The trio now settled in their assigned quarters, the walls hummed softly with hidden machinery, temperature controlled, sound-dampened, almost too calm. Dævd sat cross-legged on the floor near the low coffee table, Lucent Grave resting beside him like a sleeping beast. Its etched runes still faintly pulsed after his earlier training scan.
Jules lounged sideways across a sleek, high-tech couch, one leg dangling off the edge. Kade leaned against the far wall, arms crossed as always, his eyes scanning the quiet room like it might attack them at any second.
"I still say they should've at least let me test the anti-gravity boots," Jules muttered. "What's the point of having cool toys if they're just gonna lock them up behind, like, seventeen security protocols?"
Dævd gave a small smirk. "You nearly electrocuted yourself with a vending machine earlier."
"Okay but that was before orientation. I'm officially trained now."
Kade didn't look up. "You're officially annoying."
"You say that like it's a surprise." Jules flashed a grin.
Dævd chuckled under his breath, the sound soft but real. It wasn't much, but it felt like the first normal moment they'd shared since Lagos.
Before long, a chime pulsed from the door. It slid open, revealing Rena, this time in full field gear, sleek black jacket, Division 7 insignia prominent, hair pulled back with military precision.
Rena stepped in, crisp in her field uniform, a tablet tucked under one arm. Her expression was focused, this wasn't another debrief or orientation. This was movement.
"Your first op," she said simply, tapping the tablet. The map shifted, zooming in on a mountainous region near the Arizona border.
"We picked up an anomalous signal two hours ago, a psionic flare strong enough to trip half our satellites. Same signature Kael's minions give off… but twisted, unstable. It's not a full Branded, but something… corrupted."
Jules blinked. "Like a Branded on discount?"
Rena didn't even flinch. "Like something that's still transforming."
Dævd straightened. "Is it near civilians?"
"Too close. There's a small settlement in the area, off-grid, no real law enforcement. If this thing fully turns, we're looking at another Lagos incident on a smaller scale. You three are being deployed immediately to investigate, contain, and extract if possible."
Kade finally spoke, his voice low. "So we're testing if we can play soldier now?"
"You're not soldiers," Rena replied. "You're better. Unofficial. Off-record. That means we move smarter, hit faster, and stay cleaner."
She handed a small metallic disc to Jules, a portable communicator and tracking device shaped like a coin. "You'll report in every thirty minutes. If comms break, fallback extraction is two hours."
Jules gave a slow nod, pocketing it. "No pressure or anything."
Rena looked at each of them in turn. "This is real now. You've seen what Kael can do. We're not just cleaning up after him anymore, we're getting ahead of it."
She paused at the door.
"We're not letting you head into this mission blind," she said. "Come with me."
Jules stood up immediately, stretching like a cat. "Please tell me this is the part where we get jetpacks."
Kade pushed off the wall with a grunt, his expression unreadable. "Or weapons."
Dævd rose silently, Lucent Grave still sheathed across his back, quietly humming like a heartbeat only he could feel.
"Division 7 has a policy," she said as they walked. "No one steps into a warzone unprepared. That means weapons. Upgrades. Gear built for the reality you're walking into, not the fantasy you hope for."
Jules leaned in toward Kade as they followed her. "She's got a real 'angry mentor in a sci-fi movie' vibe. I like it."
Kade shot him a side glance. "You like danger."
"I like style," Jules whispered back. "Big difference."
Just ahead, Rena stopped before a set of heavy reinforced doors, placing her palm against the sensor. A low beep sounded.
"Inside, you'll find something we've been building for a while."
The doors hissed open, steam venting slightly from the sides.
"Welcome to Prototype Room Theta."
The doors slid open with a low hiss, revealing a wide, gleaming chamber bathed in cool white light. Unlike the sterile corridors outside, this room hummed with quiet, focused energy. Transparent display screens floated around sleek workstations. Along the far wall, three illuminated platforms rose slightly from the floor, each holding a suit that looked more like something from a lost Aetherian vault than modern Earth.
Dævd took an instinctive step forward.
His eyes went to the first suit, clearly tailored for him. It was sleek and reinforced, deep midnight black with silver Aetherian glyphs etched faintly along the arms and chest. Thin, circuit-like veins pulsed with dim light across the fabric, alive.
Jules whistled, walking past his own platform. His suit had more visible tech, compact energy coils layered into the spine, forearm gauntlets designed for modular weapons or tools, and a green-tinted visor folded seamlessly into the collar. "Okay, now I feel like I'm in a space-opera RPG."
Kade stood silently in front of his. It was tactical, armored, nothing flashy, all utility. Matte graphite plating over dark fabric, a reinforced harness, and gauntlets built to sync with his plasma rifle and gauntlet tech. He narrowed his eyes slightly. "How long have these been ready?"
All of them designed with the Division-7 logo.
Rena stepped past them, arms crossed.
"You'll find we made a few upgrades to your old gear," she added, glancing at Kade with a knowing look. "Try not to break it on the first mission."
Kade grunted but said nothing.
Dævd stepped onto his platform slowly, drawn toward the suit. The energy from Lucent Grave pulsed quietly in rhythm with the suit's embedded channels. The glyphs responded, lighting up ever so slightly as he got closer. It felt… familiar. Like it was waiting.
"It's Aetherian-threaded," Rena said, nodding to his suit. "Reverse-engineered from what your sword carried when we first found it. It'll adapt to your energy flow. Like a second skin."
Jules already had his jacket half on. "Do these come with instruction manuals, or are we just supposed to vibe with them?"
"Vibe," Rena said dryly, already turning toward the control station. "But if you accidentally set yours on fire, I'm not writing the incident report."
Kade muttered under his breath. "We're doomed."
Jules grinned at him. "Doomed in style."