Zoe Pierce splashed cold water on her face in the Oga restroom, finally managing to quell the agitation she felt.
The aftershocks of the incident were surprisingly strong.
She took a few deep breaths before heading out. The mont she did, she saw Miles Sherman standing off to the side and, feeling a little embarrassed, hurried over to him.
When Miles Sherman saw Zoe Pierce, he was direct. "Nathan asked to co check on you."
"Don’t overthink it," Miles Sherman said. "But in the future, you need to know how to fight when your opponent is the opposite sex." His words had a far more calming effect than anyone else’s. At least, after hearing him, Zoe Pierce felt much better.
As they walked shoulder to shoulder toward the training room, Miles Sherman continued, "You’re already much more skilled than when you first fought us."
Honest, hard work never fails to pay off.
The first ti Zoe Pierce ran with them, she felt as if she’d stop breathing at any mont. By the second half of the run, she could barely even lift her feet.
But now, she had undergone a complete transformation.
Her skills with cha and her physical fitness were like a carefully nurtured seed that had finally blossod from a tender sprout into a brilliant flower.
The rest of the training session went on without incident. After Nathan Lockwood pointed out a few more areas where she was being too hesitant, Zoe Pierce learned to let go a little more.
The entire day slipped by quietly.
A few more days passed at the academy. One day, Zoe Pierce walked into the training room to find Nathan Lockwood had already projected the Intelligent Brain’s display into the air. Miles Sherman and the others were gathered around, all looking up at the projection from different positions.
The mont she walked over, they ushered her to the center.
It was a news report.
The report was about Planet B36.
It was brief—so brief that if the na Planet B36 hadn’t been explicitly ntioned, Zoe Pierce wouldn’t have even recognized the nas of those being sentenced.
The report stated only that several high-level leaders from Planet B36 had violated the laws of The Federation, including statutes against subverting humanity and organized cri. For their nurous offenses, they were stripped of their political rights for life, sentenced to indefinite imprisonnt on Nomadus, and condemned to hard labor until death.
As for the deaths of the Betas and the matter of the Beta-piloted cha, everything was dismissed in a single line: the affected populace would receive "humanitarian treatnt."
A wave of indescribable unease washed over Zoe Pierce.
There were hardly any comnts below the news report. No one on The Capital Star seed to care what cris the leaders of a remote planet had committed. The number of casualties wasn’t released, nor was there any word on the future of Planet B36. It was as if the entire affair had been brought to an abrupt and final close.
If Zoe Pierce hadn’t heard what Shannon Stone had said, she wouldn’t have been so deeply affected.
But it wasn’t as if they were completely innocent, either.
The world is not black and white, aning that the shades of gray within it cannot be judged with pure, absolute reason.
It was all just so pitiable.
Pitiable for the people of Planet B36 who had dedicated their lives to a cause, and pitiable for the twisted path they had ended up on.
In the end, all she could do was let it all out in a heavy sigh.
"What happens next has nothing to do with us. Director Quinn just ca by and had us sign a non-disclosure agreent. What happened on Planet B36 can’t be spoken of."
Nathan Lockwood took out a docunt and handed it to Zoe Pierce. It was her copy of the agreent.
Zoe Pierce picked up a pen, signed her na on the designated line, and stared at the docunt in a slight daze.
Finally, she silently handed it back to Nathan Lockwood, bringing the matter to a close.
’We were rely visitors to Planet B36, after all.’
"Director Quinn said the quarantine is lifted now that we’ve signed the agreents. We’re free to go." Nathan Lockwood looked at Zoe Pierce. "Are you going ho?"
Beyond the endless, repetitive training she had grown accustod to, Zoe Pierce now had sothing else to face.
Damien Pierce.
As the one Zoe had confided in from the very beginning, Nathan Lockwood made a point to ask.
Zoe Pierce looked at her friends, who remained silent but kept their eyes fixed on her. Sotis, they gave her more warmth than her own unfamiliar family ever did.
"I am."
Zoe Pierce said, "I want to go back to the ho where I grew up."
’Now is the perfect ti to go back.’
’Damien Pierce has no news of , nor does he know how much of my mory has returned. By choosing to go back to my childhood ho, I won’t give him any chance to prepare.’
"We’ll take you."
Zoe Pierce didn’t refuse the kind offer from Miles Sherman and the others.
In the end, today’s training was cut short.
On the way, Zoe Pierce propped her chin on her hand and gazed out the window. One really has to experience sothing like this to understand the apprehension that cos with returning ho.
That was exactly how Zoe Pierce felt right now. She didn’t know how many of Damien Pierce’s lies she’d be able to draw out, nor did she even know what she truly wanted from all this.
After all, among her mories of being with her parents, there were many that included Damien Pierce.
They had truly seed like real, loving siblings.
She kept her gaze fixed outside, so she didn’t see the looks her friends were giving her—a mixture of tension and worry.
Their expressions seed even more complicated than her own, even though she was the one at the center of it all.
When they reached the villa district, Zoe Pierce expected to get out, but the car drove right through the gates without stopping.
This ti she turned around, her eyes wide as she looked at the others.
"My family has a house here," Nathan Lockwood said.
’So the recognition system at the gate didn’t stop them at all.’
"We’ll wait for you in the car," Nathan Lockwood continued. "Wait until you send a ssage confirming everything is okay, and then we’ll go."
No matter how they looked at it, they were still uneasy.
It was rare for Zoe Pierce to feel like smiling in such a somber atmosphere, but she managed a small one. "Damien Pierce can’t beat in a fight."
Setting aside Damien Pierce’s combat level, after nearly six months of high-intensity training and real-world experience, Zoe Pierce felt she was far beyond the capabilities of an ordinary person.
Besides, she didn’t think Damien Pierce would actually resort to physical violence.
’And if things really did escalate to that point, she probably wouldn’t let Damien remain a part of the Pierce Family anyway.’
"We’re just worried it will be painful for you."
Nathan Lockwood’s flat delivery of the line stunned Zoe Pierce into silence.
"Don’t worry. I’ll be monitoring Nathan Lockwood’s Perception," Erin Xavier piped up. She no longer called him by his first na and title, but by his full na. "If there’s any sign of trouble inside, we’ll charge in."
Chase Shaw added, "If you need help, call us."
Miles Sherman simply looked at Zoe Pierce and said, "You’re already doing great. We all have faith in you."
They all had her back.
Zoe Pierce couldn’t bring herself to say anything sentintal, but she felt a surge of strength coursing through her. Standing by the open car door, she asked, "You’re just going to park right here?"
’Are they not even going to pretend to be subtle? Just parking right in front of my house?’
The guys all nodded, seeing absolutely no problem with it.
’Fine by .’
’In a way, they were acting just like they had when I first t them.’
Zoe Pierce closed the car door and walked towards the main gate of her ho.
The automated gate scanned Zoe Pierce’s biotrics and swung open. Guided by a familiarity rooted in mory, Zoe walked straight into the villa’s main hall.
The villa was quiet, with only a few robots scattered about. There were no human servants in sight, giving the place a deserted feel.
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