Chapter 25: A signal
"Don't you wonder how did he know y'all exact location," Silas repeated, his voice barely a whisper, yet it felt louder. He was still sitting on the window, completely ignoring Kenji, who was frozen halfway to the shower, his jaw hanging open.
My heart dropped. I kept trying to force myself to think he's not talking about us but he really is."We went through secure tunnels," I forced out, trying to keep my voice steady. Nobody knew our route besides Jorah and until we were ten minutes out."
Silas took a step closer to the cot, his gaze locked on the faint. "Secure tunnels are a luxury not everybody uses it, Reiyo. The Authority doesn't need commands; they have something far greater."
He reached out a single finger toward the vest. I flinched back, but he stopped just short of touching the material.
"The Authority agent was just staring because he wasn't receiving a tactical update," Silas said, his eyes finally meeting mine, and I saw the deep, cold dread that reflected my own. "He was waiting for a signal to ensure y'all location."
He straightened up. "The mission was a ruse, Reiyo. The drone core was secondary. The Captain sent you to the Old Rogen District to force an encounter. Not to retrieve the core, but to find out who the Authority is prioritizing—and how they communicate."
Kenji finally moved, stumbling out of the shower room, a towel barely draped around his waist. "Prioritizing what? Jorah died for a distraction?"
"Jorah died because the Captain needed the Authority to use their high-level power," Silas corrected, his voice flat. "And that agent's power—the material he used to seal the tunnel—was just the thing the captain needed. A spiritual signal transmitted across a vast distance."
Silas rubbed his hair, the gesture betraying the intense mental effort he was undergoing. "I've been analyzing spiritual energy for months. It's a method of communication used back in ancient times—the ones our ancestors used to use, the original Syqnix's, were sworn to fight. It's too complex for ordinary Authority agents. It had to be a high person that have power around their."
I felt the tingling in my arm intensify."The agent have to be one of the people who is above the law right."
"Precisely," Silas confirmed. "And I think he felt the distinct presence of your own energy. Your power, Reiyo, we've still yet to know you and Kenji special abilities.The Captain even stills wonders if y'all even posses one. But I'm pretty sure the Captain sacrificed Jorah to get a clear, clean message from the enemy."
Silas finally broke his rigid posture, turning to the door. "We don't have time for a full debriefing here. The Captain has already assigned our next mission, and it starts in thirty eight minutes."
He turned back, and his expression was no longer cold—it was one of deep. Reiyo,I think your reassignment is a trap. I think it was designed to lure that specific Authority agent out again. The Captain wants you to either force the enemy into a fatal battle, or get killed trying."
"Then where are we going?" I demanded.
"Somewhere completely exposed i think," Silas whispered. Probably where a signal can't be found. Come with me now. We are bypassing the Captain's plan. I have a place in this dump of a fortress that no one knows about not even the heads of Anima. I think I know what you're truly facing."