Adam opened his eyes. He withdrew his consciousness from the mory.
Simultaneously Ryan also opened his eyes blinking in confusion.
Adam now understood everything. He cursed himself internally. I should have considered this possibility, he thought a cold anger directed at his own oversight.
I should have known they would resort to such cowardly attacks against my mbers. In his mind’s eye the faces of Cian and Samba were now permanently etched.
They were marked for future retribution for future punishnt.
"Listen to ," Adam said his voice calm but firm. He completely ignored Ryan’s earlier declaration of quitting the group. He was not going to let him quit.
Ryan however was still stuck in his fear. "I’m sorry Eric but I can’t be on your team," he repeated his voice shaky.
Adam simply looked at him. His gaze was sharp and piercing. "And what do you think will happen after you go back to the Red Team Ryan?" he asked.
"Do you really think your family will be safe then? Do you think they will just forget what happened?"
Ryan was completely stunned by Adam’s question. A look of pure unadulterated shock spread across his face. How... how could he possibly know about that? How could he know about the threat they made against my family? He hadn’t told anyone.
"Wh-what do you an by that?" Ryan stamred his mind reeling his carefully constructed wall of denial beginning to crumble.
Adam could see that Ryan was still not ready to accept the truth. He could see that Ryan was still clinging to the false hope that submission that doing what they said would save his family. Adam let out a slow deliberate sigh.
"Have you already forgotten what I said to you yesterday in the courtyard?" he asked his voice patient yet with an undercurrent of undeniable authority.
"I know everything that happened last night. I know how you t with Samba and another senior mber of the Red Team Cian. And I know exactly what they did to you."
Ryan stared at Adam his eyes wide with a mixture of terror and disbelief. "How... how do you know these things?" he whispered his voice cracking. It was impossible. No one else was there.
Adam moved from the foot of the bed. He sat down in the chair beside it. He looked at Ryan. His expression was now one of a grim almost pitying seriousness.
"If you are thinking that they will attack your family," he said his voice soft yet firm "then you are completely mistaken. That will not happen. I will not let it happen."
Ryan however was not convinced. The threat from Samba had been too real. The fear was too deeply ingrained in his heart. He imdiately cut Adam off. His voice rose with a desperate frantic energy.
"I don’t agree with you!" he exclaid. "And if you know everything then you should let go from your group! You shouldn’t keep here!"
Adam simply shook his head.
"I will not let you go Ryan," he stated his voice now leaving no room for any argunt.
"You ca to this group of your own free will. You chose to join The New Warriors. And after joining you are no longer just a mber. You are family. And your problem is now my problem."
Ryan was becoming more and more desperate. He pushed himself further up in the bed leaning towards Adam. His eyes were pleading.
"Eric if you really know everything then you should help ! Let go! It’s the only way to keep my family safe!"
"Ryan," Adam said his voice still calm and steady
"you don’t understand. Even if I let you go even if you rejoin the Red Team there is absolutely no guarantee that they won’t attack your family. What’s to stop them from using the sa threat against you again to force you to do sothing else for them? If that is what you are truly afraid of..."
"At least I won’t have to live with the regret that sothing happened to my family because of !" Ryan shouted his voice cracking with a mixture of fear and deep anguish.
Adam beca completely frustrated with Ryan’s behavior. He understood the boy’s fear. But his logic was flawed. It was driven by terror rather than by reason.
He realized that no matter what he said Ryan in his current state would not listen. He would not be convinced by words alone.
Adam stood up from the chair. He looked down at Ryan. His expression was now one of absolute deadly seriousness. "I promise you Ryan," he said his voice a low resonant vow "that I will protect your family. No one will touch them."
Ryan was stunned by the deep conviction in Adam’s voice. But his fear was still stronger than his hope.
He shouted back his voice filled with a desperate bitter disbelief. "You couldn’t even protect Eric! So how are you going to protect my family when they are so far away?!"
Ryan’s words struck a nerve. Adam fell silent for a few seconds.
He had provided a [System Window] a Sub-System to all his new mbers. And yet the System Millennia had not alerted him to the attack on Ryan. A cold furious anger began to build within him. It was an anger directed entirely at his so-called-sentient system his AI.
As if sensing its master’s deep displeasure the [System Window: Millennia] imdiately appeared in Adam’s internal vision.
"[Master Adam]" it stated its neutral tone for once sounding slightly... defensive.
"[I did not provide enough power to the Sub-Systems I created for the new mbers. My primary focus was on monitoring their emotional stability for any signs of betrayal. I was not paying close enough attention to their physical condition or what was happening to Ryan in the park.]"
Adam decided he would deal with Millennia’s failure later. First he had to deal with this problem with Ryan.
He looked at Ryan. His expression was now one of a grim almost frightening resolve. "I made a mistake Ryan," he admitted his voice low and serious. "I accept that. But I will correct this mistake right now."
He then turned and started to walk towards the door of the nurse’s office. As he reached it he looked back at the bewildered terrified boy in the bed. "Co with ," he said. It was not a request it was a command.
Ryan was completely confused. "Where are we going?" he asked.
Adam simply replied his voice cold and hard "To correct a mistake." He was going to show Ryan and everyone else what happened when soone hurt a mber of his family.
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