Lamb squatted there for a while, waiting for his pounding heartbeat and tingling knees to calm down, before he finally took another deep breath and rose shakily to his feet. As he finally left the tunnels and entered the large dome housing the North Dormitories, he spotted a small cluster of other silhouettes heading for the same building. Slowing, Lamb watched from a distance as the chortling group of friends went inside first, then wandered over feeling even more forlorn than before.

The North Dormitories looked like an ordinary city apartment. As he let himself through the automated glass double doors, he heard Alicia give him a last instruction.

<Lamb, your room is on the third floor, to the left. The number is 305.>

Alicia was just a program, but Lamb was feeling extra pitiful, so he replied to her. <Thanks.>

<You’re very welcome.>

Her warm voice felt good for a second, but only a second. Sighing, Lamb dragged himself over to the elevators.

The lift took a little longer to arrive, probably because it had been carrying that group of friends from earlier. Once it did finally come down, Lamb stepped inside and pressed the button for the third floor. But as the doors began to slide shut, he heard a sudden smatter of rapid footsteps, and someone rushed through the metal slabs just before they shut.

The doors paused, then slid open again. The intruder lifted his head back with a breathless huff, then noticed Lamb’s wide-eyed stare and turned to him with a sharp-toothed grin.

“Oh, hey.” Puma shrugged his denim jacket back into place with a breathless huff. The doors slid shut, and the button for the fourth floor turned itself on with a faint beep. The man came forward with his hand raised and Lamb tensed, but all Puma did was pat his head. “Damn, you’re a sight for sore eyes. How was your night? Hermes said you got rejected by that gramps.” Puma snickered, but his voice suddenly quieted as he added, “How’s your wound?”

“… I said it’s fine.” The weight on his head was comfortable, and that strange feeling in his chest had tensed into something painful. But Lamb ducked out of the man’s grasp and turned away with a grumble. The elevator doors opened to his floor and he hesitated, wondering if he should at least say bye – being unfriendly and being rude were two different things, after all – but when he cast Puma an uncertain glance, he saw the man smiling at him.

“Good luck tomorrow.” Puma gave Lamb a small shove out of the elevator, and his almost-gentle voice turned quickly back into his usual smug scoff as he waved. “You’re up against me, so you’ll need it!”

The doors slid shut before Lamb could think of anything to say. He stared at the glistening metal slabs, frozen in place as logic and longing battled fiercely inside his chest. Eventually, he heard the elevator move back down, and broke out of his stupor with a terse huff. Heading down the left hallway, Lamb found the door labeled 305, and touched his finger to the keypad sensor.

The lock clicked and slid open for him, revealing a room with dark wood-patterned walls and pale furniture. Hermes was sprawled comfortably in a large beige armchair at the back, and his laptop was glowing from the table nearby.

“Huh? How’d you get back so quickly?” As Lamb bent down to remove his shoes, he saw Hermes glance over. His friend had already changed into a baggy sweater and taken off his pants, and his smooth hair looked damp. The entire room smelled faintly of shampoo, and the open bathroom door was emitting a faint layer of steam.

Hermes raised an eyebrow at him. “How’d you take so long?”

“I didn’t, though?” Lamb thought back, but he couldn’t recall how long it’d taken him to make it through that last stretch of tunnel. He hadn’t squatted there in embarrassment for that long, had he?

“Sure, whatever. There’s ice tea in the fridge.” Hermes leaned his head back and spoke up at the ceiling. “The café didn’t have honey.”

“Oh, okay.” Lamb was still feeling satisfied from his chowder earlier, so he passed the kitchen and headed for the beds. Hermes had left his bag on the one by the windows, so he threw himself down onto that one and let his weary body sink into the soft blankets with a heavy sigh.

After hearing Hermes’ voice, he was already feeling better. Feeling he ought to shower, but at the same time not willing to move his relaxed body, Lamb closed his eyes and breathed deeply. Just a few minutes…

He’d been secretly waiting for Hermes to speak up in that wry voice of his and ask something like, aren’t you going to shower? – but his friend was quiet. As the silence stretched on, Lamb’s restlessness eventually overcame the comfort of the bed, and he sat up with a groggy huff.

Hermes was still lying on the sofa, head tilted back and eyes closed. A document with text and coloured drawings was slowly scrolling up and down on his laptop screen.

Intrigued, Lamb watched as the document began to draw red circles over itself. “Are you still working?”

Hermes’ voice was a little stuffy because of his position. “No, I’m reviewing the notes from last year.”

Lamb echoed him cluelessly. “Notes?”

Hermes didn’t lift his head, but his reply was incredibly scathing. “S-c-h-o-o-l.”

“Oh, yeah.” Lamb glanced sheepishly at the window. The blinds were drawn, but he imagined the dome and the metal sky outside, and wondered how Hermes could focus on normal things like school during the retreat.  “Damn, you’re such a hardworking honours student.”

At that, Hermes sighed airily, his chest heaving at the loud breath. “No, I’m just an average student with mechanical bits in my brain. Reviewing notes is something all students do.” As he said the second bit, he turned his head and cast Lamb a pointed look.

Reminded of the fact that he didn’t even take notes, nevermind review them, Lamb averted his gaze with a guilty laugh. “Aha, but school’s just a disguise for our alter ego, so it’s not like it’s important anyway…”

 “But school’s a part of life, isn’t it?” Hermes’ voice was nonchalant, but he sat up and glanced at his laptop. “It’s not exactly fun but it’s something normal that we get to do. Even if we’re Sentinels, we’re still human. I like that we get to live life normally, even if it’s only half the time.”

“Hm, wise words, as expected of my soulmate.” Lamb nodded and closed his eyes in an exaggerated expression of thoughtfulness, but he hadn’t really been joking. Despite his friend’s cynical remarks, Hermes sometimes had a surprisingly wholesome view on things. Not that Lamb was going to start taking notes himself or anything, though…

Normal lives, huh…

Collapsing back into the blankets, Lamb lifted his hands behind his head and gazed vaguely at the wood-patterned ceiling and warm golden lights. All of the other Sentinels that he’d met today, they had alter egos, too. They were all around the same age, so they had probably just started a new semester of school, as well. Lamb wondered what they were like, above ground. Puma and Kairo were pretty much the same person, but Hermes could be a surprisingly remarkable actor when it came to maintaining Avery Kim’s public image. “… Does Messiah have an alter ego, you think?”

Lamb hadn’t even been aware of his train of thought until he’d blurted it out.

“Dunno.” Hermes sounded disinterested. “Probably not. Can you imagine that dude having a normal life with that face of his?”

“Yeah, true…” Lamb conjured various ways that the man could hide his mask, but they were all ridiculous. “Wow, so he can’t do any of the normal things that we can do as alter egos… that’s kinda sad.”

Hermes shrugged and pulled out his phone. His laptop was still scrolling through his notes, even as he brought up the tell-tale colourful menu of his favourite gacha game. “Maybe, but he ain’t complaining, so it’s none of our business, right?”

“… I guess so.” Closing his eyes, Lamb recalled the man’s brusque tone as he’d walked with Maggie earlier. Even as kids living underground in Ypsilon’s branch city, he and Hermes had always been allowed to take the train to the city. He couldn’t imagine being locked beneath this metal sky for his entire life, unable to reveal himself to anybody but Ypsilon employees.

Perhaps sensing the reluctance in his voice, Hermes glanced over with a raised brow. “Don’t worry so much, we’re Sentinels. Unlike you, the rest of us are inhibited. I think going to school is nice, but if I had to spend my whole life as Hermes in HQ, I wouldn’t be happy but I wouldn’t be upset, either. Messiah is probably the same.” He turned back to his phone with an airy scoff. “It is what it is.”

Lamb rolled onto his stomach and glanced at his friend with a forlorn chuckle. “I really can’t understand you guys.”

“That’s our line.” Hermes spared him a dry scoff. “An emotional Sentinel? You’re the special one, here.”

“Yeah…” Echoing himself, Lamb sighed and felt his sore chest heave with a lonely pang. “I guess so…”