Within a deep slumber, I suddenly woke up to the scent of coffee. I lifted my face, noticing I'd had my head laid down onto a pillow. It was pink.
"This isn't mine…"
Then I looked around, realizing I was still in Kyra's kitchen. She was just across from me, brewing some coffee.
"Finally awake?"
I rubbed my eyes. "I didn't go home last night?"
"Nope." She turned around and put some coffee in front of me, right next to the mug I'd drank last night. "You cried yourself to sleep on the table. I didn't want you hurting your face though, so I put a pillow underneath."
I stood up, frantically gathering myself out of embarrassment. "I-I should get going."
She grabbed my arm to calm me down. "No need to rush. Have some breakfast first!" She placed a plate of eggs, bacon, and toast before me. My stomach grumbled.
As we were eating, Kyra suddenly spoke up. "You can stay here for the time being, you know."
I got flushed with weird thoughts. "What…?"
She laughed. "Not like that! I mean for today. We're gonna be heading to the same place later anyways, might as well go together."
"Where are we going?"
"Oh right, you didn't see the notification since you were asleep. The General called. We're having another debrief later today, 7:00 PM sharp."
My heart raced. "Another mission?"
She shrugged. "He didn't specify. We'll find out later."
I was surprised, considering it'd only been two days since the operation in New Zina. I thought I was going to have to wait another month before I would get called-on by the General again.
"So we're both doing this thing together?" I asked.
"I guess so. Right after the General called me he called you, but since you were asleep and I didn't want to pick up your phone for you, he just left a text. He gave the same time and same location to the both of us. So I assume that whatever this is, we're in it together."
I was suddenly excited. After already working with Kyra, it felt good knowing I'd be able to collaborate with her again. She was a good leader, and after the conversation we had last night, I understood that she was a good person too.
As time throughout the day passed, Kyra gave me a little tour of her suite. She had the usual, essential rooms. But there were also some unique ones. One of her rooms was a dedicated greenhouse, suited with all sorts of plants but even more flowers. Turns out that the floral perfume I'd smelt upon entering her floor wasn't even perfume. It was a special type of flower she'd been growing. My favorite was her lounge room, which was filled with the comfiest of couches and countless beanbags. I tried sitting in all of them and gave her a rating for each one.
It was kind of embarrassing acting so close with Kyra, Second of the Upper Four, but for some reason she just made me feel comfortable. Even though I was aware of the difference in our ranks and positions, she was nice enough to me to make me feel like an equal. I realized that it might have been thanks to what she said the previous night that I felt that way.
She helped me understand how to associate myself with others, even if there were differences in power or standing. Even though she was Second of the Upper Four, she treated me like I was right up there with her, really selling the idea that a difference in position didn't permit a difference in attitude with others.
7:00 PM was soon coming around, so we got ready and left Upper Four HQ together to start making our way to the meeting with General Michael. As I travelled alongside her, I realized just how bashful I'd gotten.
I'd been hanging out with a girl all day.
My face flushed red thinking about it. Then I remembered I'd even slept over at her place the previous night. And it wasn't just any girl, it was Second of the Upper Four.
I was red like a tomato.
"Klyson?" She noticed how I was acting. "You okay?"
Her hazel eyes looking in my direction suddenly captivated me. I'd been too stuck up with my own insecurities that I'd forgotten how gorgeous she was.
"Yeah, I'm good…"
"Why are you so red?"
I coughed, trying to change the subject. "Nothing. I'm nervous for the meeting. That's all."
"Don't be!" She patted me on the back. "You've been through it before already. Nothing to be scared of."
I took a deep breath and composed myself. "You're right. It'll be okay. I just wonder what we'll be doing this time…"
We'd finally arrived to the designated building for meetup with the General and any others he'd called upon. It was the same place we'd had a debrief for the operation in New Zina. We were the early birds, arriving around 6:45 PM with no one else there. We waited with just the two of us.
"If he's calling us so soon after the mission in New Zina, then this one must be pretty important," Kyra said.
"It must have come up abruptly."
We could hear footsteps approaching our hall from around the corner. Out came Cynthia.
"Kly? Kyra?" She fast-walked over. "Another mission with you guys!"
"Hey, Cynthia!" Kyra smiled while greeting her. "If you're here, it must mean there'll be some action again. You used your Fractal so well in New Zina."
"Thank you…" Cynthia fell shy with the compliment from Kyra. "When did you get here?"
"Around 6:45," Kyra said.
Cynthia turned to me. "How about you, Kly?"
"Oh, same time as her." I pointed to Kyra. "We came here together."
Cynthia looked at the two of us, her eyes expressing surprise. "Oh, together…?"
"Yeah! He was already at my place, so we just commuted together."
Cynthia's face unraveled into even more confusion. "At your place…?"
"Yeah, he spent the night."
I realized what it was sounding like to Cynthia, seeing as her mouth hung open. Before she could say her assumptions, we all heard the iconic heavy steps. The General was coming. We all quickly lined-up in front of the door in order.
"Good. You're all here on time again." He walked up to the door and scanned his keycard, opening it for us. "Enter."
We all filed into the room and sat at the end of the table just like last time, facing the front where the General presented himself. I noticed it was just us three in the room.
"Are there more people coming?" I asked.
"No." The General closed the door. He soon began the debrief.
"I know it's a bit sudden, considering New Zina's operation was just two days ago. But I'm placing you guys into a new operation that is much more large-scale. It's called Operation Zenith." The General turned on the screen behind him which displayed an image from the war with Invidan. It was grainy and low resolution, but I could immediately tell from what moment it was. It was a picture of the dark-robed individual who showed up at the end of the battle, and used their green Fractal to save us.
"This as you all may know is an anomaly known as the Sin of Discrimination. The purpose of Operation Zenith is to hunt for this individual."
"Hunt?"
"Yes. Take them in alive. They've broken one of the most crucial laws in Melysia, which is having an unregistered Fractal. There are no Fractals listed in the database that match what the Sin of Discrimination displayed at the end of the battle with Invidan. That is why we consider the individual an anomaly. They also represent a threat to Melysia considering the destructive nature of their Fractal that we don't even have any data or knowledge on."
The General then switched the slide to the next, which displayed a line tree with ten branches. He circled eight of them. "This is Overseer Azrael's task force. He has eight subdivisions. These eight have been working on Operation Zenith for the last month, but there has been little progress in finding the Sin of Discrimination. In collaboration with Overseer Azrael, I've offered two groups in addition to his task force to assist with Operation Zenith." He then circled the ninth branch. "This is your group, the ninth division. It will consist of you three and one additional candidate, Garren, who has a very unique Fractal to work with. He isn't here today because of certain responsibilities, but you'll meet him soon."
"What's that last branch?" Cynthia asked.
"The tenth division for this operation. It consists of Third, Fourth, and Emanuel."
I noticed that Enzo's name was missing from the operation. "How about First?" I asked.
General Michael sighed. "He's excused himself from working on any team division. We concluded he'd be called-in as emergency to deploy his infantry in any worst-case-scenario with the Sin of Discrimination."
I rolled my eyes, knowing exactly how Enzo viewed working on a team. I was slightly thankful that I was working with Kyra instead of him.
"Anyways, Operation Zenith is purely about tracking down the Sin of Discrimination and bringing them to A.X.A. I know it sounds vague, but it has been nothing but vague for the last month. There are no known whereabouts, and barely any clues. The only progress that has been made since the start of the operation is the discovery of a single word: Heathen."
"Heathen…?"
"Overseer Azrael's second division dove deep into research behind the origin of the Sin of Discrimination, and after thorough investigation into encounters posted online, they were able to deduce a single quote frequently heard as a whisper in almost every video. It was the word 'Heathen.' They couldn't find out where the sound was coming from, but the assumption was from the Sin of Discrimination themself, unknown as to why. The division then further researched into this word, discovering that 'Heathen' was the name of a private location known only to few from the Filtering."
"Whoa, all the way back from the Filtering?"
"Yes. But as you all know now, Melysia has much changed since then. Whatever previous landmarks or locations existed back then are now overwritten and rearranged into the geography Melysia is today. Finding what used to be 'Heathen' may not be the same anymore in the present."
"So the only clue Operation Zenith has in finding the Sin of Discrimination right now is the word, or rather, the location 'Heathen'?" Kyra asked.
The General nodded. "That's all we have so far. Overseer Azrael doesn't think adding two extra divisions to the search will provide much, but I insisted anyways. Do what you can with what's provided. Find 'Heathen' and determine what it means in relation to the Sin of Discrimination."
"Sir yes sir!" We all replied.
"Good. Your division will begin working in the operation tomorrow. You'll also meet with Garren at his stationed building tomorrow. Overseer Uriel will be there to demonstrate Garren's Fractal to you all so that you know what you're working with."
I got nervous all of a sudden. I'd never even met Overseer Uriel before.
"Meeting's dismissed. Good luck in Operation Zenith." The General turned off the screen and left the room immediately. The three of us were left behind, curious to discuss.
"Wow. This seems like a pretty big deal…" Cynthia said.
"I mean considering the power of the Sin, I understand the urgency in finding them," I said.
Kyra stood up, ready to leave. "I'm most curious about this Garren guy. The General never even mentioned what his Fractal was."
"Well I guess we'll find out tomorrow when we meet him."
We all left the building and rested for the remainder of the day. The next days to come in being involved with Operation Zenith were going to be heavy.