The guard rapped his knuckles against the reinforced polymer to get Kyrian’s attention. “Mr. Averin, someone else will come in to handle Unit A-6 from here. Go to your assigned unit.”

Kyrian opened his eyes, losing focus, and sat still for a moment to remember where he was. He glanced down at the cold hand he tightly gripped, before his fingers slowly released their hold.

A faint rush of nausea surged through him when he stood. He had been fairly close to stabilizing the Esper, but as much as it frustrated him it wasn’t his concern anymore. Another Guide would be coming to switch out with him, while he handled his real priority. The reason he was here under contract, and he couldn’t be wasting his strength on a different Esper.

The movement outside the pod had died down some, the cleaners having finished their roles, and now all that was left was military personnel and researchers examining the items from the rift.

Mana stones, small colorful crystals that shone like gems, were separated into dozens of boxes in various shapes and sizes. 

As Kyrian approached the pod at the end of the row, a researcher sorting through the stones caught his eye. Instead of taking the high-grade mana stones like her colleagues, she was searching for stones that shone black as obsidian. 

Rift stones?

“Go on,” the guard prodded, impatiently waiting to seal the pod behind him once he entered.

Kyrian pursed his lips, unable to dwell on what was going on around them, and stepped inside the square structure. The Sanctum.

The air inside immediately assaulted his senses, pricking his skin like pins and needles. Even though it was heavily charged with psychic power, the pressure was surprisingly bearable.

He lifted his gaze to the Esper strapped to the medical chair, and his breath caught in his throat. Footsteps halted.

Grey green eyes pierced him like blades, the anger and intense emotions visibly swirling behind that stare.

“So, you’re the Guide?”

***

The man didn’t move, rooted to the spot, so Eiden felt the need to mock him.

Scared is he? Fucker.

“So, you’re the Guide?” He asked, not even trying to disguise the venom in his voice. 

This earned him a reaction, though a small one as the Guide subtly flinched at the question.

“What,” Eiden chuckled, gaze hardening, “surprised I’m lucid?”

He glanced at the machines and equipment he was connected with, a surge of anger welling in his chest. “Don’t worry, it won’t last I’m sure…”

His cold eyes moved to pin the Guide in his steps, but he struggled to speak.

Do I just accept it for now? It won’t be anything above a soft sync… 

“I’m here to initiate Guiding,” the man explained as if it wasn’t the most obvious thing in the world.

“Why else would you be here, you idiot?” Eiden gritted, his restrained arms flexing when he pulled against the chair. His skin, scrubbed pink by the nurses, burned when the restraints chafed what was already raw. He bit back a hiss of pain, and lifted his chin to hide the tremor in his act.

“An idiot who can only initiate soft syncs, how pathetic.” His cutting words were nothing but an attack, because he knew Cerberus only allowed soft syncs unless authorization had been given. Still he pushed.

***

Kyrian took a slow breath, attempting to cool his head before he bothered finding the words to reply to this Esper.

Who’s the real idiot here? The one wasting breath to insult me, or the one who thinks they have a chance at Guiding you?…

“May I approach you? We don’t have much time for Guiding right now.”

The young man seemed taken aback, his hostility faltering for a brief instance. He blinked, missing a beat to retaliate, before the anger hardened in his gaze once again.

“Of course, you can do whatever you fucking want,” the Esper gritted through his teeth, “why bother asking my opinion?”

What kind of reaction was that? Kyrian mused to himself.

Taking the half hearted response as a form of consent, Kyrian took a few test steps forward. The air surged around him when he simply took a few steps closer, prickling his skin and pressing on his shoulders and chest.

Eiden’s instability was much more noticeable than the previous Esper, but perhaps it was due to how volatile he was by nature. Aggressive, always behaving as if trapped in a corner with nowhere to run.

Kyrian firmly believed that an Esper’s psychic wavelength was a reflection of their internal condition, though no one had ever deemed it an important enough topic to study. If it was true in this instance, then the Esper before him was a true wreck.

Giving the air time to settle, Kyrian watched the Esper intently, trying to read any little sign from his behavior or body language. Anything to try and understand him just a bit more.

“I’ll approach and initiate soft sync then,” he murmured loud enough to warn.

Eiden once more tested the limits of the restraints keeping him trapped to the chair, but his face mirrored a confidence and fury that did not match the way his body flinched away. 

Is he scared of me? 

The monitors beeped quietly, the only sound in the room as the two stared each other down.

Kyrian pushed through the thick pressure in the air, closing the distance between himself and the Esper confined to the chair.

He lifted his hand, letting it hover over the clenched fist shackled to the armrest. His mismatched colored eyes flicked up to the face watching him with secret unease.

As if sensing the gaze on him, Eiden quickly looked away with a sharp click of his tongue.

“I’ll begin now…”

Moving cautiously, like approaching a wild animal that may startle away at any moment, Kyrian closed his eyes with a steady breath. He had to focus on the storm of energy that was still trying to push him away. It was a palpable rejection of his presence, and he needed to tame it.

You’ve done this before, the only difference is he’s lucid. There’s nothing to be worried about.

Pushing the doubts aside and with eyes still closed, he pictured the energy as something tangible. When he reached out to grab it in his mind, his hand that had been hesitating grasped Eiden’s clenched fist.

“Fuck-” Eiden hissed with a short breath, the chair rattling quietly as he struggled against the restraints.

Like a jolt of electricity that tethered both individuals to the same wavelength, a soft sync had been initiated.