The impossibly dense door behind him gradually shut after he passed through, marking his official departure. Cosmo continued down the hallway, moving with purpose.
He remained vigilant, constantly scanning for any form of remote surveillance fixed on him, identifying and tracking each one as he navigated toward less exposed corridors.
Upon reaching a corner with minimal audio or visual coverage, he let his body relax, slumping in exhaustion and releasing a long sigh.
"Damn, that was horrible. Why'd that door have to be so heavy?"
He muttered, venting about the obstacle seemingly designed to sit just beyond his capacity. He had relied on subtle tricks to sell the illusion that moving it had been effortless.
To go the extra mile, he had even taken care to close it slowly, all to prevent any possibility that his targets might continue underestimating him.
"Those idiots don't know how to take it easy. They exerted their authority so hard, I nearly threw up just trying to say no."
He had brought himself before some of the strongest and most experienced Eminents he'd ever seen, arming himself with confidence for a high-stakes long-term goal. A bluff that could have unraveled had any of them truly pressed.
On the surface, the meeting appeared straightforward. In truth, it had been an intricate display, captains subtly revealing their positions while keeping their true motives hidden, all in the name of advancing shared objectives.
While collaboration was the official goal, each eminent had their cause for joining the organization, causes they would not sacrifice just to fall in line behind the others.
Nithya alone seemed to be above such games. Her carefree nature was enviable, free from agendas, free from rivalries. As a result, she earned no enemies and drew little attention, for better or worse. Though it likely left her subordinates in perpetual chaos.
Once his body caught up to his nerves, Cosmo straightened again, composure returned, just as two familiar figures approached. Their ever-clashing voices rang out ahead of them, impossible to ignore.
They turned the corner and froze at the sight of him.
They turned the corner, and both froze at the sight of him.
"You know," Cosmo said casually, "for two people who are always glued to each other's side, it's amazing you still haven't outgrown those pointless arguments."
"Cosmo?"
"Yo."
Jid and Ally. The lieutenants of the one and only Nithya the Piercer. Considering how much noise those three generated regularly, it was hard to believe their branch accomplished anything at all. Yet they remained consistently effective, perhaps because these two spent all their time balancing the chaos their captain unleashed.
"You two seem way stronger than when I last saw you. So you haven't been slacking—whoa!"
Cosmo was abruptly cut off by a bear hug that lifted his feet off the ground.
"That patronizing tone that makes any adult want to punch you in the face, it is you!" Ally exclaimed, squeezing him tightly. "We were thrilled when we heard you were back at HQ. Why didn't you come visit?"
"I figured it'd be a little presumptuous to assume we were still that close."
"You keep hugging him like that, and he might vanish again," Jid jabbed.
"I assume that's your way of telling her to keep it up."
"What gave it away?"
Cosmo laughed, and Ally finally released him with an exaggerated exhale.
"Where have you been?" she asked, then waved her question off. "No, how have you been?"
"Just peachy," Cosmo said flatly. "Nothing too out of the ordinary. Honestly, I'd call it a journey of self-discovery."
"Then let me guess," Jid smirked. "You stumbled across some ancient secret endowed artifact that boosted your authority level overnight. That it? Mary Sue?"
"You know, I wish things were that convenient for me," Cosmo sighed. "You really shouldn't assume how easy someone's story is when you don't know the full thing. Younglings these days have no manners."
"I'm older than you, you little sh*t!"
"By the way, weren't you two heading somewhere?"
"Oh, right, A report came in from Simulum," Ally responded. "It wasn't stated which branch they were from, but some of our new officers were in an entanglement with the HLA," Ally explained.
"...is that so?"
"Luckily, no one got hurt, but one of them caused damage to a Blastball stadium in the North and set off the alarm and lockdown sequence. What kind of branch would allow such trouble on the first day with the new wave?"
Jid questioned who could have been responsible for such irresponsibility. At the same time, Cosmo seemed to have found something about the wall to the side he liked so much, considering he could only look at it in that moment for some odd reason.
He then cleared his throat before speaking. "About the army, since you guys are in charge of dealing with anti-enforcement efforts, you should know something important."
Veil wasn't a broadly accepted organization. For reasons like the fear of monopoly or equanimous ideas, it isn't too uncommon to find those who seek to dissolve it. Countering them in the 56th is the specialty of Nithya's branch. This made issues such as these fall under their jurisdiction.
"The HLA aren't so negligible anymore. They've recently been provided weapons capable of damaging Eminents that aren't endowed artifacts either."
"Recently? And since the army is only comprised of regular humans, the weapons truly couldn't be endowed artifacts. But when you say provided, do you mean…?"
"Yeah, I think somebody's assisting them," Cosmo confirms his speculation with Jid.
"That's more we'll have to look into, then. Thanks for the information, Cos… or rather, Captain Cosmo." Ally states in response.
"Wow, that's a bit embarrassing," Cosmo chuckled.
"Still, it's frustrating to think our officers might be facing even more danger than usual lately."
"There's more?" Cosmo asked, catching the implication.
"Ally, that information's still classified," Jid reminded.
"Oh, relax, it's Cosmo. Besides, it's going to be common knowledge soon anyway," she brushed off his concern.
"Some of our officers have been vanishing under strange circumstances."
"Strange?"
"Standard SOS calls. Basic recon operations. Then suddenly, radio silence," Jid explained. "No trace, no bodies, nothing."
"That's grim," Cosmo muttered. "Any pattern or suspects?"
"Very little," Ally admitted. "Sites show no real signs of struggle. Just a few faint traces of unidentifiable authority, and zero witnesses."
Cosmo's eyes widened before falling into an empty state. Any readable expression disappeared from his face.
Many thoughts flowed through his mind. A name, the mask, a smiling face, chasing.
It expressed lies.
It expressed death.
Deception was breath.
Unforgivable was the sin of living. For it clawed at him, in a manner he couldn't reach.
He could understand why it evaded him, for it was an expression of arrogance he was all too familiar with.
An embodiment of the greatest act of thievery.
"Cosmo… are you okay?"
"Holes…"
The two could do nothing but glance at each other as Cosmo stated a word with no added context.
"On the scene of the disappearances, have any abnormal holes been discovered?" He continued. "Punctures? perforations? Any form of it that seemed out of the ordinary?"
"N…no…" Ally responded with a hint of concern. "But if it bothers you, I could request a reinvestigation."
After a long pause, Cosmo sighed. "Sorry, don't worry about it. I was just… thinking about something else."
He began walking past them before waving. "Good luck on your investigations. If you need any help, I'd be glad to contribute."
They both stared at his back as he walked off, not being able to confidently respond in a way they felt would make a dent in the wall he'd just instinctively placed around himself. The wall they rammed into the last time they saw him before he disappeared.