They ate in silence, savouring every bite. Karabell didn't like the idea of wasting a few hours to hunt the next day, but they needed more food. After they finished their meal, the Captain told Alice and Shono about their fight with the two Superiors. Even calling it a fight seemed like an exaggeration. They'd only manged to kill one of them, after all. The other one had completely denied their attacks, simply sparing their lives at the end. Naturally, no one knew what to say after hearing such a story. Shono got up and moved away from the fire, absent-minded. He stopped after a few meters, sat himself down back onto the cold concrete and started looking in the opposite direction. Karabell hadn't expected for him to be so affected, but he couldn't blame him. Sometimes, being the oldest didn't mean being the most knowledgeable. A new threat, unlike anything they'd ever seen had surfaced. And the Captain knew that feeling of hopelessness better than anybody. Shono had spent over ten years fighting the creatures. The fact that a new type of Aberrations had appeared out of nowhere like that had certainly shaken him to the core.
To Een, the whole fight still seemed like a dream. A nightmare, at that. For such a powerful being to exist... It had rendered their assault useless without batting an eye. The creature hadn't even flinched, it hadn't even feared them.
Karabell drew in a deep breath before saying, "Take it easy, Een." The soldier's knees had started to shake again. He was afraid. They all were afraid. Een had been able to suppress that fear, but he'd reached his limit. The Captain urged his teammate to lie down, even if it was still early. After everything they'd witnessed, he needed all the rest he could get.
Karabell gazed at the flames, entranced by their bizzare dance. Alice still hadn't said a word, but she didn't seem that troubled. Still, was it really alright not to say anything in that situation?
"You know, you don't have to hold back out of consideration. It'll do you more more bad than good." His voice didn't reveal any emotion. He had to put on a brave front in front of them. When everything was said and done, the creature had especially targeted him. Marno Ress. That thing knew about his adoptive father. And it knew about him.
"It will let us live for now. Isn't that enough?" Alice's face became animated with joy, but her voice revealed her uneasiness. "That Superior... Is it even right to call it a Superior at this point? It said that they knew. And that can only mean one thing."
"Our hunch was correct. There really is someone behind all this. And we've already been found out. I don't know how that's possible, but nothing seems impossible anymore. Except for maybe one thing... killing that creature. We weren't able to so much as scratch the second Superior. Even with these poisoned weapons, we're useless if we can't land a hit. The Aberrations' coordination was far better than ours, too. It didn't make a sound, didn't make a gesture. Yet the underlings knew exactly what to do. Maybe those were the creatures that attacked the Agency. It would explain why the others weren't able to defend the building. Combine their otherworldly strength with the element of surprise and..."
"You told Een to take it easy, so why don't you do the same? Stressing about it is not going to help us in any way. All we know is that there's a Superior out there that's as smart as a human. Maybe even smarter. Its ability to command the other Aberrations is way above average, and it didn't want to hurt you. We can't possibly figure out its intentions just from that. At least we've confirmed that we weren't wrong, and that's plenty for now. Our main focus should be getting to the Upper District base. Am I wrong?"
"I'm beginning to think you're more suited to be a captain than me," Karabell claimed, laughing softly at his own distress. His head hurt. No matter how much he though about it, he could only come up with meaningless speculations, The red-haired girl gave him a gentle head pat, staring off into the distance.
"Don't say that. I'll get angry... and a bit sad. You know, I don't know about Shono, but both Een and I are extremely happy you're here with us. Just because you;re feeling a bit under the weather doesn't mean you're allowed to sulk like that. I'm sure shouldering so much responsibility can't possibly be easy. And you're doing a great job. Kar, you're the leader of this squad... Do you really think the other two call you Captain just for show?" Alice added, letting out a small giggle.
"You know, it's refreshing to have a chat like this once in a while. And I'm not saying that just because you praised me like there's no tomorrow. You should go to sleep too, though. I still have to talk with Shono about where we should go from here. He seems pretty down, but I'll make him snap out of it. I'm the Captain, right?"
In the end, it all came down to that position, that name. The Agency's captains were a bunch of skilled fighters, proficient enough to lead others into battle. By some strange twist of fate, he'd become one himself. He wasn't just one of the captains, either. He was the Captain. One of the strongest soldiers, quick-witted and fearless. He didn't especially hate being called that, but he wasn't fond of it either. The few months he'd spent mapping the city with Shono while the other two were still in training... Back then, Marno had been the only one to still use his real name. After he'd gotten promoted, everyone else had immediately begun calling him Captain. If he had to guess, it was probably because of his age. Most of the other captains were at least twenty-five years old, some even in their mid-thirties. That, however, also meant that the majority of them had always looked down on him, even if they hadn't openly admitted it. His lack of experience had gotten in his way more than once, too.
Karabell shook his head dismissively. Those days were long gone. No use wasting so much time taking trips down memory lane. Alice, Een, Shono... They were his family. And they were all up there with him, unharmed. That was the only thing that truly mattered.