Lian and Arim were a step in front of him, sharing a lengthy and informative conversation about the history of the city, Caer Sidi, and one of its founding groups, the Platinum Union; but to Ogda, for some reason it all sounded like rubbish, white noise covering a barely visible transmission.

To the one-eyed firg, usually this kind of stuff would have made him ignore the outside world and bask in the ancient stories of such a place; how the trio that helped them out in the desert were more impressive than they let on; how the young man, Arim, grew up more among firgs than humans, even considering many of them family, but to Ogda all that passed through were bits and pieces.

And all because the human annoyed him for no good reason. There was nothing that he said or done that would explain his annoyance with the young man. “He does talk kinda funny; and what’s with that neck collar, is he a turtle, always hiding his face in it?!”

A dent in the road stretched out his left foot for a second, but he didn’t notice, not even when it whipped right back into the main body. “ Lian…did yo-”, but when the three turned around to stare up at him, Ogda felt a clog in his brain.

Lian- “ Know what, buddy?”

Ogda- “Nothing, actually. I forgot…” He turned his diamond eye to the side, trying to not make contact. The redhead felt something was wrong, but not how to address it;

“Why is she smiling at him like that? It looks weird on Lian’s face /I don’t know why, but my entire being is saying that he's trouble; a blockage that would tamper my miss…ion?” Something then clicked. What was he even talking about? A mission? Was the water firg entrusted with a task, something related to Lian?

Ogda thought that all of his ramblings were in his head, but snapped back to reality when he noticed someone watching him. Two sets of minuscule eyes attached to Arim’s gauntlet have been following him without blinking. It then made a weird sound, getting the young man to turn around to Ogda.

Arim- “ Ugh, Zinc says that you want, no, need to spar with us right now?” He hoped that it was just another prank of his little partner, but something from the girl’s companion's undisturbed posture indicated that Zinc wasn’t lying.

Lian- “ What? No? Ogda , what are you talking about? Why would you want to do that now?”

The one-eyed firg didn’t know what to say to her, and only addressed his future opponents: “… Is Goidel strong? In comparison with the other guys from the Union, like the Captain or Blitz?”

A bit taken by surprise, Arim held the response up in the air. For now, he had to finish his stretches while Zinc was handing an already completed form to a pair of local peacekeepers. The young man saluted the two uniformed officers and asked them if “the usual place is available for today as well?”

For the first time since the two landed here, Lian grabbed on Ogda with a tight hand and tried to grip on whatever she was able to. Her veins pulsated from the grab and anger, making her blood travel faster all over her body.

Lian- “ EXPLAIN, NOW! What are you up to?” a raised voice escaped her throat without her willingness, leading to the firg to cower his head in response. He remained on mute, though, still unsure of what to say.

Lian- “ Listen, I didn’t mean to yell at you, I’m s-” , but then the red outline of her hand flashed before her eyes. And it tried to smack Ogda over the head, passing right through him, as a possible punishment. Instead, though, Lian was stupefied that it could even suggest that.

The girl turned to her right hand, a bit shaken by everything happening in such a fast manner. “ I’m sorry Ogda… I… Can you promise me that you have a good reason?”

He hastened his head upright, shocked by her question. “ Ye-” but that was a lie. He didn’t have a good reason, in fact. Or felt like it. “ I…the city looks fascinating, but with so many people here…also dangerous. I want to know if I can protect us, you know?” He then left out a forced laugh, something very out character for him.

Lian- “Right… Sure, whatever…let’s leave it like that”, she replied, halfheartedly.

….

Arim- “ So, you wanted to know about Goidel ?”, asked the young man, taking a fighting stance.

Ogda- “… Yes. He almost cut me with a dagger, but my body wouldn’t be easily damaged by that…yet, I still feel like I would have lost the fight. Or more”, dreaded the water firg. To his surprise, the boy and his armor partner took the opportunity while he was distracted and struck first with a right kick that sent shock waves all over his left part of the body.

Arim- “ Goidel is the weakest of the official Union members, but among the top when it comes to analyzing the opponent. At least that’s what I figured from his lessons.”

Zinc split his gauntlet form apart, and moved his parts to match Arim’s limbs positions, protecting his weak, human flesh while the young man defended against Ogda’s whip-like attacks. Their coordination started to annoy the striker, who tried to increase his rhythm, but the two managed to keep up. Easily.

Ogda- “ … So, he would have figured out my weakness?”

Arim- “ After a while, yes? Probably. But he already has some experience with…ugh, liquid beings, and already found a counter. All of them know.” The boy then coordinated Zinc to his feet and the two zipped right in front of Ogda, dealing quick strikes that from a distance looked like lightning-fast pats. But to their opponent it felt differently.

Ogda staggered a few steps backward, feeling his body trembling from the attacks. He stared back, with fear now, at the two, unsure of what to do next. Another few hits like those, and he was more than sure to be beaten.  

Lian- “ What are you doing, Ogda, taking so many easy kicks?”

The water monster turned, a bit dizzy in his view, his thoughts mixed around by the whole fight from the previous and current one. “ I can’t defend against them… I… I”

Lian- “ Then avoid them, you scatterbrain. You have a malleable body, remember?” A simple observation, but one that he truly forgot about for a moment. Zinc chipped once more, looking a bit disappointed.

Arim- “ No, it’s fine. The two are going to be Fect members, they need to have some sort of report. Still, I guess this means Ogda will finally use his body with more efficiency. Can you split around enough for that?”

Without saying a word, Zinc’s body divided into multiple small parts, covering multiple areas of Arim’s body. And just like he envisioned, Ogda finally started to employ other methods of attacks.

More water whips striking at more perceived weak points, which unfortunately were protected by the little gauntlet firg, who stuck a tongue out for each successful defense. Still, the strategy went both ways, as Ogda learned how to manipulate his body to avoid more and more strikes. It was difficult enough to maintain his form, so the water monster only shrunk small parts of his body.

The three were in a stalemate for a couple of minutes, gaining an audience in the meantime; most of the people were impressed to see that someone could keep up with Arim and Zinc; even Lian started to believe that Ogda might have a chance; until, all of a sudden, he stopped in a weird position and the girl realized the issue.

Lian- “ Ah, not again.” She ran toward him and helped him return from his rigidification once more.

Arim- “ Well, I guess we should pack it for today, then. Still, that was quite impressive, right Zinc?” The gauntlet only grunted a chip and returned to scowl at the newcomers for now.

Arim- “ So…is this a recurring issue for him?”

Lian- “ … Maybe. It’s the second time I saw it, but I think so. Do you k-”

Ogda then intervened, managing to untangle his body’s chemistry a bit faster this time. -“… My apologies…for how I behaved. I… I think I’ll take you up on your training ... .if you’ll still have me?”

Arim- “ Oh…OH, you will?! Did you hear that, Zinc, we’re getting a new sparring partner!”, to which the gauntlet only puffed back. “ Yes, of course, definitely. Welcome aboard!”

…..

A concrete arch behind a small restaurant started to shatter while a set of stairs opened beneath them. Blitz, carrying the cocoon, paces the dimly lit underground staircase, mumbling and complaining about the lack of maintenance to the entrance. Once the door closes behind him, the arch reassembles itself back to normal.

Blitz- “ I’ll ask Nizzio to train these slackers more rigorously this time.”

It took the metallic firg a couple of minutes to spiral down into an underground facility filled with countless rooms and corridors covered in speckled white ceramic, which were continuously cleaned by small, wood-like automatons.

Before he could even take a few steps inside, the Union member was already surrounded by four-to five firgs in white lab coats, gloves and protective glasses.

Scientist 1- “ Director, just a -”

Blitz- “Not the director anymore, I quit that post already. What do you want?”

S3- “ Nice, you got him to reply! I still only get grunts”, to which Blitz scowled and grunted back.

S1- “ Can you go over my paper on the abilities of the human psyche? I think the negative effects on their brains from the powers they gain from the Layered Domain are more dangerous than estimated.”

Blitz- “ Are you still trying to find an alternative to the pact?”

S1- “ Yes dir…sir. The Fetch is a working solution, but it relies too much on chance. And considering that humans don’t have the luxury of choice when it comes to gaining the abilities, it’s still a serious matter for them.”

Blitz-“ “ Sure, I’ll take a look over it after I check this”, he then points toward his container.

S4- “ Another infected?”

Blitz- “ So it seems. I’ll start my analysis on it, see if I can get another clue. Has anyone managed to go over my notes from my previous examination?”, he asked, unknowing that most of the staff takes a break from their own research to comb over Blitz’s notes every single time.

S6 - “ Yes sir, I left you my, and everyone else's feedback in your office.”

The metallic firg nodded and shut the door behind him; a cold sign for anyone who wasn’t familiar with him, but researchers there knew that he was excited to start poking the cocoon.

Blitz- “ Now, let’s see what squirms around there.”