I intercepted Marnie's attack by raising my left hand, grabbing her wrist and blocking her arm. Surprise crossed her eyes for an instant. She clenched her free hand into a fist, ready to deliver another blow.

I tried to speak, asking her to stop, but only groans came out of my mouth. I felt my jaw bounce around and realised that it had been dislocated from her previous surprise attack. I planted my left foot in Marnie's belly and exerted force, pushing her away from me and interrupting her punch midswing.

I brought my hands to my face and forced my jaw back into place. A shot of pain shot through my face for an instant, before settling down. Since Marnie's previous attack didn’t contain any aura, probably due to being carried out with urgency, in a few moments my jaw recovered and I became able to speak once again.

“Stop” I intimated.

Marnie seemed to be taken aback by my threatening tone and froze for a while. She recovered quickly and I saw her grip the mace harder and prepare herself to pounce on me.

“I'm sorry John, but I'm afraid I have to...”

At that moment, a loud clap resounded out throughout the area. Both Marnie and I turned towards the source of the sound. The cause of it was revealed to be the man in yellow.

“Bridges, since your protege seems to have recovered and in the end nothing serious happened, let’s just forget it, what do you say?”

Without me realising it, the man seemed to have taken with him my senior, moving him away from the area of the confrontation. He was lying on the ground groaning, but I knew for a fact he was not badly injured. Our duel had been stopped before I could apply enough pressure to his head, so he would soon recover.

“Are you out of your mind Rios? You also saw what was going to happen...” Marnie tried to say.

“Yes, I saw it and it’s for this exact reason that I think it would be best for everyone to take a deep breath and calm down. Both you and I know very well that these guys can be quite… energetic. That’s the reason why we were here in the first place, to intervene if needed. And we did, am I perhaps wrong? All's well that ends well”

“We can not liquidate all this that easily!” Marnie spoke vehemently.

“Yes, we can, and we will do so. I want to go home with all my limbs still attached to my body. So, Bridges, cut it out” the man hissed, with a voice that hid a hint of fear.

Marnie's gaze fixed on me. I could see her eyes being swept by a flurry of different emotions. It seemed that two conflicting thoughts were colliding within her mind.

I remained impassive, fixed where I stood. I had no intention of clashing with Marnie, but I was still ready to defend myself with all my might if worse came to worst. After what appeared to be a long deliberation, Marnie dropped the mace to the ground, turned around with an indecipherable expression and left the training area.

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The man in yellow heaved a sigh of relief.

“Thank goodness! That old hag could have made a big mess!” he exclaimed.

“A mess, you say? “ I intervened.

He turned towards me.

“Yes, a mess. I’m talking about you, to be precise. Anyway, congratulations, you are the new representative of the Gamma Perimeter! You leave in two days. I’ll send someone to get you, don’t kill them please” he curtly spoke.

Having said these words, he slung my senior over his shoulder and left the area, closely followed by the gruff-looking man who had disturbed my sleep earlier in the day.

Silence enveloped me and I was left alone with my thoughts. Marnie's behaviour had caught me off guard. Although I could somewhat understand her urgent reaction in stopping me before I could compress my opponent's head, something didn’t add up. I could see in her gaze that something had clicked inside her mind. She had begun to look at me with unbridled hate: in her eyes I could see she wasn’t seeing me like a person, but like an aggressive dog, to be shot down as early as convenience allowed.

Incapable of resolving my doubts, I opted to simply head for the exit. There was no one outside waiting for me. Walking across the campus, I reached my home. Erik was absent. After giving myself a wash to get rid of the accumulated dust and blood, I changed my clothes and laid down in bed, where I stayed motionless looking at the ceiling.

An hour later, I heard someone knocking at the door. I got up and left my room. Once I had reached it, I opened the door to the visitor. There stood Faye, with Marnie behind her. My sight immediately focused on the woman that had intended to kill me and I began to closely follow her every movement, without trying to conceal my hostility. She seemed to notice, as a look of regret appeared on her face.

Unlike her, Faye seemed to be at ease.

“May I enter, John? Alone, obviously” she asked in a cheerful voice.

“Faye, I don't think that's a good idea” Marnie intervened, trying to dissuade her.

Faye ignored her. I moved to the side, leaving room enough for her to enter. With a smile, Faye made her way inside the house.

Marnie’s and my gaze crossed each other. She tried to open her mouth, but I didn’t leave her time to speak.

“I won’t do anything” I said, before closing the door in her face.

I turned around and saw that Faye had taken a seat on the living room sofa. I decided to remain standing. I wanted to be ready in case Marnie decided to show up.

“Marnie told me you've become a beast” Faye began to speak.

“I see. She told you everything in detail, I suppose” I intervened.

She sat more upright and nodded.

“As soon as she returned home” she confirmed.

“Aren't you afraid to be here alone with me, then?” I asked.

Faye's eyebrows arched and she laid back on the sofa.

“Not particularly? I figured something like this would happen sooner or later… Sooner than later, to be honest”

It was my turn to raise an eyebrow.

“Did you expect that I would try to crush skulls like they were coconuts?”

“Coconuts? Curious comparison. Anyway, no, not in the specifics, but an increase in your aggressivity? Yes. Indeed, after all I have studied about the ancient archumans, I was rather more concerned about the fact that you were too docile, all things considered. Moreover, after the surgery, I was sure that not only your body but also your head would undergo certain changes”.

My gaze remained fixed on her.

“This doesn’t explain anything” I replied.

“Pardon? “ she said, clearly confused.

“Simply being aware that I would become more violent doesn’t explain why you are this calm. You should be at the very least a bit uneasy, but you seem incredibly comfortable around me. Why?”

Faye looked into the void and began fidgeting. After some time, she refocused her gaze on me.

“I felt it...” she spoke shily.

“Felt what? “ I urged her.

“Your faith in me. And also other things that I cannot explain. I felt them all during the surgery, when you shared your aura with me. I don't care what other people say, I know for a fact you and I are a team. There is no way someone can convince me otherwise”

Although I could see in her eyes that she was not being completely honest, I decided to leave it at that.