P.O.V Chloe

Chloe eyes silently fluttered as she woke up. Her eyes widened at the unfamiliar environment, She sat up and scanned the surroundings, her mind moving towards the worst possible scenario of being captured. She raised her arm, but the anticipated shackles weren't there, and she had retained her strength. Her clothing had been changed, and it was replaced with a silver colored smooth fabric, almost like a hospital gown.

Chloe quickly got up from what looked like some sort of pod, which was oddly more comfortable than an ordinary bed. She quickly recalled what had happened to her aunt and immediately searched for an exit, but the room seemed to have no doors. The entire room was a smooth black color like it had been smoothed out to perfection.

Chloe couldn't find any doors or windows, and the walls seemed to blend in with each other. She kept exploring around the room until she reached a part of the wall that seamlessly retracted upon her approach, revealing a narrow corridor. The hallway was illuminated by soft, ambient blue lights that ran along the sides, giving an ethereal feel to the surroundings.

With a cautious step, she ventured into the corridor, her senses on high alert. As she moved along the hallway, she suddenly heard a sound behind her. She decided to act first, then ask questions later. And with blistering speed, she turned around and threw a left hook towards the direction of the sound.

But to her suprise, her sneak attack had been anticipated, and her punch was caught and stopped in its tracks. When she took a good look at the person she had attacked, she saw a familiar face, someone that had been missing since she had gone through the process.

"Verlin?" Chloe stared in shock as the words escaped her lips.

Although Verlin looked exactly the same as last time, she could tell from the slight dullness in his eyes that he changed. How big was the change? She had no clue.

" It's also nice seeing you Chloe, it seems the process was quite successful. Almost didn't recognize you." Verlin greeted as he released Chloe's fist from his palm.

Chloe had a lot of questions to ask him, She wanted to ask, where did he go? why did he leave? But she knew that it wasn't the right time. She had to get back to the hidden society to relay the information and go rescue her aunt.

Chloe took a deep look at Verlin and said, " Let's catch up later, Right now, I have to return to the Hidden Society base."

"If you tried going to the hidden Sociey base from here, even at your full speed it would take you a full day of non stop running, not to mention you've been passed out for the past 2 days." Verlin retorted.

Chloe's heart sank. Two days? Every moment they delayed meant her aunt and possibly others from the Society were in even graver danger. She tried to process the information, but her mind raced, trying to think of the next best step.

"Where exactly are we right now?"

" We are close to the north pole. As for what we are in, it's my spaceship."

Chloe's eyes widened, " Spaceship? As in... we're not on Earth anymore?"

Verlin had a slight smile on his face. "We are still on Earth, only that we are in the upper atmosphere,100km above the surface."

Chloe calmed down the excitement in her heart and tried to remain focused, " Can you take us to the hidden society? We need to find Alexander to make a plan so we can rescue my aunt. She has been imprisoned for more than two days now."

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" Calm down, Chloe. If you were to go back to make extra plans, it might be a week before you actually set out for the mission."

Verlin continued, " It would be much quicker if we went on the rescue mission ourselves."

Chloe stared at Verlin as if doubting his intelligence, " The hidden society sent 10 enhanced humans on a reconainsse mission in the South Federation and we failed horribly, what makes you think only the 2 of us can complete a rescue mission."

"You don't have to worry about that. Just know that as long as I am here, we can't possibly fail."

Chloe still had some doubt in her mind, but Verlin didn't have a reason to lie, and she was fairly sure he was very strong. She still remembers that he was the one that lifted a plane and moved it 20km in less than a minute, she was just worried that they might be outnumbered not to mention that some of the enhanced humans had some strange abilities. So, she replied solemnly, " Alright then, I'll first tell you what I know about the enemy, then we make a plan."

Verlin nodded, "Go on."

Chloe took a deep breath, gathering her thoughts. "The South Federation has a secret facility located deep within their territory. It's heavily fortified, and from what we've gathered, they've captured a lot enhanced humans, some used for some sort of experiments and others controlled for combat through some unknown means. Although the people that are being mind controlled seemed like they were aware of what they were doing, "

Chloe couldn't help thinking of Fiona, who was once part of the Hidden Society. She didn't seem like she was controlled at all. She seemed perfectly conscious. But she was told that Fiona was a righteous person, except mind control she couldn't think of anything else that could alter one's personality so drastically.

Verlin nodded his head and said, "Its possible that the mind control ability is so fine tuned that the individual being controlled won't be able to know they're psyche had been tampered with. Regardless, if we can pinpoint the puppeteer behind this, we can undo the damage."

Verlin continued, " You might want to change back into a battle suit, or you can just stay in here, and I can take care of everything."

Chloe shook her head and said, " No, I'm also going to be a part of this. I can't sit by while others are in danger, especially my aunt. Just lead the way, and let's do this together."

Verlin nodded his head, " Desna, set for the South Federation. Scan the continent for a location with a large amount of enhanced humans and head towards it."

An emotionless voice resonated around the whole pyramid, " Understood."

The spaceship's AI, Desna, provided Verlin with the exact coordinates of the South Federation's enhanced humans' secret facility. As they approached their destination, Verlin took Chloe to change into her new battle suit, a form-fitting exoskeleton designed to enhance her abilities.

In the past two days, Verlin had not only taken the time to take care of chloe, but he also made a suit for her. The suit had anti-gravity technology installed in it, allowing flight/levitation and making it much easier to lift heavy objects. Not to mention the incredible durability.

Chloe gazed at the suit in awe and remarked, " I guess, this is the perks of having an alien as a friend. Advanced alien tech."

Verlin didn't want to mention that it had only taken a few minutes to make the suit. So he moved the topic in a different direction, " How about you try on the suit and make sure everything fits perfectly."

Chloe nodded, taking the suit from its display. As she changed into it, she could feel a tingling sensation all over her body. The suit seemed to merge with her, adhering to every curve and muscle. Once fully suited, she stood in front of a mirror. The exoskeleton hugged her body, accentuating her physique while the suit itself shimmered under the soft lighting. It was black with silver linings, giving her an ethereal yet intimidating look.

Trying to get a feel for the suit, Chloe attempted a small jump. To her surprise, she levitated a few feet above the ground effortlessly. A smile formed on her face as she tried moving around in mid-air, realizing that she could fly.

"This is incredible, Verlin," Chloe exclaimed, doing a quick spin in the air before gently landing back on the ground.

"I'm surprised you got the hand of flying without any specified instructions."

Chloe had a smug smile on her face, " I'm a lot smarter than you think."

The once childish look now seemed to be replaced by one of confidence and determination. Verlin's eyes squinted slightly. "Indeed, you are."

As Verlin and Chloe were conversating, the pyramid of solitude in it's Cloaked for had already arrived above the facility, Desna's voice resounded once again, " We have arrived at the specified location."

With a command to desna, the ground underneath Verlin and Chloe turned transparent , giving them a clear view of the facility below. The complex sprawled for miles, surrounded by a thick, tall electrified fence. Armed guards patrolled the perimeter, and several watchtowers dotted the landscape, equipped with high-powered searchlights and automated turrets. The main building was in the center, a massive concrete structure with no windows, giving it an imposing and secretive appearance.

Chloe was first shocked that the ground underneath had suddenly turned transparent, making her feel as though she was floating in mid-air. But her astonishment quickly yielded to the panoramic view of the facility below. While her prior infiltration had deprived her of such an aerial perspective, now, the sprawling magnitude of the compound lay bare before her eyes.

She could still recognize the places where her team's ship was and the place where her team had been wiped out. Thinking about Fiona, she could help but clench her fist in frustration. But despite her anger, she could still reason, and this reasoning gave birth to doubt. Not to mention Fiona, there was a chance that there were a lot more enhanced humans in there, and there was a possibility that her aunt and her team could have switched sides. Even with her new suit on, she still felt a bit vulnerable.

Verlin seemed to sense Chloe's inner turmoil and laid a reassuring hand on her shoulder. " Don't worry, this will end a lot sooner than you think."

Chloe couldn't really understand where Verlin got his confidence from, but it was strangely reassuring. Looking into his eyes, she found a sense of calm. It wasn't a look one would have when they were going to undergo a life-threatening mission such as this.

Chloe took a deep breath, " Alright then, what's the plan?"