Karabell asked the others to wait for him, slowly exiting the room. If Een's hunch was right, then he knew exactly where to find the scientist from earlier. He still didn't trust Lyra enough to let her in on their conversation, and his teammates were completely worn out.
The Captain let out a sigh as knocked gently on the door. Almost immediately, a voice came from the inside, telling him to come in.
"Sorry for being so rude earlier," Karabell immediately apologized, upon seeing the bearded scientist. It felt like he was still at Base Miu. All those chambers were so similar to what he'd seen back there. It felt a bit scary. Even if the overall designs of the bases were identical, why did every room need to serve the exact same purpose?
"I should be the one asking you to forgive me. I've been rather rude myself. I haven't even introduced myself. Dante Sel." The man approached Karabell, extending his hand. He shook it anxiously, and cursed his lacking intuition yet again. Of course he was a Sel. The two settlements were too alike. It was only natural that Yuna had its own madman. "Please, take a seat. Sorry for acting like that earlier. Truth is, my brother called yesterday to let me know you were coming. You must be Karabell Ress, the team's Captain. He said that you'd arrive in the evening. But no one showed up, so I began to fear the worst. When I caught a glimpse of you, I didn't want to seem too relieved, so..."
"I get it. It's alright." The Captain gave him an awkward smile. "You know, I've been thinking a lot. About how I wanted to do this. But I'm not going to beat around the bush." Karabell sat down, staring at skylight. "We need information. I don't trust you, and I'm sure you don't trust me either. The same goes for Frederick. However, we do share a common goal. We all want to get rid of the Aberrations. I need to take a look at your records. If what I'm hoping to find is there, we might be able to turn that dream into reality," He explained with an expression inviting Dante to speculate. "We might defeat those things once and for all."
"Frankly, I can't blame you for distrusting my brother. Even I don't know his true intentions. We may be related by blood, but he definitely doesn't see me as a sibling. He's terribly obnoxious, too. I mean, he doesn't talk to me unless he's got something to get out of it. You see the connection?"
Karabell's eyes narrowed. So Dante wasn't on good terms with his brother. Well, he certainly didn't seem as sly as Frederick, so there was that. The Captain massaged the back of his neck. Of course he'd understood the meaning behind those words. Frederick had gone out of his way to inform Dante of their arrival. He'd specifically talked about him, too. Which could only mean that he had some sort of goal in mind...
"He wants to know what we're up to. He knows we're hiding something from him, and he doesn't like it. Come to think about it, he didn't even ask for our frequency," Karabell added as he pointed towards his watch. He'd made up his mind. "I won't ask you to support us, but keep in mind that those documents could prevent humanity from going extinct. You can tell your brother everything, I don't care. A few days ago, me and Een encountered a certain Superior Aberration. The creature was looking for us. For me, especially. I can't go into much detail, but that creature has the ability to talk. Perhaps more concerning is the fact that it didn't kill us. In terms of intelligence, that thing's probably smarter than all of us. I think it's safe to assume that, if we fail, there won't be anyone left to stop it."
"I..." the man started, hesitating. "Marno was right." As the words left Dante's mouth, Karabell's blood ran cold. "I won't tell anybody about this, rest assured. You said I didn't trust you, but that's not true at all. You're Marno's son, aren't you?" The scientist met his gaze, and his eyes lit up. "I'll invest everything in you. Follow me."
*
The smell imbuing the air reminded Karabell of burnt wood. Did Base Miu even have such a place? Large metal cabinets covered its walls, taking up most of the space. All those drawers were full to the brim with papers and folders. So much information... But how was he ever supposed to find what he was looking for in that mess? There were a few labels here and there, but they weren't much help. What caught his attention was the small wooden desk in the middle of the room. It looked so old compared to everything else. The layer of dust resting on top of it told him that it hadn't been used in a while, either.
Dante opened the drawers one by one, extracting the documents mechanically. After a few minutes, he plopped down the pile of folders he'd gathered onto the desk. The scientist wiped the sweat off his forehead, smiling proudly. In one swift motion, he divided the stack into three smaller ones.
"Don't give me that look, I'm not saying you have to read all these. We'll go through them together, if you don't mind. Since you said all that, I figured you'd want to defeat that Superior you mentioned. Or at least stand a chance to do so." Dante paused and scratched the top of his head. "Well, I don't know if we'll find anything interesting here, but it's worth a shot."
Karabell wanted to ask him about his father, he really did. But gathering information came first. Most of the data regarding Aberrations didn't tell him anything he didn't already know. Sure, the Upper District's creatures were a lot more capable, but they didn't seem all that different from the ones they'd been fighting up to that point. They were a little smarter and sturdier, but that was about it. The only records concerning Superiors talked about those sighted in the Lower District, too.
Their battle formations seemed incredible at first glance, but they weren't all that impressive. According to Dante, the documents themselves were useless for Base Miu's soldiers, since all that information had been drilled into them during their training. Aside from some slight changes, most of them revolved around the same strategy. Those with supporting weapons damaged the creatures or incapacitated them, then the others finished them off. If he looked at it that way, the Upper District wasn't that otherworldly as it'd seemed at first. The main difference, however, was their weapons. Rather, the acid coating them. Karabell'd read the documents they'd gotten from Gun a hundred times. He could immediately tell that something wasn't right. The Upper District's scientists seemed to have developed a new type of poison. The Captain studied the reports carefully. That acid seemed a lot more aggressive. Sure, it could kill the Aberrations quicker, but it was also more painful.
"Which would explain why that Gargling reacted like that back then..." he muttered, absent-minded.