"Are the lights ready?""All ready, sir.""OBS checked? Don't mess this up.""No problem.""Signal's stable?"
Inside a bustling broadcast control room, tension rippled through the crew as they prepared for a live stream. Staff hurried to their stations, hands flying across consoles. Amid the chaos, one pair of crimson eyes was fixed on the main monitor alone.
"Camio."A deep, familiar voice called from behind.
The young man straightened instantly and saluted. "Chief."
"What did the General say?" he asked, voice tight."The usual chewing-out," the chief replied flatly.
Camio better known among his peers as Lucas bit down hard. "I'm sorry. I failed to neutralize the target." His red eyes flickered with guilt.
"It wasn't just your failure," the chief said, waving a hand. "The fact that the boy used second-stage Light-Body technique that surprised all of us. And long-range interference wasn't factored into tactical models."
"But if I had acted faster " Lucas began.
The chief cut him off cold. "You think The Trigger just happened to pass by?"
The words silenced the room.
"Remember this." The chief's gaze bored into him. "We're state officers. Professionals. Every operation is executed under the team's name. You're the spearhead, we are the shield. Success or failure belongs to all of us including me."
"…Yes, sir." Lucas bowed his head, but his eyes burned still. He turned back to the live feed, his expression dark and unyielding.
That gaze unyielding, unwavering was the same one Kira now leveled at Bai Feng.
"Problem?" Bai Feng asked coolly.
"The way you moved just now… but the lightning wasn't violet…" Kira murmured.
Ash cut in, voice flat. "It's basic footwork for Thunder-type Prana users. The color depends on the individual's signature. In short Bai Feng isn't the one who fought you last night."
Relief softened Kira's face slightly.
Bai Feng said nothing further. She touched the wall.
"Identity confirmed. Bai Feng. Elevator opening."
She stepped inside and was gone, silent as the storm.
Kira glanced at Ash. "So when you said us… you meant those two?"
Ash didn't answer directly. Instead, he spoke into the air. "Rin."
"Mm." The girl nodded.
"Identity confirmed. Rin Glasya. Elevator opening."
The wall parted. Rin, Ash, and Kira stepped into the lift together.
Thud.
"Level ten."
The doors slid open.
Kira's eyes went wide.
Before him stretched a vast underground hall, alive with dozens of people. Children chased each other, laughing. Women scrubbed walkways. Elders sat reading beneath the artificial glow. It was a community thriving, ordinary buried far beneath the earth.
"Back already, Ash?" an older woman greeted warmly."Since this morning, Auntie," Ash replied with casual familiarity.
Kira spun, staring wide-eyed at the impossible sight. "This place… it's"
"One word," Ash said evenly."Underground."
"What!?" Kira's shout echoed off the dome.
Ash shot him a sidelong look, unbothered. "What's wrong? Just woke up, still groggy? Can't understand plain speech?" His tone was mild, but barbed.
"You mean to tell me… this enormous place, filled with people exists underground!? And the sky what about the sun!?"
Thump… thump… thump.
A soccer ball rolled past Kira's feet then froze midair. It bounced back, as if obeying unseen command.
Kira froze. Slowly, inexorably, his feet carried him forward. He reached up, pressing his palm against the "sky" above.
Cold metal. Hard surface.
The illusion wavered. The blue expanse of clouds rippled like disturbed water before stabilizing once more.
"…LED screens."
The words slipped from his lips, his eyes wide in shock. The glorious sky was nothing more than projection. An artificial dome cloaked the entire underground world, a canopy of countless displays painting the illusion of heaven.
Kira stumbled back, heart hammering. The world he thought he knew collapsed in front of his eyes.
Ash's voice broke the silence. Calm. Cutting."Save the panic for the meeting room. Get it all out at once."
"I'm going home." Kira's voice shook, but steel lay beneath it.
"I don't know who attacked me last night. I don't know who you people are or what this place is. But I don't want any part of it. I don't want to be involved with your strange world, or your strange people!"
Ash halted mid-step. He turned slightly, a thin smile tugging his lips."Strange, is it? Then what you think getting ambushed by assassins is normal? Or leaping a single bound onto rooftops that's just everyday life to you?"
Kira flinched. His pulse quickened. But his words came louder, firmer:"I'm going home. Take me out of here!"
"Of course," Ash answered without pause, his face unreadable."Open your map. We'll escort you back ourselves."
The simplicity unsettled Kira. Suspicion twisted his gut, but he complied. His hands shook as he pulled up his phone and typed his address.
789/155 Main Street.
The map loaded.
And shifted.
The path did not lead outward. No routes. No exits. Only one glaring red dot right where he stood.
Kira's breath hitched. The phone slipped in his grasp. Slowly, he lifted his gaze, eyes wide in dawning horror.
Ash watched him silently. Then spoke, voice cool as ice.
"Welcome home."