Chap 156: Hey Cooper

Shortly after regaining consciousness in the infirmary, Kie and his remaining teammates were alerted by a hologram and soon found themselves in the Commander's office. The room was cold and unwelcoming, matching the tone of what was to come.

"She didn't make it back," the Commander said, his voice devoid of emotion. He leaned back in his chair, unlocking his fingers from their firm clasp on the desk. "Kie, I’ll soon request for you to tell me what happened during your recent mission against the Harbingers."

The silence that followed was Kie lost in thought. Tee didn’t make it back! He was like a ghost, lost. His mind rambled with so many questions. If she didn’t make it back, where was she?

Outside in the hallway, the stillness clung to them.

"Tee didn't make it back?" Miko finally whispered, brows drawn with worry.

What they assumed was just a late wake-up turned into a heart-wrenching reality. The mission wasn't just about eliminating the Harbingers—it was about survival. And it seemed the Harbingers had claimed one of their own—again.

"We should ask the Elders to search for her," Zod said suddenly, as if a light had flicked on in his mind.

"That's not a bad idea," Saeda agreed, recalling how Elder Menrith was willing to help with her aura-sensing.

Kie was onboard, but kept quiet. 

The four headed to the long, carpeted corridor that led to Elder Caledor's chamber.

Inside, Zod made the bold request. "Why can't you just sense for her—like how you found us through the Verge—maybe find the Harbinger’s secret lair while you’re at it?"

Elder Caledor, robed in golden yellow, with eyes as bright as skyfire and a beard as white as cloud, answered calmly. "Indeed, you were located through the Verge—specifically by correspondence from the future."

The Sentinels gasped.

"We traced your origins based on what the future sent us. We verified everything," Caledor explained.

Elder Seriphal, the elder in blue, round-faced and wise-eyed, added, "The Verge only sends messages when the future is in danger and must be altered. That's how we learned of the Harbingers."

Zod's heart sank, doubt curling around his thoughts. What if the message was wrong? What if they weren't who they thought they were? He always imagined their discovery was guided by something more majestic—more certain, as if destined.

Caledor read his fear. "Your Ultramana powers had not yet awakened back then. Without that spark, we couldn't locate you through the Verge."

"But we've awakened now," Kie argued. "So you can track Tee."

Elder Earvangar, eyes glowing with fiery red intensity, responded with grim skepticism. "Only if she's emitting a surge of Ultramana energy—and even then, we would need to scan the entire lifestream of the planet. Worse… she may not even be in this realm anymore. If she's caught in the Sealed Bond's defense… she may have been erased during the reset."

The Sentinels froze.

"You mean… Tee could be dead?" Miko asked, her voice cracking.

Kie shook his head, refusing to believe that. 

Elder Earvangar didn't answer. He simply scoffed.

Elder Menrith, half-shrouded beneath her deep purple hood, added darkly, "Her condition makes her even harder to locate. There's a block. The source remains unknown."

"A block?" Saeda snapped, finally breaking her silence. "What condition? What do you mean?"

The elders gasped—true horror in their eyes. Realization struck. Tee still had revealed what she truly was.

"That defiant child," Elder Menrith hissed.

Kie knitted his brows. He knew Tee was unruly but what were they referring to exactly?

Through their telepathic link, the elders debated revealing the secret. She might be dead. Perhaps that was for the best, given what she was.

But before a decision was made, Zod's mind flashed back to something he heard during a past mission.

"The Harbingers said something about the creators... and pain. That death would save this world. What did they mean?"

Elder Caledor shook his head. "We've received no correspondence from the Verge about any such threat. We have no reason to believe it."

Zod blurted, "What?!"

Elder Caledor raised a brow.

“I mean… can you explain?” he corrected, swallowing hard as he pulled at the tight collar of his shirt.

"The first warning was about Severin's rise. Vergant elders acted, but too slowly," Caledor said. "If something worse were coming, the Verge would've told us."

Zod finally understood.

Kie still refused to believe Tee was gone forever. She always came back—she had to. The thought of a world without her felt wrong, unbearable. He swore that if she truly died, it would be proof that he was never meant to hold onto anyone for long. And if that were true, he would shut everyone out, seal himself off completely, and never let anyone get close to him again.

Meanwhile, Tee was nowhere near safety.

Her old home district clawed at her with memories. Tetra. Jack. Pain. She didn't want to see anyone—not from Primus, not from the Academy.

She wondered if that was what she truly wanted—to be free from Primus. Yet a part of her still burned to prove her name to the world, and to every Xeno-victim. Still, the thought of Primus hunting her down, finding her, lingered like a shadow she couldn't shake.

She felt the sun on her skin, the strange black substance covering her body and hiding her bareness as it absorbed the heat. She picked at it and found it could peel away—but she was bare beneath. The thought of finding clothes slipped from her mind when her stomach grumbled.

The scent of food from a nearby MG-off drew her like a predator. Watching him and his comrades, she debated eating his burger versus his own arm. 

Tee made her move—flipping the table and scaring the group half to death. Seeing someone with white hair and body pitch black was creepy. They thought she was a newly mutated Xenosapian that exposed the head of the victim. 

But when her metal fangs and claws emerged—under her control for once—they fled in terror.

She devoured the tasteless burgers alone. One guard left their jacket and she took it to cover herself. She remembered the time she nearly sank her teeth into Kie’s neck. He had smelled just as intoxicating. And it wasn’t the burger that stirred her hunger

Later, she found herself in Jack's old home. Her vision told her what she didn't want to see—his parents weren't there. Probably imprisoned. 

Jack never got a funeral. Neither did Tetra.

No one waved or acknowledged her. Surely they couldn’t have forgotten the girl with white hair. She admitted to herself that she had been a bully. Loneliness burned.

She wandered into the old park—the same one where she and Jack had spent Free Week. The swing still creaked with every sway, just as she remembered it. She sat in it, rocking gently, the motion tugging at memories she'd tried to bury.

Only a few MG-offs were scattered across the area. Some troopers trailing behind Xeno-victims while others zipped by on hoverboards. A couple slacked off under a tree, and two more were shamelessly making out.

She watched them, heart clenching. That should’ve been her and Jack—right there, after two years in the Mid-Guard. But then she remembered… 

Jack never kissed her so passionately. Kie had.

But Kie didn’t know what he was. 

She was alone.

Global curfew was closing in, and she still hadn’t found shelter. Primus had spoiled her—made her forget what it was like to be out in the open, alone, with nothing but the night sky and a cold roof for comfort.

At night, she lay on a rooftop, hugging herself against the cold, weeping under the stars. Forgotten.

No one was coming for her.

The fear of the Harbingers faded in the dark, replaced by something more personal. Loneliness. 

Sade stepped through a swirling red vortex, the air splitting with a low hum, and emerged into a quiet field of energy. 

Another seed in his master plan needed tending.

Ahead of him, a girl with snow-white hair sat on the ground in meditation, her posture calm, focused.

Sade approached silently and placed a hand on her shoulder.

A faint smirk curled on his lips.

"You're progressing well."

Soon it was daylight. A white-armored Priman soldier passed by below. That was it!

Primus was a secret arm of Priman. If she wanted back in, she needed to be seen.

With her identity concealed by a stolen hoody, she caused chaos. Used her scream to destroy monuments. Controlled her power. Scared civilians and troopers alike. Then… the lasers came.

Priman soldiers jumped from hovering jets.

Dust filled the air. Scanners beeped. Guns loaded.

She stood still. Let them see her.

Gas surrounded her. She inhaled it—and blew it out like smoke.

They stared. Impressed. Horrified.

One blink—and a sharp blow struck the back of her head.

News of the incident reached Primus.

Zod, Miko, and Saeda stared at the hologram emitter in disbelief.

"She split her mouth open… screamed like a monster…"

“What a freak" Zod whispered. "Right?"

Miko nodded. 

Saeda didn’t respond, while Kie’s mind was only on Tee.

Tee woke up in cuffs, shackled inside Priman HQ. Her powers drained—but not really.

She saw figures behind the glass of the metal-walled room she was in.

"I'm just trying to get back to Primus," she said.

No response.

"Commander… The Lieutenant!" she shouted, grasping for a name.

It clicked. Two men—Derrick and Matt Daman—recognized it. Family of The Lieutenant. They knew she was telling the truth.

Primus was alerted.

The Commander arrived in person.

"I'll take it from here," he said, as Tee looked up.

"I'm not that easy to get rid of," she muttered, her voice low. Then, glancing down at the heavy cuffs still clamped around her wrists, she added, "Are these really still necessary?"

The metal cuffs were removed.

As she stepped away, she glanced at the observers behind the glass. Their eyes cold. Unshocked. As if her destruction meant nothing.

Back in the Commander's office, a hologram lit up.

It showed not her destruction—but a glove. A summoning glove.

"Only my Alpha team uses those," the Commander said coolly. "A few sword scraps I'd overlook. But not the glove."

Tee paled.

“Do you remember this boy?" The screen showed Allan—the Xeno-victim she had armed.

"Allan…" she gasped.

"He's dead," the Commander said.

Tears blurred her vision. "No…"

It was a reminder. Primus was always watching.

"These gloves are proof of sorcery-tech. The outside world cannot know about sorcery—not yet. And not about the Sentinels either," he said. "Don't pull a stunt like this ever again. And about today—"

"Was there a funeral?" she blurted.

"He was buried," the Commander answered.

Tetra. Jack. Allan.

Tee was losing everyone.

After realizing she had zoned out and his words were falling on deaf ears, the Commander dismissed the meeting.

She showered the yucky substance from her and got dressed. Downstairs, she passed under the archway that led to the courtyard with the pool, the water glinting in the midday light.

“Tee!” Miko squealed, her large, brown eyes practically popping out of her head.

In a blink, Tee found herself crushed in a tight hug, Miko’s arms wrapped around her with bone-cracking force.

On the nearby lounge chairs, Zod and Saeda sat up in disbelief.

“Is it really you?” Zod asked, already getting to his feet.

Tee gently cleared her throat, giving Miko a small nudge to ease the death grip. She thought about deflecting with a sarcastic comment—but for once, the energy wasn’t there.

“Yeah,” she said instead. “It’s me.”

The inevitable questions came, especially about how she escaped the Harbingers. She lied, of course. Said she saw something that looked too much like the red nebula from their last nightmare. Claimed she’d managed to slip through one of the Harbingers’ teleportation vortexes—somehow landing in the modern world, unseen. Maybe she triggered a new ability. Invisibility, perhaps.

Zod’s eyes lit up. “Cool. So, Primus must’ve found you after?”

Tee nodded.

Zod approached her with a glass of water, but the look Tee gave him stopped him in his tracks. 

“What?” he asked, stepping back. “It’s a welcome thing from my district.”

Her eyes began scanning the courtyard. Kie wasn’t there.

“Where’s Kie?” she asked. 

“Oh, he’s probably in the training room—poor guy’s been beating himself up since you were declared dead.”

“Me dead?” Tee puffed. 

She left them and headed to the training room. The sound of hard hits echoed and it took her right to him. His back turned to her, he was hitting his fist against the metal column. The once white bandages around his fists were soaked red from blood. He kept hitting despite knowing someone sneaking up behind him. 

When she got too close and stretched her arms out to hug him from behind, he stopped and met her halfway. 

“Hey Cooper,” she said flirtatiously.