Vatican Barracks
Lynx stiffened against his captor's grip, his wrists aching within the firm handcuffs as he was dragged forward. The pain only complemented the dull throbbing in his legs, his clothes torn here and there.
His face remained contorted in a deep frown as he glanced toward Rowynn a short distance away, her gaze fixed to the ground while they moved slowly through the familiar halls, two soldiers leading and two trailing behind.
Lynx's fists instinctively clenched at the bitter memory of their capture.
The damn council had set the entire fortress to destructive mode, everything shattered right from underneath the ground. Amidst the chaos, they had almost escaped. Almost.
As soon as they made it out, a troop of soldiers swarmed them. He remembered the sharp blow to his head before losing consciousness. That must have been when they hijacked their powers. The bastards had made their plan foolproof. He cursed inwardly.
His thoughts were cut short as the soldier's grip tightened. They were dragged into an office. The moment they stepped inside, the Superintendent's smug face was the first thing they saw.
Anger welled inside him. Lynx surged forward, only to be yanked back, though his burning gaze never left the older man.
Jeremy rose slowly from his desk, his eyes drifting between the two youths.
"Wow…" he breathed. "It's been such a while, hasn't it?".
His gaze lingered on their bruised, grazed appearance. "I hope my men treated you well?" he added lightly.
Disgust twisted across both their faces.
A fake smile stretched across his lips as he stepped closer. "You're welcome back from your little break."
Lynx scoffed. "Take one more step and I swear—"
Rowynn met Jeremy's gaze, her expression mirroring Lynx's anger.
Jeremy stopped. The smile vanished, replaced by a thin frown. He turned to the officers.
"We'll be leaving soon. Get them ready."
"Yes, sir," the men replied, snapping into a salute before hauling the youths back out of the room.
One of the men stayed back. He stepped forward.
"Sir, please permit me to ask… I thought we were to await the arrival of the other participants before leaving."
"That won't be necessary," Jeremy replied.
Now that the laboratory and council equipment had been burned down—thanks to those rogue kids—his expression hardened for a second.
"The location for the experiments has been moved, and preparations are already underway. As for the other runaways, they'll be joining us at our new location."
"What if they don't, sir?" the younger officer asked.
Sp. Jeremy smiled faintly. "It's a sure fact. Don't worry yourself over it," he stated firmly.
...................
Nexis
National Institute of Defence
Zara moved from one point to another, loading gadgets onto a system-controlled transporter. She suspended a bunch of devices in purple field spheres, two in each palm as she gathered them, speeding up the exercise.
She glanced toward Kymani, who was carrying out the same task a short distance away.
"How's it going over there?" she asked.
"Okay," he replied. "Not as fast as you, though."
Zara smiled faintly, before a sudden glint appeared on her wristband.
She tapped the screen as an incoming call flashed up.
President Zha'rik's aide appeared.
"Hello, Commander," she spoke first.
"I'm calling to report an emergency," he said instead. "Where is your teammate?"
Kymani was instantly called over.
"There's been a slight change of plans," the man announced. "Once your mission is complete, you are to remain in Nexis. This will be the new location for our meeting."
Zara and Kymani exchanged confused glances.
"Why the sudden change?" Kymani asked.
"In the absence of a functional laboratory facility and equipment, the council intends to continue their experiments in Nexis. Preparations have already begun. They're set to start as soon as possible."
"As soon as possible?" Zara repeated. "Have they suddenly realized there are lab animals they could sacrifice for study instead of humans?" she joked.
"No," the commander replied seriously. "Though no information has been shared yet, the Superintendent's persistence to resume research can only mean one thing."
"One—or some—of you has been caught."
Zara's eyes widened. "No…" she shuddered at the thought.
"I advise you to reach out to your colleagues," the commander added, before ending the call.
Zara stood frozen in place.
"It can't be. If someone got caught, they would've reached out… right?" she said, turning to Kymani.
"I'm not waiting to find out," he replied, already setting up a call with Valtor.
A few seconds later, his face appeared on screen.
"Valtor, where are you right now?" Zara asked.
"Orea and I are with my dad," he replied.
"Has the commander briefed you guys yet?" Valtor asked.
"Yeah. And he thinks one of us has been captured," Kymani said.
"Two of us, actually," Orea's voice cut in as she joined the call. "We just tried reaching Lynx and Rowynn… they're not responding."
Zara and Kymani slowly turned to each other in shared understanding.
"Damn it!", Kymani muttered as he turned away while Zara stood still, exhaling slowly.
"So," she said, "what's our actual plan?"