"Listen..." he began. "If it's about that thing with the smell, don't worry. It was just a mistake. I won't do it again."
Toria looked at him for a moment, confused. Her smile vanished immediately, replaced by a puzzled expression, lips slightly curved outward, eyebrows drawn together. "What are you talking about...?"
Victor froze. For a brief moment, all he did was repeat "uhm," staring straight into the girl's eyes, which were just as fixed on him, her right eyebrow slightly raised and her head tilted a little forward to the left.
"Mh... nothing!" he said then, putting on a fake serious look. "I'm messing with you, relax," he added with a laugh, which the girl answered with one of her own—much more forced and embarrassed.
"I see..." she replied.
"Anyway, I wanted to talk to you about something else..."
"Okay," Victor replied.
"No, wait," the girl said after a brief silence, her confused expression returning. "What smell are you talking about?"
"Toria, forget it. I'm joking," the boy replied, almost cutting her off.
"Okay..." she answered, still puzzled. "I was saying..."
Slowly, her voice grew more timid and closed off. Her tone became particularly low at times, so much so that Victor had to ask her to repeat herself because he couldn't hear. Toria seemed very embarrassed; her face was slightly red, she kept touching her hands, gently rubbing them, especially her fingers, intertwining them to massage them; her hair covered her face, especially around the acne, which Victor, despite the curtain of hair, could still glimpse—much more cared for and less visible than before; her legs were slightly turned inward, though not very noticeable since she was wearing loose jeans that day, and her feet were also angled inward.
"I see very often that, at least when I'm around, you're cold. I mean, it feels like my presence bothers you, or even the things I do..."
Victor was particularly confused by that.
"...I'll admit that, I don't know why, but I really like you as a person. I feel driven to get to know you, and I understand if some of my attention feels annoying..."
"But it's absolutely not like that, Toria."
The girl slowly lifted her gaze, which had gradually dropped as she spoke.
"I really like you too. I appreciate every bit of attention you give me, and if I seemed cold, that's on me. That's just how I am. All my friends know that."
The girl's eyes seemed to slowly widen with relief. It was as if she had been waiting for a direct, blunt confirmation.
"But if it makes you uncomfortable because it hurts you, I'll try to be more lively. I promise."
The girl smiled slowly. Her eyes grew glossy, so much so that Victor could see his reflection in them at times. Her posture changed quickly: from slouched and withdrawn, she suddenly seemed struck by happiness in one instant; her legs and feet straightened, and she stopped rubbing her hands, simply crossing them while her arms hung down.
The two of them stayed like that, looking at each other, for at least a minute.
Then, suddenly, metallic footsteps echoed. A deep breath, with strong metallic vibrations, was heard behind the girl, who turned almost immediately, slightly startled.
"Lieutenant Abner..." Victor said, noticing the man's nervous expression.
"Soldier Hackett, return to the room with your companions," Abner ordered, his voice highly authoritative.
"Yes, sir," Victor said, giving the girl a look of farewell, just as confused and intimidated by the lieutenant's presence.
"Please remain here, Doctor," the man added, in a softer but still commanding tone, then headed toward the room, closing the door quickly behind him.
"Lieutenant!" the boys greeted. The man seemed to ignore them completely. He stayed silent for a few seconds, during which he cleared his throat, coughing lightly twice and placing his hands behind his back as usual.
"Sir, is everything okay?" Hansen asked.
"No, soldier," he replied. "This morning I was given rather unpleasant and concerning news. It's been a heavy morning. I've spoken with both the generals in charge of this base and the top representatives of the ICP, ZED, and UNADF."
The boys exchanged confused looks. Hansen and David even shared brief glances with the teammates beside them, as if to say, "Do you know anything?" but were met only with the same bewilderment.
"What are you talking about, sir?" Nikita asked, stepping forward. The lieutenant paused again. He seemed genuinely terrified of what he was about to say.
"Earth is isolated."
The boys' faces leaned forward slightly, as if pulled by a magnetic force. Their eyes widened, and quick glances crossed between them.
"What...?" Raiko exclaimed.
"Sir, what do you mean isolated?" Duncan asked.
"In the sense I said it, Soldier Bryce," the lieutenant replied. "Recent information—of which I can only share the most superficial facts—has revealed that the attack on the Martinelli was not an isolated event..."
Victor felt his blood run a little cold at the news. He stood still, listening, and the more the lieutenant spoke, the more he shivered, arms crossed.
"...There have been attacks, intentionally carried out by the Ijo, across most of the major Ghyghas-Class military bases around the planet, including in Europe and North America. The bases hit include, besides the Lorenzo Martinelli, the British Thomas Lawton, the American Derrick Bolt, the Polish Grigori Rybak, and the Portuguese Diego Salazar, a.k.a. Ceutierra. The list goes on."
"Sir... are you saying the largest and most heavily armed Western military bases have fallen?" Raiko asked, deeply demoralized and frightened.
"Not only in the West, but yes, that's correct," the man replied with equal discouragement.
"And our comrades, sir?" Hansen asked. "Can they move out from the Bolt?"
"At the moment, it appears not," the lieutenant answered. "Furthermore, attempts—with little success—have been made to communicate with the Bolt. Weak communications with the Remnant have also completely ceased."
"It's like the monsters planned an intercontinental attack..." David said.
"But sir, that's impossible!" Raiko exclaimed again. "The Ijo are the living dead. They've never shown human intelligence or anything beyond that of wild predators."
"I don't know what to tell you, soldier," the lieutenant replied. "The fact is that tomorrow, at 0500 hours, meetings will begin to discuss plans to reestablish inter-base communications and contact with the Remnant. Until then, we'll be confined here."
Another pause filled with incredulous stares.
"That is all," the lieutenant concluded, leaving the room.
Outside, Toria was still waiting, still anxious, leaning against the corridor wall, nervously tapping her foot on the floor, trying to keep her gaze fixed on the door.
As soon as it opened and, after returning the lieutenant's salute as he strode away, noticing Victor's shaken expression, she walked straight toward the boy.
"What's wrong...?" She noticed the same look in all the other boys, even faintly visible in Nikita, and it was clear something truly serious had happened. "What's wrong with you guys? What happened?"
Victor looked at Toria's face, searching within himself for a way to tell her what had just occurred. He was particularly nervous, and it showed in the slight tremor of his hand, which the girl had noticed earlier and could even feel when she touched his shoulder. The boy kept looking at her so intensely that she herself seemed to absorb his emotion, his stress. They looked at each other for a few more seconds before Victor explained that, in that moment, they were prisoners in a world that was slowly devouring them.