“I know you’ve been working hard to ignore the visage, but we need it for this,” Andrew said.

It was Saturday evening, and Nil had arrived at the scrapyard a couple of hours before Katherine and Susan. The pair didn’t yet know about the sabotage, and Nil wrestled with the decision of whether to tell them—especially Katherine. She was already disillusioned with the Nexus’ quest, and Nil believed she only continued because her return to the Metropolitan Police was still uncertain, and everyone thought it improbable.

“Energy Instinct does whatever it can do but better,” Nil protested. “The visage is just a distraction.”

“Going by what you've told me, Energy Instinct is intentional and mostly shows you what and where you're looking. Aisha—” Andrew paused, his voice filled with hesitation. He flashed Nil an apologetic smile. “The visage seems to make a beeline toward Cursed Energy. I know it's hard, and you're only just getting used to ignoring her—it, but we need her for this.”

“I know.” Nil sighed. “You’re right. It just feels like a step back.”

Andrew paused his work, spun around in his chair, and faced Nil. The dim light of the room cast a shadow on his face, accentuating the seriousness of his words. “I don’t want to come across as insensitive, Sunny-boi. But does it matter right now? You and Katie aren’t really a thing, are you?”

Nil shrugged. “I think friends with benefits might be a stretch right now. Acquaintances or colleagues that hook up feel closer. She hasn’t said it, but I think she blames me for the state of her job. If I never invited her to the quest—”

“You’re better off as things are. Don’t get me wrong. I like Katie. She’s nice to have around, but her priorities are all over the place. She wants to do good, but instead of working with an organization that is looking at the global good, Katie is hung up on a broken system run by the corpos.”

“I know, Andy. She’s using me for stress relief, and maybe I’m doing the same.”

“You’re a rising star, Sunny-boi.” Andrew grinned. “Propositions are flying at you from every direction. If stress relief is all you’re after—”

“Can we focus on this, please?” Nil asked, nodding at the aetherscreen. I really don’t want to discuss what’s going on with Katherine, how long it will last, or any of that nonsense.”

“Do you regret bringing her home to meet the family?”

“I don’t regret a thing. Sometimes, you take a chance, and it doesn’t work out. That’s life.”

“I can’t tell whether you’re the more mature and enlightened person or plain stupid. I suppose it doesn’t really matter.” Andrew returned the focus to the aetherscreen. “Anyway. You need to use the visage to scout and find the Cursed Energy storage and R&D areas with the naughty projects. Sabotage and get out—”

“Speaking of the sabotage—”

“You better not be having second thoughts.”

“It’s nothing like that. There are kids in the building, and I want to ensure that whatever we do doesn’t hurt them. So we might need to bring other people in on this.”

“You mean Selia?”

Andrew nodded. “Her power is perfect for this, and she has a vendetta against Symbiotech.”

“Let's map out the building and work out how we’re going to do this before we involve anyone else. Anyone caught will face significant legal trouble. Their lives might be in danger, too.” Nil paused. He wasn’t sure whether it was paranoia, but a piece of news was eating at him. “There is a tail on Baba,” Nil said. “He thinks it's a new neighbor that also works for Harrow Council. There is a new car around the house and parked outside work. He’s pretty sure he’s seen it at the supermarket and other places too. Last time I visited, I’m half sure I saw someone through the tinted windows.”

“You think Symbiotech is trying to intimidate you and the family to keep you in line?” Andrew asked.

“It's possible, don’t you think? These are people playing with lives, working with the Pits, and using the Death Gauntlet to collect Cursed Energy.”

“I think it's very possible. Shina probably regrets everything she told you after swallowing a fistful of pills and is trying to scare you into staying in line.”

“I’ve spoken to Layla about helping me move the family after the quest is done. Baba and Emmy won’t be happy about it, but it's tough. I want them to live somewhere better and more secure. It's about time he retires, and she moves to a better school too.”

Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

“What about Sam?”

“He’s already trying to get into a better high school, which means losing half of his old friends. Sam doesn’t seem to mind, though. Layla is looking into it. She’s keeping things as ambiguous as the whole new ludus thing.”

Andrew pulled up the blueprints of the Symbiotech headquarters. It had taken him months of digging through encrypted files to find them. “The old hospital’s schematics were easy to find in comparison.” He activated another screen and placed them side by side. Nil immediately saw differences in the floor plan. Things appeared similar on the ground floor but were different on the upper floors. “Turning a hospital into a research facility obviously requires a good deal modification, but some of this makes no sense.”

“Over here,” Nil pointed at the new blueprint. This is where the symbiote lab and testing room are. The visage always goes mad about the wall there, but I’ve never seen any doors around there.”

“Empty, unaccounted-for space,” Andrew said. “I told you the visage is useful. Unless you can butter Shina up enough to show you what’s what, you’ll need it to find a way in.”

“Any luck infiltrating their camera system?”

“Just the lobbies and main corridors. They have multiple networks running. It didn’t make much sense at first, but I think they have a few to show inspectors and investors and the rest for their personal surveillance. It wouldn’t surprise me if the latter gets scrubbed regularly. You can’t be too careful when it comes to industrial espionage, whistleblowers, or disgruntled staff.”

“Okay. So, the game plan is suckup to Shina and her staff and scout. We also need to ensure the sabotage doesn’t cause collateral damage. I don’t want the staff or the kids to get hurt.”

“What are you hoping will happen?” Andrew asked.

Nil shrugged. “Maybe—”

The sound of a buzzer going off interrupted Nil. The old LCD screen on the wall above showed Susan’s smiling face. Katherine stood a couple of feet behind her, holding takeaway bags from their favorite Korean Fried Chicken restaurant. A button on the desk unlocked the gate. They put a pin in the conversation for the time being.

Both couples kissed each other hello—the label made more sense for Andrew and Susan than Nil and Katherine. The first pair went on for significantly longer. Then, everyone celebrated the recent arena win together. The fridge contained ice-cold beers, vodka, and plenty of mixers. Everyone indulged. Susan nursed a single glass while Nil indulged in a couple. Meanwhile, Katherine and Andrew swiftly got through several rounds.

After dinner, Nil and Katherine broke away from the other two. Their making out was getting far too heated, and it didn’t look like they minded the company.

“Is everything okay?” Nil asked Katherine, taking her aside.

“It's official,” she said.

“What is?”

“I used an old source to dig up the old cases on Symbiotech. The captain found out. He gave me two options. Disciplinary action for misuse of police resources could lead to a month of imprisonment and a fine, putting a negative mark on my record for life and ruining all future prospects. Or, I resign.”

“You resigned?”

Katherine nodded, lip quivering. “What other choice did I have? I know the Nexus will officially make me an agent now, but what if that doesn’t work out?” Disgust and anger filled her voice. “My only options are private security, intelligence agencies, and corpo squads, and I can’t begin to explain how much I hate them. No ethics, bending or evading the law, working for some rich bastard’s self-interests instead of the common good.”

“I don’t want to be the contrarian, Katie, but was working for the Metropolitan Police any different? You’re doing good, but it's becoming clearer with every day that the police force is in the corpos pockets. Sure, you’re shutting down the gangs and keeping people safe, but not the people who are feeding the problem. If they’re willing to let Symbiotech cover shit up and get away with torture, experimenting on children, and probably murder, what else could they be overlooking? I bet there are dozens of other messed-up research teams out there.”

Katherine glared at Nil. “It's a broken system, but it works most of the time.” She continued before he could get a word in. “Do you still want Mind-training or not?”

“You’re going to go rough on me now, aren’t you?” Nil asked.

“What do you think?”

Nil had tried the Golden Aegis ludus facilities, but they weren’t potent enough or worked too slowly. The Symbiotech scanners suggested his Mind attribute was getting closer to the next rank but failing to cross the barrier. The machines’ psychic attack felt like a bad migraine compared to what Katherine did. After watching her fight a Scourge Champion and its minions, he knew she never unleashed her true strength on Earth. But now, several translucent tentacles grew out of her right hand’s fingers and sunk into his skull.

Instead of horrifying images and twisted memories, intense pain pulsed through Nil’s skull. He saw nothing but blinding white. It felt like someone had stuck a hot poker through his eye and didn’t stop pushing when they felt resistance. He felt it in his teeth. Nil’s joints locked up, and he regretted all the food and drink he had consumed.

Mind has progressed to Mortal 8!

Mind has progressed to Mortal 9!

“Stop.” Nil hissed through gritted teeth.

“Already? We could go for a bit longer.”

“That gave me two ranks. I can’t, Katie. That was too much, and I don’t think I can keep my dinner down.”

“Oh.” Katherine’s eyes widened. She pulled back her hand and looked at her fingers. “I’m so sorry, Nil. I went too hard, didn’t I? Emotion and mood affect the strength of my spells.”

“It’s fine,” Nil lied. He had blindly grabbed three bottles when Andrew started pawing at Susan’s clothes. One was an alcoholic ginger beer, and he downed it one long swig. “Two ranks is a big bump. Thank you. It should help in the arena, especially if Shina has any Mind Mages on staff.”

“It's not fine,” Katherine said, taking both of his hands in his. “You aren’t wrong about the Metropolitan Police Force. I just didn’t want to hear it.”

“It was insensitive of me. I’m—”

“No.” Katherine nodded at her car. It stood parked just behind Andrew’s mobile home. “Why don’t you let me make things up to you?”