Chapter 104: Reunion

"...It seems it really happened... who would’ve thought..." I look from the edge of the island toward a ruin the island is approaching. By this point the island is nearly stopped, with minimal movement that will soon cease entirely. I look at my students who are here with me.

"Charlotte, could you open a fissure to that ruin top over there?" I ask Charlotte, pointing to a spot that seems suitable, while Edith is looking curiously at the underside. Normally you can’t get close to the island’s edge, but I have special access thanks to Nadir’s authority.

"Of course, Professor, but are you really going to trust me so quickly? Hehehe," Charlotte says in an animated tone, taking a little while before opening a rift in space. She goes in first despite what she said, followed by Eirwen, Tanya, and Rouge, though Ashlyn and Edith seem excited.

"Get in already, the others already went in." I push the two of them inside, entering with them, and we appear exactly on top of the place I expected. But of course, the reaction is also what I expected—we’re surrounded by an armed group instantly.

’They’re still as efficient as ever...’

"...Identify yourselves." I look at the various soldiers in the same uniform with the ship’s symbol, vector weapons pointed at us while they seem ready to fire. I know it’s Nadir’s team. Some of them see me and start telling the others, which makes them lower their weapons though they keep their hands on the triggers.

"Do I still need to identify myself? If you think I do, then you’re being VERY bold." I say with sarcasm to the one who ordered me to identify myself.

"No need. I’d recognize you anywhere... Former Commander Zenith, what are you doing here... and who are they? I can’t question much whether or not you have permission to be here, but this is a high-risk area and you shouldn’t come here with... visitors." He moderates his words a bit though his tone is quite harsh.

"Call Nadir, and take those six to proper accommodations. They’re not mere visitors—they’re my students and they’re here to learn new things. I know the rules well, and I know I can bring people I deem capable of handling problems on their own." The soldiers look at the students, who are simply distracted by the actual ruins.

"..." He raises an eyebrow at me. Even a common soldier can recognize that those six don’t have the bare minimum to be here, but he can’t question much. They have the strength to be here; they just don’t have the right posture for the situation.

"Understood... please follow me. Commander Nadir can’t come right now, so I’d rather take you to him. We can also take these girls... to proper accommodations." I start following the one who seems to be in command of this small squad while the other soldiers begin treating my students like civilians because of their clothes and attitude. They’re guiding them along a path that I can see leads straight to the ship.

Following the soldier, I’m taken to a ruin in relatively good condition. He knocks on a door that opens, and I see Nadir fiddling with a portable monitor alongside several screens and monitors.

’I see they’ve prepared everything... efficiency hasn’t dropped at all even without me... I bet Cecília had a hand in it, she’s good with technology...’

"Nadir?" I call Nadir’s attention, and upon hearing my voice he stiffens—an expected reaction considering I shouldn’t be here.

"Z-Zenith!" He quickly looks back, surprised, and I see a somewhat goofy smile on his face. He seems to notice through my smile, so his expression turns more serious and he clears his throat, shifting his tone a bit.

"What are you doing here, Zenith? You shouldn’t come to this place... you used my authority, didn’t you? You know you could get in trouble for that..." He gives a nod for the soldier to leave. I close the door so we have some privacy and won’t be disturbed.

"Nexus—"

"Nexus Deactivate, using protocol S1." Nadir interrupts me, being faster than me at deactivating the Nexus so it won’t hear anything we discuss. Although it sounds kind of stupid for the Nexus to have commands that deactivate it, this is necessary for anyone in a high position who needs to discuss something that shouldn’t become public.

But of course, Nadir and I abuse these commands a bit for private conversations, which is wrong. But if no one knows, then it doesn’t matter—it doesn’t harm anyone anyway.

"...You know, Nadir, that hooded woman who’s been stealing all the attention recently—she’s the reason I’m here. She wanted to lure me to this ruin... or at least that’s what she implied, because actually the way she spoke wasn’t really that of someone stating, requesting, or wanting something. It was very manipulative."

"..." He motions for me to come closer while showing me the computer screen. There are various maps and data, but what seems to matter is scribbled on papers taped over the screen.

’How clever. The Nexus can’t necessarily see what’s on the screens because the screens don’t have cameras, so by scribbling papers over the screen, you create an image the Nexus doesn’t know...’ Nadir is always brilliant at bending rules, which is somewhat concerning but also somewhat charming.

"Look at this. It’s a layout of all the secret areas we found, but look here, here, and here too where I marked it. Someone tampered with this recently, and I noticed thanks to marks that didn’t have damage as if they were old, but were made to look natural."

"I haven’t shown anyone yet, and it seems I was the only one who noticed since, unlike the others, my focus was more on analyzing the environment than the papers we found. But I think there’s another secret passage outside, beyond the defense walls of this city... and... if I’m right... that’s probably where the hooded woman went."

"Do you think it’s the hooded woman luring us in?" I question him, and he gives a nod even though it’s kind of obvious. But the point is, I wasn’t the only one who noticed.

"Nadir, the higher-ups should send some teams down in two days. That means we only have three days to do whatever we want, considering it’s still morning and I’m not counting today... are you going to want to see more?..." I planned to see it alone, but with him here I won’t do anything if he doesn’t do it too.

"...I know you’ve always wanted to know more about our past, Zenith... but I don’t know... this is really that suspicious. I think it’s something we still have to decide." He stays neutral about it.

"I brought my students for several reasons, even if it wasn’t the best idea. Do you have something for them to do while we take a look at this alone?" I try to make him see that I really want to investigate this.

"..." He seems to notice what I really want, so he stays silent for a few seconds. He looks at the screens where he scribbled over several sheets of paper and made notes.

"...I see. You want to go check on this, then?"

"...Yes, I want to investigate!!! This secret passage you found—I feel like it was made for us... or rather, I feel like that’s where we should go." I say to him with a confident tone. I really want to go and learn more.

"...Hmmm... Zenith, you know why I pulled you out of the army... seeing that you’re going to get involved again really bothers me..." His tone is somewhat melancholic about me "returning" to getting involved in dangerous things.

"I know exactly why you did it, and I’m angry at you for doing it. But you can’t deprive me of knowing the truth. Why were we both on the streets? What happened before? Why don’t we remember anything past a certain point? Why, even without remembering anything, did we intuitively know the names we should have?"

"Why did we split up!! And which one of us is the original?"

"..." He gives a somewhat sad smile.

"You were always the more curious and bold one... alright... haaa... but Zenith, if we discover something that isn’t good, nothing will change, right?"

"Of course not. I just... feel like knowing this would complete my life more. Nothing will change between us. Everything we lived and went through together doesn’t change just because I found out about our past! You’re still Nadir, the same crybaby from the past who only grew up a little!" I say in a way that makes it clear nothing will change.

"Hahaha, yeah, I guess so. You’re the same tough girl from childhood—bold, strong, and aggressive... by the way, I have things to ask about your prosthetics. Why are they like that?"

"...I’ll explain later, but for now just know that everything’s fine with them! These new prosthetics are actually even better than the old ones."

"...Let’s get ready to head out tomorrow. I’ll arrange something to keep your students occupied, and I’ll also deactivate the suit trackers so the Nexus won’t know where we’re going."

"Perfect—"

"And you, Zenith, should get proper gear. That outfit you’re wearing won’t protect you from anything."

"Okay! Okay, you bossy man!! I’ll take care of myself. But you also need to be careful. You know this is a trap, right? The hooded woman clearly seeks to gain something that can only be gained with the two of us together."

"That’s almost obvious, but knowing you... this hooded woman won’t get what she wants." He says confidently in what I can do, and I smile contentedly at him. This dynamic between us pleases me.