In that room, the bathroom door was slightly ajar. Tori stood near the sink, holding a utility knife dangerously close to one of her eyes. Tears streamed down her face, and her breathing was heavy. Her whole body was trembling with fear, but it seemed like she wanted to make the cut quickly.

The sound of footsteps made her pull the knife back slightly, but upon realizing she’d been caught, she pointed it at her neck, pressing hard enough to draw blood—from the most dangerous spot possible.

“Don’t scream,” Tori ordered in a commanding tone. “If you scream, I’ll do it.”

Lucas quickly tried to mediate:

“Tori, there’s no need for you to do this,” he said, trying to approach her.

“It’s absolutely necessary! You wouldn’t understand! They brainwashed you!” Tori shouted. “The police are shit! ACE is shit! This whole thing is… it’s shit!”

Calisto, without fear, took a few steps forward, watching as she slowly pressed the blade into her skin.

“Excuse me?” Calisto asked with a laugh. “You’ve lost your mind.”

Tori pulled the knife away only to ready herself for a fight. Truthfully, she looked like she had lost her mind.

“No, I’ve never been more sane in my entire life,” she said.

Lucas and Artemisa tried to pull Calisto back, but he skillfully slipped from both their grips. Neither of them thought facing her directly was a good idea.

“Explain to me why you think that—why you think you’re more sane than we are?” Calisto challenged.

Tori’s eyes were burning with rage.

“Aria…” she paused. “The only likely connection is the academy. She didn’t hang out with any strangers. That’s why they did all this to us, isn’t it? To stop us from looking for her, from waiting for her. They needed time, right?” she asked. “The academy is just an excuse to find the best cores and use us as human weapons—against our will! Are we just ‘good enough to not be civilians but not good enough to be part of this experiment’?”

Tori pointed the blade at Calisto, then at Lucas and Artemisa, in a defiant tone.

“They used kids to perfect nuclear technology! They say ACE uses criminals as state dogs! And who’s to say Aria isn’t going to become another state dog against her will? Especially you! You’re one of ACE’s dogs!” she screamed, completely out of control.

Calisto’s expression turned more serious at being called a “dog.”

“And your solution is to mutilate yourself to go look for your friend on your own?” Calisto asked. “It won’t help you at all. Besides, ACE will probably take on Aria’s case. I agree with you—it’s a strange case. And yes, I’m one of ACE’s dogs. Let’s just say one of the top-ranked. Pleasure to meet you.”

“You’re not as funny as you think,” Tori muttered.

“What he’s trying to say is that you’re right,” Lucas explained. “Aria’s case is so strange, they won’t let civilians distort the existing information.”

“Put that down, Tori. We can keep talking,” Artemisa requested.

Tori looked at the knife in her hand, wondering what was going through her own mind. Her head felt like it was trapped in a fog that was almost visible to others. Her body was numb.

“Want me to tell you something, Tori? You’re right—the military police are shit,” said Calisto.

Calisto’s irresponsibility left Artemisa and Lucas in shock. It’s true that neither of them trusted the military police because of the corruption they’d seen, but they still believed that, as a superior, Calisto should be more responsible with his words.

Tori perked up more than ever. It seemed like she was lowering her guard.

“So even their own colleagues don’t trust that corrupt institution?” she asked.

“Yeah. Personally, I think that institution is garbage. Just like you think it is—I agree,” Calisto said.

“Then why are you here? Why, if you know all this, don’t you do something to change it?” Tori threw at him.

At that moment, Calisto smiled:

“Have you heard the phrase ‘keep your friends close, but your enemies closer’?”

Tori showed surprise again. The others behind Calisto didn’t expect the conversation to turn like this either.

“Believe me, if you want to find out where your friend is, the best thing you can do is stay, enjoy the information, and investigate on your own. You’ve got a lot of tools at your disposal. They won’t discharge you so easily after this episode. There’s nothing a couple of pills can’t fix.”

Tori started laughing. Lucas and Artemisa looked at her like she had completely lost it, but Calisto remained unfazed.

“And what do you think they’ll do when they find out?” Tori asked with anger and disbelief.

“They won’t do anything,” Calisto assured her. “This isn’t a movie. This is real life. And in a world this corrupt, you can’t be innocent and play fair.”

Tori was once again surprised by how blunt he was. Surprisingly, Calisto pulled out his pack of cigarettes and lit one right there in the room.

“What? Am I too unconventional? Everyone says that. But everyone in this organization has secrets, Tori. Even I do. When I say you can trust me, I really mean it. You can put that knife down, calm yourself, and investigate on your own as soon as you’re assigned to a squad. Or you can follow your stupid plan and waste 20 years trying to discover the truth—by then, your little friend will be dust. The choice is yours, and my offer stands.”

Even though that was the most unorthodox, corrupt, and dirty offer they’d ever heard, Tori actually seemed convinced.

“I…” Tori stopped herself.

From the look on her face, the others could tell she didn’t really know what to do. Most likely, out of all the scenarios she imagined, this was one of the last—or maybe it never even crossed her mind.

“Are you interested or not?” continued Calisto.

“Yes,” Tori replied.

“Excellent,” Calisto responded. “We have a deal then. Now put that knife away—our boss is about to board.”

When Tori dropped the knife, Artemisa quickly moved in to hug her. In that moment, Tori broke down in tears, seeking consolation and apologizing for what she had done. Lucas also joined them, and Tori apologized again for the incident. However, when Lucas looked for Calisto, he realized Calisto had vanished from the room as if he were dust. Exiting the room, he saw Calisto outside, smoking.

Calisto quickly noticed Lucas and gave him a smile as if none of that had just happened.

“Everything okay?” Calisto asked, genuinely interested.

“Is that true?” Lucas pressed.

“About what?” Calisto looked puzzled, masking it with a charming smile.

“What happened earlier.”

Calisto remained unfazed. Then he grinned confidently.

“Please don’t tell me you believe we live in a utopia where everyone’s kind and does good for the sake of others,” Calisto teased.

Lucas watched him for a moment and spotted Calisto smoking under a “No Smoking” sign on the wall—a delicious irony. Even more ironic, Calisto offered a cigarette to Lucas. He accepted it and, almost instantly, Calisto handed him a lighter—blue, translucent and tinted.

“Honestly, it’s the first time I’ve ever smoked,” Lucas admitted with a nervous laugh, scratching his neck.

“Nothing complicated. Press this circle,” Calisto said, clicking a button with his nail. “Light it and inhale a little.”

Lucas followed the instructions. When the tip glowed, he inhaled—holding back a cough as he watched Calisto’s uniform reveal part of his skin. Calisto laughed.

“It’s not a straw—you don’t need to suck like that! Take it slower. You’re funny!”

“I got distracted,” Lucas apologized, trying again. This time it was smooth and more pleasant.

As Lucas got the hang of it, Calisto sized him up from head to toe before meeting his gaze.

“If you’re going to stick around, you need to learn that sometimes good things are done with bad intentions, and sometimes bad things need to be done with good intentions.”

Lucas nodded, lowering his gaze.

“So, what you said earlier about… ‘them,’ was true?”

Calisto released a puff of smoke right into Lucas’s face, making him cough.

“That cops are shit? Of course they are,” he replied, taking another drag.

Lucas listened attentively.

“Don’t you feel guilty making such a direct accusation—even if they’re your colleagues?” Lucas asked, taking a drag himself. “I couldn’t do that.”

“You’re still young—and naïve,” Calisto said, flicking ash off the cigarette. “You’ve got to learn how this hell called the world works.”

Lucas bristled at the supposition that Calisto saw him as a foolish rookie. He quickly defended himself.

“I knew the world wasn’t pretty when I joined,” he clarified, trying to seem mature. He hated that someone close to his age would see him as “small.”

“Exactly,” Calisto agreed. “Sometimes you have to lie to get to the truth. And when you lie, you have to lie until the lie becomes truth,” he said, taking another drag.

Lucas was surprised at that.

“But they’ve got money and influence—if I say anything, what does it matter? They’ll still take all our budget. Who’s really suffering here? Obviously me. My bosses always dumped their problems on me!” His complaint sounded painfully sincere. He finished his cigarette and stomped it out underfoot.

Then, Lucas extinguished his too.

“Are our bosses that awful?”

“Vikta and Damian?” Calisto paused, thinking. “Nah. They’re fine. The real problem is those above Vikta.”

“The government?” Lucas guessed.

“Security ministries—they’re the worst,” Calisto explained. “They’re great at criticizing—surprise—they don’t have to do the work. Then they complain that we ask for too much funding. Well, what we do isn’t cheap.”

“I never thought an agent’s arch-enemy would be someone in an office.”

Calisto burst into loud laughter, punching Lucas’s shoulder lightly. It stung, but Calisto seemed amused, not angry.

“And that’s before you’ve seen me spar with Susan in HR. I’ve been on missions since I can remember—and my arch-enemy’s Susan, a 54-year-old divorced lady with three cats.”

Lucas covered his mouth to stifle a laugh and leaned on Calisto’s shoulder—so close he barely realized it. They were no more than an arm’s length apart.

“Susan’s winning, I guess,” Lucas admitted.

“By a mile,” Calisto replied.

“And what problem did you have with HR?”

“It’s complicated,” Calisto offered. “You wouldn’t understand.”

“I’m not that dumb. I can understand.”

“Even if you’re smart enough, it’s a long story—and the boss only lets me step out to smoke right now. I think she texted me a minute ago—I ignored her because I felt like it.”

Calisto checked his phone, then laughed.

“She told me 15 minutes ago to find her and I forgot to reply. Looks like Minho shut down. I’m about to handle the ship.”

Calisto dropped the cigarette and stomped away.

“The ship’s old, but…” Calisto paused, reconsidered. “…I know how to handle her,” he finished.

They headed back to the control panel where Minho had been. The console was covered in confusing buttons, levers, counters and gauges. Lucas stared, unsure what to do.

“To power it up, first set these levers: the first to 250, the second to 170. Don’t touch the dials. I’ll handle the right side—just focus on those.”

Lucas followed orders, adjusting the levers.

“That controls supplies. First is electricity, second is fuel—we’re allocating the ship’s resources for this trip. Now set the dial and the third lever. The dial should read 170 degrees, and the third lever press to between 70 and 100.”

Lucas followed along, though the dial was rusty.

“I watched Minho run this a few hours ago, so I got the idea,” Calisto said.

“Minho’s my assistant—a Codeon assigned to me a few months back. Looks pretty real, huh?”

“Minho explained he’s not just a robot.”

“Codeons are like cyborgs—they think and process more humanly. They even have a human ‘soul,’ so to speak. Hope that makes sense.”

Lucas wasn’t entirely sure, but nodded—sounded plausible: a robot upgraded with human-like AI.

“When I talked to him, he was dying for a charge. Didn’t know he even had a battery,” Calisto added.

“When I found you guys running, I’d just put the three of you to bed. But this place doesn’t have sockets for them, so when we arrive, I’ll recharge them. Thankfully he calibrated the machine—just enter coordinates and push a couple of buttons.” Calisto pressed some switches. “And he even left the settings neatly written here.” He showed a paper filled with neat notes. “Wanna run the journey?”

“Sure.”

Calisto explained clearly and simply. Lucas realized you just enter letters and numbers and the ship goes. He never expected manual ships, but got curious.

While waiting for the vice–director, a 15-minute delay turned into 20. Then Calisto pressed the platform button. A monitor switched from showing the hangar to focusing on vice-director Vikta—she didn’t look pleased at the delay. A minute later her heels clicked into view.

“You’re late,” Vikta said sternly.

Calisto didn’t flinch—in fact, he seemed amused.

“Welcome, boss,” Lucas greeted, nervous.

It was the same woman who had made Lucas dizzy during the faction speech—but now he felt calm. She scanned him for a long moment.

“I see you’ve adopted him,” she nodded at Calisto.

She offered her hand. Lucas shook it gently.

“A pleasure to work with you. I’m Lucas Marilef. I’ll give it my all.”

Lucas’s enthusiasm made Vikta smile—and it spread to Calisto.

“You’re a good kid,” Vikta praised. “You’re in good hands—but don’t follow his example.”

“I think I am the best example,” Calisto said, smirking.

Artemisa joined them slowly, still in uniform and half-asleep. Once she reunited with the group, Calisto delivered a cheeky line:

“I’m an even better example than Irene,” he joked.

“I won’t say anything—just woke up,” Irene yawned. “Good afternoon, ma’am. Coffee?”

Fenrir hurried in behind her—neat uniform despite nearly slipping—and joined the casual conversation, offering coffee. Soon the vice-director excused herself to attend to other matters.

“Lucas,” she called.

He turned.

“I need you to tell everyone that once we disembark they should leave personal items on the ship. We’ll proceed to Ops Center to organize our first mission. Afterward, they’ll come back for their belongings to go to their permanent quarters. Can you handle that?” she asked politely.

Lucas felt important—like a true rookie.

“Absolutely! I’ll tell them right now, ma’am.”

Vikta gave a warm smile.

“Please, call me ‘Boss.’ That’s what everyone uses.”

As he left, Lucas headed to Pascal’s cabin, where Luna, Artemisa, and Pascal were gathered. They all talked about Tori’s mental state and Aria’s ongoing search—at this point they knew Tori had been sent to a psych unit.

Unlike the central where they’d disembarked via platform, here the ship lowered directly onto the ground, turning the ramp into a hallway. As everyone disembarked, they saw stretchers rush in, carrying the Codeons who had guided them aboard.