Back in Merricent Rueben and his team were doing their best to complete the various missions that had been assigned to them, both by the illustrious Shin Itami and by Rueben himself. While Lya liaised with the Rogue Special Forces in their efforts to get to the bottom of the recent haima’sa infestation and the subsequent attacks on Neo Brighton, Jorna and Rude were on the ground seeing if they could scrounge up any clues as to the host of the final guardian spirit. Cunall on the other hand was tasked with a much more straight-forward job; that of tailing various students of Titan Academy and reporting on any suspicious activities to Rueben.

This was a task that he’d been at for days and it was proving to be even more boring than he could have imagined. For such an exceptional channeler, and one with the rarest of abilities at that, Kanrei Angelus was otherwise an extremely dull subject of observation. Had he been asked, Cunall would be forced to admit that he’d invested much more attention into Lilith’s activities than those of her step-brother – if only because they were by far more interesting.

On the other hand, tailing Tyler and Nicola proved not just dull but also unusually difficult. Their unique ability to detect coded zeta made even his particularly effective brand of stealth less than perfect when observing them; and their pre-existing suspicion of him from their solitary encounter meant that he had to be extremely careful not to be detected.

“Kill me now…” He sighed under his breath but his words immediately dissipated into the ether, along with all other sensory information that he naturally emitted.

In his current state, Cunall proved not just invisible to the naked eye but also completely silent and odourless. His natural energy absorbed the light, sound and organic particles emitted from his body and masked them, transmuting them into analogues of their ambient counterparts to the best of his ability. While not entirely perfect, this ability made him undetectable to anything short of the most advanced scanning techniques and as a result, perfect for such tasks.

Unbeknownst to the stealthed scout of Rueben’s team however, he was not the sole architect of such an ability and while his attentions were focused on the students of Titan Academy another channeler had focused his attention on Cunall. Much like Cunall, this channeler’s energies masked his presence from prying eyes and ears but what Cunall’s pursuer possessed, and that which Cunall in turn lacked, were the keen senses necessary for piercing the stealth techniques of others. This combination of abilities made him an impressive counter espionage agent, and the perfect candidate to scout for Cunall’s rumoured interest in young Mr. Angelus and his peers.

After having watched Cunall for some time, his stalker was finally ready to make his move. His gaze narrowed as he approached slowly, his body to warping as he morphed his regular human form into something slightly more predatory. Teeth and claws lengthened then sharpened as he closed the distance between himself and his prey, readying himself before he eventually pounced.

“Who are you and what are you doing here?” The raspy voice snarled as a shimmering silhouette plucked Cunall from his vantage point and pinned him to a nearby wall with cloven hands.

Instinctually, the energies feeding Cunall’s veil of invisibility were redirected, flowing instead to his hands where they manifested as twin battle-axes. Unfortunately, this instinctual response only served to make his attacker even more feral. In the blink of an eye another cloven hand was raised and pressed against Cunall’s throat, his assailant’s claws now resting on either side of the red-headed Irishman’s trachea. Cunall reflexively held his breath as this happened, and like most channelers he expected little effect from this instinctual action. Oddly enough however he could soon feel his body beginning weaken due to the lack of oxygen.

His channeling was, for some reason, no longer properly supplementing his biological functions.

“Don’t take me for one of these whelps.” His assailant’s voice once again dripped with venom. “I’d kill you where you stand with no further provocation. Now tell me what I want to know.”

“Drop him Jayce.” Rueben’s voice sounded from some distance away as the white haired young man appeared from a luminous portal to bring some support to a visibly shaken Cunall.

The red-haired bruiser watched as his assailant slowly faded into view, willingly dissipating his own stealth abilities now that his identity had been uncovered. The shimmering energy that previously masked his presence was now replaced by a red aura that rose from his skin like steam, dissipating into the atmosphere shortly after it left his body. This crimson aura appeared to leak from his pores at most points before permeating his clothing and rising into the environment around him, but for some reason it completely engulfed his eyes, granting him a terrifying crimson gaze that he now focused on Rueben.

“You have the gall to make demands of me, failure?” The man – Jayce Falco – replied as his face contorted with disgust. “Tell me why I shouldn’t stain Titan’s walls with both your blood.”

“Oh come on Falco.” Rueben scoffed. “I’ll admit that you’re good but not even you’re that good – the two of us can easily take you.”

Rueben’s words however served only to tighten the grip around Cunall’s neck, allowing Jayce’s claws to slip slowly into his skin as his anger mounted. Cunall squirmed frantically but his actions only made things worse, driving Jayce’s cloven hands further into his throat. Rueben’s eyebrow tipped upwards at Cunall’s actions, forcing the young man to narrow his gaze before he finally conceded.

“Okay stop.” Rueben commanded with a heavy sigh. “We’re just here to observe the kid, Kanrei Angelus. He’s a person of interest.”

“That ‘kid’ is under my protection. Leave now and I’ll spare your lives—” Jayce commanded before finally removing Cunall from the wall and throwing him towards Rueben.

Rueben watched as Cunall’s body hit the ground some distance from him and rolled to a stop, with the red-haired psycher barely able to move. His eyebrow simply tipped upwards.

“—but mark my words boy: if we meet again, you won’t survive the encounter long enough to regret it.” Jayce finished before vanishing from his location.

As he did this, Rueben rushed to Cunall’s side, doing his best to make sure that his friend was alright before he turned his attention back to where Jayce had been standing. As Rueben had expected, Cunall’s wounds were primarily superficial and had already begun to heal now that he was no longer in Jayce’s grasp. What proved to be unnerving however was the fact that the purple-haired channeler was already no longer detectable anywhere in the area. Rueben growled under his breath, noting that even Jayce’s energy signature had completely dissipated, making him impossible to track.

With a sigh, he turned his attention back to Cunall, whose senses seemed to be coming back to him slowly.

“You alright man?” Rueben inquired, helping Cunall to sit-up as the psycher caught his breath.

“Uh, yeah – barely, but I’ll be fine I guess.” Cunall muttered as he allowed his internal energies to flow through his body, continuing to erase the wounds inflicted on him by Jayce.

“Looks like Jayce put quite a scare in you… you didn’t even try to fight back.” Rueben stated, but Cunall just shook his head.

“He caught me off-guard alright but it wasn’t fear that stopped me from putting up a fight.” Cunall explained, causing Rueben’s eyebrow to tip upwards. “There was something weird about his energy – something I’ve never felt before – it’s like he was somehow suppressing my abilities.”

“That’s odd…” Rueben muttered.

“Yeah, tell me about it.” Cunall scoffed. “Add that to him trying to choke me to death, squirming was the best I could manage.” He explained further.

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

“I see… that’s definitely a new ability of his. The Jayce I knew was nowhere near that strong.” Rueben replied with mounting concern.

“Guess I just bring out the best in people—” Cunall smirked. “—but it was the weirdest sensation.”

“I can only imagine.” Rueben replied as Cunall rubbed his neck, where there was still some lingering discomfort.

“But come on – you know me Rueben – I’ve jumped into the fray against giant monsters without so much as a second thought. Do you really think I’d freeze up against a single braver?”

“Heh.” Rueben smirked. “Well, I suppose not. That weird energy of his is something we’ll need to look out for in the future though.”

“You got that right. I don’t ever wanna be caught on the receiving end of that again.” Cunall scoffed.

“Agreed.” Rueben nodded. “It’s gotta be something he picked up while working for the Demai.”

“That’d make sense. It does seem like a military-grade ability at the very least.” Cunall affirmed. “So, I’m guessing you knew him before that?”

“Briefly.” Rueben nodded. “We both attended the Demai sponsored ‘Shiva Academy’ in Aviv about ten years ago. He actually beat me to qualify for pre-placement into the faction.”

“You never told me you were trying out to be a faction lackey.” Cunall laughed lightly.

Rueben just laughed lightly as well.

“Yeah, enlisting was actually Shin’s idea. He thought military training would give me something that I was lacking at the time.” He explained.

“Did it?” Cunall questioned, causing Rueben to nod slowly.

“Yeah, I guess it did.” Rueben replied casually.

“What was it that you were missing?” Cunall pressed, quite curious about the whole experience.

“A killer-instinct.” Rueben replied nonchalantly.

“Well that’s reassuring.” Cunall gaze narrowed at his friend, but once again Rueben just chuckled.

“Maybe that was a bit much.” Rueben’s laughter subsided. “Shin thought that I held back too much during fights, and that if I ever got into a real fight – one where it was a matter of life or death – that I wouldn’t make it out alive. He said that the ability to take a life to save my own, or the life of someone I cared about, was a necessary part of the job.” He explained. “I understand where he was coming from now… but unlike Jayce, I’m still not feral.”

“Maybe that’s why you lost to him in the end.” Cunall suggested but Rueben just smirked.

“Maybe. But if that’s the case, that’s not a battle I ever wanna win.” Rueben shook his head. “Jayce was always willing to do whatever it took, but the guy who just attacked you… he had absolutely no regard for human life. Winning isn’t worth it, if the price is becoming a monster.”

“Yeah, well you’re preaching to the choir man.” Cunall nodded. “If you were anything like that guy, I’d still be at a pub in Avalon knocking back pints.”

Rueben just smirked in response.

“So fearless leader, what’s the new plan?” Cunall inquired next.

“I’m not sure yet… I’ll need some time to work that one out. I didn’t count on Jayce Falco taking interest in a nobody like Kanrei Angelus.” Rueben muttered. “So once again it feels like there’s more at play here than we’re aware of.”

“Yeah, no shit… that’s pretty much the case with any situation that Shin Itami throws us into.” Cunall scoffed, drawing a light smirk from Rueben.

“I suppose you’re right.” Rueben nodded. “Well then, we’ll have to play it safe as usual. I’m gonna call Lya and arrange to meet up with the Rogues – see if they’ve managed to make any progress with the information that I gave them about the haima’sa. That should buy us some time to figure all of these other variables out.”

“Sounds like as solid a plan as any I guess.” Cunall nodded. “But I don’t see how this will help us figure out the connection between the Angelus boy and these creatures.”

“It’s definitely more of a longshot, but if Jayce won’t let us get near this Kanrei kid directly, maybe we can follow the haima’sa angle and have it lead us back to him and his weird energy anyway.” Rueben suggested. “The two are clearly connected; so this way we’re just following a different thread to the source.”

“That makes sense. As long as this thread doesn’t lead to me getting choked-out again – or worse – then I’m all for it.” Cunall nodded.

Rueben just smirked. “Good. Sit tight and catch your breath while I make the call.”

Miles away Lya’s data comm lit up, forcing her to excuse herself from the data lab at the Garrison, where she had been putting her heightened senses to use analysing data from Rueben’s encounter with the haima’sa a few months prior.

“I’ll be right back Commander Cross.” She sounded as she made her way through the sliding door and into an open hallway.

“Hey Lya.” Rueben’s voice greeted her as she connected the encrypted call, preventing any eaves dropping from the Rogues’ sophisticated internal security.

“Good afternoon Rueben, how’re things on your end?” She inquired pleasantly.

“Not going as planned. I hope you’re having better luck.” Rueben replied with a light sigh.

“I’m not too sure about that.” Lya shook her head.

“How come?” Rueben inquired now, quite curious as to what the problem could be.

“Well, I’m combing through the data that the Rogues have on this incident that you were involved in but honestly… none of the information makes a whole lot of sense to me.” She explained, causing Rueben to laugh lightly.

“Oh, well I guess that’s to be expected.” He smirked. “Terra’s best scientists are still trying to catalogue the vast properties of zeta – understanding magical reactions is a long ways off. As a result the haima’sa will pretty much push the boundary on what modern science will accept as plausible, far less possible. I assumed the Rogues would have some geniuses on their pay-role though. What do those guys have to say about the information?”

“Honestly, they are PhDs in the room who seem just as confused as I am.” Lya sighed heavily, but her tone caused Rueben’s eyebrow to tip upwards slightly.

“Sounds like there’s a bit more to that statement than you’re letting.” Rueben pressed, his gaze narrowing as he did.

Lya remained silent.

“Okay, I’m guessing this isn’t something you want the Rogues eavesdropping on, but now you’ve got me all curious.” He smirked. “Can you encrypt the information and send it to me as text without the Rogues being able to intercept it?”

“That should be doable.” Lya replied casually.

“Excellent, I’ll read it on the way over.” Rueben replied.

“Very well, I’ll let Zed know that you’re on your way.” She smiled, doing her best not to let on to the nature of the conversation on the other end of her call. “See you when you get here.”

“See you in a bit.” Rueben replied with a smile before ending the link.

“What’s going on?” Cunall inquired as the call terminated, turning his attention to Rueben as the two entered yet another Detrel that Rueben had rented.

“Lya seems to have found something suspicious going on with the Rogues.” Rueben explained.

“Regarding the haima’sa?” Cunall inquired, causing Rueben to nod.

“Yeah, she’s sending us a message as we speak.” His statement preceded the beeping of his data comm, signalling that the message had come through.

“What does it say?” Cunall pressed, forcing Rueben to have his data comm read out the message aloud.

"Like I said, as a psychologist, most of this stuff is beyond me. The information contradicts my limited knowledge of zeta mechanics at every turn and seems to spit in the face of conventional physics… as least as I understand it. The analysts only seem to confirm these impressions. This is an entirely new field of study and I’m hard-pressed to even call it a science. Every break through we’ve made so far seems to have been due to intuition; so while the findings hold true in multiple scenarios… the mechanisms behind these ‘magical’ processes remain unknown to all present.

All present but one I think. Daniel Thorsson.

I can't fight the feeling that he's seen some of this before and that he's withholding information. I suppose that is the nature of these private militaries. They all have their secrets after all... but with this Daniel character it seems to be more than an issue of classified information. His knowledge of these magical interactions seems exceed the realm of theory. It is my belief that we should keep an eye on him."

"Great." Cunall sounded as he reclined in the front seat of the Detrel. "The last person we decided to ‘keep and eye on’ nearly wound up getting me killed. I suggest we take the direct approach and just rough this guy up a bit and get him to spill his guts."

"That'd be an extremely bad idea." Rueben replied with mild amusement, drawing a look of disdain from Cunall.

"Not if we do it stealthily." Cunall countered, but the smirk that had been breaking across Rueben's face just widened.

"That’s probably an even worse idea." He shook his head. "Daniel Thorsson is a member of K-Four and probably one of the top five most powerful members of the Rogue Special Forces."

"K-Four?" Cunall questioned.

"Yeah, they're supposedly the only four channelers to be personally trained by Kyasho Mirakama since he washed his hands of his two original apprentices... Rayad Demar and Marshack Almed." He explained.

"Bullshit." Cunall scoffed.

"Maybe, but that's the story." Rueben shrugged. "All four of these guys are supposed to have power ratings somewhere high in the Heroic-tier."

"So you're trying to tell me that even a pencil pusher like this Thorsson guy is a formidable force on the battlefield?" Cunall scoffed once more with mounting disbelief.

"I'm saying I wouldn't risk it." Rueben shrugged. "It’s possible that this guy’s abilities are all geared towards research and development… but if he has so much as one well-developed combat ability, a single hit probably means instant reversion… and those aren't odds that I like."

"Yeah, well I'm really not seeing a whole lot of favourable odds on this godforsaken assignment. Honestly, I'll be happier when I see the back of this back-water archipelago." Cunall scoffed.

“That’s just the oxygen deprivation talking.” Rueben smirked. “Take the rest of the day off and gather your thoughts, I’ll follow this Thorsson lead and see where that takes us.”

“Right.” Cunall shook his head. “Like I’d leave you to get killed all by yourself. Drive the stupid car and let’s get this over with.”

Rueben just smirked as he powered up the luxury vehicle and began the short drive towards The Garrison.