"What did you just say?" Orette asked as she leaned her ear closer, asking him to repeat what he just said.
"I_", before he could utter another word, blue eyes flashed before him, catching him in a sudden hold. Shivers spread down his spine as his back hair started to rise, leaving him frightened.
Kace couldn't refuse to bat his eyes at Orette; the sudden chill down his spine never left him, in fact, it stayed, causing him to clench his jaw hard so he could keep his mouth shut.
Orette, seeing the fear and pressure she is causing him, regrets and straightens her back. She closes her eyes and massages her forehead to regain her eyes' color.
"Apologies", she said, looking directly at Kace. "That was not what I was expecting to hear."
Her tone remained neutral. She pats her chest twice or thrice and sits beside Kace. The wall held their backs as they rested and sighed.
"I'm sorry, Orette. I don't know what came over me". Kace mumbles as he pats his black trousers to brush the dust off. "Everything was going fine, I didn't stumble upon anything, but suddenly something happened; It's just happened and_."
"Don't be, buddy. It happens; you don't know when it happens." Orette didn't look at him; she looked at the far distance ahead of her, mostly seen through the narrow corridor.
"You know", she turns her head to face him. "Your portal dragged me here".
Kace faces Orette in an instant. "But I didn't_".
"I know you didn't, but you know, maybe you felt that you needed me to help you get through it. Safe to say you didn't blow up big time, after I entered the portal, it immediately closed".
"Then, did anyone see it?" he asked with determination.
"Just one person", Orette tells him in annoyance as she lifts her index finger, "But it doesn't matter since no one would believe him".
"With the stunt you pulled, I highly doubt it".
"Oh please~, it wasn't even my best. You should have seen the time I cut the ghost's hand". A cute smile spread across her face. "You should have seen how he begged and cried as his blood splashed on the floor."
Kace chuckles with enthusiasm and says, "He deserved it."
"Yeah, that shit deserves it. So does this messed-up corporation". She spreads her hands and gestures to the open space.
Kace smirks only for a second, "I don't think the corporation knows about what the ghost did to us." He says.
"I know they didn't, God, they didn't had a single clue. Clueless, I say, entirely oblivious."
"I just wish that maybe sometimes we could just stop, you know, like give up."
Orette points to him and says, "You. Go for it". She extended her thumb towards herself, "Me. Never in a million years."
Again, the sound of chuckles echoed through the corridors, almost calling a ghost.
"So...are you going or do you wanna sit this one out?". She asked him with eagerness and politeness.
"After all the shit talking you did, I don't think backing off is the right choice", he says, showing his brown eyes to Orette, eyes that show determination, innocence, and a bit of acceptance.
"I like the sound of that".
__________________________________________________________________________
"What the hell happened, Harlord?" Hector asked in a tone flavoured with anger.
His subordinates beside him also questioned the same thing.
"Where is our target? Why can't we locate her in our perimeter?" asked Monarc in a stern expression.
The huge screen displayed in front of them showed a middle-aged combatant, Horlord, the Captain of Unit 5. His complexion has gotten worse since before.
He clears his throat and says, "Would you all believe me if I told you something?".
Hector narrowed his eyebrows. Kalvec and Monarc looked at him, dumbfounded. Garfield just shook his head, while Ford did the talking.
"Captain, whatever you will say is for us to decide if it's believable".
"No take backs?".
"Non, captain, now please say what you were about to tell us."
"Okay." He took a deep breath before he blurted out, " Would you all believe if I told you that: 'A portal appeared when the target jumped from the cliff, escaping as if entering a portal, which I don't know God knows what, just emerged right then and there'."
Silence fills the room like a perfume. All the officers remained still by what they heard. Hector tries to firm his expression, but he can't do so.
Garfield just stares at Harloard like 'What the hell are you saying?'.
Ford just brushes his eyebrows and remains still.
Monarc just painfully glares at the screen.
"...I'm sorry, but could you please repeat that?" asks Kalvec, who looked at Harlord with stupidity.
"Sir, just hear me out", Harlord adjusts the screen to show his injured thigh. The cloth had covered the whole injury, but as soon as Harlord removed the fabric, a huge red stain of blood could be seen.
The room is now filled with disgust and pity that even Kalvec brought himself to say, "You should tend that injury, it looks serious".
"I will, but first, you all have to believe me. That kid is Nuts, I tell you, nuts."
"We clearly saw that Captain", informed Garfeild, "We had a close watch at until she switched her direction, running towards the cliff, which I believe you were positioned."
"Yes, I was, and I'm telling you: She jumped off the cliff, escaping through a portal," Harlord said with desperation.
"Okay, fine", said Ford. "Let's assume that there was something supernatural, God knows what you saw, but at least you might have some proof. A video or a picture would do."
"This injury is enough proof", Horloard points at the swollen red circle. "What else could you want? Have you had any idea? I don't know. Maybe thought that maybe there is something wrong with her."
Anger rose from his voice as he explained what he encountered, how he failed, and what he saw.
Monarc didn't even bat an eye at Harlord's explanation; he just put his hands in his pockets and walked away, leaving everyone with the piled-up work.
Kalvec, irritated by his behaviour, follows him with anger boiling in his blood. "HEY IMBICLE!" He shouted for everyone to hear, but Monarc simply ignored him and walked.
Garfield simply crossed his arms and shook his head, like a disappointed mother who knows no matter what she does, she simply can't bring her two sons to get along with each other.
"Well...this seems quite complicated", said Sergeant Ford, looking hopelessly to Hector, who was sitting like a plump of despair.
'Where could it have gone wrong?', the question he had scripted inside his mind with permanent ink.
'Everything was going well. I had her under my perimeter. She was under my control. Was she? No, she wasn't. What if she planned this? What if she is still there, somewhere hiding behind the bushes, or maybe hanging in the trees?'
"Sergeant?" Ford tried to get Hector's attention, but it was of no use; Hector wasn't even looking at him. His attention went to the small screens showing different landscapes of the forest: the swamp, the river site, the plain pathway with bushes, and the narrow trees.
Then his attention turned towards the base and its entrance. He kept watching for at least fifty-six seconds and recalled the video that Monarc caught when he first saw 000 exiting a red bus.
At first, it didn't make any sense; that video couldn't help him, more likely, it was of no use to him. All he found out was her profile, how she looked, how she was dressed, and her physique.
'There are no bus stations here, not in South Bridge Alley. This place is abandoned for whatever reason, and there is not a single bus station located here.'
"When she found me, I didn't recognize her at first, but when I saw the gleam of blue hue in her eyes, I knew it was her".
Words of a drugged dealer man was the first victim of 000, which brought suspicion to Hector.
"He said he saw 'the gleam of blue hue in her eyes'. I assume he meant blue eyes, but the eyes I saw in the footage were darker, like brown or black".
"I'm sorry, but what are you talking about, sir?" asked Ford, but he was ignored as Hector tried to place the pieces of what he could gather in his brain.
"They were treated as lab rats, experiments, trash...".
Hector's eyes opened wide, staring at the entrance of the base, and mummed, "What if Harlord is telling the truth about what he saw? What if we are too la_".
Before Hector could finish, someone interrupted in the room. It was a soldier in his mid-twenties, sweating from head to toe, panting in his chest with a horrified look.
His wide eyes looked directly at Hector as he said an incantation that left horror in the room.
"002 has been released".