Children of The Spheres

Chapter 18: Consequences

Captain Kaido stands before us, his broad frame backlit, casting a shadow that stretches across the polished floor of his office. We're inside the Aureum Spire—the very fortress we've been assigned to guard. The room feels stifling, not just from the high walls but from the silent Enforcer lurking in the corner, silently watching.

Keira shifts beside me, her metallic fingers flexing instinctively. They took our guns, but at least we're not cuffed. It's not like we could do anything against the Enforcer—that's what they think, at least. But escaping now wouldn't help us, so we play along.

"You abandoned your post."

The accusation hangs in the air, sharp and cutting. Keira and I exchange a glance. We were supposed to stay low, blend in like good little Nexus recruits—not blow up half a city district and take out a high-grade mech. Evander's orders were clear—stay invisible.

"Yet," Kaido continues, his voice softening slightly, "despite your recklessness and the damage caused, lives were saved."

We say nothing. The more I hear from this man, the more I realize how predictable he is. Honor—he has a moral code he likely follows more closely than the law he's sworn to defend. If I play my cards right, I can use that to manipulate him.

Kaido steps forward, arms crossed as his gaze locks onto mine. "Do you even know what that mech was?"

"Just that it's from ZeroPoint," I lie—my NeuraCore already looked up the full specs for me during the fight.

"It's one of their latest models," he explains. "An Apex Marauder. Designed to stand toe-to-toe against dozens of highly equipped soldiers. And you two took it out practically single-handedly, with light armor and improper weaponry." He pauses, skepticism evident. "How, exactly, did you achieve that?"

"We scavenged from the battlefield," Keira explains, her voice a bit too nonchalant for the situation. "Did what we had to."

Kaido nods, acknowledging it with a grunt, but I can tell he doesn't fully but it—he's trying to reconcile two fresh guards from the academy with the mess we made of that battlefield. It simply doesn't add up.

"I guess we just got lucky," I add, keeping my tone neural.

"Lucky?" Kaido asks.

"That's right. And since we're all asking questions, mind telling us how that mech even got into the capital?" The questions are meant to redirect the conversation away from us and toward the Alliance's incompetence.

"It was the Doctrine of the Void," he explains, voice low, failing to hide his frustration. "They breached one of our weapons depots, hijacked the Marauder, and set it loose. It's embarrassing, really. Our security systems should have been able to withstand them, but... they didn't. Now, the entire mess will have to be buried."

Keira nods along, her face neutral, but I can tell her mind's running at full spec. We helped reduce the damage to the Nexus Alliance, but this isn't what we were after. And now, Kaido's looking at us with more than just passing curiosity.

The moment hangs, and I can see it in his eyes before he even says the words.

"Who are you really?"

I swallow, feeling the weight of the question. Keira's eyes flick toward me, asking for permission without a word. I knew this would come. We did too much, proved too capable. The longer we dance around this, the more likely we get caught in a web we can't untangle.

I give her a small nod.

"We're not from the Nexus Alliance," Keira says smoothly. "We're independent researchers, here to study historical artifacts."