According to the scientist, Stage 0 was transformation while keeping your sanity. Stage 1 meant stronger bodies and faster healing. If Thomas could recover from bullet wounds in moments, did that mean he was already at Stage 1 only two days after changing?
"Maybe. I don't know. I didn't do anything," Thomas said with a shrug.
The others exchanged looks. After eating the pink fragments, Thomas had already shown strength far beyond normal humans. Even in his human form, he fought half transformed fades head-on. He had lifted a fragment the size of a man and thrown it as if it weighed nothing. Was snacking on those fragments the reason he transformed instantly the moment he touched the fog? And now, in only two days, maybe less, he was already standing at Stage 1.
They rested inside the truck when Thomas remembered the fragments they picked up earlier.
"So, what do we do with these?" He pulled out several broken shards that still gave off a faint glow.
"I think they still work," Bryan replied.
"Whoa, look at this. It's only a little dimmer than our safe zone meteor!" Nevin grabbed a shard no bigger than a finger from Thomas's hand and held it close to the baseball-sized meteor that powered their truck.
The shard vibrated, then shot into the larger meteor.
"What? It absorbed it!" Bryan's eyes widened, his tail flicking with excitement. "Quick, try the others!" he urged.
They fed the meteor every small piece they had gathered. The fragments, both tiny and palm-sized, were drawn in one by one. When it was over, the meteor had grown larger, closer to the size of a shot put, more than two inches wider than before.
Bryan stepped outside to check. The safe zone bubble that had once stretched only three steps past the truck now reached nearly ten.
Nevin pointed eagerly at the bigger shards Thomas had set aside in another bag, his eyes shining. "How about those? Should we combine them too?"
"No. We'll need them for something else," Thomas answered. It was strange. The larger fragments didn't pull at each other the way the small ones did. Maybe meteors could only absorb pieces far smaller than themselves.
They continued traveling, fighting off a few fades along the way and resting whenever they needed. By the next day, just before lunch, they finally reached their destination, District 6, Hope City. This was where Thomas's grandfather had been staying when the meteors fell.
Their arrival caused a stir. A working vehicle rolling out of the Pink Fog and into a safe zone was a rare sight. People didn't try to block the truck, but their eyes followed it with suspicion and curiosity.
Thomas kept driving, heading straight for the hotel. The trip took more than thirty minutes, yet the roads were still inside the safe zone. The barrier stretched far, covering block after block, as if this city's defenses were on a different level than Valor's.
When the hotel came into view, it looked untouched. No meteor damage, no cracks from quakes, no signs of looting. Everything here seemed stable and organized, unlike the chaos they had left behind.
Thomas ignored the questions piling up in his mind and rushed inside. He had only one focus, finding his grandfather. Bryan followed close behind, while Iris and Nevin stayed with the truck. Their supplies were too important to leave unattended.
"Who are you? You can't enter here," a guard stopped them at the entrance. He wore a pressed blue uniform, looking more like a staff member than someone surviving the end of the world.
Thomas froze for a moment. He didn't know this guard, and he wasn't sure if the man even knew his grandfather.
Thomas froze for a moment. He couldn't think of anything else to say, and before the guard decided to throw them out, he spoke. "I'm Thomas. I'm Cordell's grandson."
The guard's eyes lit up. "Oh! Are you Mr. Cordell's grandson? He's been waiting for you!"
The guard led Thomas and Bryan to a room on the upper floor. Inside, a nurse was adjusting an IV while an older man sat in a wheelchair.
"Grandpa, are you okay? You're not gonna die, are you?" Thomas blurted, his face tight with worry.
"You brat! That's the first thing you say after three months?" Grandpa snapped, slamming his hand on the armrest of the wheelchair. "Come here and let's see who dies first!"
Thomas broke into a smile. That sharp tone was the best sign his grandfather was fine.
"Grandpa!" He rushed forward and hugged him tightly, relief washing over his face.
"What happened? Why are you in a wheelchair?" Thomas asked, pulling back to look at him.
"I'm fine. I can still walk." His grandfather pushed himself up, steadying with the IV pole, and walked a few steps to prove it. His back was straight, his voice steady.
"It's just a routine check. Maybe I'm a little stressed. I was chosen as one of the elders of Hope City. We're the ones deciding the path this city takes now," he explained with a hint of pride in his voice.
"Wow, you're still that important even though you're old and broke?" Thomas teased, grinning.
"You brat!" Grandpa's eyes narrowed, but a faint smirk tugged at his lips. "I have decades of experience. Of course they picked me. And it's not just me. Some executives were chosen too, including our company's president."
They had come to Hope City on a business trip to close a deal, but when the meteors struck, they were trapped here together as the world fell apart.
"Sir Dante Graves? Wow. I'd expect no less from him. You old folks should take the lead. Otherwise, we'd all be running around like headless chickens," Thomas said, shaking his head in disbelief.
"So, how's Valor City?" Grandpa Cordell asked, leaning back in his chair.
"It was bad. It started to get better about a month ago, but then we found out Valor is surrounded by powerful fades. You know fades, right?" Thomas paused, watching his grandfather's face. "Two of them were fighting near the safe zone, and there were more than a hundred others just watching. I saw them all with my own eyes."
Grandpa let out a heavy sigh, his brows furrowing. "Then it's a good thing you left. You can stay here in Hope City. Just contribute a little and you'll be fine."
Thomas straightened, puffing out his chest. "What do you mean a little? I can contribute a lot. You see, Grandpa, I'm a Glint now, and so is Bryan."
The words had barely left his mouth when Grandpa's expression darkened. His jaw tightened, and his eyes flashed with anger.
He yanked the IV tube from the pole, set it on his lap, then grabbed the pole itself and swung it straight at Thomas. SWISH!
"Do you know how dangerous that is!" he shouted, glaring as he swung again.
"It's not just me, Bryan's a Glint too!" Thomas said, ducking and backing away, his voice defensive.
Grandpa didn't slow down. His grip tightened on the pole as he swung harder, his face red with frustration.
Thomas scrambled toward the door, raising his hands. "Grandpa, wait!" He bolted out of the room, Bryan quickly following with a nervous laugh.
Their reunion ended in chaos, but beneath the noise both sides felt relief. They were alive, they were safe, and for now, that was enough.
Thomas invited Iris and Nevin to explore Hope City. With his grandfather being one of the elders, he was confident no one would touch their vehicle. Still, they parked it in the hotel's underground lot to be safe.
When they first drove in, they only caught glimpses of the place. Thomas had been in a hurry to see his grandfather. Now, walking the streets, Bryan could finally take it in.
Hope City was functioning. The streets were wide and clear, buildings were intact, and people moved with purpose. Compared to the ruins of Valor and the emptiness of the Pink Fog, this city almost looked untouched.
Bryan noticed solar panels stretched across rooftops. He figured the city probably had working power at night. Gas-powered generators rumbled in alleys and corners, and cables were neatly arranged instead of hanging in messy webs.
The shops caught his attention most. They sold food, daily necessities, and even items not found in the interface, like beer and wine. People paid with pink fragments. Shop owners could then use those fragments to buy food and supplies from the interface. It was a cycle, but one controlled by the shops. Bryan thought it was smart. Simple, but it worked.
Fragments had become more than trade pieces. Glints used them to hire workers for menial tasks like cleaning or laundry, things they no longer had time for while hunting fades or training. Renting places was also done with fragments, cheaper and easier than barter.
"So fragments are money now," Bryan muttered to himself. It made sense. Paper bills and gold were worthless. You couldn't eat them, and they couldn't keep you safe. But fragments could. Shops still accepted barter, but fragments were what kept the city running.
As they neared the city center, Bryan stopped in his tracks. A massive meteor fragment stood ahead. The one at their base had been the size of a house. This one was closer to a small apartment building. From here, the fog's edge was hard to see, hidden by the distance and the size of the safe zone.
Bryan looked around again. The city seemed stable, even normal. But was it really? Had Hope City been spared from the apocalypse, or was it just pretending? A place acting like everything was fine, when in truth, it was not.