More than just hurting, this young man was shattered. His body remained standing by virtue of a process known only to himself, and his limbs bore the weight of both his labored respiration and a smoking firearm, which he still clutched at arm’s length, having just taken down his opponent without giving him the slightest chance.

This boy, Koncel thought, was probably just pretending to be knocked out, and had grabbed a gun from among the corpses Liberi had left behind earlier, all while being dragged across the ground so painfully.

And there you go – now he had pulled it off; he hadn’t missed his shot this time, and there were no more gang members left in the area.

Enarky: "..."

Koncel did not put his weapon away just yet, however, his relentless gaze taking in Enarky’s "heroic" form. Enarky said no more and did not shift a muscle, until finally, Liberi joined them in the center of the platform, amid the eerie silence of a carefully purged lair.

Liberi: “Well done~”

Koncel: “…Yo.”

At that moment, Enarky raised a weak but bright eye that swept over Liberi’s sardonic expression, as he held back a laugh at seeing Enarky in even poorer shape than when they first met. But enough dawdling; the Essoculus gave his report to his colleague.

Koncel: “So what you’re telling me is that we have to wait for these ‘reinforcements’? The dudes who are supposed to come pay the gang’s bounty and transfer the prisoners?”

Liberi: “Yeah, they'll be here any minute, and I wanna try to snatch the money from them. In any case, if we bring the victims down now, we won't be able to protect them while dealing with these guys.”

Koncel: “So you’re planning a bloodbath?”

Liberi: “It’s not like I’m lacking the mental or physical stamina for it. Besides, we don’t have a choice—we’re running late.”

Koncel: “If you say so... Want some help? I found these two HK416s in these shacks."

Liberi: “Oh nice, gimme.”

Koncel: “What? No, they’re for me.”

Liberi: “Both?“

Koncel: “Both.”

Enarky: “Liberi.”

That mumbling voice surprised him, making him quickly turn his head toward the one who clearly didn't wish to be forgotten so soon.

Enarky sighed softly, “You’re Liberi. And you're… Koncel, is that right?”

That gleaming eye again. The corpse-like mercenary was strangely getting the feeling he needed to stay on his guard.

“Take me with you.”

Koncel: “Huh…?”

Liberi: “...”

Liberi: “Why? Are you really that stubborn? Why would we agree this time?”

Enarky: “I’m not asking you to agree… I don’t intend to lose sight of you again, even if it means I die.”

As far as Koncel was concerned, he kept on viewing this civilian as a lost cause, but it was clear that there were numerous truths hiding behind such a predisposition to fatalism.

Enarky: “Right now, I want and need nothing more than to stay with you.”

Enarky: “For the first time in forever, I’ve felt things I never want to risk ever forgetting, so I can’t imagine my life any other way.”

Koncel: “Can you at least tell us why you were out to get those guys?”

Enarky calmly maintained eye contact with these two people, whose world was the only one he now wanted to belong to. He took a breath.

Enarky: “Those mobsters beat up my dad while he was drunk in a bar.”

Enarky: “After sitting there watching them do it like a coward, I ended up not being completely sober myself, so I followed them to their hideout with the intention of getting revenge, and that’s how I ended up tied to that chair.

Liberi: “...”

Koncel: “...You—were drunk?

The young man didn’t answer, but that silence was all it took for Liberi to burst out laughing, genuinely amused.

Liberi: “Haha... I guess it should make perfect sense, but it’s something I still find even more ridiculous...”

Koncel: “What do you mean?”

The whitish-haired humanoid suddenly moved a little too close to Enarky. He was barely chin-high to him, but he took the liberty of invading his personal space until their faces brushed against each other. Enarky himself didn’t react, but he listened intently as the non-human boy uttered a few final words with an enigmatic smile.

“I will never stand between you and death, Enarky Daiskarolley.”

Two large trucks rumbled up alongside the docks, and a fresh wind picked up in the winter evening that was closing in on the city. Koncel shouldered his two rifles, while his slender partner also turned to face their new adversaries. Before long, the fight became inevitable, and without a single warning signal issuing, bullets and blood flew through the frigid seaside air, right before the uncertain but undying stance of an 18 year old obsessive civilian who clenched his fists.

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     Spectris is a vast world. It is a world that has undergone over 3,000 years of history, rising from the ashes of what came before. Humans have only picked up small parts of the culture, knowledge and virtues of their past civilisation, but they did not blame themselves as the newly shaped Earth harboured unprecedented magic and powerful beasts that belonged to no other time.

Wars were fought over rare and unique singularities or for the sake of an empire's dogma or mysticism. Blood would also be shed for the same motives that characterised humanity before the extinction event, and which still define its traits today. However, despite the conflicts that undermine harmony across the continents, the fantasy and wonder of certain places still endure with the supernatural fire of a second-chance Earth.

This is also true where there is such a complex—with its crude, drab, and faded architectural design—located several kilometers underground and removed from the collective consciousness. It is a sort of immense underground facility with seemingly non-Euclidean shapes hanging from an almost imperceptible ceiling, featuring labyrinthine corridors and cavernous hangars overflowing with cutting-edge technology. A location of secrets, even terror, but with just the same atmosphere of wonder...

Eventhough anyone with an ordinary viewpoint would certainly contemplate what might be brewing within walls of such magnitude, people did live here in these alienated depths...

A person sat alone in the vastness of an ethereal and surreal room. The ceiling soared as high as that of a majestic cathedral, and snow-white stone benches lined a hall adorned with windows that let in a gentle night light—a light that had no business being at such depths.

It was a man sitting there. His skin the light tone of fresh parchment, long silver robe on his back, graceful yet unruly jet-black hair, and what seemed like a storybook in his hands, into which he was completely absorbed. But his reading was interrupted by the clear sound of familiar heeled shoes, piercing the stillness and approaching him with a determined stride. An intense-looking woman addressed him, “...Apparently, Graleman’s gang failed, and the subjects couldn’t be obtained.”

The accentuated eyelashes of the man on the bench barely fluttered; his eyes, a luminous jade color completely at odds with the monochromatic tone of the rest of his appearance, gave him a look that one might almost describe as menacing, erratic, and unpredictable. Yet, he wasn't ever known to make any sudden moves, nor did he ever make a hostile sound... His voice was like the peaceful trickling of sands in an hourglass, "Hello Rachelle... the time is lovely this evening, isn't it?"

And she replied coldly, "If you're talking about these fake rays of light, I'd be lying if I agreed with your remark."

"Ahaha... Come now, you shouldn’t start denying the splendor of our home just because of some bad news." He set the book down on his lap, "It doesn't even matter, remember? Everything's just according to the plan."

Rachelle: "Yeah, so this is the point where we’re supposed to trust you and just sit back and watch, without knowing how long this circus is going to last."

That’s when he decided to stand up. He held the book against his chest, facing Rachelle, who was actually taller than him. He met her gaze, she had the same green brilliance in her eyes... With eyes so similar, they stared almost fatefully at eachother. Rachelle’s rosy complexion, and long silver hair with striking azure streaks made her shine in the fake moonlight, but especially noticeable was the strange pattern in the center of her white sleeveless blouse—it was the same emblem on her counterpart’s book cover.

"It's him you need to trust." He told her.

She sighed.

Rachelle: "Djed."

Djed: "Hm?"

Unperturbed, she handed him a lunchbox, "From Amaliel."

Djed: "Oh, that's so sweet. She shouldn't have gone through the trouble."

Rachelle: "You should go back to the lounge and eat this with everyone else."

Djed: "Sure! That might make—"

The lounge, a few minutes later. He is punched senseless and immediately collapses onto his back, his nose bleeding...

Rachelle: "Sigh... I thought I told you to go easy, Rai."

Rai: "... Shut the hell up..."

Rai, Djed's aggressor, is standing over him while he lays flat on the neon-lit living room's floor. A muscular, red haired man with bisque, earthy textured skin, sporting one long and white lab coat in contrast to his rough, inflexible posture.

Rachelle and two other persons were also present, and they were sitting around like they had no interest in what blow was just delivered unnanounced.

Djed is then forcibly pulled off the floor by the collar. The redhead towers over his smaller frame, a lethal look of hatred animating his gaze.

Rai: "So you’re in cahoots with the Operators…? You're with the guys who kidnapped all of us, and you have the nerve to pretend to be friends with Amaliel...?"

Rachelle just casually crossed a leg over the other, "If you'd just let me explain everything..."

Djed: "... ha... ha... w-why aren't you stopping him from hitting me...?"

Rachelle: "Huh?" She then openly burst out laughing at those words, and Djed gave her only a concerned sidelong glance.

She continued in a lighthearted tone when catching her breath, "Ah... Ashley, why aren't you stopping Rai from hitting Djed?"

Another young woman was sitting comfortably on the large sofa. She had a more bronze and tanned complexion, and a black shag haircut that curled down to her shoulders and shined under the neons. She chimed in at her friend's question, responding just as indifferently, "Well, I mean, aside from him, we've all known how Djed is complicit with the Alchemists. I know his reasons so I can't really beat the crap out of him myself with no guilty conscience. But if Rai takes the initiative, I'm here for it."

Rachelle: "Good. Gwen?"

The third lady there exhaled cigarette smoke, her medium-length, fine and straight blonde hair framing her luminous face, "Same but it's nothing to do with feeling guilty, I just won't ruin my nail art."

Rachelle: "Eeexactly, see? We've all been wanting to punch you in the face at some point or another."

Djed: "H-...hey, that's not very—"

Bam!

Rai lands a second blow that brings him down to the ground again like a common ragdoll.

Rai: "I'll just kill you with my own hands..."

Ashley: "Not sure Ama would like that idea."

Rai: "You...! I suggest you don't take me for a complete idiot—you guys sure did a good job at keeping all this to yourselves!"

Ashley: " 'Cause we knew what your reaction would be."

Rachelle: "We thought it best to wait until his plan reached its final stage. At least now, you won't be left in the dark if it works out."

The stocky man gazed at each of them in turn, his eyebrows sternly furrowed, "...What plan?"

Rachelle: "Djed wants to get all of us out of here for good. And so, he made a deal with the Operators."

Djed let out a few pained groans as he tried to pick himself back up...

Rachelle: "Their agreement is simple. If Djed manages to return the very first Essoculus to the Station, then our Cell will be granted its freedom."

Rai: "The very first one...?"

Rachelle: "They call him Liberi."

Ashley: "Don't bother tryna remember him. We never knew the guy."

Rai: "How is he supposed to bring him back?"

One knee on the floor, his treacherous dark wisps of hair fell across his intoxicatingly wicked gaze. Djed coughed, then laughed, "Ugh... Ha... You seem... Surprised... Can you really not imagine I could pull off something such as that? Even while stuck here amongst the rest of you..."

Rai turned to him again and gritted his teeth, "How long have you been sympathizing with those who kept torturing us?"

Djed: "Hmph... Considering what I am truly capable of... You could very well say my work has been in motion from the very beginning...!"

Rai: "You son of a...!—"

But the apartment door suddenly flew open, and the confrontation was interrupted. Everyone spun around, and a much more bubbly voice called out to everyone in the lounge, “Heeey! Are you coming or not?”

Eyes widened, and Rai quickly stepped in front of Djed to hide him.

Ashley: “Um… Are… we going somewhere?”

“What…? Did you already forget?” said the youngest person standing at the entrance again; a hint of disappointment in her tone made Rai snap to attention, “O-oh, no, don’t worry! We said we were going to town, sorry haha, we must have gotten distracted by the ants or something... Come on. Let’s hurry up, everyone.”

"Yaaay!"

She led the way, beaming like the only true ray of positivity in the group. Everyone had felt the tension exerted by Rai, but someone would still have to explain Djed’s mistreated face...

Djed: “I’ll catch up with you… Go ahead.”

He smiled at them as if nothing were wrong. The “Cell” members therefore left the residence and followed their friend, who skipped cheerfully toward even more spectacular scenery…

to be continued...