In the Compartment adjacent,
Four similarly robed people sat together; most had no circle on their masks, except the one near the window, who had one circle.
They were currently playing a game of Ludo.
The die rolled six, "six!" The guy without a circle exclaimed in exhilaration, moving his last pawn out of the house.
He rolled again, Six!
The second pawn moved to kill the other pawn,
"Uh!" The one who got killed grunted.
Third Roll, the die hovered between six and one. Ultimately landing on one.
The pawn, just one step away from its safe house, entered.
The guy who grunted previously crashed out,
"They must be cheating! How can one be so lucky all the time!"
His outburst was quickly quelled by a gentle tapping on the table between the seats.
"191, Don't be a sore loser. Maybe the guy is just lucky." The one circled man intervened, addressing the masked figure codenamed '191' to shut down.
The one in question, '777', rubbed his neck, seemingly embarrassed from being supported for his naturally Insane luck.
Only 777 got into the safe house; the rest were still out.
The closest to getting in next was the one circled man, followed by another passenger. 191, still had three pawns stuck in the house....now four. Talk about bad luck.
Seeing the score, the one circled man - the leader, chuckled under his breath.
"777, you have your work cut out for you. Just choose a path related to luck when you Ascend and you are all set."
"Haha...ye.." He was rather awkward about it.
"My chance!" 191 took the dice and rolled them. It spun and spun around its axis.
It hovered between one and six.
"Please please please..." He kept muttering pleases, getting closer to the board as if it would actually hear his request.
It landed on one.
"Ha~" he slumped down in defeat, others chuckled at his misfortune, meaning no bad feelings.
Thud!!!
The compartment rattled due to something slamming against the wall of adjacent compartment.
From that vibration, the die flipped, turning around.
Hearing the loud thud, the leader rushed out, followed by the other three.
They quickly rushed inside the adjacent compartment.
Snap!Bang!
A faint sound of snapping fingers was heard from the inside, followed by an gunshot.
Upon opening the door, the lingering smell of blood and ignited gunpowder invaded their nose.
The scene inside was horrific to say the least.
From the bright starlight through the sealed window, they could make out a masked man lay unmoving with a hole in their stomach, their body blooded up. Flesh writhing.
The lightly colored wall behind them was stained dark crimson from the splash of blood.
A masked figure sat opposite to the dead body, a gun in their hand that was still smoking.
They had a stiff demeanour, shoulders firm, legs crossed. They looked like someone's cold boss rather than a suspected killer. Then again, both are interchangeable.
The masked figure gracefully turned their face towards the intruding crowd and spoke in a soft but dignified tone.
"Please excuse my companion's rowdiness, he was having an 'episode'."
They looked at the masked figure, dumbfounded.
....episode? You shoot someone because they were having a episode?!
The blooded hand of the 'corpse' twitched, spooking them.
Bang!
Another shoot rang before anyone could register the twitch fully. Punching in another bloody hole.
Upon closer look, the 'corpse' was regenerating at a visible rate. Previously they thought that it was muscle spasm and flesh writhing due to freshness of the wound.
They didn't consider to factor in Inherent trait that could be regenerating it. Such trait were rare afterall.
The masked leader's gaze swept over the 'corpse', he asked warily,
"Is he overclocking or..." He hesitated to continue,
The masked figure coolly cut in,
"Fret not, It's Overclocking Symptoms only."
The tensed sholder of the leader loosened, he gazed at the masked man holding the revolver.
"Should we show him to a doctor?" He unknowingly spoke formally even though he is higher ranked in the hierarchy.
Maybe it was due to causal psychotic behaviour of the person in front of him or the sense of reliability one feels infront of someone higher up than you.
The leader felt like he shouldn't mess with the person infront of him.
"You are?" The masked figure asked first, verifying identity.
It was basic protocols when met with unknown lower rank members, so the leader didn't mind the question. Lower rank members don't openly show their code number and all look the same.
Considering the masked members identity is only known by the Overseer level personal. They are instead given a code name at two circles and code number to those below 2 circles. Of course one could reveal their identity but for safety reasons, it is better not to.
"Ah, I am 616. The leader of Expedition Division Group V."
Generally, it's the higher rank one who asks the lower rank. But here, in this case - The higher rank subconsciously got swept up in the flow of lower rank.
'Expedition....That means they are sent out on active missions by Golden Order as first responder. Tough job.' The masked figure thought.
"I am 343. No Division assigned." The masked figure introduced, then they pointed at the 'corpse'.
"He is 111. No Division assigned either." They continued,
"No medical practitioner is required, 111 will be fine before the gathering. No need concern yourself or others."
The masked figure expressed the need to be left unbothered.
They adhered to their will and left them with a small warning.
"Please warn the express next time. It may make others misunderstand you as an outsider or worse a betrayer."
"Will do." The masked figure gave a curt nod.
.
.
After a few minutes of silence, the masked figure removed their mask.
"Haaaaaaa~" It was Sky.
He looked at the 'corpse' and spoke in his usual tone,
"You can stop acting up now, Aeon."
The body twitched, then sat straight like the wounds don't exist.
The two holes started to rapidly heal, faster than what the others saw previously.
" I had silenced my bullet. They won't have noticed if you hadn't pumbled the other guy hard. But on side note - damn...that punch must have had history."
Sky genuinely didn't anticipate Aeon going batshit crazy upon seeing Golden Order, the game didn't portray his hatred enough.
He had to shoot once for the act, but the second shoot was to stop him from lashing out at the others.
It seems, Aeon first priority is getting his wish fulfilled. Second priority is the Golden Order's doom.
As for the corpses of the one who they stole identity of, they are in his storage.
"So....I can tell you got history with them."
He spoke, what's a better way to understand someone and getting closer then getting to know their enemy.
Aeon removed his mask, and stared silently at sky.
Sky chucked,
"What...cat got your tongue?" He teased.
He got a glare in return.
"Tell me...."
Aeon opened his mouth, restraint anger could be felt through his voice. Malice filled the closed room.
He gazed intensely at the figure of blasphemer illuminated by the starlight.
"....you know awfully lot about Golden Order."
"What is your relation to them?"