"Look, I know you are only a secretary, but if you go into his office, meeting or not, and tell him that I am calling with a Code-X, he will understand, cancel the meeting and take the call, now GO DO IT DAMN IT!"
’Oh…Code-X, heh, they have a code for me; that’s pretty funny,’
For a moment, while I was laughing at the frantic mutterings coming from Fredrick’s end of the line, I could hear shuffling and a door opening before a booming voice I recognized screamed at the Secretary.
"SUSAN, WHAT HAVE I TOLD YOU ABOUT ENTERING DURING MY MEETINGS!"
"SIR, I know, but your Son Fredrick is on the line…he says it’s a Code-X." All the chatter in the room ground to an absolute halt the moment the Secretary said the words, and soon enough, Erik issued a command.
"Clear the room, Susan; connect my son through the secured line." Speaking with authority, his command was followed by the sound of chairs scooting back on linoleum and shuffling feet until there was a faint click on the line as it was transferred from the Secretary to Erik’s phone.
"You better have critical evidence to support your claim, Fredrick, especially considering Xipher was MIA for nearly two years after the USAHA Incident." With the room free of prying ears, Erik stated clearly.
"Father, I understand the gravity of bringing up a Code-X, but I met him, and I have no doubt it was him; I…fell into a trap and went through his little Xipher’s Realm skit."
"He did it all, the music, the ambush, he even killed both my operators without me being able to react…hes…stronger, a little different, but it was him; you made us memorize his file, and it was all there, the speech patterns, the banter, hell he even answered a few questions, although I had to give up some info of my own." There was a slight quiver in Fredrick’s voice as he recounted what had transpired a few minutes before.
"Tell me about the questions, what he asked, and what you asked in return. We know from experience that he treats such conversations as business proposals; you can’t take them without giving first." Having been in my little game on more than one occasion, Erik was no stranger to the way I ran things, so of course, he brought up the topic of questions.
"He set the mood by asking why I was there and what reason I had for collecting those cards I told you about, the ones that would be worth millions during the pandemic of 2020."
"Once we got through the initial part of his scenario, I asked why he was in Orlando of all places, and according to him, he was hunting down those he has animosity with, along with other Returners. From what he said, it’s not just Orlando, but hes basically hitting every large and populated City that represents a Cultural Hub, as he called it."
"He says our meeting was by chance, and since he was waltzing around trying to collect the same cards, our paths crossed…we know he doesn’t lie, so it truly must have been happenstance."
"Oh, and He used the phrases Returner and Origin Timeline…"
"Origin Timeline, it’s not the first time we’ve heard of it; our contact in that Inspector from England’s group mentioned the same thing; it seems Xipher has indeed been traveling the world…" Erik cut in but allowed his son to continue.
"I mentioned lending him a hand well, Stillwater doing so, but he shot it down…."
"Sigh, figured as much; Xipher was always a lone wolf who builds his pack from scratch…you made a good offering anyway, at least in that sense; we will be on his mind if he DOES require assistance. What about your second question."
"I asked what he knew about Nexus, and he knew quite a bit more than we did. Father, we need to send somebody to the Fae Ceremonial Island north of Edinburgh; apparently, Nexus had a large battle there and wiped out over a hundred Fae."
"According to Xipher, who has made a profile on Nexus, the person is young, between the ages of 6 to 10 years old, and is from a small middle-class family."
This chapter is updat𝙚d by freeweɓnovel.cøm.
"From the clues left behind during the battle with the Fae, Xipher was able to deduce that Nexus is adept at hand-to-hand combat and has either a physical based talent or high stats…to me, that says that this Nexus must be of a High Racial Classification, maybe three or 4c, that would explain how even at Alpha Rank they are able to defeat large amounts of opponents.
’Now that’s kind of depressing, thinking that 4C is a High Classification, heh; if only they knew I was two classes higher, they’d probably kneel to me like a god.’ I thought, rolling my eyes and grabbing hold of the car from below as it rumbled to life.
I wasn’t exactly keen on being dragged along as he drove, but since I wanted to continue eavesdropping, I was forced to hang from under the vehicle.
"Also, Nexus is highly intelligent; they had enough sense about them to clean up any evidence that could be traced by other Returners, such as the Fae blood or particle signature, and were able to eliminate each opponent with one of a couple of strikes."
"That’s all valuable information; I will send word to our London Base and have them check out that northern island for any clues they can find; what did you offer up as your end of the transaction."
"I offered up information on how we are working to find out the FPITs, and it seems hes on a similar track only; instead of finding them or trying and doing something about them, Xipher is instead avoiding them."
"After that, he cut things short…I only made it to the second question," Driving along, I could tell that Fredrick was a bit depressed by his lack of progress, but then again, he still did better than his siblings, none of which made it past the first question before annoying me.
"Two questions aren’t bad; you need to be able to speak on common ground with Xipher in order to continue the conversation, and from what he told me back then, only three people before me had ever made it to the final question…you did well son, come back home in one piece and be careful."