Part 1

Morning of 10 July 2011

Philip spent the last few days relaxing, waiting for the wound on his forearm to heal. There is no treatment that will do it instantly (unless you know a psychi with the ability to heal wounds), but James taught him that one way to speed up the process quite a bit is to meditate.

He had a lot to process.

First of all, Clara Taylor, a dear and respected friend of Philip's, is in another facet of her life a mercenary member of Brotherhood RG. Finding that out was a huge shock, but he refuses to believe she's a bad person.

"There must be a reason," he kept repeating to himself.

Brotherhood RG is a rather special group. It is said that they have a strict moral code and that is why they do not use firearms. It is also said that they don't just take on any job for a pile of money, but that they screen their clients to avoid doing serious harm to civilians, but these are just rumours.

However, Philip is quite suspicious of these rumours after seeing two missiles dropped on his head, even if it was in a liberated area.

However, he still firmly believes in Clara and the ideals she has always shown to those around her.

A hard—working, caring, kind girl.

The complete opposite of him.

—Aaaah.

He's already lost count of how many times he's sighed in these eight days.

There's the other subject that has occupied his mind and kept him awake at night.

He had murdered George White, the head of his class and a member of a network of psychis who might now be after him. The Eyre stone he took from his corpse is now inside his body.

That act still dismayed him. A deep guilt invaded his heart, but he was unwilling to doubt the path he had chosen.

Overcome anyone it takes to obtain the Eyre stones and...

Part 2

Thanks to the stone merging with the stamp on his forearm, he was able to experience a rather curious phenomenon.

Despite meditating to speed up the healing process, the wound healed at an abnormally fast rate. Within three days his arm was almost completely healed, but he still decided to continue wearing a bandage, as the stamp is visible and too conspicuous.

Secondly, the jagged purple lines that ran the length of his forearm, which made up the stamp, became slightly thicker. Almost the thickness of two coins.

The third thing was a sharp increase in nausea, fatigue and nightmares. Every morning, he woke up with a cold sweat running down his body.

All this started from the 3rd of July, so it was easy to come to the conclusion that it was the fault of the stone.

Part 3

After showering, he made himself breakfast, sat down on the sofa in the living room and turned on the television. The morning news came on as he devoured his French bread and took a few sips of his cappuccino.

[There are more and more protests for and against the dark reform. There is a very tense social atmosphere and the government is analyzing measures to avoid conflict"].

[The government is advancing the idea of a plebiscite for the implementation of the dark reform.]

[The Department of Dark Energy Containment is dissolved! Following irregularities in the investigation of the incident on 21 June and the explosion at the headquarters on the 1st of this month, the central government decided to terminate the operations of the department and hand over its activities to the police. In addition, the department's director of operations, Anthony Martin, will be investigated..."].

A familiar name popped up.

"Ugh!"

Prrr Prrr

His phone began to vibrate, it was a call. He settled back on the couch, turned off the TV and picked up.

—H—hello.

—[Hello, Philip].

It was Ethan Martin, the former school bully and someone close to Philip... in a weird way.

—Oh, Ethan. It's weird that you call me, even more so on holiday. How's it going? Did you go to many places with Zac? You know me...

—[Shut up for a second. You heard the news, didn't you?] —Yeah.

—Huh?

—[What the fuck happened on the first one? My dad's out of work, he's being investigated, my mum got sick from the stress. Does it have anything to do with the information I gave you on the last day of school?].

—Wait, I don't know what you're talking about.

—[Don't play dumb, Zero].

—¡¿?!

The only person who knows Zero's identity is Bill.

"He told Ethan?"

Philip sighed so Ethan could hear him over the phone.

—Your great powers of deduction, he seems to have got it wrong this time.

There was a grunt and followed by a sigh.

—[This isn't going to lead to anything. Geh. Sorry to bother you, I'm desperate. This situation is so...].

—There's no need to apologise, I know very well.

—[Ah, yes...].

Andrea, a very important friend of Philip's had recently left. Ethan is one of the few people around Philip who knows that fact.

Philip knows what happened at D.C.E.O. headquarters, but he can't tell Ethan. He can't let his identity as Zero be revealed, even if Ethan has strong suspicions about it.

—Oh, right. I know it has nothing to do with the topic, but I wanted to ask you something.

—[What is it about?]

—You know, I saw a very striking girl at school on the last day of school, and I'd never seen her before. Very thin, long hair and slanted eyes. She was in class 11—C.

—[Mmmh. Zac told me about a girl who came in this year, but she hardly ever goes to school. I'd have to ask her if she matches your description].

—I'd really appreciate it.

—[Well, I should cut]

—Say hi to Zac for me when you see him.

—[Okay...].

The call ended. He managed to keep his identity as Zero safe and was sure he could gather some information about the girl in the red qipao.

—Fiuu.

When he relaxed to continue enjoying his breakfast....

Prrr Prrr

—Huh? —Ethan again? No, I don't think so.

Checking the number on the screen, he swallowed.

—Hello.

This time he spoke firmly.

—Good morning, Mr. Philip. As you may have noticed, this is Ingrid, the head maid at Mrown mansion.]

—Yes. How do you do? Has anything happened?

—[I look splendid].

"As usual eh..."

—[There's a lot of commotion at the mansion, your father has asked me to inform you that he will be waiting for you in his office].

—If it is something urgent, I shall be unable to make any excuse.

—[I have not been informed of this, but... As I have a great deal of confidence in you, Mr. Philip, I will tell you.]

—It has to do with what is going on?

—[It has. From the way things are being handled, I would say almost a hundred per cent. sure, it is something to do with Mr. Touch.

"My brother?"

—[You know, Mr. Phil would only call you about something like that. A lot of people connected with the company came in and there's a lot of secrecy. It's unfair, I want to know].

A hint of anger seeps into Ingrid's normally expressionless voice. Among the maids at the mansion, she is known as the gossip queen. This situation must be difficult for her.

—If you're trying to use me to tell you later what happened, I'm sorry, but it won't be like that.

—[But, but...].

Now it was anxiety. Philip was amused by these changes of attitude that she only showed through the phone.

—[Let my father know I'm on my way].

—I'll be waiting for him with his hamburger. I'll be waiting for you with your favorite burger, sir].

—No... No need.

Sweat began to run down Philip's face. Now she was trying to buy him off.

Before she could complain again, he cut the call short.

—How troublesome.

Philip took a sip of his cappuccino.

—It's cold.

After finishing his breakfast, he grabbed a coat and headed for the Mrown's mansion.