Hector was one of the people I had encountered during my new life who had proven themselves to be trustworthy. He was part of the original group of fifteen pioneers who had followed me in my expedition to reclaim the Gamma Perimeter all those years back.

During that time he had distinguished himself for his spirit of initiative and his unwavering loyalty, which had brought him to risk his life numerous times in combat against those who crept around our borders.

Under Faye’s decision, he had been appointed as the captain of the guards and had been armed with a repurposed blade, forged from what had once been my primary weapon. Moreover, he was the first chosen to undergo Forming procedures, which were currently still underway.

Despite Faye managing to make great strides forward in the development of this “new field of medicine”, there were still some underlying complexities which still needed to be solved. For this reason, we decided together to limit access to the enhancement procedures, letting in only those who could handle the operation and most importantly only those who could be trusted.

While reminiscing about the past, I continued to follow Hector through the thicket. In order to try and make my advancement less bothersome, he proceeded to regularly weed out protruding branches, cutting out a completely free path between the trees.

We finally reached an opening in the scrub. It was not natural and under construction, with members of the guard working hard to uproot trees and get them out of the way, while the commonplace cerulean dust slowly accumulated on the ground as the weeds fell apart. They were proceeding quickly but silently, in order to avoid gathering any attention. Many voices came from beyond the trees and this meant that our position was adjacent to one of the main roads connecting the centre of the Gamma to one of the few access points disseminated all around its border.

The fact that an artificial clearing in the brush was being made so attentively, just to ensure some amount of privacy, meant that the guest Hector was talking about was someone who he considered to be somewhat “important”, “relevant” or at least “of interest” to me. Although he didn’t boast the same analytical capacity as Faye, Hector was someone who put together careful thought and who was thorough in his decisions, and this was the reason why I had followed after him as soon as he had come looking for me.

And as it always had been the case, he had been correct in his evaluation concerning the unexpected visitor. It was indeed one of the few people in the world I sometimes spent time thinking about.

A worn white habit torn in many places and covered in dried blood stains covered her frail emaciated body. Her once vibrant auburn hair was now dirty and damaged. Her chest moved up and down erratically while she gasped for air. Most of the surface of her skin was dressed in gauze and bandages, but the shivers that swayed around the hems of her clothing showed, through the tears of the habit, the numerous bruises and cuts that covered her. Not only she was unable to stand, but she was barely able to support her weight while laying on the ground on all fours.

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It was quite puzzling to see her in such a state. From what I had come to learn in the past, she was a figure admired and even revered far and wide across the lands, so it was not easy to imagine someone would dare to hurt her to such an extent. Moreover, she was someone who should have been in possession of remarkable healing abilities, so it was even more peculiar to see her reduced in such a wretched state.

I approached her, walking at a slow pace. She flinched when she heard my steps and instinctively raised one trembling hand in protection of her head but, deprived of one of its footholds, this had the only effect of collapsing her body collapse to the ground. One of the guards tried to intervene to help her up, but they immediately stopped moving when they saw me.

I responded with a small gesture, signalling to proceed in providing support. While the visitor was being assisted I turned towards Hector, who immediately met my gaze.

“When did she arrive?” I asked a simple question.

“It has been less than half an hour, sire, give or take. Our guest was in quite poor condition when she first arrived and was attracting too much attention, so I judged it a priority to shield her from prying eyes while bringing her to a more secluded location where to apply the necessary first aid. I ask your pardon sire for not immediately notifying you and I will gratefully accept any punishment you deem fit,” he answered while lowering his gaze and showing me a small bow.

“There is no need to talk about punishments when nothing wrong has been done,” I simply responded to his excessive show of zeal.

“I am grateful for your generosity,” he said before falling silent.

Hector took a few steps forward, dismissed the guard and took their place in supporting the visitor.

It had been several years since the last time I had met her. It was clear many things had happened in the meanwhile, but what those were was unknown to me. I had spent my time quietly resting inside of my borders and the information which could reach me regarding persons of interest had been severely filtered out due by those hostile to me.

Except for Lily and Jonah, whom I had remained in contact with, the other people I had initially wanted to keep an eye on had disappeared from the radar less than a year after my return to the Gamma. Even Jonah’s information network had failed and Tobias had strangely refused to cooperate.

But now things were going to change, as one of the people I had been looking for had re-emerged from the depths of the unknown. Although she was not one of mine, she had still been able to catch my eye.

“It has been a while, Chloe Ortiz. Why did you ask for me?” I talked in a calm but nevertheless sharp tone.

Her dull emerald eyes seemed to respond to my words as they slowly began to open up. Once my image came into focus, they regained colour and opened wide. She opened her mouth and started to cough before talking in a weak voice.

“Please… We need help… Isaac needs…”

My ears reacted sensitively when they heard the name Isaac coming out of her mouth. Although I had many times thought of him as somewhat “boring”, he was still one of mine. I found it displeasing to imagine him falling into danger.

“Tell me more,” I stated my interest.