Chapter 23: Forgotten
We stumbled out of the service tunnel and onto the platform. The fortress light hit my eyes, sharp and unforgiving. The clean air here was a disgusting reminder of the price we'd paid and Jorah's final decision, Kenji's vacant stare, and the smell of blood and burnt metal clinging to our clothes.
I slapped the thermal pack containing the core onto a railing. The Captain and Silas stood there, still and silent. No medical unit. No congratulations. Just judgment.
I forced myself to speak. "Captain. Mission accomplished. The drone is officially secured."
The Captain's gaze was cold. "Where is Jorah?"
"He detonated his body," I stated, the words tasting like ash. "It was his on decision. He died securing the asset."
Kenji visibly shuddered beside me.
The Captain looked at Rana. "Confirm the asset's integrity."
Rana, shaken but professional, confirmed the drone core is still intact.
"Good," the Captain stated, his nod dismissive. He looked at the four of us—broken, bloody, and running on fumes. "My scions Reiyo and Kenji. You are integrated. Report to Silas for reassignment in one hour."
He didn't offer a moment of rest. Jorah was already forgotten.
"One hour? Captain, Jorah just—" Kenji started, his voice cracking.
"Grief is a luxury," the Captain said, his stare freezing Kenji's protest. "Can't let luxuries interfere with our missions. Report to Silas."
The Captain walked away without another word.
But Silas didn't move. He stayed right where he was, his eyes fixed, not on us, but on the ground near the tunnel entrance. He ignored the thermal pack and the exhausted Scions. He was studying the flakes of petrified material that had fallen from our gear—the remnants of the Aetherium agent's unknown power.
"An hour means sixty minutes, Hey Reiyo," Silas said, his voice quiet like he wanted to talk in private. He knelt, examining the material with an intense, surgical focus.
"I need to know everything about the agent that sealed the tunnel," he murmured, speaking to the petrified dust more than to me. "The anomaly in his signature... the level of refined focus. He was aiming for more than your lives."
I watched Silas, the cold dread crawling back into my gut. This wasn't professional analysis. It was something deeper. How would Silas know that the aetherium agent was a high-level spiritual entity. I felt a surge of cold alarm. Silas's focused gaze felt like he knew something that i didn't know, felt like he wasn't willing to tell me nothing . The Captain must have risked the mission to force this reaction.
I tightened my jaw and stepped toward him. "Silas," I said, my voice low. "He looked at me. Would you know anything about that person, I questioned.
Silas slowly looked up, his eyes meeting mine. His facial expression changed, just slightly, revealing a deep, troubled flicker of recognition.
"We don't need to talk about nothing because I simply don't know anything about that person,Reiyo," so why are you asking he said, rising stiffly. "Well the way you we're looking at that stuff seem liked you probably knew something about it alr, I responded.
No I don't know anything, Silas said. And that was the last thing he told me before walking, I think he knows something and he is hiding it.