“Why does mine not have that feature? In fact… Why does it have none of those… Applications?” Hannah quizzed while feeling slightly bitter after realizing that her D-Card left much to be desired.
Lee Ping replied immediately despite being half busy with other things that only he could see. “Security reasons.” He said. “Unlike the core features of a D-Card, Applications can be created by people for all kinds of purposes, and if that is possible, it stands to reason that malevolent Apps will manifest at some point… Oh… The first Party applicant just contacted me. Give me a moment.”
Taking that very moment, Hannah saw Lee Ping’s hands and fingers flutter around, almost as if they were pressing some invisible buttons.
“Back to your inquiry.” Lee Ping told Hannah as he finished laying out the conditions for his Party. “To prevent any mishap from occurring to younglings like you, any uninitialized D-Card must be as clean as possible, with only the core features being present. Only after a D-Card gets attuned to somebody, can Apps be downloaded onto them. Even then, you are only allowed to do so after you have brought your D-Card to the closest local DI-branch to verify its authenticity.
When that is done, the DI clerk will install some Basic Applications like The Store from which you will be able to download Apps and a bunch of other things.
Naturally, if you have the Coins for them.”
“Does that satisfy you?” Lee Ping asked. “Well… It does not matter that much if it did or not. Stay quiet for a moment and let me focus on Party recruitments.”
With part of her curiosity sated, Hannah turned quiet and waited as the man with the pretty face worked his hands and fingers.
Nevertheless, as the minutes went by, it became clear to her that it might take a while before any helper arrived. That being the case, Hannah found the closest wall, walked to it, and dropped her round and pink Behold onto the concrete floor. A moment after that, she crouched down and leaned onto the wall with her back to rest her eyes, but before she had crouched and leaned onto the wall, she had placed the Colt in her right hand down onto the floor to avoid any accidental discharges.
Once she was resting, the thoughts of everything occurring flashed through her mind once again.
In the end, it took but a few seconds for her to realize that she was once again thrust into something she was barely qualified for. But since she was already there, and with no choice on her part, Hannah firmly refused to simply give in and let herself cease to exist. Not after what she had gone through, and that meant she had to improve her odds of survival.
Just as Hannah was about to take out her D-Card, her sight settled on the new apparitions in her vision, specifically at the bottom of her vision. Seeking and thinking about the Ability Icon, Hanah saw it flash once before a slightly transparent but large screen manifested in the center of her vision.
Because it was somewhat distant, it only blocked out a third of her field of view. Either way, ignoring the slight flourishes of the new screen, Hannah gazed at the three new icons, under which names designated what they stood for.
The first was Ability Potential Assessment while the last one was Ability Awakening, only the last one was grayed out, as if she could not use it at this very moment.
Tossing the first and third icons aside, it was the second one that Hannah sought and it was dubbed Abilities.
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System Alert!!!
*
Displaying Abilities;
First Slot - Dreamon Ball - Level 1/20 +
Second Slot - Empty
Third Slot - Empty
Fourth Slot - Empty
Fifth Slot - Empty
*
Ability Points Available - 1
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Abilities have levels as well! Hannah suddenly realized, yet, the very next second, she got over her tiny blunder after remembering the instructions her father’s ghost had given her. Instead, Hannah focused her attention away from the plus sign so she could see what would happen if she concentrated on her First Ability.
----------------------------------------
System Alert!!!
*
Displaying
*
First Ability - Dreamon Ball
*
Ability Category - Conjuration - Tool
*
Tool Description; A Device conceived by an Unnamed Genius Adept Artificer pouring his Heart and Soul into its Creation all in order to save his True Progeny from what would have been certain Death!
*
Tool Ability Description; To Capture, Manifest, and Store Dreamon!
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Father… Hannah voiced in her head after reading the description.
In the end, after the brief moment of melancholy ended, Hannah was not surprised by what she was reading because she had already known parts of it. However, if she ignored the pompous term Genius, what Hannah did not know was why the term Unnamed existed since her father had a name.
Thankfully, she did have somebody to ask about it, but that could wait. First, she had to dismiss the current screen before focusing on a certain plus sign beside her Ability.
When she did, the new screen was offered to Hannah’s awareness, and the screen in question delivered many options from which to choose.
----------------------------------------
System Alert!!!
*
Ability Point Allocation is in progress!
*
General Ability Point Distribution Options;
Utility - Internal - Pocket Dimension - 0/5 +
Utility - Zone - Translocation - 0/5 +
Utility - Savvy - Illusion of Serenity - 0/5 +
Utility - Recovery - Illusion of Serenity - 0/5 +
Utility - Endurance - Rapid Mutation - 0/5 +
Utility - Adaptation - Rapid Mutation - 0/5 +
Utility - Cognition - Rapid Mutation - 0/5 +
Utility - Conception - Rapid Mutation - 0/5 +
*
Unique Ability Point Distribution Options;
Utility - Extra Dreamon Ball - 0/5 +
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Reading through everything, Hannah was reminded of the instructions her father’s ghost had left her. Namely, an already manifested Ability could be compared to a tree trunk, where the number of the thick branches it grew depended on the number of Evocations present within the Ability yet with a limited amount of growth shared between all those branches.
Specifically, twenty points, as that number was the limit for any Ability before a Dreamer was forced to undergo the next Nightmare Tribulation in order to manifest another Ability, only to repeat that process five times.
Meaning, Hannah could have at most four very thick branches, with five or six if she spread out her points here and there by avoiding maximum growth for any branch. As such, Hannah knew she had to be very careful in her choices of what she would allow to grow and what she had to trim away for her First Ability, her Dreamon Ball.
Father’s ghost warned me that my Grand Dream is a late bloomer. Hannah reminded herself. Meaning, it will take a while for it to truly manifest its grandeur. Moreover, since a Dreamon Ball was never meant for combat, it makes sense that every option remained centered around Utility instead of combat.
However… I… I am not familiar with those… suffixes attached to the options. Zone, Recovery, Endurance, and Internal I can infer somewhat. But… What do Savvy, Cognition, Adaptation, and Conception have to do with my Dreamon Ball?
----------------------------------------
With one thought, the few screens in her vision vanished, yet not completely.
Instead, the interface Lee Ping had made her activate seemed to be sensitive to her intentions, hence why the screen simply minimized into a tiny icon just above the main Ability Icon at the bottom of her vision.
As such, Hannah had no trouble glancing briefly at Lee Ping, the man with the pretty face, doing whatever he was doing to help them survive this Emergence.
Seeing him like that, Hannah wondered if she should interrupt him. In the end, after a quick reminder of just how he had smothered her face to the ground with some invisible force, Hannah chose to be annoying even if it was not in her best interests.
No, the Adult Hannah would not swallow the insult without payback, in some shape or form.
“Mister Lee.” Hannah voiced out. “What do the suffixes of Savvy, Cognition, Adaptation, and Conception represent within an Ability?”
Ceasing for a second, Lee Ping stared at Hannah before tilting his head to the right slightly all while his fox ears flicked her way with recognition. “You have yet to distribute your Ability Point?” With a nod, Hannah replied. “Anything combat-related?” This time, a shake of her head became the answer. “Any wording in improving your Summon from its current state?”
Not replying immediately, Hannah re-summoned the screens. “There is one line that contains the suffix for Recovery, but like everything else, it's about my Dreamon Ball and not the Summon inhabiting it.”
“Dreamon Ball?” For one single moment, Lee Ping wondered if he should roll his eyes at the simple name or scoff at the language that had birthed it in the first place. “Wait… Let me guess. Its name is like that because your Summon is a Dreamon?” Sensing the slight belittling sent her way, Hannah simply nodded and added another annoyance point to the man with the pretty face. “Well… Could be worse. Anyway… What about your Uniqueness? Is it utility-based as well?”
“Yes,” Hannah replied before considering if she should share it or not. But after reading and not seeing anything special about it, she chose to share it. “It says I can have five more Dreamon Balls.”
“Right… Give me a second.” Lee Ping quickly wrote a reply to the possible Party member. That done, he recalled what he knew about Conjurers before cross-referencing everything he had seen from the girl so far. “Ah… Because your Tool is low maintenance, your Uniqueness removes the Rank Conjuring Limit.
If you do not know about that limit, it goes like this.
Conjurers naturally get one Tool or Summon per Rank per Ability Slot. Naturally, there are cases like yours where you can get more per Rank, and per Ability Slot. but then you'd be going for quantity instead of quality, and usually speaking, the later ones are better than the former ones.”
That said, Lee Ping settled his sight on the pink ball thingy beside the girl, bearing the Mark of the Silver Tyrant. “Considering you have a Grand Dream, I am guessing, you can acquire quality from the captured Nightmares. Definitely makes sense. Then again… If every new Summon you acquire becomes as useless as that one right there right after the acquisition, your Uniqueness is useless right now.
Which means, you're still dead weight for this Party.” Lee Ping sighed and uttered one last piece of advice before focusing on recruitment. “Those… suffixes, as you called them, are connected to the Twelve Prime Stat Synergies and Twelve Secondary Stat Synergies. The theory behind them and their influence upon Abilities and Skills is far too long and complex for a brief explanation.”
“Trust your gut and choose the most sensible one.”
Once more being ignored by the man with the pretty face, Hannah centered her thoughts back to her screens. Luckily, even without any major advice, she understood the underlying theme behind the words Stat and Synergy. With that being the case, Hannah reread every single line written regarding her Ability Point Distribution.
After a few moments of careful thinking, Hannah indeed chose the most sensible thing, by ignoring Rapid Mutation, Translocation, and Pocket Dimension in favor of focusing on Illusion of Serenity and the Recovery suffix attached to its Utility.
----------------------------------------
System Alert!!!
This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.
*
Ability Point Distribution in Progress!
*
User; Hannah Blackwood, please confirm your choice for Ability Point Distribution!
*
✅❌
----------------------------------------
Mentally thinking of the yes button, the screen vanished.
In its stead, Hannah felt her Soul quiver. Mainly, the First Ability Slot as it exhibited a particular force to recall her Dreamon Ball to its rightful place from within her skirt pocket.
Once it was there, her First Ability Slot was infused with the sole Ability Point she possessed. That done, a brief resonance transpired between her Dreamon Ball, her First Ability Slot, and the Ability Point. The result of that harmony was Hannah’s epiphany regarding the Enchantment holding the Evocation; Illusion of Serenity and the Domain regulating its behavior.
An epiphany, telling Hannah on how to infuse Power Point’s into her Dreamon Ball to induce an environment suited for her Summon recovery. Naturally, since it's only an Illusion and not a real environment, the said environment will only stimulate her Summon to unconsciously enter its own recovery phase.
As such, how much her Summon healed depended on the Summon’s own ability to heal.
On the other hand, the amount of Power Points infused determined just how long her Summon would stay within that recovery phase.
When the epiphany was over, Hannah eagerly called her Dreamon Ball to her right hand before pointing the ball at her Behold.
A jagged red light burst from her Dreamon Ball encapsulating Behold as it vanished from the concrete floor.
A moment later, Hannah called on her Power and infused one point into her pink Tool.
A moment after that, Hannah was privy to sensory feedback telling her that the Evocation; Illusion of Serenity activated and that it exhibited its recovery functions as fabulously as it could with its current capabilities.
“Tch…”
----------------------------------------
“I heard that one.” A male voice distracted Hannah. “Picked the wrong one? Or did not give you what you wanted?”
“The latter one.” Hannah stated disappointedly. “Recovery does not work for hunger.”
“A shame, then.” Lee Ping added. “Still… If you do possess some way of healing your Summon, you should be feeling far less reluctant to use it as bait. Hopefully.”
“Hnng”
The grunt was all Hannah vocalized in return for the advice. Instead, now that she was done with her Ability Points, she dismissed every screen related to her Ability in favor of focusing on her Status.
Calling it up, Hannah noted no changes aside from noticing that she was down to seven points of Power. It was seeing that number that sparked thoughts regarding the new visuals she was seeing.
“Mister Lee!” Hannah called out again, still aware that she was interrupting him. “Why do I not see Regen, Flow, and Power?”
This time, not even bothering to face her direction, Lee Ping answered with the rote knowledge that he possessed. “Technically speaking, you do not need your D-Card to know how many of your resources you possess. Think about it and you shall know it.” Hearing that, Hannah immediately tried it, and indeed it was as the man with the pretty face pointed it out. “However, it takes time and effort to make it instinctive to accomplish it on the fly and within a moment, and when all you have is moments during combat, beginners like you, and me to some degree, tend to fumble around.
The story goes that that notion was the very first stone that got rolled in favor of developing the first versions of the O-HUD.
Either way, Health Points, Stamina Points, and Focus Points are dynamic resources, where their existence is gained and spent all the time, therefore, they require a lot of attention during combat.” Not quite there yet, but listening to the simple Logic, Hannah nodded once before hearing the rest of the explanation. “Regen Points and Flow Points, however, remain static, overall. The only time they do not is when Skills or Abilities affect them in the form of Buffs and Debuffs. And when that happens, ignoring the obvious sensations telling you of the change, icons will appear indicating their existence.”
“What about Power Points?”
“That one is easy.” Lee Ping stated absently. “Because of constant usage, PP awareness becomes the very first instinctual response developed by all Dreamers, so there is no need for an external gouger for it. Now… Don't interpret me again. I am arguing with a vital recruit, which could vastly increase our success rate for the Raid.”
Despite still possessing that tiny bit of unspent desire to interpret the man with the pretty face, Hannah reigned in her desire. Instead, Hannah focused her attention on the rest of her visual interface, but what she found was lackluster.
Skills proved to be nothing since she had no Skills.
Inventory was the same, only seeing it, Hannah was reminded of its function. Stuck with some curiosity, she wanted to try it once with the only vital item that she possessed, though she knew not what it entailed quite yet.
Taking out the white Champion’s Association Envelope, Hannah tried opening it once again just on the off chance that it worked, but when it did not, she fluttered her right hand slowly in the same manner her father’s ghost had shown her. Thankfully, being somewhat familiar with calling her Dreamon Ball, it only took a few tries for her thoughts to synchronize with the hand motion required for the stashing and retrieval of items.
Once she had those down, the envelope was stashed for the last time.
Then, all that was left was the Map Icon and the Social Icon. The Map Icon brought forth a bigger version of the already displayed map in the upper right corner of her vision. However, as she was currently in the basement of a building and within a Shroud, the only green dot on the Map remained the man with the pretty face despite the increased map coverage.
Social, on the other hand, mimicked Skills by being utterly empty.
That being the case, and done with the preliminary examination, Hannah was left to wonder what to do while she waited for those supposed Party members.
Then, maybe a few minutes later, the man with the pretty face finally displayed something other than random and violent hand/finger gestures into the air.
“Phu… That was harder than it should have been.” Lee Ping stated before suddenly glancing at Hannah. “You just cost me some pretty penny to hire a competent Bruiser.”
“Hire?” Hannah voiced out confusedly. After all, was this not a situation where living and fighting together was more important than money?
“Yea… A few got scared off the very moment I mentioned having dead weight because this meant they would have to put in just that much more effort into fighting a prolonged fight and trust me on this, all Swarm Zones are extra prolonged fights.” Lee Ping remarked before sneering once at Hannah. “Consider yourself owing me a favor.”
“The favor aside, with somebody that competent as our frontline, I can now include lower leveled individuals.”
With that said, Lee Ping began furiously roping in people for their dive into a Terminid Nest, where thousands upon thousands upon thousands of ant-like Nightmares and probably some other tougher and deadlier versions roamed the tunnels.
His zeal manifested when, not five minutes later, he completed his roster.
“There… I am done. Now, it is all about waiting for them to arrive.”
----------------------------------------
Knowing that they had some extra time till the Party members arrived did not mean that they would just stand there and waste time. No, Lee Ping, had no such luxury if he wanted the girl to survive this Shroud. So he did the only sensible thing and issued another physical training session by having the girl repeat his earlier gun-wielding instructions, only now he expanded upon it somewhat.
As such, he tediously ordered the brown-haired girl as she twirled around with quick bodily motions while trying her best to hold the Colt steady with two hands only to attempt aiming as fast as possible. He still prevented her from firing the Colt as that would waste the bullets it had already generated when she had invested some Power into it.
At the same time, he provided some commentary on what to look for for their upcoming adversary.
About twenty minutes passed of this, when Lee Ping’s sensitive fox ears picked up the very first footsteps coming their way.
“Stop.” Lee Ping called out, and Hannah listened. “Move behind me.”
Nodding, Hannah did as ordered before noting where the man's pretty face gazed at and following his example.
Moments later she heard the first metallic-sounding footsteps. And it was moments after that that she saw a big man casually walk toward them, at least as casually as a man with full armor could do.
The full-body dark reddish tint of the armor gave the man a rather rough and wicked impression. At the same time, the way the armor looked at first glance gave Hannah a harder time recognizing if it was leather armor or something that made it look like leather but with metal plates contained within. Whatever the case was, there was no doubt that Hannah felt competence oozing her way. However, it was the relaxed grip on the pommel of the sheathed sword at his hip that truly made the man feel deadly, as if just waiting to find an excuse to quickly draw the weapon.
After taking in the extremely obvious, Hannah observed the face with its darker complexion, though not from genetic inheritance. No, it looked more like a white man having tanned himself too much in the sun. Only the ginger-colored hair prevented the man from truly becoming somebody originating from a temperate climate.
In the same instant, Hannah began observing the big man’s appearance, she was observed in return just like she had experienced with the women on the sidewalk. Only, compared to her, this time her target was inching closer and closer to her, and that made her shiver in response.
As if catching that fact, the man smirked, only the wide smirk in question failed to portray any hint of malice. No, it was closer to the amusement of seeing a helpless kitten and not being able to help oneself wishing to pet it for its cuteness.
Cuteness? Hannah quickly shook her head before wondering where that thought had sprung from.
“I take it, that is the package needing escorting?” The ginger-haired armored man voiced out after ceasing his walk some steps away from Hannah and Lee Ping. His voice, unlike the somewhat wicked appearance, expressed a deep and smooth tone to the man’s character. At least, that was what Hannah noted. “Must admit, smaller than expected. Handy, though. I can just grab her and run if need be.”
“Let's hope it does not come to that.” Lee Ping commented. “Hannah, this is Henry, the Bruiser who refused to lower his standards in order to protect a helpless lass like you. Still… I appreciate a man with standards, even if it cost me a pretty penny.”
“Haha. Mama told me to be honest, and I strive to fulfill her teachings.” Henry, the ginger man, laughed before responding. “Nice to meet you, Hannah. Also, happy birthday if what I was told was true.”
Opening her eyes wide, Hannah remembered that today could and would indeed be considered her birthday, just like she had agreed with her mother it would be whenever she succeeded in Awakening.
“T… Thank you. Mister.”
“Just call me Henry. None of that Mister crap. Alright!”
“Ok…”
“So… I am the first one here?” Henry asked as his forest green eyes forgot Hannah and focused on Lee Ping, the man who had hired him on this unfortunate day. “ Ah… Well, I am sure the others can't just confidently stroll around as I do.”
“Could be.” Lee Ping remarked. “Anyway, they should be here soon enough so we can discuss our tactics.” With that said, he ignored the man and focused on Hannah behind him. “Return to your drill. We need you as ready as you could be with barely half an hour of training.”
“Ha… Must have been some half an hour.” Henry added jokingly before finding the nearest wall and leaning on it.
Hannah made no reply to the attempted humor and simply returned to taking a gun stance while facing away from the man. Not only because she knew not what to say in return, but also because she did not want to accidentally fire the gun as her trigger finger had to be in position to mimic her readiness for shooting the gun.
Like that, Hannah repeated the exercise over and over.
A few times, Lee Ping had her jump and roll once or twice on the concrete before quickly entering a crouching shooting position. Had it not been for the Health Point buffer, Hannah would have hesitated much more in doing it. With it, though, she possessed much more confidence in not hurting herself because the very first time she had attempted the jump and roll sequence, the action made her lose one Health Point due to its badly angled attempt.
Unfortunately or fortunately, depending on how you look at it, it was only ten minutes later that her exercise got interrupted as more footsteps echoed in their direction.
Ceasing and staring down the hallway, Hannah witnessed two people come.
Both of them were women. One of them possessed a short wavy blond haircut, similar to a man refusing to visit a barber for half a year. The other one displayed shoulder-length black straight hair. As for their outfits, both wore leather armor, only here, Hannah was certain that it was leather armor since none of the hard and thick plates existed compared to the big ginger’s armor.
Both of the women were of Western racial descent, which made Lee Ping the only man present to be of Eastern descent so far. However, that was where the similarities ended between the two women because one presented two short sword sheets on her hips, while the other one held some kind of forearm-length stick in her left hand.
With everything going on, there was one thing that Hannah was certain of. One of those women she knew, at least as superficially as she could just seeing somebody from afar because the black-haired woman was the first person Hannah had unknowingly Scryed.
That fact was instantly discovered when the woman uttered one simple word when their eyes connected. “You?”
“I thought you said you did not know her?” The blond woman inquired.
“I don't.” The black-haired woman responded. “Moments before the Shroud descended and caught me right at its edge, our eyes met once.”
“Guess, both of you are unfortunate then.” The blond remarked before shrugging her soldiers and quickly introducing herself. “Call me Sandy, and this one, Mira. Fighter and Caster respectively.”
“Good to have some chicks down here,” Henry quickly added with a smile. “I am Henry. Bruiser by definition, but I don't mind being your Tank for the day. Don't hesitate to call me in your hour of need. I'll be there faster than you can blink.”
“No Role switching for you I am afraid.” Lee Ping quickly interjected. “I hired a Bruiser and you will act as a Bruiser. Understood?”
Holding up his hands in surrender, Henry responded. “Ay… There goes my chivalry. Sorry, girls.”
“It's fine. Never needed it in the first place.” Sandy, the blond rogue commented. “So who are we missing?”
“My luck was spent on the big guy, so there will be no true ranged support.” Lee Ping stated. “It will be another Fighter but considering we will be fighting inside tunnels, it's not that terrible for us.”
“Works for me.” Sandy said.
“Me as well.” Mira added.
“I don't really care.” Henry stated with confidence.
Lee Ping said no more and just indicated the newcomers to settle somewhere before thinking of having Hannah attempt another few minutes of drills. Only, that was when he noticed her brown eyes switching between the two women and two men inside the basement.
“What is it?”
“I… I don't know.” Hannah hesitantly murmured beside Lee Ping. “Something is different with them.”
Slightly intrigued, Lee Ping gave his supposed Party members a brief glance, specifically by comparing the two women and the sole man beside him. Only, he noticed nothing amiss. That made him wonder if the girl was sensing something special, since she was a Conjurer at heart all while possessing a Grand Dream. After all, who knew how that affected her and her perception of the new world she had just entered into?
But then, after dismissing those facts, there was indeed one possibility that made the two women stand out compared to him and Henry.
“If I am right, what you are picking up on is their obvious lack of Shells.” Lee Ping told her before elaborating further. “It's the only thing that makes sense as they are still Novices while Henry and I are Apprentices.”
“Shells?” Hanna repeated with clear confusion on her face.
Seeing the confusion, Lee Ping chuckled. “When the Shroud descended on us, did you not notice that I left no body behind?”
“I… ” Remembering that moment, Hannah indeed realized that she had indeed missed that. “No.”
“Can't blame you, girl.” Sandy added from across the large room as if Hannah’s conversation with Lee Ping occurred right beside her. “A lot of things must be rushing through your mind with everything going on. I mean, Awakening itself is world-changing enough, but caught within a Silver Shroud, and right after finding out a ginormous eye creature just straight out ripped a huge hole in the sky?”
No more words came out of Sandy’s mouth, but a shake of the head was enough to signify her thoughts.
“At least we knew it was coming. What with that bulge growing these past few years.” Mira, the black-haired woman finally joined the conversation, but not before glaring directly into Hannah’s brown eyes. “I still wonder who the Awakened was that guided it down on us. Not that it changes that much for us ordinary Dreamers.”
“Indeed… I wonder that as well.” Henry joined in on the staring.
If that was not enough, Sandy and Lee Ping followed as well, thereby making Hannah shiver and fidget around.
“Ok… Ok… Let's stop bullying the obvious culprit.” Lee Ping interjected, but not before letting Hannah marinate within those glares for at least ten seconds, since in some sense, she was the main fault he was stuck under a Silver Shroud with her. “It's not that hard to figure out. Not with the generous rewards I offered you guys.”
Just as he wanted to say a few more words, his ears noted additional footsteps coming their way. “Ah… Looks like our last member is arriving.”
With the reminder, five pairs of eyes settled on the arriving man.