"Do you know what went wrong? Where did you mess up?" A man asked while holding a tablet in his right hand. He was sitting in an armchair inside of a purely metal room, the silver floor, ceiling, and walls all shining softly in the radiating glow from the light on the ceiling. Across from him sat Calypso on a white bed, her light blue hoodie and gray sweatpants being the only contrast to the otherwise colorless room. Her hair was tied in a ponytail on the back of her head, and she rubbed her eyes as she spoke.
"I - I don't know. I was - hell, I still am positive that I did it perfectly. Even if it was an EI, I know I untangled the anomaly correctly. I saw it. It just… it exploded after I had exited it. That never happens." Calypso answered, clearly still shook by the incident.
"You should be glad there was an SCE Squad in the area at the time, or that anomaly would've been a much bigger problem and would have required a shit ton of Vanquishers. Ones that don't screw it up." The man said sternly. Calypso looked down, her heart wrenching at the insult.
"I know. I'm sorry I messed it up, but I just don't understand how I did." She said in a soft and timid voice.
"You most likely just glazed over an important untangled detail before you exited the anomaly. Always, and I mean ALWAYS double-check before you exit." The man said with a sigh, typing something in on his tablet. "Saint-Class Vanquishers shouldn't be making these mistakes. All I can say is just do better next time."
"Yes Sir. I understand." Calypso replied even softer. She knew she was at risk of demotion if she made another mistake of that caliber, but she still couldn't understand why it happened. I'm 100% positive I did everything perfectly. I know I did. So why did the anomaly erupt?
"Alright." The man said, standing up out of his chair and walking over to the door on the other side of the room. "That's all I wanted to say. Rest up, Calypso. I know you didn't get any sleep last night due to the incident and cleaning it up. Sleep well."
"Yeah. T - thanks, Raider." Calypso called out as Raider left the room and shut the door behind him, leaving Calypso alone with her thoughts. As she lamented over her subpar performance the night before, she glanced over at the clock resting on the nightstand next to her. 8:05 AM, it read. 7 hours since the incident. She felt more tired than she had ever been before, and only wanted to go to sleep and nothing else, but she couldn't actually bring herself to go to bed in the first place. Therefore, she was awake, but in a very non-energetic manner.
Suddenly, a knock protruded from the door, causing Calypso to jump slightly on her bed. After allowing entry, Calypso watched as Oracle-Class Vanquisher Paragon walked in. He proceeded to take a seat in the same chair Raider had sat in, groaning as his body made contact with the cushion.
"Raider giving you a hard time?" He asked sympathetically.
"Nothing that isn't justified. I don't know how, but I messed up the whole operation. And when my Hunter was a newbie too? I'm so stupid." Calypso responded, a hint of remorse and anguish in her voice.
Almost as if she was holding back tears.
But she couldn't let them out. Not in front of her pupil, at least.
"It's okay. Everyone makes mistakes, and if what you say is true, then it really wasn't your fault. Plus, I heard the newbie is awake and fine. Might want to go pay him a visit, huh?" Paragon suggested.
"I know he's awake. I was there when he woke up. I just left immediately. I was afraid. I was scared he would be mad at me. I'll go and see him now. I need to apologize." Calypso said, standing up and heading over to the door. "Sorry to leave so abruptly, Paragon. This is just - it's important to me. He could've died because of me."
"It's alright, I understand. I just wanted to come check up on you. You seemed pretty rough after you got back from your notice." Paragon said.
"Yeah, sorry about that. I was just a little shaken." Calypso replied, opening the door and walking out with a faint smile that she struggled to keep up. "See you later." She said weakly before exiting the room. Upon departure, Paragon noticed the severe bags under her eyes, signifying her sleep-deprived state. He couldn't help but feel bad for her as she left, hoping she could reach the closure she needed with Nighthawk.
Calypso made her way down the metal hallway, eventually arriving at a sizeable floor-to-ceiling window which displayed the harsh conditions of the location Checkpoint Oriesal was constructed - a barren and hostile mountain range with snow as far as the eye can see, blanketing everything with a layer of shiny white. The checkpoint HQ itself was built mostly inside of a mountain, with parts of the building sticking out. Calypso was in one of the protruding segments at the time, and she turned her head towards the window to watch the never-ending snowfall outside as it filled the air with a mystical aura.
After navigating through a series of wards and divisions within the HQ, Calypso eventually arrived at the Medical Block, where Nighthawk had been held during his period of lost consciousness. After the incident, Calypso herself was out cold for approximately 1-2 hours, a significantly shorter time than Nighthawk had been out, most likely due to Calypso having much more experience in the field.
Using her clearance, Calypso made her way through the Medical Block to the room Nighthawk was being held in during his short rehabilitation out of his unconscious state. Knocking on the door softly, Calypso waited for an answer until eventually, the door was opened and Dr. Callahan stood in the doorway.
"Ah, there you are." He spoke in a relieved tone. "I was wondering where Nighthawk's partner in crime was." He added on in a joking manner. Unfortunately, Calypso wasn't in the mood for jokes, so not even a slight smirk played on her face in reaction to the remark. She also wasn't normally the type of person to laugh easily, which also factored into the situation.
She peered inside the room, a nervous smile on her face as she stepped past Dr. Callahan and towards the bed on the other end of the room where Nighthawk sat, a relieved sigh exiting his mouth upon sight of her.
"I've been worried something bad happened to you since I woke up. I guess I'm glad to see that you're okay." Nighthawk said before Calypso could speak up.
"That's… that's my line. I could've gotten you killed. I've never made a mistake like that before." Calypso replied in an uneasy tone.
"Everyone makes mistakes. It's how you fix them that matters." Nighthawk replied.
"You sound a whole lot like Paragon right now." Calypso said with a small chuckle. "You're really not mad at me or anything? Have I been stressing out over you for nothing?" Calypso questioned.
"Well, how do I put this… you're being way too nice to a random newbie that you had one job with. I don't usually get that treatment, so I don't want to reprimand you and risk losing your kindness and company because I hurt you." Nighthawk explained.
"Seriously? You - you can reprimand me all you want. I almost got you killed, I won't be mad."
"I guess I'm just too scared…" Nighthawk muttered.
"Too scared to say the wrong thing and hurt me? I just said I won't get mad or hurt."
"Everyone has a weak point. A weak point I don't want to hit. I want to keep something good when I get it. When I hit that weak point… I lose it all."
Calypso's eyes widened slightly upon hearing this. He's almost being too careful around me… I haven't even been good to him at all, and he's supposedly scared to lose me? What the hell?
"I'm just glad to see that you're okay. That was one hell of a first notice for me though. I'm looking forward to this job." Nighthawk said in a calm manner.
"I hope you get better Vanquishers than me in your other jobs." Calypso said remorsefully. Nighthawk then stood up abruptly, which drew Calypso's attention to him almost immediately.
"You're usually perfect on your notices, right?" He asked.
"Yeah."
"So then why dwell on a single mistake in an ocean full of perfection?"
Calypso's mind opened, but not fully.
"Because I could've killed you." She said.
"You don't know what you did wrong at all, right? You swear you did it perfectly?"
"Yeah."
"Then how could you have fixed it and potentially saved me if you didn't know the mistake in the first place?"
Calypso's mind opened.
"I couldn't have."
"Exactly. And that's why it's not your fault. You did everything you could." Nighthawk said.
"You realize you don't have to be so nice to me, right? You idiot." Calypso said with a huff of air, making Nighthawk smile. He could easily see that bratty personality of hers he saw the night before at the collision site coming back slowly.
"I'm not being nice, idiot." He fired back. "This is just common courtesy."
"If this is just common courtesy, then I've only been around douchebags my entire life." Calypso remarked, causing both her and Nighthawk to laugh calmly.
"I actually wanted to tell you something. You specifically, because I trust you." Nighthawk claimed. "Dr. Callahan, can you leave for a second?" He asked politely. "This is private."
"Oh, okay. Just don't make me wait long." He agreed, stepping out and shutting the door behind him.
"I lied." Nighthawk said immediately.
"About what exactly?" Calypso questioned almost immediately after.
"It's not private because I trust you. It's private because you're the only one who can help me." Nighthawk revealed.
"Explain." Calypso demanded.
"When I got knocked out, I had this weird vision. I was on a beach I've never seen before, and I was with this young girl I've also never seen before, except I wasn't myself. I was in the body of this young boy, and I couldn't move or speak at all. It was like I was spectating him. The girl mentioned something about Orion, and a world free of plague, and then I woke up in here." Nighthawk explained.
"Uhh… what?" Calypso asked.
"I know it sounds crazy, but you need to believe me. I know it wasn't just some dream, it felt too real. Way, way too real. More real than real life itself."
"I… uhhh, I don't really know what to say. Why do you think I could help?"
"I've been knocked out before in my life, but I only got these visions when I was directly hit with the essence. Is that not strange? I think you can help because you're a Vanquisher who's trained with being in the essence and dealing with it. Besides, I don't want to make this a big deal and get all of the checkpoint involved. I want to enjoy my life as a Hunter here, not be used as some lab rat."
"We're just two people, and we don't even have any leads or have an idea of where to start. I'm not saying I won't help you, but our chances of finding anything seem very slim."
"This has never been recorded, right? Someone getting visions after interacting with the essence?"
"Not as far as I'm aware of."
"Why me then?"
Silence filled the room.
"I don't know." Calypso replied. "You're a Hunter. You're not meant to interact with the essence, which means that if we want to maybe induce these visions on you again, it won't be easy. At all. You aren't trained or meant to deal with essence. It could seriously screw you up."
"I can't say I'm not scared." Nighthawk admitted. "I guess I'll think it over."
"Good choice, dude. Although, I can't say I'm not intrigued with the essence as well. I mean, I still want to know why it erupted last night. I know I did everything perfectly." Calypso said, batting her eyelashes a little. She was still incredibly tired.
"I don't doubt you did. But just like you said, the essence isn't something to mess around with. It gave me visions of a world I'm pretty sure isn't Earth. That's weird." Nighthawk responded.
"Woah, what? It wasn't earth? You're fucking with me, right?" Calypso said.
"No. It felt too surreal to be on earth. Even the atmosphere felt strange. Like I wasn't supposed to be there." Nighthawk explained.
"It partly sounds like you're just pulling all of this out of your ass. Don't lie to me." Calypso threatened.
"I'm not, I promise. I want to trust you. That's part of the reason I decided to tell you about this and no one else." Nighthawk revealed. "I don't like lying to my friends, especially not with something as big or as strange as this."
"Even so, I'm not going to fully believe you right on the spot. Give me some time, okay? You're going to have to put your grand master plan on hold." Calypso warned.
"It's not like I was in much of a hurry in the first place. Just excited is all." Nighthawk said with a pout.
"Excited? You should be freaked out, man. This is a super duper scary once in a lifetime occurrence." Calypso teased.
"I'm only excited because this is the first interesting thing to happen in my boring and dull life in forever. Seriously, all I did before coming here was just play video games nonstop." Nighthawk revealed.
"Loooseeerrr!" Calypso yelled out as a joke before glancing at her watch. "Oh shit, I have to go! Gotta go teach Paragon. See ya later!" She yelped, standing up and beelining for the door. "Glad you're feeling good!" She yelled one last time before dashing down the hall.
Nighthawk sat in silence for 30 seconds or so contemplating his circumstances before the door opened again and Dr. Callahan walked back in.
"You should've died, son." He said in a grim tone. "That blast would've killed any other hunter. But we both know why it didn't kill you." He said, taking a seat on the bed next to Nighthawk.
"Nari, all of them… I wish they could see me now. I did what they wanted, I kept myself out of harm's way. That was all they ever wanted, for me to be safe." Nighthawk said softly, imagining the faces and personalities of his caretakers and friends.
"Well, luckily for you, you're safer than about 99% of other Hunters. Although sometimes I wonder why you didn't just take on the job you originally wanted to, even if they didn't want you to. You were always stubborn." Dr. Callahan said.
"I care about them too much to ignore their pleas." Nighthawk answered.
"Well, you're valuable, whether you like it or not." Dr. Callahan said with a sigh, and then a smirk. "It's not every day you have a hunter who was originally meant to be a Vanquisher."