July 25, 2175
12:40 A.M.
"Rest well, goodnight," Diana called out as she disappeared into her room.
"Goodnight, you too," Jack replied as he closed the door to his room behind him. Easy for you to say, he thought as he felt his whole body ache from his exertions.
"Quite the ordeal today we got into, huh," Enak said, his blob-like form glistening at Jack's shoulder.
"Yeah, I'm more shaken up with that whatever thing attacked me than I am with all the almost dying thing."
"Makes sense. That girl, Diana, sure is using Cretan armour quite well."
"Yeah, this is the second time she has saved me from almost dying," Jack replied as he sat down on the ground to refill his Kana reserves.
There was silence for a few minutes. Jack half expected Enak to belittle him again by calling him weak and stuff, but to his surprise, Enak stayed silent as Jack refilled his Dantain.
I know what you are thinking. I know I am weak, and I am trying my best, okay? I won't get insanely strong in a day or something, Jack finally said as he got up and stretched.
"Oh, I know, trust me. But young master, I can compliment your power. Without the authority, you are getting quite strong," Enak said, his voice back to its usual tone.
"Heh~"
"Don't get ahead of yourself, young master. You are still nowhere near the elites of the Cretan army."
"Yeah yeah, now lemme sleep. I feel dead," Jack said as his gaze dropped to his side and he touched the place where the Revenant had bit him off earlier.
Jack lay down on his bed, his thoughts nowhere near calm enough for him to sleep. His thoughts drifted from place to place—from concern over the people who had left for the city again, and then they drifted to the two people he met in that weird space. There was something about the man who had saved Jack. Something Jack wasn't able to quite put his finger on.
He turned from one side to another as his fatigue continued to eat away at his conscience, guiding him to an uneasy sleep.
6:00 A.M.
The sun was barely over the horizon, casting an orange hue over the sky. A silhouette of a man was bent over the entrance to the pocket tents, banging his fists on the hatch, crying out "Jack Hauston" again and again.
Inside the pocket tent, Viora alarmingly woke up Diana and informed her of the situation. Diana quickly slipped out of her pyjamas and hurried off to wake up Jack.
"Jack, Jack, wake up. We've got some company," she called out, knocking at his door.
Jack slowly stirred awake and opened the door.
"What's up?" he said, worried at the look of concern etched on Diana's face.
Diana informed him about the situation.
"What??! Why didn't you tell me sooner, Viora?"
"Lady Diana asked me not to disturb your rest today, and in case anything comes up, I inform her," Viora replied.
"I see. Hmm, lemme see the face of the visitor."
A holographic screen popped up, and it showed the face of the man who was pounding on the door.
"Wait, I remember this guy," Jack blurted out suddenly as soon as he saw the man.
"What? You do?" Diana asked, confused.
"Yes, he was with the group that left by themselves yesterday. You know what, I will go get ready in a bit. You go outside and greet him in the meantime, and don't forget to have your armour at the ready," Jack said as he went back into his room and got ready.
The man kept on relentlessly banging his fists against the door, and when the door budged as Diana opened it, only then did he back away from it.
"You—you are not Jack Hauston," he said, panting.
"Definitely not. I'm Diana, Jack's friend. He will be joining us in a moment."
"I-I see. My name is Stephen, and I was with the group that left yesterday and we—"
"And lemme guess, y'all ran into some trouble and you ran away to us," Jack interrupted as he climbed out of the tent.
"Oh yeah, that's right," Stephen said. "I'm Stephen, nice to meet you, Jack," Stephen said, offering Jack a handshake.
"Hello Stephen, nice to meet you too. I remember you, you were the last one to leave with that group… So lemme guess, they are all dead?" Jack said, shaking his hand.
Stephen was surprised at Jack's bluntness. He stood there frozen for a second and then replied.
"Well, I don't know. When we returned to the city, we saw police cars lined up blocking the roads. When we approached, they asked about our backgrounds. We told them that we were there at the site of the incident. And then…"
"Then what?" Jack insisted.
"They asked us to get into the cars as they would like to take us to the police station to record our statements as survivors. We agreed and got in their cars. However, as we were getting in, I overheard one of the police officers talking to someone."
"What did you hear?" Diana asked.
"Well, he was saying, 'Yes sir, the survivors of the festival place. Yes, we will be taking them to the centre soon.' I thought he was referring to the police station as the centre, so I didn't pay much heed."
"I see, then?" Jack asked.
"We all got in the police van, but what you said was still on my mind, so I kept a lookout. When I realised we were taking a detour, I used my Ikanami, opened the door, and ran away."
"What's going on here?" a voice said behind them as they heard the hatch of the pocket tent opening. Ethan had come out as well and was eyeing Stephen suspiciously.
Diana went and started to inform Ethan about the situation so that Jack could continue the discussion.
"Enak, he doesn't have any mind control cast on him, does he?" Jack asked.
"Doesn't seem like it," Enak answered nonchalantly.
"Well, Stephen, more or less those people are dead, or under mind control, and if you came to me under the impression that I'm some kind of savior who is gonna put everyone here in danger for someone who refused my help in the beginning and ignored my warnings, I'm sorry. But I won't go and help them. Because my actions will affect more than a hundred people who I have assured protection."
"I know, I get it. Though it would be great if you would help them, I know it would risk a lot of lives, and that's not ideal. I didn't come to you to ask your help in saving them."
"Then why did you come back here?"
"To survive. Will you take me under your wing as well? I can't fight very well, but I am willing to learn. I will earn my keep and won't take anything for granted. Please Jack, will you help?"
"Hmm, well just don't stir up trouble, and help each other out. And to be honest, if you can, helping in combat will help a lot. If you are up for it, then I don't see a reason to not have you join us."
"Thank you, thank you… I will help in everything I can," Stephen answered enthusiastically, his eyes shining with gratitude.
"What is your Ikanami though?" Jack asked. He had speculated Stephen must be a Speedster Ikanami user, or otherwise he wouldn't have 'escaped' the police cars—it would have been more of letting go of the prey deliberately to find out the whereabouts of his kin.
"I am a Speedster. Sorry, nothing special about me. I don't use double Ikanamis," Stephen answered, his voice low, as if he was scared of getting mocked about his abilities the next second.
"That's great. At least that means you weren't followed here. We have a bit of time before the Ortho Sapiens begin flooding in here."
"How do you know they would?" Stephen said, eyeing Jack suspiciously.
"They gonna get our locations by mind-controlling the captives. I am sure o—" Jack was saying when Diana interrupted him.
"Jack… you might want to hear this," she said slowly as she approached him.
"Is something the matter?" Jack said, his voice heavy with concern which he failed to suppress.
"Well, as you know, Ethan had restarted the Kana network. Only those linked with old Cretan tech can access that network."
"Yeah, I know that. What's the matter?"
"Well, he is saying he found a distress broadcast on it. From the day the terrorists attacked everywhere. It was from…" Diana trailed off sadly.
"What?! From where? From who?"
"It was from the United Research Centre at Stamford… and the voice, I think… I think it sounded like Mrs. Hauston… and wherever she was… there were a lot of gunshots around her," she said, tears glistening at the side of her eyes.
Jack looked at her, shocked yet relieved at the same time. He approached Diana and patted her shoulder.
Diana's parents were almost always away on military duty, and since the families used to know each other for a while, the Haustons were like a second family to Diana. Jack's mother was always there for her, and thus for her, Jack's mother was none less than her own mother.
Jack knew this quite well, and knew the storm that was raging inside Diana.
"We will go there. According to the last broadcast on the Ortho Sapien network, I could see that they were still trying to find a few of the runaway scientists they had failed to capture. There is a pretty good chance she is alive and hiding, so don't worry. I will save her. After all, she is my mother," Jack said, trying to comfort her and himself as well.
Diana nodded as she wiped away a tear that had escaped her eyes.
"Must feel weird consoling someone else who is worried about your own mother—who is showing worry more than you are, young master," Enak said, his voice teasing.
"I feel pathetic enough by myself for it. Don't make it worse, Enak," Jack replied back coldly.
"Hey Diana, why don't you authorize Stephen into the other pocket tent? Stephen, from now on, you are the main defendant of the survivors. If anything happens to us, you grab the pocket tent of the survivors and run away with your Ikanami. That's your job," Jack instructed as he gave Diana a reassuring squeeze on the shoulder.
Both of them nodded, and Diana took Stephen away with her. Then Jack approached Ethan.
"Can I see that footage of the distress call, Ethan?" he asked.
"You can, but trust me, it doesn't look pretty."
"I've seen and done worse. Try me," Jack said with a smirk.
"Alright, but reading your expression, it feels like we don't have any time. I will go and download it on the tablet. You prepare the car," Ethan said as he descended back into the pocket tent, nodding.
"This guy can read me like an open book, I swear," Jack said, chuckling as he shook his head. "Viora, get me the car, we leaving this place."