[You are too weak. Sometimes you have to let someone else take care of things. You can not always save the day, especially if you are not willing to fight.]

The words echoed through Isaac’s head, the only fixed point in the chaos. He knew what had happened, but he had no idea why it was happening. The not knowing was what made him angry. The inability to do anything about it. He’d been lead to believe that learning to fight would mean there was always something he could do.

“There will be more people that need saving.”

“I know.”

“What will you do?”

“I’ll protect them.”

“How will you protect them?”

“I’ll...fight.”

But there was nothing to do, not yet. When the time came, he knew what he would do.

“I’ll kill him.” Isaac spoke aloud, testing the idea. And it felt right, so he repeated it. “I’ll kill him.”

The words caught the attention of Canaan and a man with whom he was having a somewhat heated argument. Isaac didn’t know what they had been arguing about, he had been too focused on his own thoughts. When he spoke, the pair stopped arguing and turned to him. The other man had been introduced as Everett, supposedly in charge of a sort of Internal Affairs for the Registry.

Without knowing why Sera had been taken, Isaac needed somewhere to direct his anger. Dominic wasn’t in front of him, so Everett would have to do. It was his fault, he let this happen.

[You have to take some of the blame yourself.]

This is exactly why I never let anyone get close to me. They always try to hurt me or my family.

[Perhaps this is not about you.]

“If we find him, you’re not going anywhere near him.” Canaan replied, crossing his arms over his chest. “There could be any number of reasons for his actions, and I won’t sentence him to death without knowing what caused this.”

“You can’t stop me from killing him if I find him.” Isaac spat back, and then he turned to Everett. “And you don’t have the right to tell me not to. This only happened because of you. If you’re supposed to police what’s happening here at the Registry, how could you let this happen? How could you let someone like Dominic just roam free?”

“He hadn’t exactly done anything illegal, before, did he?” Everett had a commanding presence, a natural authority.

“Maybe, I don’t know. It’s your job to know that. If you can’t stop something like this from happening, then you’ve got no right to tell me how to handle it.” Isaac said, unmoved by Everett’s stern voice.

“That’s not how it works, kid. And just because you’re some hotshot who managed to survive when he should’ve died doesn’t mean you know any better than I do. I’ve handled this sort of thing plenty of times before. We’re going to find your sister, and until we bring her home, you’re going to stay put. If we need you, we’ll give you a call.” Everett waved his hand towards the door, as if he was shooing Isaac away.

“Like Hell I am.” Isaac stood up, being dismissed by Everett had only served to infuriate him further.

“That’s what we were discussing just a moment ago, actually.” Canaan cut in, trying to defuse the situation. “I have an idea that might help us track Dominic down faster.”

Isaac felt helpless, he wanted to lash out at whatever was in front of him. The last thing he wanted to do was accept help from someone as manipulative as Canaan.

[You have no better ideas. Admit it.]

You’re right. I don’t have any ideas. But sitting here isn’t any better.

“Alright, what’ve you got?” Isaac asked tentatively.

“It’s been awhile, people probably don’t remember you as fondly as they did a few months ago. But you did do something incredible when you torched the InCorp building.” Canaan explained, and Isaac saw Chase begin to materialize behind him. “People will remember that, and they’ll want to be a part of that.”

“So you’re saying the public will want to help look for Sera?” Isaac asked, his mind starting to consider the possibility that Canaan was presenting.

“You’re a hero.” Chase chimed in, stepping beside Canaan. “Or you were. And mobs love a good story. Give ‘em a hero, and give ‘em a villain, and they’ll draw their own lines.”

“But I don’t want Dominic to be the villain. That puts too much heat on the Registry.” Canaan stepped in. “We have enough negative press as it is. If the headline runs as ‘Rogue Registry Collar Kidnaps Innocent Blonde Bombshell’, people will panic. And that panic will land on my desk.”

“So how do we give them a villain without making Dominic the bad guy?” Isaac asked, scratching his head.

“Simple. We just make the story whatever we want it to be. It’s unlikely anyone else has information we don’t, besides Dominic himself. So whatever we say is as good as the truth.” Canaan pressed his glasses up his nose.

“We lie? To the whole city? That’s how we find Dominic?” Isaac shook his head. “And say what?”

“We change the headline. ‘Local Vassals Kidnap Hero’s Sister’.” Chase smiled proudly. “But it’s about you. We need you to sell it.”

“But we don’t know if the Vassals had anything to do with this. You don’t think that could bring some heat back on you in a different way?” Isaac asked.

“Not a complete idiot.” Everett smirked at the side of his mouth. He was a tall man, broad shouldered, wearing hefty Aer Circuit Armor. Isaac would’ve wagered it was calibrated for durability. He had a sharp jaw, giving him a solid, square face. Features, oddly symmetrical. Buzzed, dark hair. “Which is what we were arguing about. If the Vassals aren’t planning anything right now, they will be. It’ll shift public opinion in our favor, and so they’ll have nothing to lose.”

“Nothing we can’t handle.” Canaan said. “I’d rather deal with the Vassals than with bad press.”

“That might be a mistake.” Everett clenched his jaw. “Public opinion is important, but we don’t necessarily want to villainize all Vassals. Some of them just want to live their lives. Push them too far, and you’ll force them to act.”

“They’re disorganized. When they try to act, we’ll know about it. I’ve got my sources. We can put a stop to anything before it happens. But if the public doesn’t support us, we get no funding.” Canaan replied. The argument was beginning again.

“Innocent people could get hurt in the crossfire. Is it worth hurting people to try and protect them?” Everett asked.

“I think it’s worth the risk.” Chase sounded sure of himself. Isaac didn’t think there would be much chance of changing the kangaroo’s mind. Canaan, on the other hand, he could argue with him all day. “I mean, we need money to operate.” The kangaroo threw his arms in the air helplessly.

“Everett’s right. Innocent people could get hurt.” Isaac reasoned his way through it. He thought he might agree with Everett, but he couldn’t be sure yet. “But it could help find Sera faster. Before Dominic has a chance to hurt her.”

“Who is more important, Isaac? People you’ve never met, or your sister? If someone has to get hurt, who would you rather choose?” Canaan was facing down, looking at Isaac over the top of his glasses.

Isaac ground his teeth, unsure of which was the right thing to do.

[You did not become a Collar to only protect your sister. You became a Collar to protect those who need it. To put others in harms way for your own selfish reasons would be a disgrace.]

Don’t tell me about disgrace. How long have you known Dominic, and no one noticed anything was wrong with him? He’s psycho, and no one did anything to stop him.

[No one stopped you from running into a building to burnout either.]

They tried. It’s not my fault they couldn’t keep up with me.

[Brag about beating the system for a moment. Then get outraged if someone pulls the same trick. I am not sure if you are more of a glory hog, or an idiot.]

“The Vassals have been quiet lately. We shouldn’t kick that hornet’s nest.” Everett sighed and shook his head.

“I’d say they’re closer to ants.” Canaan chuckled.

“Either way, it’s up to Isaac. We need him as the face of this, or it’s not going to work.” Chase stepped up to Isaac, so they were face to face. It was the closest he had ever been to the kangaroo, standing just a little too close. “What d’ya say?”

“I need to think about it.” Isaac said after mulling it over for a moment. “If I do it, people could get hurt. If I don’t, Sera could get hurt. I need time.”

“We’ll need to have a press conference regardless of what you decide. It’ll happen tonight. You have until then to think about it.” Canaan spoke with a knowing tone in his voice. “After everything you’ve been through, can you let this be how Sera’s life ends?”

“What are you talking about? Everything I’ve been through? What do you know about me?” Why had Canaan been reading up on his past? The Director had shown what Isaac considered to be an unreasonable level of interest in him since he became a Collar, and he was really itching to know why.

“I simply meant the last few months.” The Director shrugged.

Somehow, I don’t think you did.

Isaac bit his tongue. This wasn’t the right time to confront Canaan. He’d need the Director’s help to save Sera, that was certain. As much as he wanted to huff and puff and do it all on his own, he needed help. That was when he decided he needed to talk to someone else about what he should do.

“Until then, I’ve got some people out asking around, but they’re trying to keep it discreet.” Everett was disinterested in Isaac and Canaan’s personal problems. “With any luck, someone saw him recently. We’ll be able to track him down, send in a team before he knows we’re there, and take Sera back without any trouble.”

That’s a good question, actually

“Why didn’t anyone see him kidnap her? How did he do it?” Isaac asked. He’d been so angry before, he hadn’t had a chance to think about something as simple as how Dom had pulled it off.

“If you’ll remember, it was raining pretty heavily. There weren’t many people in the streets. It wouldn’t be hard to come up with some ruse to lure her somewhere secluded and snatch her. His magic is elemental in nature. For all we know, he caused the rain.” Everett explained with surprising patience. Evidently, he didn’t mind explaining things to the curious.

“Dominic Hale’s abilities aren’t that powerful.” Canaan shot the idea down.

“I try not to make assumptions like that when I’m dealing with a rogue Collar. Helps to keep an open mind.” Everett raised his eyebrows. “It’s kept me out of the morgue so far.”

“When you’re dealing with a rogue Collar? How often does this sort of thing happen?” Isaac felt anger welling up, as it did so often lately.

“Every once in awhile. About as often as you have a Vassal wake up and decide to register. There’s no way to predict it, if that’s what you’re thinking. It’s random, like people are. Random.” Everett answered Isaac before he could even ask the question.

“Random. This wasn’t random. He spent months getting close to me. I don’t know why, but this is about me.” Isaac sighed, feeling defeated.

[Pity you. Thinking you are so important. Center of the universe.]

Any better ideas?

[It is foolish to assume that you are important. There are many other sensible possibilities.]

“You need to get some sleep. You’ve had a rough day. “Chase put his paw comfortingly on Isaac’s shoulder, and it was warm, friendly and strong in a way Tyloki’s never were.

“I can’t sleep right now.” Isaac shook his head.

The kangaroo grinned broadly. “You're getting some sleep, if I have to drag you into a bed myself.” He gave a quick, subtle wink.

“No, that’ll be fine. I’ll go get some sleep on my own.” Isaac lied. Chase’s comment sent a flutter through his chest, but he didn’t want to give in to that desire. It wasn’t a good time. “Just give me a call if you find anything.” Isaac said with a glance at Everett.

He had no intention of going to sleep as he left the office. He was grateful that Tyloki didn’t have anything to say on the matter. He wasn’t going to sleep until he found Sera.

"Learn now while you still have the time. No matter how much you want to save the things you care about, you can't protect them all."

He was going to save Sera.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Everett stared around the room with his arms crossed. It was a complete mess, definitely the room of someone who was mentally unbalanced. The walls were lined with photos of Isaac and Sera. None gave much of a reason as to why Dominic had a personal vendetta, but they seemed to start after Isaac’s burnout. A couple of Everett’s team were standing around, playing at detectives. A few of the registry scientists had been called to investigate as well, see if they could find anything useful. So far, they’d turned up scratch.

As the head of IA at the Registry, Everett couldn’t exactly blame Isaac for his attitude. The boy was worried about his sister, and he had no one he could blame for what was happening. He’d only been a Collar for a couple of months, he still didn’t understand the way that everything worked. Occasionally, Collars weren’t who they appeared to be. That was the point of the Registry, after all. Keep tabs on dangerous people. Everett smirked. He liked being dangerous.

He ground his boot into the carpet. “So we’re not getting anywhere here. I don’t exactly want to patrol the city with no aim. Any ideas?”

[The last time anyone saw him, he was carrying a backpack full of ropes, correct?]

“Right. Archer saw him before he took off to fight the Thrall with Isaac. So we know that Dominic took Sera sometime in the last half day. It’s been about five hours since Isaac called us. You can get anywhere in the city in a half day.”

[Of course you could. If you didn’t mind being on camera. If you didn’t want to be on camera….]

“You’d have to stick to side roads, rooftops, and you’d have to have a route planned pretty damn carefully. No monorail, no vehicle streets.” Everett said with a shrug.

[It would take you longer. And there would be limited options. Perhaps we could…]

“We need someone to try to get from the Registry to the city wall, all without ending up on camera.” Everett was about to make a call on his LINK, but something more pressing happened.

Suddenly materialized in the center of the room was a ferret, Dominic’s Indicia, Basel. He stood with guarded body language, feet turned inwards, paws fidgeting. This wasn’t really what Everett expected, but maybe he could leverage it. If Basel didn’t approve of what Dominic was doing, maybe he was willing to roll on him.

“Basel, what a delight to see you today.” Everett said when no one else spoke up. Basel didn’t speak right away, and the room was filled with a hushed silence. “Can I help you?” As he talked, he made brief eye contact with Darius, one of his IA agents standing on the far side of the room. If Basel was here, then Dominic or his totem couldn’t be far from the Registry. Without speaking, Darius gave a quick nod and swiftly exited the room. Now Everett just needed to keep Basel there for as long as he could manage.

“She’s okay.” Basel said, keeping a wary eye on Everett.

“Where is she?” He asked, tilting his head to the side.

“I’m not supposed to tell you.” Basel spoke quickly, he knew his time was limited.

“Why did he take her?” Everett asked next. He had never been too close to Dominic, and personally he knew little about ferret or human.

“Some sort of justice.” Basel sounded as if he didn’t quite believe in Dominic’s justice. But he wasn’t willing to stand in the Collar’s way, so it didn’t matter either way. If the Indicia lets the human do what he wants, then they might as well be actively helping.

Still, worth a shot. “Some sort of justice? Sera is innocent. No matter what he wants justice for, holding Sera won’t help that.”

“I feel how angry he is. I feel how lost. This isn’t about Sera. It’s about Isaac. And Tyloki.” Basel spat, the anger he mentioned evident in his voice now.

“What is he angry about?” Everett wondered out loud, not expecting a specific answer. The ferret was still guarded, Everett was sure that he would disappear with the least motivation. The best thing to do was to just keep talking.

“His family. Tyloki took them away. When they were lost, he was lost too. And I feel how empty he has been. Ever since I first took him, I’ve known that his despair would consume him. And it’s taking me with him.” The ferret said with regret.

“Reverse transference?” Maybe this was something he could work with. If a Collar felt emotions strongly enough, then the feelings could transfer back into the Indicia. Change how they think and behave.

“When you look in the mirror, you see yourself, and behind you, your Indicia.” Basel said, staring at something over Everett’s shoulder, not making eye contact. “When he looks in the mirror, when I look in a mirror, all I see is him. When I first took him, I thought it was possible that I could keep him calm and directed. Save him. And at first, it worked. I gave him a purpose, something new to live for. He moved on, his family just a tragic past.”

“Tyloki took them away.” Everett responded, just to show that he was listening.

“He recovered, he was normal. I saved him, where Tyloki couldn’t. But even that was never enough. He always strove to prove he was the best. I fell in love with him. His endurance, his drive. He didn’t give up. He had to keep going, for them.” Basel shook his head, and turned his attention specifically to Everett.

“And what changed?”

“When he’s ready, when it’s ready, you’ll know. He wants to prove he’s the best.”

“Wait, Basel, this isn’t you. He’s gotten to you. Whatever he is trying to do, it doesn’t have to be this way. He’s doing the thinking for you. Please, tell me where he has Sera.” He made eye contact with the ferret, and he could almost feel the anguish that he saw in them.

“It is him. And maybe before, I would have stopped him. But I love him. He can’t stop until this happens. It’s the only way for him to be free. And I need him to be free.” In the blink of an eye, Basel was gone.

A moment later, Everett was on LINK with Darius. “Anything?”

“Not a thing. Nothing on camera. He might have been nearby, but he’s gone now.”

“We need someone who knows the streets of this city like the back of their hand. He’s getting ready for something. I want to stop it before it happens, whatever it is.” Everett stormed out of the room, there was nothing useful for him there.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Totally psycho crazy.” Isaac slammed his fist on the table, shaking his head.

[You need to control your anger. It is a weapon, not to be lashed out needlessly at inanimate objects.]

Archer and Riley sat in stunned silence. They looked at the wall of lockers at the back of the briefing room. Losing Collars, either to age or mortality, wasn’t an uncommon occurrence. But to hear that their colleague had kidnapped an innocent woman and disappeared was something else entirely.

Isaac had the feeling that they wanted to defend Dominic, try to come up with theories that would protect his innocence. They bit their tongues, if they did. “I’m going to kill him.”

“Isaac…” Riley said, but no words followed. He might have told a joke to lighten the mood, but it wasn’t appropriate.

“We will see how the situation unfolds, and react accordingly. You’re part of a team, Isaac. If killing him is necessary, then that is unavoidable. But he has been our friend for some time. You won’t kill him without exhausting every other option first.” Archer explained, as much an order as anything.

“Sera’s going to be fine.” Rain said as he materialized with his arms around Isaac in a big, warm hug.

“The last time you saw Jin, did you think it would be the last time?” Isaac asked matter-of-factly.

“No, I didn’t. But that was different.” Riley said, “I can’t promise you that Sera will be okay. But I do promise that we’ll do everything we can to get her back.”

“What are we sitting around here for, then?” Alkaid asked, sitting in a chair with his back turned to the group. “It’s a big city. But if we think hard, I’m sure we can slim it down a little.”

“Alkaid is right. He is likely to have taken her to an area of the city that is less populated. Wherever he went, he got her through the city without being seen once. I was the last person to see him, as far as we know. His elemental magic wouldn’t have been the most useful for that.”

“I can use the rain to become near invisible.” Riley cut in, raising his hand. “But I can’t do it to someone else. Only myself. Maybe he did something similar.”

“You can?” Alkaid asked, raising an eyebrow. “I’ve never had trouble seeing you.”

Riley stuck his tongue out at the cat.

“It’s a possibility worth thinking about.” Alkaid went back on topic. “Riley, is there any visual artifacting on camera when you use that technique?”

“I said near invisible, not completely. I think that I would show up on camera like normal. It’s more of a perception thing, for humans.” Riley shrugged.

“We should test it to be sure.” Archer said.

“Indicia can dematerialize completely. Maybe it’s something like that.” Rain kept his arms wrapped tightly around Isaac as they talked. Isaac didn’t react in any noticeable way.

“In that case, we’re going somewhere else, somewhere specific. Humans can’t do it on their own, and they can’t do it physically without an actual rift. Even if you know where a rift is, getting in and out isn’t so simple. The portal the Registry maintains, to open at will, well, we would have noticed if he used that.” Alkaid mused.

“Good point.” Rain said, and he nuzzled Isaac’s cheek.

“So some other way of disappearing. Maybe there is a Vassal or Collar helping him. Giving him an ability he wouldn’t normally have.” Riley interjected.

“It’s a possibility. But I don’t know of anyone with a power like that.” Archer said.

“Some other way of disappearing.” Isaac whispered, thinking hard.

“So where do we start?” Isaac asked, looking at each of his companions in turn. Before anyone spoke, his LINK rang. “Hello?”

“Isaac, it’s Everett. I need your help with something.”

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Is everything okay?” Rufus asked Jensen. They were sitting at their usual cafe table, in the street outside Jensen’s apartment. The Vassal seemed on edge. More on edge than usual, anyway.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Why did you need to meet so urgently?” Jensen leaned forward, but he continued to glance around as they talked.

“My sister. A Collar took her...kidnapped her...Her name is Sera.” Rufus said, his thoughts weren’t clear. He had heard about Sera being taken the night before, when Isaac found Dominic’s room. The situation still hadn’t fully processed. He had become a Collar to help his family, it was confusing that a Collar had put Sera in danger.

“No offense, but that’s got what to do with me?” Jensen asked, crossing his arms. “Maybe the Collar just wised up and they decided to elope.”

Rufus kept the anger pushed down in his belly, didn’t let it rise up and take over. He spoke slower now, more calmly, more cold. “It’s possible that a Vassal helped him take her, or maybe he was actually a Vassal all along. So I wanted to know if you could tell me anything about it. Do you know anything about what happened?”

“If I did know anything, what have you got to pay me with? Information is what we play with here. And there isn’t anything we want on the Registry right now.” Jensen tried not to give too much away with his words.

“What do you want, then?” Rufus asked, ready to tell him almost anything for information on Sera.

Jensen looked around cautiously, and he whispered. “What’s in the vault under InCorp?”

“You’re worried about InCorp? So the incident was you, after all?” Rufus asked.

“I didn’t say that. I just want to know what’s in the vault. What is so important to keep secret down there?” Jensen tried to play it off nonchalantly.

“You tell me what you know about my sister, I tell you what’s in the vault. Do you know why she was taken, or where?” Rufus was impatient.

“Ah ah ah, pay up first.” Jensen wagged his finger in the air across the table.

“It’s called Nova. That’s all we know. Why do you want to know?” Rufus thought about where Sera might be. He wondered if she was hurt. The thought filled him with dread.

“What is Nova?” Jensen asked.

“I don’t know yet. But I will tell you when I do know.”

“Not good enough. I want to know now. It might be too late, then.” Jensen sat back, looked like he was about to get up.

“Tell me what you know about my sister.” Rufus said, but Jensen stood.

“Sorry, I’ve got bigger problems right now.” Jensen shook his head as he started to walk away.

If he couldn’t get anything from Jensen, he might not be able to find Sera in time. Rufus tried to push his anger away, his swallowed hard and tried to control himself. But he needed the information.

[Don’t do it. You might ruin months of cultivation.]

I need him to tell me what he knows.

[There are other ways to find your sister.]

This might be the fastest.

[You need to keep control of yourself.]

Too late.

With a monstrous snarl, he stood up and scrambled towards Jensen. Things changed as he moved, his body contorting and bones shifting, flesh twisting to accomodate. His fingers transformed into powerful furred digits, his fingernails became razor sharp black claws. Rufus was already a large man, but he grew monstrously large as his body changed, fur covered skin, face elongated into a thick, fanged muzzle. The reason why he never wore armor became evident as his clothes tore into tatters. He stood now almost a foot taller than his normal six foot self, bright russet fur shining in the sunlight.

He dug his sharp grip into Jensen’s shoulder and dragged him mercilessly into a nearby alleyway. He didn’t care if anyone saw. This wasn’t about the Registry. It was about Sera. Jensen yelped pathetically as he was slammed into the wall just inside the alley.

“Whoah, hold the Hell on.” He said, wincing as blood seeped from his shoulder where the claws dug into the skin.

Rufus put his other claws up to Jensen’s throat. “Tell me what you know about Sera. Now.” He snarled, his voice a twisted corruption of his normal one. When Jensen didn’t answer immediately, he pulled his body from the wall and slammed him against it again.

Jensen laughed. “You’re a scary one.” He said, fixing his gaze on Rufus’ transformed face. He still had human eyes. They didn’t change. “A big old beast, yourself. Just like an Indicia. Must be a dream come true.”

“It has its uses.” Rufus bared his teeth. “I’m hungry. I’m either going to eat you, or the person who took my sister. I want information.”

“You eat people?” Jensen asked, raising an eyebrow.

[Don’t do it.]

Rufus was sick of it now, his jaws flashed forward, and as soon as they reached the flesh of Jensen’s neck, the Vassal spoke up. He had to try hard not to bite down as he felt a delicious bit of blood drip into his muzzle.

“Whoah whoah whoah, hold on. Hold on. I’ll tell you what I know.” Jensen’s face was suddenly white.

“Talk.” Rufus didn’t remove his teeth from Jensen’s neck. More blood seeped from the small cut, and Rufus enjoyed it while he could.

“No Vassal, at least not one with us, is helping him. That I can guarantee. We’re too busy with our own thing right now. Logistics. And if one of yours was helping, there isn’t much I can tell you there, either. That’s on you.” Jensen explained.

The teeth tightened down on flesh a little tighter. The explanation was taking too long.

“But! It seems sometimes like we keep better tabs on your guys than you do. Because there was one of you snooping around the Underway. I’m surprised you didn’t know.” Jensen chuckled helplessly.

“The Underway?” Rufus asked, and he took his teeth off of Jensen’s neck now.

“I tell you this begrudgingly, but in exchange for my life, the Underway is a series of decommissioned tunnels under the city. Used to be a subway in there, they ditched them when the monorails came on. Most of the ways in have been sealed up, but I know a few ways in. I use it to move Vassals around without being under your ever watchful eye. Well, not anymore.” The Vassal rolled his eyes.

“The Collar who was there. Was it Dominic Hale?” Rufus asked.

“I don’t know that much. I just know it was one of you Reggies. Helps to know where you are from time to time.” Jensen said.

“How do I get in?” Rufus was eager to go and find Sera. If Dominic was in the Underway, he could go right away and save her.

“There’s a lot of entrances around the Registry. But it’s a labyrinth down there. If you don’t know where he went in particular, could take you days to find him blind.” Jensen said, but then he remembered it wasn’t his problem. “Now, may I? I’ve got things I need to deal with. And I still expect you to pay me back for this.”

Rufus let Jensen go, and the Vassal stumbled away from the wall. After he got his balance back, he sauntered casually out of the alley as if nothing had happened at all.

[You did not kill him. Good.]

I wanted to.

[I know. But you did not.]

Rufus leaned against the wall, panting heavily as he changed back, returning to his normal size, and he let out one last frustrated snarl before he was completely human again.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Isaac wiped the sweat from his brow and huffed heavily as he took a quick break. He was wearing his Aer Circuit Armor, calibrated for agility as usual. He was moving as nimbly as he could, not stopping for anything. His goal was to start from the Registry and make it all the way to the city wall without being caught on camera once. Though they had been at it for hours, so far they had no luck. Even moving slower than he wanted, he couldn’t manage to do it, and he didn’t have a hostage to haul along with him.

But he couldn’t stop, not until he managed to do it. He needed to know where Dominic had gone.

[This is a wasted effort, now. You are using strength you may need later for this pointless endeavor.]

What the Hell else am I supposed to do?

[Rest and save your strength. Allow others to do this legwork, so when the time comes to fight, you can win.]

I’ll win, either way. I can’t just sit still, I can’t stop thinking about it.

[What is there to think about? Simply prepare tactics.]

I think about what I could have done to prevent this. I wonder why I bother fighting if it doesn’t help me right now.

[You misunderstand. I know what you worry about. I am telling you to stop.]

“Still no good?” Isaac asked on his LINK.

“No, we caught you approaching the city wall. But you made it almost half way there without being on camera. So Dominic could be somewhere in that radius.” Riley responded, watching the cameras from a remote location in the Registry.

I’m not going to stop.

Isaac started to make his way back towards the Registry. He had done the trip several times already, and he hadn’t slept since the previous afternoon. It was midday now, Sera had been gone for almost a day. He stumbled as his feet failed to find proper footing. He caught himself before he fell, and kept going.

[You will be useless if you do not stop.]

So you admit I’ll be useful if I do stop?

[Less useless.]

They found themselves in a shadowy side street in Lowtown. Not the kind of place people frequently traveled, and not large enough for vehicles. It would be a long walk back to the Registry by the main streets, and Isaac had to admit he was getting too exhausted to go over the rooftops again. At least he had Tyloki for company.

Fortunately, Tyloki remained quiet for the entire trip back to the Registry. “Which way do we try next?” Isaac asked his LINK.

“I still need a minute to look at the map. Take a load off while I do.” Riley said, a not so subtle attempt to get Isaac to rest.

“There will not be a next time.” Tyloki appeared before Isaac, standing just outside the front of the Registry.

“What are you talking about?” Isaac looked around, disregarding the large wolf.

“You are going to rest.” Tyloki said, and he reached a large paw to grab Isaac’s collar.

The boy dodged back, getting used to Tyloki grabbing his collar. The wolf’s other paw reached out and snatched Isaac’s arm, and that attempt Isaac didn’t dodge. The claws pressed into his arm uncomfortably, but the armor protected from any cuts. With the boy’s arm in his grasp, he tugged the body closer, and wrapped his paw around the collar.

“Why do you bother trying to resist? You belong to me. You do what I say, when I say to do it.” Tyloki growled as he dragged Isaac towards the Registry by his collar.

Isaac didn’t have much choice, he had to either follow along or be dragged. Being dragged seemed the far less comfortable option.

The wolf spoke as he led Isaac along. “You have forgotten that I am in charge, because I have been less involved in your training than Alkaid, and I have been less...myself since the Burnout.”

“Collar and Indicia are a team. You’re not in charge. You’re half of the equation.” Isaac said, but it was a mistake, the wolf picked up his pace, leading Isaac through the door, into the Registry, and towards the elevators. Isaac scrambled to keep up, his already sore legs aching as he did.

“I am your owner. If I say you are pushing yourself too hard for no reason, you will take my word for it that it is the truth. If you disobey, you will be punished.” The wolf explained.

“I don’t have time for this right now, Tyloki!” Isaac shouted, drawing even more attention from the other Collars in the lobby than he was already getting. He had to ignore more than a few wolf whistles as they went.

Tyloki practically threw Isaac into the elevator. “You do not raise your voice to me.” No one else boarded the elevator with them, presumably picking up on Tyloki’s mood, not wanting to cross it.

Isaac looked into Tyloki’s eyes as they rode the elevator up. He was feeling angry and defiant. Punishment be damned. The wolf’s eyes were still empty and cold, the fire was still out. He wasn’t snarling or growling with his usual intensity. It was as if he was treating Isaac like a pet out of habit, rather than any true sense of purpose.

“Why do you care? If I’m so useless, then let me run myself into the ground for no reason. First I don’t try hard enough, and you’re angry. Now I try too hard, and you’re angry.” Isaac spat back.

“I have pride. Pride in myself and the things that I create. You are something that has my name on it. I refuse to let you make that any worse than you already have.” As the elevator doors opened, Tyloki shoved the boy out into the hallway. As soon as he let go of the collar, Isaac made a break for it, hoping to get away.

Seconds later, he realized this didn’t make sense, for Tyloki simply materialized in front of him. He slammed face first into the wolf’s furred belly, caught a whiff of Tyloki’s scent, and found himself being dragged by the collar again. When he tried to walk and follow, Tyloki knocked his feet out from under him with a quick sweep of his foot paw. It hurt as he was dragged along the ground by his collar, but the pain was at least a small outlet for his frustration for losing Sera.

He watched the world fly past him as Tyloki yanked him along. Before long, they were in his common room. Treating him like a ragdoll, Tyloki first removed Isaac’s LINK and dropped it unceremoniously on the floor. Next, he held the boy still by his neck and removed his armored shirt, doing his best not to mangle it as he did. With the boy’s upper half stripped, he worked on taking off his pants, which went off without much effort, even with Isaac struggling as much as he could.

The armor was dropped on the couch, presumably still in usable condition, and the underwear clad Isaac was dragged across the room to his bedroom. Tyloki lifted him handily into the air and threw him roughly onto the bed. Isaac rolled over quickly, hoping to protect his rear end from whatever Tyloki planned to do next. He knew it was pointless, if Tyloki wanted it, he would take it. Luckily, the wolf had different plans.

He approached the bed, and leaned down over the boy, grabbed a pawful of his hair and yanked him closer violently. He shoved Isaac’s face into his lower belly, near his sheath. Baring his teeth, he spoke slowly. “If I say to do something, you do it. The best way to save Sera now is to save your strength. Dominic is playing a game, and he wants to win. He will not be able to win if he hurts Sera before he uses her to get to you.”

Isaac tried to speak, but his words were lost, muffled in the wolf’s fur.

“Right now, I desire to put you in your place properly. But you need to rest if you are going to be of any use. So I leave the choice to you. Sleep, or prove that you still have the energy to keep going.” The wolf said with a lewd snarl. He pulled Isaac’s face slightly closer to his thick sheath.

Isaac spoke, muffled again.

I’ll sleep.

“Good.” Tyloki tossed Isaac by his hair back towards the center of the bed. “Sleep. When you are needed, you will be retrieved. That is the purpose of a pet.”

Isaac was furious, shaking with frustration, anger, and pain. But this was better than the alternative. He kept his eyes on Tyloki as he slipped under the blankets and closed his eyes. Better to try and sleep now than to cross Tyloki. Before he knew it, he was asleep.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“It’s supposed to be here.” Rufus shrugged and gestured to the building in front of him. It was a moderately tall building, only a block away from the Registry at the center of the city. It paled in comparison to the size of the Registry tower, and had almost no identifying marks on the outside. To a passerby in a city the size of Bastion, it would be practically invisible. No reason to look at it, no reason to remember it. Glass double doors situated at the front of the building provided the only apparent entrance.

“Who told you about this again?” Everett asked as he tried to look through the glass, but the glare from the sun made it a mirror.

“A Vassal contact. Couldn’t tell you his name.” Rufus tentatively reached out to try the door. It was locked.

“According to our records, this building is owned by a man who goes by the name of Freeman Sandover. Used to be a Registered Collar, way back in the day. He’s getting on in age now. Owns a few companies here and there, but no one has ever pegged him as being involved with the Vassals.” Everett read from the screen of his LINK.

“We did.” Rufus said simply, trying the door again out of frustration. If he had to, he could tear the door off it’s hinges, but he didn’t necessarily want to. He’d already had one outburst that day.

“I need to have a talk with Canaan about how hard it is to do my job when he withholds information.” Everett shook his head and sighed. “Freeman had an Indicia named Anje. Think he’s still got that going on?”

“As far as we know. But I think he just uses his funding to get unregistered Vassals out of the city. People who don’t want to fight. The Registry fights enough of a PR battle as it is, so persecuting them wouldn’t help. It’s better to let them go.” Rufus looked around the building for another way in. He glanced up to see if there was any way to climb the building, or to get to the rooftop from nearby. He didn’t see much of promise.

Any ideas?

[Check around the side?]

That was my next plan.

Nanook could be quite plain at times. He wasn’t the most creative or adventurous of Indicia. Rufus shrugged and walked past Everett, who was still reading up on Freeman.

“Better until one of them goes on a murder spree.” Everett raised an eyebrow and lowered his LINK. “It happens.”

“It’ll happen either way, don’t you think?” Rufus leaned into the alley beside the building, and he didn’t see any doors. Not even a fire escape. This was taking too long. “I’m just going to break the door down.”

He wheeled around and looked around the street to see how many onlookers he had. Only a few civilians on the street, passersby. None of them struck him as Vassals, but he knew if they kept snooping for too long they would definitely show up.

“This door?” Everett asked, and Rufus turned to see that the door was already open.

Everett is a spy, so I guess that makes sense.

[Spy isn’t exactly the term I would use.]

Rufus rolled his eyes as he approached the open door. He appraised it carefully. Inside was the facade of an office, illuminated only by the tinted glass that made up the front of the building. No one seemed to be moving inside, and the building appeared unused.

Rufus never felt ill-equipped for a situation, given that his body was his weapon. It was still comforting, though, that Everett was equipped with his own Aer Circuit Armor and a hefty axe mounted on his back. A bit overt for walking around the city, but it certainly kept Vassals and hecklers at a distance. Rufus could see Everett was prepared to counter if they were attacked upon entering. He felt the same itch, and he transformed his fingers into beastly claws, just in case.

“This is quaint.” Everett spoke aloud to an echo as they entered the dimly lit room. An unused reception desk sat in the middle of the room, and around the reception desk, scanners that resembled the security checkpoint at the entrance to the Registry. The power wasn’t on, but Everett gestured at them and then looked at Rufus. “We should go around them, to be safe. Could be on a separate power source.”

“Fine by me.” Rufus said as he hoisted himself over the reception desk with ease. There wasn’t much built up dust on the unused equipment, so someone must have come to clean it on a regular basis. The room didn’t smell musty or unused, either.

Nanook appeared next to Rufus as he landed on the far side of the room. A door at the back led to a stairwell, and inactive elevators provided passage up into the higher floors. “I smell human.” The tiger’s nose and whiskers twitched.

“Everett and I are human. Can you be more specific than that?” Rufus asked sardonically, but he tensed and looked around for anyone who might have been hiding in the shadows.

“I do not believe that I smell you and your companion. But I can not be any more specific than that.” Nanook replied as he dematerialized, vanishing in a blink.

“On your guard.” Rufus chuckled as Everett climbed over the desk to join him on the far side.

“I’m not going to let some mangy vassal get the better of me, believe me.” Everett looked around, then nodded towards the stairs. “Don’t forget, we’re here to check it out, there is a possibility that Isaac will find Dominic while we’re here wasting time. Back up comes when we confirm this is where we need to be.”

“I know.” Rufus shut the conversation down, he didn’t want to talk any more about it. Then Everett would be able to tell that he had no intention of going back for reinforcements, he was going to go save Sera as soon as he had the chance. He opened the door to the stairs, unlocked, thankfully, and waited for Everett to go through first.

Everett entered the stairwell cautiously, looking up and down over the rail with his hand hovering near his axe handle. When a voice echoed through the chamber, his hand clasped around the axe handle and pulled it ready.

“Now now now, you’re not supposed to be here.” The voice was echoing too much to tell where it was coming from. Everett glanced back at Rufus, who gave a shrug.

How’d he see us?

[Perhaps it is an ability of his.]

Could be. Might make a fight difficult, if he can see through walls or something.

“We are here, though, so that’s a problem, I guess.” Everett called back to the stairwell.

“It is a problem, yes. Registry chumps aren’t supposed to be here. It’s part of the agreement.” The voice echoed. It was a high pitched voice, with a slight nasal whine.

“Not any agreement I know about.” Everett slowly inched backwards, looking around. He closed his eyes, tried to determine the source of the sound.

“The agreement stops when someone kidnaps my sister. You let him through, didn’t you?” Rufus asked, approaching the stairwell rail to converse with the echoing voice.

“Supposing I did.” The voice said, and then it chuckled.

“I’ll kill you first, then. Good warm up.” Rufus threatened, and he earned another laugh from the echo.

“I don’t get to see much action, guarding down here. But it’s an important job, and someone has to do it.” The voice relished the threat.

“We should go back, bring more help.” Everett whispered.

“Not a chance. This guy doesn’t stand a chance.” Rufus argued.

[You know nothing about him.]

“There could be more than one. We don’t have enough information.” Everett returned.

“We don’t know how much time we have until Dominic hurts Sera. So I’m not going back to wade through red tape. I’m staying here to fight.” Rufus looked down over the railing.

The voice said ‘down here’. So I take it he’s below us.

[That would make sense. He is guarding a tunnel entrance.]

But he could be trying to mislead us.

[It would not be difficult.]

What’s that supposed to mean?

“Rufus, even if we get past him, we’ll need backup to help rescue Sera. It makes sense to go get more help now.” Everett reasoned.

“For all we know, by the time we get back, the entire place will be blown to Hell just to stop us from getting in.” Rufus said, changing his claws back to fingers. He didn’t want to give himself away.

“We will rescue Sera, Rufus...but I’m starting to think you’re too close to be involved in this.” Everett said.

“I haven’t seen my sister in 5 years because she hates me. She thinks I abandoned her and the rest of my family. And you know what? She’s right, I did. Things got too hard and I ran away. I denied what was wrong and I pretended that I left for more noble reasons. I’m not abandoning her now. Her and Isaac, they need me.” Rufus whispered, impassioned, the darkness of the stairwell concealing the tears that formed in his eyes.

“What’s happened now, this is not your fault, Rufus.” Everett tried to console him, but Rufus barely let Everett finish talking before he vaulted over the railing, down the center of the stairwell.

The way Everett was talking now, he was likely to try and send Rufus back to the Registry. Worse, he might take them both back to get reinforcements. There wasn’t time for that.

[Would that really be so bad?]

Sera needs me. The Cross family men have a chip on their shoulders. They have to be the hero.

[A chip that your father did not have.]

No, he did. That was the problem.

[And Isaac?]

Same as me. Which is part of why I can’t wait. If I don’t do this, he will.

As he fell, Rufus transformed his feet and legs to better absorb the impact of the landing. His beast form was a lot tougher than his human form was. Transforming his lower limbs, unfortunately, tore his pants more than he would have liked. Better to keep them changed, for now, then. Upon landing, he looked around, gathered his senses. A single dark doorway led into a long, tunnel-like chamber. He couldn’t see all the way to the end of the tunnel. Everett called something after him, but he didn’t pay any mind to whatever it was. Several floors he had jumped down, it would take Everett at least a few minutes to walk all the way to him.

If the Underway guard was anywhere, he was probably at the end of the tunnel. As he padded on his thickly furred paws, he transformed the rest of his body as well. By the time he walked through the doorway, he was completely changed, leaving only tattered fabric behind on the stairwell floor. He hoped that the guard at the end of the tunnel was having as much trouble seeing as he was. Being a monster in the dark had its advantages. He sniffed the air, human stench, and he knew that the Vassal was nearby. The beast could also see better in the dark, and as he entered the tunnel, he could make out the vague silhouette of a human at the far end.

Rufus tensed, ready for a fight. The tunnel was narrow, without much room to maneuver. It had likely once been an emergency evacuation tunnel, or at least it had been designed as one. The human smell grew stronger as he lumbered forward, his arms nearly brushing against the walls. His ears twitched as he heard something, and he glanced around, trying to identify the source. It was a humming sound, a high pitched buzzing, but he couldn’t see anything that might be producing such a sound.

“Come on.” The Vassal called, drawing out the second word needlessly long. “Come and get me, big guy.”

Rufus grunted. So the Vassal could tell he was big, at least. Maybe he could see perfectly in the dark.

[For all we know, his ability is night vision. It would make sense to set him as a guard here.]

Doesn’t matter. I’ve got good low light vision, so it won’t help him.

The humming sound continued.

“Don’t keep me waiting all day. I get bored down here.” The Vassal spoke in a whining voice.

“Rufus!” Everett’s call echoed from the stairwell.

Time to move.

[Rufus, wait.]

The beast in Rufus pushed him forward, the Vassal asked for it, he was going to get it. He rushed forward at full speed, ready to crush the Vassal against the far wall. It wouldn’t even be a fight. The humming sound increased in intensity. Rufus was too far gone to notice. He reached the halfway point in the tunnel. The buzzing sound filled the chamber, and cut off abruptly. Blinded by a bright flash, Rufus felt a surge of pain prick at his arm. For an instant, that was all it was, just a small pain in the side of his arm. In seconds, the pain spread through his body, coursing through him like electricity, but moving slower than electricity would, until it racked his entire body. From head to toe, his insides were on fire, and he lost control of his muscles. The beast came crashing down on the floor of the tunnel before the flash of light had even completely subsided. He found himself on the floor, twitching uncontrollably, like he was having a seizure. He couldn’t move.

If he couldn’t move, he couldn’t fight. Being a monster meant nothing if he couldn’t fight. Sera needed him. But he couldn’t do anything. He had never been able to rely on others to get his job done. He closed his eyes, trying to will the pain away. It was intense, even to his tougher form. There was only one thing left to do, hide from the pain in unconsciousness. As he drifted off, the only thing he could think was that there was no one left who could save Sera.

Everett shielded his eyes from the flash with his hand. When the room was dark again, he couldn’t see what had happened to Rufus. “Rufus?”

[Reckless.]

I can’t say I don’t understand why he’d do it, though.

[Hopefully it hasn’t gotten him killed.]

Let’s find out.

Everett closed his eyes and stood in the doorway to the stairwell. Focusing, he looked forward through his eyelids, and he felt what was in the room in front of him. Forming in the blackness behind his closed eyes, he started to see an ethereal recreation of the room. The tunnel went on for no more than 50 yards. It was narrow, only enough for two normal sized people to walk side by side. Half way between the two ends of the hallway, he could see Rufus on the floor, the silhouette of his body just showing that he was in his fully transformed state. A soft red glow covered the wispy body, representing the Aer that was facilitating his changed form. At the end of the hallway, Everett could see a small green glow, it was round, but he couldn’t make out any more detail than that. The glow was Aer, it must have been the Vassal’s totem.

“What’d you do?” Everett asked. At times, opponents were cocky enough to explain their abilities, proud enough to give away their secrets. And to Everett, information was the most important part of combat.

“My specialty.”, is all the Vassal said. He drew out the ‘s’ with a hiss. Whoever this guy was, he was something else. Everett shook his head.

[Best to proceed with caution.]

Until I know what happened to Rufus.

Everett kept his eyes closed, and stepped forward into the ethereal hallway. He walked carefully, with his arms out in front of him, in case there were something in his way that he couldn’t see with his eyes closed. His opponent didn’t know that he could see concentrations of Aer, so that was an advantage. Walking quietly, making sure each foot landed securely on the ground, Everett made his way forward.

“What’s your specialty?” The Vassal asked, and when Everett didn’t respond, he simply said, “Tsk.”

Everett heard a sound midway through the hallway. Clink. It was the sound of metal hitting on stone. He glanced at the area where the noise came from, but whatever it was, it wasn’t enough for his ethereal recreation of the room to pick up on. He kept moving forward, wary of whatever had happened to Rufus. Clink. Again, this time on the left side, he could at least make that out. He looked left, and he saw the faintest outline of Aer embedded in the wall just to his left. He leaned close to get a better look. It wasn’t clear enough. He opened his eyes, but it was too dark to see naturally, either. Flicking on his LINK, the device cast a soft green light, which he held up to the wall.

Embedded in the stone wall was a metal rod of some kind. It was still too dark to clearly identify, but Everett could tell it was a thin metal cylinder, and it must have been sharp on one end to dig into the stone like it did. The end that stuck out of the wall was flat.

A metal stake in the wall. And it was generating Aer. That was when he heard the humming noise. It sounded like a computer starting up, or…

He closed his eyes again. The glowing Aer from the stake was brighter, and intensifying. He turned around. On the opposite wall, another stake, also glowing brighter than before. As the brighter they got, the louder the hum.

Metal stakes, opposite walls, glowing brighter, humming louder.

[Move.]

As the humming noise cut off, and the hallway was filled with a loud crack, lit by a bright flash, Everett leapt backwards, out of the line between the two spikes. With his eyes closed, he looked at the area where he had just been standing. A bright line of Aer connected the two stakes, solid to his closed eyes, invisible to naked ones.

[It would appear that this Vassal can charge objects with Aer…]

And then discharge the energy between the two objects.

[A wonderful ability for this narrow hallway.]

Less so, now that I know about it.

Everett looked around the darkness as he heard several more clinks around the walls. More stakes.

He has to charge them by touch.

[So he can’t use the same ones twice without touching them.]
The humming noise began again. Everett didn’t know how many metal spikes the Vassal had on him, and he didn’t know if the Vassal could charge different objects, or only the metal spikes. It was a dangerous thing to not know. He closed his eyes. In the walls around him, he could see several more spikes. They were growing brighter more rapidly this time. He couldn’t stay where he was, or he’d get hit by the discharged energy. Perhaps retreat was the best option, but if he did that, Rufus would almost certainly be done for.

[Can’t leave him.]

You don’t need to tell me that.

Everett drew his axe and readied himself. Sometimes, retreat was the best option for victory. But victory wasn’t always the same as success. When Everett set his mind to something, he liked to succeed. Leaving Rufus behind wasn’t an option. That was why he’d come along. He knew that Rufus would try to run off on his own, and likely get himself killed. Eyes closed, Everett could clearly see the bright spikes that were about to discharge. They lined the entire hallway, one on each side, every few feet.

He shouted at the top of his lungs as he charge forward, hoping to throw the Vassal off guard. The humming noise filled the hallway, and it practically tore at his eardrums as it reached it’s peak. There was a split second between when the humming stopped and the charge went off with a deafening crack. Everett had to take a chance and jump over a low pair of the spikes as they flashed. The tunnel was lit brightly for an instant, and Everett could see that he was at the end, and the Vassal was right in front of him. He felt like he was in the air forever, leaping over the line of Aer that passed between to two spikes.

Everett crashed unceremoniously into the Vassal, pressing him up against the wall. He didn’t like having to use his axe, he didn’t like killing when it wasn’t necessary. And this Vassal was tiny, it wouldn’t be necessary. He closed his eyes, and again he saw a circular green glow coming from the Vassal’s totem. It was hanging around his neck, under his shirt. Holding the Vassal against the wall with one arm, he pressed his palm against the totem, through the shirt.

“Goodnight.” Everett said, and the totem flickered a few times before the glow disappeared entirely. The Vassal went limp against the wall, and Everett helped him fall safely to the ground. The totem would regenerate it’s Aer in a few moments, and the Vassal would wake up. After safely zip-tying his arms together behind his back, Everett went to check on Rufus.

He was still in his beast form, but he was breathing at least. His totem still showed a soft glow.

I’m not going to be able to get these guys out of here myself.

[Better call for help.]

Everett nodded, checking the reception on his LINK. It wasn’t great, but it was enough to call for back up. He let them know where they were, and how to find them. While he waited, he decided to investigate what was up ahead. Whatever the Vassal had been guarding.

The door was locked, an old fashioned key, which Everett found in the Vassal’s pocket. He kept it for himself after he unlocked the door and swung it open. On the other side was what appeared to be an old, abandoned subway station. It was dark, but better lit than the tunnel leading up to it. Broken Lightglass fixtures flickered and flashed randomly, giving the station an eerie quality. There was no train on the tracks, and the tracks seemed to stretch into eternity in the darkness. Everett didn’t see any sign of Dominic.

He stood in the center of the platform, arms crossed, staring at the tracks.

[Behind you]

Everett turned around, and on the wall, he saw a map of the entire rail line.

This is massive. I didn’t even know the city used to have a subway system. There is no way Canaan didn’t know about this.

[We don’t know what Canaan does or doesn’t know.]

He knew about this place. He just kept it to himself, because he likes to play close to his chest. If he can keep something a secret, why give it away?

[That does seem to be the case.]

The map showed that the subway tunnels traveled the entirety of the city, at least the parts of the city that had been around since before the Monorail was installed.

Maybe it wasn’t a public subway system.

[Used by the Registry? This city was built here for a reason.]

Emergency evacuation? It looks like it dates back to the war. But why keep it a secret? Especially if the Vassals use it to move people around.

[You’ll have to ask Canaan yourself.]

One thing was for sure. Without knowing exactly where Dominic went, it would take days to search all of the tunnels. Add in the threat of unseen Vassals, and it was a Hell of a task. Everett stared at the map that covered the wall in front of him. The Vassals wouldn’t take kindly to them invading their secret underground tunnels.

We’re going to need more people. A lot more.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Isaac found himself, unexpectedly, face to face with Sera. They were in the old house, where they’d lived in the days before their father’s death. And though they were kids again, she was smiling in a way that she never smiled back then. As if at a far distance, Isaac could make out the voice of his mother echoing through the room. He couldn’t tell what she was saying, but it didn’t matter. For the shortest moment, they were kids, and they didn’t have their innocence taken away from them. And Isaac smiled.

Isaac’s happiness didn’t last, as he looked up and saw his father, Edgar Cross, standing behind Sera, towering above her. His mother’s voice shifted, it wasn’t words anymore. It was the hitching sobs of a broken woman. The noise filled the house, and everything moved in slow motion. Sera was still smiling, but a tear rolled down her cheek. Edgar put his hand on her arm, threw her to the ground. She wasn’t smiling anymore. Isaac closed his eyes, he didn’t want to watch this. He never wanted to watch Sera get hurt again. When he opened his eyes, his father was gone, replaced instead by the face of his friend, Dominic. The Collar looked crazed, eyes wide, elemental power practically dripping from his hands. The air felt cold and hot at the same time, and small electric sparks danced around Dominic’s fingers.

Isaac couldn’t breathe. Dominic turned towards Sera, who was limp on the ground. When Isaac was a child, there was nothing he could do, but he still tried. He would throw himself into the fray, between Edgar and Sera, and he took his beatings for it. It was worth it. In the end, maybe he could let Edgar take out his anger on him, instead of Sera, and spare her the pain. He never knew why Edgar was so angry, or why their mother didn’t take them away. Just run away and not come back. He was a child, and he didn’t understand. So he endured it, and he did anything he could to save Sera. If anyone else in the world knew what was going on, they didn’t show it. No hero ever came to save the day. It wasn’t until an accident took Edgar’s life that things changed.

Now he was a kid again, staring down a new threat to Sera. Dominic. But now he knew how to fight. This time he could make a difference. He charged forward without warning, shouting to throw Dominic off guard. The Collar threw blasts of lightning at him, but they all missed. Isaac rammed his clasped hands against Dominic’s middle, slammed against him with enough force to knock him down. Dominic fell slowly, and all Isaac could do was listen to his mother’s crying as he waited.

When Dominic was on the floor, he was suddenly bloody and bruised, as if he had fallen far further than from standing to the floor. Isaac was confused. He held his hands in front of him, and he shook as he saw they were covered in blood. Dominic was dead, that wasn’t what Isaac had meant to do, but he was dead all the same.

Isaac closed his eyes tight, hoping to will the blood away, to will away what he’d done. When he opened them, he awoke.

When Isaac woke up, he felt groggy, like he hadn’t slept enough. His body didn’t want to move. He hadn’t had enough time to think. People he didn’t know ushered him out of his bed and they got him dressed. They clothes weren’t his own. They were selected for him, to make him look friendly and relatable. They did his hair, made it look messy but still classy. Things Isaac would never do for himself.

It was time for the press conference. He was going to appeal to the people of Bastion, ask them for help in finding Sera. But really, he was supposed to lie about Dominic, tell them he was a Vassal. That had nothing to do with it, as far as Isaac could tell. But it would help them find Sera, and it would turn public opinion against the Vassals.

They were the same Vassals that Isaac had considered being before he registered. Registration wasn’t something he had chosen for himself, nor was becoming a Collar. It was all situations where he was forced along by outside circumstances. Now he had a choice. He didn’t have to lie about Dominic.

[If you lie, you are putting yourself ahead of innocent people. I do not risk the lives of innocent people to save a single one.]

Isaac didn’t want to lie. He ended up in front of Canaan, they were in the conference room where the press conference would be filmed from. He wasn’t even sure where in the Registry the conference room was.

“Have you made up your mind?” Canaan asked, looking sharp in his Registry uniform, black and white and gold.

“Not really.” Isaac admitted, still feeling like he was in a haze.

“Think about Sera.” Canaan prodded him.

That was the problem, though. He couldn’t stop thinking about Sera. Somewhere, Everett was out looking for her. And here Isaac was, waiting to go on television. What could he do from here? How could this possibly help?

How far was he willing to go to save Sera? He had gotten into this mess trying to save his family. Why did he decide to fight? To save people. Not to save Sera or his family. To save everyone. Like the people who didn’t die in the InCorp building, thanks to him. Alissa and Roy and Harlan and everyone else. Lying was selfish, it was wrong. But it might get him what he wanted.

He didn’t hear most of what he was told as he was led up to the podium, and the lights were adjusted for the perfect look. His mind was racing, he for once, he wished that Tyloki would cut in, stop him from doing whatever it was he was about to do. Tyloki always knew when he’d made up his mind, even before he knew himself.

[If you lie, the consequences are yours.]

A light on the camera flickered a few times, and then it was solid. Someone waved to let him know that they were on the air. He took a deep breath, and he stared at the camera. He still hadn’t made up his mind, so instead, he just started to talk.

“My name is Isaac Walker-Cross. I’ve only been a Registered Collar for a couple of months, but you might remember the time I lit the InCorp building on fire. I saved a lot of lives that night. You haven’t seen much of my face since then. I didn’t do it to be famous, for the spotlight. I did what I did to save lives.” He spoke slowly and clearly, and he could feel the countless eyes that were watching him through the camera.

“That is what we do at the Registry. We work hard, we sacrifice our own lives to save others. On the other hand, there are the Vassals. They work against that. Yesterday, a Vassal by the name of Dominic Hale kidnapped my sister, Sera. He did this to punish me for the work I’ve done. To punish me for the lives I’ve saved. I understand if he wanted to attack me personally, but to bring my sister into it is unnecessary and unforgivable. If anyone has any information about where Dominic has taken my sister, please report it to the Registry. Help us find her, before it’s too late.”

Canaan took the podium, and Isaac acquiesced it without a word. He took a seat at the back of the stage, and he ignored whatever Canaan was saying. He stared at the wall, and he wondered where Sera was. Canaan had wanted him to lie, to turn the people of the city against the Vassals. He wasn’t even sure it would help Sera, but he was willing to take the chance that it would.

Canaan had manipulated him, and he didn’t mind. Those people didn’t matter compared to Sera’s life. The press conference came to an end, and Isaac was still in a daze. He wondered when he’d learned to lie so well, but he understood now that was part of the reason that he clashed with Tyloki so much. He was the one person Isaac couldn’t lie to. And Isaac was a great liar. He’d been practicing for years.

“You did good. I think that what you said will really help bring people over to our side.” Canaan explained as he stood next to Isaac.

“And help us find Sera.” Isaac said.

“Yes, of course.” Canaan replied dismissively.

I’ve got no problem throwing you to the wolves if things go south.

[Come what may, it will be yours to face.]

And then Canaan was gone, off to take care of some other matter. Isaac had time to sit and think about what he’d done. No one was telling him what to do anymore, and he couldn’t find Sera on his own. So he sat helpless, waiting. Eventually, Riley was in front of him.

“Come on.” His friend said gently, taking his hand. Isaac stood and followed willingly as Riley led him along. Together, they went to the showers to clean off after a hard day of searching for Sera. Riley, Rain, and Isaac all showered together, and Isaac didn’t mind. It wasn’t uncomfortable.

They didn’t bring fresh clothes down to the showers with them, so after they dried off, they returned to their room, dressed in their towels. Isaac tried to make a beeline for his bedroom, where he would climb into bed and sleep as much as he could while he waited for news about Sera. But Tyloki appeared, blocking the threshold to his room. Isaac didn’t say anything, he just looked up at the wolf. Tyloki pointed at the couch in the middle of the common room.

Riley and Rain were sitting on opposite ends of the couch, leaving room for Isaac to sit in the middle, and Riley had put on a spy film. Isaac thought he recognized it as a movie about a spy who tries to save his kidnapped daughter, but he wasn’t sure. He had never seen it before, that much he knew. And the way Riley and Rain were looking at him, waiting expectantly. Like he belonged there.

Isaac reluctantly walked over and took a seat between the human and the otter. Riley and Isaac were only wearing towels, and Rain wasn’t wearing anything at all. The room had a chill to it, but Isaac wasn’t sure if that was the temperature or his mood. Either way, he was cold, and Tyloki hadn’t let him get clothes from his room, so he didn’t fight it when Rain leaned over and rested his head on Isaac’s shoulder. The otter was warm, warmer than a blanket, and softer too. He smelled of another world, of water and mist and rivers and dirt. Isaac felt himself start to calm down, and found that he was surprisingly comfortable. After a short while, Riley leaned in from the other direction, and the three sat, leaning on each other.

Riley smelled like the soap they’d used to clean, and his skin felt smooth and soft except for the occasional scar that he’d earned in his years of combat. Isaac was warm, and safe, and comfortable between his friends. Somewhere in the city, Sera was scared and alone. But he didn’t know where. For now, all he could do was sit and wait.

So they sat and waited, together.