Chapter 40: 40. Shining Nexus

*Creeeeak* wailed a heavy metal door as it was pulled open *ku-kuchah* yelped the lights of the room where Zeff was being held. He hadn’t once opened his eyes since he had been taken to be cleaned and receive his shots. But by the way the sound was echoing, he was in a lab of sorts with walls covered in the same reflective material as the first room.

Up to this point several hours had passed with him laying in the dark, Sylvan snoring like a warthog next to him. Now, all of a sudden, several people were entering the room again.

Zeff hoped and prayed it wasn’t another party of promiscuous women…

“The Lepers are still knocked out cold.” came a familiar voice. It was Geneo from before.

Another man or maybe two snickered in response. Then one asked, “Why don’t we just wake them up now and call it a day.” came another man with a deep voice.

“Because C.A.R.A. and all the other leper-lovers demand that we ‘let them have a pleasant first experience’ in Obsidia… Bah!” Geneo scoffed. Then he added, “And Rillian’s the worst of all! He acts like he prefers the lepers to his own kind! If he wasn’t a noble, I’d give him one right between the eyes, I swear.”

“Don’t kid yourself, Geneo.” chuckled the the man with the deep voice. “Surely you’ve seen him in action before. I know I’ve seen his morph-logs from his university days! That guy is a monster.” There was a long, awkward pause and nervous shuffling from Geneo.

“Yeah.” spoke another man. “Lord Rillian isn’t a noble for no reason. A few months ago he gave a lecture at the squad dorms and, let me tell you, he has an insane gift and crazy aura control, too.”

Geneo had had enough. “What are you guys, anyway? A bunch of Rillian fan-boys, or what?!” he protested. “Take your scrums outta your mouths and let’s move these guys like we’re supposed to do.”

*Woo* whistled a fourth man as he drew closer to Zeff and began lifting him up. “Look at the scrum on this one! He starts dating ‘The Duchess’ and all of a sudden he thinks he’s hot stuff…”

“Give him a break, Hral. You’d think you was hot stuff, too, if your girl had a pair of melons like hers!”

“Hey.” chuckled Geneo. “Leave Demra outta this.” The men laughed as they gathered up Zeff and Sylvan, moving them to stretchers.

‘Demra!’ Zeff thought his blood boiling. ‘Why am I not surprised this sleazeball and that horn-dog would be a couple!!’ Knowing that Geneo was in a relationship with Demra, the woman who was about to take advantage of him only ours ago, only made Zeff hate them both the more.

“You can have Demra and her melons all you want.” Hral chuckled. “I want her squad captain!”

“Bahaha!” laughed the other men, especially Geneo. “Sierra Reimus?! The Metalloid Princess?! You want her?!”

“What? She’s more attractive than, Demra, by far!” protested Hral.

“Yeah! Even I’ll admit that.” Geneo acquiesced. “Looks aren’t everything. The thought of even making her smile makes me shudder. But to marry her?! Brrrr!”

“Who said anything about marriage?!” Hral asked, annoyance clear on his voice.

And after a long laugh from his friends, the men finally fell silent and continued quickly with their work. Zeff and Sylvan were dressed and placed back on the stretchers to be taken somewhere else.

There was silence as the men carried Zeff and Sylvan through a series of corridors and hallways until—

“Hey!” came Rillian’s angry voice. “Where in the four realms are you taking those two, huh?!”

“L-lord Rillian.” answered Geneo sheepishly. “Apologies. But we were commanded to take these two to the Aurator for inspection…”

“W-what Aurator?” stammered Rillian. “There should not be any Aurators here.”

“Indeed, Lord Rillian.” replied the one called Hral. “But C.A.R.A. sent one for a surprise inspection. Apparently they are auditing Fynn to make sure he properly categorizes the Cast-Awa—” *slap* said the man’s arm as someone hit him softly. “—r-returnees.”

“I see…” there was another long pause. “I suppose you four should carry on. I will accompany you, naturally.”

“Of course, Lord Rillian.” said Hral.

Zeff was getting really nervous now. ‘What the heck are they talking about? Audits? Inspections? Do they suspect Fynn of something?’

He couldn’t help but feel nervous after Rillian had stressed to him the importance of not speaking with anyone. But based on what had been said up til now, it seemed they were about to wake him up and see for themselves if Zeff and Sylvan matched what Fynn had written about them… maybe.

After a bit more walking and twisting and turning they finally laid Zeff and Sylvan down on a slightly elevated platform and backed away.

Zeff chanced the quickest of glances, letting his eye shoot open and closed again, so that he could survey the room, and he was shocked at what he saw.

He and Sylvan had been taken to a massive room. Although ‘room’ was not the right word to describe it. It was more like a warehouse. A football field could have fit in the space. Large open windows seemed to run down each side and the top of the place, letting light from outside shine in coloring the place yellow. The ground seemed to be covered in grass with yellow, white and gray lines drawn everywhere as a way to measure distance.

“The training field. What an excellent place to test them.” Said Rillian presently. However, despite his words, his tone was cold and rang of annoyance. “May I ask: which Aurator is conducting their inspection today.”

“Lord Hreed.” Said Geneo curtly.

“Oh. How delightful.” Rillian said through clenched teeth. “Truly wonderful.”

“I’d hope so, my friend!” Came a man’s high-pitched voice from the direction Zeff had just been carried. The man laughed heartily and then added, “Why the long face, Rillian? Haven’t you missed your old friend.”

By the way he spoke, Zeff couldn’t help but notice the sincerity and warmth in Hreed’s voice.

Rillian sighed, a long and exasperated sigh. “Oh, you…” He said, his voice also warm. “I’ve missed you, friend. Do not take it personal… I just don’t like it when C.A.R.A. goes over my head. I have—”

“Yes. This portal is within your domain. But surely you know that C.A.R.A has to do—”

“—what’s best for the future of the four realms…” Rillian recited, finishing the man’s sentence.

“Then, you understand why I am here.”

Rillian sighed. “I do, my friend. And it’s, indeed, important business.” Rillian clapped the man on his shoulder.

‘Well, at least say this ‘business’ out loud so that I know what the heck is going on!’ thought Zeff in a panic.

“Now, let’s not wait another second. I shall—”

“Lord Hreed? Have you forgotten.” Said Geneo, his tone low but noticeably more familiar than when he spoke with Rillian. Apparently, Hreed was well liked. “Your promise?”

“Ah! I’m so sorry, Sir Qane! Where are they?”

“Just there, in the observation room, Lord.”

“Well? Get them down here!”

“Um—Excuse me, Hreed?” muttered Rillian urgently as the four men who had carried Zeff and Sylvan into the room retreated excitedly. “What’s going on? What did you promise?”

“Ah, yes. Well it appears a few of the students and staff have never seen an Aurator in action before. They want to watch the inspection.”

“W-what!?”

“I-I hope that’s not a problem. Geneo asked me when I first arrived and I agreed… Should I have asked you first?”

“No… Everything’s fine.”

Zeff knew without having to see the man’s face that everything was, in fact, not fine.

Suddenly the sound of feet thundering across the field began to echo through the entire space as, what sounded like nearly a hundred people, approached Zeff’s location.

*****

“Before the inspection can begin, we have to wake up our guests. Can’t inspect sleeping victims— er, I mean men?”

Giggles and laughs followed.

“Normally, we use smelling salts to wake up returnees if they’ve been unconscious for more than 5 hours after their jump, like our friends here.” The sound of Hreed rummaging through his pockets filled the air. “Ah. Here it is. I will wake up the younger gentleman first. Stand back. Returnees have been known to lash out when first awakened.”

‘No. Please. Anything but the—’ “Argh!” gagged Zeff as Hreed held the smelling salts under his nose. He sat up straight and attempted to slap the salt from the man’s hand.

But Hreed was insanely fast. He pulled his hand back so fast that it *whished* as it cut through the air, startling Zeff with his speed.

Hreed was a quaint man. If you looked up ‘Great-Uncle’ in the dictionary, you might find a picture of him there. He looked to be about the same age as Rillian, but he was balding heavily above his temples and had a thick salt and pepper mustache so that he ‘felt’ older that he certainly was. He had kind gray eyes and soft round facial features.

Zeff was surprised to see that there wasn’t a white hazmat suit anywhere to be seen. Instead everyone was dressed in gray and white lab coats or simple colored tees with english words written on them instead. The fashion looked incredibly ‘American’ and the people were of all ethnicities and races which was somehow surprising to see. Among the bystanders were men and women who looked to be between 20 to 30.

And among these people, somewhere was Geneo and his horn-dog girlfriend, Demra. Not to mention Fera and Sybia, the other two nurses.

After a second, Zeff met Rillian’s gaze. Rillian had his eyes crossed ever so slightly and one eye slightly more open than the other in a way that, had Zeff not presently surrounded by dozens of people, he would have burst into laughter. Rillian swayed to and fro ever so gently, then, looking completely normal, he furrowed his brow and glared at Zeff.

‘Ah. Of course!’ Zeff, as quick as lightning, crossed his eyes and began to act sleepy and confused. “W-wha—? What’s happenin’ here…”

“A-allow me.” Rillian suddenly spoke up. “I got this.”

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“Thank you, Rillian.” said Hreed. Turning his back and addressing the crowd. “Surprisingly, after they first awaken, due to the abundance of aura in our atmosphere, most generally—” He began.

Rillian was at Zeff’s side by now, massaging his shoulders. “Listen.” he whispered so low that Zeff could barely hear. “In 4 minutes or so, you’re complete awake, got it. And no matter what he says, reply in the affirmative. Don’t ask any questions.”

“Now the other.” said Hreed, who had just finished his little speech.

“Don’t worry. I’ll take care of this one, too.” Rillian laid Zeff gently in the grass and approached Sylvan. Taking out his own smelling salts from before and brought it directly under Sylvan’s nose.

“Ahbaggh!” groaned Sylvan.

“It’s okay. I got you…” Rillian, in plain sight of everyone present, at once lowered himself to Sylvan’s level and whispered into his ear. No doubt he was telling Sylvan exactly what he had just told Zeff but there was no way for anyone to know that.

After about five minutes Zeff and Sylvan were up on their feet, nearly as good as new though Sylvan still seemed a bit groggy.

“Good? Are you two alright?”

“Certainly.” said Sylvan, surveying the surroundings curiously.

“Good, Good! Now, you were probably expecting someone from the embassy to greet you so that you could start your new lives here. And, normally, that would be the case. But today, I am here to conduct an inspection of you two. Don’t worry.” he continued before either one of them could interrupted. “It’s nothing major. And the people here just want to watch.”

Zeff, more than curiosity, was feeling frustratration. Imagine, waking up in another world, surrounded by strangers from another dimension and being treated like it was just another day. The fact that it wasn’t strange to the people watching and that it wasn’t expected to be strange for Zeff and Sylvan told Zeff one thing… They, as ‘returnees’, were expected to know this could or would happen.

‘Fynn really has us flying blind!’ he thought to himself.

As if reading Zeff’s mind, Hreed suddenly asked, “You two did take part in the Returnee Integration Class, did you not? With William Fynn?”

“Ah—yeah. The Returnee Immigration Class, yes, of course.” Zeff lied.

A laugh ran through the crowd (through everyone but Rillian and Hreed, who, himself, seemed perplexed).

Zeff could feel his ears burning. “I meant ‘Integration’, sorry.”

Hreed’s face immediately softened. “It’s okay. I’m surprised you can speak at all after just waking up. Now, if you would allow me…” Hreed said, surprisingly approaching Rillian who simply extended his arm, letting Hreed take him by the hand.

Sylvan, though he had bags under his eyes, watched intently as Hreed closed his eyes and began to concentrate. “What is he doing…” He whispered to Zeff.

“Don’t ask me. I’m just as confused as you are…”

The next moment, Hreed opened his free hand which emitted a luminous blue light that bent and spun and danced through the air until it took the form of a… man’s body? It looked almost like a nervous system. But something seemed off somehow.

“This is what a healthy aura nexus looks like in an adult male that was born in the aura-rich Underworld.” Hreed said, his eyes still closed. “Notice the various synapses between each node allowing for fast transmission of energy through the body.”

Hreed was right. What floated just above his hand was a static web of pulsating light. Zeff had no idea what half of the terms meant. But if an image was worth a thousand words, he didn’t have to. When Rillian moved his free arm, the web moved its arm in turn, demonstrating that it was a projection of what was presently happening in Rillian’s body.

Just where his heart should have been there was a large ball of light that was brighter than the rest.

“Of course, being of noble blood—” Hreed continued. “Lord Rillian’s nexus, and anyone else like him, would be healthier than even the average Underworlder with two or even three fold the amount of synapses. But you get the picture. Now—” He said, gesturing toward Zeff and Sylvan. “Let us look at our new friends here.”

Several giggles and laughs ran through the crowd, causing Zeff to frown with embarrassment.

But no one was as annoyed as Hreed. “Hey.” He grumbled. “I am not showing you this so that you all can insult or look down on our guests. They have left their home and come to a place where they are the weakest and most vulnerable in our society. I’m showing you all this so that you know how badly they need your support.

“And Sylvan, especially, is going to need kindness and compassion from those of you who aren’t in squads of your own.”

There was silence but Zeff saw a few people roll their eyes in disgust. He was already not so fond of the underworld… But it was that last comment about Sylvan that really concerned him. He chanced a glance at Sylvan and saw that he, too, seemed a bit alarmed. This lack of information was really getting annoying for the both of them.

“Now. Zephaniah was it?” Hreed asked, reaching for Zeff’s hand with a warm smile, Rillian’s ‘aura nexus’ still floating above his head. “May I see your hand.”

Zephaniah hadn’t said his name yet, but he guessed that Hreed had read his file. Nonetheless, Zephaniah gave his hand to Hreed who closed his eyes and began to concentrate yet again.

Zeff noticed that Rillian, especially, seemed very nervous.

There was several seconds of silence and then, “By the four realms…” gasped Hreed. “T-this isn’t possible…”

“What? Does he not have any connections at all?” chortled a man in the front row of the crowd. By his voice, Zeff immediately recognized him as Hral from earlier.

“W-what’s the matter…?” Asked Sylvan nervously.

“I’ve— I’ve never seen anything like this before…” Hreed mused dreamily. At once silver light exploded from his hand and spun and danced up into the air, bending and breaking and spreading until it took the form of a man.

Even Zeff had to marvel at what he was seeing just before of his eyes. His ‘nexus’ was alive, shining brilliantly, a river of stars flowing freely through a man-shaped sky. Where Rillian’s nexus had been static, with each node or point fixed in place relative to his body, Zeff’s was dynamic and ever-changing. Some points were fixed, he noticed, as he moved his arm and turned his head. But many floated along as if on a set path.

‘Those are my veins…’ he realized. Sure enough, there were millions, if not hundreds of millions, of small stars running through his veins each connected by silver strings of light. ‘Is that because of the dracoRex? Is each little dot the virus? Or it could also be dRas.’

He looked at Rillian and instantly understood that the situation was far more dire than he had at first thought. He wore a look of sheer disbelief and fear. He suddenly turned to look at Zeff, and Zeff at once knew that that fear was not merely *for* him, but also *of* him…

Hreed and everyone in the crowd only stood, wide eyed, mouths agape, looking up at Zeff’s nexus.

Only one was focused and alert. And that was Sylvan. He had no idea what was going on, no doubt, but if things went south he would be the first to react.

“I’ve never seen someone with no affinity for aura have such a nexus…” Hreed pondered. “In fact, I’ve never seen so many connections in 1000 bodies let alone one. Boy… Do you know what House your family hails from? Your ancestors? What was their family name…”

“Um—I—” Zeff began, but he caught a glimpse of Rillian’s intense and warning eyes bidding him to stop. But he remembered clearly that Geneo had mentioned while talking to Fera that Zeff and Sylvan were listed as ‘House of None’. Yet again he had no idea what that meant but he said, “House of None, sir.” which seemed to please, Rillian.

“Lord Hreed…” spoke one of the bystanders, a female this time. “Are you saying this Overworlder has—”

“I’m not saying anything. Maybe ‘supposing’. There could be many explanations for this… Perhaps it could be his body’s way of adjusting to an aura-poor environment, who can say…”

“Lord Hreed.” came a gruff, male voice from near the back of the group that was very familiar. “I happened to see this Overworlder’s file… by accident, of course, when he came through the Pluto’s Gate.”

Zeff tightened his jaw and looked for the person who had spoken.

“And I noticed, the Overworlder-boy was placed in C-class…?”

“Geneo! You know students have no authority here! Why were you looking through his file in the first place?!” Barked Rillian.

‘Students?’ puzzled Zeff. But as he considered it, though there were a hand-full middle aged men and women, most of the people appeared to be student age as Fynn had said. 18 - 28.

Geneo went on. “Sorry, Lord Rillian. His file fell open in front of me…” It was such an obvious lie that several of the students snickered in response. “My question is: How can a boy without a shard, have a class? Aren’t classes only given to those with gifts?”

“F*ck…” Rillian, who was standing next to Zeff, cursed under his breath only loud enough for Zeff to hear.

While Zeff was wondering why Rillian, an underworlder, would know the F-word, Hreed said, “Yes. I saw that as well. But it must be a mistake on Dr. Fynn’s part… We all know that without a shard—”

“But I clearly saw it, Lord… *sigh* Perhaps Fynn just isn’t cut out to be a C.A.R.A. liaison. Maybe it’s just too much for him… and I had so much respect for him, too.” he sighed again loudly and shook his head to emphasize how torn he was by the whole situation, but his eyes were laughing.

“I—I do have a gift…” Zeff stated.

“Don’t be ridiculous.” tittered Geneo incredulously. “Look.” He pointed at the projection of Rillian’s nexus. “You see that big ball of light, just where his heart is? That’s what it looks like to have a shard. You, on the other hand—” he pointed at Zeff’s projection that, though manifold brighter, was devoid of any similar ball of light. “—don’t have anything of the sort.”

“Y-yeah. Fynn only found out just before I was about to jump through the big hole-portal-mabob and didn’t have time to rewrite our whole file…” Zeff lied.

“‘Our’?!” intoned Hreed looking at Sylvan, both his eyebrows raised.

“Y-yes. Lord Reed.” Sylvan mispronounced. “Me and Zeff-boy-here are uh—relatives. I’m his uncle.” Sylvan and Rillian exchanged looks. It appeared that Rillian was pleased with this course of action. Maybe, from his point of view, it was more important to preserve Fynn’s honor than anything else.

“I see…” Lord Hreed said, fidgeting with his mustache thoughtfully.

“That’s a big detail to leave out, ‘Zeff-boy’.” Geneo mocked. “Fynn often makes such mistakes. And me and the other students here are merely… concerned… In the past he has overestimated other returnees, giving them classes higher than they deserved which only resulted in suffering and pain for them in the long run.” he smiled a bit too wide when he said that last bit. But he went on. “And C class is indeed high for even your average returnee.”

There was silence as all eyes focused on Geneo. He had completely stolen the energy and flow of the conversation with his uncanny charisma. Realizing this, he stepped forward and said confidently, “Lord Hreed. I propose we test them. Would you allow a… friendly bout between Zeff-boy and one of his future colleagues?”

Zeff almost laughed. The idea was so ridiculous that he nearly broke character. ‘Why would there be fighting at a university?’ he thought. ‘And how shameless could this guy be to ask so nonchalantly whether—’

“That’s a great idea!” exclaimed Lord Hreed clasping his hands together excitedly. “It would assist me with my audit and give Zeff a chance to demonstrate his gift.”

“W-what?!” Zeff croaked in disbelief.

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