18. Hideout

Somewhere at the Loncier Forest...

It didn't take them long to reach the hideout somewhere at the Loncier Forest. It's the giant forest encircling the academy like a shield.

The hideout was underground, beneath a big tree, concealed from prying eyes. It wasn't large. About the size of a small basketball court.

Cale, with a casual flick, brought the lights to life, revealing a command center. A wall of monitors sprang into view, each screen displaying a different vantage of the Island of Greendale. There's a command terminal before the monitors.

"Impressive. Who set up those cameras?" asked Lucas

"They're the Academy's. We have authorized access," Cale replied. Looking about, he noticed a computer in the corner. "Oh, there it is," he said.

"You... brought in a gaming PC?"

"Calling a state-of-the-art computer a gaming PC is quite the insult, don't you think?" said Cale before pulling a gaming chair before the computer.

"Fair," Lucas said with a shrug before exploring the area.

Meanwhile, Cale plugged in a flash drive, and the computer buzzed to life, projecting a geo-spatial map of the Dominion of Noah. The screen showed a cluster of blinking dots, all within Greendale, except for one lone signal back in the city. "Can you do the inventory, Lucas?" he asked, eyes sweeping across the room to dozens of metal boxes that should contain their Armada suits, Axara capes, taluses, and the array of various weaponry and gear they require.

They needed to be fully equipped if his suspicions were correct.

"Sure," replied Lucas as Cale began to tinker with the computer. "But it's odd. We shouldn't have these many boxes, no?"

"Yeah. Just make sure we have have everything, including the Axaras."

"We have Axaras too?" asked Lucas. "Way to go!"

When Cale glanced over, he noticed Lucas' eyes were seemingly aflame, likely excited. And it's understandable if Lucas could not hide that excitement.

Axara capes are made of reinforced graphene, making them somewhat bulletproof. These capes are tough and expensive to produce, and the materials used to reinforce the graphene can only be found in the Empire of Samirthya.

But Cale managed to convince the Director to issue a couple of them for him and Lucas.

Because when Armada and Axara are layered, while far from the level of protection Combat Frames provide, the armour set should give them some protection against some ballistic-based weaponry, which the Awakened are extremely vulnerable to.

...If only the Awakened could also use exosuits like Combat Frames, then they probably would have already destroyed the Ashen.

But alas, when they use their taluses, they can't use any form of technology. For some reason, magic and technology don't work together, and the research on magitech is still in its infancy.

Even magitech exosuits like the Archframes are only poor imitations of the Godframes.

So, even if the Awakened wears Combat Frames, it would be no different from wearing hunks of useless metal once they equip their taluses.

Thus, the best protection the Awakened could wear are often armours that function without the aid of technology, just like Armada suits made primarily out of Kevlar.

As Cale worked, he heard Lucas ruffle through their stuff. But he's taking a while. It's been 10 minutes. It shouldn't take that long. "Done?" he asked, glancing over.

"Yeah," Lucas said as he scratched his head.

"And?"

"We got food," said Lucas, pointing to the opened boxes filled with non-perishable goods.

"Pardon me?" asked Cale. It was a stupid question. He could see what Lucas was talking about himself. But he could be mistaken. According to some studies, hallucination due to exhaustion is not that uncommon.

"We. Got. Food."

But it looked like Cale wasn't hallucinating, after all. Someone in Supplies and Logistics made a cruel error.

He took a deep breathe and just nodded to Lucas, but he felt impatient within. This is bad, he thought. We will definitely need those.

"Cale, you good? You're looking a bit pale."

"I'm fine. I'll just have to email Supplies and give them a call later on," he said, before whispering to himself, "I just hope we get them in time."

"Hey. I heard that. In time for what?"

Cale ignored him, only allowing silence to descend on the room as he wrote an email to inquire about their supplies. He figured there must have been a mistake, and the boxes they got were supposed to go to another team.

But after a while of just white noise, he noticed something odd. "You're awfully quiet," Cale said as he wrote a quick email demanding what happened. Usually, his friend can't help himself but talk to fill the silence.

"Says the one who's always being so awfully quiet. But it's nothing. I was just thinking about what you said earlier."

"What in particular?"

"You're really okay with me being friends with her? With Chloe?"

“I don't see why not. As your handler, you have my permission. Feel free to maintain amiable contact with your new friends–– and do watch over her too," said Cale. He'd expected that Lucas himself would bring up the topic after he planted the idea of romance earlier. His friend just couldn't help it–– just as he expected.

“Watch over her too? Who?” said Lucas, his expression looked like those times when he got caught stealing someone else’s lunch in the refrigerator.

“Chloe.”

Lucas’ eyes glinted to that of suspicion. “Is there something about her I should know about?”

“You like her, don’t you? You must confess,” said Cale. It’s important not to beat around the bush, as the old saying goes. "And do you mind checking the server tower in the corner? There's some delay here," he said as he continued setting up the terminal.

Lucas' cheeks tinged with pink. He’s so easily flustered it’s almost comical. “Sure," he said as he proceeded to do what was asked. "And where did that even come from? Confess? Seriously?”

“None can fool my senses. When both your eyes meet, the air can only succumb to the stiffness of it all. It makes it difficult even for myself to breathe. She likes you, as you like her. It is only obvious,” said Cale quietly, stealing a glance at Lucas.

Lucas paled as he fiddled with the server tower's wires. “That sounded more like a declaration. But I'll bite. How do you even define ‘like’?”

Yet another proof that he does indeed adore the girl, thought Cale. Normally, Lucas would shrug off a subject he’s not particularly interested in, or pretend that he’s listening for the sake of being polite. But he’s doing neither and is actually actively engaging the subject.

Cale pretended to consider his words for a moment, before responding. “How do you define that pleasant feeling when you see her? When you're close to her?" he asked. A rhetorical question. "Lucas, my eyes sees through many. It cannot be fooled. Not even by you.”

“Look. I’m not going into this with you. If you’re worried as my handler, that my feelings will hinder the mission, you’re wrong," said Lucas. "And I found the problem. The GPU is just a bit loose."

Feelings. He said feelings. A subtle acknowledgement, thought Cale as he allowed Lucas to spout his excuses while fixing the server tower.

When Cale did not respond, Lucas cleared his throat. "Also, can we stop talking about this? We have much more important matters to atten––”

“You are an embarrassment to us all if you choose to hide your–– emotion; beneath an insipid logic of walking down a path of thorns beyond love and reason,” said Cale. He cannot allow his friend to wallow and hide. “Why, because you think you’re cool? The strong, silent type?” He scoffed as his fingers flew across the keyboard, confirming the server was back to normal. “…Laughable.”

Lucas’ mouth dropped at his words. As it should. “What? No! That's more like you!" Lucas said and pointed at Cale. "And are you saying I’m a coward?” he said, before pointing at himself and nudging his own chest. “Me?”

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

“I just said that.”

“Is everything alright, man? What’s gotten into you? Why are you acting like this?” Lucas said with a nervous chuckle.

Cale did not respond immediately for some dramatic flair, just staring at the geo-map as Lucas waited wide-eyed in impatience and tension, until Cale tapped a glass of water beside the keyboard, allowing a high-pitched sound to briefly filter through the air.

Lucas blinked, snapping back to reality.

“Much as you refuse to accept the truth, Lucas, our mission is at peril if you refuse to confess. As your handler, I cannot allow that,” he replied, before taking a sip of his water. In fact, the logic behind his words had nothing to do with anything. Just random babble. He just needed something, no matter how improbable to push Lucas to take action–– to confess. And he chose the mission as an excuse.

When someone wants to do something, but hesitates, it is crucial to give them a reason to do it. It doesn’t matter what that would be. What is important is as long as there is reason, no matter how big or small, then they will convince themselves to do it–– obviously, given they already want to do it in the first place. It’s a textbook example of the SPECTRA Handler Guide: Manipulation 101.

“What does confessing even have to do with my mission, handler?” Lucas laughed as he pulled a chair to sit beside Cale, emphasizing the word handler. His eyes then also shifted to the set of big monitors before them.

Cale expected Lucas’ hesitation, who he figured grasped for a reason of his own not to act on his own emotions. But Cale didn’t care. It won’t be fun if Lucas puts up no resistance.

However, he did struggle to find an answer to his friend’s question. Indeed, he needed a more tangible excuse to relate the mission to Lucas’ confession. To say, ‘Your mission is at peril if you don’t confess,’ can only do so much. It just sounds like a bad joke.

Not to mention it sounded ridiculous and unprofessional.

So, he needed to come up with something. Fast.

I need to come up with words having such seemingly deep implications, that just the utterance of them make it seem like they mean something, Cale thought before a light bulb exploded in his head. He cleared his throat and spoke, slowly articulating his words while he thought of other strategies he could use in this conversation. “You need to understand that your life is of blood and death––”

“Hold on. Don’t give me that. We’re the same,” Lucas said, before pointing at the geo-map. "And that blinking dot. Who's that? That's the only dot not in Greendale."

“Do not interrupt me when I talk,” Cale shot him a chilly look. “As I said, your life is of blood and death. You must find succour. A place of rest. Because you’ve been slipping, Avernus–– careless. I can only surmise your state of mind have become too erratic. Too consumed with impatience and fear of failure that you have forgotten how critical it is to maintain the ease of your mind. Thus, you must confess," he said. "Also, that's Fia."

Lucas' mouth dropped. “Damn. So much for our training to be as emotionless as possible," he said. "And why are you tracking Fia?"

“Being emotionless is a concept you seem to misunderstand. We train to control our emotions because we can never rid of them. Men are ruled by it. That doesn’t mean it’s always a bad or a good thing. And it’s up to us to realize when emotions can get in the way of our job,” Cale said. “But we can only do that when we accept our emotions. Denial only leads to ruin.”

“…Sure. But confession? What does that have to do with anything?” Lucas questioned. “Like seriously, I can never tell if you’re joking or not. And again, why are you tracking Fia?”

“Joking? Why do you say that? Am I wrong? You don’t like her?”

“No. That’s not––”

“Then what prevents you from telling her you like her? Nobody is asking you to put a ring on her finger,” said Cale, repeatedly mentioning the word ‘like’ to truly cement it in Lucas’ mind. To acknowledge his friend’s emotion without hints of mockery is a powerful tool against his hesitation.

“Wait… what? Put a ring on her finger? Where did you even learn how to talk like… Whatever, man. I’m not saying that I’m goi––”

“You stumble with your words. Do remind yourself that your poor excuse at deception fools me not.”

“Deception? You’re the one giving me unsolicited relationship advice?”

“Why? Is it unwelcome?"

"Yeah, actually, it's unwel––"

"And do you think I care?” began Cale with the straightest face he could muster. “What do you suppose should you do about it?”

“Man, you really are like those two. There’s like no middle line. You really don’t have to do that, you know?” Lucas sighed. “And look. Even if I want to. How would I tell her that? What if she rejects me? And I’ve never been in a relationship before," he said. "Also, again, why are you tracking Fia?"

There it is. He ate the bait and acknowledged his own feelings, Cale thought. I’ll just push a little bit further then stop for today.

“As I said, no one said anything about a relationship or marriage. Confession isn’t synonymous to dating,” Cale said, planting deeper the following words: relationship, marriage, dating, and confession. “Exploration of love and relationship is crucial to growth, Lucas. It may, or may not work. But you learn from it.”

When he said that last part, while subtle, Lucas was unable to mask his distraught. Indeed, Lucas might be imagining a future with Chloe, and Cale’s words just shattered that vision.

But, a vision of failure is not enough to stop his friend. Cale wouldn’t be suggesting confession if he knew Lucas was to give up out of sheer fear.

“I need specifics. Like, how do I even tell her I like her? I don’t wanna look like a creep. Like, I mean, sure, I saved her in the past. But I don’t want to use that as an excuse. I don’t want her to feel like I only like her because I saved her––,” said Lucas as an almost unnoticeable sweat slid down his jaw. “Fuck… am I even making sense right now?”

Cale scoffed. “You adapting even her pattern of speech is proof enough that my eyes are divine,” he said before shaking his head.

“Divine? You can be real pretentious sometimes.”

Cale ignored his friend’s words. “You need not an excuse to justify your feelings. What matters is how you feel, no matter how that came to be. How you like her and her company, and of course, letting her know that… is much more important. Unfortunately, I can’t tell you how to do that. But…”

“But?” said Lucas impatiently.

“But if there's a piece of advice I could provide. That is to be natural with your approach. Talk to her. About anything. Then tell her you like talking to her, and being around her, and that you like her,” said Cale, again repeatedly repeating the word ‘like’, to push Lucas to take action. “Integrity, in this context, is far more important than doing what you believe is the proper way of doing something.”

There are two ways a man acts when they like someone. They distance themselves, or they confess.

They distance themselves because they may be confused, or believe as if they have to rationalize their feelings. Or they are simply afraid.

Or they simply act and confess. Which is, again, what Cale is pushing Lucas to do. He cannot allow his friend to hesitate.

“What if I come out needy?”

“When you confess, then admit it is selfish for you to do so if you must. Apologize if you must. But you chose to confess anyway - even at the risk of her ire - because you’d rather not live regretting you’ve never told her how you truly feel. That way, you won’t come across deprived.”

“I don’t know. I don’t want to destroy our friendshi––”

“Do you really consider her your friend when you’ve just met?”

“Well. Yeah. You said it yourself, that even she already considers me her friend. And who cares if we just met? We’re friends. What’s so wrong with that?”

“Nothing. But when two souls like each other beyond friendship, and both refuses to acknowledge their own feelings. That feeling of–– love, turns into hate,” said Cale. There really is no factual basis behind that, but if he speaks words with so much confidence and authority, the unwary is prone to believe anything.

Lucas blinked at Cale. “I suppose you’re––”

“Right? Of course, I am. When was I ever wrong? There’s a reason I’m a handler. A reason I was recalled."

Lucas pressed his lips and gulped. “I guess I’m just afraid of her rejecting me.”

He’s not changing the subject. I can push a bit further, Cale thought as his eyes sharpened. “Then expect the worst. She WILL reject you. And it will hurt. Far sharper than a serrated blade ripping through your chest. But take it with grace. Because you are Avernus,” said Cale. “What’s important is you tell her you like her, while letting her know that you don’t expect her to return your feelings. And that you’re alright with that. Do you understand?”

Lucas couldn’t even meet Cale’s eyes. But he scoffed. “Right. Yeah, just tell her. Sounds easy enough,” he said, before shifting his gaze back to Cale, slightly raising his voice. “Are you serious? Like how do you even do that? Like, no matter how you put it. That just sounds selfish.”

“Lucas.”

“What?”

“As one of the Hummingbirds. Do you remember all our promises to each other?”

Lucas’ gaze suddenly shone with bloodlust. “To kill Muriel.”

“Yes. And you cannot waver. If you walk this road half-heartedly, then you do not deserve to fight with us,” Cale said, lifting a finger as he did so, not allowing Lucas to speak. “You waver when you walk with regrets. You already have enough of them. To add love onto the list not only pushes you deeper into the abyss, but it will also put those who fight with you in danger. Love is powerful. It gives you something to defend. A stronger reason to fight, no matter how cliche it may sound. So do not be a fool and underestimate it. No one, not even you, is invulnerable to love. It’s a matter of how you react to it.”

Or something along those lines, Cale thought, acknowledging that his own words were supposed to seem to mean something when they meant nothing at all. The idea was to make it seem like he knew what he was talking about.

Something about stringing together similar platitudes in a confusing mess to reach an idea that seems to mean something, when it means nothing at all.

“I know…”

“Hate me for crossing your boundary, but do know that I do not say all this as you’re handler, but because while we do not share the same blood, you are still a brother of mine.”

Lucas smiled. “You have to teach me how to gaslight like you do in the future. But yeah, I already get it.”

But Cale shattered that smile as he circled back to the genesis of their discussion. “Nothing prevents you from chasing love. So, do not tell yourself that love has no place in your heart. Because as someone, who walks the same path as you, that logic is the logic of a coward. And I do NOT fight with cowards.” And that’s the sinker – a fallacy.

Lucas sighed. “Cale… you’re a fucking asshole," he said. "Also, why are you avoiding my question? Why are you tracking Fia?"

"I'll tell you about Fia, later," Cale said. He can talk about the matter on Fia later on, once he's actually confirmed his suspicions.

"Alright."

Cale then stretched his arms before standing up from his seat. "Also, you need not rush, Lucas. But do not wait too long. Someone else might snatch her. Someone who sees her value,” he said before briefly silencing himself for another yet deliberate dramatic pause. “Or.”

“Or?”

“Or you or she may die tomorrow for all we know.”

Lucas looked pallor and afraid as he widened his eyes at Cale.

It may be too much to remind Lucas of Chloe’s condition. But it was necessary. After all, Cale is a villain. The idea of boundaries is beneath him. “Anyway, we're done here for now. We need to head back. But we need the Veils. Can you check if it's somewhere? Those are the most important things we need, right now. I hope they didn't forget."

“Sure. Aren't those the necklaces that are supposed to temporarily lock our soul cores?” asked Lucas as he busied himself. "...Found it."

“Yes. Should allow us to fake an Awakening.”

As agents of SPECTRA, they have to be very careful no matter how insignificant something may seem to avert any type of suspicion. Thus, they must use a Veil Necklace to temporarily lock their soul cores. It’s somewhat of a watered-down version of those collars used to lock the cores of captured Rogues.

The only difference is that the necklace will also allow them to dampen their soul core, making their levels temporarily go down to a lower level that they desire, which they would be doing most of the time at the academy. So, even if Cale is Level 43, he could power himself down to Level 1.

“Can’t we just keep hiding our soul cores? Then do a slight release and activate our Aura?”

“No. We have to act as natural as possible. We have to limit anything or any actions that might point to our identities as Primes, no matter how insignificant.”

Lucas shrugged. “Whatever you say, boss.”

Cale's phone buzzed. Supplies responded.

[We apologize for the mistake. We will have the issue sorted out in a week.]

Cale sighed. If they're making a move soon, a week would already be too late, he thought. I expected there would be some logistics issue with how big the overall operation is, and with different organizations working together. But I wasn't expecting it to be this bad. What a blunder...