He waited a few seconds, gazing absentmindedly out at the network of lights and dark buildings beyond the translucent tunnel walls, but Hermes didn’t respond. Sentinels could turn off the internal communications system whenever they liked – messages would be stored outside their consciousness until it was turned back on. Hermes sometimes did this when he needed full concentration, like when he was hardcore studying for exams, or dealing with a difficult situation at work.

He and Puma must preparing pretty seriously, huh… Lamb sighed ruefully to himself. Oh, well… asking Hermes had been the easy way, but he ought to be able to figure it out himself. Stopping for a moment, he faced the city and closed his eyes.

<Alicia, can you show me to my room?>

<Yes.> The familiar, soothing voice of Ypsilon’s famous AI replied. <Codename Lamb, your room is at the North Dormitory, number 305. To reach the North Dormitory, head north and take a right at the fork.>

 Ah, okay. North… north was…? Lamb glanced at either side of the tunnel, then decided to continue walking away from the café junction. But he’d barely taken a few steps before Alicia spoke up again.

<North is the other way, towards North Plaza. Would you like me to find an alternate route?>

Right, North Plaza, that had been the name of the junction… that made sense. Glad that nobody was around to watch him teeter back and forth, Lamb turned around and headed back.

From the plaza, he took the right tunnel, and followed that for a while. It emerged into a small lounge area with a TV and armchairs. Two other vaguely-familiar Sentinels were sitting there, chatting and laughing good-naturedly. But they were on the other side of the massive TV, and – not wanting to bother them – Lamb snuck past without being noticed.

The next tunnel was long, and he noticed two figures approaching from the other side, but he didn’t recognize them until they neared each other at the midway point. Once he did, he felt himself brighten, but held back on calling out – one of them was Atlas, his good-natured trainer. But the stout, dark-haired man beside Atlas was someone who valued traditions and courtesy. Knowing better than to act too friendly, Lamb stopped, straightened his back, and dipped his head.

“Oh, hey!” Atlas, as expected, greeted him with a chortle. The other man gazed down at Lamb with an unreadable expression.

Although he probably didn’t need to, Lamb lowered his head again as he greeted them. “Good evening, Mr. Atlas… Mr. Kim.”

Atlas raised a bushy grey eyebrow. “What’s with the mister – oh, yeah.” Glancing at his companion, he trailed off and hastily picked up again cheerily. “What’re you doing out here alone, Lamb? Where’s your partner for the Mission Royale?”

“The… Mission Royale?” As Lamb glanced up at Atlas with furrowed brows, the man slapped a hand over his mouth.

“Oh, yeah. I guess they didn’t give you any details yet.” Chuckling, Atlas waved his hand dismissively. “Forget what you just heard. Why aren’t you with your partner for tomorrow’s thing?”

Cause he ruthlessly rejected my invitation to dinner… Forcing himself to laugh half-heartedly along with the man, Lamb managed to come up with something nicer-sounding. “They said we should rest for tomorrow, so I’m heading back to my room.”

“Huh, what’s with that?” Atlas crossed his arms in an indignant protest. “Youth like you are supposed to stay up til sunrise without getting tired!”

“Haha…” That sounds more like you, old man… But, aware of Mr. Kim’s steady gaze, Lamb could only hesitantly echo Atlas’s laughter. Feeling to need to address the other man, who had been silent until now, Lamb turned to Mr. Kim and smiled. “It’s been a while, Mr. Kim. How have you been?”

The man’s expression didn’t change even in the light of Lamb’s beam, but at least his deep voice sounded benign when he replied. “I’ve been well, thanks. Have you and Avery settled into your new dorm yet?”

“Er…” Lamb hesitated, wondering if he should remind the man that they weren’t supposed to refer to their alter egos here – but luckily for him, Atlas nudged him first.

“Hey Joseph, your son’s name ain’t Avery here, it’s Hermes. Even an executive like you would get an earful for that kind of mistake, you know?”

“Oh, right.” Looking completely unperturbed, Joseph Kim glanced away. The man was human, and considerably rounder, but his expressionless face always reminded Lamb of Hermes.

“Ah… we’re doing well. The new dorm is really nice.” Lamb grinned, hoping he sounded genuinely pleased without being overly excited. It was a difficult balance to find, but he’d had a lot of practice over the years. “We have our own bathroom, and there’s even a small kitchen. It’s very comfortable.”

“Is that so…” Joseph seemed to spare him a glance before his dark gaze wandered again. “That’s good. My son will have no excuse for poor grades, then.”

Heck, I’m glad you don’t care about mine. Hiding the nervous tingle that ran down the back of his neck, Lamb simply kept up his stiff grin. Seeming to notice his clenched fists, Atlas placed a hand on Joseph’s back and gestured for them to continue walking.

“Well then, we’ll let you ‘rest up’, Lamb.” Atlas shot him a grin and a thumbs up. “Good luck tomorrow, I’ll be rooting for you.”

“Thanks!” Lamb dipped his head and maintained his straight back until they had walked a good distance away. Then, he turned away and heaved a silent sigh of relief. Phew…

<Ah, sorry.> Hermes’ voice suddenly ran through his head, making Lamb jump. <Puma dragged me to a training room and proceeded to beat me up. Had to concentrate.>

<Wait what – really?!> Aghast, Lamb felt his hands clench back into fists.

<Nah, I was joking.> Hermes’ nonchalant tone didn’t change one bit. <He did have me run through a combat simulation though. I had to make him think I suck, or he’d make me do physical stuff tomorrow.>

Sighing, Lamb slipped his hands in his pockets and set off wearily down the tunnel again. <Not a good joke.>

<Sorry, sorry.> Hermes’ breezy voice didn’t sound apologetic at all, and Lamb could imagine his friend shrugging. <Did you figure out where our room is?>

<Yeah, I’m almost there.> Up ahead, past another junction, Lamb could see a large apartment complex glittering in a distant dome. He hesitated, wondering if he should mention that he ran into Hermes’ father, but then decided against it. Not talking about Joseph Kim was usually the safer option when it came to Hermes.

<Kay, I’m heading back, too. Gonna grab a drink first, want anything?>

 <Hmm… the usual.> He was nearing the junction, now. This one was simply an empty dome connecting the current tunnel with a perpendicular tunnel. There were faint voices coming from the other tunnel… one of them sounded deep and raspy, and Lamb slowed down as he recognized it.

Messiah…?

<Kay, I’ll see if they have it. If not I’m just gonna get pop.>

<Sure. Thanks.> Sending back a distracted reply, Lamb stopped. The voices were getting closer, and he pressed himself to the curved tunnel wall as their chatter became distinguishable.

“You rejected his invite?!” Ah, it was the voice of that woman who’d given them the security refresher – though her nice, chocolatey voice was shrill in fury at the moment. “Why the hell would you do that? For goodness sake, can’t you do things the easy way just once?!”

“This is the easier way.” The tone of Messiah’s voice was so different from the deep, formal speech that he’d used earlier that Lamb almost doubted it was him, until the two actually appeared in the junction. The Sentinel’s tall, intimidating silhouette and long white hair almost hid the woman from sight as they walked forward together. “He was so damn awkward, dinner with him would’ve just been an hour of miserable silence. What’s the point of that?”

Huh…? He sounds so normal… Heat rushed to his face, and his limbs suddenly tingled with lack of strength. Resisting the urge to crouch down and grab his head in overwhelming embarrassment, Lamb closed his eyes and pressed his cool palms against his burning cheeks. Ugh, was I really that awkward…?

The woman’s voice echoed loudly behind them as they returned back to the tunnels. “Well, maybe if you acted more like a normal friendly person and less like the Terminator, then he’d feel a bit more comfortable talking to you!”

“Sorry, I don’t know how to do that,” Messiah’s voice replied flatly. “Being ‘normal’ and ‘friendly’ wasn’t programmed into me.”

“Okay, now you’re just throwing a tantrum. Stop being bitter and do your job for once, give me just one second of peace, it’s all I ask…”

“That is not all you ask…”

Once their bickering faded back into vague noise, Lamb released his held breath and stumbled away from the tunnel walls. Ugh… There was a strange feeling in his chest… as he thought about it, his knees trembled, and he ended up squatting down with a shaky huff.

So he rejected me because I was too awkward…

Lamb replayed the scene in his head and cringed as he remembered how he’d crept up to the man and stuttered. His caution had been so painfully obvious… he must have really looked at the masked Sentinel as though he were some kind of monstrous cyborg. If he’d been in Messiah’s place, he wouldn’t have wanted to hang around such a shallow nervous wreck, either.

But while his shame stung viciously, Lamb couldn’t help but notice that it was coated in a sensation of warmth. The conversation that he’d witnessed earlier, it had sounded so ordinary… like a simple argument between two friends. That might as well have been him and Hermes.

Behind that dark mask, underneath his intimidating demeanor, was someone who could bicker childishly like that with another person. There were definitely moments when Lamb would feel himself do a double-take and stare at the man’s mask in apprehension, but he was becoming more certain of that feeling in his gut – the feeling that Codename Messiah was just as human as everyone else.