Ramsey Swacc, the current head of the Swacc family, tapped his finger against the heavy wood of his desk. His tap was enough to cause the powerful material to shudder. “Dalak, I believe I made my orders clear. We know where Randidly Ghosthound currently is. Apply for special dispensation to head to Earth and stick to him like fucking glue. He is your superior officer. You should-”

“Please,” Dalak positively wiggled with stress in front of Ramsey. It seemed that he was well aware of how close Ramsey was to wiping him out of existence, no matter which of the Swacc Family Elders he needed to offend in order to do it. “You know that these things take time. And now that Kaan Swacc has eyes on the target, is it really necessary-”

“Yes,” Ramsey said simply. Because it was. Randidly Ghosthound had already proven how difficult he was to pin down.

For fully a minute, Ramsey’s office was completely quiet as Ramsey stared at Dalak and Dalak stared at the floor. Then, just as Ramsey’s anger was reaching a rumbling intensity that would see Dalak ripped shreds until naught but particulate remained, Ramsey’s communication terminal lit up.

Casting one last frosty glance toward Dalak, Ramsey checked the terminal. His expression immediately curled into vindictive glee. “Ah. Speak of the devil, it’s our bold Xyrt Brigade officer. I hope you won’t mind if I take this call with you here?”

Dalak at least knew enough not to do anything other than nod. So Ramsey answered the communication and smiled at Kaan Swacc’s serious face. “Good to hear from you, Special Investigator. To what do I owe this communication? How goes the mission? Is there any support that the Swacc Family can provide you.”

“I made contact with Randidly Ghosthound,” Kaan immediately said, ignoring the other questions. Ramsey believed that he deserved a little bit more respect and acknowledgment before proceeding directly to the issue, but Ramsey supposed this was just the short-sightedness of military men; they didn’t understand or respect soft power. But Ramsey Swacc’s expression twisted as Kaan asked another question. “As for this communication… I wanted to ask if it is possible that Ileot Swacc is still alive.”

For a second, Ramsey was frozen. Then the head of the Swacc Family’s expression twisted and darkened. Dalak, who was cowering in the corner of his office, shivered as the man pulsed with the pressure of his powerful image. Although the tapping ceased, the resulting pressure of stillness was even more oppressive. “...what are you trying to imply?”

“Randidly Ghosthound claimed that Ileot Swacc was still alive.” The Special Investigator responded. “As you know, I know what truth sounds like; Randidly Ghosthound believed what he was saying was the truth.”

“Are you implying that Ileot would refuse our communications willingly? That he has betrayed the Family?” The Head of the Swacc Family spoke slowly, letting his mind scrutinize each word as he said them. He carefully turned over the prospect of being betrayed by Ileot Swacc in his head.

It was theoretically possible. And if it were true, the Swacc Family was in extreme danger. Even if Ileot hadn’t been heavily involved in the running of the family, he had been simply alive for too long not to realize the dirty game that the Swaccs were playing behind the System’s back. If another faction had that information...

But who could have tempted Ileot away? Solomon and his goons? The Nexus Purists? Or even those old fogeys that ran the Xyrt Brigade…?

“No… I think our initial read of the situation was correct,” The Special Investigator continued, interrupted Ramsey’s thoughts. “Nether forces plotted to attack Ileot and succeeded, but I think we were optimistic about the results of that ambush. Perhaps Ileot has been captured by the Nether operatives.”

The Head of the Swacc Family considered that. What threw him most of all was Kaan’s statement that the Nether forces were responsible. Obviously, that was hooey; the Nexus had made sure that there were no independent Nether officers left in the war theater of Ileot Swacc’s capabilities. Only the mindless animals of the Nether were left independent.

Hard to tell whether these Xyrt Brigade officers are being genuine when they talk about the threat of Nether… being on the frontlines, they should know more than anyone else how hapless the Nether forces we’ve allowed to persist are… but sometimes being too close to an issue can keep you from seeing the bigger picture.

Ramsey cleared his throat. “Unfortunately, Ileot Swacc was extremely paranoid during his life. I would even go so far as to say it was his defining characteristic. I’ll investigate the possibility, but finding him if his Aether remains even remotely active will be… difficult. He cultivated Skills to avoid just this sort of situation. And the task will be especially if the foe is capable enough to subdue him.”

The Special Investigator nodded. “I simply wanted to inform you of the possibility. I’ll continue to investigate from this end, but until I have definitive proof of Randidly Ghosthound being associated with Nether-”

“Of course,” Ramsey said with a chilling smile. Inwardly, he cursed Kaan Swacc’s rigid personality, but at least he was eminently capable. Disconnecting the communication, Ramsey cast a glance at Dalak and sighed in envy.

*****

Tim and Delilah laid on their backs and looked up toward the cloudless sky. Neither spoke, instead content to savor the silence. Moss Spirits floated around them, adding an ethereal feel to the area.

Tim was especially willing to let the silence stretch after he had to sneak out of the children’s education facility to meet her and heard her news. Delilah was only here because she ran away from her parents, and Tim was simultaneously impressed and terrified at what that decision represented. He tried to imagine running away from his dad, but he kept picturing Derek Moss’s stony face when he had caught them trying to steal the cake two days ago.

Distantly, the shouts of children reached the tucked away field where the duo lay. But still, for the moment, the world felt far away.

“Is Randidly Ghosthound a bad guy?”

Tim pushed himself up with his elbows and looked over at Delilah. She hadn’t moved from her position as she spoke, so her eyes reflecting the blue of the sky above. After thinking about it for a short amount fo time, Tim tried his best to answer her question. “...I mean of course not. This is his city, right? And this place is much nicer than where I used to live.”

“That’s just because the people here are nice. And rich. But Randidly Ghosthound… I mean, I always knew he was scary, but that thing last night…”

Delilah shivered. To that instinctual horror he saw in the young girl, Tim had no real answer. That terrible howling in the deepest part of the night had shocked Tim awake too. From what he could gather, most people woke in the middle of the night but didn’t really understand why. He had heard some of the teachers talking about it this morning while the children were finishing their first exercise block.

But Tim had immediately known what was going on when he had been ripped to consciousness. The Moss Spirits had been humming in resonance with that terrible sense of loss and hunger that Randidly’s image had released over the world. And for an instant, Tim had felt a suffocating sense of being drowned in those horrible emotions.

Even after the sensation had faded, what had kept Tim awake was the fact that Randidly carried those emotions with him all the time. Although he didn’t want to admit it, his initial thoughts had been very similar to what Delilah was saying right now.

How could someone who held so many dark thoughts be a hero…?

“He’s not a bad guy,” Tim said again.

Delilah nodded, her hair freely mixing with the grass beneath her head. “Okay, okay. I know that. But it was just… scary. Makes me wonder if we will be scary like that when we grow up.”

Again, Tim just stared at her. This time, Delilah hopped up to her feet. “Like, we want to be strong right? I’m going to be the strongest one day. But Randidly… he’s so scary! Like super scary. He’s too powerful to be any fun even when playing hide and seek. So when I become the strongest… will I have to be that scary too?”

“You don’t have to be scary to be powerful,” Tim argued. But the more he thought about it, the more he realized that most of the people who bossed him around had a strange sense of scariness around them. His teachers, his dad, Miss Tatiana and Wolfram who ran Kharon...

For several seconds, both were silent. There were no clouds, so the sun was warm on their skin even as the temperature of the air continued to drop with the changing of the seasons. Yet despite the warmth, Tim shivered in a strange mirroring of Delilah’s earlier reaction.

“They want to build a statue to Randidly Ghosthound in the middle of the new square they are making,” Delilah suddenly said. “Before you could sneak away today, I was hiding on the outskirts of the older kids training grounds and listening to what they were saying. So many of them want to be strong like the Ghosthound so someday they can have their own statue built. They think he’s the perfect hero. They dream of being allowed into the Order Ducis.”

Tim kept his mouth shut. Especially because he had been dreaming about getting into the Order Ducis himself ever since his dad had become a member.

“When I’m that strong, I won’t be scary,” Delilah said stubbornly. She raised her hands toward the sky. Moss Spirits rapidly started to gather around her hands until they seemed to be encased in heavy emerald gauntlets. With the sun and gauntlets, Tim could almost see the valiant woman she would become. “I’ll be warm and friendly and everyone will love me! I’ll be the most adorable powerful person in the world! A princess too!”

Tim rubbed his chin ruefully. I think the older kids only follow you because of how much you scare them though…

Then Delilah shook her head in disgust. “But how can I become the most powerful if I can’t even handle more Moss Spirits than you! How are you so good at that?!?!”

This time, Tim grinned. “I mean there is an easy answer; the moss spirits were created by the Ghosthound and you spend so much time complaining about him. Doesn’t it make sense that they don’t like you as much as they like me?”

Snorting, Delilah conjured a ball of Moss Spirits and threw the emerald energy at Tim. It impacted his body and exploded in a nova of harmless light. Soon, both were giggling and flinging moss spirits at each other while taking cover behind trees. For the moment, the long shadow cast by Randidly Ghosthound was forgotten.