Chapter One
Midnight Talk
March 15th. Thursday 12.30 A.M. S.A.125.
Siren island. Undisclosed location. Somewhere to the west of the Canary Islands archipelago.
The hallway was illuminated by the pale moonlight, coming through the large canopied windows. The place was enormous, with a mixture of Gothic and Renaissance architecture, which intermingled to create an underlying harmony as a whole. The symphony between the styles was completed by the nocturnal scenery. Outside the sound of nocturnal insects could be heard in the subtropical garden, with the most varied plants adapted to the microclimates of the place..
But it was not the only hearable sound.
The steps of sandals and the soft clatter of claws echoed in the long hallway in the middle of the night.
The brown-haired fey girl, with her shoulder-length hair and pointed ears a bit hidden in the messy hair, sighed as she looked around and gazed at the night scenery of the vegetation outside. She was dressed in a crop-top and sleep shorts.
The girl was being followed by a brown furry ball that, to all appearances, looked more like somekind of coconut more than an animal. But, despite its comical appearance, there was no doubt, it was a capybara. It ran at the girl's pace with its little paws, while a small squirrel rested on its back.
The doors of the long hallway were all closed at that hour, since most of the people who occupied it during the day were probably already asleep, or perhaps somewhere on the island, putting other business in order. The same was also true for the girl. Her working hours had already ended hours ago but, in spite of that, she could not sleep at all.
She had thought that perhaps a walk through the long corridors and hallways of the huge place would tire her out more than enough for her to fall asleep. It was somewhat comforting for her, considering that she spent her days going back and forth between the different academic departments and traveling to the different parts of the island.
While she had an educational position in the city, located in the center of the island, she almost always spent most of her time at the main base of Nevermore, offering consulting support to other agents. Or sometimes helping out in the hangars, when she was required to solve a problem for the technology development division. The calmness of those moments helped her to put her thoughts in order.
It was when she glanced sideways and noticed that the double doors to one of the offices was slightly open.
"…Why is Mai's office open?" she wondered, stopping her walk and her strange, furry companions did the same.
The girl walked the few steps and carefully pushed the door, stepping into the huge, darkened office.
"Hello?...!!" Her heart almost skipped a beat when she looked up at the huge window and saw two pairs of glowing red eyes, staring at her from the armchair in front of the desk "Lights!" She said in a loud tone.
The room lit up with a warm light, showing her the place she had entered so many times before. There stood the spacious libraries, artfully arranged, with file cabinets on one side and the other. The cabinets had glass doors, through which one could see all kinds of objects of the most varied types. Rocks, ancient artifacts, scrolls with maps in cases, swords and other weapons. All placed in perfect order.
And above those cabinets a huge collection of bows with different designs were all placed in perfect order on the wall. From the most ancient and traditional, to compound bows for sport shooting. From the order of the bows, a timeline of the story of archery could be told.
"Damn it, Tony! You almost gave me a heart attack," the girl said, making her way to the desk and sitting down in one of the swivel chairs in front of it. "What are you doing here?"
A fey man, young in appearance, sitting across the desk, returned her a serious look. His eyes flashed red for a moment until they turned brown. His black hair was tied in african braids, that were knotted into a high ponytail. He was dressed in a black T-shirt, cargo pants and military boots. He had piercings in his right ear and on either side of his eyes were what looked like two metal implants. His lean but barely muscular body almost made him look more like he was used to office work, even though his clothes and body language seemed to say otherwise.
"Just thinking,” Tony said. "This place has gotten a lot quieter since Mai returned to active service," he said, looking around, "and you, what are you doing?"
"I couldn't sleep," she said, with a shrug.
The capybara approached Tony and jumped onto his lap, tossing the squirrel on its back to the floor. The squirrel scampered across the office carpet until it climbed up the girl's legs. She took the animal in her hands where it finally lay still.
Tony petted the animal, which simply rolled over in his lap and lay down as if it were a dog. "You miss Liz, don't you?" Tony asked, addressing the animal.
The capybara gave him a poker look back, then simply dozed off.
"No, really. What's going on?" the girl asked.
"Nothing Oxy, nothing," Tony said, as he drew circles on the desk with one of his fingers.
The girl named Oxy narrowed her brown eyes and smiled, pursing her lips inwardly.
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"You're doing that thing with your fingers, seriously, what's going on?"
He looked at her sideways, with a look of circumstance and sighed heavily. "Mai and Shin are in Kazakhstan right now."
"What's weird about that? Some big case?"
"No… it wasn't in our records, apparently. And she didn't want to tell me anything else."
"Oh… I see," Oxy nodded, wrinkling her lips again. "Well, Shin's with her. You shouldn't worry."
Tony picked up the capybara, placed it carefully on the desk, then got up from the chair. "I think, the fact that she's with Shin is what worries me a little…"
"…" Oxy stayed silent as he continued.
"So many things have changed in just a few months since he arrived. And now, Mai and Liz are going to be teaming up with him next week."
"Which part are you worried about? That the three of them are in a relationship, or that they can't do their jobs properly?"
"Neither of those two. I don't question Mai and Lizbeth's performance to get the job done."
"Then...What is it?" Oxy asked.
"You're his friend. Do you believe him when he says he doesn't remember anything about what happened on the Other Side?"
"… I see where this is coming from. The council…" Oxy snorted, while she shook her head.
"He was missing on the other side for over two hundred years and remembers everything he did in the previous years, but not inside. How do you explain that? None of us can do that."
"Well, he's not like us. As far as we know, he doesn't remember anything prior to 1908 of the Ancient Era. And when he disappeared on the Other Side it was 1999. The reason he remembers his life before that, is because he was neither human, nor fey, in first place."
"How do you explain then that he doesn't remember anything from the Other Side?"
"It's the same thing Tony… The answer is that he wasn't from here to begin with, but… the Other Side has its rules. The closest hypothesis we have is, the same one why none of us can remember anything about our time there. The Other Side doesn't want us to remember the time we spent there."
Tony looked at her with doubtful eyes. "I just hope you're right. Mai worries me, you know she's very prone to accidents. If what they have, they really mean it I'll be happy about it, but you know very well what kind of person Shin was… or is."
"And that's the very reason why I trust him. Come on, the guy was risking his neck for almost a hundred years without anyone asking him to do that. Him, Leon, Gehirn, all of them."
"Yeah… Leon who has his base in Antarctica and hardly wants to leave it, and Gehirn… wanted today for crimes and who fled into deep space 70 years ago before he was caught..."
"And yet, here we are. Without Gehirn's money, setting up the infrastructure to create all this would not have been possible," Oxy said with a shrug.
"Don't get me wrong. Of course I appreciate what they did, but that doesn't mean I don't care why, and you know that well..."
"Because of the Portal?"
"You can't ignore the fact that the portal through which the Fractus entered Earth in 2094 is very close to where Shin arrived in 1908."
"Yes, I know… but it's not that close either"
"The council is breathing down our necks. Today I received a new request for Shin's performance report and legal just received a form for an R.I.D., which the three of them are going to have to fill out next week."
"An R.I.D.? Almost none of our teams have one. Phil and Zi don't have one and they've been a couple for years."
"I guess the fact that Shin is dangerous and Mai is a war hero has an influence."
"It's funny that they ask us for data and to sign forms when we are not even recognized with proper rights because the obligation laws."
"We have rights."
"As sentient beings. Big deal. In this day and age, that's almost like a fart in the wind."
"Well, that's what happens when you work in something close to the Council... yet we have more knowledge than most. Noblesse Oblige. It's the price to pay when you have a skill."
"Noblesse Oblige my ass. " Oxy stuck her tongue out with an annoyed look on her face.
For a few seconds the two exchanged glances, until finally Tony snorted. "You're right… Maybe I'm just worrying too much," he said, trying to push his fears away.
Oxy smiled and got up, leaving the squirrel back on the back of the capybara, that was sleeping peacefully on the desk. "That's your problem, you think too much. But, hey! You wouldn't be second in the chain of command if you didn't worry," she said and gave him a friendly slap on the back. "Come on, let's go! Lift your spirits, and relax. Let's go to the bar and have a few beers tomorrow night. Then you should go with that beautiful redhead and have sex until dawn."
"… " Tony glanced at her with a raised eyebrow.
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"What? It's an idea… don't underestimate Miss Oxy's advice," she said, with a theatrical tone.
"Yeah… I wish I was that lucky. Haru left to Langley this afternoon, I won't see her for two weeks," Tony said.
"Go to the hangar with the other guys, or go to La palma for some fun. Come on, stop worrying and enjoy yourself. Tomorrow, for sure, some new horror will have your full attention," Oxy told him yawning.
"You're not helping me much with that last one."
Oxy smiled again and took the two animals from the desk in her arms and headed for the door again, but she stopped midway and turned to Tony again.
"Regarding Mai's case, you have to look on the bright side… "
"We just got out of the trouble of what happened in Australia some months ago… what's the bright side of her wanting to hide details of a case?" he asked, crossing his arms.
"Well, look at it this way. If she and Shin end up screwing up, at least you won't lie when you have to say you didn't know anything," Oxy said, barely holding back a laugh.
"Get out of here…" he said with a straight face.
Oxy walked off down the hallway, smiling now that she finally looked like she might be able to fall asleep, leaving Tony snorting in Mai's office.
"I run an Elven kindergarten…"