"Here they are," said Fornicus. "Let's get to the bottom of this."
The atmosphere in Dr. Arroyo's office was suffused with tension as Synnove finished recounting her encounter with Dr. Gabriel and the discovery of the Separator plans. The room, usually a sanctuary of calm and scholarly discussion, now felt like the eye of a brewing storm. Aiden sat rigid in his chair, his face a mask of shock and concern, while Monique stood by the window, her sharp eyes darting between the other occupants of the room. Fornicus paced near the door, barely containing his agitation, while Aldegar remained a picture of calm in his seat, a stark contrast to the others. Dr. Arroyo herself sat behind her desk, her brow furrowed as she examined the sketches Synnove had brought.
The first to dare and break the silence was Ingrid, her stance on things as rigid and tough as ever. "However much I'm personally disgusted at thoughts of betrayal, and such a brute machine…" a voice calm and measured, but tinged with skepticism. "It seems… convenient. Almost too convenient."
Fornicus whirled to face her, his frustration evident. "Convenient? It's a threat, plain and simple. We need to act now, before-"
"Before what, Fornicus?" Aldegar chimed in from his chair, not moving a muscle, calm and composed. "My son, my own flesh and blood is the target. You think I wouldn't want to tear each and every single one of them down to the bone? But we mustn't."
Pointing his finger at Synnove, almost covertly, trying to not be seen, he looked Fornicus directly in the eyes. "Remember last time? We do this by the book." He switched his gaze over to Aiden, smiling, trying to cover up his half-threat to Fornicus. "Also, we know nothing more than this surface level thing. We don't even know where Gabriel is."
Aiden leaned forward in his chair, speaking up with a terrified tone, almost stuttering his speech completely. "But if it's true…? Me, Feyr, one of us can get removed. It's a fight for that."
"That's a big 'if', Aiden." Monique said, placing a comforting hand on Aiden's shoulder. "Personally, I agree with Aldegar and Synnove. Rushing is just going to cause us more trouble than good. Not only do we risk losing Gabriel completely, we risk alerting whoever he's cooperating with about our knowledge. Rushing means we lose everything in our hands."
Ingrid nodded in agreement before lowering her gaze downwards. "Exactly right, Cosineau. Arroyo, you're definitely the most educated in the room. From your standpoint, with all the research you have under your belt… do you find this plausible?"
"I mean, from a technical standpoint, it's plausible. But in practice, who knows." Dr. Arroyo raised the paper, pointing to the little note on the side. "According to this, it works by draining one Soul, than contaminating it with the other's Essence. It seems sound, but…"
"But what?" Fornicus hissed, clearly still set on his original idea.
Dr. Arroyo got up, before she pulled out a whiteboard and began sketching something. "There is no way it could possibly be that simple. I mean, it is just a high level summary, but a Soul isn't something that can just be cut off. It permeates the entire body. Especially in a two Soul configuration like Aiden, separating them? It'd be like trying to unscramble an egg."
"The basic premise here is, at least from my understanding," she crossed over one of the two circle like objects on the whiteboard, connecting them with a line afterward. "You clear one Soul of all the Essence, then add the second's Essence into the first, effectively conditioning it to generate the same Essence. That way, the only Soul with input on the body, remains the second one."
Fornicus was nonstop moving across the office with a heavy step, his hands behind his back, aggressively thinking. "We're forgetting what kind of man Gabriel is. That man was ready to do anything for the sake of his research. If he's working with a Cult, who's to say he didn't capture a bunch of people, tried combining their Souls and then separating them? If these guys are funding him, there's no way he would've given them an idea without any backing!"
"I understand your worry, Fornicus, but as I've said," Aldegar stood up from his chair, slowly walking towards the whiteboard where Dr. Arroyo stood. "We mustn't rush. However, not wanting to rush - that does not mean avoiding immediate reaction."
"Synnove, Aiden, you're returning to Sylvanwood. Gabriel is bound to notice the missing paper, and he'll return to search. You can't be here, to avoid suspicion, and or lashing out at him." he made his way to Aiden's chair, before hugging his son. "I know it's hard, Aiden, but being here makes you even more at risk. They know you're here. I'd send you someplace where they most definitely wouldn't expect you to be, but, that leaves you too far from us to react if an emergency happens."
Letting go of his embrace, he noticed Aiden lightly nodding as a response, before Aldegar's gaze returned to Dr. Arroyo. "Ingrid, Dr. Arroyo, you two stay here, and think the Separator through a bit more. Also, call Dr. Carruso. The more brainpower, the better. Me, Fornicus and Monique will lead them to the train and see them off."
"Got it." Ingrid said, sitting down at Dr. Arroyo's desk. "Also, you - Aiden."
Aiden's gaze lifted ever so slightly at the brief mention of his name, but nonetheless, he was listening.
Her voice firm and her gaze unwavering, she spoke. "Listen carefully, and never forget these words. Trust your gut, Aiden. I know damn well you had a feeling that stuff with Cassius is shady, just like anyone would, but you didn't listen to the feeling."
She leaned back in the chair, and turned to the window, the sun now setting on the coastal city. "I'm not the Defense Corps' Head without a reason. When it comes to strategizing and overthinking, no one beats me. However, even I know that intuition is the strongest power a person can have."
"You trust us, Aiden, that's for certain…" she grabbed an apple from Dr. Arroyo's desk, throwing it towards Aiden, and he caught it without even looking up. "But, do you trust yourself?"
"I-" Aiden lifted his head, before biting into the apple. "I'm not sure."
"Well, my point has been proven." she said, with a reassuring smile towards him. "It's okay, Aiden. We all were like you at one point, even your father. After the Cult lied to you, now you overthink everything to not be deceived. However, in that overthinking, you make yourself susceptible to it more than you ever were before."
Aiden weighed Ingrid's words in silence, while still eating the apple. Hearing the elevator ding after Aldegar called it, he got up, and said nothing more than a simple "Thank you." before leaving. Alas, that was all that Ingrid needed.
As the elevator descended, the two Corps' Heads now alone, returned to the drawing board to think through the Separator through once more.
"You sure he understood you, Ingrid?" asked Dr. Arroyo, feeling as if Ingrid's words didn't truly reach Aiden.
"I've had my fair share of time as a training instructor. I know that, you can tell your words resonated with them, if they don't end up asking any questions, and instead think in silence. When used right, a thought is more powerful than any sword." she wholeheartedly grabbed Dr. Arroyo by the shoulder, pulling her in for a hug.
"Also, who are you to question my methods?" she said, laughing. "We might both be Corps Heads, but for all I know, I'm ten years older than you!"
Meanwhile, the team descended down into the courtyard, heading on foot to the train station.
"I know it's tiring to walk," said Aldegar, "But this way, we can watch out for threats from any angle."
They walked down the seemingly endless roads of Dawnvale, each street intersecting with another at a 90° angle, in a block-like grid. The city was purposefully designed that way, not only to aid in easy finding of people and places, and to avoid traffic jams. However, it made walking a pain, because you almost constantly had to cross intersection, after intersection - and waiting at stop lights annoyed Aiden a lot. He felt like a sitting duck.
However, as they made their way out of the residential area, which stretches from the coast a few kilometers inwards, they crossed over into the industrial area. Here, the city was much more densely packed, which meant less distractions, however, less freedom to reconnaissance due to the dense nature.
But, something was off to Aldegar. Night had just only fallen, factories should be closing only now, yet most are already closed, except a rare few. A silence broke the streets, the only noise a gentle hum of the occasional car. This wasn't right, something was going on.
Raising his palm out to stop the conversation, Aldegar listened to the sounds of the street, before explaining with hand gestures his thought to Fornicus and Monique. He pointed to the roof, before mimicking running with his two hands. The Oracle trio's focus now shifted to to the rooftops, trying to determine if Aldegar's hunch was true.
He whispered, "Maybe we should pretend we're heading back, to lure them out?"
Nodding their heads, not even a moment afterwards, Monique explained their abrupt 'leave', before they turned and began walking back. Aiden and Synnove, none the wiser, continued walking like normal… However...
*clang, clang*
*thump*