After taking several days to prepare himself properly, Gio took another trip to Helix. He ssaged Klyde beforehand to et him at a coffee shop, and when he arrived, the man was indeed there.
He couldn’t help that Klyde would look suspicious no matter where he was until he could convince the man to get actual facial alteration tech so he could stop hiding his face. The only thing he could do was order his coffee and sit down, looking out into the busy streets.
"How has it been this past week? You’ve stayed away from her, right?"
Klyde gave him a sidelong glance.
"If you had waited another day, I would have stopped listening to you. You got lucky."
"No, it’s more like you got lucky. Don’t ruin things now."
Shaking his head, Klyde sneered at Gio.
"Ruin things? That day, after you left, I was beaten within an inch of my life and told to stay away from her. What can I even ruin?"
Gio knew it was going to happen. He noticed the people waiting for Klyde around the corner but did nothing to stop him.
He didn’t believe a verbal warning was enough. The only way for Klyde to understand how foolish his tactics were was for him to experience the consequences of being so obvious.
Looking at the frustration on his face, one could easily tell that he had given up. He valued his life more than his research, as there was nobody who’d continue it if he died.
"It’s for the best."
Gio spoke without pity. He knew that Klyde wouldn’t want it.
"If they think they scared you away, they’ll act more openly than if you gave up on your own. You’re not a Sequencer, are you?"
Klyde shook his head.
"I have a Cognitive Sequence. My other Slots are supporting it."
"Yeah, so your job doesn’t start any ti soon. I really just called you here to make sure you’d kept your word and inform you of what’s going to happen before your turn starts."
Gio’s eyes narrowed.
"I’m going to start walking her to school since she’s been worried. Regardless of how you feel, it’s best to give her space until she can accept what happened."
Klyde was confused by his words at first. He took a second to understand the true aning behind them.
"I know it hurts you, but if you confront her, nothing good will happen. I’ll talk to her first, and when she’s ready, she’ll co to you on her own."
Within the story of an estranged father who wanted to reconnect with his daughter, or perhaps the story of a boyfriend who wanted to appease his girlfriend after a big argunt, was hidden a straightforward ssage.
"Keep your head down as you have been. I’ll confront the enemy when the ti is right and bring her to you myself."
They weren’t words that could be easily accepted from a child. That much could be guaranteed. Klyde wanted to open his mouth in protest, but Gio didn’t let him.
He lowered his voice and spoke in a tone nobody could overhear.
"In a certain sense, your forr approach did good things. If my assumptions are right, it’s been a while since Anastasia was able to properly contact anyone with you on her tail. Did you see her interacting with anyone foreign?"
"No. She never spoke to anyone outside the office even before and after work. Unless she did so through Nightreign, it didn’t happen."
"Right..."
Ignoring the implications of that statent, Gio continued.
"She should be desperate to et her superiors. I’ll trail her until that eting cos and find hard evidence we can use. Give a week before you even think about doing anything rash."
Hmm..."
Klyde thought about it for a mont. Nothing in his mind told him that Gio was going to succeed, but that no longer mattered.
In the end, even if Gio went to find them and died, he could confirm that he wasn’t wrong. If that happened, he could confidently aim for Anastasia’s throat and force her to reveal herself.
"Fine."
The pursuit of research was only less important than his life. His happiness, his prestige, his honor; none of it mattered.
If he had to beco a filthy stalker to prove that he wasn’t insane, he would do it.
And if he had to beco a ruthless murderer for the sa purpose, he would do it. That was why he was attracted to the underground society.
"But only a week. If nothing changes after a week, I’m done listening to you."
Gio nodded.
There was nothing more he needed.
"I don’t have anything left to say, and I’m sure you don’t want to be here any longer, so I’ll get going. Just have hope this one ti. I promise I’ll bring back results."
As Klyde watched from under his hood, Gio retreated from the coffee shop.
He walked the streets of Helix, waiting for the day to wind down.
Tonight, he would take over surveillance on the capture target.
And by the end of the week, that sa target would be in his possession.
***
Gio waited until night fell. He told his driver that he would be busy all day and asked him to do as he pleased until he was called.
’I don’t expect to find anything on the first night, but it has been a week since Klyde cooled off. There’s a possibility that it’ll happen imdiately.’
He was wearing a new set of clothes that let him blend in with the darkness. As for the plan...
’I guess it’s similar to what Klyde was doing.’
In the end, Gio was also trailing Anastasia. Only, he had no reason to follow her into the lab. There were too many outsiders there for her to do anything.
’I didn’t consider Nightreign until Klyde brought it up, but I don’t think it’s possible.’
Nightreign was made for humans, after all. A human genetic code was necessary to even connect to the service.
’They’re only disguised as humans. Their bodies appear human in most scans, but if soone were to actually test their genes, they would find the inconsistencies imdiately.’
It was why most of those who blended into the world were either in positions where such tests were unnecessary or positions so high that such tests would never be required for them.
’Anyway, it’ll be boring until sothing eventually does happen.’
The first day was like that. Nothing happened after Anastasia went ho from work. She went into her apartnt and didn’t leave again until the next morning.
On the second day, however...
On the second day, she quietly left her ho in the dark of night, covering her bright features with a hood.
She dipped into alleyways and hid away from the main streets, moving into the outskirts of Helix where one would find more roads than buildings.
She entered a warehouse covered in rust like it had been abandoned for a century. With her eyes cold, she disappeared into the darkness beyond.
And in the shadows, a small figure followed her the entire way.
He was ready to see what "they" were planning.
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