The silence inside the newly fortified medical wing of Kampilan was absolute, but it wasn’t a peaceful one.
Following the explosive, reality-looping catastrophe in the courtyard, Xan had refused to take any more chances with the amnesiac rookie.
She hadn’t posted physical, lower-ranking Cullers outside Ambo’s new ward—human bodies were far too fragile to stop a rogue entity, let alone the sleeping nightmare that inhabited the kid’s body.
Instead, she had engaged her Segonda ability, locking the entire room inside the manifestation of her signature invisible barrier.
The translucent, humming energy barrier sealed the heavy wooden doors tight, isolating Ambo entirely from the rest of the fortress.
But a magical, unbreakable shield meant absolutely nothing to the relentless, high-pitched vocal assault of Jahek.
“Come on, Xan!
I know you can hear me!
I am xliterally carrying a mountain of laundry out here!” Jahek’s voice echoed down the empty, sterile stone corridor.
He was standing directly in front of the humming barrier, struggling to balance a massive heap of fresh casual clothes against his chest while his single missing tooth flashed in a frantic grimace.
“He’s my roommate now, remember?
Well, technically he’s going to be my roommate once he wakes up, which means I am legally responsible for his emotional well-being!
He can’t even move his legs right now because Leeroy turned his ribs into powder!
He needs fresh gear!
Xan?
Hey, Boss!
Look, if you let me in, I promise I won’t teach him any more dirty fighting tricks!
I’ll just sit there!
Silent as a rock!
You know how quiet I can be when I’m tactically retreating from a conversation!” Jahek was pacing in aggressive circles, looking at the stone ceiling, then the floor, then the flickering wall torches.
He was entirely aware of how her abilities operated; he was talking to an empty hallway, but he knew for a fact that his annoying voice was currently broadcasting directly into the Acting Leader’s skull.
Three levels above, inside the central command center, Xan violently slammed her quill down onto her desk, leaving a massive, ugly blotch of black ink across an official registry ledger.
She rubbed her temples, her eyes bloodshot as a sudden, vein-popping throb of pure irritation threatened to split her forehead in half.
Because of her unique barrier setup, every single word of Jahek’s rambling, excuse-filled reasoning was echoing perfectly inside her head like a loud, buzzing fly.
“If he doesn’t shut his mouth in the next five seconds, I am going to use his tongue as a boot strap,” Xan hissed, her jaw locking tight as she looked across the desk.
Zaiden stood quietly by the window, his arms folded neatly across his tailored suit vest, his split half-white, half-black hair catching the dim grey afternoon light.
His comical bunny mask remained completely still, but his sharp eyes were locked onto a secure iron lockbox containing the captured booster drug.
“Let the loudmouth pass, Al,” Zaiden stated flatly, his deep voice slicing through her headache.
“We have far heavier burdens to fill in than his chatter.
What is the status on Kai?” Xan sighed, her professional demeanor returning as she forcefully clicked her fingers, sending a mental pulse down the guild lines to dissolve the barrier and let Jahek through.
She leaned back in her chair, her expression turning dead serious.
“Kai is locked inside the subterranean prison cells for the meantime.
He’s safe, and he’s starting to cool down after that blue-fire tantrum.
But keeping him there is a ticking time bomb, Z.” She leaned forward, her paranoia tightening her jaw as she slid a leather-bound folder across the wood.
“We both know how their family tree operates.
The Jenkins siblings are fiercely, psychotically protective of one another, and they possess a notorious reputation for absolute arrogance.
If word reaches the upper cloud tier that we threw a Jenkins behind iron bars…
that person is going to descend from Neo Terra immediately.” Zaiden’s posture went rigid, his gloved fingers tightening against his forearms.
“Axl.” Xan muttered, her voice dropping into a rare, hushed tone of deep-seated worry.
“Those Celestial Order bastards aren’t bound to any laws on the surface, but they still have rules to follow within their own ranks, strictly answering to Neo Terra’s direct commands.
However, Axl is a completely different story.
He won’t listen to a single excuse.” Xan adjusted her ledger, her frown deepening.
“He is the only one who completely disregards the chain of command.
The moment Axl hears his little brothers were beaten and locked up by a zero-Astral stray, he won’t care to investigate what actually happened or wait for a decree from the sky.
He just goes with what he hears and likes.
He will descend from the sky like a cataclysmic storm to break this fortress apart.
We need to finalize the registration data and get the rookies out of the perimeter before his shadow hits the dirt.” Zaiden adjusted his mask, his voice turning even colder.
“Then we don’t wait.
I will inform them that they are deploying on a field mission tomorrow by dawn.
I will head down to the ward myself and hand them the coordinate map the second the loudmouth finishes dumping his laundry.” Down in the medical ward, the sudden hum of Xan’s Segonda ability flickered and died, the invisible barrier dissolving into nothingness.
CREAK.
“Yo!
Stray!
Look who beat the system!” Jahek bounded into the room, a massive, cheerful smile revealing his single missing tooth as he practically threw himself onto the stool beside the bed, dumping the mountain-like pile of laundered casual clothes straight onto the center table.
His energetic persona instantly filling the sterile, copper-scented room.
Ambo was laying quietly on the edge of his new mattress, his pale hands resting flat against the clean sheets.
He was staring blankly out the high, narrow window at the jagged ruins of the surface colony, his dark eyes clouded with a heavy, hollow void.
The split-tongue vein lines along his jawline were completely still, but his heart felt heavy.
He looked completely lost, drowning in the terrifying silence of his empty past and the phantom laughter of the entity that inhabited his body.
“Hey, turn that frown upside down, buddy!” Jahek reached out, playfully slapping Ambo’s uninjured shoulder with his oversized glove.
“Don’t worry about the high-ups or that crazy corridor sprint yesterday.
I told you, everything is gonna be completely okay!
You survived the Pit, you shattered Leeroy’s perfect paint job, and you’re officially a certified badass in my book.
Even if you do look a little demonic when you’re angry.
Come on, look through the pile and pick what you want to wear.
We’re moving out soon.” Ambo turned his head, a faint, genuine smile finally fracturing his pale face as the heavy burden in his chest lightened.
“You say that, Jahek, but I nearly caved your skull in when that black fluid took over.
I couldn’t even control it.” “Pffft!
Details, details!” Jahek waved his hand dismissively, letting out a booming, infectious laugh.
“Hey, a win is a win!
Besides, I was totally using my tactical retreat strategy on the floor anyway.
If you hadn’t jumped in with that giant mud-mallet, I was about to unleash my secret, super-hidden ultimate move and blow Leeroy straight to Neo Terra!
You just stole my spotlight, that’s all!” Ambo let out a genuine laugh, shaking his head.
“Sure you were, Jahek.
Sure you were.” The two continued to joke back and forth, the sound of their shared laughter echoing off the stone walls until the atmosphere in the room suddenly turned ice-cold.
The door didn’t slam, but the heavy wooden frame slid open with absolute, silent precision.
Zaiden stepped through the threshold, his half-white, half-black hair perfectly symmetrical over his bunny face mask.
He didn’t offer a greeting, his small leather gloves resting flat against his sides as his imposing, oppressive brawler aura naturally filled the ward.
“The recovery period is officially over, rookies,” Zaiden said, his flat, muffled voice cutting straight to the chase as he dropped a heavy coordinate map onto the edge of Ambo’s bed.
“Xan just authorized the registry credentials.
Your rookie grace period is done, Ambo.
Get your gear packed.
We are officially deploying you on a field mission tomorrow by dawn.
Rest up for now, because I will be back to pick you both up later tonight to discuss an important matter regarding this upcoming mission.” Without waiting for a response, the captain turned on his heel and exited the room.
Jahek gave Ambo a quick nod, stepping out right behind Zaiden to run back to the living quarters.
Since the amnesiac boy still couldn’t walk around on his own due to his injuries, Jahek went to grab a mountain of his own fresh clothes to lend him, making sure to also bring along Ambo’s only personal possession—the tattered, ripped, oversized washed black t-shirt he had been wearing since the limestone cave.