The following morning arrived wrapped in gray clouds.
Rain threatened the city again but never quite committed, leaving the sky hanging in that strange state between storm and peace.
Inside Luther Group Headquarters, the workday had already begun.
Employees moved through the massive building carrying tablets, coffee cups and folders while elevators opened and closed endlessly across different floors.
Everything looked normal.
Productive.
Professional.
Yet beneath that polished surface, hundreds of invisible threads quietly connected back to one office.
One desk.
One man.
Lucas Luther sat behind his desk with yesterday's reports spread neatly before him.
The city had spoken all night.
Now he was listening.
His fingers turned another page calmly.
Traffic reports.
Financial movements.
University observations.
Hospital activity. Vehicle registrations.
Nothing unusual on the surface.
Nothing alarming.
Yet something bothered him.
Not enough to trigger concern.
Just enough to stay in his mind.
Lucas leaned back slightly in his chair.
His eyes moved across several reports again.
The same feeling returned.
A pattern. Not danger.
Not yet.
A pattern.
One of the reports mentioned a man lingering near headquarters for almost an hour.
Nothing suspicious.
People did that all the time.
Another report from a street observer mentioned a dark vehicle appearing twice near one of their monitored routes.
Again.
Nothing suspicious.
A third observation placed a similar vehicle near another location connected to Luther Group.
Still not enough.
Not even remotely enough.
Yet Lucas found himself reading those reports for the third time.
That alone irritated him.
Because Lucas trusted his instincts.
And his instincts rarely repeated themselves without reason.
A knock came from the office door.
"Come in."
The door opened.
Ethan entered carrying two coffees.
"You're doing that thing again."
Lucas accepted the cup without looking away from the reports.
"What thing?"
"The thing where you stare at paperwork like it personally offended you."
Lucas hummed quietly.
Ethan dropped into the chair opposite him.
"What's bothering you?"
For several seconds Lucas remained silent.
Then he finally slid one of the reports across the desk.
Ethan scanned it quickly.
Then another. Then another.
His eyebrows slowly lifted.
"That's it?"
Lucas looked up.
"What do you mean that's it?"
"It means you're showing me reports about a guy sitting in a car."
"A guy sitting in three different places."
Ethan blinked.
Then looked back down.
A few moments passed.
Then his expression changed.
Only slightly.
But Lucas noticed. "There it is."
Ethan sighed.
"Yeah." Now he saw it too.
Nothing concrete.
Nothing provable.
Just enough repetition to become interesting.
And in Lucas' world, interesting things usually became dangerous things eventually.
"We'll keep watching," Ethan said.
Lucas nodded once.
"Quietly."
Outside the office windows, the city continued moving completely unaware.
Meanwhile across town, Neo was trying very hard not to fail a surprise quiz.
"Explain to me again why lecturers enjoy suffering."
Aiden nearly dropped his pen laughing.
"You say this every semester."
"Because every semester they prove me right."
The lecture hall buzzed with exhausted students.
Final semester pressure had fully settled over campus now.
Assignments.
Projects.
Presentations.
Graduation requirements.
Every conversation somehow circled back to the future.
Jobs. Internships.
Career plans.
Postgraduate studies.
Life after university.
Normal student concerns.
At least for most people.
Neo stared at the question paper in front of him.
Then at Aiden. Then back at the paper.
"Aiden."
"No."
"I haven't even asked."
"The answer is still no."
Neo looked offended.
Aiden ignored him.
Around them students discussed future plans excitedly.
One wanted to work abroad.
Another planned to join a family company.
Someone else was applying for graduate school.
The conversations floated around them naturally.
Until one question reached their table.
"So what about you guys?"
Neo and Aiden both looked up.
A classmate smiled curiously.
"After graduation."
The question seemed innocent enough.
Yet strangely—
both boys froze, Not visibly.
But enough.
Because neither actually had an answer.
Months ago survival had been the priority.
Then work.
Then D'uther.
Then the Familia.
Then the war slowly forming around them.
The future had somehow become a distant thing.
Something they kept postponing, Aiden recovered first.
"I plan on becoming rich."
The classmate laughed.
"Doing what?" "I'll figure that part out later."
Neo shook his head.
Hopeless.
Absolutely hopeless.
Yet somehow the answer eased the tension.
For now.
At the opposite end of campus, two familiar figures watched students cross the courtyard.
Diabla sat comfortably beneath a large tree scrolling through her phone while Rheal leaned against the nearby railing.
Neither spoke for a while.
Their attention remained fixed on the distant figures of Neo and Aiden.
Eventually Rheal broke the silence.
"He looks better."
Diabla didn't need clarification.
She knew exactly who he meant.
"He does."
Rheal remained quiet.
Then after several moments he asked softly:
"Do you think he regrets it?"
That finally pulled Diabla's attention away from her screen.
Regret, it was a strange question.
Especially coming from Rheal.
She studied him carefully.
"Leaving?"
Rheal nodded.
Neither spoke immediately afterward.
"You know it was Maggie that took him away or else he wouldn't have left unless he had decided to run away by himself"
The breeze shifted gently through the trees.
Students laughed somewhere nearby.
Life continued.
Normal. Peaceful.
For a moment.
Then Diabla looked back toward Neo.
Watching him laugh at something Aiden said.
Watching him exist in a life completely different from the one they once shared.
"I don't know," she admitted honestly.
And somehow— that answer bothered both of them more than expected.
Because neither could tell whether Neo had escaped.
Or simply chosen a different cage.
Several hours later,
a black car stopped outside Luther Group Headquarters.
The driver remained seated for a moment.
Watching. Observing. Studying.
Then finally stepped out.
Tall.
Composed.
Sharp.
Caius adjusted the sleeve of his coat before looking up at the massive building standing before him.
A slow smile touched his lips.
Not because he had reached the building.
But because he was finally stepping inside Lucas Luther's world.
And for some reason—
that thought excited him far more than it should have.
The revolving doors opened.
Caius walked inside.
The receptionist greeted him politely.
Security acknowledged him professionally.
Employees moved around him naturally.
Everything functioned perfectly.
Efficient.
Organized.
Alive.
And somehow— that only made him want to see more.
Much more.
He was so busy studying the building that he almost didn't notice the man exiting one of the elevators.
Almost.
Elijah noticed him first.
Caius noticed Elijah second.
Their eyes met briefly across the lobby.
Neither smiled immediately.
Neither looked away.
And for a moment—
something strange passed silently between them.
Not recognition.Not familiarity.
But pure instinct between the two.
The kind that only existed between intelligent people who understood danger when they saw it.
Then both men smiled politely.
Professional.
Civil.
Perfectly harmless.
Yet neither believed the other for a second.
And somehow,
that made the encounter far more interesting.