The cadets made their way out of the hall in silence, murmuring amongst themselves as they cast suspicious glances at Dorian.
Dorian waved at Rose as she was led out of the hall as well, with Benson. He made sure to give Benson another warning look, a reminder to stay away from Rose.
Once the doors bolted shut behind them, Dorian shifted his gaze to the raised platform, where Aurora sat with two old men.
Although he hadn't activated anything, his senses were oddly heightened, he could tell the energy level of everyone in the room.
Surprisingly, the one with the highest, happened to be coming from Aurora and the two men, followed closely by the older officers, putting aside the fact that the actual highest left with the cadets, didn't make much sense, considering those were children his age.
He watched them with narrowed eyes as they moved from their spots and spread out around the elevated seats surrounding where the facility board members were seated. Aurora's seat still remained at the top, and she stared down at him with a smile.
Dorian rolled his eyes when their eyes met. He shifted his attention to Kyle, beside him, who stood with his arms crossed, expression blank.
Annoyed by the scent coming from him, Dorian took a quick step away and slid his hands into his pockets.
"Is everyone comfortable?" Aurora asked, speaking into the small microphone attached to her desk. Everyone present gave a small nod, and then she began.
"Alright, well, regarding the recent incident at Facility 077, far north, near the recent tower. Despite the short time difference since the incident, the news has circulated and reached the Chairman and Facility 005. And we all know what that means, correct?"
"Yes," they replied in unison, not taking their gazes off Dorian, while a few were busy taking notes.
Aurora let out a breath and held up a white file before continuing. "The facility suffered a massive fatality count, resulting in Chief Breanna's suspension, as well as an invite to Facility 005 for proper confrontation and punishment."
Dorian clenched his jaw as she spoke, his mind still replaying what had happened yesterday. However, due to the drugs, it wasn't giving him any discomfort, just anger.
He caught Aurora stealing a glance at him before she quietly flipped the page and adjusted the glasses resting on her nose.
"According to the records of the event, it states that Breanna Mordaine is your mother, correct?"
Dorian's gaze darkened. He raised his head fully now, gazing deep into her eyes before replying, "Is this information necessary?"
"Yes, it is," Doctor William spoke before Aurora could. He pointed his red ball pen at Dorian and smiled warmly. "We understand how much damage has been done, so we'll be careful not to go in too deep."
Dorian averted his gaze, letting out a low sigh. "Fine. Go ahead."
Aurora cleared her throat, picked up a pen from her desk, and marked a few parts of the file. "Alright. Back to the fatalities..."
"Facility 077 suffered fifteen deaths and two injuries. Of those fifteen, Michael Norman—Subject Thirteen, lost his life after trying to attack Subject Zero, the Icklovak thug brothers, two main staff members, and the security guards."
"The first four mentioned, their deaths were a result of thorn-like tendrils... or tentacles, as stated, draining their blood and mana residuals. The attacks were the result of a second awakening, triggered and aided by the consumption of the mana shards of a Grade A, advanced Nocturnal-class beast."
Gasps echoed through the board, as well as among the officers, who began murmuring uncontrollably amongst themselves.
Dorian's brow knit upward, he hadn't expected what happened to get such a reaction, because he thought it was normal.
Or maybe he was the only one who thought it was normal. Aside from that, he couldn't understand why they were making such a huge deal about it.
'It's not like I'm the first to awaken twice, right?'
He thought to himself, dragging his eyes from one person to another until they landed on the blonde man who now collected the file from Aurora.
He cleared his throat to silence the murmuring and tapped the file gently against the desk. His voice was calm, but there was a weight behind each word.
Just the way his presence grounded everyone present, it was a sign he was the strongest here.
"We understand the nature of awakened beings can be unpredictable, but this case is far from normal," he said, adjusting the glasses that sat low on the bridge of his nose. "Second awakenings are not unprecedented, but what happened here… this wasn't just a surge or a rare talent spike. This was something else."
He raised the file. "The tendrils described weren't just mana constructs, but blood. The way the blood was extracted, the way the residual mana was drained… it mimics high-tier predator behavior. Like an apex parasite. That's why the Council is interested."
"Parasite?" Dorian echoed, then tilted his head slightly. "So I'm a leech now?"
A few chuckles slipped from some of the younger officers, but they quickly silenced themselves when Aurora shot them a glare.
The blonde man, Doctor Malren, if Dorian remembered correctly from the books he read, smiled faintly. "No, but it means your second awakening might be... influenced, or possibly triggered, considering what we've heard about your previous awakening and you consumed a Grade A beast shard and blood. That's not normal."
Aurora sighed. "Apparently, your case hasn't happened in a very long time. The last time someone awakened twice... they didn't last long. They got dragged into one of the rifts before it closed, so..."
"So what are you going to do?" he asked, meeting her gaze again. "Reclassify me? Run tests? Lock me up in a lab?"
There was a brief moment of silence.
"Yes," Doctor William answered. "Not lock up, of course, but we need to run tests. Mana stabilization, psychological resilience, neural compatibility." He smiled, trying to assure Dorian that there wouldn't be any issues.
"We only need to take a few samples, that's all."
Dorian raised a brow. "No."
Malren frowned. "And what do you mean by that?"
Dorian's gaze darkened. "I said no. I'm not going for any test that includes anything being taken from me. Not my blood, not a shard, not even my saliva."
Doctor William scoffed. "We are not giving out—"
"I said no," Dorian emphasized, slipping his hands out of his pockets. "If being here means I'll have to face what I faced there, then I'd rather live my life like a normal awakened individual." He looked over to the officers getting ready to stand.
"If anyone makes an attempt to touch me, or force me to give anything, then this will be Breanna's facility all over again," he paused, turning his cold gaze on Aurora.
Aurora interrupted before anyone could respond. "I'll make sure of that, Dorian, but please we can't put you on a battlefield without making sure you're strong enough."
"Then make Rose a doctor here," Dorian shot back. "She can still monitor me and handle the tests. Or better yet, let Benson do it." He pointed toward one of the board members wearing a stethoscope. "Rose knows more about the projects than he does, despite her age, and I'd rather have her do anything than any of you."
Aurora smirked. "Not even me?"
"You especially."
She gasped, feigning pain as she clutched her chest like she'd been shot. "That's so unfair. No one wants to see my brilliance in action."
William and Malren both scoffed, exchanging a glance.
"We wouldn't even trust you with our food," William muttered.
"Talk more of anything related to tests," Malren added.
"Anyway," Malren went on, "we've heard what you said, and we'll honor that, as long as you don't attack our staff unless it's necessary."
Dorian nodded. "That won't be an issue."
"And about Rose Kaiser," another board member cut in, "we heard she helped you escape. Is that true?"
Dorian nodded. "That's right."
"That's impressive. How'd she pull it off?"
He shrugged. "She happened to be close to Miss Yvonne, so she knew what to do and what not to."
"Yvonne?!" the entire room echoed, causing a frown to flicker across Dorian's face.
"Yes, Yvonne. What's wrong with that?"
"It's nothing," Aurora replied quickly. "She's just one of the few who managed to climb the Tower and reach the top."
"Which is impossible," someone else muttered.
Dorian turned his gaze away, hiding a faint smile.
"I didn't even have to climb it," he murmured under his breath.
"Anyway, that's all for now," Aurora said. "Kyle will take you to your ward, then you can head home."
Dorian smiled faintly, bowed respectfully, and turned to Kyle, who studied him with a strange gleam in his eye. Then Kyle stepped back and turned around.
"Welcome to the North Defense Unit, First Division… Zer
o."
Dorian nodded, he didn't like how ceremonious they were being about it, but at least they weren't nosy like Breanna's facility.f