Vail pulled himself away from the door with every ounce of his will, turned with a smile, and left quietly...
On the other side of that door, Raym felt something waiting for him, but it faded away little by little. Suddenly, a strange memory flickered in his mind from nowhere:
A man, his features indistinct, looking at him, then speaking in a sharp, commanding voice:
"No, no, boy... you need to learn to feel things more than you see them. Because very often, appearances deceive... so you must make yourself capable of sensing intentions and presence, even without seeing them..."
Then, all at once, Raym felt the man before him release a massive aura, like an explosion — and it pulled him back to reality.
It turned out he had dozed off for a while, sweat covering his forehead. Raym glanced at his arm, and found it slowly mending toward recovery.
Then he heard a knock at his door, and there stood Deputy Commander Leo, in that same calm, sarcastic voice of his:
"Hey, kid. Hurry up and wrap things up. Something important's about to be announced."
Raym straightened himself quickly, his expression shifting to confusion. But inside, he'd already decided to go and get ready... why though? He felt there was nothing left for him to do there, and that letting the whole matter go had simply become a question of time now...
About an hour passed.
Raym walked with heavy steps, dragging his wounded arm, and reached the usual place. But unusually, there was no one there but Deputy Commander Leo, Vail, Commander Seroh, and Irene.
Leo welcomed Raym, who looked surprised — for the first time, he felt important enough to be invited to a meeting of commanders.
Vail looked at him with open longing, as though waiting for something, while Raym barely noticed him at all. Maybe he was still angry with him over what had happened before, or maybe he simply had no room left for him right now...
Vail's expression quickly shifted to disappointment, and before another word could be said, a stillness settled over the place.
Deputy Commander Leo addressed them all:
"Alright, everyone — I'll get straight to it, since we're all here... well, maybe not all of us. That fool's late again."
Leo sighed, then went on:
"Very well, then..."
He turned to Raym, and said in a calm voice:
"You, kid — I know you're not in the best shape. So I've decided to send you on a mission of a special kind. Not a real mission... just an escort."
Raym nodded, bewildered, barely managing to part his lips before Leo continued:
"Alright, let's not get ahead of ourselves. You'll be going with the Supreme Commander to the town of CORE, and things should be quiet. Since you'll be with him, you won't be doing anything more than offering him some moral support."
Commander Seroh sighed, looked into Leo's eyes, and said in a serious, firm voice:
"Are you sure??? I mean, the boy doesn't look ready to go??? And he's barely had any rest since his last mission!!!"
Leo looked back at him earnestly, smiling, and said nothing at all.
Seroh took a deep breath, and nodded in agreement — against his better judgment, of course...
Leo then turned and looked at both Irene and Vail, and said:
"As for the two of you — or rather, let's say... us — we'll be heading somewhere else entirely..."
His eyes met Vail's. He stepped closer to him, slowly, gazing deep into his eyes, and said:
"Yes, Vail... we're going to the place you've always run from!!!"