A few hours after our initial interrogation of the woman began, we had moved ourselves, as well as Katherine, now free of bonds and healed up by one of the palace magicians, into Rexir’s room in the palace.

Needless to say that immediately following the match, I whisked myself, Hazeel, and Vanessa into our waiting room in the colosseum. What followed was the interrogation which yielded some… very unsettling information.

However, the one bright spot was… I turned my attention to the blonde woman who was energetically eating cake. Vanessa had felt the need to apologize after we realized that she was Rob’s sister.

That girl who had been comatose while we were still on earth had aged quite a bit, from my understanding. I frowned, realizing once again that Rob never got to see his sister mature.

‘What are you thinking about?’ Vanessa’s warm presence spread through my mind as she bumped shoulders with me. I smiled as she rested her head on me.

Just sad that Rob couldn't see the woman that his sister has become. I think he’d be proud. Katherine was all smiles as she accepted a cup of tea from Leresa, and Rexir sat down on a two-seater couch that was adjacent to Vanessa, Hazeel, and I.

I tilted my head back to Hazeel, who was looking warily at Katherine. Calm down. I''ll fill you in as interrogations progress. I'll start teaching you English tomorrow as well. I grabbed her hand as we conversed mentally.

She instantly stiffened, and let out a small yelp, drawing gazes from Leresa and Rexir. I shook my head, and they returned to observing Katherine without so much as a word.

‘Leo, you can’t be serious. She’s one of the people from the organization who wronged you, and now you’re giving her cake!?’

A smile put on my face because of how she worded it, and I realized that just because Vanessa and I were able to share the memories of what happened that day, Hazeel wasn’t there.

What are you so afraid of anyway? She squeezed my hand, and let out a deep breath. ‘Two things. First, why are you speaking as if you know Robert is dead? From what you told me, you didn’t actually see him die. Second, you’re uncharacteristically trusting of this girl.’

That’s easy. First, I’ve been around Christian long enough to know what he does to people that disobey him. Second…

The more I thought about it, the more I realized how strange it was that I was so trusting of this woman who came from nowhere, only wielding the name of two people I had known from my previous world.

Ten years had gone by. How many technological marvels and weapons that I knew nothing about had they been able to produce?

Is there any way to tell if she is lying or not? I asked, and removed my hand from the wood elf’s. She swung around to the front of the couch, and sat to my left.

‘If we are using the interrogation-specialized wood magic that I used previously, then yes. Unfortunately, if they believe the lie as truth, I have no way of perceiving that.’

So it’s up to chance then? I sighed, and watched on as Katherine finished up the last of her cake. Once she had finished with her tea as well, I signalled to Rexir, who nodded, and went to stand guard outside the room with Leresa.

“Well, since you sent them outside, I’m guessing we have something to talk about?” Katherine asked, fiddling with a toothpick in her mouth.

I nodded, and began, “First, tell me about yourself. About what you remember from waking up, to why you decided to come after me.”

“Well,” Katherine began, “After I was shot, the next thing I remember is waking up at the hospital. There were many men in black… they were apparently guarding my room while I underwent an experimental treatment. As soon as my eyes opened, they knew, and called someone to come and get me.”

“I assume the person who had you under guard was Christian?” The blonde woman smiled, and shook her head in response to my question.

Katherine’s smile faded as she stood up straight, and gave us a stiff salute. “Special Agent Leo, this is Zodiac Splinter-cell agent Katherine Taylor, at your service.”

My eyes widened at the mention of the name of the group who used to serve as Christian’s right hand men. “Splinter cell?” Vanessa asked, straightening up in her seat. “Whose faction?”

“We are of the Rat Zodiac. Agent Alpha had been plotting to overthrow Supreme General Armando after his takeover of the world.” My mind thought back to the day we came back from the Paris Subspace, when Alpha, Darius Page, led me into military HQ to debrief Christian months ago.

Despite the gravity of the situation, a smile slipped onto my face. “So, Darius is still alive and kicking. I assume he sent you here, then? How’d he find me?”

Katherine shook her head. “He didn’t find you. It’s been ten years of trial and error, shooting me into different dimensions, and hoping we’d get lucky. I’ve been to hundreds of locations, some slightly different from the world we know. Some, vast offshoots from reality.”

I took a breath and nodded. “I see. How did he get Christian to spare you, then?”

“That’s easy.” She replied. “Agent Alpha reached me first. He told Supreme General Armando that we could use me as a weapon, and then proceeded to train me to kill you.”

“Great deal that did.” Hazeel scoffed, and I could see Katherine’s cheeks start to blush.

“Just so you know, I wasn’t going all out! I didn’t even show you guys half of my power!” I sighed as I realized what was about to transpire.

“Hah! What makes you think that we showed even a fraction of our power to you!?” Hazeel stood up, and leaned over the table separating us from Katherine. “If anything, you should be happy we held back, otherwise- eek!”

Hazeel squealed as Vanessa promptly slapped the wood elf on her rear to get her attention, then pointed back down to the couch.

Hazeel pouted, but took a seat once more. “Sorry about that.” I smiled, but Katherine was still pouting. Deciding it best to just move on, I cleared my throat, and asked, “How did Darius justify giving you the Walker Gene? It couldn’t have been easy to ask Christian for.”

Katherine recollected herself, and said, “It actually was. Agent Alpha reasoned that since my brother had such a high affinity with the injection, that I would as well.”

The woman across from me looked pleased with herself as she asked, “So, any other questions?”