“Are you sure you don’t need some water?”

“Yes, I’m sure!”

Arthur looked at the teenager who had been bothering him for the past day. Looking not a day older than 18 years old, the boy was white, thin, and looked especially gaunt, a stark contrast to Arthur’s muscular appearance. His brown hair and eyes were ordinary. At a glance, there was nothing special about the boy. After the commotion he’d caused in the assessment room, Arthur had been placed in this squad along with a few other humans. Naturally, the story had already spread. An unknown number of squads were now aware that it had taken several soldiers to control him and that he would’ve been executed were it not for the Commander’s intervention.

After he arrived in the squad, he had been avoided like the plague by the other humans, who wanted nothing to do with someone who had almost been killed by the Empire. For some reason, however, this boy kept trying to approach him, even though he wouldn’t stand to gain anything from it. In fact, it would prove to be actually harmful to his experiences within the squad.

‘I don’t get it.’

Arthur couldn’t understand. Nobody tried to get to know someone without wanting something in return. That was the belief he’d had and developed for his whole life. Yet, right now he couldn’t see what the boy gained from this relationship, so he was wary. He felt like he was being outplayed.

The boy smiled and shrugged, sitting next to Arthur, who eyed him with suspicion. He couldn’t help but speak.

“Why are you trying to get closer to me, David? You won’t be able to have much contact with the others if they discover you know me.”

Arthur didn’t mind warning the boy. He’d already judged that a relationship with the boy wouldn’t prove to be beneficial to him and, more importantly, to Liam. As such, he didn’t bother with putting on a mask and pretending to be someone else. He said whatever came to his mind. The boy continued to smile.

“I just felt like you needed someone to talk to, that’s all. I know how it is to be lonely.”

‘Bullshit.’

Arthur narrowed his eyes. He wouldn’t believe that for a second.

“Well, I don’t mind it, so you can go.”

“I’m just sitting here. Does that bother you?”

“Yes.”

“How sad.”

David grabbed the bottle next to him on the bench and took a sip. Arthur took a deep breath and stood up, intent on walking over to another bench, before realizing that all spots were already taken. The other humans had grouped together tightly in order to avoid sitting on his bench. It meant that there was nowhere else for him to sit. More annoyed than ever, Arthur sat back down again, bouncing his leg.

“I heard you activated your Personal Attribute during the assessment and were almost killed for it.”

David spoke to him. It was an opportunity. As long as he managed to sound dangerous or uninviting enough, maybe the kid would go away on his own. Arthur decided not to waste this chance.

“Yeah. I did do that. What about it?”

Arthur barked out a response as the boy stared at him as if he were a complete idiot.

“Well, it was fucking stupid, that’s what. If you wanted to stand out, you picked the worst way to go about it.”

With a deadpan expression, David directly insulted him, surprising Arthur a bit. Then, he felt rage pool in his chest, taking a deep breath to make it go away.

“It was a gamble that didn’t pay off. Nothing more.”

“I don’t think so.”

“What?”

The teenager stared at him with calculating eyes.

“I think you did it for a reason, but something went wrong. People don’t do that sort of thing without a plan.”

Arthur turned angrily to the boy.

“And I don’t think people approach others for no reason, so why don’t you tell me what your deal is before I lose the rest of my patience?”

It was an uncharacteristic reaction. Under normal circumstances, Arthur would have never allowed himself to feel bothered by something so small, but the circumstances were far from normal. He was far away from Liam, unaware of where his friend was and what he was doing, the man’s status unknown. He was also alone, with none of the relationships he’d struggled to foster in his benefit and Liam’s to support him. Combined with the tension inherent to knowing he was going to war against some aliens he’d never heard of for an Empire he didn’t care about, the result was that he felt much pricklier than usual.

Contrary to his expectations, David didn’t smile sagely or show anger and frustration. Instead, the boy seemed genuinely surprised.

“I think that too! You’re right. I would have agreed with you in any other situation, but this time it’s an exception.”

“What?”

The teenager smiled.

“We’re going to war. I might die. This surprisingly makes one think a lot about life. I felt like I needed to have at least one normal friendship before I kicked the bucket, y’know? I don’t want to die without knowing what that’s like. I always envied people who can form relationships so easily, without doubting others. In short, I’m forcing myself to believe in you.”

Arthur couldn’t relate. He trusted people too little to believe genuine connection was possible. As he was about to answer, he thought of Liam. For rather random reasons, he’d managed to develop what he considered to be a normal friendship with someone. David didn’t seem to have that. He realized he couldn’t relate because he already had what David desired. A small amount of pity wormed its way inside his heart.

“…Fine. You might never earn my trust, but I’ll be your Liam.”

“What? Who’s Liam?”

“Don’t worry about it. I said fine. Now pass me some of that water.”

Arthur grumbled and took the water bottle from the teenager’s hands, taking a big sip. Normally, he would have never done so. He would have considered the water to be poisonous or tampered with somehow, something made with second intentions. Had David’s words about going off to die struck a chord within him? Had he been unable to realize he was feeling lonely? Or was the reason something else? He didn’t know, but Arthur suppressed his anxiety, his doubts, and his feelings and simply drank the water.

It was the second time in his life that he managed to ignore the questions gnawing away at him. The second time to genuinely try to get closer to someone.

…

Cassandra fidgeted while sitting on a plush chair in the Commander’s room. In front of her, the typical lie-detecting sphere lay on the table; the Commander had used it moments ago to confirm her words about her Personal Attribute. The large lizardman’s figure looked through the window to the front of the ship, a Communicator in his hands.

“Yes, Your Highness. I have diverted our course and am bringing her to you right now. We’re preparing to jump into the wormhole. We will be arriving shortly.”

A female voice came from the other side.

“Do any of my siblings know about this?”

“I have not shared it with any others, but I can’t say for sure, Your Highness. While unlikely, they might have their own methods of finding out.”

“It’s enough as long as you haven’t told anyone else, especially Varlian. That filth’s standing is shaky at best right now. One prestigious feat would help him get back on his feet, but we don’t want that, do we?”

The Commander put his weight on his other leg nervously.

“No, Your Highness. We do not.”

“Good. I will be awaiting your arrival. Make sure nothing happens to the human.”

The Communicator’s connection was broken off. Heaving a sigh of relief, the Commander put it on top of his table and walked to the chair in front of Cassandra, sitting down on it. She felt like a child due to the size of the chairs, but even more so because of how large the creature in front of her was. The Drakkhan were an intimidating species, but the Commanders took the concept to a whole other level.

“Don’t worry. Nothing will come to you. You will simply meet Her Highness and likely go back to the capital. I’m not sure why, but someone of your abilities has been desired for a long time now.”

Cassandra raised her gaze, looking into the Drakkhan’s eyes. From what she had heard from the conversation, she was both valuable and safe. There was no need to be afraid of trying to obtain more information.

“The capital?”

“Yes, the great city at the heart of our Empire. It houses the most important individual in our reign.”

“The emperor.”

The Drakkhan scratched his face and would have looked rather awkward were it not for having the figure of a killing machine.

“Yes, well, His Majesty The King.”

She furrowed her brow.

“The king? Aren’t you guys an empire?”

“We were an empire before the Convergence. Back then, our leader was called the emperor, but that word has a different connotation around here.”

Cassandra still looked confused, but the lizardman seemed unwilling to give up more information about the matter. Probably because he found it shameful? She decided to drop it and discover more important things.

“By the way, what happened to my friends?”

She tried to look as innocent and harmless as possible when asking, but the Drakkhan still lifted his brow, his eyes sharp.

“Your friends?”

“The other leaders of humanity…?”

With an enlightened “Ah,” the creature rubbed his chin in thought. It was as if he was judging what could be said and what couldn’t.

‘Right now I’m less influential than I thought.’

Readjusting her position in the hierarchy in her mind, she started to change her plan in real-time.