Cain knocked on the door for Leo.

  Behind the door, a tired voice sounded. “Who is it?”

  Cain spoke in a respectful manner. “It’s Cain, Sir. I’ve brought a recruit who wishes to speak to you. His name’s…” Cain turned to Leo and whispered, “What’s your name again?”

  “Leo.”

  Cain nodded. “His name’s Leo, Sir.”

  A short pause followed before the Lieutenant spoke again.

  “The door’s unlocked.”

  Cain nodded. “Go on, I’ll wait to escort you back.”

  Leo smiled gratefully and nodded back. “Thank you.”

  He entered the room, closing the door behind him. There, Teddy sat at a desk with a mountain of paperwork almost hiding his figure. A small pathway leading to his face was made of the stacks directly in front of him. There, he wore an exhausted, stressed expression as he focused on a paper. He no longer wore the cap, revealing his buzzcut black hair. His jacket was hung up on the door and he now wore a loose, long-sleeved white shirt. He also had reading glasses, giving him a much more nerdy look to him, which somewhat amused Leo.

  Everything else around him was practically unseeable as it was simply too dark. The only light source was coming from two candles sitting on each side of Teddy’s desk.

  Without so much as a glance, he motioned Leo to sit across from him.

  Leo worriedly asked, “Is this really a good time…? You seem a bit…”

  Teddy shook his worries away. Again motioning for him to sit with him.

  He hesitantly sat down, realizing he had come at a terrible time. First it was the guard, now the Lieutenant. What else could go wrong?

  For the next 15 minutes, the two sat in silence. Only the sound of Teddy’s pen scribbling on the paper could be heard with the occasional cough from Leo. Teddy’s light brown skin reflected the candle illuminating the room as his eyes remained locked on the papers before him, not even giving an ounce of attention to any distractions.

  The mood was anything but calming, but what could he do? He was the one that came uninvited. All he could really do was wait for Teddy to finish.

  At least during this time, he could properly organize his thoughts. In case the Lieutenant didn’t actually help him, then he would have to formulate some plan with Connie once she woke up. She most likely had some method in mind, at least a method better than his.

  Finally, Teddy put down his pen. Leaning forward, shot his head back and let out a long groan. He extended both hands upwards, stretching them past his head. He swore he could hear the arms cracking. Just how long had he been here for?

  The Lieutenant brought his head and arms back, resting on the desk and properly faced Leo. He gave Leo a tired smile.

  In a tired tone, he said, “Sorry for the wait, Leo. It was some important stuff I had to fill out. I probably should’ve given you something to do in the meantime, now that I think about it…” As he said this, his eyes fluttered as he slowly dozed off. But he quickly caught himself and began to slap himself awake, his eyes regaining their usual friendliness. “Alright, first off, how’re you doing?”

  Leo scratched the back of his head. “Not too bad, but it could be better.”

  Teddy let out an awkward chuckle as he sipped some tea. “I see. But what could possibly trouble you so much that you’d come to me?”

  “I just need your help with something.” Leo tossed the note Connie had given him to Teddy. Giving him a skeptical look, Teddy picked up the note and read the contents thoroughly for a few minutes. His face remained expressionless as he read the contents, making it hard for him to get a read on the officer.

  While he read, Leo couldn’t help but fidget with his hands. He internally begged whatever was watching them to bring some positive outcome to this risk.

  Suddenly, the Lieutenant brought the paper into a nearby candle to burn it. The fire quickly consumed the note with a few pieces of ash flying away like fireflies. Once he confirmed the note had been completely burnt, Teddy took on a much more serious expression, his once friendly smile faded, replaced with a more neutral tone. He didn’t look like he was frowning or angry, but he didn’t look happy either.

  In a much more professional and militaristic tone, he said, “I understand your predicament. And I can assure you I’ve already begun taking measures to handle this incident.”

  Leo, scared for Anthony, quickly moved to request something but was promptly stopped with a lift of a hand from the officer. “Before you panic, I don’t mean to dispose of him immediately.”

  Hearing this, Leo relaxed and sat back down. A light exhale of relief escaped his mouth.

  Seeing this, the Lieutenant continued. “I dispatched a Mindtap just yesterday. They should be arriving no later than tomorrow evening. Once we run some tests with Anthony, we will see how well he is to proceed to the final phases of the trial. Do you have any concerns with this?”

  “Could you please elaborate on what this ‘Mindtap’ you mentioned is?”

  Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  “Ah, my apologies. The Mindtap is simply a Smogborn with a mind-based Refraction that will be able to determine Anthony’s goals as well as his mental wellbeing. Overall, this Mindtap will see if he is capable of remaining loyal to us or, at the minimum, not cause any harm to the people of this city.”

  The Lieutenant paused, allowing Leo to process this information. “Additionally, depending on the resistance Anthony puts up, he shouldn’t have to experience too much pain, if at all. This examination will most likely occur right when the Mindtap arrives tomorrow as they don’t like to waste time.”

  Resting his arms on his knees, Leo looked down, fidgeting with his fingers. “And…how long will this examination take?”

  The Lieutenant thought for a moment. “That depends on the recipient but it’s usually between 10 to 30 minutes on average.”

  Leo nodded. This examination was probably his best way to confront Anthony about this contract. It gives him both the answers and the protection he needs. It’s killing two birds with one stone!

  Leo looked up and met the Lieutenant’s eyes. “What do I need to do for now, then?”

  He shrugged. “Just act as you normally would. Don’t cause unnecessary problems and keep doing what you would do. Make sure Anthony has no reason to lash out.”

  The Lieutenant suddenly looked dead at his eyes, a bonechilling sensation ran across his spine as he suddenly found it hard to breathe. “And please, don’t confront him before we get there. Or we really might have to terminate him.”

  ‘Breathe.’

  ‘Breathe.’

  He had to remind himself to breathe properly. He had barely made out the Lieutenant’s words as he was too focused on taking the next breath. After what felt like hours, he was brought back out with a simple question.

  “Understood?”

  All he could do was nod, not daring to meet the Lieutenant’s eyes.

  He was right about one thing. Although the Lieutenant was the most reliable…

  He just couldn’t be completely trusted.

  The Lieutenant smiled. “Great! Now, about the person who wrote this note…”

  Leo couldn’t help but gulp as he realized something. Connie had written some personal information about herself in that note, asking him to burn it upon reading it. Yet, he did the one thing she didn’t want, exposing her Refraction!

  He shot his head up, frantic to resolve this matter. “I can explain, it’s no big deal. If anything, she was just trying to help me! Please, don’t think she’s a threat. She’s not the most friendly, but she’s a kind person. If you would, please, let me take her punishment.”

  The Lieutenant brought his two hands together and rested his head on them. He took a deep breath before speaking. “Look, I don’t really care too much about her. Although she Refraction is interesting, I currently have other, more important matters to see. I won’t mention her Refraction nor her flaws to my seniors, but I must warn you.”

  He suddenly waved an eerily familiar piece of paper in front of Leo.

  To Leo’s dismay, it was Connie’s note! Legible and intact. But hadn’t he burned it?

  “Please be a bit more careful about this stuff. I’ll hold onto it for safekeeping, but please listen better in the future.”

  With that said, he put the note somewhere into his desk, locking it with a key before stuffing that key into his pockets. “Is there anything more you need from me?”

  Leo’s mouth couldn’t get a word out as he was left agape, too stunned to even speak. Connie’s powers and weakness, all on that note…

  The Lieutenant nodded. “Well, if there are no further requests, I’ll let you return to your dormitory. Please let Cain escort you back. Or if you wish, Amanda is but a 5 minute walk from here. Cain knows the way, just l inform him.”

  However, all Leo did was sit in his seat silently staring at where the note had been. He didn’t know how important these pieces of information were, but he knew they weren’t given out to just anybody. Teddy may be a soldier here, but he was far from what he would consider a friend. He couldn’t help but imagine how angry Connie would be later.

  Reaching for any option at this point, he weakly asked, “C-Can you return that note please? I still need it…”

  The lieutenant clicked his tongue as he wearily shook his head. “I’m afraid not. Such a note would be insecure in your hands as we can see here. I’ll just hold onto it for safekeeping. We wouldn’t want some random soldier or trialist to get their hands on this, or she might be put in a disadvantage.’

  Leo gave a strained smile. “Surely you can make some exception to that, I’ll just return the note to her later and-”

  Teddy raised a hand, stopping his words. “It is my duty to maintain the fairness of these trials, and this note would give the edge for either her or a competitor. You will not be getting this note back, and that’s final. Either way, it’s not too terribly important but this is for her own safety. Anything else?”

  He couldn’t make a single retort anymore. Teddy was right, but he couldn’t help but feel he had been completely played. No, it was more like he played himself. The officer hadn’t even done anything and this information just fell into his hands just like that. All he could do now was shake his head, hanging low in shame.

  “Well, if that’s all, then I’ll see you out. Oh, and that reminds me. You can go ahead and see Amanda since you’re here. She’s only a 5 minute walk away from here, so I’ll just have Cain escort you over to her. Is that alright?”

  “Yeah, that’s fine.” He no longer felt nervous, but instead, felt a searing guilt burning in his body. Teddy had already known and acted on the suspicions. How had Teddy noticed Anthony’s abnormalities before he did? His own friend!

  He realized now just how much he had failed. Not just as a reliable person, but as a friend.

  He quietly got up and slugged over to the door, deep in self-reflection as Teddy opened the door for him. As he stepped out, the Lieutenant began closing the door but stopped himself.

  “Oh, and before I forget.”

  Leo wearily glanced over at the Lieutenant, who rested against the doorway looking down on him. .

  With his usual warm, now twisted, smile, he said.

  “Have a good night, Leo.“