Chapter five: Access Granted

The young agents looked up, awestruck by the scale of the ship; it was so powerful, the ground and walls trembled as though from an earthquake.

" I think it's bigger than my whole neighborhood," Lucas marveled, staring at the vessel in disbelief.

" It's like half the academy," Luna added in shock.

" It can't be that big," Pascal corrected them.

" Maybe it's a third of the academy?" Tori suggested.

A concave circular platform began slowly descending from the ship and stopped in front of them. Inspector Irene stepped on first, and the others followed. The platform could hold around 35 people, but only 17 crowded onto it, giving them room to move. The platform then began to rise gradually.

Calisto was the last to board. Once on, he stood next to Lucas. Lucas stared at him with wide, fixed eyes before looking away. Even after the gaze broke, Calisto kept looking at him.

This was the man who had died more than once in Lucas's dreams: alive, healthy, handsome, wearing that same scent Lucas had smelled in his dreams. Artemisa observed Lucas's reaction closely; he was trying to keep it hidden, but although Lucas recognized nearly every scar on Calisto, Calisto didn't even know his name.

" Have we met before?" Lucas asked.

Calisto blinked, as though taken aback by Lucas staring too intently.

" A man that beautiful can't be real," Lucas thought.

"I don't think so. It's impossible," Calisto replied with lightness.

Lucas wasn't satisfied. He'd forgotten that inspectors weren't supposed to be present at all—they were undercover and low-profile hours ago. Probably Calisto didn't want to admit he'd seen Lucas at the auditorium.

Lucas swept over Calisto's eyelashes, eyebrows, facial features, neck, waist, and chest. Calisto was a few centimeters shorter. Lucas couldn't describe the attraction or how familiarity stung him.

Everything about the young man in front of him looked so perfect and hypnotic. When the platform connected to the ship, creating a bridge to board, Lucas followed Calisto, trying to catch his eye once more.

" But maybe we really did meet before," Lucas persisted.

Calisto turned and regarded him curiously, folding his arms and examining Lucas from about a meter away.

" It's impossible," he repeated with a smile.

For a few seconds, both were mesmerized by each other's eyes until Inspector Irene coughed to draw her partner's attention. At that moment, a shorter inspector with blond hair and green eyes joined the group along with others in white suits. While Lucas feared he was staring too much at Calisto, Artemisa was actually the one staring—she looked nervous.

" Welcome, graduates," Irene greeted them.

Irene radiated severity, Calisto playfully confident, and the younger blond inspector seemed awkward. He looked even younger than the graduates.

" First, I'm pleased to inform you that you've officially been promoted to ACE agents. Second, on behalf of us and our colleagues who aren't here now, we apologize for this year's selection process irregularities," Irene announced.

" Inspector Irene is right. I'm Inspector Fenris Woldt," the young blond interrupted. "Although these circumstances were largely beyond our control, we offer our sincere support to all those close to our colleague Aria on this day—meant for celebration after four years, yet now a harsh blow to us as friends, comrades, and an institution. Please trust our colleagues to find her as soon as possible."

Behind them, the door began closing. They noticed the deputy director hadn't boarded the Arthur—perhaps she couldn't do so administratively.

"Come on, let's leave the boarding area," Calisto invited.

They walked toward a wall that surprisingly revealed a hidden door, opening as they approached and leading the agents inside.

" This ship is called the Arthur. It used to be ACE's base, fully equipped for autonomous operation. We usually use it only for emergencies, but under the circumstances, it seemed like a perfect chance to dust it off, hasn't it? It's a marvel of engineering. Any questions before we move on to the next phase of your induction?"

" What roles will we have onboard? And which departments will we be assigned to?" Artemisa asked.

" Interesting question. And your name?" Calisto replied casually.

" Artemisa Rosso," she answered.

Calisto gave her a curious look, as though she'd said something weird. Lucas watched closely.

" Rosso—spell that R-O-S-S-O?" he asked.

Artemisa looked puzzled but held back any sarcastic comment to her superior and nodded.

" R-O-S-S-O," she spelled out.

Calisto looked uncertain as though unsatisfied before changing the subject as they continued walking.

" ACE currently has three departments: Anomalous Innovation & Development (for weapons and databases), Anomalous Criminology (inactive), and Strategic Operations & Reconnaissance," Calisto explained.

" ANID, ANCO, and STOR," summarized Fenris. "Since we're still restructuring, ANCO is inactive. Most of you will likely go to ANID and STOR."

They headed down a long corridor toward a room with a locked door and a keypad beside it. Irene typed in a code decisively—only to hear "incorrect."

She looked at Fenris, who shrugged and muttered, "If you don't know the password, neither do I." They began tentatively guessing codes with no success.

Taking advantage of the pause, Calisto sidled up to Artemisa:

"Are you sure your surname doesn't have a 'Z'?" Calisto asked suspiciously.

Artemisa couldn't understand the obsession with her name.

"I'm not sure. It's been my surname for twenty years," she said.

"You're twenty?" Calisto echoed, more surprised.

Lucas couldn't understand why Artemisa intrigued Calisto so much, but he stayed silent to hear the rest.

" Does your father…?" Calisto started, but was cut off.

" Yes!" Artemisa exclaimed, exhausted. "Yes…"

Calisto wanted to ask more, but Artemisa's expression said clearly, "Ask again and regret it." Lucas recognized it immediately; Artemisa was stone-faced.

" But it really is R-O-S-S-O?" insisted Calisto.

" Are you being racist? Just because I'm Asian?" she accused tersely.

Calisto seemed offended then broke into a smile as though he couldn't believe what he heard.

" Racist? I'm from Neptune—do you really want to call a Neptunian racist?"

As the "incorrect password" tone rang again, Irene exclaimed, " Gavrilnov, help me open this door!"

Calisto rolled his eyes, stepped forward, typed a code once, and the door opened wide. It looked like just an office.

" It hasn't changed in twenty years, Irene," Calisto muttered.

" Whatever," Irene replied as she entered.

The young agents and Fenris saw the rivalry between Irene and Calisto—clearly they didn't get along. As Calisto followed Irene, Fenris moved closer to the group.

" Next is enrollment: we'll do a facial scan and ocular scan for your biometric profiles. This data goes to our headquarters at Puerto Coronel Saint-Russeou," Fenris explained.

Inside the room, there were murmurs and the sound of things dropping. Lucas and Artemisa stayed near the entrance. Calisto tapped away at the computer while Irene sorted cables—clearly nobody had used the system in years; it looked like scrap metal rather than a biometrics setup.

" Did you know Damian has a daughter?" Calisto asked amid the noise.

Irene, annoyed by the tangled cables, looked shocked.

" A daughter?" she asked.

Calisto nodded.

" Same surname," he said with crossed arms.

Irene said "ohh" through pursed lips, still untangling cables. Lucas quietly asked Artemisa:

" Why do they care about your father so much?"

Artemisa didn't respond, her eyes still on Calisto.

" I don't know," she said.

She backed away from the door and leaned against the wall, Lucas alongside her.

" Why did you call her racist?" Lucas whispered.

" Because she thought I judged her for having the "English-looking" surname while she's Asian. I reminded her I'm from Neptune—I beat her in marginalized status." disussed Calisto.

Irene, ebony-skinned, eyed Calisto warily.

" Give me a reason not to strangle you with these cables," she threatened.

" That'd be discrimination," Calisto replied.

Irene stretched out the cables as proof she wasn't joking. Calisto remained unfazed as she turned on the computer.

" Why am I the one untangling these cables? Aren't you the doctor here?" Irene snapped, standing up.

" You don't need a doctorate to untangle cords," Calisto replied with a mocking tone.

Fenris peeked into the office shyly:

" Should I let the others in?" he asked.

Irene signaled them through one at a time. First Orion Nesheim entered, followed by Aqua. There weren't many new agents, so it didn't take long. Irene closed the door, which was oddly soundproof.

While the others waited outside, one of them asked:

" If ANCO is inactive, how did they plan to help with the Aria search?" Tori asked, arms crossed.

Several were already exhausted by this topic, but they partially understood Tori's obsession with Aria. Surely this was a way to deal with loss:

" Who knows," Pascal replied. "Maybe this is supposed to be ACE's big comeback."

" Could be," Artemisa added.

" I joined hoping to help find Aria" Tori said gloomily. "If they send me overseas… what's the point of this shit?"

The young agents looked at her; she looked more and more discouraged, clutching her phone with the Flare app open, scanning for updates about her missing friend. They understood, but many thought she was taking it too hard.

" Tori, I get that you're worried, but don't you think you're going too far?" Luna asked. "You should rest a bit…"

Tori looked insulted.

" You think this is going too far?" she replied coldly.

An awkward silence followed until Irene called only Tori inside for the enrollment process. The others remained behind, confused. uBt satisfied that that discussion has ended at this point.

Pascal looked like he couldn't stand this discussion for another second, so taking advantage of the soundproof room, he complained:

" I'm Aria's friend too," Pascal said. "But I'm not going down the rabbit hole like Tori. She's taking it too personally."

Those words touched and made several people in that place feel uncomfortable, so they did not take long to respond:

" Aria was her best friend at the academy," Artemisa defended Tori.

"Understandable? Misa, she won't stop talking about Aria", argued Pascal.

"Would you be calm if Luna disappeared? We already know that this topic must make you dizzy, but Pascal, you need to understand what Tori is feeling" Lucas asked him, looking a bit upset by his friend's reaction.

"Don't mix things up" Pascal complained.

"The point isn't who disappeared, the point is that we can't do anything else for her now. The authorities already said they would take care of it and we are going to deal with other things, period." said Pascal, already tired.