The extraction ship was quiet on the journey back.
Hitake sat in the medical bay with his right arm resting across his lap.
The black blade had disappeared beneath his skin, leaving only thin green lines running along his forearm.
He flexed his fingers.
The weapon moved with him.
“Still creepy.”
Zena sat beside him.
“You'll get used to it.”
“That isn't reassuring.”
John laughed from across the room.
“I think it looks impressive.”
Hitake glanced at him.
“You nearly got crushed by a hive wall.”
“And yet my taste remains excellent.”
Zena shook her head.
“Both of you are idiots.”
“Agreed,” John said.
The doors opened.
Commander Vale entered.
The joking stopped.
Her attention immediately went to Hitake's arm.
“Bloodline weapon.”
Hitake sighed.
“Everyone keeps calling it that.”
Vale stepped closer.
“Your father developed adaptive weapons.”
“Kael?”
“Yes.”
“What were they made from?”
“Nanite technology. Aether-responsive materials. Biological synchronization.”
Hitake stared at the weapon.
“So it's partly nanites.”
“Partly.”
“That sounds reassuring.”
“It shouldn't.”
“Right.”
Vale reached toward his arm.
The blade suddenly emerged.
WHUMM.
Vale immediately pulled her hand away.
The weapon hummed.
“It recognizes only you,” she said.
“Why?”
“Because you're a Kael.”
Zena's expression hardened.
“Who exactly was Kael?”
Vale looked at her.
“That information is classified.”
Hitake laughed softly.
“Of course it is.”
Vale ignored him.
“Your father was not an ordinary awakened human.”
“He was a Higher Human.”
“Yes.”
Hitake already knew.
But hearing it from someone representing the Coalition made it feel different.
More real.
Vale continued.
“He arrived on Earth with technology beyond anything humanity possessed. His biological structure didn't match known human parameters. His abilities were even more unusual.”
“What abilities?”
“We don't know all of them.”
“You investigated him.”
“Yes.”
“And?”
Vale hesitated.
“Some believed he was connected to something called the Annihilator.”
Hitake's expression became still.
He remembered the fragments.
Creator.
Annihilator.
The Blank Canvas.
He said nothing.
“Was my father the Annihilator?”
“No.”
Vale's answer came immediately.
Then she corrected herself.
“We don't know.”
Hitake frowned.
“That's not the same thing.”
“No.”
His Eyes of Truth activated.
The room sharpened.
He saw Vale's mana.
Her heartbeat.
The slight tension in her shoulders.
And then—
a contradiction.
She was hiding something.
“The weapon has no external connection,” Vale said.
Hitake stared at her.
Then smiled.
“That's a lie.”
John nearly choked.
Zena looked at him.
“Did he really just say that?”
“He did.”
Vale's expression became cold.
Hitake looked down.
His Eyes of Truth sharpened further.
[HIDDEN CONDITION DETECTED.]
[EXTERNAL CONNECTION: ACTIVE.]
[COALITION TRACKING: ACTIVE.]
His smile disappeared.
“So it reports to the Coalition.”
“Certain activation events are transmitted.”
“Every movement?”
“No.”
“Every battle?”
“Not everything.”
“Every time I use it?”
“Certain events.”
Hitake leaned back.
“So I'm being monitored.”
“Yes.”
“And you weren't going to tell me.”
“I was going to.”
“When?”
“When you were prepared to hear it.”
Hitake laughed.
“That sounds convenient.”
Vale crossed her arms.
“The Coalition doesn't understand everything about your weapon.”
“What do you know?”
Vale looked directly at him.
“Your father was one of the strongest beings ever recorded on Earth.”
Hitake remained silent.
“He wasn't born here,” Vale continued. “He was a Higher Human from beyond our known civilizations.”
Zena's eyes narrowed.
“What happened to him?”
“We don't know.”
Hitake's voice became quieter.
“You were watching him.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because the Coalition was afraid of what might follow him.”
Hitake looked at his weapon.
“And what followed him?”
Vale didn't answer.
That silence told him more than words could.
“What happens if the Coalition decides Kael was dangerous?”
Vale's expression hardened.
“They'll investigate everyone connected to him.”
Zena moved closer to Hitake.
Vale noticed.
“You trust her?”
Hitake glanced at Zena.
“Yes.”
“That can become a weakness.”
Hitake smiled.
“Maybe.”
Zena stared at him.
“Why are you smiling?”
“Because apparently you're my greatest weakness.”
Her face immediately reddened.
John covered his mouth.
“Oh, this is getting good.”
Zena grabbed a pillow and threw it at him.
“Shut up!”
John caught it.
“I said nothing!”
Vale stared at them.
For several seconds.
Then she turned toward the door.
“Rest while you can.”
Hitake called after her.
“Commander.”
She stopped.
“Did my father leave this weapon for me?”
Vale remained silent.
Then she looked over her shoulder.
“I don't know.”
Her eyes settled on the weapon.
“But if he did...”
She paused.
“He expected you to survive long enough to use it.”
The door closed.
Hitake looked down at his arm.
Nefertiti spoke quietly.
[Darling.]
“What?”
[I think your father's enemies just found you.]