"Nyz?" Sen asked as Nyz felt the wall. "What are you doing?"

"Kal said there's a bath room here," Nyz answered, looking around. "I forgot which part he said it was behind."

Sen looked around the general room of the tiger mech they had been inside of for the last few days, at the doors leading out of it, then at the lack of any individual panels making up the walls. From what she could tell, the walls were constructed of a single sheet of metal, though she knew it had likely been several pieces fused together after assembly.

"Nyz," she said. "There's no secret door, I think Kal was messing with you."

"Found it," Nyz said.

Lines formed on the wall, creating a rectangle stretching up from the floor seven feet high, spanning three and a half feet in width. A moment later, the lines turned into gaps, then the sheet of the orichalcum shifted backwards half an inch before sliding to the side, revealing a door.

"You were saying?" Nyz looked at Sen.

"Okay, so Kal put a… wait, we already have a bathroom," she said. "Why is there a secret one?"

"No, a bath room," Nyz said. "Separate. It has a bathtub in it, for soaking in. Plus a shower separate, so that we can clean up before entering. I want to soak. Kal said he added the extra room through more dimensional magitech just because he knew I would."

"Oh," Sen said as Nyz picked up the change of clothes he'd left on the table. "So you're going to soak in the bath?"

"After making sure Kal didn't hide any cameras in there," Nyz opened the door to the bath room and began to enter.

"Cameras?" Sen asked, and Nyz turned to look at her. "Why would he put cameras in there?"

"Because it's Kal," Nyz answered. "That's why."

Nyz entered the room and Sen looked inside. The tub took up the back wall of the room, while the rest was devoted to space for showering, along with a shelf with bottles of shampoo and soap and a rack of towels. The tub itself was filled with steaming water, despite the lights only turning on when Nyz entered and no one having used the room before.

"How has none that fallen over while we were moving?" Sen asked. "None of it's secured."

"The enchantments on the room adjust the room's gravity immediately upon any movement," Nyz stated. "As well as do other things I don't understand. Whatever Kal did, he ensured the room remains steady, even while in motion. Wys could take us for a run, do backflips, and other weird stuff, and I'd not even notice while in here. Oh, but only when the door is closed."

Nyz stared at Sen, who finished looking around before looking back to him.

"That meant 'leave'," he said. "I want to close the door and soak in the bath."

Sen looked at the tub, then back at Nyz.

"You know," she said. "It's big enough for two. I guess Kal figured that if he's adding extra space – which is something I still find incredible – then he could make it big enough to share with someone."

"He made it big enough to relax in properly," Nyz stated.

"I'm asking if I could join you."

"Oh," Nyz thought for a moment. "No."

"Why not?"

"Because we aren't in a relationship," he answered. "I've accepted that you aren't the same as the rest of your family, and acknowledge that you're an ally. That doesn't mean I'm going to just let you soak in the bath with me."

"Even though we're soul mates?"

"My feelings are irrelevant to this argument," Nyz stated. "We aren't in a relationship. I'm not taking a bath with you."

"You've taken a bath with me in the room."

"You weren't in the bath with me then, only watching," he stated. "That is different."

"Well, then," she said. "Can I at least stay in here while you're soaking?"

"The point of the soak is to relax."

"And you can't if I'm around?" Sen asked. "Because you'd be-"

"Because I'd like to be alone," he stated. "It's easier to relax when I'm alone. Before, I was simply changing identities, so it was okay."

Sen thought over his response for a few moments, then left, closing the door behind her. Upon hearing the panel returning to its slot outside, Nyz let out a sigh of relief, then undressed and washed off. Once clean, he climbed into the tub and stretched his legs out, leaning back against it and closing his eyes.

"Why do you have a speaker and microphone in here, but no cameras?"

"Because you'd gut me if I put a camera in there," Kal's voice echoed into the room. "You know she was wanting to ogle you, right?"

"She was?" Nyz asked.

"Yes," Kal answered. "And unlike you, Nyz, she's decided that because you two are destined to be together anyway, to not fight the feelings inside of her."

"If I enter into a relationship with someone," Nyz stated. "I'd rather like them as a person and know them well first. Not depend on my soul to be inclined towards them. Besides, I'd rather not get into a relationship."

"Why?" Kal asked. "Because you're going to die soon?"

"Exactly," Nyz answered, letting out a small breath of relief. "This feels nice."

"Why won't you tell them the truth?" Kal asked. "Wys, at least, deserves to know."

"I'll tell him after we retrieve the orb," Nyz muttered, sinking lower into the bath so that he was up to his eyes in the water.

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"Nyz," Kal hesitated for a moment. "You know Wys is leaving soon after, to try to stop his family from continuing their attempts at creating advanced humans capable of using magic, surviving in the fog, and so on. It could take him awhile. You might not get that chance."

Rather than responding, Nyz sank all the way under the water, remaining beneath it for several minutes. He knew that. He also knew that Wys would likely not want to leave the island if he knew the truth.

Nyz had a much shorter expiration date than the other test subjects. Unlike Wys and Kal, who had several years left in their lives, Nyz only had a few months. The shorter expiration wasn't natural, either. The original estimate had calculated that he could have lived maybe a year or two longer than Wys would have.

However, his body wasn't designed for using soul magics. It was the most powerful form of magic he knew, and every time he used it, it shortened his lifespan. Saving Taylor and the Scavenger didn't do much to help him, either, though most of the damage was done by releasing the souls inside of bograls over the years.

If Wys knew about that, he'd be both upset with Nyz for knowingly decreasing his own lifespan and unwilling to leave to discuss things with his parents. They were brothers, after all. It wasn't even just in the way that Wys told everyone, wasn't just because they were both specimens from the Kumix Project. They were half-brothers by blood, too.

Eventually, Nyz raised his head back above the water, still not sure if Wys should even know ahead of time, or if his brother should only find out after he died.

"Okay, Nyz," Kal immediately said. "Before you wonder how I knew, I could hear the water moving. If a normal person saw you do that, they'd freak out. Most people can't stay underwater for ten minutes."

"I used magic."

"I know," Kal said. "Okay, so I can understand why you don't want to enter into a relationship with her, Nyz. Part of it's because you'd just end up leaving her alone after just starting. But you know, you could just enter into a sexual one with her, she does want to do it with you, you know."

"No."

"She'd be perfectly fine with that," Kal groaned. "Seriously, Nyz. Especially if she knew the truth."

"Kal, I'm trying to relax."

The tone in Nyz's voice had an effect, and his friend stopped talking. Finally having peace, Nyz enjoyed the rest of his soak, staying in for another half-hour. Then, he climbed out and dried off, then grabbed the orange boxer-briefs he'd picked out and pulled them on, before slipping into his jeans and red tee. He gathered up his dirty clothes and left the bath room, then deposited his clothes in the laundry box.

"Enjoy your bath?" Sen asked from where she was sitting on the other side of the room as Nyz fixed his hair, running his fingers through it to both dry it off and adjust it how he wanted it.

"Yes," Nyz answered. "I'm going to get ready and go out, Wys. Take us into position."

"Will do," Wys said as Nyz sat down.

Nyz and Sen strapped in, then the mech began moving, rising and falling with every step. While they knew showing the dark blue tiger mech would tell the military and Asterox soldiers that they came armed, Nyz himself would be the only one present at the meeting point. Just seeing the mech move away would let everyone know that Nyz wasn't alone.

Once the mech stopped moving and Wys gave them the all-clear, Nyz stood up and opened up the drawer with his socks in it, pulling them on before pulling on a pair of sneakers.

"So you're going as yourself?" Sen asked. "No tinting or anything, huh?"

"Correct."

"So you're going to show the world what you actually look like?"

"Yes," Nyz stood and stretched. "Kal?"

"Everything's ready," Kal's voice echoed into the room. "Once things begin, I'll begin the broadcast. They think they've patched how I managed to hack it last week, but they're just idiots. I've already tested to ensure I'm still in, and it was actually easier this time."

"How did you test?" Sen asked. "Is it possible that once it goes live, you'll get a different result?"

"I tested by hacking in and playing various, random ads," Kal snorted. "Different ads in different regions, localized to the area. No one really noticed something was off."

"They were fun to make," Nyz commented.

"You helped make the ads?" Sen asked.

"They were cartoon ads," Nyz stated. "I did the art. I can't sing very well, though, so I had Wys do the singing."

"Uh…"

"Anyway!" Kal laughed. "They're recording the whole thing with the intention of editing it and releasing just the parts that make you look bad, possibly even edit in stuff that didn't happen. But I'm going to air it live. The moment things begin, the airing will as well. They want to make it look as if they brought extra troops just in case Nyz went on a rampage, and when they tried to offer him the orb, he went on one, killing everyone."

"I should be going," Nyz stated, then began climbing the rungs leading up to the roof hatch.

"Good luck," Sen told him.

"I don't need luck," Nyz stated, then opened up the hatch and entered the decontamination chamber.

He closed the chamber, then climbed the rungs up to the next hatch, opening it and ascending out. After closing the hatch, he jumped off the mech, landing in a crouch before standing and looking at the ruins before him. The mech began to move away, and Nyz ignored it.

Before him stood the rubble of a building that once housed hundreds of experimental soldiers and tacticians. It took up an entire city block, and when it was whole, it stood roughly three hundred feet in height, twenty-one stories tall. It contained three sub levels as well.

The theory Kal held about the attack on Troak was that the AMF somehow learned about the Kumix Project and wanted it gone. There was a heavy focus on attacking that area of the city, and Nyz and Wys were the only ones to escape.

Once the attack died down, Nyz and Kal returned to the ruins and were able to locate the bodies of everyone. They destroyed all traces of the experiment, and Nyz demolished the building after. As the military and corporations had not yet returned to Troak to investigate anything, no one but they knew why the building had really fallen.

Since then, a few companies tried to excavate the ruins, in the hopes of finding research. Signs of that were around, with broken walkers and other mechs used to move the rubble scattered around. The bodies of the Scavengers and employees had long-since been retrieved, though. A few piles of organized rubble sat in a few spots as well, from when holes were dug through.

No one found anything, though. Those who knew about the Kumix Project were killed, and other companies discovered that whatever Obritz had been working on, it was lost to the attacks. Search efforts were abandoned after that in favor of locating other goods.

Nyz walked around the ruins for a few minutes, before eventually returning to where their entrance once was. Looking at the pillar of rocks stacked up to fifteen feet in height, he gave a satisfied nod.

He, Kal, Wys, and a few others built it when they were little. They also shielded it using an immense amount of magic by combining their magics. Kal doubted even an X-Class missile could damage it.

It was mostly intended as a prank made out of frustration at the repetitive practice of a few spells, and the supervisors found it amusing, then expanded the road and entrance in order to account for it blocking the path. Rather than getting into trouble, Nyz and the others were praised for their spellwork.

What satisfied Nyz about it, however, was the fact that as a child, he forced his superiors to adapt to him. Looking back on it, he realized that they probably saw it as a good sign. He was designed to be a force that couldn't be stopped, a force which all others must work around.

Looking away from the pillar of rocks which gave him a sense of pride, Nyz watched as a soldier in the combat suit of an elite soldier from Asterox approached. He could count two dozen tiger mechs in the area, in addition to more than forty beetles and twenty choppers. More than five hundred soldiers were on the ground as well, armed and ready for combat.

It was a mix of Asterox and military, but the quality of the gear was obvious. The military brought out their Class-A equipment, and the only Asterox soldier not borrowing one was the soldier approaching him.

They stopped more than twenty yards away from Nyz, staring at him.

"Well?" He called out. "Are you going to give me my orb back? I don't see it on you, so am I correct in assuming you have no intention of returning it?"

Rather than answering, the soldier stood there, watching him. After a minute, Nyz sighed, then looked at the chopper which had fired a missile at him. The missile soared through the air, and when it reached Nyz, there was an explosion. A shockwave rushed out as flames swirled around, obscuring the sight of Nyz.

When the flames and smoke began to clear up, Nyz became visible once more. He stood exactly as he had been as the flames around him faded, though he then wore only a pair of orange boxer-briefs with a black waistband.