Reol and Tyla entered the lab to find Cassidy pressing buttons at rapid speed.
"The gear is ready," Cassidy said.
Two pods slid open. Tyla stepped into one immediately, while Reol hesitated. She glanced back at him, grinned, and nodded her head. Reol took a breath, then stepped into the other.
[Welcome, Tyla Rogers. Welcome, Reol Alexandra.] the system spoke.
[Scanning....]
Blue light washed over their bodies as information appeared on the screens. Blood type, height, weight, and even their abilities.
[Generating....]
Their clothes vanished as body suits began forming from their feet upward, energy flowing across their bodies. Moments later, Reol's clothes reappeared over the suit.
[Body suit generation complete.]
The pods opened with a hiss, smoke leaking out as they stepped free. Tyla pressed a few buttons on her wristwatch, and a white coat formed over her suit, the Fortextile uniform marked with the Honeybadger crest.
Reol stared at her, fascinated.
'That's so fuckin cool…' he thought.
Then he felt his own body and frowned.
"Wait… this doesn't feel like my body suit…"
Cassidy nodded. "Yeah, that's the company-issued one. You'll have to do this mission without your original suit since I'm still working on it. Trust me, with the state your body suit was in, you wouldn't last long on a real battlefield. I'm also still working on your uniform, and I think you'll love it."
Reol hesitated, anxiety creeping in. Then he thought of how his siblings depended on him and shook it off.
"Fine. I'll leave it to you then, Cass."
She shot a thumbs-up. "And when you get back, I'd love to study you…" she added, drool hanging at the corner of her mouth.
A chill ran down Reol's spine, and he slowly slipped away.
"Oh yeah, Reol," Cassidy said, tossing his skateboard. Reol caught it easily.
"Thanks…"
Reol and Tyla made their way to the front gate, where a truck waited. They climbed in. Lyle Greenstone was already inside. He sat relaxed, white coat on, sleeves rolled up like he didn't bother with rules unless he felt like it. Crimson eyes cut toward them, sharp and assessing. His blond fade was clean, almost precise, a stark contrast to the tattoos crawling along his left arm and the piercings lining both ears.
"Ah, so you must be the newbie. You better not hold us back," Lyle said with a grin.
"And you better not mess shit up like usual," Tyla shot back.
"Come on, that was only one time!"
As the truck drove off, Reol grew quieter than usual. His hand kept drifting to his arm as he thought, 'It's really weird hunting Voletiles without Lorraine's snarky comments and questionable analysis…'
Tyla noticed and glanced at him with a small smile. "It's okay to be nervous." Her voice pulled him out of his thoughts.
"You're used to fighting on your own terms, so this is probably unfamiliar territory," she continued, taking his hand. "Just trust us. Everything will go smoothly."
Her words settled in. Reol's eyes widened slightly, then a faint smile tugged at his lips. "You're right… I should trust you guys."
"Okay, lovebirds, we're already cramped enough in here," Lyle said. "No need to make it hotter."
Reol and Tyla quickly pulled apart, both looking away. Tyla jabbed Lyle on the head.
"Wha—hey!" Lyle yelped, rubbing the spot.
"We're almost at the port," the driver announced.
[Scan initiated.]
[Hostiles detected: 7]
[Classification: Voletile | Rank: E]
[Threat assessment: 40%]
[Recommendation: Proceed with caution.]
Reol was shocked, this was the first announcement that hinted at probable success. They reached Newlands Port and jumped from the van.
"I'll be waiting around the corner for your safe return," the driver said.
"Thanks, Jeff," Tyla replied.
"Be careful out there, kids. Remember… nothing's certain." The truck drove off.
Reol, Tyla, and Lyle stepped onto the port. Containers loomed like jagged metal walls, half-shrouded in thick fog. Fleeting glimpses of stacked steel appeared through the gray haze. The air was damp and heavy, silence pressing in, broken only by the distant creak of steel bars swaying from a Gantry crane.
"System, scan the area and provide me with a visual map and connect to both Reol and Lyle's systems," Tyla commanded.
[Scanning initiated… Area grid loading… Multiple units detected… Establishing link to Reol Alexandra and Lyle Greenstone.]
A holographic map materialized, overlaying the fog-shrouded port. Reol marveled at the precision and speed of the body suits' integrated systems.
[Shared visualization complete. All units synchronized.]
Tyla nodded. "Now that we have visuals, we shouldn't have trouble navigating through the fog. Reol, you are to only observe for now and watch how we handle things. Only act if your life is in serious danger."
"Right," Reol said.
They moved through the maze of containers, the fog swallowing their bodies as they pressed deeper. Silence pressed in, thick and heavy, broken only by their footsteps and the distant clanging of swaying steel bars.
"It's so quiet… usually you can hear Voletiles screaming from a mile away," Lyle remarked.
[Alert: three Voletiles detected, 10 meters ahead | Threat level: 15% | Engage with caution. Good luck.]
Tyla's eyes glowed pink as chains, humming with energy, materialized in her hands. Lyle's shifted green, forming two pistols in his grip.
'Shit… I forgot to pick up a weapon,' Reol thought, narrowing his eyes. 'It's fine… I'm sure I'll find something.'
He tightened his grip on his skateboard. Blue energy coursed along his arm, reshaping the board into a hoverboard with a low hum, faint arcs of light curling around it.
"That's so fuckin' dope, man…" Lyle whispered.
Whip–whip–whip!
Three shadows blurred past. Tyla's chain whipped in tight arcs, eyes darting, tracing every movement. Lyle leveled his pistols, ready.
The Voletiles lunged from opposite sides, claws tearing into the ground as all three rolled aside. Tyla flung her chain, wrapping it around one Voletile's head and yanking it into another, crashing them into a container that buckled under the impact. Lyle fired rapid shots, bullets piercing and destroying both cores as the creatures screamed, dissolving into smoke.
"So this… is how a team moves," Reol murmured, awe in his voice.
'It's almost like they can read each other's minds… maybe there's nothing to worry about after all,' he thought.
Tyla snapped him back to focus. "Stay sharp. There are still five more."
She thought to herself, analyzing. 'These are Newborns. You'd expect them to attack all at once. The moment they sense human blood they swarm like moths to a flame. Maybe the scent of the ocean is masking us?'
They moved closer, and for the past few minutes there was nothing—no movement, just mist and containers, the unnerving silence pressing against them.
Then—
One burst from a container, tearing metal as it lunged. Reol reacted instantly, smashing his hoverboard into the Voletile's chest and driving it into the container. Its core shattered, and it vanished, leaving Reol ragged and gasping for breath.
"Nice one… you've got real instincts there… even I didn't see that coming," Lyle said.
Tyla's eyes widened. "No… that's because… Newborns aren't capable of plotting sneak attacks," she gritted her teeth. "System… identify rankings of remaining Voletiles."
[Four E-rank in the area.]
Tyla's mind raced. 'No, that can't be…'
"Are you sure?" she asked again.
[Affirmative.]
"The system's never wrong, Tyla," Lyle said. "It may be true that these Newborns are acting strangely… but we don't know the full depths of Voletile behavior."
A sweat ran down Tyla's forehead as she thought, 'For our sake… I hope this is a case of the unprecedented.'
Reol's unease washed over him again. The confidence he had felt earlier was slowly fading. As someone who relied more on instincts than systems, he couldn't shake the feeling that something was off.
They moved through the mist with greater caution, eyes scanning the containers around them.
Up ahead, a Voletile crouched, hissing, waiting in silence. Two others prowled along the tops of the containers, partially obscured by the fog. The constant knocks of shifting metal echoed through the port.
'Co-ordination?' Tyla thought.
"System…" she called.
There was a pause. Then:
[Evaluating…]
[ALERT: THREAT LEVEL RISING…]
[ALERT: THREAT LEVEL: 40%… 70%…] Sensor pinging rapidly
The realization hit Tyla. Her eyes widened as memories of Felicia's warnings flashed in her mind. She had been told that all Voletiles act according to hierarchy, which meant…
"Shit..." she muttered.
Then she added, "The only way a Newborn can act with intelligence… is if there's a higher rank commanding them…"
[Rising… Rising…]
[Threat level… 85%… 90%…]
Above, on a higher container, a Voletile unlike the others crouching on all fours, stood on two feet.
Tyla and Lyle narrowed their eyes.
[Voletile: C-rank]
[Suggestion: Retreat]