After that, the boy had suddenly passed out right in front of them. Not knowing what exactly to do next, they brought him back with them.

Now, the boy was seated in a chair in Pedro's office. His eyes darted here and there, completely harmless. Boris and Zach were standing near him, watching carefully. The only other people in the room, Pedro and Nita, were standing at the far end of the room, throwing occasional glances at the suspicious boy.

He couldn't be older than Lennox. He was only slightly taller than him. He had light brown hair, which was unkempt and a little long. His face made him look a little young, but he had exceptionally deep eye bags.

The T-shirt he wore under it was the usual shirt they wore as lounge-wear. His pants were slightly baggy, but the same as the ones they wore. He was even wearing the same boots they wore, and he was wearing the knee-pads they often wore during training. The weapons he carried, which were safely piled in a corner, were also mostly issued by their bases. The only addition was his black jacket.

But aside from all that, his eyes, just like Amara, were the most unsettling. However, they were unsettling in a different way. His eyes seemed to be a gold colour, but there seemed to be a fake quality about it. They were extremely solid, only reflecting light, as if there was nothing to see beyond them. They weren't the kind of eyes you could look into and see emotion. They seemed a little like the eyes of a blind person.

Finally, the door flew open, and there stood Lennox, with Day at his shoulder. Nita scurried over to them and asked, "Are you sure you guys are good? You can rest for a while, you know."

Lennox shook his head. "Thanks, Nita. But this is more important right now."

Nita looked unsure, but she allowed them to proceed into the room anyway. It was only after they entered that Nita also noticed Amara trailing behind them, clutching the end of Lennox's shirt.

"Hang on, Amara," Nita called, causing her to look around. "What are you doing here?"

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the boy suddenly perk up, and his eyes were focused hard on the back of her head. It unnerved her deeply. She turned and hugged herself, jogging back to Pedro.

Lennox pushed his hair out of his face, taking a deep breath. He stood with his eyes closed for a moment, hands over his face. When he had finally pulled himself together, he slapped his hands on his face and said, "Okay."

He sat down opposite the boy, Day and Amara standing either side of him. The boy's eyes remained trained on Amara, and she looked away, fists clenching on the back of Lennox's chair. Lennox noticed this, and tried to draw the attention away from her.

"You."

The boy's eyes flitted over to him. Lennox was suddenly overcome with the weight of his stare. His chest felt tighten, as if a force was pushing hard into it. Those eyes were so solid. He took a steadying breath.

"Who are you?" Lennox asked finally.

There was silence for a long time. The boy didn't move or reply. He remained there, as still as could be. Not even a hair on his head moved. Lennox, being unable to bear with the intense stare anymore, broke his gaze.

Day urgently tapped his shoulder. Lennox looked up again, and saw that the boy had raised one arm, pointing. He followed the trail of his finger with his eyes, and they landed on Amara, who seemed shocked and surprised.

"Who is she?" the boy asked, taking everyone aback. His voice was hoarse, as if he hadn't used it in a long time.

Lennox felt his confidence return. "First I would like to know who you are, Mr. Death."

The boy blinked. "Death?"

"That's what they're calling you, you know?" Lennox said, relaxing a little. He held out his hand to Day, and Day handed him a document. Lennox held it up, showing the boy the report about himself. "You've made quite a name for yourself."

The boy was silent for some time, taking in what he was seeing. He finally said, "My name is not Death."

"Then?" Lennox prompted, but then the door creaked open. Everybody looked around, to see Alexis standing in the doorway, smiling awkwardly and holding a tray with cups of tea on it. There were red marks on her cheeks, similar to those that were fading from Lennox's.

Seeing everyone's eyes on her, Alexis faltered. She looked down, and muttered, "Sorry."

"It's fine," Lennox waved his hand dismissively. He turned back to the boy. "Yes, your name is?"

The boy was still distracted, staring at Alexis, but he returned to their conversation. "Ryder," he answered.

Lennox felt a slight movement behind him, and turned to see Amara stiffening up. "What's wrong, Amara?" He sensed another movement, and turned to see that 'Ryder' had stiffened as well. Why were the reacting to each other's names?

Lennox shook his head, then asked, "Exactly who are you?"

Ryder stared at him. "I can only answer that," he said. "If I know who she is." He gestured at Amara.

Lennox thought for some time. He felt Amara inching closer to him, so he grabbed her hand reassuringly. "First tell me: you were going to kill me. Why did you stop?"

Ryder seemed to be slightly annoyed that Lennox didn't answer his question, but answered nontheless. "Because she screamed." Again, he pointed at Amara.

Everybody was thrown off by his answer. They heard Nita mumble, "What sort of reason is that?"

Lennox discarded this, leaving it to rally around the back of his mind. "Why do you have base-issued guns?"

"I took them from the people I killed after I ran out." Ryder answered simply.

This guy...he's talking about killing so casually... Lennox thought, agitated.

"Ran out?" he inquired further.

"I ran away with two."

"Ran away?"

"From the base."

"Is that why you're wearing clothes you'd find at our bases?"

"Yes. Except the jacket."

Everyone else stared in admiration at Lennox's thread of questions, how he remained unfazed. These were the moments that let his talents shine.

"So you ran away from a base?" Lennox asked.

"2 years ago," Ryder answered.

"You've been surviving by yourself for 2 years?" Lennox questioned, raising an eyebrow.

Ryder's gaze finally fell to his lap. "I had to," he muttered.

Lennox felt his heart pounding. Somehow, he felt that he was on the way of uncovering something big. It made him feel excited.

"Why?" he breathed.

Ryder took time to answer. All this time he had been flawlessly answering all the questions that were thrown at him, but now he finally seemed to falter. Everyone felt on edge as they waited for his answer. He finally said, "To look for my sister."

Now there was pure silence. Lennox sat back, taking in everything he had heard. Ryder didn't move an inch either. But in the end, he was the first to look up.

"Now please answer my question!" he said forcefully. He had been talking in a calm and timid tone all this time, but his voice cracked with the change.

Lennox was about to say something, but Alexis intervened.

"She's Amara," she answered, making everyone look around at her. Whether she was conscious of it or not, they did not know. But Alexis was displaying a rather dignified and brave face. However, her hands were tightening on the tray she held. She gulped, then continued. "Why do you want to know?"

Ryder did not answer immediately. Instead, he stared at Amara. "I know her."

Amara flinched, and everyone else looked startled. Everyone turned to look at Amara.

"A-Amara?" Day was the first to speak up. "Do you know him? Do you recognize him?"

Amara immediately shook her head violently. "Not at all!" But then she suddenly caught the glint in his eye, and stopped.

"Amara?" Lennox prompted.

Amara only stared wide-eyed at Ryder. "You..." she mumbled. "Who are you...?"

Ryder was expressionless. "Your brother."

There was dead silence. Nobody had anything to say. As the silence persisted, Ryder decided to pick up on it. "You were right under my nose for so long, and I'm realising only now... I could have gotten you out of there sooner."

"Wait," Lennox interrupted. "So...you know about everything that happened to Amara?"

"Not everything," Ryder replied. Amara was staring dumbstruck, but at the mention of what happened in the past, she gasped and instinctively wrapped her arms around herself. He was watching all that time... He was the shadow that always came to visit.

Lennox shook his head. "Sorry, Mr. Death-"

"-Ryder-"

"Ryder," Lennox corrected himself. "But I just can't seem to wrap my head around all of this. Exactly what have you been doing during your... How old are you?"

"18," Ryder replied.

"Yes, exactly what have you been doing during your 18 years of life?" Lennox inquired.

Ryder pursed his lips. He didn't seem to want to tell. "I was found by some guards from a nearby base abandoned and they took me in when I was 5." he summarized.

"Abandoned?"

"Yeah, my dad burned my face and left me on some road." Ryder said.

"Burned your...?" Lennox couldn't complete the sentence. At this point nobody really knew what to do or say. Scanning his face, he found it completely normal and undamaged, but then his eyes flitted back to Ryder's, and he saw the fake quality to it again.

"Hey, are you blind?" he asked on impulse.

"I can see." Ryder answered.

Everybody continued to scan his face, neck, hair; they were looking for some scar, or some sign that once that very face was completely destroyed. They couldn't find the slightest hint. In the end, Nita muttered rather audibly, "How horrible..."

She touched a nerve. Ryder leapt to his feet, glaring at Nita, who looked surprised.

"DON'T TALK ABOUT MY PARENTS LIKE YOU KNOW ANYTHING!" he bellowed. "I WON'T ALLOW YOU TO SAY ANYTHING AGAINST THEM!"

"N-no!" Nita said immediately. "I was just wondering...they loved Amara more than you...leaving you like that. So you probably hate her. B-but I'm not going to let you do anything to her!" She tried stepping forward, but his glare prevented her from moving any further. Pedro put a hand on her shoulder, asking her to back down.

"What the hell..." Ryder clenched his fist. "How can you say that... I WILL NOT DISHONOUR MY PARENT'S MEMORY!" He took a step forward, causing Nita to take a step back, although there was a good 10 feet between them. "These 2 years, I've been always trying to find her, wondering what happened to her! I promised my parents I would love her and protect her!" Suddenly, something struck him, and he stepped down.

"Ah...Ryder, calm down..." Lennox said, beckoning Alexis forward. "Y-you can have tea!"

Ryder looked at Amara, making her flinch. He looked down at his feet. "But, it seems there is nothing to worry about, huh?"

"Huh?"

Ryder looked at them all again, and he was wearing a crooked smile. "She seems fine, doesn't she? I couldn't even protect her when she was right under my nose."

He turned around, and started walking towards the pile of weapons they confiscated from him.

"Hey!"

Boris and Zach dashed towards him, but the next thing they knew, they both were on the floor, and Ryder was perched on the open window. He glanced back at them.

"Well, I'll take my leave now," he said.

Alexis was the first to react. She put the tea tray down on the table, but by the time she reached the window, Ryder had already jumped out. She stuck her head out the window, and yelled, "Wait!"

She couldn't see him anywhere, and cursed. She pushed away from the window, and went running out of the door.

"Alexis?!" Day yelled, following her.

Nita started, but then looked back at Lennox. "Uh, should I stop them?" she asked. "Or help?"

Lennox massaged the bridge of his nose, eyes shut. Finally, he said, "Chuck it."

Nita blinked. "Sorry?"

The bizarre creature from before flashed before his inward eye, and he opened his eyes. "Pedro, we need to talk. With others, too."

"Huh? Uh, sure." Pedro nodded, and he exchanged glances with Nita.

"Len-" Nita began, but Lennox ignored her and proceeded out of the room. As he passed her, she caught the stony look in his eyes. He closed the door in her face.

Nita stood in utter confusion, then heard a grunt. She turned back to see Boris and Zach struggling to get to their feet. Her eyes slowly felt to Amara, and she couldn't even describe the way she looked.

She made an indescribable expression herself. "A-Amara?"