The Nether Elite was not too thrilled being watched over like a bunch of children. It was that they were out of the watchful eye of their former grandmaster and the Angel of Death. Still, the Nether Elite had a job to do, and they planned on doing their best, despite this minor setback of trust.

Ryoko Shimizu was talking to a group of technicians and trackers who were her fellow agents. Behind her was Gamma Crucis, who was literally shadowing Ryoko in which he was doing. Actually, she was watching her fail to be a tactical leader.

Gamma Crucis painfully watched Ryoko trying to make sense of a simple criminal profile, “So the big guy wearing the helmet and the coat is some ruthless serial psycho killer... I was there when he shot down most of the member of the Red Arrow--”

“The un-sub is not a psycho, Ms. Shimizu. The un-sub shows reverence and hyper-vigilance. It’s far from being frantic and psychotic,” Gamma Crucis corrected.

Yet, Gamma Crucis’ correction fell on deaf ears as Ryoko rambled on, “Being a frantic and artistic killer, he loves to play to his audience…”

Almost losing her patience, Gamma Crucis tried to correct Ryoko yet again, “No, Ms. Shimizu. By the looks of these photos and how the un-sub killed those men, the un-sub is a trained professional. Its skills are highly improvisational and usually think three steps ahead and plan out three different scenarios for those steps. The un-sub's reaction time--”

“Um-Submarine?” Ryoko interrupted as Gamma Crucis took a deep breath to regain her composure.

“No, unknown subject. The unknown subject’s reaction time is inhuman.”

“Right, so it’s not human. So, it’s something else.”

At that point, Gamma Crucis lost all hope as she took a deep breath and spoke as loud as she could right in Ryoko’s ear, “The unknown suspect is clearly a trained professional, who has a military background!”

Then all of a sudden, Ryoko snapped her fingers and had an excellent idea, “Okay, here’s the skinny, nerds. Try to look up anyone who has ties with the military. Maybe this person is not human, so find the people who aren’t.” Ryoko ordered as she looks over to Gamma Crucis with a smile, “Nice work, Beaker.”

While Ryoko was walking away with a confident strut, Gamma Crucis couldn’t help herself by bringing this thought to mind, this woman is a complete idiot…

While Gamma Crucis was enduring such idiocy, Epsilon Crucis was eating a bag of potato chips and putting her feet up on the desk of someone’s corner office. However, the person who is residing in this corner office would be appalled by this scene as Kayla Anderson swats her feet off the desk.

“I thought you Crucis Sentinels were refined and godly,” Kayla insulted, but Epsilon Crucis laughed it off.

“Oh, you have no idea,” Epsilon Crucis belched while getting out Kayla’s chair.

Epsilon Crucis’ poor manners made Kayla’s skin crawl, “Ugh, my kids have more manners than you…”

“Oi! I might not be prim and proper as the other Sentinels, but I am uniquely charming in my own right,” Epsilon Crucis defended, picking her teeth.

“Sure…” Kayla wavered as Epsilon Crucis looks around her office and seeing scattered framed photos of anime characters and costumed heroes. Then, Epsilon Crucis looks like a framed photo of Kayla’s family, “They look a lot like you…” She commented.

Kayla sprints over to Epsilon Crucis and snatches the picture frame from her, “Yes, they do,” setting the picture frame down on the table.

“Why aren’t you in the picture?” Epsilon Crucis scrutinized.

“I was holding the camera,” Kayla briefly answered.

“Still, you could have gotten someone to do it for you,” Epsilon Crucis probed.

“But I didn’t…” Kayla blew off as she went to her desk and started working.

Watching this behavior, it really took her back from her own childhood, “I get it.”

“Get what?”

“You got a good-looking family, and you are nowhere to be seen on any of these pictures. You don’t wear your wedding ring, even though you are still happy to be with him. I bet you don’t even speak about your kids out of fear. It’s a common indication that you are ashamed of what you have done in the past, being so distant, and that’s okay…” Epsilon Crucis analyzed.

Kayla scoffed at the idea, “I am ashamed of what this place has become… I don’t want my kids to find out--”

“What you have done in the past, should not defy you as a person all your life, Mrs. Anderson. I’m not perfect, I am the first person in my squad to admit that. I piss in the wind, I shit out bricks, and I don’t care what people think of me. Why, because I am me. You shouldn’t be ashamed of it, just saying,” Epsilon Crucis explained.

“Speaking of experience?” Kayla reflected, scoffing at the teenager’s youthful banter.

“Yeah, I am,” the Crucis Sentinel admitted. “not always black and white. There are no such things as heroes and villains. Even if we eat about them.”

She didn’t want to hear what the Crucis Sentinel had to say about life in general. The world was cruel, prejudiced, biased, and unfair. Heroes don’t exist, and neither does villains. Just people, people with our own beliefs that usually eschew other ones.

While Kayla was in her own corner office, Ayeka was going into hers only to find Beta Crucis, patiently waiting for, sitting down on one of her empty chairs. The smiling Beta Crucis waived at Ayeka. However, to Ayeka, Beta Crucis gave office weird and unsettling vibe.

I don’t even know her, and this girl creeps me out already… Ayeka thought.

“I’m sorry, but I like your new corner office!” Beta Crucis praised.

“Thanks, comes with the territory…” Ayeka said while approaching her own desk.

This attitude concerned Beta Crucis, “You seem grim about earning the opportunity. I believed it’s well deserved…”

Ayeka sighs, “That’s not the point…”

“You wanted Natalia to be the leader instead of you?” Beta Crucis questioned.

“Many people think-- Never mind…” Ayeka blew off.

“You have been looking for Siath and Alastair for quite some, I see. Off the record?” Beta Crucis mentioned.

Ayeka looked at her with a blank expression as she flatly answered, “No.”

“I get it, respecting your Grandmaster’s wishes…” Beta Crucis analyzed.

“Yes, Dolph-sama told us to lay low until we have the proper authority.”

“I wasn’t referring to Dolph. I was referring to Sudbina,” Beta Crucis corrected.

Ayeka was taken aback by this correction, “I don’t get it--”

“You think Dolph is weak and incompetent as a leader, and you don’t trust Adrian at all with these women. The thing is, you don’t want to be at the forefront of anything, and you would like to be behind the scenes. Out of sight and out of mind… Like Adrian…” Beta Crucis explained.

“Not like Adrian…” Ayeka defended.

“Yes, you don’t torture people. Not anymore, anyway…” Beta Crucis smiled.

Even though that smile was genuine and sincere, Ayeka couldn’t feel uneasy by the little girls calm and collectiveness, “I don’t want to talk about that…”

Knowing that she struck a nerve, Beta Crucis decided to change the subject, “I’m sorry, let’s talk about the un-sub! What are your thoughts?”

Ayeka took a deep breath and began to talk about the case she was assigned, “The un-sub is attacking all major banks in New York City. Many would think--” although she wanted to move forward, she can help thinking about the past. She had to get it out, or else it would nag at her, “Back in the day, I did what I had to do to keep our world safe. It was chaotic. Sometimes, I still have nightmares about what I did to those people…”

“Especially those who turned out to be innocent?” Beta Crucis emphasized.

With a sad expression on her face, Ayeka couldn’t help but reflect on what she had done in her youth, “I live in my own personal Hell now…”

“Is that why you were kicked out of the Apex Predators?” Beta Crucis followed up, as Ayeka looked at her dead in the eye.

“Whoever said I was kicked out?"