"Is everything to your liking, Monsieur Ryder?" Nita asked through the microphone.

Ryder was now in a change of lounge-wear, and was wrapped in blanket. He was eyeing Calvin distrustfully as the latter carried his bundle of clothes out of the room. However, when Nita had addressed him, he turned his head back to her.

"Mon...sieur?" He tilted his head in confusion.

"Never mind," Nita shook her head. Persephone carried her first-aid kit into the room, and she also seemed to have thought that his hands were the things she had to deal with first and foremost. She carefully took one of them, and started to work. Ryder looked a little stiff, but didn't protest.

There was silence for a long stretch of time, as Persephone had both his hands wrapped in bandages, and treated other minor injuries that she could see. Nita watched as she worked, since Calvin was not here. At one point, Zach switched with her so she could get her other jobs done.

When she had switched back with Zach, she noticed that Ryder seemed less wary of Persephone, who was now packing up her kit and shuffling out of the room. Ryder tenderly touched the band-aids on his face and limbs, careful not to touch any ointment or cream that had been applied.

Now Persephone came over and stood next to Nita, and the two of them surveyed Ryder for a minute.

"He had a slight fever," Persephone said. "So I gave him some medicine for that. I gave him a lozenge too for that throat."

"That's Persy," Nita slapped her on the back. She pressed the button of the microphone again. "How're you feeling, Ryder? A bit better?"

Ryder looked at her, and nodded slightly, hair falling in his face like it did. He didn't even bother pushing it back.

Persephone suddenly bent over and whispered something in Nita's ear.

"Huh? Okay." Nita nodded. Persephone turned and went into the next room.

"Hey, Ryder, how about we cut your hair for you?" Nita said, making a scissoring motion with her fingers.

"No, no thank you," Ryder replied. "I don't need you to."

"You sure?"

"Yes."

"Uh, okay then." Nita glanced at Persephone as she walked back into the room, holding a tub with soap and things in it. She shook her head, and Persephone frowned.

"How about we just wash your hair for you then?" Nita offered.

Ryder stared at Persephone for a while, and she stiffened.

"There was a girl who would always wash my hair," he said. But nothing about the way he said it was a rejection, so Nita nodded at Persephone to go ahead. She entered the room tentatively and took her place behind Ryder.

"Who?" Nita asked, suddenly interested. "Your lover?"

Ryder didn't reply, and instead stared at his feet as Persephone tugged his head back a little and began to rinse his hair. Nita waited, but still didn't get a reply. It looked like he had zoned out of this conversation.

"Wow..." Nita mumbled. "To think that someone like you would have someone you would be that close to."

"There are people..." Ryder said suddenly. But then he corrected himself. "Or there were people..."

"Huh?" Nita rested her head in her hands, with her elbows on the panel. "That girl's dead? Converted?"

"She won't be," Ryder replied, looking at Nita more directly. This led her to drop her gaze on the microphone button. "And I haven't seen her in 2 years."

"Eh... So you left her at your previous base..." Nita mused.

"I think she'll be angry..." Ryder muttered. "Or she was angry... Or she is angry..." Ryder thought it over and then shrugged. Meanwhile Persephone looked uncomfortable, like she wasn't supposed to be listening to this conversation.

"Well, I guess that's to be expected," Nita said.

There was silence for a while as Persephone rubbed shampoo into Ryder's scalp. Then Ryder spoke again.

"But there really was someone I really loved. I just thought I wasn't supposed to."

"What?" Nita perked up again.

"But that person isn't here now, and I can't tell them," Ryder continued, adapting a faraway look in his eyes again, although it didn't look that far.

Nita mulled over what he said sometime, and straightened up.

"Uh...Ryder?"

Ryder focused on her again.

"Since that person isn't here now," Nita said nervously, not meeting his eye. "Do you think...there can be someone you can love the same way again?"

Ryder blinked.

"There is."

Nita was thrown off by his answer. She stood there, knees a little shaky. "There is?"

Ryder suddenly gasped, and he turned his eyes to the floor again. He pushed his clean nails into his skin, and Persephone reacted with a quick "No!"

"I can't tell you," Ryder said, ignoring her and continuing to push his nails harder into his skin until he drew blood. "You're not her."

Persephone made an exasperated noise when Ryder finally pulled his hand away. She finished washing his hair and dried it a little. Then she tended to the cut he had made.

Nita never had a conversation with him like that ever again.

***

"We're what?" Amara shouted.

"Keep your voice down, Amara," Lennox said in a softer voice. "And you heard me. We're letting Ryder out today."

"But- why?" Amara sputtered.

Lennox sighed and looked straight at her with sullen eyes from across the table. It had been nearly two weeks since Ryder's arrival now, and Amara was standing in front of the doorway of the work room, opposite to where Lennox was seated on the expansive wooden table, bent over some papers. She had ran there when Owen had tipped her off early in the morning that the plan was to release Ryder today from captivity. He was now standing panting behind her.

"Amara," Lennox began. "I know you have your reservations regarding that guy, but we can't just stop progress. Ryder is the closest thing we have to that. We don't have any specific reason to not let him out. We even provided two completely open opportunities where he could have killed someone or gotten away, which I'm sure he can do without any weapons. One time I even asked Cal and Persy to make it so that his cell was unlocked the entire night. But in none situations did he do anything sketchy. In fact, he had gotten up and properly closed the door of his cell in that last case."

Amara was silent for a bit. "That was really risky."

"I know," Lennox said, dropping his stick of graphite and massaging his temples. "Honestly, I really wish I could talk with my dad right now. But communications are still down and too many things are happening."

"What about Pedro?" Amara asked.

"I don't know about Pedro," Lennox said.

Amara noticed how tired Lennox was looking. She bit her lip. She could see many holes in whatever Lennox was thinking, but she knew that Lennox did too. After glancing back at Owen once, Amara took a deep breath, and complied.

"Okay then."

"Okay," Lennox sighed, and stood up. "Come on."

"What? Where?" Amara whipped around.

"To the holding cells," Lennox replied.

"Wait- we're going now?" Amara asked.

"Yeah," Lennox said, holding out his hand. "Now."

"I-I'M NOT READY!" Amara screeched, instantly panicking.

"Stuff it," Lennox said, dragging her by the hand. Lennox's lack of usual tenderness was enough to make Amara quiet down. She threw a scared look at Owen, but he promptly followed behind them.

They walked down corridor after corridor, descended several staircases, all in silence and a brisk pace. Therefore, they arrived at their location sooner than Amara would have desired. Lennox threw her a look, and she pulled herself together and nodded. With that, they passed through the doorway and down the last set of stairs. Before she knew it, they were pushing open the door of Ryder's holding cell room.

Amara instantly felt crowded the moment they stepped in. Nita and Alexis were already there, standing side-by-side and leaning against the control panel. The former looked nonchalant while the latter looked nervous. Persephone and Calvin were standing in the open doorway of the holding cell, watching what was going on in front of them, which almost made Amara's heart stop.

Ryder was already out of his cell. Boris and Zach were busying themselves with making sure the chained cuffs on his wrists were properly secured. Ken and Suzanna were standing right behind him.

"He's already out?" Amara whispered.

"Yeah, I sent Alexis ahead to do that," Lennox said, eyes trained on Ryder. Amara gulped and turned back to Ryder as Boris and Zach stepped away. He pulled his wrists apart twice, testing the strength of the chain before allowing his arms to go slack and looking at Lennox, who recoiled ever-so-slightly.

"Today's a big day for you, Ryder!" Lennox exclaimed cheerily. Amara gripped her upper arm tightly, and Ryder nodded. "We're gonna let you roam free today. Unfortunately, you're gonna have to be restrained a bit." Lennox made a brave move of patting the left cuff. "Ken and Suzanna will be watching you the whole day too. We're just gonna let you get an idea of how things work around here. Zach will be there to lead you around, okay?"

"What about them?" Ryder asked suddenly, nodding in the direction of Persephone and Calvin. They flinched at their acknowledgement.

"Uh...they'll be going back to their regular tasks, right?" Lennox replied. He turned uncertainly to the two. "Right?"

They nodded.

"Yeah," Lennox smiled, turning back to Ryder. He took another step forward, and eyed his hands. Ryder figured out what he wanted, and and turned his palms outward. Lennox could see that the almost shredded skin was now an ugly pattern of scars. He looked up and examined Ryder's cleaner face. "They took good care of you didn't they?"

Ryder hummed, and opened and closed his fists.

"Oh!" Persephone gasped, and looked at Calvin meaningfully. He caught on with his own "Oh!"

"H-hang on, Lennox!" Calvin called, retreating into the cell. They all waited for him in silence, during which Ryder's eyes found Amara's. The latter's breath hitched when she realised, causing the former to narrow his eyes slightly. Amara stiffened, and only relaxed when Ryder glanced at another prey. Alexis was the victim this time, but she gave nothing away except a small flinch.

"Here!" Calvin returned, waving something black in his hands. He stopped in front of Ryder, and slipped the fingerless gloves onto his hands. "We patched them up best we could," Calvin said nervously, stepping back once he was done.

Ryder surveyed the gloves, leaving everyone in the room apart from Persephone, Calvin and Nita mildly confused. Ryder finally looked up at Calvin again and mumbled, "Thank you."

Calvin seemed relieved and allowed a small smile before going back to Persephone's side. Lennox threw a questioning look at Nita.

"He feels cold all the time, apparently," Nita answered in a loud voice. "We did say that we'd give him winter wear, but he seemed pretty attached to that jacket and those gloves."

Lennox looked back at Ryder, and noticed that although all of his clothes were the same as his previous ones, only newer and cleaner, except for his jacket and, of course, his gloves. Albeit cleaner, they were definitely the same ones he wore when he had arrived. Lennox exchanged a small glance with Alexis before hitching up a small grin.

"Okay then," he said. "You can go and eat breakfast. Zach, if you would."

Zach nodded, and gestured at Ryder to follow him to the canteen. Ryder took a tentative step, then suddenly turned back. He nodded in acknowledgement at Persephone and Calvin, and then turned and followed Zach out of the room. He didn't so much as glance at Amara when he passed by, closely followed by Ken and Suzanna.

Persephone and Calvin did not expect this, and looked somewhat touched. In fact, nobody in the room expected it. Lennox gave them a grin, before dismissing them. Then he gave Amara a small smile, and went over to talk to Alexis and Nita.

Amara only stood there, and she suddenly felt a tug on her arm. She turned to Owen.

"Did you have breakfast yet, Amara?" he asked her.

Amara bit her lip before answering. She knew what Owen was implying.

"Nope."

"Let's go then."