“I--”

Porter had trouble hiding his surprise at Hayes's sudden questioning.

“I can’t sense anything wrong with you. You may be tired, but you’re not necessarily hurt. It’s not something you could’ve gotten from Aether.”

“--What even is ‘Soul reset’?”

“Hm…” Hayes’s eyes widened slightly. “I do believe you’re someone else. Whether you’re someone from Aether or not creates a dilemma.”

Porter’s sweating was clear and visible. He was unable to speak for the time being. 

“--My name…” Porter mustered.

“Yes?”

“It’s Porter. I don’t know who ‘Arlo’ is.” 

Porter struggled to speak, though he spoke clearly enough to seem legitimate in his words.

“I figured as much. Porter, though. It’s not a very known name. I don’t know if anyone in this country has it.”

“Really?” Porter asked.

“For sure. I don’t hear anyone from the Deadwood domains having a name with that. I’m not even sure of it’s background.”

“Not sure either. It’s just my name. I never asked my parents why.”

Hayes chuckled. “Well, alright.” His eyes seemed calm, though nothing else about his demeanor did. “That presents many issues, though.”

“How so?”

“Have you ever heard of the Gods of Array? The Gods of Bliss and Perspective.”

“I’ve never been religious, but I heard you mention these gods.”

“Hm, I see.” Hayes replied. “I haven’t heard the terms ‘believe’ or  ‘faith’ in a long while.”

“How’s that possible?”

“Array is objective. It's a fact. They’re true personified perfection. I wouldn’t call it ‘religion.’ That in itself is an outdated term.”

“What even is perfection?”

“Hell if I know what perfection is to me.”

“Does your enemy, Aether, also find them perfect?”

“Just my enemy?” Hayes replied as if he was offended slightly. “Though yes, I would assume so. They also use their power.”

“That's something I find odd.”

“Objective perfection is inherently subjective to the person viewing it. That’s important to know. Array’s objective perfection is knowing how to be omnisciently subjective to everyone they communicate with.”

“--I see.” Porter replied, stunned.

“They provide power to us, especially Arlo. His soul was deeply connected with Array. That’s where our problem is.”

“The sword...is it connected?”

“It’s not confirmed whether you’ll be able to use it or not, but yes. The Legendary Sword is one linked to Array with a soul binding method. The more linked you are with them, the more powerful the machine becomes.”

“We can try, can’t we?”

“Yes, though don’t expect much.”

“I want to help. As much as I can, at least.”

“I understand that. No offense, but you’re not too good to us in your current state if you’re unable to use this, so you’ll have to work hard if you really mean what you say.”

“I understand.”

Hayes paused for a moment. His face was one of surprise. 

“You’re very different from him, y’know. He was never so understanding. Not of anything, really.”

“I have trust in you, that's why I am.”

“If you’re really someone brand new, I don’t see how you could think that.”

“You’re the one who saved me. I respect that greatly.”

“Not without drawing attention, using mechanical magic, and getting an innocent killed. Those moments keep playing on repeat in my head.”

Hayes, if nothing else, looked tired. He could hardly stand up on his feet. His eyes looked dead and the glow in them grew duller.

“...You should rest. I need to as well.” Porter replied.

“Yeah, I know man. This shit’s not exactly easy to wrap my head around, despite everything you might be hearing. I’m clueless. Sure, I know what it is generally, but I have no idea how the hell we’re going to handle it. I just want to be open about that right now.”

…

Porter’s eyes shined in front of Hayes.

“Thanks.” Porter calmly said. His tone was soft and warm.

“For what? I haven’t done anything.”

“You’re giving this you’re all for me. That's enough for now.”

“Don’t say that in front of me…Arlo--” Hayes said, stopping in the middle of his words. “--Por...Porter. That’s right.”

“Don’t rush anything.”

“You’d never say that.”

“I promise you, I would.”

“This is a bit much for a man who hasn’t slept in almost a full day. Just...remember that we’ll be testing you tomorrow. We’re going up around the late morning, so be prepared.”

“Right.”

“Sleep well, then.” Hayes mumbled as he walked out of Porter’s room looking like he was dazed.

Porter wordlessly prepared to sleep, removing his large leather jacket. He’d managed to find a much lighter set of pants in his room that must have been Arlo’s.

----

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----

The night had passed quicker than Porter could’ve imagined. He had nearly instantly fallen asleep .

Inside the home’s living room was Lapine, Ezra, Hayes, Porter, and surprisingly Salem from the other bedroom.

Salem had been quiet. Porter had been in the living room for almost an hour as Hayes explained the situation, and hadn’t heard her voice.

“It’s a lot to take in.” Ezra spoke up. “If he’s not even able to activate the sword, what’s the next move?”

“Unsure.” Hayes replied. “Salem’s tutoring might be on hold as well. Only Arlo was able to teach her like she enjoyed.” 

Salem’s expressions were unease and anxiety. It was clear that Arlo’s disappearance had affected her similarly to everyone else, despite her lack of any words.

Salem’s red and white jumpsuit hugged her slim, and very well put together body. It looked slightly worn out, though still entirely usable. 

Her hair was in a (slightly messier) ponytail like she was yesterday.

--

‘Lapine...she’s different.’ Porter thought to himself.

She’d not been wearing her blue jacket. Porter didn’t realize it before, but the jacket covered her neck.

On her dark toned neck, to the side she had a symbol.

It had been one with two large lines that formed the letter “A”. The mark looked engraved on her like a tattoo. It hadn’t been one Porter had ever seen since he arrived.

Lapine’s body glistened as if she had just gotten out of a shower.

Porter couldn’t help but feel bad. The somber room felt like a drag to be a part of.

“Assuming that’s even the case. There’s plenty in either Clearwick or Avedra that’ll train Arlo-Porter. Hayes, you even have connections, isn’t that right?” Lapine spoke up.

“Ah-ha. Connections? Well, yes sure. But Arlo’s natural talent was something special for contacting Array. I don’t know if someone with any form of skill in Avedra can help Porter out like how Arlo was.”

“--Though. You spoke of a guy that looked like the Messiah himself, didn’t you? You got a photo of it too.” Lapine replied.

She’d been holding her right hand behind her back. It didn’t look like for any reason, but when Lapine pulled out her hand, a small framed photo came out.

A photo of a much younger looking Hayes, wearing dreadlocks and smiling next to a man with white-bleached hair and red eyes.

Hayes briefly blushed, trying to look away from the photo in embarrassment.

“Dammit, Lapine. Not the dreads.”

“They suit you.” Lapine retorted whilst snickering.

“They’re Avedra culture. It’s my home town for the gods’ sake!”

Lapine held her hand to her mouth to prevent from laughing. Her eyes gave it all away, though.

--

“--So, Arlo. I mean, Porter.” Ezra chimed in.

“Yea?” 

“Porter’s a guy’s name, yeah?”

Porter paused for a moment. Looking over Ezra for asking something that seemed obvious, though remembering the name was essentially unheard of.

“Yeah it was. I was a guy in my old world, if that’s what you’re asking.”

“Then at least ya’ kept your dick.”

“--That’s for sure.” Porter replied trying to hold in his amusement by pressing his lips together.

“--You…” Salem timidly joined in. Her soft voice hugged Porter’s ears.

“Eh?”

“You’re acting pretty damn calm for this. Why are we joking here?”

Hayes stood up from his seat, facing Salem.

“I made sure to alert them last night. Sorry Salem, you had already been asleep.”

“--Wait, why would you?” Porter asked.

“I can’t have you worrying too much about people you haven’t formally met yet. We can get to that soon, but for now there’s a lot more important things to tend to.”

“--Thanks, I think.” Porter timidly responded.

 Ezra looked as though he still couldn’t fathom someone that looked like Arlo doing something like that.

“We’re here for you. Sure, we don’t know what’s going on. You could be in a very dangerous position.” Lapine said. “Although, we’re all here because we are. We’re in this house because we’re hiding. Each one of us.” 

“--Yeah. We all have each other's backs here. Despite us not being a formal team, We make sure to look after one another if we can.” Ezra replied.

“Porter. Get to the bathroom and get ready, we’re getting work done on testing you out.” Hayes added.

“Right. I’ll see you all out there.”

‘Salem, one who was timid, but still spoke up for herself. Lapine, I don’t know much about her yet, but she seems like a great person. I don’t get why she’d be hiding. Ezra may be a small bit dense, but he’s just as important as the others, it seems.’

----

----

----

----

Arlo’s appearance, from the bathroom mirror’s perspective. 

He had shaggy black hair with long bangs on the sides. Porter could feel them, but couldn’t really pinpoint what they looked like. His eyes looked practically dead. They were a hazel brown. He looked to be in his mid-20’s

--

Porter stood, sword in hand. In front of him was a rock found right outside of the house in a part of the forest with seemingly less trees.

Salem, Ezra, and Lapine stood to the side, as Hayes stood right behind Porter.

“Assuming it’ll work, our course of plans is to continue with our original plan like we had from the start with Clearwick. If not, we’ll change our approach.”

“--Best of luck.” Ezra muttered under his breath.

Porter, both hands on his sword with his right in the front, and left in the back with both hands touching each other, looked at the rock with intent.

“--Is he about to swing from the left…? He’s right handed.” Lapine sarcastically whispered.

Porter, with all of his might, swung the sword directly toward the rock.

It wasn’t until _______

He realized, along with everyone else around him.

----

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