The whole way to the ‘meeting-place,’ Seth worried about all the myriad different kinds of people he’d be subjected to.  His worst fears were realized when he saw Kourin spring into a bit of a skipping-run on her approach towards another man, and she reached her hands forward to clasp at that man’s arms warmly.  He couldn’t hear what was being said over the sidewalk crowd, but when Kourin gestured for him to get closer, he bit his tongue and approached.


    “Seth, this is Wyatt.” She said, and gingerly pointed a hand at the figure, “He goes by Phex though; he works as a data information officer with the Third.  Phex, this is Seth.”


    They were nearly the same height – pushing towards 6ft at that point – but Phex had dark, raven-colored hair, streaked in grey; like he was pushing into his late 40s but physically looked to be in his mid-20s at most.  Steely eyes looked back at Seth, examining him the same way in turn, and Seth…felt himself lacking.


    “Pleasure.” The older figure commented, and reached his hand out, “It’s always nice to put a real face to the rumor.”


    Seth felt a jolt go through his whole body, and he felt extremely self-conscious, “Rumor?”


    Kourin had to move the teen’s arm for him, and folded his hand into the handshake like the limb was paralyzed, “Honestly…”


    Phex gave it one shake before letting go, and took a seat at one of Agartha’s many little cafés, “You’re quite the popular guy.  At least, where I’m stationed.  Bit of a teen heartthrob.”


    Seth wasn’t sure how to process the words; they sounded like a foreign language.  Like the handshake, Kourin had to manually articulate him like a doll to make him move, and she nudged him down into a seat beside her, opposite Phexides, “…What?”


    “I don’t think he pays attention to that kind of stuff.” She commented, then turned back to Seth, “Don’t worry about it.  He has nothing to listen to except gossip all day.”


    “With the Third, huh?” Seth repeated skeptically, and leaned back to cross his arms, “…So how do you two know each other, then?”


    Phexides snorted a laugh, but Kourin shook her head, “We’ve known each other since as far back as I can even remember.” She looked up in thought, “Since I was…what, nine years old?”


    “Sounds about right.”


    “I was the last one to join the little gang we had back then.” Kourin continued, “You guys sought me out like a heat-seeking missile.”


    “How could we not?  Your talents were all-but tailor made for us.” Phex teased, and waved for a server to come over, “The little shits that we were, Caer-” The table shook from the force of the kick, and Phex heaved to stifle his yelp.


    Kourin looked on sweetly and innocently, “Oh, yeah…Caeden.  I remember him.  It’s been a few years though.  Him and Talbott.”


    Phex nodded painfully, “M-mhm…C-Caeden and Talbott.”


    Seth looked between them skeptically, “You okay?”


    An agonized thumbs-up was given in answer, and Phexides gave a restrained nod, “Great.”


    Kourin looked up sweetly at the approaching server, “Can we get a coffee press and three cups?”


    “Yes ma’am, right away.”


    She waved a thanks, but then hefted her seat up and scooted a few inches closer to Seth’s side, then leaned into his space and whispered, “Don’t mind Phex.  He’s one of the dumbest smart people I know.”


    “How come you wanted me to meet him?  Who are you to each other?”


    Kourin could only snort a laugh behind a cupped hand, “What’s the matter?  Are you jealous?”


    Seth could feel his soul leave his body.


    “He’s practically family.” She explained dismissively, even as Phex coddled the shin she’d murdered a few moments earlier, “Where we met was like…as you so eloquently put it before, a dumping ground…but for orphans.  Me and him, and Caeden and Talbott, we were all there for one reason or another.  The boys were already acquainted though by the time I showed up – being the youngest and newest arrival – but when Caeden heard about what my affliction could do, they tracked me down and recruited me in.”


    “…Hijinks ensued, I take it?”


    “Oh, absolutely…and it’s 100% as bad as you’re probably imagining right now.”


    “…Even when you were that young?”


    “I never actually had to go on the hijinks-raids with them, I only had to make them invisible for it.” She answered, “They’re all six or seven years older than I am, so in the beginning, I was really only there cuz I had a skill Caeden found useful.  Was like being a Myrmidon but as a kid.”


    Seth felt a guilty pit in his gut, “…I hope you don’t think that’s all I’m doing…”


    “If that was the case, you wouldn’t have suggested hanging out, right?” She supposed.


    “But then why bring your other friend?” He whispered, and leaned in a bit closer so she’d be sure to hear.


    Kourin just puffed a laugh and snuck her hand around the teen’s forearm, and gave it a pat, “You’re funny.”


    “What’d I say that was…funny…?”


    “Phex, will you tell him?” She reached her short leg across the underside of the table and nudged the older figure with the tip-toe of her boot, “Why you’re here with us.”


    Phexides winced slightly, but released his sore leg to sit normally again, and leaned his elbows onto the edge of the table…just in time for their server to come back with a tray of the coffee that Kourin had asked for.  A timer had already been started for the press, and continued to tick-down as all the accoutrements were set out.


    “Once the timer is up, you can press down on the plunger.  Can I get you anything else?”


    “Think that’s it for now, thanks!” Kourin gave another sweet smile.  She looked back to her friend expectantly.


    Phex made a face, but sighed and postured again, “…There’s another friend of ours that’s been missing for a little while, and we thought…maybe you could help us track her down.”


    “Another friend?  Missing?” Seth echoed in confusion, “How would I factor into this?  I’m just a regular guy.”


    That earned him a skeptical ‘are you serious right now?’ sort of look, “…Do you not see all these people whose gazes keep turning your way as they pass or sit nearby?”


    Seth looked around, “…There’s a million things happening around here.  They could be looking at anything.”


    “And yet, they’re not.  They’re looking directly at the apprentice of Lord Rylen Vor’antiss himself, Setharion Rydell, never mind the fact that your family is already pretty well-known.” Phex explained, and leaned back in his seat, “Why do you think Rin is clinging to you, like a lizard on a hot rock?”


    “Hey, no, don’t you dare.” Kourin snapped her fingers at him, “I’m not on the clock right now, I can do whatever I want.  Don’t take this from me.”


    Seth’s face went red anyway, “…Well…”


    Kourin pet his arm again, “Ignore that part.”


    “Why is this friend missing though?  Why would I be the one to know how to find her?” He asked pensively, “I’m not…really in the business of finding missing people.  I just do research on weird supernatural stuff.”


    “Yeah, weird supernatural Limitless stuff, and the people who are afflicted by it.” Phexides clarified, “You’re exactly the kind of person who would know where people like that might have ended up.  Being so close to Lord Rylen’s orbit, you might have access to certain kinds of information that might help us figure out where she might’ve ended up.”


    I don’t like this conversation, Seth thought, brows crinkled, “You’re implying something bad happened though…why else would this friend be missing, right?  …How…long has she been gone?”


    “A little more than a year.”


    Seth felt the bottom of his stomach drop out, “…Oh…  Uh…I don’t know, being close to Lord Rylen doesn’t necessarily give me any special privileges.  And even if it did, I couldn’t take advantage of it for personal gain…”


    “Not even for a good cause?”


    “…It’s not my business to judge.” He answered, and made the decision to extricate himself from the topic.  He lifted up from his seat just as the timer on the coffee press started beeping, “It was nice meeting you, but I think…I should probably go.  I’ve got my family’s reputation to think of, after all.” He finished, and gently pulled his arm out of Kourin’s light grasp, “I’ll see you later.”


    Neither of the duo protested his leaving, and once Seth was far enough away, Kourin let out a sigh of relief.  She reached over to push the plunger down, and bumped her knuckles against her friend’s, “You’re a legend for playing along.  Enjoy the coffee!  Cya!”


    Phex just shook his head and laughed quietly as he watched the petite woman give chase.  Fingers eagerly started reaching for the coffee and fixin’s, “Hopefully that was enough, ‘Rin.”


    Kourin weaved through the sidewalk traffic until she could catch up, and retook the teen’s arm unexpectedly, “Whew!  Sorry about that!  I told him it was gonna sound super weird and come off way too strong, but he thought it was worth a shot.”


    “…Sorry I dipped like that.” Seth answered, “I feel bad about it, but…I really can''t put myself on the line like that.”


    “No, no…it’s fine.  I told him the same thing.” She agreed, “Him and that girl were pretty close, so…he’d been holding out hope that there was some conspiracy or another that meant she was alive somewhere rather than…the obvious alternative.”


    “Oh…”


    “Anyway though!” Kourin reset to her usual bubbly self, “Now that it’s just us again…where are we going?  I have four days off, including today, before we put our noses to that grindstone.  I won’t even make you talk to Phex again.”


    That was a relief, and Seth worried his physical reaction to hearing it was too much of a give-away.  He straightened his posture out quickly and cleared his throat, “…I…hadn’t actually thought that far ahead.  Part of my plan was trying to figure out what kind of stuff you like.”


    “We already did something per my request.  It’s only fair that you’re up next.  What do you like?”


    The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    He pulled his free hand up to his chin contemplatively, “…Well, it’s a bit far from here, but…there’s a V.R.A. I took Iresha to last year…”


    “V.R.A.?”


    “Virtual reality arcade.  Fully immersive.”


    “Oh!  Cool!  Yeah, let’s go!”


    Seth beamed, Maybe the day can still be salvaged after all.  “Okay, yeah!” He turned his eyes upward towards the airborne shuttle-pathways, and summoned a two-seater down.  Once Kourin had gotten in, Seth went around the other side and got in as well, and put in the information for the pod to start moving.  As it lifted up to rejoin the flow, Seth felt a flutter in his chest, and turned slightly in his seat, “…I did have one question though, about that weird conversation we just had…”


    “What’s up?”


    “…You said you were nine when you met them all, and they sought you out for your afflictive power?” He noted, “That’s really young.”


    “It was the very bottom end of the bell curve, but…yeah.” She nodded, “Those guys were probably most of the reason why I got so much practice with it.”


    “…And it’s also probably the reason you ended up in an orphanage?”


    The look on her face changed slightly, “…Yeah.”


    “Can I ask…?”


    She gave a sad smile, “I turned the family dog invisible, and…it was absolute bedlam.  The dog was scared, we were freaked out, and I – of course – couldn’t figure out how to turn it off since I had no idea how I turned it on in the first place.  Family was not happy about my developing an affliction, and…well, off I went.”


    Seth sat roughly back into his seat, “…That’s so ridiculous…  No one in my family has ever developed the affliction for some reason, so I knew it was a long-shot when I came of age and was practically begging the universe to give me one…  Sometimes I wish I hadn’t gotten as interested in this stuff as I did.  That I could just…be one of the meat-heads like my dad and brother, and join up with the Fafnir like so many of us have…  I couldn’t be in the most ill-adapted field if I was a blind man trying to get into painting.”


    Kourin quirked a brow, “Don’t we have treatments for that?”


    “Yeah, but…the point is that I’m not equipped for this job, and there’s no magic augment or technology that’s suddenly going to give me what I lack.” He sighed, “I really hope that asking for your help with all of it doesn’t come across badly to you.  I really do like you…and not just cuz I’m blind and envious of your sight.”


    “That’s good to know.” She puffed, and reached across the little center-console to retake his elbow into hers, “I like you, too, and not just cuz you’re a Rydell, either.”


    .


    The V.R.A was packed to the rafters that afternoon, but the duo eventually found two game-pods next to one another…and Kourin spent the following five hours learning – and then being better at – every game Seth suggested.  Rhythm-games, racing, shooting…she even got around the creature that once took Iresha down.


    But then came the puzzle-maze, and she found herself utterly overwhelmed.


    “I don’t get it, why do I keep-”


    WHOOSH


    “…missing.”


    Seth couldn’t help but laugh, “It’s a whole different experience when you have to think about jumping across platforms, right?”


    Kourin felt like a blow-dried cat, “…I could never play this if I was wearing a skirt, that’s for sure.  That crazy gust of air they blast at you from below when you fall would just be humiliating.”


    Seth’s face went red, “…Uhhh yeah, sure it would be.”


    “I might not be able to see you from in here, but I know what that tone sounded like!”


    “Sorry!” He snickered, “Maybe we can go back to that dragon-riding sim?  You seemed to like that one a lot.”


    “Ohhh yeah, that one was fantastic.”


    “Alright.”


    The arcade had multiple different levels, with different kinds of pods arranged for each different kind of game.  The riding and racing simulators were on the second floor, but were a rather popular set, so the pair joined the queue to get back in.  It felt like it took forever to get to the front, and Kourin dozed on her feet for at least half of it, unintentionally leaning into Seth’s side so she wouldn’t just fall over – not that he minded, at all.  But, finally, they made it to the end, and when one pod came available, Seth surrendered his own potential spot so he wouldn’t make Kourin wait any longer than she already had, and just set-up next to hers to watch instead.


    There was one thing he noticed though, “…You know, if you had your glasses with you – or nanotech implants - you could just save your dragon-profile and load it right away.”


    “Shht.” She retorted, remaking her creature from scratch, though it only took a few minutes since she already knew what she wanted.  It was a regal silver beast with blue highlights, black tiger-stripes, vivid golden eyes, and ebony horns, all on the image of a western-style, four-legged, two-winged base.  Once she had it, the mount-emulator within the pod shifted, recreating a variant of the saddle and dragon’s size per the design-specs.


    Seth stepped in just long enough to help hoist her up onto the thing so she wouldn’t need to fumble with the step-stool - and made sure she was strapped-in - but then moved out again to watch her have her fun.  The interior of the pod activated, and a full 360* display showed a lush forest scene – nanotech assembled to complete the image of the dragon itself, covering over the physical mount and manifesting a full simulacrum that looked like real flesh and equipment.  Seth could only watch on the exterior displays as the pod closed though, living vicariously through what he could hear from her reactions inside.  The whole thing moved as an animatronic, bucking and twisting under her as the dragon-display made the motions of running and flight, and wind simulators inside gusted at her.


    Listening to Kourin’s excited screams and laughs was far more fun than being in his own pod somewhere else, and Seth could only shake his head in realization, Man…  Maybe it is a good thing she didn’t wear a dress today…  I’d be putty in her hands if she did.


    .


    Furion looked at the Wing Commander One doors with a grudging reluctance, but with his father’s orders rattling in his head, he knew he’d be in for an ass-chewing if he slept anywhere else again.  With a nervous upset in his gut, he went inside, and tried to remember how the space looked like a decade prior, when it was actually still his room.  Being entirely undecorated, it still just looked like ‘the remains of Ren’s room,’ after officially being emptied out following her end.


    He slumped back against the barren, factory-reset couch, and…was pleasantly distracted by an incoming call.  He quickly accepted it, and the image of his younger brother came onto his overlay, “Hey.  You have impeccable timing.”


    “Furion, this girl has me wrapped around her little finger.” The teen complained, “Is this normal?  I’ve totally lost my faculties.”


    “Whoa, whoa…back up.  What are you talking about?” Furion sat upright, “What happened?”


    Seth could only pace nervously in his dorm-room as he ranted, and the ‘camera’ followed him with each step, “She showed up at the campus today and surprised me in the lab!  I thought I’d have until tomorrow before she’d reach out!  But then we spent most of the afternoon at the V.R.A. and it hit me hard that she’s living in my head rent-free!”


    Furion listened, but eventually couldn’t help himself, and snorted half a laugh, “Wow…”


    “This is serious!  I need help!”


    “Why?  It sounds like you had a great time.”


    “It was amazing!  I haven’t had this much fun since back when Miss Ren introduced me to the place, and then spent the whole time destroying me at that rhythm-game with the swords!”


    “Naturally…”


    “What do I do!?”


    “What?  If you like this girl, then just go for it.”


    “But what if she doesn’t think the same way!?  I just got Lord Rylen to approve having her help me at the lab for a while, and if she gets cold feet about me, then it’ll just be weird!  I would spontaneously combust if I had to walk that back!”


    “Imagine being free to just pursue the lady you’re interested in…” Furion shrugged, “This is going to sound like an old-man-moment, but back in my day, figuring out how to tell Ren I was interested was not only a challenge because of what you’re experiencing now, but also because I was her commanding officer.  Gods, the language we had to invent just to talk to each other…”


    “What do you say to someone when you’re not sure!?”


    “Why aren’t you sure?  Does she fake-laugh at your jokes or something?”


    Seth staggered in his pacing, “I…don’t think so?”


    “Then what?”


    “I met one of her other friends today…  Not for long, he was kinda weird and intense, but…the conversation involved Kourin being proverbially-conscripted into that friend-group just because of what she can do with her affliction. I feel like-”


    “Wait…Kourin?”


    “Yeah, what?  It’s her nickname.  Her real name is Mikkela.”


    “Oh…okay.”


    “What?”


    “It’s just not a name I thought I’d hear outside of a lecture-hall.  ‘Kourin’ is the name of one of the Caeros Vor’antiss’ original friends.”


    “Oh…yeah, I knew that, but…it’s just a name.” Seth tilted his head, “Maybe she just liked how it sounded, or it was a total coincidence.  Her friend called her ‘Rin’ instead.”


    “Anyway, I interrupted.  Carry on.”


    “Right…” Seth cleared his throat and tried to remember what he’d been saying, “So…  I just don’t want her to think that I’m only asking to be friends because of the reason we met?  I always hear that you shouldn’t get involved with the people you work with…and she’s going to be my direct colleague when she gets off her weekend…”


    “Well, that’s easy…don’t mention anything about the affliction stuff when you’re off campus.” Furion said simply.


    “That’s not easy!”


    “Why wouldn’t it be?  There’s a million other things you could be talking about.”


    “Because it seems like everything I could ask her about ends up returning back to Limitless stuff somehow!” Seth whined, “Can’t ask about her family life because she got her affliction when she was like nine…and immediately got thrown into the system for it.  Can’t ask about her friends because they only wanted her for her abilities…and that one guy I met, who couldn’t wait to get to know me first before he started asking for favors…”


    “What kind of favors?”


    “I dunno, trying to find someone for them.” Seth grumbled and sat back at against a reclining chair, “Someone who…is – or was – afflicted, and went missing during or shortly before the Nightlong War.  I got really uncomfortable with the way he was asking me to use my standing with Lord Rylen to try and find where this person might’ve ended up, like they were accusing the Eidolon of holding her captive against her will for some crazy reason.”


    Furion quirked a brow and crossed his arms, “I mean…that’s kind of what happens when the afflicted end up on Lord Rylen’s ‘most wanted’ list, but they’re not enough of a threat to call the Fafnir in.”


    “That just makes me feel worse!  I literally fled with my tail between my legs to get out of the conversation!”


    “Would you even be able to track someone down like that?”


    “I dunno!” Seth threw his arms up into the air and collapsed backward into the chair, “I’ve never strayed from my lane!  I wouldn’t know the first thing about trying to track someone down anyway…  I’m certain it would be suspicious if I started looking.”


    “Guess it depends on who you’re trying to find.” Furion pinched his fingers around his chin, “In any case, if you already told the guy you couldn’t help, then there’s nothing more to worry about.  Did Kourin bring it up again after?”


    “No…she actually apologized for it, saying she warned him against discussing it.”


    “Then it’s a closed issue.  When do you think you’re going to see her next?”


    “Tomorrow.” Seth answered, and sat-up a bit more normally, “I have the next two days off, so…”


    “Plans?”


    “I have no idea.  I thought I had a concept of what we could do, but…oh my gosh, Furion, she’s just…” The teen buried his face into his hands, “I can’t get her out of my head…  She’s so smart and cute and fun, and she’s so good at most everything she tries…  She’s just so little, and she’d probably kick my ass for saying so, but I want to hold onto her and protect her and…”


    “Take it easy.  What was your concept?”


    “There’s this…’concert in the park’ thing happening tomorrow afternoon and into the night.  I just don’t know how to spend the day leading into it.  I can’t just take her back to the arcade already…that’ll get stale…  I don’t really know what her interests are, either…”


    “You can make that your plan, then.”


    “Eh?”


    “Finding out what she likes to do.  You only just met her a couple days ago; it ought to be fun to learn more about her.  Ask her where she got such a specific nickname from.  Just have an open-ended conversation…or go on a walk somewhere interesting.  Agartha has no limit on things to do…you could pick something at random and see how it lands.”


    “Yeah…  Yeah, you’re right.” Seth agreed, and pushed up to stand again, feeling a little more confident, “Just as long as I can manage to not get back to the Limitless topic…”


    “I mean, it’s not wrong to want to talk about something you’re passionate about.  Just make sure you approach it carefully.”


    “Whew…okay, okay…  Thanks, Furion.”


    “Sure.  And don’t forget to tell me how the concert goes.”


    “Yessir!”


    .


    Kourin pushed the door open to Phexides’ little apartment, “I’m baaaack.” She called, only to find the man standing rather stiffly in the den.  Kourin gave him a strange look, “What’s the matter?” She asked as she walked forward, coming out of the little hallway that led past the bathroom and closet…only to spot an unexpected visitor, “…T-Tallus?  What are you doing here?  I thought you were in Gesh’ko.”


    “I was.  But I conveniently got put on an assignment here in the city, and I arrived this afternoon.” He answered, leaning casually against the little kitchen-bar with his arms crossed.  He pushed off of it, still wearing his Fourth Wing uniform, “I’ve been thinking about your call.”


    “O-Oh…?” Kourin stammered as the taller figure approached, looming over her, “Are you glad our friend is okay after all?”


    “It’s not about him.” He said rigidly, “It’s about what you said after…that they never found a body, and that you think Scyren might be able to help.”


    “…It’s a slim possibility…?” She noted, “Scyrexian can’t track people, but…the whole purpose to taking Ren as a host was to force Gabriel’s hand, right?  So, if Scyren starts causing a ruckus, maybe it’ll lure him out.  I was certain she’d been cremated before the memorial last year…if Gabriel’s still alive, he probably thought the same, so…”


    “If he’s still alive.”


    “It’s all conjecture until we start trying…”


    “It also might draw unnecessary attention to us.  We have nowhere to go if we’re discovered.”


    “I’ve been hearing that for 350 years.  I know.”


    “And how much closer are you to finding where Scyren’s being held?” Tallus wondered, and reached forward to pet his hand over the petite woman’s head.  She swallowed a nervous breath to feel his touch, “I heard you spent most of the day with the First Wing’s little protégé.”


    “…He…can’t help us.”


    “Can’t?  Or won’t?” He asked, sliding a finger under her chin to lift her gaze higher, “Are you trying to get around me to protect him?”


    Kourin could feel herself starting to shake a little, and when Tallus moved his thumb under her nose, she knew the headache wouldn’t be far behind.


    “Cheeky.” He commented, and pulled his hand away again to stop the blood-drop from going any further down his finger, “Try again.  Never forget…your prime directive is to always do what’s best for Caeros.”


    “…Y-yeah…always…”