The bike helmet captain keeps staring at a tablet in front of him and wasn’t even clear if he noticed they arrival of Noth.

“I will keep it short. Well, we will have a scout the outskirt of the 14-D area before the full out.

“I know is a pain, to go so close to Red Hood zone, but orders are orders. Old Cat you will be our driver this time”

Don’t make this face, you are the best one after Jim. I will take care of the backup in your place.

Teu and Tim you guys have the best synchronization so you will keep with Old Cat and get that piece of junk working.

“And rookie… dressing like a princess will get you killed in no time, so go home before I need to write another KIA report. Ok so now…

“I can’t do that captain, I need this job.”

“What I said about talking to me? This is the second time already.

“Captain, I can’t use the synchronization like the twins,but I have my protective suit here” - take out the black and white jacket from the bag he was carrying - “I still don’t know what we need to do, but I if is going to the Burnt old city I have enough experience.”

“No, you don’t have the experience you just live in a dead zone inside a dead zone, you don’t even know the powers around your own house. Now leave this room”

“I can’t do that captain, I ask you to let me join this expedition”

Noth Lowered his head and waited for the Captain aproval

“I’m too tired to deal with you get out of my face or I have to kick you out?”

Closing his hand into a fist with his head lowered he waited for some seconds before leaving the room in large steps.

Moving with long strides, he swift avoided the other person walking in the building and stopped a few steps in front of the main entrance, looking at the dual-layered metal door, written, Technical Support AR-42.

His finger quick typed his body rapidly, his face contorted trying to not show his frustration in his face, when he was hit from behind by long red-headed girl, carrying a heavy looking box. Shooting him to get out of the way.

This looked the last drop before he stormed out of there, but stopped just before cross the door pressing roughly his hand on his face, until he decided to turn back to the corridor Dean had left for when they entered.

But not before he passed in front of a bathroom and changed to the full protective cloth even with his old style gas mask on his face.

Wasn’t hard to find Dean Room, the words Department Sub-director was clear in golden letters on the digital screen made into a door. Making Noth hesitant if he should knock it or not, but without alternative, he knocked it.

After some minutes waiting in front of the door was a foul mood Dean that opened him to fill with militarily styled furniture this time he wasn’t wearing the cap. There is some screen with videos from all over the building and a Deep Dive headset just over the desk.

“Now what?

“I need to go with the team to next mission and they keep blocking me”

“And you come here for…”

“I wish that you could sort things out for me”

“Oh, oh… sort things out. I also asked for you to sort things out for me, remember? So I will say to you exactly what you said to me at that time. Do I look like your mother? go resolve the problem yourself, piece of shit. see how it good to be on the other side? - he smiled devilishly before vanish it back to his displeasure - “Now if you show again here without a good reason and I will beat your ass”

He closed the door on Noth face, making him tremble and growl low in anger before moved back to the team room, however when he arrived there, there was anyone inside.

“Fuck!” - he hit the desk on his side and something fall.

It was a white mug with a red heart drawn on it, the mug broke in many pieces, over a pile of cut paper, making him sigh. When he started to clean the debris he found a note.

As he looked indeed the papers are written with a variety of style and language the word Hot, however, was the word “Report” on the back of one of the pieces that interested him.

After some work in assembling the pieces, he found that was field report filled with cuts and observation to correct. The date and what in the end was the report about would take the rest of the day to identify.

Noth looked around the piles and piles of paper on their desk, and saw many of this reports, after looking around for typing his finger on the desk, he finished cleaning the mug debris and moved to get this Reports and other papers that he has seen to recognize and after sorting out some info he started work on it.

He had to run around a lot to get the bare minimum information of what they are talking about on that reports so mostly he just corrected their mistakes, in short, paperwork.

They would come back late that night and found Noth working in some of the paperwork. Captain was getting really angry but with Noth remember that he said that he needs to do their paperwork he just dispensed Noth with the remainder of the start of his work.

Noth would almost crawl his way back to his house, this time the train was full the whole journey, without a chance to look at the advertisement projected on the walls, and when he arrived there was again the sleek black coffin-like machine. He would eat the fast food he brought home and take a shower always with one eye on the coffin.

He takes a breath and moved his hand over the side of the machine looking for something, soon he found what he wanted as the hissing noise of decompression and the cold mist started to be released, white lines started to form around where the black steel plates separated and moved aside revealing a transparent glass, showing the padded interior without no one inside, the Number 01 was still clear on the folded pieces that formed it lid.

On this transparent glass could be seen many small screens projected over it with the status of the machine and the user showing side aside. But aside from the many technical details, a two set of words stand out.

He took a look on his phone, the battery was dead, he left on the wireless charger and entered the machine, in the moment he closed his eyes and his mind quick faded.

- - - - - - -

Mordread feels his body floating again in the nothingness, but now very exhausted the desire to sleep was so strong, the complete weightless feeling of his non-existent body was just like sinking on a soft plumes bed.

Noth Clear Mind was wavering into giving in such pleasure, the memories of his aching body only tilted the balance to the gentle embrace. But, was the strange feeling inside Mordread that made him decide to move away from this place.

The explosion of abstract colors was all around him again, what made anxiety build in him as he thought that he would have to once again pass the experience or interact with that worlds canvas.

But this time he feels bound, he could move, like trying to move a muscle under the pressure of the ocean deeps. Helpless he watched the once spectral-looking colors turn into a fine-grained made of solid colors in a weirdly pleasant way, as the colors black and white painted the background around.

Then the colors shoot forward in great velocity, but aside the surprise of the sudden change there was no feeling of danger from it, but wonder. As the Colorful lines crossed the horizon of his vision everything flashed black and white before setting in a deep dark.

Now in control again from his body as Mordread, there wasn’t that overbearing pressure over him but the feeling that he was seating in something gradually filled his sense, in fact, the darkness was his closed eyes that twitched with the light over him.

As his body awake, Noth keeps the clear mind as the fact that this was a simulation after all and there was this detachment from the reality of him as Mordread and him as Noth.

There he was, now with the vision clear from the start he saw that once again he was in the throne room from before, the same hole in the left side the same endless ceiling covered because the shadow illusion and the right side was slightly different.

The burnt books still float alongside the still in ambers but the complete and total darkness wasn’t there anymore, he still couldn’t make the wall of the right side but the creeping freezing he felt every time he looked to it isn’t there.

However with the realisation of the situation he quickly looked down to his chest and simple black suit without any special detail was the only thing he saw but he wasn’t satisfied and almost tore it to look to his chest, but was a muscle of the chest that was under it, without anything to stand out.

Mordread keeps staring at it for some seconds when he was drawn to analisy close the state of his left hand. A big, strong hand without any marks or particularly big nails, at most a little rough when he focused on it, staring at it like an alien instrument, repeating the same moves he made when he left the DD capsule in the format of a Black Coffin.

The first grave drum at the distant he awoke back to reality, he looked to the far end of the hall, at the still hidden by shadows, but he knows it was there the great and cracky gate.

He moved quickly, this time his body didn’t suffer vertigo and he looked around for anything of use but was a few steps and he with wide eyes he felt the cape flapping behind him. Hitting his chest with his hands looking for a way to release this cape, but nothing was found.

He looked and his cheap made cape held by some simple knots was nowhere to be seen in it place a tattered spectral-looking cape, filled with holes and torn almost in two parts in the middle.The cape at the first glance was as black as the first one, however looking closely was an extremely deep shade of head that aside from it wearer no one would notice.

But as he looked behind of him to look at the spectral cape, there was the throne he was sitting moments ago. It wasn’t the same simple rock throne from before, it was darker than night obsidian throne that it’s hight blended with the darkness of the ceiling.

Still shaped as the same of the simple boxy rock throne, however, it obsidian color didn’t limit to the throne itself but now is spreading in a small area around in a mix of splashed ink and veins.

For some reason, the feeling that that blue core sword from before would be just beside the throne but like it simple nature revealed at the first glance there was nothing, there but the same couldn’t be said from the rest of the hall.

The first place he moved was the big hole in order to look at his surroundings. The closer he got the louder a strange noise got, but in the moment he was a step away, a sharp cry from resounded as from the unseen below and with it a gigantic eagle surged like a geyser to the sky, almost knocked Mordread out of his feet.

The warm upward current was very clear from so close the hole, making him approach with more caution. Where the great forest valley surrounded by mountains was all he could see, at his right beyond its hills the battle raged with the orange tint of fire, at his left tall ice peaks could be seen ever growing the farther he looked.

Below, what he could see was gray crags isolated this valley from the outside world as the veil of fog isolated from sight, and his castle was at very edgy of it. Not far from where he was a waterfall disappeared inside the fog sea and in it midst the shadow of many big and small birds that fly close to it.

Further into the valley he could see was only trees, over he could see that eagle that was 3 times his size was quick to hide over the low clouds that shrouded the moon.