The blaze faded, and smoke curled up in lazy spirals. The boy stood alone, chest heaving, struggling to stay on his feet.
That was probably the reason he didn't notice right away that the attack hadn't landed.
But by the time he realized, I had already teleported behind him. I struck the side of his neck with all the strength I could muster, using a steel pipe.
He fell unconscious, and this time I had all the motivation to restrain him.
I paced around the alley, thoughts swimming through my head. I had so many questions, so many uncertainties, but no answers. Worse still, I didn't know if staying ignorant would be better or worse.
Unsurprisingly, he came to just moments later, coughing, cursing, and struggling to sit up. He failed.
"You tied this shit too tight," he yelled, staring daggers at me.
"Give it a rest and get comfortable. I have questions. Is he...?"
"He's dead."
I guessed as much, but it still hurt a little to actually hear it. And this complicated things. Blake was my contact with that society. Without him, all this was for nothing.
"What about his body?" I asked, tugging at loose threads, hoping for an alternative.
"I got rid of it."
"Did you take anything off it?"
"Useless pieces of junk, and besides, I couldn't risk getting traced."
I saw the slightest smirk spread on his face, and it took all my self-control not to wipe it off. I hated smart targets; they were too much work.
"Well, this is going to be a headache."
"You can just let me go."
"And why should I do that?"
"I can tell that you're not one of them, and Blake was probably your contact," he said.
And I considered it, but decided to hold onto him a little longer. This was my best lead in a long time.
"If I can't reach them, then they'll reach me. It's not the first time you killed one of my contacts. Remember Jennifer or Daniel?"
"Oh… would've been you too but I'm in a good mood so I'm letting you live."
"Yeah, sure you are."
I could already sense people approaching the restaurant from the alley. I held onto the boy and focused on the anchor I left in my apartment.
I teleported there, carrying the boy along. My head swam from the pain, eyes blurring with tears. I felt weightless; I saw the boy in front of me, somehow suspended in midair. It took a while before I could even form cohesive thoughts.
'Ohh, I'm actually weightless. The side effect this time is actually kind of cool.'
Then everything fell down. And the headache got even worse.
But the headaches subsided in the evening, and by then I heard ringing. I thought it was my head, but it was just my arcpad. Those guys are fast.
"Blake is dead," I said to the voice on the arcpad.
"We are aware. Quite unfortunate. He still had his uses," the monotone voice replied.
"So where do I drop the boy off?" I asked, straight to the point.
"Drop him off? No, we were thinking something else. We have another mission for you."
"Another mission?" I scoffed. "I've had my fill of your sect. I'll give you your target, you'll give me the information, we had a deal remember?"
"A sect?" the voice on the arcpad chuckled, a creepy thing to hear. "Close enough."
"Thank you. I try my best." I replied.
"Well, for the information you requested, the NBM was responsible for the Providencia incident."
"Nice doing business with yo..."
"But you'll still have to find who exactly was responsible. And if you decide to wipe out NBM, you'll still have to find their bases and members. It's a long and tiring process. You might be done in six years if you're lucky. But help us on this mission, and we will give you all the information you need on NBM."
I remained silent. I knew I should just walk away now, that I'd regret getting involved with this cult. But I couldn't help it. They had thrown the bait, and I was already hooked.
I sighed. "What do I have to do?"
---
I walked into the room to see the boy struggling against his restraints. He was probably trying to activate his abilities, a futile effort.
The dampeners might be black market, but they were good enough most of the time.
He held my gaze as I entered the room. He looked like a caged liger, ready to pounce on me at the slightest opportunity.
"So, unfortunately for you, the faction has contacted me," I said to break the awkward silence.
But he didn't respond, not even a flinch. So I decided to prod harder. The boy had some information about them, and I needed more than what they were giving me. There was no way I was going in blind, especially on this mission.
"Who are they? What do they want?"
He didn't answer.
"Seemed like you and Blake had history, did you also know Jennifer or Daniel?"
He was good. His acting skills were almost on par with mine. The only reaction he gave was a slight shift in his gaze, betraying guilt or maybe sorrow. It was hard to tell.
'So he does know them, but it's too early to tell if he was a part of them or just connected to them.'
"You can ignore me all you want, but believe me, I'm your best shot at survival."
"What's the point of surviving if I'm just going to be someone's dog? I just want to be free. Is that too much to ask?" he responded, voice a low hum.
"So would you rather die?" I said with conviction.
"Yes," he spat.
"Then bite off your own tongue and die."
"..." He stayed silent but I could still see the defiance in his eyes.
"I thought so. You don't need to like me; I can barely tolerate you. But we will need to work together on this new mission."
"But why me? I could run away or just half-ass it."
"They are aware. That's why they prepared some motivation. Does Camilla ring any bells?"
He didn't answer immediately, but I let him think. I could almost hear the gears turning in his head.
'Blake, Jennifer, Daniel, Camilla, this boy and the cult. How do they all relate?.'
"I need proof, that Camilla... and the others are still alive."
"They knew you'd say that. That's why They told me to tell you: 'You don't get to make demands, and that guilt you feel is the only proof you need."
I watched the spark of defiance slowly fade from his eyes, as he began to accept his reality. It left a sour taste in my mouth, but I pushed those feelings aside. One day I'd receive my punishment, but for now I had already crossed the line. It was too late to walk away.
"What do I do?" he said, voice deadpan.
"You are to infiltrate Aegis Academy, Stockholm branch. As a student."
"Aegis?! OK, wait, you said Aegis Academy. But still, are you crazy?! Are they crazy? That is the birthplace of Sentinels and Vanguards."
"It's impossible! I'm going to get caught — worse, I'll probably be tortured. Even worse, I might be executed."
"Yes, the same Aegis, and stop overreacting. Yes, it's impossible for the current you to get in, but that's what I'm here for," I said.
"You? I can see how teleporting can get me into Aegis Academy, but I don't see how that'll allow me to become a student."
"Teleporting isn't my only skill. I'm a man of many talents. Plus..." I paused for a bit and smiled, hoping he'd ask me what it meant, but he didn't. Embarrassed, I continued.
"I know someone really really really really close to me that went to Aegis. I'll get you ready for the exam in three months," I boasted.
He looked at me like I was lying.
But it was the truth. Very few people knew as much about Aegis as me. It made me wonder how deep that cult's information network went. It was one of my most closely guarded secrets.
"Three months? You know what, I'm tired of being surprised. So where do we start?"
"Nice to see you finally cooperating," I said as I proceeded to untie him.
"I'm Tobias Anderson." I stretched out my hand to shake him, and he returned the courtesy.
"I'm Kyoma."