"The Congregation?!"
"An attack?!"
Hellfire's unusually abstract eyes went wide. She knew a little more than her squadmates did.
What had happened inside the Crete Hollow that day was not, strictly speaking, a secret — after all, it had nearly swallowed Sixth Street whole.
And yet somehow, the whole thing had been smoothed over and buried without a trace. Especially remarkable given that the base in question was a location the Defense Force had classified and sealed in complete secrecy.
If not for this incident, everyone would probably have assumed that particular base's secrets would stay buried underground forever.
Even so — within the Defense Force, within all of New Eridu — not a single ripple had spread. It had been treated like an ordinary Hollow accident and nothing more.
"If it truly was the Congregation..."
Hellfire's tone shifted, suddenly grave.
"...then there's only one conclusion."
"There's a mole inside the Defense Force working for the Congregation."
Geno finished the sentence Hellfire had left hanging. It was the conclusion he and Twiggy had pieced together. After all, the Silver Project from years ago had always had murky, unresolved ties to the Congregation — and now that the Congregation had made such an audacious move, the fact that the military hadn't so much as flinched made it very hard not to suspect there was something rotten at the core of the Defense Force.
"Which is exactly why I wanted to speak with just the two of you — privately. Anyone who would take Number 11 in is someone I'm willing to trust."
This was also the conclusion of a quiet test Geno had run. During his scuffle with Number 11, he had used the Doppelganger's ability to observe the emotional states of the squad members — and what he'd found was pure surprise and confusion across the board. Not a flicker of guilt. Not a trace of panic.
That was why he was willing to trust them.
"...What is it you want us to do."
Hellfire turned it over in her mind for a moment. There was still a thread of hesitation — but she accepted the facts before her and chose to believe what Geno was telling her.
He had no reason to spin a lie this easy to see through, after all.
"I'm hoping you can keep an ear out inside the Defense Force for anything connected to the Congregation. Whoever this mole is — or moles — they were powerful enough to suppress the entire incident. Their rank won't be low."
As he spoke, Geno glanced over at Number 11, who had by now settled back into composure.
"And since they've already made their move, I doubt the next one is far off."
When they strike, they strike like lightning.
The Congregation's operations were never going to end with something this simple. Whatever waited ahead of them was something far worse.
"..."
Hellfire closed her eyes and sat in silence. The rest of the squad watched her quietly, waiting for her answer.
In the end, Hellfire refused.
"I can't make you that promise. I'm a soldier — I have principles I won't compromise. But I'm grateful for the intelligence you've brought us. As far as I'm concerned, this conversation never happened."
She had her own line she would not cross. As a soldier, violating discipline was unthinkable — leaking classified information, equally so.
And she expected no less from anyone under her command.
"A pity. But I respect your decision."
Geno was a little disappointed by Hellfire's answer — but he didn't let it weigh on him.
This had been an impulsive ask to begin with. And if anything, the way Hellfire had responded only proved that she was exactly the kind of dependable, principled soldier she appeared to be.
Besides, he had a feeling their paths would cross again — more than once.
"Well then. I suppose we ought to return to the question at hand — I still need to prove I'm not an Ethereal. Right?"
With that, Geno set down his weapon, spread both hands open at his sides, and walked calmly toward the Hollow Fissure — then stepped straight through it.
Every member of the squad — Trigger included — went still.
Then, one by one, they followed him through the Fissure, emerging outside the Hollow — where they found Geno already surrounded by Alice and the other two.
"He's... standing outside the Hollow."
"Which means he truly isn't an Ethereal."
The exchange between Number 11 and Orpheus put into words what every member of the Orpheus Squad was thinking.
Of all the things anyone had expected — Geno actually not being an Ethereal was not among them. It was the first time Trigger's judgment had ever been wrong.
"This... is it possible I'm the one who made a mistake?"
She pressed a hand to her head and looked again. When she tried to read Geno now, she found that his Ether energy had been reined in to an extreme degree — compressed until it was nearly indistinguishable from that of an ordinary human, if you set aside the faint traces of Filth corruption still clinging to him.
"I suppose we have no choice but to accept it."
Hellfire delivered her verdict on the matter. No matter how much they trusted Trigger's perception, the facts were right in front of them.
An Ethereal could not leave a Hollow — that was basic knowledge. Geno had left the Hollow and remained intact. That alone confirmed his identity as genuine.
"Officer Hellfire — I trust you can believe me now."
Geno spread his hands in a small, easy gesture, watching Hellfire and the others stand there at a loss, a faint smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.
He had considered whether to just come clean about his Ethereal nature to the Orpheus Squad outright — but the moment he weighed that against the trust he'd worked so hard to build, the answer was obvious. Best to keep it buried a while longer.
"Understood."
Hellfire gave a slow nod. The others' expressions gradually settled back to something approaching normal.
"Wait — what happened to you all inside the Hollow?"
"Nothing much. We just made a new friend — Captain Hellfire's group. A talking gun is pretty cool, isn't it?"
"It really is."
Lucia and the others accepted that explanation without question. Idehali in particular had already been scribbling furiously, filing the whole thing away as raw material — she had already decided on the title: The Terror of the Ghost-Possessed Firearm. Destined to be a hit, obviously.
"Hmph. Flattery won't get you anywhere."
Hellfire's face went faintly red — never mind how you could even tell that on a gun's face; the point was that Geno's words had clearly landed exactly where they were supposed to.
Geno continued.
"If you ever change your mind, feel free to come find me on Sixth Street. And Number 11 — Twiggy and the others miss you dearly. Come visit them when you get the chance."
Number 11 gave a small nod at that. Her sisters were alive. All of them. That was very likely the best news she had received in a long, long time.
They exchanged contact information, and the Orpheus Squad parted ways with Geno's group, heading back in the direction of the military camp.
"Let's head back too. We've been at it all night — we could really use some rest."
Lucia stretched with a long, theatrical yawn. Even she — a dedicated night owl whose body clock ran completely inverted — was starting to feel the strain.
Most people stayed up late for fun. She had spent her night brawling with Ethereals.
"In that case, everyone — I'll take my leave here."
Idehali began to say her goodbyes to her newly made friends. She didn't live in this district, after all.
"Hali, you're leaving already?! But I have so much more I want to talk to you about!"
Lucia's eyes went wide. She'd only just made this friend — and now she was already walking out the door?
"All good things must end, Lucia. Besides — I'm only heading back to take care of some work."
Idehali looked at her with an expression of fond indulgence — the kind you'd give an adorably energetic little lamb. She was just as reluctant to part from this bright, lively new friend.
Life was like that, she supposed. Full of comings and goings. No one ever knew what tomorrow would bring.
But Idehali knew this: every parting was just the prelude to the next reunion. That was why she never feared goodbyes.
"Alright, fine. But you have to message us when you get home! We still have so many strange stories left to talk about!"
"Mm. It's a promise."
The warmth between the two friends shone bright in that moment. Watching from the side, Alice worked up her courage and stepped forward.
"Don't forget about me either!"
Alice edged in beside them, looking earnestly between the two of them.
"Of course. We haven't known each other long — but I've enjoyed every moment with both of you."
Idehali's eyes curved into a smile, the joy on her face impossible to contain.
Just as she had said — short acquaintance or not, they had clicked from the very first moment. The kind of people you felt like you'd known your whole life, and wished you'd met sooner.
In the end, Idehali was the first to leave.
Geno waited until Lucia and Alice had composed themselves before letting them lead him back in the direction of the House of the Grotesque.
____
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