Chapter Twelve

Good mornings and bad news

March 21, Wednesday. 5AM. 125 S.A

Nevermore Base No. 2 in French Territory

Pic de Grèzes, Languedoc-Roussillon. France.

Lizbeth thought she heard a rustling noise and it woke her up.

She slowly opened her lemon-colored eyes and there she found Shin's face, breathing slowly. She had just woken up from one dream, and she thought she had fallen into another.

But it wasn't a dream. It was true, and she smiled to herself. Although, in the king-sized bed, it wasn't just the two of them.

Lizbeth brought her hand to her bare chest, and there she found Mai's hand, embracing her from behind. She could feel Mai's breath near her neck, and her chest against her back.

The three, after a pizza dinner with the others, had gone to the room for agents at eight in the evening. Early, but that was what they planned. They configured the bed for the three, and made sure to set up a sound barrier so no one could hear their noises.

The room was simple, with metal walls, and a screen molded to the wall in front of the bed. There was a nightstand on one side, and two armchairs near the door. The bathroom, with shower included, was a nice touch, and there was no need to go to the mixed showers on each floor of the base.

After two hours of intimacy, caresses, and something else, they finally collapsed and fell asleep naked, covered by the blanket. They were happy to be together, and that was all that mattered to them.

Since they had not been together for a long time, a month exactly, it was Lizbeth who had to sleep in between them. Although sleeping together from that day on would become part of the routine.

She began to run her hand over his chin and nose, trying to tickle Shin.

Lizbeth had met Shin during World War II.

Lizbeth owed her life to Shin, since he had found her prisoner and she was being used for experiments from the moment she had arrived from the Other Side. It had taken her a few years to get used to being free after the war, but she had finally succeeded. While she wouldn't have minded staying by his side, it was Shin who decided it would be better to separate so that she could get to know the world better.

The only world she had known from the moment of her arrival was cruelty due to war, and the darkest and most disgusting side of humanity. He wanted her to take her own steps and to understand that, although she had already known the worst, there were also things that were valuable out there.

Little by little, she had made friends and traveled around the world. Certainly there were good things but, for the feys of that time, things were still hard. And even though she had parted ways with Shin, that didn't mean she hadn't seen him again.

Throughout the years of the twentieth century they had found each other many times, although after a while they drifted apart. It was nothing like a formal relationship or anything like that. They were free spirits. After the hell they had gone through and, therefore, they knew that many times being together would bring them a lot of trouble, because the feys were pursued for study, and others were employed by secret agencies of different countries to serve as weapons of pressure.

Not to mention, that Shin felt especially bad that trouble seemed to follow him. They could not claim happiness for themselves, while their friends were in danger all over the world. Meanwhile more and more feys with strange abilities and new cases of Dark Events were appearing.

After the end of Project Tempus Fugit, Shin had spent the first years of the 1990s teaching Noki and Rein to control their abilities, but by 1996 the girls were more than ready to stand on their own two feet, and so they both took different paths to see the world for themselves.

Lizbeth had last seen Shin in 1998 in Arkansas, and the following year brought the disaster for which she wept bitterly for weeks.

Shin disappeared suddenly. Everyone close to him could feel it.

No one could find him, and she searched for him everywhere for months, but he never showed up.

Decades passed, and she drowned her sorrow by traveling around the world, meeting more people, and dodging dangers. But a part of her couldn't get it out of her head that he was still out there, somewhere. Time healed her wounds and that helped. Too many adventures, too many dangers, happy and sad sunsets, but she kept going.

Then, at the end of the Great War in 2099, she joined Nevermore. And there she met Mai.

Lizbeth first impression of Mai was of a girl with empty eyes, barely reflecting any light, due to the horrors she had seen on the battlefield. But no matter how bad she felt, that petite girl had never taken a step back, and was always there for anyone who needed her.

But from the moment she saw her, she couldn't shake a strange feeling in her chest.

Little by little, Mai had also been healing her wounds and, at the same time, Lizbeth had begun to manifest a feeling, that could only mean that what she felt for Mai was much more than admiration and respect.

Lizbeth had other romantic relationships for some time, but nothing had ever become serious. However, with that silver-haired girl, something Lizbeth thought she had long forgotten was being born. Loving someone madly.

However, when they were together and she confessed what she felt, they realized something else. That what they felt was mutual.

The two had started out simply crossing furtive glances at each other, or just sometimes sharing a meal in the cafeteria of the main base on the island, when they saw each other after some research. Simple games and embarrassing smiles. Until one day in Lizbeth's house on the island, which consisted of a huge living module, they found themselves kissing and having sex for a whole afternoon. The years that the two had been alone disappeared that afternoon, and in the following days, months and next years they continued together, almost maintaining a secret relationship but many knew deep down what was going on.

Mai discovered that Lizbeth, despite her mischievous attitude, and outgoing personality, was a woman who had been through hell in her early years. She could seem fun and very cheerful, but she was a fragile girl with regard to her own emotions and who, deep down, only longed to be happy and nothing more.

Lizbeth on the other hand learned that Mai, with her strong and self-driven nature, could sometimes be very shy about herself but, at the same time, very determined. When she wasn't working she could be incredibly sweet. Everything she had seen in the war had not left her, but it had not been enough for her to lose her faith that it was still possible to save as many as possible with the tools they had. It was the reason she was still head of special operations.

Although, they were together for a long time, the truth is, that for Lizbeth, the same thing that happened with Shin happened to her again.

The fey were no longer persecuted, they already lived in society and, although there used to be altercations because of it, it was no longer a ruthless hunt as before. But where that persecution had ended, its void had been filled by the Dark Events. Not only were small groups needed throughout the planet, but a monstrous infrastructure throughout the Solar System to control them.

New dangers, missions and responsibilities. Once again something had truncated Lizbeth's happiness.

Although Mai had been a special agent, there was a special case that forced her to confine herself to the island to recover from what she had seen. To this day Mai was still looking for those responsible for that. But even after that, time healed her, although she did not cease in her efforts to find the perpetrators.

Until that day came on September 11, 124.

Lizbeth already had gained something resembling resignation with Shin. She could wake up without the pain of knowing he wasn't there. But that changed and in a totally unexpected way, and like a spring that springs up again after being dried up, she felt all the feelings come back. Or more accurate to say that they had never left. In the deepest recesses of her being, she had always cherished the hope that he was still around.

And he appeared.

No one would have guessed it. Shin hadn't just disappeared. He had disappeared on the Other Side.

But there wasn't much time for an emotional reunion between the two.

That raised even more suspicions. If so, why hadn't anyone forgotten him? Unlike other feys, whose identity disappeared forever, everyone with whom he had maintained a relationship remembered him. Although, later the theory was elaborated that it could be because being from another universe, he might not be bound to the laws that governed this universe. That would explain why so many strange events occurred around him at times. Basically the laws of cause and effect did not want Shin in this universe.

Although that seemed to have changed after he returned, he wasn't so sure about it.

That didn't matter to Lizbeth now, though. Happiness was currently with her.

Lizbeth had waited too long for it. The fact that Shin ended up teaming up with Mai, was due in part to the intervention of Rein, Noki and Lizbeth herself.

Everyone knew that Shin's appearance was going to bring a lot of headaches. If he didn't stay in Nevermore, as a probationary period, and leave, the Council was going to do everything possible to stop him. Shin with his armor on was almost invincible, even though his body suffered vulnerabilities without it. It could have come to a disagreement that would put both, Nevermore and the Council, on different sides of the rope. Not to mention the other agencies that were interested in him.

Shin was not only already certified as an object for the fey classification he received. He was a Keelian. A type of classification so rare that anyone would want to get their hands on him.

After the war, and with the fey living in society, the rules had changed and legal compendiums had been written to get the fey rights as sentient entities. Thanks to this, Shin, even though he was an object for many organizations, was still a sentient being and therefore entitled to the same living conditions as other fey.That did not mean that, because of his adventures two centuries earlier, many did not regard him with suspicion and as a threat to the order.

But Shin himself had already seen that coming, after his first fight on his return, and later when Mai had told him about it in the hospital. But it was Rein who had persuaded Mai to offer him a position as an agent and science consultant for the SID. That way, for the Council, Shin would be in the custody of Nevermore's best agents and, in the process, could become an asset to the SID, and thus, to the Council.

Mai had started working as a field agent again and she did not have a partner. She was a very important asset to the Council, as she was the only one who could handle the weapon that had ended the war. The Azusa bow, and therefore they could not just accept her back on the front line, even though she was more than experienced.

The first choice of partner for Mai had been Lizbeth, but the Council was not sure about accepting it, because both had a past, and according to rumors a present, that involved them romantically. This was not uncommon, as there were several pairs of partners who shared something more, even though it was forbidden by the organization's protocol. One of those rules that is written down, but certain parts of it are completely ignored.

Therefore, after weeks of trials and psychological tests to evaluate Shin's ability, Rein and Lizbeth proposed to Mai to team up with Shin. That way, she would have a partner with experience in the field of research, even if he had outdated views. At the same time, he would be able to learn from her, little by little, how the organization was developing. Shin, thanks to his armor, would be able to protect Mai on research missions and he, in turn, would be under Mai's surveillance.

Mai had heard a lot about Shin over the years. Spy, scientist, doctor, bodyguard, researcher, were some of the professions attributed to him. Part of the TF team, one of the first organizations to investigate Dark Events. Many of the stories came from those who had known him and friends, such as Oxy, Leo, Van, Mari, Natalya and several others and, of course, Rein, Noki and Lizbeth herself.

Mai at first hesitated, but she knew she couldn't just say no to Rein and Noki. Even though they didn't share blood ties Shin, had been a foster father to both of them, and he taught them how to move in the world and defend themselves. So, after thinking it over, and pondering the pros and cons, she agreed to it.

In Shin's case, the Council also did not want him to be under Lizbeth's surveillance because of their shared past.

It was a quirk of fate that, not long after, Mai and Shin ended up together sharing something more than just cases and investigations.

Lizbeth had not been surprised by it, although she should have been.

The truth is that, in the battle that took place the day after Shin returned, something happened between the three on the battlefield. Something that was not written in any report, and that they could not explain even if they wanted to.

It was the secret that all three shared.

The three knew it at that moment. There was something else in their gazes at that moment. Something they couldn't put into words, but that went without saying.

Shin lied without saying anything, as he looked at them in surprise.

Mai lied, while her lips trembled.

And Lizbeth, with tears welling up in her eyes, also lied, clenching her mouth to prevent words from coming out of her mouth.

A truth that could not be told, even though all three sensed it.

However, it happened, and although there were things they could not say to each other, it was the price to pay for the happiness they had achieved.

And a few weeks ago the Council had finally had to give in to the opposition to forming a team.

They could no longer use the relationship as an excuse, because Shin and Mai had become more than partners, and Lizbeth joining them as part of the team was no longer a problem. If they had each other's backs, as long as they didn't neglect their duties, there was nothing against them being together.

Lizbeth smiled, feeling the warmth from both sides, as she remembered years past when she had awakened to find that face sleeping next to her.

Lizbeth jabbed her index finger on Shin's nose, but black flakes formed on it. The armor seemed to function in surveillance mode. Shin felt something stinging his nose and, frowning, he woke up. Though his gesture changed when he found Lizbeth's face smiling at him.

"Good morning," he greeted.

"Very good morning," she replied, smiling and kissed him.

Shin stared at her and played with her hair and caressed her cheek. He couldn't believe it either, seeing her there. The three of them together.

Shin hated the word fate for a long time, but if that was what fate had in mind for him, he wouldn't mind accepting whatever it had in store for him, if he could protect the two girls in front of him.

From his point of view, even if there had been trouble on his arrival he would not have been able to get away from Mai and Lizbeth. Though of course the Council had no idea what the three of them couldn't say, and neither did any of their friends and companions. It was a chaotic situation that only they knew about.

"Do you want to continue?" Lizbeth asked, interrupting Shin's thoughts.

Shin swallowed hard. The truth was that he didn't feel like it at the moment, but if he had to sacrifice himself he wouldn't mind. "Just the two of us?"

Lizbeth gently pushed away Mai's sleeping hand and lay down on top of him. Her breasts pressed against his chest, and he began to caress her back, running his hands down her hips and bottom as he felt her shudder. Shin lightly squeezed Lizbeth's butt cheeks with one hand, while with the other he caressed her cheek and then kissed her again.

Although he could feel the wetness and her skin was a bit sticky, due to what happened during the night it didn't bother him at all.

Shin grabbed her waist and moved her a little until his face was between her breasts. That a woman who had been through so much in her life had come so far, and could love him in that way, almost seemed to him undeserved for having made her wait so long. Although time was relative in more ways than one in that relationship.

"Are you sniffing me?"

"'Yeah. You smell so good,'" Shin replied, then kissed one of her nipples with tenderness, and buried his face in the warmth of Lizbeth's chest.

" Do I not smell like sweat?"

“No.”

"Good morning."

They both looked to the side and found Mai smiling at them. All the movement under the covers had woken her up. Her face was sleepy and her hair was messier than usual.

On the other hand there was something that characterized Mai that morning. Overnight her hair was completely dark blue and all the silver color had disappeared.

Mai was a bit surprised to see it completely dark, as she didn't expect the color to change overnight.

So cute, thought Shin and Lizbeth.

Mai came over too and snuggled between them, not willing to be left out. Although she didn't like to have relations in the morning, it was a special day. The three of them were more than willing to continue what they had started the night before.

Shin had already started caressing Mai's butt and his hand was moving dangerously low.

"Not there," Mai said blushing.

"Why?"

"Not my butt. Save that for tonight."

If she didn't want to, Shin wasn't going to oblige, even though it made him laugh inwardly to see her so flushed. He simply decided to continue caressing her bottom.

"Do you need any cream or massage?" Lizbeth asked, with a mischievous smile as one of her hands also started to move closer to Mai's lower butt.

"N-no..." replied Mai, pulling her hand away. "My butt is fine."

But, for their part, Shin and Lizbeth hugged her, and the three hid under the sheet, when they heard something strange.

For the second time in Lizbeth's case.

"Crunch." It didn't matter how they heard it. That was a sound none of the three had ever produced.

Mai removed the blanket and leaned her head forward and Lizbeth did the same, looking in the direction of the couches, which was where they had heard the strange sound from. Shin, holding Lizbeth on top of him, tried to crane his neck as best he could.

Although the room was sealed, some of the technicians passing by outside at the time swore they heard a scream coming from one of the rooms.

Mai's heart almost skipped a beat.

Sitting in the shadows of the room, in one of the armchairs, was Oxy munching on a crunchy croissant.

"And I thought the banshee was Lizbeth," Oxy said blushed, as she put the last piece of croissant in her mouth.

"What the hell?!" Mai said obfuscated and blushing, trying to cover her nakedness.

While it was true that on the island she didn't mind the issue of nudity in the mixed showers, that was very different from walking into someone else's room when they were in such an intimate moment.

Oxy stood up with a serious gesture and looked at the trio. "Guys...I'm sorry. I'm really sorry, but we don't have time for this."

Because of Oxy's serious expression, Mai slackened her gesture. Oxy was the type of girl who was usually quite cheerful. That she was so serious and had entered the room in violation of security couldn't mean anything good.

Lizbeth rolled back to where she had originally been and sat up in bed, but without covering herself. Shin also sat up and looked at Oxy's face.

"Today's reception is cancelled. The Council sent the communiqué a couple of hours ago."

Mai loosened her grip on the sheet. Had they backed out of the decision that the three of them would team up? No, that couldn't be it.

"What happened?" Shin asked. In his case the reception would lift the probationary period, and it was official that he would be a official special agent, not to mention that the ban on leaving the planet would be lifted, as long as he was under surveillance.

"It has nothing to do with you three. Something big happened last night at the lake bordering France and Switzerland, and we've been asked to have all special agents head over there when the ship check is finished, and load all the equipment onto the ship."

Mai completely loosened her grip on the sheet not caring that Oxy was looking at her naked. "Really? What happened?" Not that it had bothered her. The three other three people in the room knew. Mai was going into work mode.

"We've just been told to go quickly and start helping with the investigation. We've got research on the ground, so we need to get geared up."

"You too?"

"All the special agents in the vicinity and due to the nature of the event. They requested that I go as well."

"But what is it this time?"

"We've just been told that something has appeared, and that shouldn't be here."

"Something that shouldn't be here?" Shin inquired.

"Just that?" Lizbeth asked.

Mai turned on her Neurowire and so did Lizbeth. Both had turned it off the night before, so as not to be disturbed. When they turned it on, however, they were met with the communiqué that had arrived two hours ago. It wasn't unusual for them to receive an order to go investigate immediately from the Council, but for them to call for Oxy, who was originally part of the teaching staff, rather than fieldwork, was something that didn't usually happen.

"Damn it!" Mai said jumping out of bed.

"There's nothing else here. What's so bad they can't tell us?" Lizbeth asked.

"Very bad. There's a press blackout and complaints have already been raised with the International Information Administration about it. But the Council doesn't want any information to get out of the place. With the situation at the Vatican still unclear, and with the attack on the Pyrenne station in Grenoble, I think they are being cautious with the information they are revealing."

"Have they specifically called us?" Shin asked.

"The FRT teams have already left and Natsuki and Ryuuji are already there. They were going to come this way, but the call just caught up with them and they decided to travel on."

"They haven't said anything?"

"There's a block on personal communications. We will only be able to communicate with them when we are inside the perimeter that has been established. Although the Council did say something else."

"What?" Mai asked.

"That they were planning to activate the Mesnie in case this is discovered to be a terrorist event."

Mai frowned and glanced sideways at the bedside table where her earring rested. Then she looked around and huffed looking for her underwear and Lizbeth did the same.

"Not so fast. The hangar team is finishing up a routine check on the Corven, we leave in an hour and ten minutes. If you weren't awake in ten minutes I was going to have to wake you up myself."

"Why didn't you tell us sooner?" wondered Lizbeth.

"Because they're checking the ship and the FRT teams are already on the scene. You have time to take a shower... because, I really thought I was going to get pregnant just walking into the room..." Oxy put her hand to her nose indicating that they should take a shower.

The three of them looked at her with a serious look on their faces, but they did it that way. They took a shower the three of them together and then, simply wrapped in the bath towels, ate some of the croissants Oxy had brought them, along with a strong coffee from one of the machines in the corridor.

They had hoped to have some time to shower and play together, but in other circumstances. There was no time for any intimacy in the shower. They had to get ready before the maintenance crew finished checking the ship.

The truth was that it was part of the protocol to check the official ships before the flight. Not only was it part of the protocol for aerial security, but it was also a directive from the Nevermore Counterintelligence Department in case of espionage. Despite the security measures, it was a rare month that a nanospy was not discovered at a base, or station, or some other device to steal information from the Institute.

"What about the other FRTs? There are no more personnel in France that we need to go to?" Shin asked.

"There is one team collaborating with another, next to Pyrene. On the border of Italy there is other, and the other two teams are in Lyon, due to a problem in the city's drainage systems. Apparently there are more than forty personnel collaborating with those from the municipality's sanitation system."

"Drainage?"

"There's a plague of giant tardigrades," Oxy said, as if it were the most normal thing in the world.

Shin almost choked on his coffee. "Excuse me?"

Too many things had happened in the last few days, first the supposed terrorist event at the Vatican that turned out to be a robbery, then the attack on Pyrene, and now there were not enough personnel due to an invasion of giant tardigrades. Sometimes Shin could not believe how much the situation had changed from his time.

Oxy explained quickly the rest of the story, but time was already running out, and in less than 40 minutes they would have to leave. Mai and Lizbeth simply walked out with the wrapped towels and Oxy went with them to the lockers.

Mai turned to Shin, and he looked at her and turned back to the bathroom. "I'll be there in a few minutes."

"Ok."

He heard the girls whispering to each other as they left, and went to the bathroom, when he heard the door to the room close, he finally stood in front of the mirror looking serious.

He really hated it, but the truth was he didn't feel any less tired than the day before, but the problem now was his back. It was hurting. But there was something else that felt strange. But it couldn't be true.

"Well, let's see this," he said and pursed his lips.

The cloud of particles left his body and almost instantly the armor appeared to fit his body.

But, as he looked down, he frowned. That had never happened in, as long as he could remember.

It was incomplete. There were missing the parts of the feet and the part of the hands. The missing parts were as if those parts had been torn off, or as if the metal was corroded. Although there was no sign of corrosion of any kind. It was simply like looking at termite-eaten wood. But as far as he knew even metallophage nanobots couldn't do anything to the metal of the armor either.

He could control the metal in some form of the armor at will, and so he did some tests by retracting the mask. Then he formed some plates quickly. And he tried to form the missing parts. It worked. Now he had his hands covered, but he was still missing part of the leg. He tried again just so that at this point his waist was bare while the legs were covered.

Shin had spent a few years without using the armor. So he couldn't be sure if there really wasn't some period of time where its weight changed, and so the density of the metal would change due to something like material fatigue. Honestly, he never cared to do a too thorough examination of the armor.

But that was different now. The armor had a purpose again. And those purposes were on the other side of the doors.

Maybe if he waited long enough it would come back on its own, and with the right density and weight.

As soon as they returned to the island, in mid-April, he would ask his lab mates to help him run more detailed tests. It was time to worry about what the armor really was.

A weapon? Part of his organs? Something else? If it was a weapon, who had given it to him? If it was an organ, would everyone like him also have it? Were there any of his people left, to begin with?

Visions of worlds being devoured by two black suns reappeared in his mind.

He lifted a hand, and the armor particles floated over his hand, as if they were a question that he thought he had not been troubled by for a long time.

Tzi'rak sha Zhireq.

What the hell am I?

The words of the entity, with her mind melded with Rayana Ivraeva flashed in his mind, just as they had in the lake.

"What is your decision? Knowledge or your current happiness? we're not sure you can have both. The answers you seek may be out there somewhere, although they don't always bring happiness. What is it that you seek?"

What is it that you seek?

His decision had been to it let go the mysterious spinor-shaped core.

He did not care about knowledge, as he had done in his earlier years. He had attained happiness.

What was he looking for? Was he looking for something else?

The reflection of the mirror gave him back an empty look at that moment, as if it was not really reflecting the being he really was.

If this time everything was serious, there had to be a way to make sure that no past would haunt him or those he wanted to protect. Mai, Lizbeth and everyone else. And of course Kotori. That sweet human girl, who looked so fragile but was stronger and more determined than she seemed. Mai and Lizbeth seemed to have feelings for her because of what happened at Christmas but he was also to blame for what happened. The more you have, the greater the danger of losing everything, Shin thought. That was the reason he didn't want to give an answer.

Shin decided not to tell Mai and Lizbeth what he had discovered in the bathroom. He didn't want to worry them. The day was not starting off well after spending such an emotional romantic time during the last night.

He dressed in a T-shirt and shorts that he had taken out of his bag, and grabbed his turtle backpack. His trenchcoat was not going to be needed, so he left it on the couch where it had been resting since the night before and went outside.

The room had its own cleaning system, so room service was not required if the place was being occupied by agents. Therefore, locking the room would be sufficient. Oxy, despite having entered the room, was an exception due to her skills.

He walked to one of the locker romms with the letters SID above it, and went inside. They were the lockers where the agents who were leaving for some group mission used to change.

There was a reason for this, and it was to check the turtle backpack systems and, for the others, to make sure that everyone was properly equipped and that nothing would be missing in case of an emergency. Anyone not familiar with how they handled missions in complex formation teams would have judged it as a trifle, but it was part of the protocol and was a safety precaution.

Controlling weapons and ammunition, extra weapons, first aid kits, food and liquid bars was part of it. Also controlling communication devices with secure channels in case they needed to communicate with private channels. The latter was carried out from the Neurowire and in Shin's case with the device in his ear.

Shin entered the locker room and saw that almost everyone was finishing changing. The last thing he saw of Mai's body was that she had put on a sports bra, as well as Lizbeth and as they zipped up their coveralls. A little further away, were Zi and Philip checking their backpacks, and Oxy was setting up her boots. Farther away, Carissia was finishing changing without putting on any underwear, although due to her body structure it was not as if she needed a bra, despite the enormous size of her breasts.

They had dressed in dark colored camouflaged coveralls that had the acronym SID, and the raven emblem on the left shoulder in white. These had some parts such as elbow pads, shoulder pads and tactical knee pads to protect the extremities, not to mention that they were projectile-proof, as they were equipped with smart fabric. All the coveralls were of the same size when taken out of the turtle backpack but, once put on, the intelligent fabric could be adapted to the physiognomy of the wearer.

The clothing was part of the extra equipment, that could be carried for field work and could be used from crime scenes, evidence collection, to working in terrain where official suits were not required. It also had multi-purpose boots, with vector impulse and magnetic adhesion functions, that could be activated through the Neurowire. Or in Shin's case manually with a series of buttons on the first safety.

They finished changing, putting the turtle backpacks on their backs. Instantly the metal buckles sprouted, securing themselves to the body and adopting various configurations. The shoulder holster, as in the case of Shin and Zi, to carry weapons on the sides, or in other cases as a belt with leg loops to carry the weapon on the right side, as in the case of Mai, Oxy and Philip, or on the left leg in the case of Lizbeth.

All coveralls were the same with the exception of Mai and Carrisia. Mai had a green insignia representing a moth antenna on the left side of her neck.

Carrisia had also taken off her red and black costume to put on a coverall of the same type as the others. But she had red insignia on her shoulder pads, with the sign of a raven with two folded wings, and on its head there was a star following a comet. It was the insignia that categorized her, not only as a senior pilot with the two folded wings and the star, but the comet also signified that she was a pilot of interplanetary rank.

Usually she didn't show the insignia, since the suit she always wore didn't need it, because it had the logo on the side of the collar. But that jumpsuit was for field work and wearing it on her shoulders, it was always easier for other people to recognize that she was the team's pilot.

The redhead left the room towards the ship, while the rest of the team finished checking the equipment. The truth was that they would not need weapons, since they were going to be investigating along with several people, but it was part of the protocol to control everything in case something happened.

Mai checked her weapon and ammunition, and kept the tactical glove with which she could use Azusa, in one of her coverall pockets. Oxy and Lizbeth were carrying a Sauger-M9, with needle ammunition, also called the boomerang sieve, because the ammunition could be returned to the weapon thanks to the magnetic attraction device. Philip and Zi were using two Wasp-S with stun settings.

They all had additional weapons such as rifles and shotguns in their devices, but were confident that they would not have to use them. Shin, on the other hand put his gun in his shoulder holster, and with the belt configuration of the backpack, put a tactical sword with a vibrating blade on his left side. The sword was in its compressed form so its blade was not present, only the hilt.

Finally they checked the shields, of the coverall's security equipment. Everything was working perfectly. And without further ado they headed to the ship on the runway that was ready to take off. Except for Zi, who took a shortcut to the base kitchen to grab some on-the-go snacks before boarding the ship.

 

While they had been preparing, the base's technical team had already loaded into the back of the ship different cargo secured to the floor, that could be of use to the team. Such as special spider-like evidence collection drones with magnetic devices. As well as lab equipment for Oxy and Shin, and tents to set up on site, along with sleeping bags and even a portable toilet. While the military personnel on site should have already set up much of what they were carrying, it never hurt to have extra equipment. Not to mention that it was a large team, considering Ryuuji and Natsuki were already on the scene, with the few FRT agents who were not on the Lyon mission.

From the huge hangar doors the team could see how Camila, Kanna and Kon greeted them waving their hands and shouting "Take care! And that was the last they saw of the base before the cargo hatch closed.

The ship had changed its configuration, setting up more seats, although after departing almost everyone was standing. Carissia was cautious and would have liked them to remain in their seats, although given that they had the handrails and magnetic boots activated she judged that it was fine, since the flight wouldn't take more than about thirty minutes to reach the destination anyway.

They talked for several minutes about what could have happened, but it was the same as talking about the Mothman and the Shadow People at the time. They could make no more than guesses as to what had happened, and could only weave theories because of the secrecy with which the matter was being conducted. The fact that a security blackout had been placed on the press, and that they were thinking of making civilians sign a secrecy agreement, was more than enough to conclude that this was more than serious.

A secrecy agreement was not uncommon. People could be made to sign to keep quiet when it involved national or international security, or transplanetary matters. But it was usually something carried out between political, intelligence, or military authorities. The involvement of civilians often involved cases where an DE was so serious that it could not be revealed in any way, and could be punishable in some cases with imprisonment or if necessary with devices to erase the memory of the event of those involved.

However, weaving theories, the minutes passed quickly for the team.

"We're here!" announced Carissia.

Since everyone had safety equipment almost no one, with the exception of Oxy and Lizbeth, was sitting in their seats. Philip went to the side of the ramp and pressed a few buttons on the screen on the side of the ramp. At that moment the ramp became trasparent offering the image of the outside, it was one of the internal projection functions that the ship had. The team stood up and went to the ramp and from there they saw the terrain two hundred meters below them.

Carissia from her cockpit looked at the landscape in bewilderment and shook her head. Although she could measure the intensity of her emotions, a shiver ran down her biomechanical spine. She then took a couple of low flights over the scene so that the team behind her could get used to the scene.

There was a line of destruction along the coastline at least a few hundred yards long. Parts had been destroyed everywhere and some trees had been uprooted when the plane crashed. While others had burned like grass in the flames due to the explosion of the plane's fuel tanks.

But the fire had already been extinguished and with it the search for bodies and evidence had begun.

There were countless people moving around. People with different colored equipment and some carrying bags, that Mai could already imagine what they were. There were lifeboats and other autonomous craft that were scanning over the treetops.

But there was no doubt.

Even though there was burned fuselage and parts everywhere, there was no doubt. That plane should not be there.

Lizbeth, along with Oxy, joined the team and they all looked at what was before their eyes in amazement. That had been hell, there was no doubt about it. Even in spite of the clear sky, a heavy atmosphere covered the whole place.

It was the smell of death and tragedy mixed with the morning mist.

"This can't be good," Mai said, looking worriedly at the scene.

There were two things that happened at that moment.

One of them went unnoticed by the whole team, as they were watching the scene. In the midst of the equipment that had been loaded, a small black pug was hidden among the industrial suitcases. The little pug, from his hiding place watched as the team gathered in the back, unable to see what had caught their attention. The other team at the base, who were in charge of taking care of him, would not discover the security device, where he had been put to rest, until late in the day. It was in pieces and cut up like butter.

The second detail was occurring in the room, where Shin had left his trench coat. In the Dirac space, where he kept some personal effects hidden, an old cell phone, more than two hundred years old, was ringing.