The corridors of the NullFlux Bastion were silent—too silent.
Rhyes walked through them with steady steps, the faint echo of his boots swallowed instantly by the sound-dampening floors. The walls shifted subtly as he passed, layers of white alloy and black lattice rearranging themselves to accommodate internal systems invisible to the naked eye. Streams of data flowed beneath translucent panels like veins of light.
He stopped before a massive door.
It was not ornate. It did not need to be.
The surface was seamless, forged from compressed stellar alloys, faint runes of technology pulsing beneath it like a dormant heartbeat. Rhyes placed his palm against it. The door parted soundlessly.
He stepped inside.
"Zazm."
Zazm looked up from behind his desk. The room was vast, yet minimalist—white surfaces trimmed with black, floating interfaces suspended in the air like frozen constellations. A galaxy map rotated slowly behind him.
"Rhyes."
Rhyes walked closer, hands behind his back.
"Quite the bold decision you've made."
Zazm's gaze returned to the documents hovering before him.
"So the news reached you."
"Not just me," Rhyes replied. "Your decision has shaken the entire NullFlux Bastion."
"Is that so?" Zazm said flatly.
He paused, then looked up.
"Are you here to oppose it?"
Rhyes stopped a few steps away. For a moment, he said nothing. Then—
"I would have," he admitted. "But I can't deny it's a good decision. One I couldn't have made myself."
Zazm waited.
Rhyes turned and walked toward the enormous window overlooking space. Stars burned quietly beyond reinforced reality panes.
"Sacrifices must be made," Rhyes said.
"Not all lives are created equal."
He stopped, hands resting lightly against the transparent surface.
"It's a harsh truth. But our lives are worth more than others. Do you know why?"
Zazm nodded.
"I do. But I'd like to hear your view."
Rhyes didn't turn.
"Can an ordinary person erase an entire army?" he asked.
Zazm shook his head slightly.
"That's all there is to it," Rhyes said.
Silence followed.
Then Zazm spoke again.
"But the question remains—how many lives are worth ours?"
Rhyes turned back.
"That's a question best left unanswered."
He walked forward, stopping directly before Zazm.
"Supreme Commander Zazm," Rhyes said evenly, "this is a massive decision. Are you certain you can carry it?"
Zazm nodded once.
No hesitation.
No emotion.
Rhyes studied him for a moment, then exhaled.
"Asher and Neo will be joining you," he said. "I'll select the most elite soldiers we have and place them under your command."
He raised his hand slightly.
"Remember this—every death will be on you. A leader bears the lives of all his men."
Zazm stood.
"That's good," he said. "Because I plan to keep everyone alive."
His voice was empty.
His eyes hollow.
There was no kindness in his words—only cold calculation. The more soldiers that survived, the more valuable they would be in the future.
Rhyes nodded slowly.
"Everything is set," he said. "Except for one condition."
He turned, picked up a quill, and pulled a thin sheet of paper from a floating tray. He wrote swiftly, the ink rearranging itself into encrypted glyphs.
When he was done, he tossed the paper toward Zazm.
Zazm caught it.
"What is this?"
"Your leave," Rhyes replied.
"…What?"
"You're going to Earth with everyone," Rhyes said. "One month. Enjoy it."
"I can't," Zazm said immediately. "There are tasks to attend to. Preparations to—"
"I'll handle them," Rhyes cut in.
"I'll sign everything under my name for the next five years."
Zazm paused.
Then he sat back down.
"…Very well. Thank you."
Rhyes turned toward the exit.
"Don't thank me," he said. "If anything—come back alive. All of you."
"Of course."
Before leaving, Rhyes glanced back.
"The AMI marks are ready. I've already sent the invitations. Come with me."
Zazm stood.
"Let's go."
---
The chamber was colossal.
An immense medical hall unfolded before them—walls curved into infinity, layered with shifting hexagonal panels that adjusted temperature, gravity, and spatial density in real time. White dominated the space, broken only by sleek black conduits and streams of glowing cyan data.
Minos, Nova, and Jennie were already there.
Jennie stepped forward, hands folded gently.
"How have you been?"
"Fine," Zazm replied.
Nova followed, grinning.
"Supreme Commander Zazm. Supreme Commander Rhyes."
He laughed.
"You really dropped a bomb this time, huh? Making decisions without even asking us."
Zazm met his gaze.
"You're free not to follow."
Nova blinked, then laughed harder and clapped a hand on Zazm's shoulder.
"Relax, man. I'm joking. Why do you always take everything so seriously?"
Minos stepped forward, expression calm but heavy.
"This is a huge decision, Zazm."
"Zazm's probably heard that phrase ten times today," Rhyes said dryly.
Nova and Minos laughed. Jennie smiled softly.
Zazm didn't react.
"Minos," he said, "you'll be assisting Toreth with construction."
Minos nodded.
"He wants me overseeing everything directly."
"That's good."
Footsteps echoed.
"What's going on?"
Kiyomasa, Miwa, and Ai entered.
"Oh—we're last," Ai said casually.
"I was waiting for Miwa," Kiyomasa added. "She took twenty-five minutes."
"I took five," Miwa shot back. "The other twenty were me deciding what to wear!"
Ai sighed.
"So—today's the AMI mark day?"
"Yes," Minos replied.
A calm voice cut through the room.
"Is everyone here?"
Rhyes and Zazm bowed their heads slightly.
"Good morning, Miss Aina," Rhyes said.
Aina smiled warmly. Her silver hair shimmered under the lights, grey eyes sharp yet kind.
"A very good morning to you as well," she said.
"And to the rest of you—how are you feeling?"
"Great," Nova replied.
"Really good," Kiyomasa added.
"Then follow me."
---
They gathered around a circular table.
"Please stand in a circle," Aina said. "I'll explain the process."
Nova leaned closer.
"We trust you."
Aina chuckled.
"That's reassuring—but you should still know what we're doing to your bodies."
She activated the table.
A hologram of a brain appeared, rotating.
"This," she said, "is where the crystalline organ—pellucidum—is located."
She split the projection.
"We insert nanobots here. They integrate into the crystal, spread through your body, synchronize with your Vana flow, and form an AMI mark."
She raised three fingers.
"Combat type—random ability.
Support type—tools and enhancement.
Healing type—no weapon."
She pointed accordingly.
"Understood," Zazm said.
"When do we begin?"
"Now."
---
The capsule room looked unreal.
Dozens of pods lined the walls—sleek, translucent, humming with controlled reality fields. Each capsule adjusted gravity, oxygen composition, and time perception independently.
"Lie down," Aina instructed.
Everyone did.
"Zazm—wait."
He stopped.
"For the rest of you," Aina continued, "a gas will numb your pellucidum and Vana flow. You'll be unconscious for twelve to sixteen hours."
"That long?" Kiyomasa muttered.
"This is going to be hella boring." Miwa sighed.
"You can play games," Aina added cheerfully.
"These machines have the same mechanism as the ones at EIAA where they take your consioussness to a virtual world."
Eyes lit up instantly.
Nova dropped into a capsule.
"You're free to forget about me."
The lids closed.
Aina turned to Zazm.
"The gas won't work on you."
"Why?"
"Your body is too accustomed to Vana. Your pellucidum is far stronger."
She led him into another room.
A towering vertical capsule stood there, filled with a glowing pink liquid.
"You'll need this," she said.
"What is this?" Zazm asked.
"You see the drug used to numb pellucidum is given to others in form of gas that their body will absorb however your body needs it in an extreme concentration."
She pointed at the capsule, " that's pure pelluci if a normal remnant is put inside it within a few hours they'll use their ability to use vana for a long time however you're different. Your body would absorb it."
"You'll be spending Forty-eight hours inside."
Zazm stepped closer.
"It's fine."
Aina handed him a shorts saying, "Change into this."
He snapped his fingers.
His uniform vanished.
What remained was a physique carved by inhuman training—broad shoulders tapering into a narrow waist, muscle fibers dense and defined, every line sharp but controlled. His back was layered with strength, veins faintly glowing under his skin as Vana pulsed quietly beneath it.
Rhyes nodded in acknowledgment.
"You're built like a soldier, a physique carved from hard work and effort."
Zazm flexed slightly—muscles tightening like steel cables.
"Now go Inside," Aina said.
Zazm stepped into the liquid.
As the capsule sealed, his body floated—eyes closed, expression unchanged.
"Try to Stay awake,I know it's hard but bear with it." Aina said quietly.
The light dimmed.
And the procedure began.
---
Ancient, massive trunks wrapped in glowing moss stretched toward the canopy, filtering the sunlight into soft, hazy ribbons of gold.
A mild breeze carried the scent of damp earth and crushed pine, rustling the leaves with a sound like a distant standing ovation. Beneath the soil, roots snaked across the path like veins beneath skin, reminding anyone who walked there that the earth was alive.
Ai pushed through a cluster of low bushes, the leaves snapping against her coat. As the treeline thinned, the world suddenly cracked open. A natural cliff edge overlooked a valley so vast it felt like a dream—a kingdom of rivers like silver thread and mountains blurring into the violet sky.
Kiyomasa was already there.
He sat at the very edge, legs dangling over the drop, hands resting loosely by his sides. He looked small against the horizon, his gaze fixed on the distance as if trying to memorize the shape of the world.
"Planning on jumping, or just making me work to find you?" Ai asked. Her voice was calm, but it cut through the silence like a blade.
Kiyomasa flinched, his shoulders jumping before he turned his head. "Ai… you're here. I was just… looking."
Ai walked forward, her boots crunching on the stone, and stood beside him. The valley stretched endlessly, clouds casting slow-moving shadows over the green deeps below. She didn't look at him; she looked at the view.
"It's a lot of space," she remarked. "Hard to fill."
Kiyomasa let out a small, non-committal hum. After a moment, his voice drifted up, small and hesitant. "What are the others doing?"
Ai crossed her arms, a flicker of a smirk playing on her lips.
"Nova and Minos had a sudden 'genius' revelation. They're currently halfway up a tree building something that'll probably fall on their heads within the hour."
Kiyomasa offered a weak chuckle. It didn't reach his eyes. "Sounds like them." He paused, tracing the line of a distant ridge.
"And Miwa? Jennie?"
"Miwa is 'supervising'—which really just means she wanted an excuse to be near Minos. And Jennie is just sitting there, providing the commentary they didn't ask for."
"I see," Kiyomasa said.
His tone was flat. Not just quiet, but hollow. Ai's eyes narrowed. She didn't do "comfort" in the traditional sense. Instead, she stepped closer and threw an arm heavily over his shoulder, leaning her weight into him until he swayed.
"Alright, out with it," she muttered. "What's the long face for? You look like someone just told you the sun isn't coming up tomorrow."
Kiyomasa stiffened, turning his face away to hide the mounting redness in his cheeks.
"It's nothing, really."
In a flash, Ai's arm shifted.
She didn't let go; she tightened her grip around his neck in a playful, yet firm, headlock.
"Oh, so we're doing the hiding now? We've already got one person in this group who think brooding is a personality trait. Don't add to the quota."
"O-Okay! Stop! I'll talk! You're actually choking me!" Kiyomasa yelped, waving his hands frantically.
Ai loosened her hold but kept her hand resting on the back of his neck, her thumb brushing his collar. She sat down beside him, folding her legs.
"Talk."
Kiyomasa exhaled, the tension leaving him in a long, shaky breath.
"I'm just worried. We've been together every single day. Now, suddenly… we're all walking in different directions. It feels like the world is becoming too big again."
Ai looked out at the valley, her sharp expression softening for a fraction of a second.
"The world didn't get bigger, Kiyomasa. You just got used to it feeling small because we were all in it together."
She smiled. "Trust me, I get it. I've reached a point where I can't even start my morning without someone doing something idiomatic. It's an addiction."
Kiyomasa laughed, genuine this time.
"Yeah. Exactly."
Ai turned to him, her gaze sharpening. This was the part she hated—the sentiment—but she spoke it anyway.
"But look, that's the deal. People are like stories. Some are short stories, some are trilogies, but eventually, you hit the final page. What matters isn't that the book ended; it's that you remember the plot."
She leaned back on her elbows. "Even if we all died tomorrow, what would you do? Sit around and complain to the ghosts?"
Kiyomasa froze, his eyes wide. "I… I've never thought about you dying. I'd be… I'd be lost."
"Pathetic," Ai teased, though her voice was soft. "In that moment, the pain is just proof that the memories were real. That's your anchor. And we've got enough memories to weigh down a battleship, don't we?"
Kiyomasa smiled at the ground. "Too many."
"Exactly. And we aren't even dying. We're just on different chapters. We'll meet up, eat something overpriced, and complain about our missions. It's not an ending, it's a mere timeskip."
Kiyomasa looked toward the setting sun, the orange glow painting his face. "Yeah. And maybe one day we'll be old. We'll be sitting with our families, telling our kids about the time Nova almost fell out of a tree building a useless hut."
Ai burst out laughing, a sharp, bright sound. "Families? Kids? Moving a bit fast, aren't you?"
Kiyomasa turned a shade of scarlet that rivaled the sunset. "I-I'm just being logical! It's what happens!"
Ai leaned in, a mischievous glint in her eyes. "Spoken like a man with a secret. Do you actually have someone in mind, or are you just daydreaming?"
Kiyomasa's blush deepened, but then his expression faltered. He looked down at his calloused hands. "No. I doubt anyone would want… well, me."
Ai's smile vanished. "Why the hell would you say that?"
"It's obvious," he whispered. "I'm not sharp like Nova or Zazm. I didn't have parents to teach me how to be… a man, I guess. I grew up slow. I don't even know how to take care of myself, let alone someone else."
Ai stared at him, her heart doing something annoying and heavy in her chest. "That's it? That's your big tragedy?"
Kiyomasa nodded silently. He added, "I just hope Miwa and Minos stay happy. And Jennie and Nova—they fit. I want them to have what I can't figure out."
Ai snorted. "Miwa and Minos are a given. But Jennie and Nova? They're both so dense they'd need a map to find their own feelings. Don't worry—we'll be the ones to push them off the cliff when the time comes."
Kiyomasa chuckled. "True."
Ai stood up abruptly, dusting off her coat. She looked down at him, the golden light silhouetting her figure.
"As for you," she said, her voice regaining its usual casual arrogance. "If you're so worried about being alone because you're 'slow,' I'll just marry you myself."
Kiyomasa scrambled to his feet, nearly tripping over a root. "W-What?! Ai, you can't just—you're joking!"
Ai tilted her head, putting on a mock-pout. "Oh? So I'm not good enough? I get it. Who would want a girl with a foul mouth and a personality like a cactus…"
"No! That's not it!" Kiyomasa blurted out, his face burning. "I like yo-!"
Ai dropped the act instantly, a triumphant smirk spreading across her face as she crouched slightly to meet his eyes. "So you do like me. Glad we cleared that up."
Kiyomasa groaned, covering his face with his hands. "This is cheating. You trapped me. You literally backed me into a corner."
Ai laughed, a warm, real sound, and stood tall again. "Maybe. But I wasn't lying."
Kiyomasa looked up, stunned. "What?"
She didn't answer with words. She simply extended her hand toward him.
"Let's go. Before some tragedy occurs there."
Kiyomasa looked at her hand, then at her. He took it, his grip firm and warm.
"Yeah. Let's go."
---
Small, translucent bubbles drifted upward through the viscous, pale pink fluid, rising like slow-motion pearls.
Zazm floated weightlessly within the towering vertical cylinder. His body was suspended in the shimmering liquid, which hummed with a low, rhythmic pulse as it struggled to numb the immense Vana flow surging through his veins.
His eyes were closed, his face a mask of absolute stillness—a statue of ice submerged in a sea of rose.
In the hollow silence of his mind, he spoke. His internal voice was as flat and toneless as his expression.
'What are you doing?'
Zephyra was sitting on the floor at the base of the cylinder. She was leaning forward, her chin resting on one hand while she used the other to tap a slow, rhythmic beat against the glass with her fingertip.
Her hair—a deep, abyssal purple that looked like ink until the light caught the violet edges—spilled across the floor in heavy silken waves.
"Passing the time," she said, her voice a cool, relaxed drawl.
'You don't have to stay here,' Zazm said.
'You could go find Elziora. Or rest.'
Zephyra didn't move for a moment. Then, she let out a short, quiet huff of air and shifted. She didn't get up; she simply turned around so her back was against the transparent wall, her spine aligned with his floating form. She stretched her legs out across the floor, crossing them at the ankles in a lazy, casual sprawl.
"And leave you here in a jar?" she asked, a trace of a smirk in her voice. "I'm not that bored yet."
What is the point of this?
She sighed, the sound airy and melodic. "If this were any other day, maybe. But right now, you're in no condition to fight. If something happens—if the universe decides it wants a piece of you today—you'd need someone to save you."
Don't be irrational. This is the most secure sector in existence. Nothing is coming.
Zephyra leaned her head back further, looking up toward the top of the capsule where his head was suspended. The dark purple of her hair seemed to bleed into the shadows of the room.
"I'll listen to your logic," she said softly, a ghost of a smile touching her lips.
"However..."
However?
"What am I supposed to do with a heart that just won't let me leave you?"
She didn't sound dramatic or desperate. She sounded like she was stating a simple, boring fact—like the sky being blue.
She glanced over her shoulder, her eyes meeting his through the layers of glass and pink fluid.
"I promised to stay with you, didn't I?"
Zazm said nothing.
He remained suspended in the liquid, a silent heart of ice. He didn't thank her, and he didn't tell her to go away again. He simply let her stay, the silence between them as comfortable as an ancient habit.
_______________________