles. You were our leader—and like all leaders—you crash down and leave the rest of us to suffer your consequences. When Victor was with us, we were finally going in the right direction, then you of all people had to come and claim power, leaving us to rot, to grip to nothing!”

Sylvia’s watching all this with her jaw muscles starting to ache. Hearing Raul rant about incompetence and accountability… the self-righteous vermin. Especially yelling all those things at Prion, who’s probably suffered more than any of them here. The man doesn’t even have legs anymore, he doesn’t have a left arm, and most his face is gone. The urge to throw all those insults back at Raul is so strong, but Sylvia stays quiet. She loosens her tight grip on Oswin’s hand, trying to focus on what truly matters instead, just him.

Whatever’s going through Prion’s head at Raul’s words, he doesn’t seem to react, not right away. But when he does, he keels over, a single hard cough making his body coil in with pain.

The action is sudden and disarming, Prion’s hurt sharp and palpable, eliciting a reaction from everyone—including Raul, whose eyes widen ever so slightly, stepping back a bit too. All what he just said doesn’t need a direct response; that single harsh cough is enough to both shift the attention elsewhere and shatter the logical foundation of his ravings.

The soldiers around Prion immediately move closer to him as if to help him stand, but Prion lifts up his human arm—a deliberate choice. He breathes in, placing the metal mask back over his exposed face. A familiar hiss is heard, but this time it’s accompanied by the sounds of the mechanical components throughout Prion’s body reacting to the mask. A current flows within him, visible even outside his body, the mask’s presence over his face completing the circuit. With that, the metal parts relax, allowing Prion to stand back up, his filtered voice coming through the mask.

“Are you done, Raul?” Prion simply asks.

Words and actions over words. Even Javier finds himself with a smug smile at that, the humiliation and indignity evident on Raul’s face. It was clear as day who was the adult here in this showdown, and who still needed to grow, to change. But like Oswin had noted before, Raul wasn’t one to back down, even when all signs point there.

“No, I’m not done.” Raul takes out his remote, Prion immediately clocking it, knowing what’s coming next.

When Prion built RUTH, he knew it would be a risky endeavor. He needed a stronger Robo, something that would track his targets with such precision and perseverance as to never stop. That’s what his targets came to demand from him—especially his most valued one. These targets, these hazards… The world couldn’t wait for a safer Robo. Thus, Prion needed to find the perfect motivator, and what stronger motivator could there be… besides anger? Not blind anger, but anger is response to pain. All pain.

What Prion never anticipated back then was being hurt himself. How all his plans were ultimately reliant on his physical body, how a simple injury could collapse everything else. And what he went through after the literal collapse of the Phantasy Ruins… it was no simple injury. His friend Lokk… his co-builder with RUTH… he did all he could to save him. Yet nothing was working. The only tool left for him to use, to save him, was that Robo. RUTH, silent in a room, waiting to be disposed, only to be dismantled instead. To be torn apart to save Prion.

It was only when they awoke the machine months later that they found out the depths of their mistakes. Mistakes Prion paid for back then, when the Robo did exactly as they created it to do: Respond to all that pain. Mistakes he’ll keep paying for today, with his creation steered by another.

Colonel Raul speaks into the mic on his device—Lokk’s remote that tried to control RUTH all that time ago—Raul’s voice shaky with energy and anger. “T-Targets ready.”

And thus, it’s not long before something falls onto the middle of the arena, something all parties present are more than familiar with at this point—some still more than others. The violent Robo lands, the cracking of the floor beneath following it like always.

The Robo’s eyes burn intensely, as if its gaze could burn a whole right through General Prion. Indeed, the machine had changed, its shattered Third Limiter making bits of energy leave from its scalp, almost like a physical manifestation of the anger dwelling within.

“PRION,” RUTH speaks out. “FIRST TARGET SIGHTED.”

Prion almost doesn’t want to say it, nearly tripping over his command. He knows it won’t be permanent, its effect possibly making everything worse, but at the same time, he can’t afford a showdown with RUTH, not with this many of his soldiers around. His group was too weak to right now, beaten down by their persecutions. “T-Target Code 920526,” he hesitantly gets out.

RUTH’s eyes light up intensely, its inner components rumbling, before all the lights of the Robo go out, the machine’s body going limp.

“W-What the—?!” Raul’s eyes shoot wide open at the sight, nearly dropping his remote at the forced deactivation. “I-Impossible! Robo don’t—!”

“—respond to coding?” General Prion finishes, exhaling lightly at the current success. “When you build something, create something powerful, only a fool would leave a tool without limits. Yet, by all the looks of it, you’ve done a wonderful job ripping those out.”

Raul now shows anger more clearly, his gritted teeth coming through. “You mean you put dated technology on a Robo? On PURPOSE?! You’re a bigger moron than I thought!” He produces his signature bone weapon, Prion catching this move right away too.

“Careful, colonel,” Prion says. “You’re outmatched.”

“For now,” Raul says, raising a hand, signaling his soldiers to ready their weapons, which they do but not as confident as they might have earlier. The colonel then points… at RUTH. “You really expect that handicap to restrict RUTH? You of all people know how much this machine hates its chains.”

Javier moves forward then, his hand already covered with a blue aura, ready to halt any offenses on RUTH, but Prion’s arm comes over his sight, halting Javier, telling him to wait without words.

“State your terms, Raul,” Prion demands. “Your men should know just why they’re harming themselves more for you tonight.” At that, Prion’s own soldiers draw their weapons, pointing them back at Raul’s soldiers.

GearTerra VS GearTerra. Javier figured there were always some arguments within the military, for no legion is perfect. But still, the sight of soldiers on both sides wearing gold and brown… it was surreal the longer he looked. A battle being clear, he quickly shoots Oswin and Sylvia a look, another reminder of his whispered words.

With his attention on the two students as well, Raul points his ribbed weapon at them. “Them. They’re mine. Hand them over peacefully, and all further harm can be spared tonight.”

Sylvia tightens her free hand into a fist, but Javier beats everyone to the punch. “Not happening, pedazo de óxido,” he spits out.

“Engranaje,” Raul spits right back.

Colonel Raul draws his weapon to his side, the soldiers in the soon-to-be battlefield all clicking their weapons. Yet, despite that, General Prion seems steady, the only thing really catching his attention then being a small flicker of light within RUTH’s eyes, something Javier and Raul both catch too. That small action makes the general take an extra second, his own internal components humming in thought, before he speaks again. He would need to end this, and fast.

“Tell me, colonel,” Prion starts. “Just why DO you even want these two? Sylvia and Oswin are no longer with us.” His eyes narrow at Raul then, the expression faintly visible through his mask and more heard in his tone of voice. “What exactly makes them so valuable that you would threaten your general?”

“General?” Raul shifts his attention back to Prion from RUTH, whose metal hand twitches—something only Javier catches this time. “You are no general of mine.”

“Hm.” Prion flicks his black cape to his side, showing before wielding the fabled Orichalcum Rod, quickly drawing gasps and gazes from Raul’s forces, who lower their guard at the sight. “I AM your general. I am the one who bears the rod. To defy me is to defy the chain.”

Colonel Raul swallows, body reacting before the mind, forcing out a smug smile. “C-Chain? You’re no part of that, but the one who broke it! After all, you weren’t elected. You had to wait for Victor to be gone before you could get what you wanted, even your own mentor before that. I-If a rod is all it takes to make a leader…” Raul opens up his other hand, moving it in front of him. From his hand, he forms another weapon, altering this one to look like an exact copy of the legendary one in Prion’s grip—albeit this one a creamy white of bone. “…then I’m overqualified.”

Raul’s soldiers exchange an uncertain look at that action. Raul can’t see them or Prion’s reaction to them due to that mask, but hearing the shift in their weapons is all he needs to know the hard truth. This gambit isn’t working, nothing is tonight. The lockdown, the escaped targets, the black eye from RUTH, and now this… Raul wasn’t to give up this quest regardless, and luckily for him then, neither was RUTH.

The Robo’s eyes burn brightly, its body opening up suddenly, releasing a loud shockwave out from its body, screeching in its freedom, so much so several people on both sides cover their ears at the sound. Sylvia hugs Oswin to her, Oswin doing the same back, both covering each other’s ears instead of their own.

“I have you,” Oswin says, confident as he can manage in this chaos.

RUTH lowers its gaze, almost scowling at Prion, a face of wrath Javier recognizes as one that can only exist when trust is shattered.

“PRION.”

RUTH lowers its body, its mouth cannon coming out and glowing red, not taking aim at Javier or anyone else, just all systems locked on General Prion.

“RUTH!” the general yells out, quickly moving his weapon in front of him protectively. “This is your creator, halt your assault! There are too many bystanders and—!”

“PRION IS NO CREATOR.” Red energy swirls in around the open slot of the cannon, unhalted or slowed down by Prion’s demands. “ONLY A DESTROYER.”

And thus, a thick mouth-beam fires, straight at Prion, the energy traveling much faster than before—too fast for Javier to intercept. But before the blast has a chance to strike Prion or his Orichalcum Rod, another beam comes down, the purple column splicing RUTH’s attack cleanly in half.

RUTH is sent back by the cut, almost making the Robo crash onto Raul. The machine screeches loudly, face pointed at the dark ceiling where the attack came from.

Only a cane then drops into the floor, planting itself harshly and rigidly onto the group in the middle of the battlefield. A long wooden cane, briefly glowing purple, with a white crystal on the tip.

“Such passion from such a little tool…” A voice echoes through the area, everyone on Raul’s side looking around them in confusion, including RUTH, whose internal components hum as it scrutinizes its surroundings.

“No, not yet…” General Prion whispers out, Javier moving besides him.

“Guessing this… wasn’t the new plan?” Javier whisper-asks, no trace of smugness in him, only concern for what exactly follows.

“Sorry, Midge,” the familiar voice echoes again. “But we’re doing this MY way now.”

Colonel Raul is breathing hard, his eyes wide open, mind racing trying to make sense of what’s happening here. The only thing he can do is keep looking back at that cane, which is the only clue he can draw upon, but the sign lands meaningless to him. Tired with this charade, Raul is about to yell, to ask what’s going on, only for a completely white hand to come up over his mouth, gripping his face tightly and lifting him up off the ground.

In front and under Raul stands the man in the purple suit, grinning wickedly, notably with purple eyes instead of white.

“Pleased to meet you, Colonel Raul ROACH-a,” Despelder says. “You’re going to make an excellent little meal.”

✧ Chapter 15 ✧

Firefight

“This... can’t be happening…” Shade breathes out.

She’s tired after so much running, that third heartburn having been her breaking point. This wasn’t some coincidence or in her mind any longer; this was real. And whatever “this” was, Shade couldn’t have it in her cabin, her tower, her home. She needed to run, so she did. Her hand lays on the thick bark of a tree, the cold air of the night stinging her throat as she breathes, her sweat already making her shiver as it freezes throughout her body.

“Stupid… Shade…” she breathes out, fixing her turtleneck, her only means of protection against the cold forest. The image of her cozy cloak back home, laying over her sofa’s armrest, flashes through her mind, kicking herself for leaving it behind. “Just… what was I thinking…?”

That’s the thing, she wasn’t thinking—before or after the third heartburn struck. She’d been holding the picture of her family after all, looking at it after the trouble she knew it would bring too. She turns over the tree, sliding down to sit on its roots, laying her back on the bark.

As she steadies her breathing, she looks at the night sky, with the six moons above all forming crescents, a rare and beautiful sight. She rings her right wrist with her left hand, trying to both center herself in the moment, while also bringing in some heat to her freezing hands via friction.

She wasn’t gonna stay out here all night, possibly not much longer even, but she needed some big change, someplace she could really think about all this, think and prepare. The optimal place for that might have been her glass tower, but she couldn’t ruin that place with this worry. If anything, this part of the Hollow Woods might be even better, surrounded by trees, just some more minutes from the end of the forest and the start of the drier land outside. If only it were daytime.

Shade rubs her own arms, letting out another breath that fogs up due to the low temperatures around her. She stands, walking down and through the cleanest patch she can find, coming across a clearer that leads to a particularly massive tree. As she walks and keeps rubbing her arms, she thinks.

All she had to do is think. Just rack her brain, her memories, all those things she learned about herself and the world—back then when she could. She just needs some time, but she WILL figure this all out.

✦ ✦ ✦

Despelder’s grin widens as the soldiers around him step back, confusion and panic in their eyes. Colonel Raul tries to speak, but Despelder’s hand is firm, squeezing his face gently to shut up his hums.

RUTH steps forward, already opening its mouth again, ready to fire onto the newcomer.

“RUTH. UNKNOWN ENTITY DETECTED.”

“My, what a way with words~” Despelder taunts.

A beam of red energy blasts at the man in purple, but Despelder simply brings up his left hand, opening up his palm, and taking the full blast within his bare hand. It sizzles with smoke in the aftermath, but otherwise appears unharmed.

Despelder looks at his hand, giving it only a minor shake. “Impressive little vermin, aren’t you?”

With the same hand, he snaps his fingers. The cane fixed onto the ground immediately dislodges itself, its crystal tip pointed forwards as it snaps back to Despelder, flying right through RUTH with a strike, a movement so fast that RUTH is unable to dodge it, even at this newfound power of three shattered Limiters. Raul drops to the floor as Despelder lets him go to catch his cane, shortly placing a foot gently over the colonel’s leg.

“Hang on a sec, darling. I’ve another suitor.” With a simple press of his foot, Despelder buries Raul onto the ground, nearly a full foot deep in a crater, before he then approaches RUTH, who’s already screeching. “Come, cupcake. Let’s dance.”

RUTH flings itself at Despelder, who easily steps aside, carrying the momentum of his movement to swing his cane around, bashing RUTH as it passes by him, sending the machine crashing away.

Javier stands with the rest, momentarily in awe at the sight. This man in purple, this clown and apparent gem collector completely dominating the violent Robo without even using his Axioms yet. Prion, meanwhile, looks to Raul’s forces, who attempt to help up their leader, only for Raul to shake them off.

“What are you waiting for, fools?!” Raul finally berates his mean, pointing his copy of Prion’s weapon at Sylvia and Oswin in the distance. “Get me those deserters!”

“Not a chance!” Javier yells out, getting in the way of any would-be attacks.

“B-But, sir…!” a soldier of Raul stammers out, pointing to Prion, but Raul doesn’t want to hear it.

“If you can’t get at them, then burn the obstacles!” Raul grabs the soldier’s hollow Focuser gun and uses it to fire an empowered bone projectile, which Javier quickly intercepts with his crystal drill.

That’s too much tension, and thus, the firefight between the GearTerra soldiers begins, empowered beams of elements and energy piercing the dark corridors of the underground ramp.

“W-Wait!” General Prion tries to yell through the clash, but his words do little to cut through the chaos of the warzone. So instead, he throws himself in, doing what he can to at least keep his forces safe.

Sylvia dodges a stray ray of fire, with Oswin quickly blocking another with his green barrier. With them in his sight, Colonel Raul draws his two bone weapons back and charges forward, stopped by Javier who intercepts him, appearing before him through a blue flash, their weapons clashing.

Javier is quick to turn his head to Sylvia and Oswin. “The time is NOW!” He yells at them, and he doesn’t even get to finish his statement before Sylvia takes Oswin’s hand and pulls him along.

As Sylvia runs, she uses her free hand to reach into her lab coat’s pocket, pulling out the H-Nutrient crystal—a reminder of where they’ve come from and what they’ve endured. She gives it a gentle squeeze in her palm, as if that will grant them luck, she then just as quickly putting the away the crystal before pulling Oswin closer, once again using her greater strength to carry him in her arms.

“Same strat, Os!” Sylvia says to Oswin, and just in time.

Oswin pushes out his hands, creating a barrier of green energy around them that blocks another projectile, this one being a massive chunk of earth thrown their way, not by the soldiers, but RUTH.

The Robo spots them and screeches at them, causing Sylvia to momentarily stop at the right of the violent machine, only for Despelder to side-step between them, his eyes still purple instead of white. “Don’t mind us, kids,” Despelder says to them. “Stage exit is to your right!”

With a point of his cane, Despelder fires a purple bolt at the wall in the distance, forming a large enough hole through cleanly the concrete that the students can indeed continue through it.

“Um, thanksss!” Oswin manages to get out before Sylvia propels them away, speeding towards the broken wall.

“You’re most welcome, Barish,” Despelder utters under his breath before RUTH charges at him. The Robo plants Despelder onto the ground harshly, using all four limbs to hold him there, just like it did before to Javier. With its face right in front of the purple man, RUTH screeches loudly, only for Despelder to laugh wickedly in response. “Quite the wild tool, aren’t ya?”

With an even harsher headbutt, Despelder knocks RUTH off him, the machine crashing away too fast for it to adjust to its landing. Despelder stands, taking hold of his cane with a spin, walking towards RUTH. “I do wonder what your TRUE purpose really was, sweetheart,” he taunts. Reaching the Robo, Despelder takes its metal face in his hand, pulling it closer as he smirks at it, while using his cane to lightly tap its chest. “But I’m much more curious on just what makes you tick.”

RUTH’s red lights throughout its body all intensify at that in a rage, its arm coming around to punch Despelder right in the jaw. The man only steps back a short distance before turning to face RUTH, placing a hand over his cheek, assessing the damage.

“Well, well, guess we know what your soft spot is,” Despelder teases, pulling his hand away as his face remains without visible harm. “The last thing you just need right now is a safe word.”

Its visor eyes flaring with anger, RUTH opens its mouth and fires another beam right at Despelder, who this time just tanks the shot in his chest.

General Prion tanks his own shots as he travels the battlefield, grabbing a soldier by his collar just in time to dodge an array of attacks sent his way.

“You alright, son?” Prion asks. The soldier can only nod before the general whisks him away to a safer spot within the ramp. “Restrain your attacks if you can. We win this through time, not force.”

Nearby, Colonel Raul swipes his ripped blade at Javier, managing to grip the edge of his crystal drill with the hook-like appendages over the weapon. Javier counters by simply turning around, sending the colonel to the side. As Raul gets his footing, he sees Javier pull his left hand back, forming an orb of electricity over his palm that he fires with a thrust. Stepping back, Raul claps his weapons together, forming a wall of bone that blocks the brunt of the attack, sending the colonel crashing back, losing the grip over his weapons.

As Raul is dragged along the ground by the force, Javier calmly walks towards him. “You’re out of your depth, óxido.”

“¡Cállate!” Raul raises his hand, eyes shifting to a cream color in his wrath.

Javier stops walking, looking down at the ground as a chamber of bone comes over and around him, filled with layers of spikes within—the same chamber he saw earlier, used to seal RUTH.

Colonel Raul chuckles smugly, standing up as she approaches the chamber. “How do you like that, you pest?! I figured a little lata like you would’ve never—!”

A finger taps on Raul’s shoulder. When he turns, he’s met with a punch to the face that sends him back. He coughs out harshly, finding himself once again on the ground, this time placing a hand over his face where he was just hit. Pulling it back, he can already feel what Javier points out as he walks towards him—out of his chamber.

“Now you’re symmetrical,” Javier says, smirking a bit at the sight of Raul’s twin black eyes. The colonel struggles to stand up then, his chamber of bone dissolving, as Javier prepares another attack. “You know, that trick might’ve worked on others, but not me.”

“T… Teleporter…” Colonel Raul grits out in frustration to himself.

Seeing Raul is done, Javier stops his attack, turning his gaze slightly to see the rest of the battle around him, mainly looking for Oswin and Sylvia. He’s able to see the soldiers still fighting among themselves, along with what he can guess is RUTH and Despelder further in the distance. It’s then that one of Raul’s soldiers spots Javier looking, and with a defeated Raul in need, they fire a shot of ice at Javier.

Before the cold blast can reach Javier, a yellow beam cuts through it, the beam turning rigidly in place and even halting its movement all together, floating for a second before General Prion re-materializes from the beam. The strange sight takes Javier aback for a moment, unsure what Axiom Prion used to do… that.

The general is quick to look at Javier then. “Look to the west walls, Faradforcer. They ran there. I’ll pacify things here.”

Javier nods, looking back to where Raul was, only to see him gone, the nearby bone copy of the Orichalcum Rod on the ground disintegrating into small fragments at the colonel’s escape. Javier’s about to let Prion know that, but he shakes his head; there’s more important things here, namely his former friends and their status. Thus, Javier vanishes in a blue flash, ready to begin his search.

General Prion turns his attention to the remains of the false rod, picking up some of the pieces of bone, narrowing his eyes at them.

Several yards away now, Colonel Raul stumbles through the darkness of the parking ramp, his remote for RUTH in hand, his feet dragging as he moves. He brings the device up to his mouth, thinking over his next command for the Robo, critically thinking as his machine might also be lost now.

“RUTH,” Raul speaks softly into the mic, trying not to give away his position. There was only one thing he wanted from tonight, but even now, he knows it won’t be perfect anymore. Thus, he’s got to make sacrifices. “A single captured target… is also acceptable.”

RUTH’s red fist comes down over Despelder’s cane as the command echoes within the Robo’s body, Despelder catching the sound and pushing the machine back with another swing of his weapon.

“Your leader’s already getting desperate, isn’t he?”

“RUTH. NEW PARAMETERS ACCEPTABLE.”

“Oh~?” Despelder chuckles, taking the statement obviously not meant for him as if it was. “So, you WANT to be under that weakling’s grip?”

RUTH screeches at that, charging at Despelder, who this time catches RUTH’s glowing fist with his palm, stopping it dead in its tracks before swinging it behind. Though the Robo lands instead of crashing on the ground—using its four limbs to stand on the surface like a spider—the machine starts to sink, the floor under it dark with shadows.

Despelder grins, turning to face RUTH as it is swallowed up by the pool of shadows, which lifts up off the ground as a flat shape, perpendicular to the ground, vertically in front of the man in purple. RUTH is about to open its mouth again—either to screech or fire another mouth-beam—but Despelder swipes a hand, making a column of shadows come over RUTH’s mouth, silencing it. With its lights burning bright, RUTH stares daggers into Despelder, who pulls back his left arm, forming a thick spike from the shade.

“As entertaining as this has been, I think it’s about time I shut you down, little RUTH.”

With that, Despelder thrusts his left hand forwards, making the shadow spike head right towards RUTH’s chest, right where its power cell lies. Without disrupting or damaging RUTH’s metal body, the spike phases through the machine, striking the battery.

✦ ✦ ✦

“AHH!!!”

Shade keels over, right hand coming over the tree in front of her, harshly ripping the bark off, nearly just ripping the whole thing right off the ground. Her body trembles, arms clutching her chest, this time an entirely different sensation struck her—vivid and undeniably painful.

She breathes hard, the mysteries of the night, this pain like a stab, and the earlier heartburns, all pushing her well-past anymore tolerance. Gone is her concern, worry, anxiety, and paranoia—her cyan eyes shifting in colors as pure anger comes over her now, her face pointed at the forest around her.

“Just… what… is... HAPPENING TO ME!?!”

She screams at the world, a place which has only served to either hurt or confuse her all these years. The cyan in her eyes became pink, only to now condense further into the color… of red.

When the lesser but still intense heartburn follows, so does Shade’s final wrath.

A massive thick beam of red energy blasts out from Shade’s eyes, burning away every bit of the forest in its path.

✦ ✦ ✦

“W-What the—?!”

Despelder staggers back, panting himself for a moment, his expression and demeanor—his very voice—shifted, all to a dark, stark seriousness as he looks back up.

There, in front of him, through the dust and shadows, stands RUTH, mightier than before. Its lights are even brighter, but more notably, a thick appendage of pure red energy is over the machine, something almost like a thick bunch of hair comes out of RUTH’s scalp, through one of the three exhaust tubes on its head. With the lone appendage coursing above, RUTH’s voices come out, its body free of all the shadows from before.

“RUTH. FOURTH LIMITER SHATTERED.”

Despelder stands back up with a scowl. “Good for you.”

RUTH reels back, then slams its new energy down, striking Despelder and the ground around him like a whip, the sound of the snap itself shattering the concrete.

As that dust clears, Despelder is gone, RUTH screeching in the air, almost a scream of victory. But from a distant shadow, Despelder watches the Robo, his now white eyes narrowing down at the machine. He places his hand over his jaw, rubbing it as that final strike really did hit him. Still, he was impressed, if mostly still disgusted. “A Robo with that power…”

From his side, Despelder can hear as the GearTerra soldiers still continue their aimless battle, Raul’s side as scattered as their leader. Despelder sees as General Prion struggles to contain the fight, doing his best to pacify a war that continues to escalate. But none of that truly matters to Despelder, his focus remaining on just Prion, while what he just saw plays out again and again in him.

“That woman…” Despelder whispers.

He closes his eyes, trying to recall what details he can, repeating to himself out loud the strongest facts before they are tainted by analysis and assumptions.

“A forest… beige dress… cyan hair… and…”

This next part hesitates to say. He knew the extremely rare odds here, but he’d been training himself to always look at their hands. Every time Despelder would see a new woman now, he would look at their hands, all along searching for… “it.” Something so exceedingly rare, only four people ever had “it.” Yet… could that have been it? Could that really have been…

“…the birthmark.”

Despelder’s eyes open, in shock as the discovery. He looks back to where RUTH just went, then back at Prion. “Midge… just what have you done…?”

Elsewhere in the campus, up some levels, Sylvia and Oswin continue to run, dashing through darkness. Elsewhere in the ramps, Javier looks for them, feeling like a mouse in a maze, on a race against RUTH. And elsewhere in a forest, Shade trembles, her cyan eyes wide as her anger has been replaced with horror, watching as flames consume her home.

✧ Chapter 16 ✧

Withered Trust

Sylvia keeps running, Oswin tight in her arms. She reaches another incline, pushing herself off the ground to jump to the higher level, having lost count of the times she’s done this tonight. Her heart’s beating much too fast, enough for Oswin to feel it through her chest.

“You holding up okay, Syl?”

“Yeah…! Just… peachy…! Why…? Am I… starting to turn… blue or something…?”

Oswin smiles. Despite all the chaos of the night, it’s just them. She and him, fighting together, taking on the world.

Sylvia makes around jump, and this time… a light at the end of the tunnel, literally! The sight of the light after so much darkness is beyond refreshing, even if they’d somewhat gotten used to it by now; who knows how much they spent underground. She makes a mad dash to their exit, speeding up her body, her heartrate following suit.

The light is blinding, and doesn’t present THAT much of a different view once the intense shine clears from their eyes. They appear to still be in the parking ramp, but with the lights around to see without strain, things not only feel safer, but also like a significant change is abound.

Sylvia’s heart, however, is beating much too fast, her pants coming much harder and louder now that she’s finally stopped running.

“Syl!” Oswin places his hand over Sylvia’s neck, feeling the intense pumping of blood. “P-Put me down! You’re… I think you’re about to faint like this!”

Sylvia loosens her grip on Oswin, the words from him just barely audible through her heartbeat. She once again sits on the ground, panting hard, but chuckling in the euphoria.

“Sorry… my scout…!” She breathes out.

“Geez, your cardio really does suck,” Oswin teases as he carefully moves her to lay her back against a pillar. Sylvia chuckles out harder at that, still panting through the pain. He places his hand over her chest, over the area of her heart, and just breathes audibly. “Breathe with me, my colonel. Just… breathe.”

Sylvia forces in as much air as she can, trying to slow down the speed of her breaths to match Oswin. He’s kneeling in front of her, breathing as normally as he can, trying to guide her. She forces her eyes on his face, his slightly tanner skin, his brown hair and eyes. She moves up a hand to place it over his cheek, trying to see him, just him. Slowly, her body relaxes, the pain in her chest fading as the breaths steady, coming closer and closer to Oswin’s.

Oswin eventually closes his lips, letting out air through his nose as he can see that Sylvia is okay now. He grunts as he stands, stretching his incredibly stiff legs as he does, rubbing his lower back too. “Oof, we’re both REALLY out of shape,” he says.

Sylvia smiles, shaking her head. She knows they’re both rusty, but out of shape? Maybe Oswin could use some more exercise once this is all over, but she…

“Don’t stress,” she says, carefully standing back up, keeping her hands on the pillar just in case. “You still look dashing, Oswin.”

His face warms a little, a grin coming over. “Y-Yeah? Well… maybe its just our cardio here that needs help, hehe.”

Sylvia nods, placing a hand over her chest and exhaling out, testing herself. At least her body seems stable now, her body still perfectly capable of running in the end, she just needs to pace herself better, that’s it. With herself at least standing now, Sylvia slips her hand into her lab coat pocket, pulling out the H-Nutrient crystal, which is still in one shape, held in her hand.

“Surprised it hasn’t been crushed by all the action yet,” Oswin says, moved closer to look at the crystal with her. “It’s like you said, we’ll definitely need to adjust that if we want people to break it with their teeth.”

Sylvia hums in agreement, slipping the crystal back in her coat. “We should keep moving.”

“Right.”

The two students proceed onwards, each of them internally debating the optimal next move.

“H-Hey, Syl?” Oswin starts. “You think… we should go back to the lab if we can? That thick security door might do great at protecting us from… well, everything now, I guess.”

Sylvia shakes her head at that. “Something tells me that Robo won’t let any door get in its way.”

“Right, R-RUTH…” Oswin exhales. That machine really won’t stop following them, not unless like Prion said, someone could kill it, rip out its battery. “You think… that Despelder guy or maybe even Javier… took it down already? Things… really got intense back there.”

“I’m… not sure,” Sylvia replies. “Despelder… that man was definitely more than a match for RUTH. Still, the way this night’s been, I don’t think we should make any assumptions.”

“So… what should we do then?” Oswin comes to a stop. “I mean… is the plan for Despelder to still free us, or… did that change with the firefight?”

Sylvia sighs. Throughout her run, she pondered that question too. Prion’s plan, of using Despelder to take out Colonel Raul and RUTH without a ruckus… it was a failure. Despelder may indeed be powerful, but was he really all that trustworthy in the end? He was certain a wildcard, that much was certain.

“I think… we should head to the north-east corner of the campus. Even if no one come, Despelder did say there was a weakness there. Out best bet in getting out early, away from all this… it might still be there.”

Oswin nods, still a bit hesitant with that idea. “M-Maybe we could… still seek shelter along the way. I don’t know if going all the way there so… exposed would be the best move, Syl. I mean… that Robo might still be out there. Or the colonel. If either one of them catch us—”

“That’s not happening,” Sylvia says firmly, grabbing Oswin’s hand and squeezing it. She promised herself she wasn’t gonna hear Oswin choke out like that ever again, and she plans on keeping that one. “Raul and the Robo won’t ever touch you.”

Oswin’s expression softens, squeezing Sylvia’s hand back. “Or you,” he wants to say. He finds himself unable to say that though, not due to a lack of resolve—he would give anything and everything up for Sylvia, just like she did for him—he just… can’t imagine a perfect trek to their freedom, not with so much against them, all so much out of his league. Still, he can at least promise himself that: He’s gonna do it all for his colonel, his Sylvia.

✦ ✦ ✦

“Rats!” Javier yells out, finding another empty dead-end. He looks back to where he just came from and vanishes in another blue flash. At least with Sylvia and Oswin not here, his emotions aren’t a complete mess, letting him to teleport much more than usual, allowing him to get around that much faster throughout the parking ramp.

A temptation to revisit a memory of that, how he once explained his teleportation to Sylvia passes by him, he allowing it to pass without engaging it. He instead just keeps warping throughout the darkness, reaching another level, hoping to find SOMETHING soon.

He eventually does find something, which he nearly misses, initially mistaking it for yet another concrete wall. It IS a wall, but made of an entirely different material: Axionite. Axionite and metal, an Adamant shield, the very thing keeping everyone locked in here.

Javier exhales, for at least that metal is a sign that he’s closer to the ground level of the ramp. He turns around, ready to leave this spot too to continue his venture, until… a faint thought resurfaces, a faint idea that he nearly brought up earlier this night. When he was with Oswin and Sylvia in that Archive Room within the library, Javier was about to ask them about this, but then RUTH came in and the moment passed. Yet now, with an Adamant Shield so close, that kernel starts popping up.

He looks to his left arm, remembering the idea more clearly, a spark of his purple flames nearly igniting as he considers his locked Axiom. But he stops himself from fully going there; he’s got to think this through.

He turns back to the Adamant Shield wall, then looks down at his left arm, then back at the wall. His purple flames would let him phase through normal objects, obstacles, like the lab door which stood in his way earlier tonight. If that fact was fully true, if this strange power really could let him phase through anything like a ghost, then maybe…

Javier swallows, taking in a deep breath, before the maroon in his eyes shift to purple, matching the flames that fully flicker on, coming over his left arm. He winces in pain, the familiar shakes and acidic burning sensation infecting his heart once again. Still, he HAD to do this, he had to use this chance to try and see if this shortcut would work.

His flaming hand moves closer to the Adamant Shield, eyes naturally closing as if he didn’t want to see what actually came next, what would and could go wrong. These shields were made to withstand forces far greater than him—all Axioms as he understood them—yet a power like phasing… he just had to try this. For them, just for them.

The tips of his burning fingers make contact with the Adamant Shield, but before he can even sink them further in, the flames are all immediately snuffled out, the wall vibrating violently against Javier, blasting him back. His pain upon landing isn’t a concern here, but the INTENSE heartburn that strikes. It’s far magnified, throwing Javier into a coughing fit, his throat aching at it, unable to let him breathe, his very spine on fire from both the heartburn and coughing.

Sliding on the ground with his whole right arm over his chest, Javier struggles to stand, placing his hands over the concrete as he lets the coughing continue, all out of his system it finally subsides. He looks to his left arm, moving to assess the damage. His sleeve appears fine, as does the silver glove over his hand, but that’s not satisfying enough. He pulls off the glove, slides down the robe-like sleeve, and scrutinizes what he can see.

There’s his arm, somewhat muscular, his yellow-gold skin there, interrupted by lines of lighter skin peppered all over his arm. He exhales in relief, sliding the sleeve back down, putting the glove back on, and looks back at the Adamant Shield, which appears normal, unchanged by Javier’s gambit.

“Such a bad idea,” he breathes out. He KNEW he should have waited for Sylvia or Oswin’s input.

Turning back to the darkness of the ramp, Javier vanishes, continuing his journey, dreading more bad news—something he’s sure to follow throughout the night. Thankfully for him, he doesn’t have to keep exhausting his mind with teleports for much longer.

Javier appears in a slightly brighter level, seeing a light in the distance, an end to the dark corridors. He proceeds onto the light with hope, the hope of seeing his friends again. OLD friends, he has to remind himself. Former, from another time.

 Reaching the light, Javier sighs. More from the parking ramp. Could he have gone too far? Could Sylvia and Oswin still be stuck somewhere within the darkness below? No, they couldn’t be, he was thorough. Yet, the questions haunt Javier, but not for too long, a flicker of voice coming through the surroundings, faint and distant, but with familiar tones and patterns. He can’t help the smile that comes over him, an expression as bright as the light that follows his teleport.

“Ack!”

Sylvia steps back, flinging her fist in front, but halting it right in front of Javier’s face, nearly grazing his nose. “Ja… vier.”

Javier isn’t even tense at the attack, his shoulders relaxing even, as Sylvia and Oswin stand in front of him—alive and seemingly well. He wasn’t a huge hugger, but he reflexively opens up his arms a bit, almost hugging Sylvia before he harshly stops himself. “You’re… You’re both okay.”

Sylvia simply nods, their time apart having reset her comfort around Javier, a few little could manage before. However, Oswin seems a bit more comfortable still, stepping forward.

“So are you?” Oswin can’t help himself asking.

 Javier smiles warmly, dipping his chin. “Yes. Yes, I’m alright. And u-um… no lies this time, honest.” He chuckles lightly, a bit nervous, sensing the tension present between them once again, feeling the same sort of reset that their little time apart allowed.

Oswin stops himself from reacting to Javier, while Sylvia can only awkwardly breathe out, “G… Good.”

A bit embarrassed, Javier averts his gaze, looking to their surroundings. “So, no Raul? Or RUTH?”

Sylvia’s eyes widen. “You mean… they’re still out there?”

“T-Technically, yes,” Javier responds. “Raul got away, but Prion’s handling that. As for the Robo, I figured it might either be still fighting Despelder or…”

Oswin shakes his head. “We haven’t seen it, Javier.”

“Good, then… then we might be safe. YOU might be safe now, for real.”

“We’ll… We’ll see,” Sylvia says, slipping her hand into her pocket to hold the H-Nutrient crystal. “Any idea on the plan now? Oswin and I were going to the Freedom Point, see if we could make our own way out.”

“I think that’s an excellent idea,” Javier spits out, almost kicking himself instantly as his tone. He sounds like a little kid trying to impress their teacher. “I-I mean, you can count on me to keep you safe.”

Oswin nods, an expression of concern at the tension between them. He looks to Sylvia, who looks as conflicted as she has been all night when it comes to Javier. There’s simply too much baggage here, and while he’s always gonna be on her side, they need to keep moving. “Let’s go,” he says, putting as much authority as he can in his voice.

That sound might have made Sylvia smile at least, but she doesn’t, instead staring blankly forward as she walks, a face she keeps as they move up the lit part of the parking ramp.

With Javier here again, Sylvia can’t help the turmoil within her rising again, the need to look back at what happened. She’s been managing to shut down all her questions through the night, and she really doesn’t want to be difficult here, not when there’s still so much that could go wrong. Javier IS helping them; she can’t ruin that. But at the same time… she can’t help but want to point at the elephant room, the MANY elephants.

Her jaw tightens. None of this matters to their primary goal of getting out of here. If she learned anything in her past as a colonel, it’s that one has to put things aside for the mission. One has to compartmentalize, even if so much her is being shuffled away.

“Sylvia?” Oswin asks.

“Yes?” she asks back, a bitterness in her voice. She loves Oswin, but now’s not the time to be peachy for him.

“Just…” He considers his next words wisely. He looks to Javier, then back at Sylvia. He swallows, but he has to do this. “Javier.”

Javier stops walking, immediately turning towards Oswin as he calls him. With worry, his gem flies to his hand, weapon activated and ready. “W-What is it? RUTH here? You two take—”

“No,” Oswin says plainly, cutting Javier off. He lowers his guard, looking at Oswin puzzled, until Oswin continues, his words splicing the tension, through the veil Sylvia was trying to keep. “You abandoned us.”

“No…,” Sylvia whispers to herself. “Not now…” But Oswin charges on ahead.

“You left us in the ruins.”

Javier steps back, genuinely stunned. Not because what Oswin wasn’t true, but the timing. He thought they had settles into an invisible arrangement of sort, that they would focus squarely on the present danger, trust him until their exit. He would have figured out all the explanations by then, have all the answers to give. But here is Oswin, his words defying Javier’s now clear assumption.

It wasn’t so much that shattered comfort that got to Javier, but the revelation that accompanied the blunt words. This was not a sudden, immediate declaration; this festered within them, long enough to boil out. Immediately, a shadow passes through Javier’s face, one not of darkness but his undying shame.

“I did,” Javier says. He forces his eyes not to wander elsewhere, but stay here, face them, see the clarity in their judging hurt eyes.

Oswin lets out a breath. “Why?”

Javier swallows, his cheeks trembling with humiliation. He knows the truth, and he’s not gonna sugar coat it one bit. “Fright.”

Oswin’s face pales a bit at that, having expected more, much more than a one-word explanation. And seeing that, he does get more.

“I-I just… I didn’t know what to do,” Javier gets out, only to try to correct that—not to make himself look better, but to actually explain. “But that’s not…” He squeezes his eyes shut, forcing them back open, he HAS to face this. “I-I should’ve gone back, I knew that. But… but I didn’t. I didn’t and…” His voice cracks, the perfect explanation far away. “I was afraid. When you needed me, I… let my fear push me away.”

“…That’s it?” Sylvia finds herself spitting out. A near scoff comes out her mouth as she starts talking, unable to keep any of it in any further. “You mean that… that Oswin got his stomach destroyed, because of your fear? That he went through that month in that coma, that because he almost DIED because of that beast… all b-because you… you were AFRAID?!” She’s trembling now, equal parts anger, hurt, indignation.

Javier’s face goes deathly pale, his own stomach turning at the words, their information.

“C… Coma…?” He looks to Oswin, this throat tightening at the current sight of him, imagining the truth of what those moments must have been. His beaten, stained body, dragged along death’s door, eventually on a bed, tubes all over, Sylvia the lone person by him, helpless to do anything else. But it’s here that Javier sees that Oswin’s face doesn’t have the same colors as Sylvia’s ire. Instead, Oswin’s face remains pale, losing more and more color as the seconds pass.

Slowly, Oswin cranes his head over to Sylvia, his pupils smaller in their shock, arms trembling. Confusion and fear mix with her storm of emotions at the sight of Oswin like this, her heart racing once again.

“S… Sylvia…?” Oswin stammers out. “W… What… What beast…?”

Then, it’s Sylvia’s turn to grow pale. The colors fade from her face, panic striking, eyes widening, the realization of her mistake slowly hitting the longer she looks at her scout. Oswin… she never told him.

And Javier can tell, just by the silence and shame in Sylvia’s face, he can see what’s happening now, the sudden turn, an extension of his mistake. He thinks about jumping in, of coming to her defense, of blaming the Mythborn’s presence on himself, but… he halts. He can’t do that, he can’t turn this to win her favors, he doesn’t matter! Maybe he could take the blame, maybe he could be their shield, but he’s paralyzed. The uncertainty and fear of the wrong move keeps him frozen.

Sylvia moves quickly to Oswin, blinking back the emotions, grabbing Oswin’s hands fiercely. “D-Don’t…! J-Just…! I can explain it, Os! J-Just me time to think and explain…!”

Oswin’s own heart starts racing, the information given out filling too many holes, explaining too many mysteries. He grabs her shoulder, looking into her face gravely. “J-Just… what happened to me that day, Syl?! Y-You told me I was pierced by a pipe, but… what really happened?!”

Sylvia lets out a breath, her face trembling now, images of the horrid scene passing through her, the sounds… She can’t go there again. She can’t relive that after all this time. “O-Os…!”

“Sylvia,” he pleads, leading his head on her shoulder. “Trust me… Just… Tell me. Tell me the truth!”

Her throat is so dry, the trembles intensifying as she’s forced back in. She forces herself back out before the plunge, just can’t go back, instead going with what she can.

“I gave you my heart!” Sylvia screams.

Oswin reels back, slapped by the words. “W-What?”

Sylvia swallows nothing, looking briefly to Javier, who’s own expression worsens with each moment. “You happy?” her eyes seem to say. “See what you did to us?” they accuse.

Javier grits his teeth, lowering his face, shaking his head. The anger courses through him, at no one but himself, the true depths of his mistake laid out before him.

When the pounding below them starts, Javier almost doesn’t want to point it out. He doesn’t want to do what he has to next. Right now, all of this is because he left them, and now… he’s gotta do that again.

“Y-You…” Javier steps away from them, pulling off his hood so they can see him clearly. “You keep running. You don’t stop for me, for Despelder or Prion or anyone. You just go. I… I won’t stop either this time. I’m not stopping until the Robo is dead.”

And with that, Javier has to run, his mind in no shape to let him teleport away. He’s leaving them once again, hoping that this time… it’s truly the last time. And that this time, he’s making the right choice by leaving them, this time choosing to fight right away.

Sylvia’s hand slides down Oswin’s body, grazing his hand but not holding it, afraid to grab it.

Oswin’s lips remain open, unable to speak. All that time… all those moments… he wasn’t the only one permanently handicapped. All along, he missed that. He missed that Sylvia… gave up her heart for him. He places his hand over Sylvia’s chest, over where the rest of her heart must be. He leans on her shoulder, the moments of her barely being able to breathe after carrying him… the jokes about her terrible cardio… they stab him in the core. He’ll never forgive himself for not seeing this, for not seeing her.

“Y… Your scar…,” he whispers. “You really…?”

Sylvia lowers her gaze, unable to even nod in confirmation.

They can hear the sounds of the rumblings below, knowing full well the physical danger that they’re in. But while the world has been able to yank them back from their pain, it’s unable to do the same anymore, the effects of the stimulus gone.

Oswin gently takes Sylvia’s cold hand, pulling her along into the corridors above, unsure how to even run with her when he can’t carry her. He can’t return a favor for once, and that feels like the end.

✧ Chapter 17 ✧

Onward Through Chaos

Shade forms a thick wall of glass as she runs, moving and pushing it forward as she charges on, getting closer her burning home. Finally reaching her front entrance, she almost rips out the door as she charges in, seeing the fire is already everywhere, consuming all her furniture, all the hard work she put in finishing the log cabin, her home. If she wasn’t kicking herself for vaporizing all those trees, she sure was now, seeing all this.

“What was I doing?” she yells out, moving through the flames with her glass. “What the mutt is wrong with me?!”

Everything’s in shambles; the kitchen, the living room, her sofas and the stairway leading upstairs. She’s about to head up when she halts and recalls.

“Riegal’s cloak!”

Her black cloak, given to her by her dear uncle Riegal, given to prevent this EXACT kind of chaos happening. What a time to have ditched it behind!

Shade dashes to her sofa, rescuing the cape from the flames eating away the soft armrests. She swipes the cloak harshly through the air, trying to snuff out the fire over her prized apparel. When that doesn’t work, she lays it flat on the floor before taking her flat glass wall and smashing it over the cloak. The flames over the cape are extinguished under the thick glass, but Shade ended up putting just too much strength in the flattening. The entire floor under her comes down, making Shade and her surrounding crash down to the basement.

“Ugh…”

She opens her eyes to see the blurry smoky and hot surroundings, her entire basement far past ruined. Frankly, it’s a miracle the place is still standing at all. She grunts as she reaches out her right hand, taking hold of the cloak over the rubble next to her. She pulls its close, closing her eyes, tempted to just let this happen, to stop fighting and just let the world have her.

With her cloak around her, she thinks back to Riegal, back to him and the rest of her family. Her sister’s lighter gray skin, her brother’s slight height advantage, her mother’s rare smiles, her father’s rare appearance, and Riegal… his shifting cheekbone as they mouthed off those words, her words. She was the one to make up the phrase, but it was Riegal who kept it around, kept bringing it back to help her. A reminder that no matter how hopeless or chaotic things got in her world, to never give into that lack of hope, to the let the distance to that hope push her forward, to let the fear of that distance guide her, be her compass.

She mouths out those words as she stand, focusing on the glass tower above all this, her days of work lingering unharmed by the mistakes of her rage, reaching up to the very top, the unfinished opening grazing the sky. This glass was her shield and sword, and it was time that she use it.

With an opening of her eyes, she sees her broken, burning surrounding, but she doesn’t cower, instead speaking out the words as she takes hold of her glass.

“Embrace the space!”

✦ ✦ ✦

Javier lands in the lower parking ramp, hand gripping the Tourbillion tight, the shards of the drill already out as he meets the red eyes approaching from the darkness.

“RUTH. THIRD ENTITY DETECTED.”

“Faradforcer,” Javier spits out back. “Or… your dismantler!”

He charges forward, his crystal weapon swung harshly at the metal beast. Rather than dodge or block the attack with its steel body, RUTH stands still, letting the new appendage grab Javier’s weapon and burn it in its grasp.

“What the—?!” Javier barely gets the time to doge the metal fist that following, his weapon still firmly in RUTH’s grip, scalded by the glowing and flowing hair-like appendage. He grits his teeth at the sight, already surmising RUTH’s new power based on its current visual differences. “So, the madman pushed you further, didn’t he?”

His eyes roam over the Robo’s metal structure, looking for anything else to watch for in RUTH’s state of four shattered Limiters. Finding nothing else besides that glowing appendage on its head, Javier felt oddly grateful; at least it still had two more Limiters to go.

With a flash, Javier’s eyes shift to a yellow color, while he points at the Tourbillion in RUTH’s grip. From the smallest crystal at the end, the electricity that Javier gave the crystal flies out, returning the crystal back to just a small gem, the large shard in RUTH’s grip crumbling away. The action catches RUTH’s attention, enough for Javier to try this trick again.

With a tightening of his hand, Javier makes the free electricity condensed into an orb, which he moves to strike RUTH’s abdomen. The Robo is only struck once before dodging more attacks, retaliating with a fist covered in red energy, charging it into the orb.

“Gotcha.” Shifting his eyes to blue and flicking his finger, Javier infuses the electricity with his psionic power, letting it teleport above the Robo, dodging RUTH’s fist. Javier can see the blue in the electricity flickering—his Psychic Axiom lessened thanks to his fractured emotions—but he keeps going, bringing his hands together, compensating for the loss with more electricity, giving the orb more before he moves his hands down. At the action, the orb casts down a thick bolt of electricity, engulfing the Robo in blue-yellow light.

He can hear the screeching that follows, moving up a hand to take hold of his crystal in the distance, sending it back to him with what little telekinetic power he can manage.

“Need to change, need to focus…,” Javier thinks to himself, looking up to see the Robo struggle out of his attack, his clear distraction. “Still not sure what’s between you and Prion,” Javier starts out loud, “but you are clearly the inferior unit!”

RUTH screeches out higher, mouth open to fire a beam, finally escaping Javier’s electric attack, body still sizzling with the residual energy.

Javier quickly re-activates his weapon, the drill coming back out just in time to block the beam.

“So much faster,” Javier thinks. And indeed, RUTH is. Before Javier can recover or counter, RUTH has already charged forward, punching his weapon with its red first, the force sending Javier back.

Forcing himself forward, Javier teleports, but only a very short distance, enough to appear behind RUTH, still enough space to take advantage of the momentum of his lock to carry his kick, which he lands on the Robo. While the attack does send RUTH back, the machine turns as it does, firing another beam that hits Javier right in the chest, too fast this time to block.

The blast carries Javier upwards, leading him to crash through the ceiling above. He bursts through to the upper level, falling down to the floor, the air taken out of him. His body trembles as he struggles to stand, seeing as RUTH jumps down to his level, coming down with a swipe of the energy appendage.

With widened eyes, Javier propels himself to his side, just barely missing a singe from the burning attack. The energy smacks down on the ground, cutting opening a wide gash on the floor. Javier pants as he regains his footing, noting the damage left on the floor from the missed attack, the Robo standing back up to glare at him.

“That energy whip…”

Javier closes his eyes, quickly picturing the image of Oswin and Sylvia running above. He made another promise, this time to them directly, and this one he means to keep. But still feeling his emotions too fragile, the image of Sylvia cradling a bleeding Oswin flashing within his closed vision, Javier instead clutches his left hand tight, electric sparks forming over it.

“Machines like you used to be vulnerable to electricity.” Javier opens his palm, the currents crackling, his open eyes yellow as he focuses all his efforts on his electric power, his Electric Axiom. “I mean to test if you’re still as fragile!”

RUTH screeches, charging Javier, who intercepts the machine with his weapon. He turns to send the Robo aside, and blasts it away with a pulse of electricity from his left palm strike.

RUTH only takes a hard step forward, its body enduring the harsh strike, glaring at Javier with those hard red eyes. Quickly, the machine pulls back its right arm, thrusting it forward to strike Javier right in the face.

“Ack!”

He’s sent crashing to a wall, air forced out by the crash, before RUTH charges at him, once again with another strike from its glowing hair-like appendage. Before the strike can reach Javier, the stops the attack with his crystal drill, the clash trembling as the force of the machine and axisguard collide.

Javier grits his teeth hard, the appendage close enough to nearly singe bits of his hair coming out of his hood.

“That energy… could it be channeling it from its greater states of power?” Javier speculates, eyes noticing the other exhaust tubes on RUTH’s scalp, two of them still empty, only letting out bits of the machine’s signature red energy. With his right arm losing strength, Javier moves his left hand behind him, palm spread out on the wall behind before discharging an electric pulse, propelling the two of them forwards.

Javier once against tries to use the momentum to his advantage, using his limited teleportation to push himself behind RUTH, aiming to knee its head, trying to see if a fierce strike there would interfere with this troublesome energy whip.

However, the Robo is already two steps ahead. It turns its head to Javier’s incoming knee, blasting him up close.

Several levels above, Sylvia and Oswin continue their uncertain run, finally reaching the end of the underground parking ramp, approaching a glass door with a hallway behind.

Sylvia doesn’t wait to pull the thing open, she pulls back her right first before using it to break apart the entrance, continuing both their momentums forward.

“Sylvia!” Oswin yellows out, continuing to run. “You HAVE to be careful! You have to watch—!”

“My heart, I know! Now’s not the time, Oswin!” Sylvia keeps on running, panting hard, the use of her Power Axiom not helping her heart one bit, only twisting the knife of exhaustion harder.

Oswin grits his teeth in frustration at the sight, kicking himself for not having an Axiom that could help him carry her now. “She’s spent all this time carrying me! Who’s gonna do the same to her when I can’t!” He keeps yelling at himself internally like that, wanting desperately for them to stop, yell out that at this rate she’s likely to collapse soon, if not worse. But at the same time, he feels and hears the mad rumblings around them, the sounds of Javier’s fight with RUTH, which get louder and closer with each passing moment. Stopping was no option, but neither was hurting Sylvia.

When Sylvia stumbles, Oswin darts to her, partly catching her, trying to lift her as best he can to keep moving.

“Ah… Ah… Os…!”

“I’m so… sorry, Syl…!” Oswin breathes out, struggling to carry her. “I’m so sorry that… I can’t do what you do…! I can’t ever… do the things you do… back to you…!”

“Os…!”

She wants to shut him up, to tell him otherwise, that while she’s the sword, he’s the shield, that without him she’d be a warrior without a shield, laid bare to the world and all its harm. But she can’t speak, can’t even breathe.

She remembers the warnings, how Cormac told her the surgery was dangerous, how removing so much of her heart would permanently affect her, to watch her actions. But at these moments, Sylvia couldn’t follow the optimal choice. She can’t pick the long-term when the short-term could end it all.

Finally, Oswin comes to a stop, unable to keep running with her in his arms, collapsing to his knees but still holding Sylvia, cradling her close.

“I’m… sorry…,” Oswin whispers to her. “I’m sorry that… all I’ve been… is a burden…!”

“No…!” Is all Sylvia can just mouth off in her panting, unable to even breathe out a whisper.

The battles under them keep growing louder, a reality undenied as it crashes into them.

Several feet in front of Oswin and Sylvia, the floor collapses, revealing Javier as he bursts through the concrete, blasted up through the chest, nearly buried into the concrete of the ceiling above. He can only let out a weak breath, gravity making him dislodge and fall back to the earth, his crystal weapon slipping out of his hands, clinking against the floor besides him.

Oswin looks horrified at the sight, holding Sylvia closer, trying to hide the view, all while whispering against himself, “…Javier…” She groans weakly, shifting slightly, enough to see and hear as RUTH jumps in through the opening on the ground near them.

The Robo considers Javier for a moment, something like a clear chuckle coming out of it at the sight of the defeated Faradforcer. Then, the Robo turns to Oswin, who closes his eyes and hugs Sylvia tightly, bracing for what’s coming next, already dreading their mishandling considering how it went earlier.

“RUTH. ONLY A SINGLE TARGET IS REQUIRED.”

The machine opens its mouth, cannon coming out, targeting locked-on… Oswin.

Oswin’s eyes shoot open, arms gently letting Sylvia go, his chance to finally make things up to her presenting itself. If the Robo only needed one of them, then it had to be him.

Sylvia grits her teeth, the pounding in her ears making her hear nothing else, but she still stands up, still faces the machine, her hands tightening into fists. She struggles to just remain standing, but still does, voice coming out weak but clear.

“You… aren’t… getting… anyone…!”

Oswin can only watch her helplessly, trying to form green orbs over his hands to protect her, but he’s just too tired. He needs food, he needs rest, but more than anything, he needs Sylvia.

Javier tries to shift in his spot, weakly holding his crystal, opening his eyes to see the scene playing out in front of him, Sylvia standing in front of a crawling Oswin, trying to protect them both, trying to do what she can because… he failed them. Once again, he failed his friends.

Javier closes his eyes, events of the night flashing through him, trying to see where exactly he went wrong, what he could do if he could do this night over again and again. Would he be trapped, fated to always end up here? Or could he break free? Break free from his failure and save them, saved them both? Save ANYONE tonight?

It’s then that an image returns to him, that of the GearTerra soldier, the one from the zoo he spared, the one he saw as human, beyond the armor he wore. Was Javier the same as him? Could he escape the just punishment he deserved? He deserved to lose them, for Sylvia and Oswin to not be in his life anymore. But… THEY didn’t deserve that end. They didn’t deserve an end where one is taken harshly by RUTH, the other left to rot with him. They didn’t deserve that end, not when they were trying to help the world, not when they survived that day in the ruins. If they were meant to die, they would have back then, under the talons of that Mythborn.

But they didn’t die. And Javier didn’t rot away in jail. And that soldier from the zoo didn’t get handcuffs. They all burst past their ends, and all that… through action.

Javier got out of prison, took the chance presented to him and ran. And Sylvia and Oswin both got up; they left the Phantasy Ruins and both eventually stood back up again. And that zoo soldier sent Javier here, told him what he knew, all because he acted too, because he chose to tell Javier what GearTerra was plotting. Action was what brought them all here, and action was what was gonna get them out. Action… and risk.

Javier tightens his left hand, summoning forth a trusted Axiom, another in his horizons.

RUTH steps forward, energy gathering at the tip of its cannon, igniting it with red energy. Sylvia pants, fists tight, but before she can act, RUTH stops walking. Held in place… by a blue aura.

It worked. By focusing on the moment, Javier’s psionic hold worked. But it wouldn’t last forever, the Robo already fighting his grasp. With a hard stomp, Javier stand, eyes fully blue now, body surrounded by a blue aura, his hold on RUTH not giving out.

“You…,” Javier trembles out, believing a lie he has to believe. “You… stay away… from my friends!”

With a forceful pull, RUTH is ripped out of the ground, sent flying away from Oswin and Sylvia, sent right towards Javier, whose blue aura around his left arm… starts to turn purple. Purple with flames coming over his left arm.

“No battery, no life!”

His left arm winds back, the ghostly flames of his locked Axiom surrounding him, thrusting towards a rocketing RUTH, the Robo screeching at his fist makes contact. Javier’s hand phases through the stubborn metal body, phasing until the power cell is reached.

✦ ✦ ✦

Shade screams out in pain, keeling over, her hold over the glass around her faltering, making all of it collapse into the ground around her home. She can feel it, the intense pain, just like before—not the heartburn from the apple picking, but back when she lost control. But this time, she wouldn’t lose it. She wouldn’t lose anything else, fusing the pain and anger that follows as part of the chaos, the space she’s using to propel herself forward.

She stands and rips out more glass from the top of the Hyalo-Tower, using it to fortify the domes of glass she spread around her home and the forest. She moves the mass of glass everywhere, reinforcing the melting glass covering the destruction, choking out the fires within.

“Embrace the space!!”

✦ ✦ ✦

Javier staggers back, the image of the vision still sharp in his mind.

“W… Who…?! What…?!”

Javier has no idea what he just saw, how it relates to the Robo or anything of this, why he saw that when he finally hit an attack that felt like it truly hurt RUTH. But that doesn’t matter, a mystery crushed by the immediate present.

RUTH is on all fours, screeching loudly and wildly as the purple flames of Javier’s attack still linger on its body, warping the inner steel within.

Oswin stands up at the sight, hugging Sylvia, both staring as RUTH gathers its red energy around its body, Javier feeling as a vacuum forms within its body, collapsing as a pulse of energy blasts out, snuffling out the ghostly flames over it. Javier covers his eyes from the intense light, turning them back quickly to see RUTH standing there, now with a second glowing appendage out from its scalp, the lights over its body probably brighter now, but difficult to tell thanks to them already being so bright.

“RUTH. FIFTH LIMITER… SHATTERED!”

Javier gaps, already knowing what this means. He looks behind the Robo, seeing Oswin and Sylvia standing there, as exposed as they were before. He knows he’s far outmatched here now, the burst of confidence and clarity already fading as uncertainty settles back into him. Defeating this Robo, killing it like he promised… it would have to take time. Time and energy that Javier didn’t have. And RUTH’s battery… would “that” happen again? Would he see that same vision if he hurt it again?

RUTH charges at Javier, using its twin appendages now, almost to ensnare Javier, burn him from both sides. But with Sylvia and Oswin in his sights, back in his mind now, he has to go there, he has to focus on that now instead of fighting a losing battle. Focus on… his friends.

Javier vanishes in a blue flash, just missing the twin burning attack. And when RUTH turns around, anticipating another surprise attack, RUTH gets a different surprise. Javier puts his arms around Oswin and Sylvia, and disappears with them, teleporting far, as far up as he can manage. His aim reckless, his energy use damning, but all he cares about with that move is moving them out, his state afterwards left to fate.

RUTH stomps harshly on the floor, screeching loudly with fury.

Javier reappears with Sylvia and Oswin in his arms still, in another place. Wider halls surround them, all exits blocked with the familiar metal of the Adamant Shields, a view that slowly settles into Oswin, eyes softening in recognition.

Javier planned on immediately removing his arms from them as soon as they reappeared wherever they did, when he didn’t need his Psychic Axiom anymore—when he could accept the reality of his lie. They weren’t friends anymore, only former ones, but he needed to believe that lie to get here. And now that they’re here, he can’t remove his arms, can’t do anything but groan out in pain, the exhaustion and pain forced in, his body limp, leaving only part of his sound and sight while the rest collapses.

“Javier…!” Sylvia yells out, holding him by his right side, trying to steady him with Oswin on his left. His body is heavy, top-half slumped over them, his eyes just barely open.

“T-That teleport…,” Oswin whisper out, his heart still pounding from the intensity of everything. “I think… I know where we are.”

“You… do…?” Sylvia replies, trying to steady her own heart still, hiding any of the pain she feels.

“Yeah.” Oswin carefully tugs Javier along with Sylvia, Javier’s silver boots dragging along the floor as they move him. Oswin scans the walls as he keeps guiding them, nodding lightly as they move until they finally reach the spot he was looking for. “There, we can go in here!”

Oswin’s free hand comes around a handle, pushing the surrounding door open to reveal a large and empty lecture hall. Rows and rows of empty seats move up in the distance, the center area they enter bearing only a large wooden table, a massive television screen behind it, currently off.

The last thing Javier sees as they drag him inside is that vision, that which he saw when he struck RUTH’s battery, that power cell in its chest. Only a single question passes through his mind before the dark void swallows him whole.

“Just… who was that cyan-haired woman?”

✧ Chapter 18 ✧

Night of Miracles

Oswin helps Sylvia carefully set Javier down on the wide wooden table in the lecture hall. Javier’s body is still limp, covered in sweat, his face warm, bits of his gray hair damp now too. Oswin lets out a breath at the sight, some part of him tensing up at the sight of their old friend like this, bits of blood on his face and lips, clear swelling around his face that will likely bruise soon.

“Can you hear me, Javier?” Oswin asks him, moving down to check the pulse on his neck.

Sylvia carefully removes Javier’s silver gloves, checking his pulse through his wrist. “Squeeze my hand if you can hear us,” she says, but no response follows, from his voice or hands.

“Pulse is real weak, we should try to get him water,” Oswin whispers, moving up the ends of his lab coat to try to dry off Javier’s face—whatever he can manage to use would work.

Sylvia hums in agreement, carefully sliding her hands into Javier’s hood, pulling it down to expose his head to the cooler room. Javier lightly groans in response, but she proceeds on, undoing the cloak around his neck and removing it fully from his body so as to help him cool down.

“I’ll go look for some,” Sylvia says, already moving away. “Watch him.”

As she goes up the stairs, Oswin shifts in place, having wanted to go instead, keep Sylvia from exciting her heart anymore, especially so close to the brush they just had, but he’s too late. She reaches the top of the stairs, his eyes remaining on her, missing the sparks which flicker between Javier’s fingers.

Javier groans a bit, Oswin looking back down to tend to his old friend. He sees his spent body, using parts of Javier’s cloak to dab off the sweat and blood on his face. With his face clean, Oswin placing his palm over Javier’s forehead.

“At least you’re still breathing,” Oswin whispers out, unsure whether Javier could hear him at all. He carefully opens up Javier’s eyelids, noting his maroon pupils are dilated, reacting sluggishly to the lights around them. He next takes hold of Javier’s long black sleeves, gently pulling them down to inspect his arms. Seeing his bruises, Oswin lets out a sharp wince. He shouldn’t be surprised, considering all the fighting Javier’s done tonight, but the hard confirmation of the damage still stings. Despite their past and all the complications still there, Javier was still human, someone hurt and in need.

Oswin looks up from Javier, eyes scanning the lecture hall for first aid kit, or anything that could be of use here, something left behind by a student even, anything. His eyes then settle on something in the distance.

Upstairs, right outside the lecture hall, Sylvia lays her back against the wall for a moment, allowing herself to break down. She’d been looking for a chance to drop all her walls and strength and just let herself feel everything, the weight of the full night and all its revelations striking, flashing before her eyes. But, in surprise to herself, now when she finally gets this moment, not much happens. No tears, no whimpers, no screams or even self-hugs; all she does is exhale, slump her shoulders, and that’s it. It’s oddly unsatisfying, perhaps some part of her refusing to relax, remaining firm as this night is still far from over. She lightly smacks her face once, hands going over her cheeks, getting it together before pushing herself off the wall.

Sylvia quickly scans the halls, looking for any source of water. She was hoping for vending machines, as even health-conscious and prestigious places like this medical campus had those. However, no machine or anything like that comes in sight.

“Rats,” she breathes out.

She quickly shuffles to her right, not wanting to leave Oswin alone in that lecture hall much longer. She moves fast, her gaze and feet shifting as she walks, scanning for ANY water at this point. When she turns a corner, she finally spots some.

Running to the water fountain, she quickly activates the water, chugging down the cool liquid, enough to almost elicit a burp. The water feels very refreshing passing down her body, going down almost as quickly as it comes in. She wipes her mouth with her sleeve, but as she does so, the moment of rejuvenation is spoiled by a realization: Just how is she supposed to bring this water back down to Javier? Maybe Oswin could come back later himself to freshen up, but Javier… he was in no shape to walk.

Sylvia instinctively pats down her own body as she scans her surroundings, looking for a container, initially hoping for a small one fit, but anything would do at this point: A garbage bin, a cardboard box, anything. But finding nothing nearby, she looks down at herself, emptying her pockets and placing everything she finds on the platform of the fountain. Just her phone, several copper coins, house keys, ID badge, and the H-Nutrient crystal. None of this helps out at all.

Putting her hands back in her pockets, she considers her lab coat itself. Maybe she could somehow rip the pockets out? Make a pouch that could carry the water? She shakes her head; she’d just ruin her clothes and not get that much downstairs anyways, they’d be better off just bringing Javier up here instead.

Somewhat defeated, Sylvia turns to head back to the lecture hall, stopping quickly once something catches her eye: a janitor’s closet.

Oswin unzips the backpack he found, placing it right next to Javier on the table. Most of the items he finds inside are useless right now, just some notebooks and pens, but he does manage to fish out something from the front zipper: A plastic bag with almonds, nearly full. He looks over the bag when Sylvia finally comes back, holding some disinfectant bottles.

“Got some!” She says as she shuffles down the rows of seats.

Oswin looks at her curiously as she approaches, taking one of the bottles she hands him, noting that the bottle is to clean windows and lacks its signature spray nozzle on the top.

“Uhh, what’s this?”

“Water,” Sylvia replies, as she sets the other capless disinfectant bottles she carried down by Javier. She takes one and brings it up to Javier, very carefully sitting him up, making sure to support his neck as she tilts the tip of the bottle to Javier’s dry lips.

“B-But… they’re cleaning bottles?”

“It’s all I could find,” Sylvia says, shooting Oswin a look but smiling. “And don’t worry, I made sure to dump out the fluids that were in each one. Gave them a thorough flush and dry too.”

Oswin looks at his bottle, narrowing his eyes at it. It looked good to consume at least, and he does trust Sylvia’s judgment. He opens his own dry lips and takes in the water, finishing it all too quickly.

“Thirsty, huh?” Sylvia lightly teases, struggling to get Javier to drink in this semi-unconscious state. She has to be really careful and slow here, making sure to moisten his lips well, giving him tiny amounts of the water, waiting for the swallowing before she gives more.

“I think that’s good for now,” Oswin eventually says, speaking up when the quarter of the bottle is empty.

Sylvia carefully sets Javier back down on the table, her now getting to see his bruising face and bits of blood.

“It’s not normal,” Oswin whispers.

“Hm?” Sylvia looks up to Oswin in confusion, until Oswin comes closer and gently holds a bit of Javier’s grey hair.

“His hair,” Oswin starts. “I really thought it just always this color, like he was born with it. But… seeing the texture up close…”

Sylvia blinks at that. She looks back down for herself, now seeing what Oswin means. Javier’s hair wasn’t silky and smooth, it was tough, rough, and unevenly gray, faint flakes of black deep within.

“He must… really overwork himself,” Sylvia whispers out. “S-Strain his heart.” She says that part silently, lowering her head a bit with a frown.

Oswin’s expression softens at her. He takes the bag of almonds next to him and hands it to her, prompting her to look back up.

“S-Someone um… left behind a backpack,” Oswin says softly. “Not much in it but… we could use the nutrition.”

Sylvia nods along, gently taking the bag from him and opening it up. She takes out a handful of the nuts and gives them to Oswin first.

“Go slow,” she says, all the care in the world in her voice. “A-And make sure to chew it over too, okay?”

Oswin nods, taking the first bite, his eyes remaining on Sylvia as she takes some herself and chews. He notes the way she eats, trying once again to see if there’s anything here that he missed, any sign of what was always there, of her weakened heart. He doesn’t get to look long as she shifts her head back down to Javier soon enough.

He breathes weakly, fingers twitching over the wooden table under him, more beads of sweat building on his forehead.

“Should we…?” Sylvia looks up to Oswin.

Oswin shakes his head, moving closer to help Sylvia. “When he wakes up. For now, let’s just make sure the rest of him is okay.”

Together the two students help Javier sit up, gently and carefully moving bits of Javier’s outfit to the side, checking his wounds. Their hands holding up Javier brush one another behind Javier’s forest of hair, leading them to lock gazes.

There’s a lot that needs to be said, so much to discuss and figure out between each other now, but… they’re still in this together. It’s still just the two of them against the world, colonel and scout, Sylvia and Oswin. They lightly smile at one another, helping Javier in silence, missing another spark between his fingers, a growing pain within.

✦ ✦ ✦

General Prion paces, walking in front of Colonel Raul’s captured soldiers, all of whom are lined up against a wall of the dark parking lot, no handcuffs on them but weapons removed. The area around them all is at least visible, now with some of Prion’s soldiers lighting up the space with flashlights.

One of Prion’s missing soldiers returns, panting.

“No sign… of any of them… my general,” the scout breathes out, keeling over in their exhaustion.

Prion approaches the soldier, placing a hand over their shoulder, helping them stand. “Thank you, my scout.” With their recovery, the general looks over to his other men. “Remind me of this SPECIFIC situation the next time I decide to trust that madman.” They nod at the allusion to Despelder, clearly no one here a fan of the chaos he sprung.

Moving towards Raul’s men, Prion continues talking. “We’ll just have to keep going to the Freedom Point, hoping the axisguard can get to the students before RUTH does. As for Raul…” It’s then that the general reaches Raul’s soldiers, standing in front of them, facing them. “We’ll look for him when we can. But you said… he wanted to claim this so-called… Nuclei Project?”

The scouts lower their gaze, one among them speaking up with nerves. “T-That’s all he wants, for now anyway. He um… keeps a lot to his chest.”

“The fool,” Prion whispers out, kneeling down to match their eye level. “I tolerate much, but it’s people like Raul that ruined our good military. I’m all for second chances, but your colonel seems unfit to earn them.”

One of Colonel Raul’s soldiers grits their teeth then, one of Prion’s own men locking their weapon onto them in retaliation. However, the general’s metal arm quickly comes up at that.

“No,” General Prion says firmly, turning his attention to the clearly angry soldier of his rival. “Speak up, scout. A general who silences criticism can never be a real general.”

The gritting soldier looks up to Prion, a hurt in their eyes. “Our colonel… say what you want about him but he was there for us. Some of us here… we saw what happened, saw just how you got our of the raid. You… w-wanna deny that for us? Deny that you left so many of us out like that? So many as… what, bait?!”

“Our general never—!”

Prion stops the argument before it can start by standing back up and shooting his own soldiers a look. He then turns back to the angry soldier, his hand coming up and clicking a button to remove his mask, the familiar hiss and steam exiting him as the object comes off. With his mostly Robo face exposed to the—Raul’s soldiers and his own—Prion talk, trying his best to make no excuses, to play no victim. The best tool for moments like this is the truth; cold, hard, and undeniable.

“I did abandon you,” General Prion says simply. He waits for a moment after that, allowing that clear and simple statement to stay by itself before he continues.

“I could stand here for minutes, if not hours, giving you excuses, putting more and more asterisks onto that fact, but the end result would be the same. I did escape those police raids, and some of you ended up paying for that mistake. But… I’m not here to correct the past, nor am I here to deny the dilemmas of the present. I’m here to simply do what we all here signed up for when we joined GearTerra, and that is to save this dying world. ‘Through success or failures, proceed.’ That is our way, what my predecessors taught me, and what Myriam herself showed me.”

He takes a small pause before continuing, the image of his mentor, his dear General Myriam flashing before his eyes. “But, I’m also not here to force you to pull any triggers. Fact is, GearTerra is dead in name, but never in spirit, yet for some of you… that might not be enough. And that… is fine. We all walk our own paths with our own faiths, so if some of you wish to quit, to leave us like Colonel Sylvia and Scout Oswin have, then you have my support. You can come with me, and I’ll find you a way out. But if you don’t want to quit, if you wish to stay and fight like I have, then…” Prion slips his mask back on. “…Then follow me and stay with me. I won’t abandon you again, not even if the world collapses over me again.”

Raul’s soldiers look up at Prion some with newfound awe, others still wrestling with his words, and some exchanging uncertain glances. The most hesitant is the one who spoke up earlier, who speaks up again.

“That’s… all great to say. But… what about… do? Raul… he was there for us. Can you… do the same?”

General Prion turns around at that, taking the flashlight from one of his soldier, wielding it himself as he shines the way.

“I don’t promise, I deliver.”

And with that, the metallic general walks into the darkness, the soldiers present looking at him, some quick to follow, others taking their time, but bit by bit they follow.

✦ ✦ ✦

A lab stands empty in Provenance University, the silent hum of the sleeping computers filling the room. Its shadows are thick and slowly they stir, unnaturally moving, forming a spiral on a wall where a single foot steps through.

Through the darkness comes Despelder, his typical purple suit and cane with him, but no signature grin. In fact, there’s not trace of humor in him, a completely serious expression, unsettling on him, unnerving to those who would be there to witness it.

Despelder calmly walks toward a computer in the room, hitting a key stroke to wake up the machine, which produces a screen asking for a password.

“Tsk.”

He moves a hand behind him, pulling out a thick folder and laying it down flat by him, opening up the cover to reveal a stack of documents, the first of which are peppered with blacked-out bars, redacted information.

“Only showing what you can afford, aren’t you Midge?”

As Despelder talks to himself, an air of disgust tinges his words. He flips to the back of the page, setting it back down over the other documents, running his white finger around the hand-written characters there, a mix of letters, numbers, and symbols—some not even English. But carefully, Despelder types the string onto the keyboard, into the password bar.

Once he’s done, the computer initially rejects the text, displaying the typical “invalid password” message before the screen flickers, now displaying an open desktop with icons to Despelder.

“Always with a trick, aren’t you Argil?”

With the computer unlocked, Despelder moves his hand around the stack, looking for a gap among the paper. Finally he finds it, slipping his fingers inside and flipping open the area, revealing a folded up plastic bag with a small rectangular microchip-like device inside.

“Do not use on secured systems,” Despelder reads out. He then scoffs and rolls his eyes, unfolding the bag and opening it up to fish out the small device. Holding it in his palm, he narrows his eyes at it, seeing small switch on it with the words “TEXT” and “AUDIO” faintly written on both sides of the switch, the switch turned to “TEXT.”

Despelder sets his cane on the table, opening up his right palm to form a gathering of shadows. With a tightening of his hand, the shadows compress down, condensing to form small tendrils, which he moves closer to the device over his left palm. Gently, the hardened shadows grip the small switch and flick it to the “AUDIO” side, the chip making a small internal clicking sound at the change.

Carefully taking hold of the device, Despelder scans the computer, finding an open slot on the machine and inserting the device inside. The screen quickly flickers for a moment before it returns back to normal, nothing new on the desktop screen. He takes hold of the computer mouse next to him, moving it to guide the cursor along the screen, clicking on a program with a notebook icon, which opens up a blank window, the text cursor being the only symbol on the screen, it blinking as it awaits words from the user. Instead, Despelder clears his throat.

“Machine, can you hear me?”

The blank window remains the same, the text cursor blinking in place as it would normally. But then… it moves, letters leaving it as it travels across the screen, a single word written: ‘YES.’

Despelder’s eyes narrow at the monitor then. “Tell me the location of this computer,” Despelder says, wanting another test before he dives in.

More words are populated in a new line.

‘PROVENANCE UNIVERSITY, PROVENANCE CITY, NORTH REGION OF THE CENTRAL AXIS.’

This… is really working. Despelder grabs the chair in front of him, pulling it back to sit in front of the monitor. He lays his elbows on the desk, intertwining his fingers together, leaning his forehead on them as the stares at the screen.

“There is a bunker below me, in the deepest part of this campus. Within that bunker I saw several computers. Can you detect them?”

Nothing new comes into the file, until it does.

‘YES.’

Despelder lowers his hands, his heart starts to race now. Frankly, there was a time and place for mysteries, and tonight was not one of them.

“There is another Robo within this campus. Without alerting it, tell me what this machine is. If you are discovered, self-destruct.”

Nothing comes in for a long moment, but Despelder stays there, remaining still, completely still despite his racing heart. No matter what, what’s what he always excelled at: stillness in pressure.

Finally, instead of fire and flames, words come into the document.

‘ROBO UNIT FOR TRACKING HAZARDS, MARK ONE. ALIAS: RUTH. LIMITERS SHATTERED: 5 OF 6.’

Despelder’s eyes widen, despite himself. “Five?”

‘YES.’ The computer replies to his unintended question.

Despelder sighs, shaking his head. He was out of the conflict for too long. At this rate…

“What fuels that Robo?”

Despelder asks that clearly, as cleanly as he can manage. The computer writes nothing back, giving him another long bout of silence. Finally, a new string of text comes in.

‘CYBERSPACE.’

Despelder sighs in frustration, he already knew THAT.

“I MEANT, that RUTH has something inside. Something in it where its battery should be. Tell me about this and be THOROUGH.”

Despelder has to wait and wait for that one, the device he put into the computer now clicking this time, and once again after that too. Finally, he stands up, gritting his teeth in frustration. He KNEW this was a waste of time, he went through all that effort to get this folder, had to break into the outpost all for—

Despelder’s mouth opens, as thing start appearing on the monitor. Windows upon windows, files upon files. It’s all overwhelming, only some bits of images and words are legible, as some load in right away, while others still haven’t when their empty loading windows are covered up by new ones. It’s nearly a full minute of this, the information vast and wide, too much for any one person to consume in even multiple sittings.

A single thing shines through all the data, one thing remaining clear as the windows stay open, reoccurring words in them, and images too, all of which Despelder is quick to catch, but still can’t believe.

His mouth hands open at the sight, words softly coming out.

“It… It’s really her… It’s… you…”

He swallows, his hands shaking, not having prepared himself for this, for this to be the night of all nights that this miracle finally occurs.

“It’s… Shade...”

✧ Chapter 19 ✧

Equally Tight Love

“There.” Sylvia finishes bandaging up Javier’s left arm, carefully sliding his long black sleeve back down. As she sets Javier back down, he lets out another minor groan.

“Must be in quite some pain still,” Oswin notes, closing the first aid kit they finally found shuffled away in the left corner of the lecture hall. He sets the kit down on the table, by Javier’s legs.

Sylvia hums in agreement, moving away from the table and sitting down on the front row of chairs of the hall, right in front of the table. She sighs, leaning back against the chair, instinctively slipping her right hand into her coat pocket, pulling out the beautiful H-Nutrient crystal and looking it over.

Oswin grabs the plastic bag of almonds before joining Sylvia, sitting right next to her and offering her the bag, but she shakes her head. He pours out a small handful of the nuts and proceeds to eat them, dumping them into his mouth, the sounds of his thorough chews following, grinding down the non-liquid food he so rarely gets to eat. He notices Sylvia looking over the crystal still, giving her a glance before shifting his gaze back to Javier.

“It’s… situations l-like this that we’ll help prevent,” Oswin says.

“Hm?” Sylvia looks to Oswin, snapped out of her trance.

“I-I mean… with Nuclei, we’ll um… make more healing crystals. Stopping moments like this. You know… people being hurt like this.” He signals to Javier with his eyes, who remains on the table, breathing so softly it’s barely noticeable.

“Oh, r-right.”

An awkward silence falls between the two students, dense with the tension of all that have to be discussed, but are afraid to even approach.

Oswin looks down at his stomach, placing a hand over it, and closing his eyes. He can see that moment again, waking up on the hospital bed, fresh out of his coma, the room dark with only Sylvia there who slept on a chair next to him, her head over his legs, light blonde hair spread out over his lower half.

“W-We’ll… have to get out first,” Sylvia finally whispers out.

Oswin opens his eyes back up and looks to Sylvia, his eyes fresh with concern.

“We’re gonna, Sylvia. We’re… g-gonna get out.”

Sylvia swallows, closing her eyes tightly, only giving the smallest nearly imperceptible nod—practically indistinguishable from a standby shift.

Oswin looks back forward, that sight of Sylvia bringing on a faint cold sweat over him. His mind shifts back to Cormac, their conversations after he awoke, meeting him and recalling his instructions about his stomach removal surgery, no trace of any complications beyond that in their conversation.

Oswin’s lips open, struggling to push the question out. He know what his chosen words are, he just… doesn’t want to live in the world of hurt that will follow once the question is finally out the world, unable to be drawn back in, etched into the stone of the world.

“D… Did you convince Dr. Cormac?”

The words snap Sylvia’s attention back to Oswin, heart starting to race—both hers and his.

“W-What?”

Oswin swallows, gulping. This was gonna take a lot. “Did you… tell him not to tell me? A-About the heart surgery?”

Sylvia falls silent, her hands over her lap, a cold coming over them as they start to tremble. “What… makes you say that?”

Oswin keeps his gaze forward, unable to look at Sylvia. Finally, he reaches a hand over to her, placing it over her hands, almost gasping at the coldness of her touch. He quickly shifts to face her, moving close to hold both her hands within his, letting out his warm breath in them, trying to heat them back up.

“Sylvia…” He looks down at her lap. “What really happened to me… that day? W-When… the ruins came down…”

Sylvia forces her eyes shut, her own face lowering. He’s really making her do this, making her go back to the clarity of that horrible moment, the place she most doesn’t want to go. “Y… You…” The words just don’t come out of her, equal parts frustrating and scaring her.

Oswin breathes into her hands again, then moving his head closer to them, cupping his own cheeks within her slightly warmed hands, looking up at her from her lap.

“Please…,” he whispers out. “You can tell me.”

She opens her eyes, looking down at him like that. His position is so close to the moment from before, the very moment he’s begging her to recall, when she cradled his unconscious bleeding face. She looks down lower, to where the rest of his body was resting during that moment, the gaping wound over his stomach.

“I… I already told you before.”

“You didn’t,” he says. He knows this is hard for her, but they can’t not discuss this. She needs to be free of this.

“Oswin…” She forces her eyes tightly shut.

He gently rubs her knuckles, trying to give her the strength to proceed. “You didn’t,” he softly repeats.

He wasn’t going to stop this. Even if they got out tonight, even if they somehow made it back home safely, the questions would still come. She opens her jaw, letting her mouth move, letting all the words just come out. During this she does her best to distance them from the rest of her, trying to especially keep her mind as far away as she could; the last thing she wanted was more nightmares. Her hands come up, covering her ears.

“W-When the floor around us collapsed, you where under a ton of rubble, and so was I and Javier, and the threw the rubble back and I could just barely make out his shape and I could only see a red glow and the longer I looked the more clearly I could tell that that glow came from a thing, and when I realized that that’s when that thing smile at me and moved with you and it was a Mythborn and I don’t know which one it was and I don’t care anymore! Each stomp it made dug you deeper into its talon and when I finally got up the thing was already gone and so was Javier and that’s when I help you and that’s the end of it so PLEASE STOP ASKING ME!!”

She’s panting when she’s done, the back of her throat in pain, lips dry, a deep pressure behind her closed eyes, nothing but darkness in her vision, hands remaining over her ears, refusing to budge or even let the rest of her think. She tries to convince herself this is all more horrible dream, that when she opens up her eyes again she’s gonna finally wake back up, just be back in her big cozy bed, in the warm arms of her Oswin, their bodies tightly knit together as always, a lazy morning waiting for her.

Oswin meanwhile just looks up at Sylvia, his mouth open, a pale color taking over his face. Sylvia… His Sylvia lived through that? She… saw all that. Felt it in her bones. All this time… this is what was inside. All along this was it.

“Oh, Syl…”

He gets up off her legs, standing up fully, hugging the sitting Sylvia tightly, arms wrapping around her tense frame.

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

Sylvia grits her teeth, leaning into Oswin’s body, allowing herself to just feel him. Javier disappears, as does the lecture hall, their campus, GearTerra and the rest of the world. Now it’s just the two of them, all of existence reduced to just her scout and her.

“It’s a dream…,” she whispers out. “Please just… tell me this was a dream.”

Oswin brings up his hand, holding the back of Sylvia’s head to him, whispering back in her ear.

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, my colonel.”

“N-No…,” she whispers back, her head digging into his chest. “You never have to be sorry.”

✦ ✦ ✦

Oswin sits by Sylvia, rubbing her shoulder furthest from him with his arm around her back, his head leaning on her closest shoulder. He can feel the pins and needles forming over his arm behind Sylvia, but he doesn’t care.

“…and Hal? He really just… went along with it?”

Sylvia gently nods, her hand holding Oswin’s, giving it a light squeeze. “Took a lot of convincing. He… knew it would be dangerous. T-That… that without those parts of my heart, my life would be complicated. But… I needed to do something. I couldn’t let that infection have you. Not after… after I realized how I felt about you then. I couldn’t keep going without you there, without getting to tell you. A-And I don’t care what you or anyone else says, Os! I would do it all again!”

“Syl…” Oswin shifts to look at her, concern flaring in him at the sight of Sylvia’s passionate fury.

Her eyes are open, a look of hurt in them, of having to have re-lived all those horrible moments, question these decisions over again. She would never say it, even think it to herself in any clear way, but a part of her hates having to explain all this, hates him for making her rip open these scars, scrutinize the calcified foundations.

“D-Don’t look at me like that,” she says, immediately regretting her harsher tone. She leans into him, gently pounding his shoulder with her fist. “I hate it when you worry. J-Just… be happy that you made it. Be happy that… that you’re not still stuck in that coma, or worse.”

Oswin blinks, hurting at the sight of her hurt. He brings up a hand, slipping it over her face to cup her cheek, titling her head up gently so they can have this conversation face-to-face.

“How can I not worry, Sylvia? You expect me to just… be okay with you giving up a full third of your heart to me? To just… smile and be happy with that sacrifice?”

“Yes! That’s all I want you to be now. Just be happy and content with what we have and… and stop worrying.”

Oswin shakes his head, his thumb brushing her cheek. “I feel like we’re going in circles. I mean, this is serious—”

“I know it is! Don’t you think I know that? D-Don’t you think that… that Cormac didn’t try to talk me out of it? T-That even right before he put me under he reminded me again just how deathly serious the transplant would all be?”

“Syl…”

Oswin leans his forehead against hers, feeling the thickness of the impasse. He closes his eyes, and she mirrors him, her hands coming up to cup both his cheeks.

“I’m sorry for lying to you,” she says softly. “I really… I shouldn’t have kept giving you lies. But… I… I just…”

Oswin shakes his head, brushing her cheek again. “…Syl. Please just… let me take it. The next time you want to protect me, just let me take it! You’ve… you’ve done more than enough for me, risked so, so, SO much. I’ve… I’ve been a terrible partner to you for never having seen that, caught just… how much you truly must’ve gone through. I’m… gonna change that. I’m gonna see the full you now. You don’t have to keep hiding things, just… let me see it all.”

Her eyes open, horrified. “A t-terrible partner?!”

Sylvia grits her teeth and firmly shakes her head, her hands coming up to grab Oswin’s shoulders, HARD. She grabs him so hard that Oswin even winces. She was gonna yell at him for saying that, reprimand him for even implying he was bad to her, but seeing his wince, all her anger dies and she immediately let’s go of him, concern settling deep within.

“Oh my gosh, rats! I’m so sorry, my scout! A-Are you okay? P-Please tell me you’re okay! P-Please tell me I didn’t just hurt—!”

“I’m okay!” Oswin quickly says, grabbing her hands that backed away. “I’m fine, just fine. I was j-just surprised is all! P-Please don’t worry, my colonel. P-Please just calm down.”

He loves her more than anything.

She loves him more than anything.

Both would deny themselves, even the whole world just for the other, just so they would be okay.

When Javier stirs over his table, all he can feel is the aches in his body, hear the faint sounds of their voices near him, their tones as they talk, Sylvia’s care for Oswin, and Oswin’s admiration for Sylvia. But a sharp pain cleaves through it all—and not from any of his wounds. It’s something deep within. His consciousness returns right alongside that internal pain, a pain that quickly registers as being all too familiar to him.

A paralysis courses through him, light sparks arcing between his fingers.

“C… Cloak…,” Javier just barely breathes out. “T… The… cloak…”

But Javier isn’t heard, his voice too weak to pierce through the space around him, through the fractures that deepen the tighter that Sylvia and Oswin get.

✧ Chapter 20 ✧

???

[Text to be added.]

First Venture is unfolding…

Valor Axis – Venture #1: The Experiment

Created by Wes Valen

    • [WIP] – Chapter 20 was added.

    • October 29, 2026 – Chapter 19 was added.

    • October 28, 2026 – Chapter 18 was added.

    • October 25, 2026 – Chapter 17 was added.

    • October 22, 2026 – Chapter 16 was added.

    • October 21, 2026 – Chapter 15 was added.

    • October 20, 2026 – Chapter 14 was added.

    • October 16, 2026 – Chapter 13 was added.

    • October 15, 2026 – Chapter 12 was added.

    • October 11, 2026 – Chapter 11 was added.

    • October 10, 2026 – Chapter 10 was added.

    • October 8, 2026 – Chapter 9 was added.

    • October 7, 2026 – Chapter 8 was added.

    • October 5, 2026 – Chapter 7 was added.

    • October 3, 2026 – Chapter 6 was added.

    • September 28, 2026 – Chapter 5 was added.

    • September 24, 2026 – Chapter 4 was added.

    • September 21, 2026 – The rest of Chapter 3 was added.

    • September 19, 2026 – The beginning of Chapter 3 was added.

    • September 15, 2026 – The rest of Chapter 1 and all of Chapter 2 were added.

    • September 14, 2026 – Venture #1 was published as an In-Progress Release. Only included the first scene of Chapter 1 and the Intro Teaser, along with the Front Matter.

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