While Gene was having his suspicions, another day had passed.
Those from Nightfall were now doing a careful dance of ’Am I or am I not holy?’ Hannah refused to acknowledge her true feelings, the others appeared to be watching the show, and Alia wanted nothing to do with the circus.
Today was the day they and the barge would have their exchange.
Kain decided that he wouldn’t give too much food. Whatever he gave, it would be enough for them to last one month. No more, no less. The agreent stated they would co back in one month, but that didn’t an Kain trusted it.
He also didn’t expect them to give him everything they had. Anyone worth anything would never hand over all their card, that would be foolish.
Now, the final decision needed to be made. Would they invite them inside or go out to et them?
"System, is there a way to change the appearance of the building?"
[The host can use the floor plan to make changes.]
"Is there a way to create an illusion for others to see? I want to change what they see on the first and second floors."
[The floor plan.]
Well, to the floor plan he goes.
He checked the Sanctuary control options and found the floor plan. Not only could he change the layout of the workshops, but he could also change the material that was used.
He frowned, looking at the options, voidglass, he knew that one. But what the hell was black hole paint and shattered chemilum flooring? Where would the system even get stuff like that?
Co to think of it, he never asked where the system got the void glass. He opened his mouth about to question it, but thought better of it. It would probably tell him that he doesn’t have the clearance.
Whatever it was, he decided to forget about it for now.
He changed Floor One to show an illusion of being flooded. He toned down everything about Floor Two, creating the illusion that the place was run down. He scuffed the carpet, removed the orientation hall, and made the couches look a little beat up.
He didn’t change it so much that the building appeared completely disordered. It was already a luxury apartnt. He simply made it look like everything was the sa as before, the number of bedrooms, bathrooms, and such.
A perception filter was placed in the room. Things that couldn’t be removed, the system placed a filter on them. They would be ignored and bypassed.
There was one other thing he did. He lowered the Source Energy concentration. He didn’t find any Awakened in the captain’s group, but it was better safe than sorry.
He confird everything, then gathered everyone to stand in the middle of the hallway on Floor Two.
"What do you think?" Kain asked.
"The place looks... different," Alia replied.
Kain hadn’t told her what he had done, but it was evident he had done sothing.
He scanned the people before him.
"No one needs to know how well we are or aren’t doing. If you want Nightfall to prosper, it’s best to rember that whatever you see here stays here."
He didn’t look at the Awakened; he looked at the ’normies.’
An hour later, the items had been placed on Floor Two, and the people from the barge were approaching. The first to see them was Alia.
The second she saw who was on the boat, her brows furrowed. She hadn’t expected to see them here. She told Kain directly.
Kain didn’t waste ti; he had all the Awakened go up to Floor Three. Alia looked at him, confused.
"We’ll go down to help the seven," he said.
She walked with him, even though she was confused about why he suddenly had everyone go into hiding.
Standing by the floor-to-ceiling window, Kain unfurled a ladder so the people from the barge could enter. Gene was one of those who ca. Kain hadn’t expected the captain to co, just like he hadn’t expected that man and woman to arrive either.
Regardless, they were here, so he had to deal with it.
"Captain Gene, good to see you didn’t get lost," Kain began. He glanced at the couple, not attempting to hide his displeasure. "But why did you bring these two?"
Kain’s eyes flicked towards them.
Gene cleared his throat; he hadn’t expected there to be tension between Kain and the couple. It would explain why they offered their services so readily. He scoffed inwardly. He already understood that they were lucky enough to eavesdrop on a conversation about the shipnt.
Now, he could confirm it wasn’t luck. They were most likely looking for information about Kain. He didn’t know when they had t each other.
"Who? Jasmine and Chad, you know them?"
"Not very familiar, but familiar enough," ca Kain’s reply.
And there it was again, that tug. The sudden tightening of his chest. He could have shaken it off if it had only happened once. This is their second eting, and the second ti the feeling assaulted him.
He wasn’t going to wait for a third to confirm what he already knew. These two were a danger to him. Maybe not just to him, but also to the children.
Their three children and his ca from the sa lab. eting them might be a coincidence, but his intuition told him they would be eting more often in the future.
"Our children know each other." Jasmine’s voice drifted into the silence. "We found out recently. One of the reasons we wanted to co was not only to help the barge, but to ask whether you and your family would like to join us."
Captain Gene gave her a sidelong glance but said nothing.
Kain looked between the two of them. What couldn’t he understand? Gene not saying anything was the most telling sign.
He hadn’t spent much ti with him, but he knew he wouldn’t appreciate a refugee riding on his head. Gene must have been promised sothing, so even if he doesn’t trust them, whatever they gave was enough for him to tolerate them.
"I will politely decline," Alia replied dryly. "We’re happy right here."
Jasmine glanced behind them. "Are the kids not here? I thought they would want to see the excitent."
"Napping." Kain gave one word before turning to Gene. He gestured to the bags behind him. "These are all the supplies. This should last for a month."
Captain Gene handed Kain a folder. It wasn’t thick, not that Kain expected it to be.
"Thank you, captain," Kain said steadily. "Do you need our help, or are there enough people?"
Gesturing to the seven waiting on the side, "If you need them, use them."
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