Chapter 167: Teaming Up With Nicole (1)
After the rain showered the earth, the courtyard looked sparkling clean. The sky turned bright in no time at all.
Ren had cleverly and quietly slipped in through the window. He was there for only a short while. Making sure no one saw him, he left as silently as he came.
Kestrel stood by the window, looking out. She saw Ren moving past the kind old lady who brought milk to them daily. Then she noticed Locky, who seemed sleepy, trudging across the still-wet courtyard. She went to get the milk and came back. Up in the trees, Kaworu sat, and when the wind played with the leaves, it was like they were singing a gentle tune just for him.
When the morning sun finally peeked through the clouds, it shone on the strings of beautiful glass beads by the window. These beads sparkled, showing off many bright colors. Kestrel, curious, reached out and picked one bead that shone with lots of patterns on it.
Without waiting too long, she found the right place for this bead on the Verity Vault.
The bead fit just right, and immediately, there was a bright glow. The light seemed to dance on the wood of the box, and it reminded Kestrel of some beautiful wall paintings she saw once in the temple of the Eyehole.
A while ago, when Kestrel walked through dark and long hallways, these wall paintings came alive with light. They showed stories from long ago about people and events. Now, with the next spot on her small box filled up, a shining picture appeared.
In the gentle glow, a strange creature appeared. It had a round belly, a slim middle, wings like thin sheets, and its front legs looked like jagged knives. On top of its skinny neck, it had big round eyes. Surrounded by the light, it looked elegant but also scary, like a monster from a story.
But when Kestrel looked more closely, she realized that without the fancy lights, this creature was one she saw often. It was a mantis, an insect.
Before starting on this adventure, Kestrel had been gathering lots of information about the Polluted Zone. She took out a special book she kept notes in, and with her finger, she checked each name. Going down a long list, she finally stopped at a name: Mantidale. It sounded like it was named after the mantis she just saw.
...
Somewhere near the Imperial Nexus, a really weird and big skull sat on the ground, as big as a house. This was a huge mutant that had come into this area. Its head had been recently cut off by a strong alpha team from the Tower.
Even with just the head left, this mutant was not dead. Its big eyes looked everywhere quickly, and from its mouth, it spoke words like a human would. But these words were all mixed up and didn’t make much sense.
"It’s time for my confession to work."
"Did you finish the love letter? Make sure it’s in her bag."
"I feel like having coffee from that nearby shop."
"So much homework."
"I wonder when the school will close down?"
...
After their tough battle, a few members of the alpha squad were meeting up near the big ruins, which now had plants all over them. They had just been through a big fight, and each of them had scratches and bruises. They gathered around, lighting up their special beta pheromone cigarettes to relax.
One soldier was lying down because he had hurt his leg really badly. With his face looking really pale, he asked his friends if he could have one of those special cigarettes too.
The sky looked pretty spooky because it was filled with weird green clouds that covered the moon.
Ren was sitting on a piece of a broken wall, holding his gun. He had a bruise on his face that was bleeding a bit, but he didn’t care. He was looking at the opticomputer on his wrist.
On that opticomputer was a chat box with a cute pink octopus picture. Ever since that rainy night, that chat box stayed dark. But Ren kept checking it, hoping to see a message. Every time he had a break, whether after a fight or just relaxing, he’d look at the pink heart icon on the screen. It made him feel a bit better, even if he was tired or sad.
The last message he had in the chat was really old. He had just replied with a short "Mm." Now, he wished he had said more.
They had missed out on going to dinner together, and they hadn’t been able to make new plans.
One of the other soldiers came up to Ren and offered him a cigarette, but Ren just shook his head no.
"I can’t believe such a big monster showed up near the Imperial Nexus," one of them said, looking worried.
"It seems like there are more and more mutants in the wastelands these days. It’s also getting harder to find the keys we need," another added.
"Why did the bosses only send a few of us to fight that huge thing?" someone wondered.
"Too bad that Maestas hurt his leg."
"At least no one got killed," a girl in the group said. She lit her cigarette, took a smoke, and then gave it to Maestas, the guy who got hurt.
"We should all say thanks to Captain Sloan. He saved us," another soldier added.
To stop the big monster near the Imperial Nexus, almost everyone got hurt. If Ren hadn’t acted super-fast to stop the monster, some of them might not have made it.
Ren hadn’t been with the team for very long. He was a quiet guy who didn’t talk much. But after what he did, everyone in the group really respected him.
Every time Ren was in charge of a mission, very few of his team got hurt. He was amazing in fights, super smart, and always had a plan. And the biggest thing was, he always looked out for his teammates.
In the last fight, if Ren hadn’t bravely stepped in to save Maestas from the monster’s jaws, Maestas would’ve been in really bad shape.
Even if Ren seemed a bit cold and distant, deep down, he really cared about others — and everyone knew it. That was why all the alphas who worked with him had so much respect for their cool captain.
"Have you ever seen Captain Sloan smoke one of those beta pheromone things?"
"Nope, not really. He’s really careful with stuff like that. Super disciplined." A few alphas were chatting, but instead of speaking, they used hand signs, kind of like a secret code, to talk about their captain.
Because alphas have really sharp hearing, they could catch even whispers. So, using hand signs was a cool way soldiers chatted without being overheard.
"Captain Sloan’s a great leader, just a bit serious, right? And he doesn’t have someone special, does he? I’ve never seen him with anyone."
"I did see a girl from a fancy house give him a handkerchief once, but he just said no."
"Man, he’s so good-looking; it’s surprising that no one has a crush on him."
"I wonder if, because he’s done so much cool stuff, the Empire will find someone for him if he doesn’t have a special someone."
A female alpha, taking a break with her beta pheromone, chimed in, "You guys got it all wrong. I think Captain Sloan has someone he really likes."
"Really? How can you tell?"
"He’s got that dreamy look of someone who’s in love. You’d have to be clueless not to see it."
The alphas were all surprised and looked over at Ren, sitting on the tall wall. He looked so majestic and distant, kind of like a rare mountain flower.
They were all wondering, with huge curiosity, about who could’ve captured the heart of someone as cool as him.
