A moment of silence passes as Dara's tears stop flowing. He folds the letter and places it back into the envelope, sealing it.
"C–c–c–code th–thirteen, c–come out n–now?"
. . .
Adora notices someone emerging from the shadow of a big piece of rubble nearby, it is a man in an employee's outfit.
Dara sighs, ". . . h–h–he is g–gone. D–do you r–r–recognize?"
The man bows, "Yes sir,"
"U–u–u–update,"
"Zahtan came back a while ago and was the first to emerge. He seemed to be defenseless and lacking attire and equipment. We considered engaging as we believed we would win a hand, but merely moments after, the mechanical beasts showed up. So instead, Code 14 is currently on their trail. We expect a feedback report from when he finds the enemy base of operations,"
"W–w–w–"
Adora places a hand on Dara's shoulder and points to her with her hand with a small smile on her face.
Dara understands, disconnecting his telepathy with Sharara to connect it with Adora.
"What about Neo and Charlotte? Did you see two other people come out?"
Sharara shakes her head, regaining her attention in the confusion of what is going on.
. . .
The man does not respond.
"I am speaking for him!"
. . .
"A–a–a–answer her q–questions for n–n–now,"
"I presume you refer to the two who entered level 0 a while ago. No, the last sighting I have of them is when I let them pass through the gate,"
"I see, what else?" relays Adora for Dara.
"Pilots 15, 16, 17, 18, 19 and 20 are helping evacuate and fend off enemy troops and machines,"
"Why so?"
"We had a short meeting in which it was voted upon. The combat pilots were struggling against the overwhelming number of mechs that seemed to specifically know how to deal with them and their powers. However, no such machines exist for us,"
"Anything else?"
The man shakes his head, "No, sir."
. . .
"Go and update everyone about who the current leader is and await further orders back at the parking. Dismissed,"
"Yes, sir," the man says, falling back into the shadow and disappearing.
Adora looks at Dara, "He is most probably a traitor. Even though he might use this chance to get away, we will catch him later. It's better to not show him now as he would just jump and hide in the shadows getting away anyway. Iza is following the scent of whoever it is that was with me. Had it not been for Iza, we wouldn't have noticed what he left out just now,"
Dara raises a finger, "Speaking of Iza, shouldn't we keep track of him? He might lead us to the enemy base!"
Adora shakes her head, "I kept a tracker on him, but going along with him isn't a good idea. You don't know because you have never seen him interact much. Unlike Haco, the cat will only ever listen and obey Kayn's commands from Kayn and him alone no matter what, even if Kayn commands otherwise. Even with me, the best I can work up to is just asking for requests which are a gamble on whether he will do for me or not,"
Everyone feels a chill run down their spine as a wave of cold air passes through.
"Brrr!" shivers Sharara.
"Without Kayn around or orders left to complete, he acts like a lone wolf . . . especially with the rage filling him for what happened to his Haco . . . if you were near him right now . . . you probably would have been frozen solid!"
"Guys, I didn't want to point it out immediately, but did you notice something weird?" asks Sharara.
"What?" they both question.
"I think Adora spent half a day or a full day more inside the game than what actually passed?"
. . .
"Huh . . . maybe I counted wrong by mistake, confusing the day we got in?"
. . .
They look at each other in confusion and being unable to come up with other explanations.
"Well, we need to think of what's next for you guys, we will come back to this later,"
Dara looks at Sharara.
Sharara is still young, keep her occupied with missions and have her believe in the mission's significance and importance. Part of why he kept the letter with her is to keep her in check, giving her another objective to focus on other than Charlotte. I must continue this . . . another reason is her speed, so two birds with one stone!
"O–o–one, are y–you t–there?" asks Dara.
"Yes?" they both say, floating above the three of them.
They all look up at them, the pressure they exude with their presence never fails to make an impact.
Everyone stays on guard and more attentive than ever.
So, he won . . . against them!
Adora looks at them, "Since you are here, I presume that my brother won,"
"Indeed," they say.
"First things first, privacy please!"
"Fine," Hami snaps his fingers, "There, for now only we can heareth each other and nay other being can,"
Adora looks at Dara, "Nice call Dara. That agent might still be listening instead of moving if he is the traitor,"
She looks at Sharara, "Then, can you please make Sharara invisible?"
"Invisible? What? Why? How?" says Sharara, looking around in confusion.
"Daki discovered that whatever it is Zahtan is doing, future reading or whatever. It doesn't apply to them. In fact, existence seems to operate differently for them. They also cannot be detected or spied on by any means unless they permit it. I'll clarify things further when I connect back with you, trust us for now,"
"Well, unless it's a higher power than us," points out Yara.
They all chuckle nervously.
There is a higher power than this?
"But, thee don't has't to worry about that, there is nay such thing in these realms. Anyhow, as a reward for him discovering this, we toldeth him that we can grant this effect to anyone shouldst we wisheth it," she continues.
"And since he wonneth, a fragment of our dealeth wast that we give such properties to two people of thy choice," states Hami.
"Just two?" questions Adora.
"That is he wast able to negotiateth it to. That's the dealeth, so art thee sure that the lady is the first to receive it?"
"Y–y–y–yes, please!"
Yara snaps her fingers, "T'is done, next?"
Dara looks at Adora.
"No. I am sorry Dara, but I am not going anywhere but straight to my daughter first. It would be wasted on me,"
. . .
"Can we choose at a later time?" questions Adora.
"We doth not promiseth to beest nearby to hear thy request and grant it. However, shouldst we crosseth paths with that gent again and he hast decided, we wouldst,"
"By the way, if thee want to meeteth thy daughter, why not go through the door and then we can giveth thee the gift?" suggests Hami.
Door . . . ? Everyone looks at where he is pointing, and a door is standing perfectly still in the middle of nowhere nearby.
"When did that get there?" muses Sharara. She sparks towards it, checking its back which turns out to be an exact copy of the front. She grabs the doorknob and tries to open it.
"It won't budge . . ." no matter how hard she tries to push it down, the door doesn't budge. Giving up, she looks at Adora, "You try, Adora!"
Adora walks to it and attempts to open it and the door easily opens, revealing a nice place to sit in, in the middle of a beautiful garden of lilacs. Two women are sitting next to a crib with a baby in it. One of them has a typewriter in front of her, and is wearing glasses, and the other is in a beautiful white robe-like dress and is gently rocking the baby's crib.
Realizing the features of the crib, Adora knows who it holds. She enters through the door quickly and walks up to the crib. She stands next to it, looking down into it and seeing her daughter sleeping soundly along with three baby kittens surrounding her.
"Oh my, hello Adora," greets the woman in the white robe.
"Mom!" Sharara rushes towards her mother.
Thud!
She couldn't pass through the door. It's as if an invisible barrier is stopping her.
"Mom!" she calls loudly, but no one other than Dara, One, and Adora can hear her.
Tahara turns around to look behind her and sees her daughter. The instant she does, the door starts to disappear.
She quickly places her finger next to her mouth, bringing Sharara's attention to it and then she smiles. It is such a beautiful and gentle smile that warms whoever witnesses it to the core like a warm sun on a breezy day.
. . . there is hope that this moment would last forever . . . and it could . . . yet time moves and it ceases as the door disappears completely . . .
. . .
Looking around, Tahara turns around to face the baby again.
"There has been a change of plans. Should you wish it, you can help me with matters on the Rope Island,"
Adora glances at Tahara for a moment.
Nice, he took the opportunity to connect with her to tell her about everything.
She looks at the other woman sitting next to Tahara, without replying to her.
"Hmm . . . why was I the only one allowed through?"
"Because the rest of the mercy he earned was used to expand the range of the sphere of peace,"
"He earned?"
"Yes, mercy can be earned with deeds, and his deeds were great enough to do all this. Because of him, the sphere now covers the upper half of the Rope Island," Tahara smiles, "Daki did a great job,"
. . .
"Is her being here also a part of that?"
Tahara nods, "Correct, she was gently brought here as well,"
Adora gently brushes her hand to her daughter's soft skin, from her head to her cheek. She lifts her hand up in a clasp-like shape, and sparks begin to accumulate to a point where they turn into embers. She closes her hands and then squeezes tightly. A necklace forms and she places it next to her daughter.
. . .
"I know she is safe now . . . I'll help,"