It will take some time for her body to adjust to the change in shift. Suddenly going from day shift to night shift wasn’t a change that she could easily adjust to. After setting up an alarm, she goes straight to bed. 

The moment her body hit the bed, she fell into a deep slumber. She didn't dream that day, nor did she expect to. She isn’t quite sure if that was healthy or not, she never bothered to dive deeper in learning about sleeping. 

Naturally, she would become unaware of her surroundings during her sleep. 

Outside of the dormitory were soldiers lining up, The lieutenant walked on, passing every column of soldiers. There were seven columns and seven rows of soldiers, all standing sentinel. The lieutenant stands at the front of the seventh column, whispering to the soldier at the start of the line. 

The lieutenant is freakishly tall with a scar that started from the right of his forehead to the left of his jaw. His short auburn-colored hair is covered by a peaked cap, a glossy emblem on his right pocket flap on his chest, symbolizing his position among the rookies. His voice is raspy, it’s as if he came from screaming all day.

The receiver of his message stiffened, his right thumb twitching. After delivering his message, he turns to stand in the middle, facing each column with a firm gaze. 

“Dismissed.”

 All soldiers saluted and dispersed in different directions. 

The lieutenant let out an icy breath, observing the falling snow. 

“Enjoy winter while it lasts, Lieutenant Holsey.”  Though cheer laces the weary voice that called out, it felt more like a warning than anything. Lieutenant Holsey turned to his right and quickly saluted an approaching officer.

She looked miserable.

Her dark hair is all over the place, bags under her eyes and collar unbuttoned. Lieutenant Holsey doesn’t understand how she can stand the cold.

“Commander Rosenthal.” Lieutenant Holsey greets.

“Take it easy, Roderick Holsey, I’m not here to bite your head off.” She smirks, “What’s with the look?”

“I do not mean to be rude Commander, but…” Roderick swallowed a lump in his throat, before saying carefully, “You do not look…in top condition.”

Rosenthal rolls her eyes, shoving her hands into her uniform pockets. “You should try working overnight for a week straight, it’s fun Holsey.”

“...I apologize.” Roderick awkwardly shifts in place, then clears his throat. He could hear Rosenthal let out a small laugh, then he heard her breathe out a sigh. She’s looking at the sky, watching the snowfall just as he did. Her eyes are soft, but seemed to carry weight. Her shoulders are down, but she didn’t seem relaxed at all.

“Winter is a cruel blessing.” The phrase comes out with a cool tone. It sounded more of a fact than an opinion. Roderick doesn’t need to answer for Rosenthal to know he agreed with her. 

For many, even for the people outside of Ciltonria, winter is considered a grace that comes with struggles. Though food is scarce and it’s difficult to keep warm, they’d take it over than the monsters of the remaining seasons.

As stated, the virus didn’t spare any living organism from its grasp. Flora became an enemy, and just like any other mutation, it craved human flesh and blood. Winter either delays or blocks their room for growth, giving them an opportunity to be at ease for a number of days.

“It won’t be long before some gigantic vines crush through the walls, or when trees decide to fall over and suck all our blood.” Rosenthal says with a soft voice, it was as if she was in a daze, daydreaming such a scenario.

“Are you calling for misfortune, Commander?”

“I’m hoping it jinxes and the opposite happens.” Rosenthal smiles, closing her eyes as she lowers her head. “But now that I’ve said that, fate will change its course.”

“Are you here to talk about such matters, Commander?”

“Of course not.” Rosenthal then turns her head to look at Roderick, still smiling. “I’m here to talk about preparations for spring…and 23.”

“...What happened with the seed?” Roderick’s eyes narrow, lips curving down slightly. He places his hands behind his back, standing more firmly.

“Karla Flynn is dead.”

“...”

“Do you understand what this means?” Rosenthal is still smiling.

“...23 is known as the youngest axelya, but behind closed doors of the high ranking officials, he’s known for having a clean record. Not once has an overseer died, let alone get injured in the first place, as long as they’re with him.” 

“According to the report written by Benjamin Kline, Ciltonria’s East Border Guard, 23 has claimed that it was due to his incompetence as a soldier that led to Karla Flynn’s death.”

“Do you doubt 23’s loyalty? After all this time?” Roderick immediately asks, wishing to get straight to the point. Rosenthal laughs lightly, slightly raspy and unamused. 

“No, we’ve raised that seed from the ground up.” Rosenthal answers firmly, “This incident may be as he said, it could simply be the possibility that he’s beginning to weaken or perhaps…his luck has simply run out.”

“Hm…” Roderick’s eyes look up thoughtfully, “Maybe it’s because he hasn’t been deployed for over half a year now. I wouldn’t blame him for getting rusty.”

“Now here’s the fun part.” Rosenthal grins widely, “I recommend 23 to be on full-deployment.”

“...Forgive my rudeness, but are you sure you are making the right decision, Commander?” Roderick asks carefully, “I’m sure you are aware of this, but I would just like to emphasize that 23 isn’t an axelya that can be deployed into the field that easily.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Rosenthal waves her hand at Roderick dismissively, “He’s one of the emergency weapons, but he’ll be pretty useful before and during spring.”

“Before?”

“Prevention is better than cure.” Rosenthal raises her index finger, “With his skills, it won’t be too difficult to clear packs of mutations around Ciltonria and build foundations to prevent any plant mutations from setting foot in our territory.”

“...But why him in particular? There’s #0045, #0030, #0028 and a number of other Axelyas.” Roderick ponders on it silently when Rosenthal doesn't answer him. Then someone’s face clicks into his head. “Is it because of Karla Flynn?”  

“Her death needs to be investigated. I don’t think it’s a simple incident to be honest.” Rosenthal finally says, “We need 23 to lead us to her.”

“I see…and who exactly is the “we”?”

“An Overseer-Axelya Trio handpicked by yours truly.” Rosenthal winks, “Before you get concerned, I will propose this plan to the General and the Director of CORE enterprise.”

“You say propose but you plan on pushing, don’t you?”

Rosenthal hums, “Trust me, there is no need for any convincing, especially when it involves Karla Flynn and #0023.”

Roderick doesn’t reply, nor does he plan to speak any further. Rosenthal has made up her mind and there wasn’t any chance of changing her mind. Not that Roderick planned to despite the hesitance to follow through this plan. 

As he said, Seed #0023 isn’t exactly a soldier they could station in the battlefield. From the way Rosenthal spoke of him with her tone, it was like she was treating 23 as if he was some toy she could chuck out of the box to play with.

However, Rosenthal isn’t a person to make rash decisions like that. Though Roderick couldn’t fully understand why they needed to investigate Karla Flynn’s death and the deployment of 23, he wasn’t one to question his superiors. He also doesn’t mean to demean Karla Flynn’s death, but several overseers have fallen and rarely do such investigations happen. 

In any case, he’ll focus on doing his job and follow orders. Just as he always does.

For now, he’ll enjoy winter while it lasts, just as Commander Liberty Rosenthal says.

Time passes and the sun begins to set, Eva spends the whole day in deep slumber. Only the sound of the alarm could awaken her once more. 

Her body feels a bit heavy, eyes stinging, dry. The prickly sensation all over is tempting her to stay in bed, but her heart and mind opted to follow her duties. She rose from her bed, changed into her uniform and put on a coat, and left for the East Border.

Tonight is calmer, she thought, as she didn’t see any officers running or walking around. She quickly finds out why when she passes by the main CORE Enterprise building. She pauses, observing a number of officers outside of the building.

“And what do we have here?” Eva turns around to see that Benjamin was the one that spoke. His hair is down and he looked just as exhausted as her. 

“I do not know, perhaps we should ask.” Eva suggests, looking at one of the officers nearby.

“Meh, doesn’t hurt to ask.” Benjamin shrugs, “Go ahead, miss journalist.”

Eva doesn’t comment on the title, as she was used to such nicknames. She makes her way to one of the soldiers, catching their attention almost immediately. His shoulders raised at the sight of her and she swore she saw him flinch.

“What’s going on?” Eva asks.

“There's a dead body inside the basement.”

“Huh? Murder?” Eva questioned. Ciltonria is known for the low death count inside its walls. If there was a reason someone is dead, it would be due to old age or murder, but murder was most unlikely. Ever since Eva began studying the previous crime records in Ciltonria, there were only a few cases of murder and that happened over the past ten years, before she even came to Ciltonria.

The guard shook her head, “Suicide. By hanging.”

“What…?”

“Excuse me.” A high ranking officer interrupts them. Eva recognized him as Lieutenant Roderick Holsey. He’s looking at Eva in particular, “You are the newly assigned guard of the East Border, correct? There’s a medical cart in your station, please retrieve a bag from the cart and bring it to the basement immediately for Doctor Merton.”

The Lieutenant didn’t give Eva any time to react and quickly went inside the building. Eva stood there, dumbfounded. She blinks a few times before she quickly rushes to Benjamin’s side, relaying the orders of Lieutenant Holsey.

“Doctor Merton?” Benjamin whispers the name softly, then snaps his fingers. “Oh, that’s the doctor from last night.”

That’s right…Eva recalled that when she first arrived at the East Border, she saw two doctors by a cart of medical equipment and tools. One of them was Doctor Merton. 

“Do they usually leave their belongings there?” Eva asks and Benjamin nods.

“It’s meant to be there.”

“I see.”

“Let’s get the bag and you can give it to the doctor. I can handle border duty on my own.”

“Alright then, I apologize for troubling you.”

Benjamin shrugs, waving her off. “Used to it.”

They did as they were ordered. Benjamin starts border duty and Eva retrieves the bag. She promises Benjamin that she’ll be quick, returning as fast as she can after delivering Doctor Merton’s bag. There was only one bag on the medical cart, so it wasn’t hard to find it.

She picks up her pace, feeling a bit guilty for leaving Benjamin on his own. She returns to CORE’s building, quickly diving into the crowd surrounding the entrance, worming her way through the officers with apologies and excuse mes. 

She enters the building, following the signs and makes her way to the basement. 

She sees two guards by either side of the door.

“State your business here, soldier.”

“I came to deliver Doctor Merton’s equipment.”

“I see, please head inside then, but immediately come right out.”

“Yes ma’am.” 

The guard pushes the door open and Eva quickly heads in. Pella was right…The basement is dark, the lights weren’t turned on. There was only one source of light, it was the lantern fire she can see through one of the aisles in the distance. Eva passes through multiple aisles before finally reaching the tragic scene. 

But before she could actually reach the scene, her foot accidentally caught up on some hook on the floor. Eva wiggled her foot to fling the hook away, but instead, she accidentally fell on her knees. 

She held the bag tightly with her other arm and her elbow hit the concrete.

Eva hissed in pain, but then froze when she felt an odd texture against her palm.

Her palm touched the concrete and there was something wet. Eva brushes her palms against the strange wet spot on the ground. The soaked spot was roughly estimated around 4 by 4 inches as Eva felt around the floor. Eva thought it was probably inaccurate, but that’s what it felt like just from a sense of touch alone.

“Is anyone there?” The guard with Doctor Merton called out.

“I’m here!” Eva quickly scrambled up from the ground. She wiped her gloved hand on her pants and rushed to the doctor. There, she finally sees the scene closely. 

“...”

Eva’s heart sinks. 

Her entire body trembled as her eyes shot wide open. The rope was tied to the ceiling joist of the basement, the end of the rope was a noose holding a body. The noose coiled tightly around the lifeless victim’s neck. Moving up to the victim’s face, there was only an expression of pure shock and a trail of dry drool marks.

Eva had to accept reality.

Pella is dead.