“Say, I promise not to apologise for trivial matters anymore.” 

This was probably the first time in Silvano’s life to be urged to speak in such a kind manner. 

“I-I… p-promise.” His stuttering would come back whenever he was agitated, whether by positive and negative emotions. 

“If anyone, it should be me who apologises as I failed to make them convey this all to you. So can you please forgive me for this blunder?” 

Silvano somehow felt that a storm was brewing right in front of him so he tried to speak up for his acquaintances.

“E-everyone is always helping me, th-they are very k-kind, patient and c-caring. Y-you shouldn’t apologise for something that is not your r-responsibility. Nobody here is at fault that I’m a m-messed up p-person with too many land mines s-surrounding me. I know it’s not easy to c-constantly tiptoe around me, trying to look out for any p-potential triggers. I’m thankful for everyone’s efforts.” This was probably the longest anyone had heard him speak and it was all said to stand up for the people that had been caring for him all this time. 

Bartel stayed silent, still kneeling on one knee and a fury burning inside his stomach for long past things he had no way of changing. Moreover Silvano’s words were too logically stated to say anything in response. 

“I h-haven’t seen Colonel G-Gillian in 2 days. I r-really hope he’s not punished for what happened that d-day. It would m-make me feel v-very g-guilty.” 

Military Assistant Bartel took a pause and squinted his eyes while looking at Silvano with assessing eyes, then let out a dry laugh.

“Hm-hm… I know you’re being genuine, but still, I can see that you have a potential for learning the art of manipulation, don’t you? Which, of course, I only encourage, as it can give you very useful tools for survival and success in the future. But, dearest, whether to let Gillian off the hook or not is not my decision to make.” He slowly got up on his feet, dusting off his knees. “He has been demoted to Lieutenant Colonel obviously not by me, but thanks to your pleading, the Admiral didn’t have him demoted two ranks into Major but just one rank. So don’t be too sad.” 

He couldn’t stomach Silvano’s perplexed expression. 

“But you seriously shouldn’t blame yourself for other people’s actions or decisions. It truly should not concern you as his punishment came for failing a mission not mistreating you. Do you understand the difference? Every person should be responsible for their own choices and conduct. Being able to differentiate yourself from the rest of the world and identify your own personal capabilities and boundaries is an essential step of development you should go through.” 

These words felt like parenting advice but Silvano had never heard a proper one before, only demands and rules to follow at best, so it sounded very unique and fresh to him. While he was deep in thought Bartel exchanged several sentences with the rest in a low voice. But they were interrupted by the Admiral’s return. 

“Even though I said you could have the rest of the day off, the situation has changed.” 

With a long sigh Bartel replied. “Understood, Admiral Sir!” 

“As I most probably will not have any time in these two days I’d like to have a couple of words with Silvano.” Everyone present diligently walked to the door. 

“Mr. Silvano, I was delighted to finally meet you in person today. Hopefully there will be more opportunities to meet in the future.” Bartel stopped to speak before leaving. 

“Thank you, m-me too.” Silvano actually had a very warm impression of this new person. 

When everyone left Admiral Carnage stil didn’t sit but stood in front of Silvano to speak directly facing him. 

“Silvano, I’m sorry for being this hasty but the situation is demanding.” Silvano wanted to say ‘why would you even bother to come here if the situation is demanding, Sir’. 

“There is a very important Summit taking place in two days on the opposite hemisphere of Nest 5. It will last 5 days. I will be very busy before, during and after it, so I’m informing you beforehand that neither Bartel nor I will be able to visit you for 8-10 days. But if you need anything you can contact us through Gillian. He will return to duty tomorrow morning. meanwhile please take good care of yourself and the baby.” 

“Thank you, Sir. I…”

“Jass.”

“J-Jass-s… thank you for f-finding time to v-visit me personally.”

Jass just smiled maturely in response. 

“A-and good luck th-there.”

“That I’ll need, thank you!” 

It felt unexpectedly nice to have someone warmly sending him off. And strangely enough this someone was carrying his child and smiling at him with springlike clear eyes. 

“Thank you Silvano, see you soon.” 

For some reason this phrase left an unclear restlessness in him. Not bothering with useless feelings, Admiral Carnage left with a composed expression as Silvano repeated after him. 

“See you soon, Sir…umm…Jass.”

… 

“How do you do this, Sir? This humidity is killing me. But you look just fine. Tell me the secret, I’m begging you!”

It was late evening, the Admiral and Military Assistant were on a terrace of a confidential luxurious hotel in the City of Flake. This city was one of the first to be established when the human population settled on Nest 5, 800 years ago. That is why even though the capital was Rondora where most of the central government and official headquarters were situated, many important events, conferences, etc. and the Annual Summit always took place here on the other side of the Planet. 

City of Flake got its name quite logically even though absurdly. After the first generations lived here for decades in the tropical weather, never changing seasons and high humidity, there was one wish everyone shared: it was to have snow at least once to cool their overheated minds. That’s why the city was named Flake, to reflect the collective dream. 

Legends say that around 300 years after humans settled on Nest 5 there was a year when strange things happened. Snow fell but it was not cold, the water in rivers and springs became sweet and many other abnormalities occurred… but there is not much documentation from that year as these phenomena were followed by disasters, turbulence of connections and infrastructures. In just one year the human population that had increased to 3,5 million reduced to 1 800 000. The circumstances are unclear and contradictory. Some say there were natural disasters, some say it was a terrible indigenous virus that the humans weren’t immune to, some even claimed it was an alien invasion. It could have been one of those, all together, or something entirely different that nobody knew. 

Either way the name of the city didn’t change as a way to remind future generations that one should always be careful of what they are wishing for, and be prepared for unexpected battles and fight for their lives and rights. 

“I lived here for several decades. You should just learn to accept it and don’t fight it so much, it’s useless anyway.” 

“Ugh… I’m sorry for complaining, Sir!” Bartel tried practising the new advice. “So tomorrow is the 4th day. It was quite noisy today too, I hope tomorrow turns out better.”

“I wouldn’t hope for much difference, at best it’ll be the same. It’s hard for people to let go of greed.” 

Suddenly Bartel’s expression brightened and he made a suggestion. “Would you like to hear a report from the mansion, Sir?”

“Did something interesting happen? Is everything ok with Silvano and the baby? Well you wouldn’t sound so excited if there was anything worrying.” The Admiral was more annoyed and angry rather than tired from the negotiations of the past three days and he could anticipate the following 2 days would be the same. In this context hearing about home was their way of having a break and unwind. 

“No, everything is smooth but you know, Sir, I’m so proud! You know the boy is a real fighter! Yesterday he had asked Gillian to get him arm training tools. Like those simple rubber circles that train gripping strength.”

“Seriously?” 

“Yeah! I have a video clip. Just a second, see?” 

In the recording Silvano was sitting in the wheelchair by the windows and gritting his teeth while doing his best to squeeze the damned rubber tools in his hand. His face looked determined but the rubber circles didn’t bend much, just a little bit. 

“This was yesterday?” 

“Yes, Sir! When I spoke with Gillian today Silvano was still sleeping. At first I didn’t realise that he had it in his character, but the kid turned out to have quite the determined personality.”

The Admiral just smiled in return remembering those sparkling eyes. 

“I was worried whether he was ready to become a parent but after talking to him I could see that his reasoning is in the right place and he’s mature enough to make responsible choices. Should we look at what they are doing? It’s morning there now.”

What appeared in the transmission surprised both of them. Lieutenant Colonel Gillian was holding Silvano’s arm at the same time securing his back from behind and Thesa was holding his other hand with a worried but excited expression. And Silvano was trying to find balance concentrating all his strength and will on his weak legs which were trembling but somehow keeping him standing. It clearly was strenuous and he was mostly leaning on Gillian and Thesa but the expression on his face was stubborn.

The Admiral and Bartel looked at each other with a peculiar smile.

“Should I scold them for being careless or should I just let them be?” Bartel spoke with a staged sigh. 

“Let them be. Or rather scold them later to be more cautious.”

While staring at the transmission of Silvano’s daily life Admiral Carnage had a very apparent peace in his eyes, one that Bartel had identified as ‘a unique occurrence specifically happening in situations concerning Silvano and the soon to be born child’. After watching for some time the Admiral’s expression  turned cold and he asked Bartel with an emotionless voice. 

“Did we identify who exactly is in contact with Velozar?”

“It must be my incompetence for not being able to give sufficient results, Sir. For now we only know that it’s someone from the Grand Council. The signal was very deeply encrypted, we were only able to identify it reaching the Satellite exclusively owned by the Grand Council. We couldn’t access deeper than that without getting exposed. Even this much is not considered legal without a warrant.” 

“Old foxes.” 

‘Well, objectively, they are much younger than you, Admiral Sir! But not that I disagree with the statement.’ Bartel wisely kept his thoughts to himself.