Night Video Session With The Team

Dorian sat alone on his bedroom balcony, his legs dangling over the edge, while the cool night wind brushed through his shirt and ruffled his hair.

After deciding on visiting the combat zone, he'd made excuses to have dinner in his room, so he'd have time to prepare and think of reasons to give Rose.

The moon stood proud in the dark sky, casting everything in a beautiful white light. The city glowed softly, due to the moonlight and the streetlights and everything else.

It was deathly silent, despite being just 8 PM. Dorian half expected it to be noisy when he walked out of his room and sat on the balcony.

The new phone in his hand, with the box sitting beside him, , finally ready to be set up. He'd gone through the whole startup process, kept the default wallpaper, registered his password and other basic information, then turned off all the startup tips.

He lifted his arm and aimed the phone at his wrist—

Click.

The noise quietly echoed around him, followed by a quick flash. He took a photo of the scars on his left wrist, slightly healed white line, that had peeling skins at the sides

'It's really clear.'

He switched the camera to selfie mode and zoomed in on his eyes. They caught the light from the flash, he'd left it on and waited until he was comfortable with the angle.

Click.

It captured his eyes, completely black at the top of his iris, fading into a blood-red hue at the bottom, forming a perfect crescent.

With a small smile, he changed the position of the camera, and—

Click.

One last photo of his full face, his lifeless eyes, a small bruise still healing on his cheek, messy hair as always.

Then a small smile creased his lips. "Just this once. At least I'll have a memo of how I looked before...if I live long enough. Hehe."

The smile faded as soon as he looked back at the screen. Notifications were already pouring in, causing a frown to crease his forehead.

He'd just turned on the phone and registered, so how was that even possible?

Somehow, he was already added to a couple of apps he didn't download, military-linked social media, global media, cadet logs, and a group chat labeled:

1st Divisional Cadet Group Chat, Secure Line

The moment he tapped on the chat box, a message appeared, pinned at the top:

Tomorrow's mission has been postponed due to temperature drops close to the rifts, and Facility 077 seems to be moving around there. We can't risk deployment till they're done.

However, tomorrow at 6 AM, meet at Sector/Zone 9, the awakened combat ground.

A group of local awakened bikers challenged the facility's cadets.

We accepted their terms, a public bet.

If we win, they disband and join the voluntary patrol to help around the city.

If we lose (we definitely won't), they get unrestricted ride access outside the city walls, up to the Battleground Media Tower.

Therefore, tomorrow's mission will be: beat the Sector Two biker gang to a pulp and make them work for the city. Understood? —VC

Underneath the chat, thumbs-up emojis popped up one by one, six of them, and a check mark.

Dorian narrowed his eyes and glanced up at the top to check how many were online, Nine.

"Probably Aurora," he muttered, then glanced back at the messages.

He still couldn't understand why a team of inexperienced awakened civilians would want to fight cadets, trained to face beasts if any grade.

It didn't make sense, especially since their only request was access beyond the walls. Probably because they were tired of the city's busy roads.

Yet it was dangerous outside the wall, and they knew that. Which meant... they had a plan.

Another message blinked into view.

You made a deal without asking again, Mia —Captain

They approached me on my way to the mall. I had no choice, and they were annoyingly confident. —VC

Dorian raised a brow, he stared at the name, then at the sender. He didn't know Static let Kyle call her by her real name, considering the personality difference.

Heaving a sigh, Dorian shifted his gaze to the city below. With their apartment was fifteen floors up, It was a beautiful sight the flats and low-rise buildings below, organized and built almost similar.

He prepared to leave the balcony when the screen switched.

Incoming Call: [Group Video Call – Private Line]

[Accept] – [Decline]

Dorian paused, considered declining, then sighed and hit [Accept].

The screen split into seven windows as others joined. His was in the top left corner, his face staring back with a bored expression.

Static's screen came first, completely dark, save for the glowing silver eyes. She wore glasses, but the light caught something under them, bandages, looped around her eyes and forehead.

Next, Kyle's window lit up. He was shirtless, walking through a clean apartment kitchen, sipping from a milk carton. A scar ran down from his shoulder to his ribs.

In another window, Vallen and Illena were seated at a counter, shoveling food into their mouths. Vallen was busy staring at his phone, totally unbothered.

Illena waved slightly at the screen but didn't take her eyes off her food.

Then Julian appeared, upside down on a couch, his head dangling over the edge while he spun a pen between his fingers.

Lia came next, adjusting a long black rifle on a table. She wore fingerless gloves and was cleaning each piece like it was a baby.

Lucas blinked in for a second and muttered, "I've got trash signal again. See you guys tomorrow, or if I can get this thing running smoothly."

Noctis joined last, standing far from his phone, busy juggling a football.

No one said hello.

Dorian stared at the screen, still bored, questioning why he even accepted the call instead of going to sleep.

"...So," Kyle started, scratching his head, "thirty beasts? That's more than any swarm we've ever cleared."

"They're not like the usual swarms," Static said, her calm voice resonating through her room, or wherever she was, a space that seemed hollow and quiet. "Benson said they came directly from the rift and didn't stop for anything. No rest, no delay."

"So they have a specific direction?" Illena asked.

"Yes," Static replied. "I'm guessing they know there's a city here."

Which was strange, because for years, the beasts hadn't come for the city. Not once, not since the facility was established.

Kyle let out a loud, exhausted sigh as he dropped onto a stool in his kitchen.

"I'm so tired of new discoveries every damn day. First the tower, then the massive rift that changed size in under an hour before vanishing, and now a swarm that can detect?"

Dorian's eyes narrowed, 'The tower and the rift… they got information that fast? It all happened so quickly.'

Kyle noticed the shift in his mood, how quiet he had become. He knew this was a sensitive topic, something tied to Dorian's pain, maybe even his trauma.

"Hey—Zero. You awake?"

Dorian blinked. "Yeah."

Kyle grinned, "Don't tell me you're camera-shy, You've barely said anything."

Dorian didn't smile, but he replied, "Just listening."

Static's eyes flicked sideways, she didn't say anything, but her gaze lingered on him, steady and sharp. There was something in the way she looked at him, a mix of curiosity and mild annoyance.

Dorian stared back at her screen, silent. Something about the way she kept those bandages under her glasses made him wonder, was she hiding something? Or maybe… she couldn't take them off.

He shifted slightly, adjusting his position on the balcony, and glanced toward Lia's window.

"What model is that?"

She looked up, surprised. "This?" She held the rifle up to the camera. "Modified MBW custom built, V-Lux 70. Urban-modded. Stabilizers, temp-adaptive barrel."

Dorian nodded slowly. "Scope?"

"Mana infrared lens. I can tune it to sense temperature or movement, depends what we're hunting."

"Smart."

Noctis glanced at his screen, still tossing his ball from feet to chest, head and down. Then he asked, "You shoot?"

"No," Dorian said, then smiled faintly. "I'm not sure I can handle a gun well."

Noctis paused, letting the ball bounce off the wall and roll into a corner. "But I heard you can shoot explosive thorns?"

"Ah." Dorian averted his gaze, feeling slightly embarrassed for the first time.

Before he could say anything else, a collective chorus of angry female voices rang out, coming from his end, Kyle's, and Noctis' feeds, all at once, making every one of them jolt in place.

"Why on earth are you still up?!"