Eric entered a quiet, modest night bar. Dim lights, soft music, the kind of place he used to unwind. He sat at the counter and noticed an Omega not far from him. A familiar face, a friendly smile. Easy.
He started with a simple line, casual tone. Not aggressive, not demanding. The way he spoke made the Omega laugh. Eric smiled, using the playboy style he'd long mastered. He bought a drink, leaned close, voice low as he spoke. From the outside, it all looked natural.
But inside Eric's head, there was nothing.
When the Omega looked down, smiling, Eric suddenly remembered Clara—not the romantic memories, but how Clara was always calm, never sought attention, never needed sweet words. Clara never sat in a bar like this. Clara never smiled to be liked.
Eric froze. His hand stopped on the counter. The Omega noticed the shift in his tone.
"You okay?" the Omega asked.
Eric nodded, a thin smile on his lips. But the smile didn't reach his eyes. He realized he was repeating old patterns—and for the first time, it irritated him about himself.
He stood, placed money on the counter. "Sorry. I have to go."
Without waiting for a reaction, Eric left the bar. The night air felt heavy. Clara's name appeared in his mind again, uninvited, unstoppable.
And this time, he couldn't deny it—Clara wasn't just a distraction. She was something Eric had tried to avoid, yet that kept pulling him back.
---
The small control room was filled with the beeping of monitors, green lights blinking slowly on each panel. Noah sat at the edge of the desk, tapping the keyboard and muttering. "I swear this system is just designed to stress us out. Look at this, the communication line's unstable again."
Liam laughed, shaking his head. "If you're stressed, don't blame the keyboard, Noah. You messed up the line yesterday, remember?"
Noah made a funny face, then tried to smile. "Hey, that was the keyboard's fault, not mine."
Eric sat in the corner, arms folded, eyes sharp as he watched the two. He stayed quiet, only nodding slightly now and then, lips curling into the faintest of smiles. Noah didn't realize he was being watched.
"Liam, remember that last mission, when we were looking for weapons… I almost fell down the stairs?" Noah dramatized. "If Eric hadn't pulled me, I'd have been bird food outside!"
Liam laughed loudly. "You always make trouble. But seriously, Eric—" he glanced at Eric, only to get a faint smile, "you just stay quiet, no emotions. Are you really always like that?"
Eric just nodded slowly. "I'm listening," he said, voice flat but firm. "Not everything needs a comment."
Noah pouted, then pretended to shine a flashlight at Eric as if trying to get attention. "Aw, you won't even laugh? Sometimes we need laughter, Eric, not just serious faces."
Eric smiled faintly, but quickly drew a breath and returned to seriousness. In his heart, he knew something Noah and Liam didn't—the masked man from the F-E-R-O-M 9 mission wasn't just an ordinary threat. He recognized him, and the mix of disappointment and something stranger still bothered him.
Liam, unaware of Eric's thoughts, tried to lighten the mood further. "Okay, okay, enough drama. Noah, focus, don't just make weird faces."
Noah pretended to be angry. "Ha, that's you! Always serious, never messing with the line!"
Eric exhaled slowly, looking down slightly. He stayed silent, but his eyes fixed on the distant screen, thinking about the masked man and his connection to Cael. Only he knew the secret, and it weighed heavily on him.
Noah and Liam's laughter continued, but a subtle tension surrounded Eric. The chapter ended with Eric's calm yet secretive gaze—readers understood he was holding back something about the masked man, but wasn't ready to reveal it.
---
Eric stepped forward, face tense, eyes fixed on the masked man. The room was silent, only their footsteps echoing softly on the floor.
"Tell me… what's your connection to Cael?" Eric's voice was calm, but full of controlled anger.
Carl lowered his head for a moment, then nodded slowly. "Cael… is my brother."
Eric was momentarily shocked, but quickly maintained his serious expression. "His brother… so all of this… because of you?"
Carl shrugged, tone firm. "I… I just wanted to keep him safe. That's all."
Eric stared at Carl, a mix of disappointment and anger. "So you stayed quiet, let all this happen… and we thought everything was another problem?"
Carl paused, restraining himself from speaking too much. "I can't explain everything now. But I know what I did. And it's all for Cael."
Eric exhaled, meeting Carl's eyes with disappointment. "F-E-R-O-M 9… you knew about all of it too, right? All about him?"
Carl nodded slowly, serious. "Yes. I knew. But I didn't intend to trouble anyone else. I just… wanted to protect Cael."
Eric lowered his head, slowly processing all the information. The disappointment remained, but one thing was clear—there was a bigger secret between Carl and Cael, and Eric had just uncovered a piece of the puzzle.