Chapter 12: Centre of Attention

Eze looked towards the receptionist, which seemed to be crowded by security.

'How on earth am I going to get my license now?' he thought to himself. Just then, the receptionist seemed to be running around, holding two folders.

"Excuse me, can I get my license, I think I passed right?" He asked politely as he intercepted her. The woman seemed uncouth and tired. Her eyes showed deep excitement though, as if she'd given a great present from her boyfriend.

She seemed to be rudely awakened from her glazed look, as she looked Eze up... Then she looked at the files she held, and scanned for a file with his passport.

"Oh, Mr Easy..."

"Eze, A-Zay!"

"Oh, My apologies... This should be your file, congratulations on your official entry... Now if you'll excuse me" she said before dashing away to her station. She didn't even bother to glance back, not acknowledging Eze's presence at all.

'well not surprised, must be a fan girl' he thought as he looked at the crowd hovering over their idol.

Eze turned to the exit, trying to find a way through the crowd to be out of the building. Before all that, he took a picture of his license card and sent it to the family group chat with the caption:

Done and Dusted

He walked out of the crowded reception, trying and failing to not bump into anyone in his path. One particular person literally shoved him aside, the force exerted was so large, if he had been a normal Ascended Enhancer, he'd have been thrown off by the counter force.

He ignored the figure and marched outside, going to the parking lot. Suddenly he felt off.

'Like, someone was watching him intently, just like at the airport'

And he didn't look back to check. One thing he'd learnt from his mother was, once you were being tracked, never turn your attention to your tracker, but instead...

'Find a way to turn the tables...' he thought to himself. But just as he got outside the doors, the feeling ceased.

'Weird!' Eze thought. He placed the file in the space box, slapped his license into his wallet, and the got on his bike. He took out his phone and dialed a number.

"Hello this is Sidewinder Housing estate, how can I help ya?"

"I need an apartment..."

"Well you've come to the right place, wot can I do you for fam?"

"Nothing we don't have or own in London yeah! So what you looking for Bruv"

"Nothing too much, just a room and parlor apartment, with a few amenities if necessary"

"Huh, we got that checked out in these three places... One up north in York, another in Kent and one here in London town. But the big L would cost ya, accomodations in the safe zones are expensive now you know what I mean" the voice over the phone replied with a coy tone

"Which house do you have closest to a grey zone?"

The zone Eze spoke about was a grade colour used to calculate the intrusions of Quather gates in an area. The gates opened in different parts of the globe on December 25th 1963, causing global devastations where they opened. These larger gates brought in a plethora of Evo-Beasts of varying strengths. It was even believed that the gates in Australia that opened was of the S-Grade.

Due to research, scientist found out that other than the first gates, or what is now known as the 'Originators', most gates opened relatively close to one. Which meant, the gates opened closer to a larger one.

With this information, humanity was able to isolate itself from the gates, staying away from the incursions of Evo-Beasts. After such, these territories were segregated into Zones.

White Zones were zones that were unaffected by gates or the incursions of Evo-Beasts.

Grey Zones were areas outside were the presence of Evo-Beasts was minimal, but still there. Civilians could stay in this areas, but curfews and areas were restricted as hunting grounds for ascended. Due to the massive population of the world, and the limited amount of space created by the gates, grey Zones were actually also known as liberated zones: areas were a gate had been subdued and closed. And when gates were closed, they didn't open again, usually.

Yellow zones had a very small population of civilians in them, and they were also called last line zones. These zones were made up of the defensive line of the military and a plethora of Ascended corporations bases and research facilities. The bulk of materials used for creation of weaponry to fight Evo-Beasts were farmed and processed here. Most yellow zones had at least 5-6 D-Class gates opened, allowing Ascended to make counter incursions into the world's beyond the gates.

Beyond yellow zones were the Orange zones; a buffer zone between the first line of defense, and the untamed 'Lost Lands': the territories lost to the Gates. These zones were where most of the fighting took place, and most companies placed their headquarters. These areas had a plethora of gates of the C-B tier, a hot bed to quather enhanced monstrosities and fauna.

Beyond the Orange zone were two other zones...

The Red Zone, where most B to A class gates opened.

And the Black Zones, the home of an Originator.

Even after all these years, humanity found it hard to conquer and hold down the red zones around the globe. Conquering a black zone tantamount to suicide, as they usually were guarded by multiple S-Class Evo Beasts of the Third grade.

There were expeditions, the biggest being the Siege of The northern Straits of Russia, which though ended successful, failed to hold the lands for more than a year after the gates recurred.

"Well, you called the right place"

***

Just as Eze was leaving, Tarkov and Mikaela rushed towards the door to the crowded reception. Her eye caught sight of a figure of someone she knew, a scowl wriggled onto her face.

'The D.I.G is here already... This is bad, I have to get to the negotiating table with the Li girl before anyone else' she thought within herself, beelining through the crowd. She, a dignified A-Class, was crowd surfing because of once-in-a-lifetime talent who could dispatch C-class of the first grade as a D-Class first grade.

Just then, the security personnel stood on their path, stopping Tarkov and in extension her from moving forward.

She took out an ID card from her coat pocket and spoke up.

"My name is Mikaela of The ASGARD, I would like to speak..."

"Sorry, the young lady will take all contract interests upstairs"

Just then, Mikaela's left eye patched began to hurt... The other dilated, given off a ghostly green hue.

'Again!' she thought. She then to find Tarkov, who seemed to have bumped into someone. Tarkov shrugged off the person and continued to stand next to Mikaela. When he saw the look on her face, a mix of pain and worry, he asked calmly...

"Did we get anything?"

"An opportunity to negotiate, but... Why is my intuition suddenly sky high here?" She asked as she looked into the crowd, trying to find someone. Suddenly, her intuition stopped bothering her, as if what she was searching was gone, slipping through her fingertips again.

"Don't bother, we've got bigger fish to fry" Tarkov replied, nodding at the young lady walking towards an elevator...

But Mikaela couldn't help but bother...

And she hated being bothered.

***

In what seemed to be a board room, a large table adorned it's center.

On the seats were men and women in suits and ties, all of them looking at a screen showing Li Mei against the Ugovin C-Class. They perused the entire battle in silence, their expressions telling the story of their shock and awe.

A woman with white hair spoke up, breaking the silence.

"The younger generation are taking over huh?"

No one replied her, her observation very much accepted amongst themselves. On the central seat was a grey haired man with a large built body wearing a suit and a pair of glasses. This was the ESRF branch Leader of the Ascendant Association in London. His face seemed more relaxed and at ease than the rest of his board members.

He then began to tap his table, looking at record time list and it's sudden change with two names on it in first and second...

Wait... Two!!!

His face scrunched hard as he looked at the list again. Garvey, who should have been number two after Li Mei, was actually number three. The list went:

1- Li Meiyou: 5mins 33s

2- Eze Raphael Ugo: 5mins 36s

3- Garvey Moshe: 5mins 40s

4- Delaine Bunt: 6mins 30s

He instantly picked up his phone and made a call.

"Someone get me the footage of everyone that tested today now!" He roared, jolting e everyone in the room into a brief shock. This day couldn't just get even crazier right?