The person Sebastian was originally waiting for, and the reason why he went to HQ hours earlier than he usually does, arrives an hour later with Rina.
The girls' apartments were only a block away from each other. In addition, Rina passes by Eva's building on the way to and from HQ and in instances like this where they would head to work at around the same time, they would just share the same Eden-mandated, private transportation service to HQ.
They pass by Chen, Marko, and Izzy in the lobby.
"You guys heading out?" asks Rina who stops for a second.
"I haven't had breakfast yet, I'm running," says the low-energy Eva.
"Still waiting for an assignment," Marko answers Rina's question.
"Eva!" he calls on to the starving agent who was already out of sight but lazily comes back.
"Whaaat," she irritably asks.
"Sebastian was looking for you, guy's been here for an hour already," answers Marko.
"He is?" asks Rina, surprise written on her face.
"Two days in a row, that must be some record," she comments.
"Why, what's going on?" she asks Eva.
"He was screwing around with that black mist the whole day yesterday and I have to keep watch if anything dangerous happens," Eva answers, still grouchy and heading back to where she was going earlier, Rina right behind her.
"What's he doing?" Rina asks again.
"Just ask your idiot boyfriend, Rina," Eva is getting grumpier by the second.
"And for crying out loud just make up already if you're going to," she adds.
"Is he training?" Izzy asks Marko.
"Probably."
"I can't believe an agent that good still trains," Izzy comments.
"It's how he became that good," says Marko.
"I hope he locks himself inside the training room again and forgets our bet," says the hopeful Chen.
"No way that's happening," Marko tells him, smiling.
"Oh, man."
"We DID warn you not to take the bet," an "I told you so" from Marko to Chen.
"Yeah, yeah, I know."
"But it's just, I keep hearing that the guy's 'the best' and whatnot and I guess I was just curious and wanted to see if that was actually true," Chen explains.
"And now you pay the price, literally," Marko teases.
"WAS HE that good?" asks Izzy.
"Bro, I don't know. I didn't even see what happened," Chen answers.
"We decided on the same starting spot, we went different ways and like, five minutes later, he called telling me he won and where he was."
Both Marko and Izzy were smiling.
"That time would have been much shorter if he didn't need to find the thing," says Marko.
"Honestly, I was very skeptical of the guy, too when I first started here and I kept hearing about him like he's some sort of legend," Izzy chimes in.
"When he came back and I saw him in person, I was even more skeptical when I saw that he was younger than me and didn't look imposing at all. Then we came to Redwood and I saw him beside the monster's butchered corpse, unscathed."
"We obviously didn't see him do it, but considering that THAT was an S-rank monster that nearly killed everyone, and HE did what he did to it alone? It was scary," Izzy explained.
"Normal reaction," says Marko.
"Kid over here is just too dumb to still demand a live demonstration," Marko still poking fun at Chen.
"Argh, fine," exclaims the defeated Chen.
"Who's the second best, though?"
"You have no quit in you, huh?" says Marko.
"You have the six First-Classes. Every single one of those people are a cut above the rest — us. Now, from those six, there's another two who are also a cut above the rest."
"Sebastian and Cade?" queries Izzy.
"Bingo."
"And even those two aren't on the same level. Sebastian is still two, three levels higher. But that's not to say that Cade is weak. Cade is still a monster in his own right. He could probably even take the three of us at the same time," Marko explains.
"And Sebastian?" asks Chen.
"At this point, Sebastian can take on every single Third and Second-Class agents even if we came at him all at the same time."
"Okay, you're just glazing the guy ultra hard now," Chen critiques.
Marko laughs at Chen's comments.
"You can believe me or not, but that's the truth. The man is simply that good. Why do you think he gets to do whatever he wants in this place and no one craps on shit about it?"
"That man is this organization's trump card," Marko adds.
"Yeah, but wasn't he gone for an entire year? Place still looks intact and the world hasn't ended," Chen is still skeptical.
"I said 'trump card', not the only weapon this place relies on."
"Wait, you said 'at this point', what do you mean?" Izzy asks.
"As good as he is now, this is still not him utilizing his complete potential," Marko answers.
"Why do you think he's still training at this point? If he's already reached his peak, there would be no reason for him to still spend an entire day inside the training room."
"'Sup," Harley who has just arrived joins the group in the lobby, occupying the couch with Izzy.
"What we talkin' about?"
"The boulder and the tree are riding Sebastian's dick hard," Chen says, mockingly referring to Marko and Izzy.
"Kid thinks everyone here gives the guy undeserved praise and credit," Marko explains.
"You shit on each other all the time, you gotta be with me on this," Chen convinces Harley.
"Yeah, 'cause the guy's a fucking asshole. But that doesn't mean I don't respect what he can do," Harley answers.
"Prick's more of a monster than the monsters he butchers."
Marko and Izzy both look at Chen in a smug manner at the same time.
"Oh, come on!" Chen exclaims.
"Why are you even arguing this?" Harley asks Chen.
"You went to Redwood, you saw what the guy did to that fucking deer and you still think he's overrated?"
"God, you really ARE still a kid. An especially dumb one at that," Harley continues.
"If you still don't believe the guy, go a couple rounds with him in the training room," he suggests.
"Nah, I'm good," Chen answers.
"Plus, if I lose, you guys are gonna give me even more shit."
"'IF' you lose???" Harley exclaims.
"There's no 'if' in that scenario, kid," says Marko.