"HK-5 Squadron!"
Chris shouted as he entered the room to call the attention of the squadron. The squadron stood up from their chairs and saluted
"Rolecall!"
Chris shouted once again as he walked towards his personal seat along with Veronica. Philip followed with stiff steps and Justine also followed nonchalantly
The squadron members did not notice Philip and Justine because they erased their existence in their minds for a moment since Chris is present in the room and they are in a secured facility. There is no need to put their guards up, unless Elaine said so because she can detect any abnormalities around them
"Squadron Leader, Mark!"
"Squadron Vanguard, Celine!"
"Squadron Guidance, Tenshi!"
"Squadron Support, Sheena!"
"Squadron Radar, Elaine!"
Each of every squadron members saluted with their fists abover their chests and shouted respectively after one another. Chris then replied
"Squadron Master, Chris! At ease"
Chris let the squadron members sit back down after the greetings. He then sat down comfortably and Veronica stoo still behind him with closed eyes
"You may sit down also here"
He looked at Philip and Justine at let them sit next to him to his left where there are two unoccupied seats
Philip sat next to Chris to his left and Justine sat next to Elaine to her right
As Justine sat down, she felt Elaine's emotionless gaze and smile. She looked at her amd smiled back to show courtesy. Elaine did not move nor reply and kept looking at her while smiling
The others also looked at Philip's direction while assessing his prowess and reading his emotions. All they could pick up is that Philip is one if the most handsome human male they have ever seen in their life
Mark looked at him recognition, Celine looked at him with the tiniest of interest, Tenshi looked at him with genuine interest, Sheena looked at him with longing and hesitation, and Elaine looked at him with slight amazement
"First of all, this is Philip and Justine. I scouted and invited Philip to let him join in the secret mission and Justine just tagged along"
Chris started the meeting immediately with no time to waste
"You already know who Justine is, but Philip here--"
"Is it acceptable to let a complete stranger learn any information about us or the secret mission? What if he's a spy? Or an ignorant person that will slip up and accidentally let the public know about the other side of Earth?"
Mark interrupted Chris and asked for validation regarding Philip's identity. He didn't hold back his attitude and bluntly asked
Chris only looked at Mark with understanding eyes, but he is also curious at what Philip's reaction and impression would be towards Mark. He looked at Philip's direction
Philip looked at Mark with no annoyance or anger showing on his face, rather, he also had the eyes of understanding
Mark had the reason to be skeptical and suspicious about him since this is the first time they have met
Also, according to his Body Language Translator ability, Mark is asking these question to ease the other squadron member's worry since most of them work undercover and in secret. It would ve detrimental to them if someone like Philip, who is a complete stranger, to meet them and know of their abilities and reputation in the military
Being with Justine wasn't enough because she was a loose cannon across this hidden side of the world. They needed something that would make them trust and accept Philip unconditionally
It was then that Chris dropped a bombshell on them
"He was recognized by the Old Man and he made him the Homeowner of the mansion"
All of the squadron members' eyes widened. Gaining the title of the Homeowner of the mansion is a feat in and on itself
They would definitely trust Philip at this point, but contrary to that, that even made them mote suspicious, although they became passive for now
"So, this is Philip, the Old Man personally vouched for him and even he is scared of him"
Chris tried his best to make his squadron trust Philip to let him join the mission. Although, he's only making it worse. Philip was even surprised that the Old Man is scared of him
"Alright, we get it. Before we get to the mission brief, how about he introduce himself to us?"
Mark proposed a task to which Chris nodded. Philip didn't complain and introduced himself. But before he could talk, Elaine interrupted him
"Should we ask for their codename first since we also have codenames? Wouldn't it be cool?"
"Alright fine. Do you two have any codenames in mind?"
Mark asked Philip and Justine
"It's okay if you don't want to. The codenames are just an indication to what your purpose or position in the squadron is"
Chris explained to Philip
"Hmmm..."
Philip pondered for a second
"I'll be Omega and Justine will be Energy then"
Everyone nodded to Philip's choice of codenames
"Justine's codename is reasonable for her, but why Omega?"
Elaine couldn't help but ask
"I don't know... It just sounds cool! It also means the end because it's the last letter of the Greek Alphabet. I also believe that Omega is the pinnacle of all powers? That's about it, I guess"
Most of them understood Philip's reasoning and explanation, but everyone except for Tenshi and Sheena looked at him with serious eyes
The codenames were the representation of their ability, identity, and position. If Philip's codename coincidentally represents him, then he's a dangerous person and it's understandable why the Old Man is scared of him
Justine never asked why Philip chose that name to use as an in-game name on games. Now that he revealed the reasoning, she couldn't help but be suspicious yet amazed at the same time for the coincidence to lay on Philip
At this point, Tenshi suddenly had a realization. She cocked her head and looked at Philip and Justine with wide eyes
Elaine caught Tenshi's behavior and tried to understand why she's looking at Philip and Justine with surprise
It was then that she also realized because it made such an impact in the internet, specifically in the gaming world
"Wait a minute! Omega and Energy?"
Elaine slammed the table with her small hand and asked to confirm
"Yes? What about it?"
Philip replied with confusion. Justine also seemed to be unknowing
"Omega_Energy?!"
"Oh..."
Philip then realized what Elaine is talking about, as well as Justine. They were not alarmed as their IGN in every game is leaked to these people. They just didn't expect that someone would know about them
It also seemed the same for Tenshi as she is looking at them with extremely excited and challenging eyes
"Hey! Don't diverge the topic! Time is of essence!"
Mark called out Elaine for stalling time for asking unrelated questions regarding Philip's identity and the missuon
"What are you're abilities?"
Mark asked with interest and respect. He wants to know why the Old Man deemed him special
"I have two abilities..."
"Two? That's rare"
"Yup, Emotion Manipulation and Pain Denial"
"Emotion Manipulation, you say?"
Mark narrowed his eyes further, as well as Elaine. Sheena was worried and Tenshi was intrigued
"Ah! I can't manipulate emotions of other people. I could only manipulate my own emotions to cope up in certain situations"
"Interesting... So, you can become unstoppable when dealing with certain situations? That's a useful ability"
"You could say that"
"Then, Pain Denial..."
"I have the capacity to deny the pain when I'm being hurt so that I won't get distracted, be weakened, or lose control of my mind and sanity"
"How are you denying the pain? That pain should go somewhere, right? The pain should be going to the somatosensory cortex where it processes the sensory information of everything that affects you. The cortex then sends pain messages to the periaqueductal gray matter, which activates pathways that modulate pain"
Mark went on and spoke scientific terms regarding neurotransmission in the brain and neuroscience. He is flexing his intelligence and knowledge about science
"So, where are these pain going to? Are they being transported to somewhere else or are you producing too much Endorphins and adrenaline to cancel the pain? If that's the case, shouldn't your ability be called Pain Immunity or something?"
Mark pondered deeply about Philip's abilities because it intrigued him. This is his personality to fully understand everyone's abilities so that they have a purpose in every aspect of the squadron
"Or is it that your Emotion Manipulation is cancelling the pain and you just only have one ability. What is it?"
Mark narrowed his eyes at Philip as he covered half of his face with his white gloved hand
Philip looked at Mark with a respectful gaze because he was impressed at his deductive and analytical ability. If Mark was given more information, he would figure out that he has more abilities than he expected
Philip liked Mark's attitude and personality. It wasn't hateful or annoying at all, the Body Language Translator ability also says so. He would like to get to know Mark more
"You could say that for now... You're on to something. But I'll give you a hint..."
Philip leaned forward to release an intimidating aura. Mark felt and saw his aura and he released his own domineering aura. A clash of both auras occured in the room that made the atmosphere drop. No one was affected too much though
"Your deductions are impressive and you are right for the most of them. So, I'll only tell you this... I have a third ability which is a sub-ability of Pain Denial. It's Pain Conversion... I'll leave you with just that"
Philip then removed his aura slowly, as well as Mark's at the same time. Mark then crossed his arms, laid back, and closed hos eyes. He decided to end the conversation but Philip added a comment
"We could talk later if you have any questions. It works well because one of you seemed to be interested in me"
Philip smiled as he panned his eyes at Tenshi. She was looking at Philip with predating and piercing eyes. He could sense the extreme interest that Tenshi was emitting and somehow, Philip was liking the look in her eyes that's directed at him
"Alright, any of you have anymore questions regarding Philip?"
Chris asked as the conversation between Philip and Mark have died down. Everyone from the squadron except Mark and Tenshi shook their heads
"Very well then, if you do have questions... You can ask him later during free time before the mock tests"
Everyone nodded like they are eager to ask and interact with Philip. He and Justine could only raise their eyebrows because they didn't know there was a mock test
"So, without further ado, let's begin the meeting. Mission brief, Operation: Exploration Instability"