By the time the newly appointed Valkyrie and her master stood outside the Opal Oasis, it was already late in the evening.

The streets looked no different compared to during the day: colourful, busy, loud, and just a little bit depressing.

The sky slowly darkened, and the moon started making its appearance, ready for another night of futile attempts to outshine the city’s neon.

Kane looked up at the sky and, for a moment, he thought he saw a crimson shadow pass across its surface. But the next moment it was gone.

He blinked and thought, ‘Did I really see that? This has been a strange day… any other time I would have written that off as my imagination, but today…’ He sighed and shook his head, a wry smile tugging at his lips. ‘Not that it matters. What, am I gonna go to the moon and check it out?’

“Are you alright, Master?” Luna suddenly asked him, ripping him from his thoughts. The catling stood next to him, her cheeks puffed up and filled with food. She was still snacking on the leftovers of some dinner they had delivered to Myst’s room, one of the Opal Circle’s many services.

Kane turned to her and chuckled at the sight. “Yeah, I’m fine, you little glutton. Let’s get back to the Cyberkins, before Father sends the goons again.”

While Kane didn’t technically have a curfew, if he stayed out too late, Father would usually send Cyberkins to escort him back ‘for his own safety’.

“Ugh,” Luna groaned, and muttered some colourful expletives to describe Father while she followed Kane to their bikes.

When they were back on the road, and heading for the Cyberkin base, Kane started telling Luna about this dream as being the moment where he received that symbol on his hand. Which, by all accounts, was responsible for the strange events in Alexa’s room.

When he was done, he sighed and chuckled, “So now you know everything I know… Do you regret becoming my Valkyrie yet?”

Luna was understandably confused about what that dream meant or who could have sent it, but she didn’t much care either. “Of course not, Master,” she giggled. “You’ve just become far more interesting.”

“Well, that’s something, I guess,” Kane chuckled, lamenting all the things he preferred to be.

* * *

After a half an hour or so, they arrived in front of the Cyberkins building. Here, they parked their motorcycles in the same spot, and went inside. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Father and Ira were waiting for them. Clearly, Father had followed their movements, and seen they were on their way back.

“Kane! My son!” Father grinned, annoyingly amicable, despite the fact his words grated like sandpaper against Kane’s ears. “How did it go in the Outer Ring?”

This was the moment of truth. Naturally, Father already knew what happened. Or, if everything went according to plan, what Kane and the beastlings wanted him to think happened.

Kane took off his helmet, maintaining a calm façade. “It was fine, Father. Turned out some of those beastling terrorists were hiding out there, so we wiped them out, of course.”

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“Really, now?” Father mused, his eyes narrowing slightly as he shifted his attention to Luna. She had just removed her helmet, her expression a mask of stony defiance.

“I hope that wasn’t too stressful for you, Luna?” he continued with a seemingly genuine concern that made Kane's stomach churn while scoffing inwardly at Father's expected attempt to undermine Luna's loyalty.

He kept his expression neutral, but his mind raced. ‘Luckily, it doesn’t seem like he knows it was a ruse… yet. There’s no way that fake scene will hold up for long, but we just need it to last long enough to meet with the Cabal tomorrow.’

Luna didn’t answer Father’s question, and just looked away with an expression she hoped conveyed a hint of sadness and broken trust. ‘Don’t seem eager to betray him…’ Luna repeated to herself what Kane had told her to do. ‘Just pretend like today was hard on me.’

Immediately, a bored looking Ira took the chance to create some chaos, and jumped up, her expression twisted in sadistic excitement. “Hey! The boss asked you a question, mongrel! Need me to clip your ears!?”

“Now, now, Ira,” Father chuckled, while smiling warmly at Luna. “No need for that, I’m sure she had a stressful day. You know I’m here for all my Cyberkins, Luna, even you. If you need something, just come talk to me. I might even have some techniques for you.”

Naturally, Father had expected Ira to react that way, and simply used the opportunity to try and score some points with Luna, at what he thought was a vulnerable moment. At the same time, Kane rolled his eyes at Father’s clear provocation by offering techniques to Luna.

Unfortunately for Father, Luna’s loyalty to Kane had never been higher, and the fact his warm smile didn’t reach his cold, cybernetic eyes was clear as day to her.

Still, they were trying to make it seem like they had killed all those beastlings, and for Luna to be unaffected by that might make them suspicious.

So, she glanced shortly at Father with a hint of interest, before her eyes became cold again, and she simply walked off in the direction of her and Kane’s apartment.

“It seems she hasn’t had the best of days, my boy,” Father smiled calmly at Kane, not showing any of his real thoughts. “Be careful not to lose her loyalty to you…”

“I’ll remember that, Father,” Kane nodded coldly, before following after Luna.

When they were gone, Father’s expression remained the same, but he stared at the hallway they left through, as if lost in thought.

“Do you think they’re acting, Boss?” Ira asked, recognizing Father’s look as a suspicious one.

“Maybe…” Father mumbled, a little distracted. “Still, if they are acting… than why? If they didn’t really kill those beastlings, they have to know I’ll find out soon enough. So why go through the trouble of pretending?”

Shaking himself free from his thoughts, he turned to Ira with a sadistic glint in his eyes.

“Either way, we’ll know soon enough. Have the boys comb that survivalist hideout from top to bottom. I want to know everything that happened there. And if they’re lying…” his calm smile finally made way for an excited grin. “We’ll have some fun with them.”

“You got it, Boss,” Ira grinned back, her eyes twinkling with glee. Having once been a hopeless drug addict, she now kept herself sober by replacing her need for drugs with the excitement of killing, torturing, and fomenting chaos. Something that Father knew how to use to his advantage.

“And one more thing…” Father continued, eyes slightly narrowed. “Make sure the two of them are tailed if they leave the building tomorrow. Just knowing where they are isn’t good enough. I want constant updates on what they’re doing. And make it clear that they do ‘not’ want to lose that trail.”

“Sure, Boss. But, why?” Ira asked, a little confused. “If you suspect something, couldn’t you just put them under lock and key?”

“Where would be the fun in that?” Father grinned with excitement. “If they haven’t done anything I can punish them for, then I can’t punish them! That would break the game!”

Ira didn’t understand, of course. Even after all her years following this man, she still had no idea how his mind worked.

In her opinion, he was both the most intelligent, and the most idiotic, man she had ever worked for. Smart he may be, but these damn games he insisted on playing got in the way of making good decisions.

Seeing the confusion on Ira’s face, Father snorted and started walking away, his calm smile returning. “Anyway, it’s just a hunch. Now, come on. We still have a lot of preparation to do for tomorrow… I’ve finally earned the right to receive a fourth stage cybernetic from the Cartel, and I need to be ready.”