In the cold and austere cell of the Tower's Central Containment, Tovah, the agent responsible for Tahiko's capture, slowly walked toward the steel door of Tahiko's cell. He stopped in front of the cell, observing the captive, who was sitting in the corner, hunched over, with his angry eyes fixed on some undefined spot on the floor.
Tahiko barely moved, but there was a palpable tension in his posture.
"Tahiko, we need to talk about the operative you faced. The one who killed Captain Williams and so many others in Dynami," Tovah said calmly, as if carefully choosing his words.
As their eyes met, Tahiko slowly lifted his head but remained silent. The agent held a folder of documents in his hands and began pulling out a series of photos.
"These are the three operatives from the Foundation who participated in the chaos in Dynami," he said, spreading the images on the cold floor of the cell.
The photos showed Zarek, Hideki, and Tramen. "Which one killed Captain Williams?" Tovah asked Tahiko.
"That one," he pointed to Hideki's photo, but then continued, "Did he do anything else? Do you know anything about him? Have you found him?"
"No, Tahiko. We haven't found him yet, but capturing him is one of our priorities."
Tovah shifted his attention back to the file folder, pulled out another document, and held it up to Tahiko's eye level.
"I'm an agent of the Tower. I receive detailed information about hundreds of people every day, and I always knew that one day I'd come across a file with your name on it."
Despite the silence that fell between them, Tovah continued speaking to the operative, who remained focused and mostly unresponsive.
"This document talks about an incident in the interior of Wüst, about a boy named Tahiko who disappeared after a non-human and unnatural catastrophe. Something that involves pacts, occultism, and a destruction that closely resembles the cases we investigate here."
Tahiko's eyes widened, and for a moment, he looked younger than he really was. He nodded slowly, confirming with a simple gesture followed by words.
"What do you want me to say?" Tahiko was clearly uncomfortable.
"What I just mentioned—does it describe you? Or did it happen to another man named Tahiko?"
"Yes... that's me."
Tovah leaned forward, staring intently at Tahiko, and spoke.
"I need you to tell me everything, from the beginning. I need to understand so I can help you."
Tahiko exhaled in frustration, his expression far from welcoming, but he responded.
"I was born in the interior of Wüst. It was a small town called Tauá, where everyone knew each other... On the night of my mother's birthday, my father gave me a gun because I was a human child who liked weapons... Every human likes a gun. That night, he said I should use it to protect myself."
"Shortly after, my father decided to leave home... I think that's why he gave me a gun as a gift. It wasn't long before an abnormal storm hit our house, and the roof collapsed on my mother. I saw her get crushed... and as a child, I couldn't do anything."
Tovah remained silent, but his eyes showed empathy and a deep understanding of the horror Tahiko had endured.
"I survived and found myself in a town that was swept away, devastated, and nearly erased from the map. But in the small central square, there was an old man sitting on the only bench that miraculously didn't blow away."
Tahiko's increasingly vacant and distant gaze as he recounted his story caught the agent's attention.
"I walked up to the old man—his name was Henry. He was calm and asked if I wanted to leave Tauá for a better life... I just said yes, and he told me we had made a deal. But I didn't understand—how could a child understand?"
"Did you make a pact with him?" Tovah watched closely, noting every reaction, every pause in Tahiko's speech, every change in expression.
"Yes. The deal he mentioned was the pact. But to this day, I don't understand how it worked, because normally, there's a negotiation to finalize the pact... But with that old man, it was instantaneous."
Tovah stood up, stretched his legs, and said, "Sooner or later, you'll have to choose to fight for the Tower. I know you hate us for our recent mistakes, but there's no denying that we have common enemies. I hope you think about that—I'll be back tomorrow."
At the Tower's headquarters, later that night, Commander Ava was about to leave. She grabbed her bag, and just as she was about to walk out the door, her phone rang. It was Nicolas, the rookie.
"Commander, Koji and Saik have been taken to the room with special supervision. Everything is under control."
Ava gave a brief "okay" and hung up, but something caught her attention. On her desk was a sealed letter.
"Hm?"
Her gaze fixed on the letter, as if she knew its contents would change something important. She picked it up and read:
"Sender: Sam. Recipient: Koji."
Just below was a note:
"I know this letter will end up in Ava's hands first. But please, let Koji open and read it."