Shadow Slave

After cleaning up the unexpected Gate, things settled down within the walls of LO49. For the next few days, Sunny and his soldiers did not have a lot to do they just had to rest, remain vigilant... and above all else, stay awake.

That task turned out surprisingly hard for Sunny. As an Ascended, he should have had no problem with keeping himself from falling asleep for a couple of weeks. However, because of the damage his souls had sustained, he felt weak and strangely lethargic.

Minutes and hours passed with an excruciating slowness, but his mental exhaustion did not seem to diminish with the passage of time. Instead, it only grew, aggravated by the insidious pressure of the Call.

Of course, soul wounds were not permanent. They healed naturally over time, and that one in particular was not even the worst one Sunny had ever received. The haughty shadow, too, was on its way to full recovery. The other shadows fussed around it a lot, but the arrogant guy pretended to not care.

Secretly, though, he seemed to be enjoying all the attention.

'Don't sleep, don't sleep, don't sleep...'

On top of the wall overseeing the dark ocean, Sunny pressed his forehead against the lip of the wall, and then lightly struck his head against it several times.

'Ah, how annoying.'

There was nothing useful for him to do in the research facility, which only aggravated the dangerous feeling of boredom. They were disconnected from the network, which meant that he could not access any entertainment or receive messages from Rain. They could not travel to the Dream Realm, making the tiresome isolation complete.

Of course, he could immerse himself in all kinds of interesting endeavors. Sunny could continue his experiments with weaving, or hold an engaging conversation with Professor Obel... he could go and check how much Luster and Kim had improved after saturating their cores...

But all of that demanded mental strain, which would only make him more tired.

That damned ship couldn't arrive any sooner...

As he was resentfully contemplating the situation, a lone figure ascended the wall and approached him. It was Beth, who seemed to be searching for Sunny, for some reason. She was a long parka on top of the usual lab coat.

He looked at her bleakly, and asked:

"What?"

She glowered.

"What do you mean, "what"? Can't I look at the ocean, too?"

Sunny stared at her for a moment, then turned away.

"Be my guest."

woman remained silent for a while. After a minute or two passed in silence, she

happened that time... I guess

smiled with a corner of

this your way of saying

but then answered with unexpected

all the other scientists. If it wasn't for you...

the black

job well, that wouldn't have happened, in the first place.

suddenly scoffed,

full of yourself,

Sunny simply grinned.

else am I going to be

Beth sighed.

too. Awakened often seem to forget that fact, so don't be too hard on yourself. Just keep the Professor alive. That is

He nodded.

"...That's the plan."

she lingered for a few moments, and then left him

imagining the formidable silhouette of the

this place, I'm going to sleep for a week

turned around. It was time to go and

from the evening, a familiar figure approached the Rhino. Sunny, who

"Verne? Did something happen?"

a few moments. There were dark circles

"...Yes. Something happened."

frowned, suddenly

"Well, what is it?"

Verne sighed.

my

***

missing soldier had disappeared from the living quarters in the middle of the night. The man's absence

hundred Awakened of the local garrison, an experienced warrior who had been on track to becoming an officer. Tardiness

Sunny and Verne walked toward the building where the soldier had resided, there was a tense atmosphere around them. Sunny was asking the obvious

you searched

The other Master nodded.