It was late by the time Callum returned to the Sanctuary. He made a quick pitstop at the Adventurer's building, to get some of his light wounds treated and medication prescribed. The remaining nurse there tended to him while initiating some small talk with the boy.

"What happened?", she asked.

"I'm...not sure. I just woke up in a pool of blood."

"That explains the bloody clothes, but these injuries can be treated with some bandages. Why ARE you here?"

Callum hesitated at the her question, but felt he was too tired to tell the full story.

"I just need some pills for sleep and something to calm me down."

"See, that wasn't so hard, was it? I'll convert your accumulated points for the sleeping pills, so come to the counter once you've gotten dressed."

With that, she left the examination room to prepare his stuff. Callum silently sat there on the bed, still figuring out the events that transpired today. He had been conscious for most of it, but he struggled to remember the afternoon. He probably knew it was his 'other personality' that took over, but was it natural for it to say 'Thanks' when inactive? Callum twisted his mind to wrap around it, but decided to deal with it back home. He promptly wore his shirt and slung his jacket over his shoulder before leaving the room.

At the counter, the nurse gave him his medication as well as some candy.

"Have this. You probably need it," she said with a smile.

Callum thanked her for it, and turned around to exit. Just then, she spoke up again.

"I love that highlight you did to your hair. It really brings out your eyes!"

Callum stopped in his tracks. He stood there for a moment, before running out the building. The nurse smiled smugly, thinking that he was probably embarrassed at her compliment.

It couldn't have been any more wrong. Callum could have sworn he had left the color of his hair as natural as it could. His eyes had always been olive green. When he returned, he tossed his bag to the wall and stopped in front of the mirror. He saw the bangs that swept to the side colored neon green, and his eyes was the same hue. Only the front of his hair was highlighted that color. However, the rest of his hair had noticeably gotten a tad bit brighter.

LIkE it?

It's that voice. That voice he heard earlier. This time, it was a little clearly in its intonation, which frightened Callum even more.

SCARED?

Callum jumped backed. He is whimpering. He quickly dived into the bed to find his plush toy of a dinosaur. He then covered himself in the blanket, before cuddling up. He had no sanity left to deal with this.

Sleeping so soon?

Callum cried himself to sleep.

.

.

.

The military building for the Sanctuary is a rather large compound, given how many personnel it has. However, most of them work in the office building, converted from a university that was in the middle of construction. What was meant to be a lush park that led to the entrance of the building was now the hangars for the various mechs and conventional vehicles to park. Angie had just returned the mech and left it to the mechanics and technicians to repair it. As she walked up to the entrance, she noticed through the glass windows that some personnel were scrambling around. She thought nothing of it until she opened the door.

A small crater had formed in the middle of the hallway, with some organic matter scattered around it. Splashes of dried blood scatter in the vicinity of the crater. There was DO NOT ENTER yellow tape and some poles to mark out that area, with little space left for people to move from one corridor to the other, while some people in hazmat suits police the area, yelling at people to not enter the area.

Angie was initially shocked at the sight, but she had other matters to tend to. She scooched and slipped past some onlookers and proceeded to the lift to take her to the 4th floor. Before she could close the door, another man entered the lift with her. Angie had never seen him before, but she was awestruck at how...handsome the man is. Messy white hair that looked like effort was made to make it that way, a black leather jacket and black jeans, with a white shirt to contrast his overall look. His skin is concerningly pale, however, but he seemed fine so she simply chalked it up as another human body. He made no effort to press any button on the panel, which Angie assumes he is going to the same floor as her.

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

When they reached, the man held the Door Open button of the lift, and encouraged Angie to leave first. Angie proceeded to do so and headed right, while the man went straight ahead to the receptionist desk of the floor. Angie sighed at herself, but it isn't the time to be fawning over men. She needs to settle some matters first.

She stopped at a door leading to an office. On a plaque right beside it labeled 'Commander Johan Graves'. She hesitated for a moment, before entering. The Commander is sitting on his chair, in the middle of a call on a landline phone, twirling its coil with his legs on the table, pointing his boots towards the door. When she entered, he noticed her and removed his legs from the table, but still talked to the phone while ushering her to take a sit.

"Ok. Yes, I'll deal with it, don't worry about it. I'll let you know if i have any leads. Call you back, I got guests." He ended the call before tending to Angie. "So what can I do for Miss Angie tonight?"

She placed a brown envelope on the table. Johan picked it up and examine its contents.

"Not saying anything?"

"..."

He removed the contents of the envelope before tossing it to the side. The envelope contained a stapled detailed document of today's patrol and some photo's captured as evidence. Johan flipped through the document before stopping at the photos, and placing it on the desk. He looked surprised, but he had a habit of being awfully cheerful in inappropriate situations.

"Still nothing?"

"...no."

"So I've skimmed through, and what surprised me is the photos and the general report. Want me to repeat it back to you or you wanna explain it to me?"

Angie is nearly in tears at how nonchalant he is.

"Look, I'm fairly busy today. Some bastard decided to launch a rocket into the fucking building, and it fucking killed some poor sod. Shit happens, Angie, and there is no point hiding your resignment letter in the document, because I'm gonna reject it."

Angie was shocked that he noticed it and wanted to break down in tears, but stopped herself from doing so. It will only worsen her situation.

"I can't let you resign now. If you had decided earlier, yeah, maybe I could, but not now. The Sanctuary is on full alert now, and has requested reserves from everyone here. You ain't getting your break now."

"BUT WHY?"

"Same bastard that launched the rocket attached a note and had the balls to declare war on us. It would have been all fine had it not been the small Kaiju that burst out from the rocket that took a few more lives! ARGHHHH! I'm being forced to work my ass off now! If you got problems, complain it to the General!"

Angie had never seen Johan so pissed before. But after he had denied her resignment, she ran out of the office to calm herself down, missing the man that was in the lift with her heading to Johan's office.

"Who's that?" the man asked the Commander.

"Sit down for a bit, Ethan."

He took a sit and moved it a bit closer to the table.

"So?"

Johan handed him the report Angie gave him. Ethan immediately went to the photos because they interested him the most. Looking at it made him put it down face down, and read the general report. After doing so, he neatly arranged the paper and set it down on the desk, the photos still face down.

"Weird, right?"

"Definitely."

"What do you propose we do? The General already knew about it and chewed me to figure it out."

"Leave it to me, I guess."

"Don't let anyone know about their existence. I don't want shit to hit the bloody fan now."

"Sure."

"And take her with you."

"The girl?"

"She knows a tad bit much, don't you think?"

"Maybe, but doesn't that apply to you as well?"

"There IS a reason I'm a Commander, and you're still a pilot, y'know."

"I like it there."

"Weird."

"You are."

"Getting a bit defensive now? You hiding something?"

"Aren't you?"

"Fair."

Ethan picked up the photos and proceeded to leave the room. He muttered under his breath.

"What are you doing, Syd and Isaac..."