As Sergeant Faye walked down the hall, she had a slight smirk on her face. She remembered back to the words of Vordenearlier this morning.
''Guardian Faction', huh?' she thought. 'I'll admit, it does have a certain ring to it.'
Sergeant Faye opened the door of her office and went inside.
She walked back towards the seat at her desk and sat down. Once she did, she brought her wrist up to her chest and activated her Vampire Communicator.
"Leader Muka, I have an update," she replied.
A moment later, Muka's voice crackled through the gem.
"Proceed, Faye Dallum."
Faye nodded.
"I have verified the number of people on the Base who know of the existence of Vampires," she replied. "Not including myself, it is four individuals. The Vampire, the boy who could block my Influence Skill, and two others. Additionally, the other three members of their friend group appear to be unaware of our existence, so it's safe to say that they can keep this a secret."
There was a slight pause on Muka's end.
"Good," she replied. "Five people are manageable. That shouldn't be a problem for us."
There was another pause. Faye felt a tightening in her gut.
"Faye…" Muka replied, snapping Faye back to normal. "I can feel your anxiety through our familiar bond. If something is bothering you, feel free to ask me."
Faye swallowed hard.
"My leader, I know next to nothing about our family," she replied. "Are we…one of the good ones?"
***
As Quinn, Tsukuru, and Starrk traveled towards the Student Dormitory, Quinn was deep in thought.
He was thinking about his plan to use the Winged Lizard Beast Crystals to create some sort of costume or suit that could cover his whole body. He needed it to be made out of a flexible material that could wrap around his body. But he also needed it to be durable enough to survive in a fight.
It was relatively easy for Quinn to come across a black suit that covered his body to avoid the sun. Hell, he could just ask Tsukuru to make him something like that. Similar to that set of "Glathrium-Fiber Robes" he had worn on the Red Portal Planet. The problem was that something like that would get torn the second he got it, and as the "tests" with Layla had shown, even a single tear was enough to render the suit useless.
However, seeing as how Sam's cape in the VR Game had been able to block his Blood Swipes, something that even people with the Stone Transformation and Earth Abilities had trouble with, it would be perfect.
However, this led to a few problems.
First, he had no idea if they were even going to go to the Planet that the Beast was on. A part of him hoped that they weren't. According to the player known as "HardSteely", they lived on a desert world. And that would be terrible for him.
But even if he did get the materials, he still needed someone to craft the suit for him in the first place.
Beast Forgers and Tailors usually had blueprints that they would follow. These "blueprints" would specify the techniques used for the creation process, and which materials needed to be mixed when creating the Beast Gear.
Unfortunately, because Quinn was asking for something that had never been made before, he would need to ask someone at the expert designer level. Essentially, he needed a custom job.
And that would be very costly. So costly that even if Quinn had ten times his current credits, which was a substantial 48,300 credits, it still might not be enough.
Quinn let out a sigh and pushed those thoughts to the back of his head for the time being.
Looking up, he realized that they had finally arrived at the Student Dormitory.
***
Back in Faye's office, Faye's communicator remained quiet for a moment.
Over on her end, Muka was still trying to figure out how to answer Faye's question. It wasn't a simple one.
"That is a…complicated question to answer, Faye," Muka finally replied. "Whether we are considered good or not is a very subjective opinion. And I suppose that it is true that I have not exactly gotten around to explaining our family's role in the Settlement. We are the…enforcers of the rules in the Settlement."
Faye's eyes narrowed.
"So you're like the cops of the Settlement, then?" she asked. "You arrest and punish those who break your rules."
There was another pause.
"Well, yes and no," Muka replied. "Yes, we arrest and detain the rule-breakers, but we do not punish them. That was…the role of another family. A family that is…no longer with us."
Faye sighed and brought her palm up to her forehead.
"My leader, forgive my rudeness, but that's not what I meant," she replied. "I just wanted to know which of those two groups our family fell under. I wasn't looking for a philosophical debate."
Faye winced as soon as that last sentence came out of her mouth. It was the kind of thing that could get her reprimanded if she said it to a superior.
'Crap,' Faye thought, a cold sweat running down her neck. 'Did I go too far?'
"We fall under the first group, Faye," Muka replied. "If we hadn't, you might not be here right now."
Faye let out a sigh.
"Yeah," she replied. "I figured, but didn't want to assume. So, we're part of the 'Guardian Faction', then."
However, as soon as Faye uttered that part, her eyes widened, and her body stiffened. Instantly, she clamped her hand over her mouth. She had not meant to say that, and it just slipped out.
There was a pause.
"'Guardian Faction'?" Muka asked. There was a notable tone of amusement in her voice, and it sounded like she was fighting not to crack up.
"N-Nothing!" Faye replied, waving her hands frantically. "It's something that boy came up with as a name for the first group! Forget I said anything!"
Back on her end, Muka coughed a few times. However, it wasn't because she had anything in her throat. It was to swallow the laugh that was trying to escape.
"Anyway, yes," Muka replied. "We are part of the faction that wishes to protect Humanity. I realize that I have neglected to give you quite a bit of information about the Settlement. Perhaps at a later time, we will have enough time for me to give you an in-depthdebriefing. Was there anything else you wished to report?"
Faye let out another sigh.
"No, my Leader," Faye replied with a smile. "That was all for now."
Faye pressed down on the jewel, and the connection was cut, ending the conversation.
***
Back in the Student Dormitory, the two boys opened the doorway leading up to the third floor and approached Logan's door.
Quinn banged on the door a few times.
"Hey, Logan," Quinn announced. "You in here?"
However, there was no response.
Quinn and Tsukuru exchanged looks.
"You think he went somewhere?" Quinn asked.
Tsukuru narrowed his eyes.
"Logan almost never leaves his room," he replied.
On a hunch, Quinn tried to pull Logan's door open. He expected his attempt to be fruitless, as a dorm's door could only be opened by those who inhabited it, via their fingerprints on the door's scanner.
But the two boys soon found that not only was the door not locked, but it wasn't even closed properly.
Quinn gave the door a slight tug, and it swung open, creating an eerie creaking sound.
"Hello?" Quinn asked as the two boys crept into the room.
There, at the end of the room, they saw Logan sitting in a robotic chair in front of a workbench. He had some sort of metallic tool glove on his right hand.
"Looks like he's just busy with his inventions," Tsukuru replied. "Typical."
Quinn then started to look around.
'There really are a lot of crazy things in here,' Quinn thought. 'And, judging by the name displayed by my Inspect Skill, he's made them all himself.'
Then, his eyes widened as a thought hit him.
Maybe Logan could make the suit for him. And if he couldn't, maybe he could at least introduce him to somebody who could for a significantly lower price than a standard forger.
As Quinn examined Logan's 'inventions' as Tsukuru put it, he noticed that while some objects gave him a basic description with his Inspect Skill, others just gave him a line of question marks. Similar to that time when he had tried to Inspect that dried blood in the assembly hall after Vorden had fought the Second-Years.
Eventually, Quinn came across a rather peculiar object. It was the only item in the whole room that apparently hadn't been made by Logan.
It was a black, metal rectangle roughly the size of a laptop.
Unknown to Quinn, it was the same object that Tsukuru had attempted to scan when he had first unlocked his System. However, unlike with Tsukuru, Quinn could read the information perfectly fine. There was no glitching text with him.
[Return Teleporter
A device that opens a Portal to the pre-set location when the correct access code is input.
Creator: Richard Eno]