High above the ninth level was a large room close to the outside world. On one wall was an array of monitors, showing countless video feeds of the various levels of the Cradle. Facing them was a single chair with a young woman seated upon it.

  Her hair was as red as a flame reaching the crux of her back. Her features were youthful, barely in her early twenties, yet appearances were misleading. She wore a tight bodysuit that accentuated the curves of her body, with the emblem of the city prominently visible near her heart. In her hand was a small bag, from which she took small pellets before gleefully putting them in her mouth, all the while watching the monitors intently.

  To her side were massive rows of individual pods, all neatly lined up. They looked like glass coffins: transparent containers big enough to accommodate a single body. Through the glass, one could see a fog within, emitting a slight bluish glow, but also the outline of a human body soundly asleep. The pods were countless, almost as if an army was ready to wake at any moment, only waiting for the opportunity.

  Suddenly, one of the pods began to vent its content, the fog filling the room as it was propelled out of the pod, only to be sucked away by the room's ventilation system. Slowly, the pods opened, revealing the figure within. It was a man sporting the same bodysuit as the fiery-haired woman. Even as the pod fully opened, the woman barely offered a glance, too engrossed in the information displayed on the monitor.

  "Bastard!" the man yelled, his eyes snapping open and rising to a seated position in a single motion.

  His hair possessed a greenish hue, as did his eyes. They also seemed wet from the lingering fog, which soon dissipated into the atmosphere. Less than a minute later, the man was completely dry. He rose from his glass coffin, only to kick the side of it. His feet collided with the metal plating, resulting in a loud bang that echoed for a while longer. Still, the man's anger only mounted as pain assaulted him. He couldn't help but fall to his knee, clutching his wounded foot as he waited for the pain to fade.

  "Aren't you going to say something?" he barked as the woman seemed oblivious to his existence. Only then did she reluctantly address him without turning her gaze.

  “Why should I?” she shrugged. “You only have yourself to blame.”

  After the pain faded, the man finally rose to his full height before reaching the woman's seat, making it turn around to face him, his anger still clear.

  “Aren't you going to do something?" he asked, awaiting a response, yet she offered none. Her gaze was utterly emotionless.

  “Isn't that your problem?" she replied, taking another small pellet from her bag before putting it in her mouth. The sweet sensation spread within her body, almost making her smile, yet her face remained completely neutral.

  “You clearly saw what he did! He’s a threat that should be dealt with!”

  “Do not forget your role,” she replied, her tone harsher than it was. “Emotions have no place here. We work for the city’s best interest, not to validate your twisted sense of superiority.”

  The man was taken aback, so much so that he didn't even realize his hands had grasped the young woman's shoulders, squeezing harder than he expected to. Dread flooded his heart as he realized what he had done. He quickly took a few steps back, lowering his head as if a child knew he had erred. He remained silent, yet she saw him bite his lips, clearly unreconciled. She couldn't help but sigh and shake her head.

  “This matter ends here,” she said.

  "Commander, why?!" the man blurted out yet quickly recomposed himself.

  “Orders from the top. It’s out of our division’s hands. We are to only monitor him... for now.”

  “Did the Council order this?” he asked. “Don’t they know how dangerous he is? There’s no record of him within the city’s database. He must have been sent here to spy on us; there’s no other explanation!”

  She sighed once again, looking him straight in the eyes. He couldn’t bear to sustain her gaze and looked away shortly after.

  “The order came straight from the mayor. Look,” she replied, but then one of her eyes suddenly changed colour.

  It became deep blue; then, a screen was projected into the air, showing the exact moment Ning Shan sprung into action, hitting two of the drones away and rendering them completely inoperable. Still, the image remained, allowing them to witness the following scenes.

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  “Nathan Hunt? That was him?” the man frowned.

  “And his wife. You see what we are dealing with?”

  "Is the Mayor involved?" he asked sheepishly. While his anger had been replaced with an overpowering fear, it still smouldered in the depths of his heart.

  “Relax. He knows better than to put pressure on the Security Division,” she said, snacking with abandon. “Still, that doesn’t mean there’s no repercussions. I told you I didn’t care as long as it didn’t affect me, but you went too far this time. There must be punishment.”

  The man's eyes grew wider. He tried to take a few steps back, seeking to turn away and run, yet the red-haired woman was faster. Her eyes turned completely blue, and she extended a finger toward the green-haired man.

  There was no thunderous explosion nor a giant beam of light. The man simply clutched at his head as he fell to his knees. His mouth snapped open, yet only a voiceless scream emerged from it. His eyes rolled back in their orbits, showing only white as the man writhed on the floor with pain, unable to do anything but curl up in a fetal position and await the pain to recede.

  The pain lingered for what seemed like an eternity, like a burning sensation coming straight from the man’s core, attempting to sear right through him, almost as if someone was digging straight into his brain.

  He gasped, unable to draw breath while his muscles spasmed uncontrollably. He frothed at the mouth like a rabid animal, unable to control his basic instinct. All that remained was a distant survival instinct hidden beneath the veneer of civility and the unending pain.

  After a while, the girl's finger dropped as she turned around, returning to the countless screens mounted to the wall, finally freeing the man from his agony.

  His lungs drew breath for the first time in a while, allowing the pain to recede. Still, the man remained on the ground in a pool of his own sweat, dread evident in his eyes. He didn't possess the courage to raise his gaze, much less utter a sound. He could only wait for his heartbeat to return to normal, all the while hearing it clearly pounding inside his head. Yet, he froze once again when he heard her speak.

  "I will only warn you once. Do not involve yourself any further in this," she said, yet her tone seemed concerned. The man was stunned as this was uncanny for her—especially after what he had endured. "Some people have plans for him—people you cannot afford to cross. This will be my only warning. This is for our own good."

  She waved her hand yet couldn't be bothered to turn around. The man's expression was grim as he rose to his feet. Still, he wasn't brave enough to argue. Despite the pain, the man’s hand formed a fist, which he used to strike his chest where his heart was, resulting in a loud thud that resounded within the room.

  “You’re dismissed until your next shift,” she said. “Take this time to reflect on your actions.”

  The man remained silent, yet his expression showed his unwillingness. Still, he turned on his heels and exited the room, leaving the woman alone—along with the countless other pods containing even more individuals dressed in the same body suit.

  Soon after the man left, a middle-aged man emerged next to the red-haired woman. She didn't even bat an eye or look in his direction as she knew he wasn't real but a three-dimensional representation of the man's appearance overlaid onto the air itself—namely, a hologram.

  "That was quite harsh of you, wasn't it?" the man said with a slight smile, peering through his lush black beard.

  “I don’t need dogs who do not listen to orders,” she replied dismissively. “I can only hope he learned his lesson, otherwise...”

  The man only shook his head, knowing full well her intentions. All the screens converged on the same subject at that moment, drawing the man's attention away from the woman.

  On the large screen, a close-up of Ning Shan allowed a good view of his facial features. The scene was still as if time had stopped, yet the woman couldn't help but stare at him intensely. A slight smile even crept up her face, which the man couldn't help but comment on.

  “Did something finally catch your attention after all this time?” the man said, intrigued.

  She raised an eyebrow, slightly surprised, only for her finger to reach her face, tracing the contours of her lips, only now realizing her expression. She couldn't help but chuckle, but it soon turned into a hearty laugh. The man remained unfazed, only watching the woman lose herself in laughter. Yet, it didn't last long. Almost as if all joy had been expelled, she soon returned to her indifferent expression.

  “Maybe,” she finally said. “Look at this.”

  She raised a finger as if pressing an invisible key in the air, only for the screen to suddenly change. There was now a complete image of Ning Shan, along with detailed information about him, from something simple like his height to minute recordings of everything he had done since stepping into the Cradle. Nothing was missing, not even what happened when he was alone in his room.

  Still, the double helix slowly rotating next to Ning Shan's image caught the middle-aged man's attention. The man couldn't help but frown as he stared, yet his surprise soon turned to disbelief. His gaze soon turned to the woman, only to see a mocking smile on her lips.

  “You aren’t imagining it, and no, I’m not making it up,” she said, basking in the moment.

  “Have you finally found what you were looking for?” the man replied, yet his expression betrayed his thoughts. He tried his best to hide the greed in his eyes, yet she quickly noticed it.

  “It is yet to be confirmed," she shrugged, yet her tone soon turned much harsher. "Do not get any ideas; he is mine. As an old friend, I only showed this to you as a courtesy. You'll regret it if you try to fight me for it!"

  Blue flames erupted in her eyes, bathing her surroundings in its glow. Despite this being just a projection, the man couldn’t help but take a step backwards, raising both hands as if to protect himself, if only instinctively. The greed disappeared as fast as it arrived, as did his fear. He tried to show how stoic he was, at least externally.

  “I know better than to fight you for it,” the man sighed. “However, some fools may still try. How about I help you?”

  She turned and faced him for the first time with a frown.

  “Your price?” she said.

  “A small favour,” the man smiled.

  She remained silent, pondering as her gaze returned to Ning Shan’s image. After a while, she finally sighed.

  "So be it," she said. "Better to owe you than to let him fall into another's hands."

  “Is he truly worth that much? If so, I don’t see it. He may be an irregular, but he’s only Red-Class at best. What can he even achieve?”

  "For now? Not much..." she replied, shaking her head. "But once he is given time to grow, he might even grant me my wish. It's an opportunity I cannot miss."

  “I truly hope so for your own sake, my friend,” the hologram said before finally disappearing, leaving the woman alone with her thoughts.

  Rise of a Planeswalker, as well as 25 chapters of my new series Advent of Sorcery.

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