"What a 'perfect candidate' that was?"
Arthur's thoughts ground to a halt. He'd muttered the same thing to himself that day—and hearing Ralph say it now, a cold laugh escaped him.
"Hmph! Your so-called 'perfect candidate' doesn't even understand how you work? Is that what a senior agent does?"
"That doesn't sound like the Zack I know..." Ralph hurried to grab Arthur's elbow. "What happened next? And how did you get back here? Don't get me wrong—I really have no idea why he acted so unprofessionally."
"Save it. You should be grateful his attitude didn't get you killed. The worst was still to come." Arthur met Ralph's shocked gaze and continued. "We snuck into Salome's base without a hitch. The item wasn't hard to find—Salome must've been slacking, because we found it in his private vault. No security measures at all!"
"That's ridiculous!"
"Ridiculous doesn't even cover it. But your 'perfect candidate' gave me a headache." Arthur shook his head, sighing. "Honestly, we could've escaped Saya as planned—if your man had just stayed put for a few cosmic minutes. Do you know how easy that should've been? But he had to pick the worst possible moment to get us discovered..."
"Worst possible moment?"
"Yeah. I still don't know why he killed the gate guards." Arthur shrugged, his tone dripping with sarcasm. "From the moment I stepped into the base until we left, their security didn't feel tight at all. It was like they knew we were coming. But I didn't care—as long as we got the job done. How the hell did Zack manage to alert the entire base?"
"What was he thinking?" Ralph asked.
"Hey—he's your man. Isn't it weird asking me?" Arthur shot Ralph a look. "Reckless moves, pulling a gun on me at the landing pad... He acted sharp at first, but later? It was like he was a different person. I told him to stay put while I planted bombs in the airport's weapons warehouse. Seriously, with that level of security, we could've walked out if we timed it right."
"How did he get caught?"
"That's what I want to know!" Arthur couldn't help but glare at Ralph. "Who's stupid enough to go on a killing spree right in front of Salome's base gates? Good grief—is this the 'perfect candidate' our great Ralph raved about?"
"Shut up." Ralph shoved Arthur's arm, giving him a disdainful look. "But... that is way out of line."
Arthur stared at Ralph in silence for a long moment.
"Hey, Ralph. I got a question," he said. "Can your magnetic rifles blow a person to pulp?"
"To pulp?" Ralph frowned. "They can cause agonizing damage, but nothing that extreme. Why—did Salome's guards end up as pulp?"
Arthur nodded.
"Hardly any of the bodies at the scene were intact."
"How do you know it was Zack..."
"Did you send someone else?" Arthur's voice grew sharper, angrier. "Do you think Salome's men would blow up their own people? I feel like you two played me for a fool!"
"Trust me—I wouldn't do that to you." Ralph held up his hands, looking stunned. "I'm just as shocked as you are hearing this. Do you really think we'd work together for so long just to frame you? This side of you... I've never seen it before."
"Ha! You're lucky I'm in a good mood today. A few days earlier, you wouldn't even get a chance to explain!" Arthur glanced at him.
"I'm sorry..." Ralph nudged Arthur's elbow, his gaze softening into a plea. "Then what?"
Arthur gave Ralph another look and went on. "We were chased the whole way. We finally got back to the ship at the ruins—only to be shot down by these humanoid shadowy figures. I say 'humanoid' because I'm not even sure if they were human."
"Not human?"
Arthur nodded. "Those things did things no normal person could—way beyond what's possible." He watched Ralph shrug and continued. "These shadows? They held the ship down. Do you know any species that can do that? They leaped onto a moving ship with their bare hands. That's just as absurd as Zack's stunts. How high do you think someone can jump on Saya?"
"Hmm... The tallest Mulaks can jump about 7 to 8 meters there, max." Ralph rubbed his forehead.
"But from what I saw, the ship was at least 20 meters up. Even accounting for error, that's way beyond normal physical limits, right?"
"When did Salome build such a strong army..." Ralph frowned, muttering to himself. "No—something's not adding up."
"Exactly. None of that was humanly possible. Did you think of something?" Arthur asked, furrowing his brows.
"Wait—those shadows..." Ralph's eyes sharpened suddenly, his tone urgent. "Were they as black as charcoal?"
"So you do know something, Ralph." Arthur eyed him suspiciously.
"Sigh—it's not what you think. If I could tell you about the past... but that's all over. It can't be..." Ralph trailed off, then turned to Arthur helplessly. "I'm sorry—can you keep telling me what happened?"
Arthur glared at him, but Ralph gave him another pleading look. "Fine. After that, we both passed out in the crash. When I woke up, I was already a test subject on their operating table. What happened next made me sure this was all connected to your experiment on Telos."
"Oh, Arthur, come on!" Ralph gave him an innocent look. "Didn't you see the full project files? If you want the original copies, I'll talk to Blair about it—but stop linking me to this 'frame-up' nonsense!"
"I'm not talking about that." Arthur shook his head. "Someone came in. His face was hidden under a cloak, but I'm sure it was your 'perfect candidate'!"
"Zack? How can you be sure?"
"His slightly trembling fingers and those damn obvious combat boots gave him away!" Arthur nodded firmly. "If someone else hadn't attacked the lab ship, I never would've escaped."
"Good God... I sent a spy to work with you on the mission." Ralph buried his face in his hands in frustration.
"Well, congratulations—you got what you wanted. A spy, and the item? Oh, wait—the item's probably back with your spy now!"
Ralph looked up, his face exhausted.
"I... I..."
"So you ask where Zack is? I should be asking you." Arthur watched Ralph fall silent, then pressed on. "I know you're hiding something else. I don't care about your internal drama, but after this mess? Anyone would be angry. If you two had been honest from the start, neither of us would've ended up in this mess!"
"I know, Arthur."
Ralph looked up at him, sighing. "First... I owe you an apology. About Zack—it was my mistake. I was so focused on the item that I didn't think about your safety. I did something unnecessary. I underestimated how important that thing was."
"Spit it out. I know you and Blair both know what that item is." Arthur stared at him coldly. "The shadows are connected to it, aren't they? Why is it so important?"
"Sigh..." Ralph sat down, staring at the floor in silence. He rested his elbows on his knees, lacing his fingers together. After a long pause, he finally looked up. "Arthur, it seems you'll find out one way or another. But I can only tell you this with Blair's approval. So—what you're about to hear never happened. I'm telling you this absurd story as a friend. Once you leave, you'll forget you heard it."
Ralph waited for Arthur to nod, then continued. "You know Blair's and my past. It all started with that battle decades of cosmic years ago. I don't think anyone in this galaxy hasn't heard of it—if the Mynos Empire hadn't collapsed, Hazyakra wouldn't be the strongest sector now."
"The Aesit Incident?" Arthur frowned, and Ralph's nod confirmed his guess. "You mean the war the empire started to take over Basuhata's colonial hub?"
"That's what it looks like on the surface. But I can tell you... most of what's recorded about that battle is fake. The irony? We were there, but we couldn't tell the truth. Those major sectors lied to cover up their shame—and they hid the existence of something far more powerful."
"What are they hiding?"