"So, here's the plan." Augen said, taking a piece of a blank playing card from within his pocket before he snapped a finger over it as a cluster of Cast lines formed over it. Then, a projection of a spherical floating structure appeared over the table. That spherical structure is the Union's headquarters, and it's one of the more interesting buildings within the Infinite Academy. Stationed near the Arena where Wu went through his Ring of Fire after punching Lily in the face, it is a special-made building that were painted completely black as the individual bricks were shaved smooth to match the intended shape. Sets of bridges connect to its entrances near the equator, and when viewed from far away, it looked like a buoy floating over an invisible ocean. "The manuscript is located within the Union library in the center of the Union building, within a special domain in space created specifically by John King." Augen explained, expanding his fingers outwards and zooming into the center of the spherical building, "That's our target. There are strict identity Cast requirements to even get into the Union, so for us, that leaves two options." "...So this is the first option, ey?" Ver said, her arms over her hips as the group of herself, Lera, Wu, Fatera, and Augen stood in front of the staff's lockers within the Guild of Supplies, "I am not going to act as a cleaner. I will take the chef's options please." Lera said. "Me too." Fatera said, crossing her arms over her chests, "This shit stinks!" Even though the Union liked to act like a self-sustaining entity, it still needed plenty of basic supplies. That's where the Guild of Supplies come in, as their students are workers for hire for catering, cleaning, and household maintenance purposes all throughout the academy. That's where Augen's two options of entry came from. They could either enter as cleaners for the day or as those delivering food supplies and cooking. Obviously, nobody wanted to be the cleaner, and Wu, being the team player that he had always been, volunteered for it. Seeing that, Lera, of course, followed. "Once we figure out our roles for entering into the building, which would be the easy part, we will sit tight and wait until the opportunity for entering arises when the night comes." Wearing an additional layer of disguise Cast from Lera, tWu and Lera took the counterfeit identity Casts and easily snuck past the outer shields of the Union headquarters building. However, they actually had to do the cleaning throughout the day. "Ey, clean this up for me." One of the students said, stumbling out from a room and nearly pushing Wu to the ground. He wrapped his hands around Wu's shouldersand vomited all over the ground that was just swept up. Wu glared at him through the disguise, and the guy rolled his eyes and stuffed a couple units into Wu's pockets. "Good boy." He smiled, slapping Wu on the back before walking away. Then, he threw his hands up in the air as he cheered, a surge of Wave shooting out from his hands and leaving a burn mark on top of the ceiling. Lera came up to him when a girl walked out from the same room, her face red and body sweaty. She glanced towards the two of them before quickly turning tail and running away nervously. "Here, let me help." Lera said, helping Wu clean up the mess with a water Cast and the broom. "I was never...that bad at the Dweller's camp, right?" Wu asked, thinking about the time where he got drunk with the Dwellers. "Of course not." Lera smiled, her beautiful grey eyes the more stunning through her funny disguise, and Wu saw the Lera beyond it. "...Those were good times." Wu said, lowering his head, "I wish things would have stayed that way..." "But we have to keep moving forward. No matter what, right?" Lera asked, "I have to accept you shower in the evening, and I the morning." With a sigh and smile, they kept working away before the sounds of footsteps interrupted their moment. "The freshest supplies are here!" Augen's voice came through as Fatera and Ver each carried massive crates with him pushing around a trolley filled to the brim with vegetables, "Watch where you are going, cleaners!" "Just shut up, Augen." Ver said, turning around as the young man's mouth dropped. However, he dared not defy the scary lady, especially after witnessing what she's capable of during the Winter Wars. The pairs of fake eyes he's wearing looked completely unfocused as the pupils flopped about, but he made sure to make the size of the eyes small enough that it's a lot harder to notice. The first step of the infiltration process was remarkably easy for the five of them, fortunately. Despite the more messy start, Lera and Wu actually took the chance to walk around the entirety of the Union building, gaining a better understanding of its internal geometry while cleaning up the mess left behind by the eccentric members everywhere they went. Like colleges, the Union is really just another location for use by the various students. The Boarded members, marked with special white cloth wristbands, all have access to open workspaces, R&R rooms, and dining areas located throughout the spherical building. To gain access to all of the corners of the building, a single continuous winding staircase spirals around the building, and it starts from the North pole, going all the way to the bottom where the Chariots are parked. After cleaning all of the areas, Wu and Lera then returned the tools back into their little cleaner's room next to the toilets before taking off their uniform and heading out to the higher levels. There are sets of balconies that look outwards onto the arena and the plaza space next to it. As the sun slowly sets, the light Casts around the Infinite Academy started to light up after one another, mirroring the shining stars above with their own radiance. There appeared to have been some event going on in the Arena tonight, perhaps some sort of inter-college sporting event, as countless chariots floated over the top of it while students lined up to get into the arena. Wu and Lera watched while sharing a bench before Lera slowly shuffled her way close to Wu, resting her head on his shoulders. "...This is nice." Wu said, enjoying the views as Lera nodded slowly and smiled, "I...missed this, a lot." "You did?" Lera asked, looking up at him as he nodded slowly. "The Guardian and the Savior, back together once more. I wouldn't fight alongside anybody else." Wu said, chuckling as Lera bit onto her lips and sat straight up. "Is that it...?" Lera murmured quietly as Wu turned to face her with a confused look. "It's time to get to work." Augen's voice came from behind him as Wu and Lera both spun in opposite ways while still sitting on the bench. He has changed out of his chef's outfit completely and gotten rid of his disguise Cast, revealing his dark green hair and the white band covering his eyes. In contrast, Ver and Fatera are still in their disguises, though they all wore normal shirts and trousers that made them non-distinguishable from any other student within the academy. That was when Wu noticed Ver rolling up her sleeves and Fatera had a piece of steak dangling off the corner of her lips. "So that's the real reason you wanted to be a chef..." Lera said, chuckling before the two of them both stood up. "Let's go." Wu said, turning to Augen, "You sure about this?" "Yes." Augen said, turning around and leading the way, "I said so before, didn't I?" "Once the night comes, and the majority of the building is empty, we will make our move. I used to work in the Union, and I still have a valid identity Cast that allows me access to the library. All you have to do is to wait for us on the other side of the door while I and another two people go in there." Augen said, layering the second stage of their plans in the planning meeting. Stopping at the end of a corridor in front of the half-open door, Augen then spun around and pointed to Wu and Ver. "You two, are coming in with me. Lera, Fatera, you stand watch. Wu, we need your void domain if anything goes wrong, and Ver, your Whirlpool Purple will be valuable in helping us make a run for it." "Make sense to me." Ver said, glancing towards Wu who nodded back. "Be careful." Lera said, squeezing Wu in the hands before letting go. Wu smiled and gave her a thumbs up. Then, he turned to Fatera who spun around quickly. "I am not holding ya hand." "My knowledge of the Union's internal workings stops here, so we need to be extra careful from now on." Augen said, "Follow my lead in there." Then, he reached his hand forward, his fingers pressing into the door and swinging it open. There was nothing on the other side of the room, and Augen stepped foot within before Ver and Wu followed closely after. A quiet whooshing sound swept past them, and they were swiftly brought into the special library domain. Wu felt a rush of the Wave through the circuits of his suit, and Augen and Ver simultaneously felt the use of their Wave being suppressed by the King's Palace. It was an unpleasant yet familiar feeling, but if all goes well, they will not need to fight anybody. As the whooshing sounds quieted down again, signifying the end of the teleportation, Augen lead the way forward before Ver reached and grabbed his shoulder. "This is the King's Palace." Ver said, her voice low and sharp, "You lead us into a trap, didn't you?" "I know something like this wouldn't be able to trap you two," Augen said, a mysterious smile floating on his face. Ver and Wu's faces both turned red, and nobody said anything. As the trio continued walking forward in the darkness, a small rectangular semi-transparent Cast that looked like a door came into view, and they stepped through to the interior of the Union library, when Wu noticed dozens of other people already in there. Speaking of which...if the King's Palace suppresses all wave sensing abilities, then how the hell is Augen supposed to see anything... Just what had they walked themselves into?