Ryan stood in a crowd, looking up at the giant broadcast on the side of a building.
[Breaking news starting in 53 seconds]
He knew most of the government's secrets and how almost everything was made up, but sometimes, it was for the better.
The only reason he stood by the government was because he truly believed they had the best intentions for humanity. Some of their choices were questionable, but the Triarchs knew many things he didn't. Faced with their overwhelming power, he had no choice but to trust them.
[Breaking news starting in 20 seconds]
"What do you think it is? I heard that all the Triarchs are back in the city, maybe they're planning something?"
Ryan listened to all the conversations around him.
"I bet they killed a powerful Abomination and want to show us the weapon!"
"No! Maybe it's a new star from the academy!"
[Breaking news starting in 2 seconds]
This was broadcast in every corner of The City. Impossible to miss.
[Starting now…]
A face lit up on the screen. It was a beautiful woman with long, blond hair and radiant bronze eyes. On her back, a pair of ivory wings tucked together.
"It's her! Lyra returned!"
Lyra, The Angel, was the third Triarch. Her ability gave her those wings, allowing her to fly. Furthermore, she could use them to control the wind around her. She was also incredibly strong.
Ryan sighed.
'So they finally made it back.'
She had been gone for a few weeks, but that inadvertently caused Ryan to go all the way to Fog Town and fight a Grade-S Abomination! If Lyra were here, she could have taken his place.
"I recently returned from a trip outside The City, where my team and I have made a shocking discovery."
'Oh boy.'
"For the first time in 10 years, we have found another civilization not far from here."
Around Ryan, the sound of people shouting made it impossible to hear the broadcast anymore.
"What! How? I thought everyone else was wiped out!"
"Are there really others?"
"This is amazing news! Now, humanity is even stronger!"
Ryan seemed to be the only person in the crowd who wasn't celebrating.
After waiting a few seconds, Tyra continued.
"This discovery unlocks many new pathways forward, and we plan to make contact with them soon. By doing this, we can fight against the Abominations with an even stronger force and take back this planet."
"On top of this, I have another announcement to make."
Everyone quickly quieted down.
"The government plans to launch an attack on The Island, a Grade-E Abomination that recently caused much harm to The City, and we are confident in our ability to defeat it. Once we do, it will mark the first ever death of a Grade-E Abomination."
Now, Ryan was shocked along with the crowd.
'This is because of Cullen? They plan to kill it themselves, or do they plan to take credit if Cullen succeeds?'
Cullen's existence was only known by a few Gifted, as it would hurt the government's image if a Gifted were directly going against them. They could easily get away with this.
'The government wanted to keep The Island alive, but now they've changed their minds? What the hell led to this?'
Now, Ryan wasn't listening to the broadcast anymore. He ran through the crowd, trying to find someone he could get answers from.
'Headquarters… Someone there will know what's going on.'
Ryan didn't want to gather attention, so he refrained from using his real strength while pushing through the crowd. Eventually, he got to a more open area and was able to pick up his pace.
He arrived at headquarters and burst through the doors, immediately looking around the lobby to find someone he knew. Sure enough, sitting in the waiting area was Greye, August's assistant.
"Greye, what the hell is this about?" Ryan blurted, walking over to him. "And where's August?"
Greye looked up at Ryan with a calm expression, even though something like a small animal was moving on his shoulder underneath a shirt.
"Hmm, August had the same question as you. He's just ahead, waiting in another room to meet with someone."
Ryan's eyes moved up and down Greye, then he went to the secretary at the front desk.
'I forgot he still has that thing around…'
"Excuse me, could you tell me which room August went to?"
Slam!
Ryan ran through another set of doors, leading into another waiting room. In this one, August was shifting around in a seat while his foot tapped the floor over and over again. Then he saw Ryan and stood up right away.
"Ryan! Do you have any idea what's going on?"
Ryan sighed.
"I thought you would know. Who are you waiting for?"
Before August could answer, they both heard footsteps coming from the end of the hall. An attractive young man with messy brown hair and blue eyes emerged from the other room.
'Adam.'
He was the strongest Gifted in the Special Command, a famous public figure, the one closest to the Triarchs, and also an arrogant brat in Ryan's eyes. But he was smart enough to rise to this position, and he didn't have any bad intentions as far as he could see.
Adam's ability was a heightened form of telekinesis. He could not only move objects, but also reform, compress, and release them with devastating power. His fighting style was carefree; he often played with his ability using his wide imagination.
He was recently out with Lyra on a mission and had just returned to The City with her. If anyone knew what was going on, it was him.
"Adam, why is Lyra suddenly making this announcement? Did you two discover something on your trip?"
Adam looked at August strangely.
"What do you mean? This is just a step ahead, like we've done before. I mean, we couldn't hide the other civilizations forever. Additionally, this resolves the issue with Cullen. Did you not see this coming?"
Although August was technically Adams's superior, the Triarchs overruled August, which gave Adam more freedom.
"How exactly does this resolve the problem?" Ryan asked. "Did the government give up on the experiments?"
"Yeah, I guess that Cullen kid actually won against the government. They've finally accepted that they need to kill The Island."
"Something they should've done a while ago," Adam added.
This, they agreed on. A lot of Gifted didn't approve of The Island's experiments, but it was an order directly from the Triarchs. This meant that at least two of them supported this decision.
"So does the government expect Cullen to kill The Island, or will they do it themselves?"
Ryan personally didn't believe that such a newbie Gifted was capable of killing a Grade-E, so he was skeptical of the government's decision.
"Does it really matter? If Cullen kills it, then a brave Gifted soldier sent from The City ends The Island. If he dies, one of us or the Triarchs will do it."
August and Ryan went silent.
It seemed that the government had a solution to everything, even if it was unethical.
"What about the search for Cullen? Will we be receiving any additional help, or have they given up on that?"
August was the one who lost Cullen, so it hurt him the most to see the government treat him this way.
Adam looked troubled.
"I'm sorry, August, but you do understand his situation? Right now, he's not being treated like a Gifted at the academy, but rather a dangerous rogue Gifted. Whether he's a kid or not doesn't matter; he's blatantly gone against the government."
Ryan posed a question:
"How do you know he isn't already dead? Of course, there will be signs if he kills The Island, but how long will the Triarch wait before taking action if nothing happens?"
Something still didn't make sense to Ryan. Why wait to see if Cullen could kill The Island when they could just do it themselves? They had no way of confirming that Cullen is still alive. If he were, that still wouldn't stop them from forcing their way through.
It almost seemed like they wanted Cullen to kill it.
August was thinking this same thing, but didn't want to make any accusations against the Triarchs.
Adam sighed.
"To be honest, I don't know. When I asked Lyra, she said that they were more interested in learning about Cullen than actually killing The Island."
'Learning about Cullen… ' Ryan was confused. 'What did he do to gather the Triarchs' attention?'
Adam was about to leave when August stopped him.
"Where's Lyra now? I want to go back to The Island and speak to Lucas about this."
The Island was outside The City, so the rules dictated that a Triarch must be present when going there. Obviously, this rule is bent a little because there isn't a Triarch on The Island right now. Still, August would need permission from one of them to go back.
"Really, August?" Adam replied. "I doubt they'll let you interfere now that they have a plan."
After that, he left. August stormed off with Greye, and Ryan sat in a plaza near Headquarters.
'They haven't told me to bring Flora back, so I guess they're done with her. I really wonder what they plan on doing…'
What Adam and August didn't know was that Ryan had secretly asked another question with his ability.
Before Adam left, he asked if they had discovered anything special about Cullen and if there was a reason behind this. The Triarchs made it very clear that Cullen was a sensitive topic, and this question could get him in serious trouble.
Somehow, Adam was able to figure out what Ryan was doing. Instead of answering his question, he simply smiled for the remaining two seconds of Ryan's ability.
'Adam will never know, but he outsmarted me. I doubt he knew the answer anyway, though. It was worth a try.'
Ryan had no further involvement with Cullen, so he could only wait to see what the outcome would be. Maybe one day he would meet the mysterious kid.