“Shouldn’t we be worried about this? The—” Deen narrowed her eyes and raised a finger. “Hang on.” She turned left and right, her eyes scanning our surroundings. No one else was at the outside sitting area of Cindy’s besides us and a waiter clearing the table of the teen couple who had just left.

We all followed her lead, staring at the waiter for a few seconds longer than normal, making him uncomfortable. Did her Guardian Angel tell her something?

The waiter went back inside the restaurant shooting a weirded-out expression our way.

“The experiments of the 2Ms,” Deen finally said, “giving the rich pseudo-Adumbrae powers in return for funding, isn’t all of that just a small part of the plan of the Adumbrae? The true Adumbrae.”

“Correct,” Dario said. “And—”

“And these Adumbrae,” she pressed on, “the real ones behind the scenes. They infiltrated the BID. What was that again? Division Proxy? The Adumbrae are stealing technology developed by Division Proxy, by our government, to conduct their own experiments through these criminal organizations like the 2Ms to find a way to retain their human minds, pushing back the entities from the other dimension while still keeping their powers. This technology being—”

“That’s us,” Everett said.

“Ehm, not really us, per se,” Reo said. “The Professor just stole the artificial Cores we’re using from the BID.”

“Per se,” Myra scoffed, rolling her eyes.

Dario nodded. “As I’ve told you and Erind, Division Proxy of the BID is making super soldiers with artificial Cores they developed. They’re able to do this…safely…because they have an Origin Core that, for some unknown reason, was never absorbed by the Mother Core, consequently making it undetectable by Corebrings.”

“Yes, that,” Deen said, her brows furrowed. “We’re fighting the 2Ms. They’re in league with Adumbrae, they’re making Adumbrae, making monsters, they’re killing people, experimenting on people…I, uh, they’re evil. That’s it! We’re on the side of good fighting evil. But that’s…that's also not it. Not all of it anyway. Isn’t our goal not only to stop whatever the Adumbrae are planning to do with their experiments, but also to keep all of this away from the Corebrings? Because if the Corebrings find out about the 2Ms, it’s only a matter of time before—”

“—they also find out about the Origin Core our government is keeping,” I said, continuing Deen’s thoughts. I had to back up my best friend here. Plus, I was interested to see where this was headed. “The Corebrings will surely fight our country for that. It'll be a huge conflict.”

“That’s what I’m getting at,” she said. “Because of Stella, the Corebrings’ attention is turned to our city. Or maybe they were already here before? I heard in class this morning—just a rumor my classmate shared; I don’t know if it’s true—that the Corebrings killed the Adumbrae, well, Stella, without any request from our government through the Protocol. They supposedly reacted too fast to have been contacted through official channels. If so, it could only mean they already had their eyes on La Esperanza for some time. Isn’t that the absolute worst scenario?”

I wanted to shake Deen’s hands and congratulate her for being such a bright girl. She had no idea how close…and how far…she was on that one. I also confronted Myra about this, but then she revealed to me that our government wouldn’t ever go to war with the Corebrings because the latter had the support of many of our own politicians and could mind control more if needed.

Then what are these hero wannabes actually fighting for?

I hadn’t thought about it back then because I was focused on manipulating the situation against Myra. I must admit I was getting a little intrigued. Was there even any truth to the story about the BID and their top-secret experiments? There should be parts that were since Deen did get superhuman powers.

But which ones?

That, however, was a question for another time. Right now, I wanted to see how Dario was going to answer this.

He shook his head. “The Corebrings aren’t here,” he assured Deen. “Killing Stella was a routine thing for them, just another day on the job.”

“How do you know that?” she demanded. “They are here. How could they have killed Stella if they’re not—”

“Omnispear,” he replied. Deen raised a brow. I didn’t know what that was either. “Omnispear is the name of the Corebring who killed Stella. To be more accurate, that’s what he’s called in the BID database of Corebrings; I have some access to it with the help of the Professor. No one knows his real name, or if he’s a ‘he’, because he has never shown himself.

“His ability is very distinct, which is why he has a specific file even though no one has seen him. What can he do? He can teleport his CoreQuip, a spear, inside a target he sets his eyes on. The spear will burst out of a body, a brick wall, a tree, anything he can see.”

“That’s what happened to Stella,” Myra cut in. “A huge blade came out of her chest out of nowhere.”

“Omnispear doesn’t need to see the target with his own eyes; that’s what the BID hypothesized. It can be through binoculars. A live broadcast seems to work too, like a live news report, or a livestream on the internet; depends on the delay of the broadcast and how his target has shifted in relation to that delay.

“The BID has recorded several instances of this happening all over the world—a mysterious teleporting spear showing up when there is a live broadcast and disappears when the broadcast is cut off. Spears of varying sizes coming out from the bodies of Adumbrae. I’m not sure if the change in the spear is his own ability or because of other Corebrings boosting his power.”

“I…see…” said Deen, slumping down her chair, still sounding unconvinced.

“I picture him relaxing on a couch at the Hive, chilling the fuck out and watching TV,” Reo said, leaning back and pretending to hold a TV remote. “Then there’s a news flash showing Stella destroying our city, just begging to be killed. He gets pissed off the rerun of his favorite soap opera was interrupted, then BOOM! Teleports a spear into her.”

“That’s some imagination you got,” Myra said.

“Perhaps not exactly that,” Dario said, “but something along those lines. I assume the Hive is monitoring these kind of events all of over the world, and Omnispear saw people needing help. He acted immediately, putting the lives of people above following the Protocol.”

Johann raised his smoothie at me as if to toast. “Nice going, Erind, with your idea to video Stella. Who knows, maybe it was our video that Omnispear used to teleport his spear? We were hoping the BID to show up, but it was this Omnispear guy that helped us.”

“Ah!” I exclaimed, surprising everyone. “I think it really was because of our video. The giant spear disappeared when Stella destroyed the building you were in,” I said to him.

“That bitch probably knows about Omnispear,” said Myra with anger in her voice. “She immediately shot Johann’s position like she was estimating where the camera that spawned the spear could be.”

“I was really lucky I got out with just scratches.”

“We owe this guy for killing Stella, but I also hate him because he nearly got you killed.”

“It’s fine…” He turned away and shook his head to dismiss her concerns. “Even though I’m just a normal human, you don’t have to worry so much about me.”

There were a few seconds of awkward silence that I decided to break by saying, “The spear reappeared afterwards and finally finished off Stella. Another camera, I guess? It’s clear this was Omnispear.” I should call Clive that name the next time I see him; he might find it hilarious. But it was probably better I don’t run into Corebrings ever again.

“Here’s a funny thing,” Reo said. “I did some research on the internet when Myra told me about a Corebring with a power like that. Turns out this guy’s pretty famous in Corebring fan forums, especially after killing Stella. People are fighting over what to call him. ‘Omnispear’ sounds cool as fuck, but there’s this troll insisting to call him ‘Clive’, pissing off everyone.”

“Sounds like a dumb name,” Myra said. “You fit right in with those trolls.”

“The main point is,” said Dario before Reo could retort, “Omnispear killed Stella while watching TV, or he could be watching it online. He—or any other Corebring—is not actually here in our city.”

“I guess you’re right.” Deen awkwardly grinned at us. “Did I sound like a worrywart?

Everett leaned towards her. “You were right to worry, but we already have plenty to worry about.” He extended his arm as if to pat her shoulder, but pulled back when he saw Reo winking at him. He cleared his throat and straightened up on his chair. “It’s just a normal day for the Corebrings, like Dario said. It feels like a big deal to us, as if there’s some conspiracy in the background, something more sinister going on, because it is our own city that's under attack.”

“I’m not dismissing your concern, don’t get me wrong,” Dario said. “We’ll keep our eyes out as always. And I’ll be in touch with the Professor as often as I can to see if he has more intel.”

“I’ll also keep my ears open on the side of the police,” Johann chimed in. “I’ll probably hear something if Corebrings are arriving in our city.”

“I’m sorry. I just can’t help but overthink…”

“It’s fine, Deen,” I said. “How about you take a bite of the burger so you’ll feel better.”

“How would that—?”

“Or you want a chicken wing?”

“Burger! Burger!” Reo started to chant.

I also joined in, clapping my hands timidly at first, then louder when all of them also clapped their hands. “Burger! Burger! Burger!”

“Fine!” Deen held her breath, and took a huge bite of the burger. She swallowed it, barely chewing, and nearly choked. We all laughed while she tried to wash it down with a smoothie.

Yep, I really miss this. Just having a normal face on, the face of a friend, the face of an average member of society, just swimming through social interactions, pretending I could relate to them. A leisurely pastime. Very relaxing.

I should savor this moment because I feel like my life would get upturned again pretty soon.

I’m getting used to it anyway.

“I can’t believe this street is also packed,” Deen said. It was already the third time we took a detour to avoid heavy traffic only to run into yet another one of its ever-growing tendrils. “I thought only tumbleweeds passed this way.”

“Tumbleweeds?” I said. Rundown shops lined both sides the streets, most of them already closed. There were a couple with a condemned sign hanging on their doors. Obviously, not somewhere we should be. Yet many cars were passing this way, on the same quest as us to find a faster way downtown. Derelict vehicles illegally parked along the road, probably not working anymore, forgotten or abandoned by their owners in ages past, exacerbated the traffic. If only I still had my foldable bike, then I could avoid this nonsense.

“It’s just an expression.”

“Okay, but what are tumbleweeds?”

“You know those big balls of dried weeds rolling in the desert?”

“Ah, so that’s what they’re called. Added ‘tumbleweeds’ to my dictionary.”

“Honestly? You didn’t know what tumbleweeds are? There are tons of them here in California, like the southern desert places.”

“Is there a national requirement to know the name of those things?” I poked her side, and she accidentally hit the horn of her car.

“Quit that.” She poked me back. “They’ll think I’m an impatient driver.”

“We should’ve gone with Johann,” I said. “Maybe we could’ve avoided this.” He left thirty minutes earlier than us to prepare some stuff at the police station; it would also be suspicious if we arrived together at the same time. He explained to me what was going to happen, and also said he’d call later to give us more details of his plan.

Since we weren’t going anywhere anytime soon, we decided to watch the news on the TV of Deen’s car.

The local news channel was covering the insanity at Marshall Avenue. The whole road was closed. A large protest snaking down the whole length of it, only halted at the hospital by a barricade manned by the National Guard.

A large contingent of the Mother Core Disciples sect was having a prayer rally, occupying a side road, encouraging the protesters to join them in prayer. Their goal was supposedly to cleanse the hospital of the Adumbrae taint, from what I could gather from the placards they were carrying. There were other religious groups doing their own things all around the place.

A smaller gathering was held by family members of the casualties of the Adumbrae attacks currently housed in the hospital. They were pleading for understanding from the citizens of the city.

The news reporter said that the violent groups who attempted to scale the back walls of the hospital were arrested by the police. Police were also deployed all over the downtown area to deter looting and further acts of violence.

Normal people are really weird.

“I hope Dario and the others get to the hospital safely,” Deen said. “But looking at how things are going,” she pointed at the screen, “maybe they won’t be allowed inside.”

“I’m sure they’ll think of something. Reo can still use his fairy to scout.”

The traffic moved sluggishly, and we sat in silence while the news continued. It was apparent on Deen’s face she was concerned for the people. Or maybe she was concerned for our sake? I was thinking maybe I should look concerned too. Nah, she won’t notice me. She was engrossed by the stupidity of humanity displayed on TV.

One would think only an idiot would listen to an Adumbrae and let them get taken over. That humanity would surely unite and help each other. But things like these proved the opposite. It was very easy for Adumbrae to take over someone and then gather followers.

Although, that was rich coming from me. Not like I could judge these people given my situation.

I wasn’t sure whether I should speak up. It was usually Deen’s role to be talkative, but I should also be a caring friend when she was obviously worrying about something, right? “Deen…” I started to say, but she also spoke.

“Erind, there’s something I have to tell you.” She muted the TV. “Keep this a secret from the others for now, okay?”

“Sure.” What was this about?

“We’re looking for the Red Island and we need to find it as soon as possible.”

“Right. But we have no leads now.” Actually, we do. Or rather, I do…through Bianca.

“I think I have a way to find out.”

“Huh?”

“Bianca.”

“What about her?”

“I think I can get her on our side.”