Dean sat and looked around in silence.
He had been sent to a cell-like room the moment they left the speedpod and met the person Lys had hugged and called 'Max!'
This Max person had picked up Lys, hugged her, then coldly told the soldiers to 'welcome him properly'. And he has been here ever since.
The door slowly opened as a couple of men strode in.
"Dean Tan? From the 12th Regiment?" One of them asked, sitting down in front of him
Dean nodded.
"Then why were you in Zion?" The man put down a file and stared at him.
"Collecting salvage. I moonlight on my off days to collect scraps and sell them to junk processors for extra credits." Dean nervously replied, "I know moonlighting is illegal when one is a solider, but I need the credits to pay off the debts my mother left me from her gambling.
"While the army pays well, it is not enough for me to be able to pay off her debts anytime soon and I really would like to pay off the debt before the review at the end of the year. I heard that they considered your financial situation and I did not want to be excluded just because she passed on her debt to me."
The man nodded and signaled to the mirror behind Dean, then sat quietly and asked a few more questions about who he was and what his background was.
Behind the one-way mirror, General Ng watched the interview going on while on the phone with his wife, letting her know he had their daughter and she was safe.
The door opened and Max walked in, reading the latest updates on this Dean Tan.
"Dean Tan, 25. Orphan, Mother just passed away and when she passed, she left him the debts accumulated from gambling. Currently, a well-regarded soldier in the 12th Regiment and has good evaluations." He read off the file, "Story checks out."
"Good. Lys?" General Ng had hugged his daughter when he saw her, then left her with Max while he oversaw the 'interview' with Dean.
"Medical has done a full check and cleared her, she is now resting in the lounge, snacking." Max gave his dad a cheeky grin. "She eats too much."
General Ng shook his head and told Max to concentrate on the interview. Even though Dean checks out on the surface, he wanted to make sure that he had no ulterior motivations. If further investigations checked out as well, it wasn't a big deal to help him pay off that gambling debt or to provide a recommendation to his commander. He did help look after Lys during her escape after all.
They landed back in the Capital and General Ng carried Lys and met his wife and son waiting worriedly at the landing pad.
Grace had started crying again as she hugged her daughter and blamed herself for letting her daughter walk around on her own. She swore she would never let her go again! (Well like that Lys would let her mother follow her everywhere…)
"This is Dean," General Ng introduced Dean to his wife.
"Thanks for looking after my daughter Mr. Dean," she shook his hand enthusiastically, making sure to keep a hand on Lys the entire time. "Is there anything we can help you with?"
"No... Er… Dean needs to report to his regiment immediately, doesn't he?" General Ng looked for his son. "Please escort Mr. Dean to his destination."
Max nodded at his father and pulled Dean away to continue the 'interview'. They were not letting him go before confirming that he had nothing to do with the kidnapping.
"Don't worry. I'll send someone to let the Regiment know that we have you." Max told him as they walked.
"You all are the Ng family? That's really the little Princess?" Dean stammered. He still could not believe what was happening.
Max smiled kindly. The guy's reaction was all on his face. He didn't think that the guy was involved in the kidnapping, just a passer-by that happened to be in the wrong place at the right time and managed to save his sister.
"Yea, we are those Ngs. Lys only recently woke up and we are trying to keep it quiet as she tries to adjust from losing her memories."
"No wonder she doesn't understand anything…" Dean smiled. "Did you know, she forgot she had a comms and went around looking for something to call you with? And that she didn't know that when her comms vibrated, you were trying to call her?"
"Nope. But that's something I can use later." Max smiled. "I'm sorry but we do have to make sure you are not involved with the kidnappers. You can tell me about all she did later."
###
The investigation into Dean proved everything that he said was true. Lance had done a thorough check when he got back to his department and confirmed that there were no problems with Dean's background or the people he mixed with.
General Ng solemnly thanked him for his cooperation with the investigation and promised to help him with his debts, so he didn't need to salvage for junk anymore.
Junk salvaging was a dangerous occupation and could even be illegal at times. General Ng was very thankful to him and certainly didn't want anything to happen to his daughter's saviour just because of money. He happily invited Dean to his daughter's "getting well" party as he wanted to introduce him to some people that could potentially make Dean's life easier.
Dean left the military compound smiling, happy he didn't have to worry about his debts anymore. Looking forward to meeting that confused little girl who had no idea about anything of this world.
###
He stood above the body of the person on the floor.
Laying his hand on the blood that oozed out from the fatal wound, he absorbed the DNA of the dead person he had just killed, his features changed to match that of the dead person.
Even his height, which was about 10 cm taller than the dead person, shrunk to match that of the corpse.
Taking out a bottle, he poured the liquid over the body. A hiss sounded as the body fizzed, then dissolved into nothing.
"This ability to be able to transform into anything is pretty useful, just a bit of DNA is enough to turn me into you…"
"It's a good thing your DNA does retain your memories as well…"
"Now all I need to do is to become you…"