Chapter 249: Finally, I’m back!

Unsurprisingly, there was really nothing that ended up approaching him.

Blake waited, and waited... but nothing came, there was not even the slightest sound from the hallway.

Eventually, he could only accept that whatever had been behind the strange invitation wasn’t going to reveal itself tonight.

Blake grumbled under his breath as he walked out of the hotel.

He had spent hours wandering around for practically nothing.

Outside, a car was already waiting for him.

Blake got inside.

The moment the door closed, he leaned back against the seat and let out a long sigh.

He was exhausted, he had barely slept at all.

He had spent another two hours wandering around the hotel, listening carefully for anything unusual. He had been particularly interested in the possibility that someone, or something, might move around outside his room.

Eventually, at around three in the morning, Blake finally gave up and lay down. Even then, he hadn’t really allowed himself to sleep.

He remained alert, listening for footsteps, for voices, just for anything that might indicate that someone was moving through the hotel.

But the night remained quiet.

By the time morning arrived, Blake was thoroughly exhausted.

His skill was already active when he got into the car, so the driver didn’t even acknowledge his presence.

The man simply started driving.

Blake stared out of the window.

’Ah, hell.’

He closed his eyes for a moment.

’I can’t just sleep like this...’

The ride to the airport wasn’t even that long to begin with.

Besides, there was another problem.

Since the driver couldn’t perceive him, he wouldn’t be able to wake him up if Blake actually fell asleep.

Blake sighed.

’Seems like I’ll have to play with my phone...’

He pulled it out and spent the rest of the ride trying to keep himself awake.

It wasn’t particularly productive, but at least it kept him conscious.

***

The moment Blake stepped off the plane, he felt himself become a little more awake.

He was still extremely tired.

He had slept through practically the entire flight.

But there was something about finally arriving that made the exhaustion easier to ignore.

Today, he’d get to see Myles again!

It had only been four days, four days without contact.

Considering how often they had reunited throughout the past several months, Blake had grown accustomed to the strange feeling of looking forward to these moments.

And, as always, he was excited.

He made his way out of the airport and found the waiting car.

Estelle was already inside.

Blake opened the door and got in.

He took out a unit and, slowly, his appearance began to change.

His disguise faded, body shifting back into its usual form.

His clothes changed with it.

The woman who had spent the past few days attending the event disappeared, and Blake returned.

Once the transformation was complete, he deactivated his skill.

Estelle’s eyes immediately settled on him. Then, she started driving right after.

"Seriously, I don’t think I could ever get used to this..."

Blake smiled. He had to admit that returning to normal was surprisingly relieving.

He didn’t have to suffer with an additional chest weight and having to deal with having nothing between his legs.

There were no uncomfortable clothes or high heels.

Blake relaxed against the seat.

’I should really get my priorities straight.’

He glanced toward Estelle.

He should have been far more relieved about seeing her again than he was about returning to his normal body.

"How are you?" he asked.

Estelle smiled faintly.

"I don’t think you should be the one asking me that. There were a few interesting things on the live recordings."

She glanced at him briefly.

"But we can talk about that later."

Blake’s expression became slightly awkward.

"Right."

He really didn’t want to think about the past four days, even right now.

"I am doing normal enough, quite honestly."

He leaned back.

"Things could’ve ended up being way worse."

"That’s true."

Estelle kept her eyes on the road.

"You didn’t sleep last night, so go ahead and rest."

Blake hesitated.

"I don’t think I’ll fall asleep, but thanks."

He closed his eyes anyway, and it took less than a minute.

He was asleep.

***

’I am a bit more excited than expected.’

Blake had experienced quite an impressive number of reunion moments with Myles throughout the past few months.

Every time, the feeling had been roughly the same.

He knew he would see Myles.

He knew everything was fine.

And yet, when the moment actually came, he still felt that strange anticipation building inside him.

As the elevator descended at an impressive speed, Blake found himself smiling faintly.

He was almost there.

Estelle had dropped him off not too far from the base, so the rest of the journey hadn’t taken long.

Before he knew it, the elevator doors opened.

Blake stepped inside the base, and took a deep breath.

The familiar atmosphere immediately settled over him. After several days away, it was comforting.

"Blake."

Blake smiled, not even startled. Then, he turned his head to look at him.

"Myles."

He was standing behind him.

For a moment, they simply looked at each other.

Then Blake walked forward and hugged him. Myles lowered his head slightly, wrapping his arms around his waist.

"Tired?"

Blake chuckled.

’As if you don’t know already.’

"Very."

He buried his face against Myles’ chest.

"I’m super tired."

Myles didn’t say anything. Instead, he picked him up and carried him toward the nearby couch, sitting down with Blake resting against him.

"You had a hard time."

Blake leaned closer, rubbing his face tiredly.

"No joke."

He sighed.

"Now I can’t hide it anymore."

Myles was quiet for a moment, rubbing Blake’s back.

"We discovered a few things about what you were able to get from that man and his nephew."

Blake nodded.

"Fortunately, they spilled everything quite soon."

He shifted slightly.

"They had their guards down."

Asher had been open and trusting, while Sylvan had revealed more than Blake expected simply by allowing him to remain close.

His expression became more thoughtful, then he looked up.

"What about that creature?"

Myles moved a strand of Blake’s hair away from his face.

"We figured out where it came from."

Blake’s eyes widened.

"Seriously?"

His exhaustion vanished for a moment.

"Tell me."

"From Sylvan Nada’s residence."

Blake froze.

"...Oh."

He stared at Myles.

Then he scratched the back of his head.

It wasn’t exactly unexpected. In fact, considering everything that had happened, it was probably the most logical possibility.

Still, hearing it confirmed was different.

"So..."

Blake frowned.

"I take it that he tried, or otherwise succeeded, to kidnap someone during one of those four nights."

"We don’t know that for certain."

Blake’s expression tightened.

"The hotel has a surveillance system that only catches movement. Otherwise, it stays turned off."

"That’s... surprisingly useless."

"It serves its intended purpose: security. But there are no cameras in the hallways, for privacy reasons."

Blake stared at him, his expression slowly dropping.

"So there’s nothing Estelle can hack into."

He huffed.

"Damn it."

Blake leaned back.

"So we know where it came from, but not exactly what it did. And we don’t know whether it actually kidnapped someone during those four nights. This is a bit of a disaster for me."

Blake sighed.

Myles remained calm. He expected as much, since his goal wasn’t world peace, but the exact opposite.

"There is more."

Blake looked up.

"What?"

"We did figure out what it wasn’t."

Blake’s eyebrows rose.

"It wasn’t a second generation."

His expression became more serious.

"So that was an alien?"

"Not an alien either."

He went silent. Those had been two of the possibilities they had considered... the creature was strange enough that either explanation could have made sense.

But now both were apparently off the table.

Myles continued.

"It seems to be something else entirely. This creature doesn’t seem to fit either category." Myles looked thoughtful. "From what we’ve been able to determine, it doesn’t appear to have the same genetic characteristics as a second generation, but it seems to be similar."

"So, it’s like a second generation, but not exactly? How is that possible. Maybe it’s a more advanced modified human, which would still make it a... third generation? But like, not related to the second generations?"

"No, according to our sources, this is connected to the massive importation that Sylvan Nada mentioned. There is a host, that’s what they call it."

Blake raised an eyebrow.

"What’s a host?"

"We assume that a host is a human body that has become integrated with an alien-derived organism. Not just DNA, but something more active."

Blake stared at him.

"So you’re saying there’s an alien organism inside it? But, how does that make sense."

"We don’t know if ’alien’ is technically the right word." Myles looked away briefly. "That’s part of the problem. We don’t know exactly what the organism is, where it originated, or how it interacts with the host."

Blake was silent. That explanation made the creature’s behavior feel considerably stranger.

"Have you ever encountered one before?"

Myles frowned ever so slightly, and didn’t reply.