The door slides shut behind him. Fox’s daily meetings with the old geezers is over. He felt his anger rising with each passing minute he is forced to listen to their droning. As he walks toward the gym to cool down he wonders what the meetings would have been like if things had gone badly. It’s been almost two months since he was last on the road. Something about travel delays for one of the other continents, so he is stuck at base listening to the old geezers’ paranoid rambling.

As Fox approaches the building he hears the crunching of the punching bags. He glances at a window, shocked. Usually after the sun sets the place clears out. He hopes that it’s just some of the older agents getting in some practice. The idea of dealing with the mouthy newbies is just making his mood worse. He pushes the door ajar peering in. It’s the newbies. Fox sighs and tries to walk across the building to the locker room without catching their attention. The way they’re all bunched together shouting and banging the equipment they are showing off. Trying to establish a pecking order.

“Hey bootlicker.” Fox freezes in the middle of the room. He spins around to face them ready for a fight. The brunette from the middle starts waddling his way. He wonders how such a slob got to be the ring leader for this bunch of pests.

“Show some respect to your superiors.”

“Drop the formalities, Fox. You’re the same age as us. We’re just curious how you got on the field before turning eighteen. What did you use to black mail the elders?”

“Like I’m telling you shit. Get out of my face.” Fox shoves the guy out of the way, his tension level rising.

“Must have been emotional plea then. Did you give them details about your sister’s death? A poor me speech?”

Fox snaps. He spins around and charges the guy. Latching onto his shirt Fox rams him into the wall. Weights come crashing off the walls. Fox begins pounding on his face. Intent on teaching him a lesson, killing him. Something yanks Fox of his prey. He tries to locate the disruption as he is shoved against the wall. The grey uniform of security team starts to come into focus. He can feel their breath on his neck as the security officer leans in.

“Get out of my sight and maybe I won’t tell the elders about this little incident.”

The officer lets go. Fox glares at officer’s back debating whether to take a swing at him. He needs to leave and cool down. Before a bigger group forms, he slides out through the emergency exit a few feet away and jogs across the field to the dorms. Thankfully no one is out at this hour. Halfway to the dorm his hands begin to shake as adrenaline runs off.

Fox reaches the dorms and flings the door open. The hallway is deserted just like the outside. He slams the door shut, sliding down the wall. Blood splatters along his arm. Going inside the gym had been a horrible idea. The young recruits are always mouthing off. Their jealously runs wild and he shouldn’t have expected to be left alone. But now they would remember their place. Fox wishes he could have gotten a hold of the whole group instead of just that one brat.

He stares down the hallway, soaking in the silence. It almost seems a shame to walk down the corridor ruining the silence. Fox has forgotten how little use this bunker gets anymore. The recruits all stay off base now. Everyone in the inner workings of Tyr has a place here but few use it, preferring apartments or hotels. He should have done the same. But it is convenient. Especially with the all the meetings he has to have with the elders hashing out the final details. Making sure everything is going as planned in Solace.

A blood trail is following him down the hallway. Fox sighs and decides to clean it tomorrow. If security really does hold up to their end of the deal he doesn’t need this evidence left behind for the elders to hear about. He stops outside of his room. Across the hall from his room sits the bathroom. Calling to him. Fox walks in. Running water over his hands. The blood slides off as easily as it went on. He pulls a handful of paper towels from the wall dispenser. It feels like he is in training all over again. All the fighting and isolation. It has been part of his life since childhood. Even Wynne, his baby sister, had lectured him about the fighting. Until the humans killed her.

Fox returns to the empty hallway. For once he hates the silence. At his room he swings the door open. If everything goes well it is the last time he will be here. His relationship with Tyr would be over. Both parties getting what they want. With the new order controlling everything the secrecy will be unnecessary. He yawns, exhausted. He flops onto the bed. Moonlight drifts into the room from the small window. All this debriefing and lectures are exhausting. More so than the new recruits. The old geezers are more paranoid than he thought. Sure there is the possibility of something going wrong. He’d be surprised if something doesn’t. Bringing down hundreds of gates around the world isn’t an easy task. They aren’t gods. And everything hinges on seven Psyren across the globe, one per continent.

But the risks don’t matter. This time Tyr will succeed in recreating the Heinzer event, releasing the creatures into the human world. Soon, seals across the globe will be destroyed. Opening the gates into the Abyss wide open. Part of the reason Fox is so sure of the plan working is the timing. Like all things the seals have begun to weaken with time. One person’s dominating power is finite. The first time, Tyr had been impatient. The last attempt at combining the two worlds again, the Razen event, had been an utter disaster. The only seals that were damaged then were accidents. Some even reported seeing the woman leaving the Abyss to repair the seals.

The archives deep in the bunker are useful, if one knows where to look. He’s learned that after the Heinzer scare, one woman carrying the creature blood had sealed the Abyss from the inside. Creating all the green glowing seals that everyone sees today. If you believe the eye witness stories, she is a rare person possessing both Astro and Psyren blood. Her powers as a Psyren are true at least. She has made it almost impossible to open any seal into the Abyss. Let alone multiple seals across the globe. But something has happened over the last couple centuries. Even more so since the Razen event. Her powers have weakened. Most likely she has finally been killed. After all, the creatures couldn’t be very happy to have been betrayed by one of their own.

Speaking of which, it would be interesting to see how Zen reacts when backed into a corner. Part of him wishes he could stay in Solace to watch the show. When Zen is faced with the choice between the town and the girl which would he choose? She has already been injured once due to Zen’s carelessness. Him choosing the many over the one. Would that resolve apply a second time? Var’s rules state that a Death Walker’s resolve is absolute. It’s the main reason Zen has fallen so far in the rankings. Waffling isn’t tolerated. They insist on blind faith and loyalty that could only be challenged by a dog.

Fox never really understood why the Death Walkers chose to work with Var. It is obvious they are afraid of the creature blood that runs through their veins. It is why they are kept on such a short leash. Why else would they value the humans over anyone else? Var always choose the many humans over one of them. In some cases even choosing one human over a group of Psyren. It is ironic that it is the Death Walkers’ humanity that is sacrificed to work with Var. For him it isn’t such a big deal. He parted with his humanity the night his sister was murdered.

The lights snap off. Fox jumps. Is it already that late? Guess it is lights-out for the new recruits. Not that they actually stay here. He sighs. Laying back down, he listens to the banging of the old boiler pipes.

Fox lets his mind wander to his next target. It is going to be a bit trickier. This time it is a bigger city. The one that the elders had originally wanted him to hit first. Rayford, a city full of his people, at least while the festival is going on. He should feel worse about taking out his own people. But he feels nothing. If anything, he is full of excitement. All he has wanted since Wynne was killed, murdered, is to see the humans burn. Plunging the world into chaos. That night he had seen the creatures’ power. Controlled it. He clenches his teeth, trying to forget and get some sleep.