Nero and Vanessa concluded their conversation there. It felt odd that they had a long and borderline treasonous conversation right in the middle of the street of a secret base, with patrols keeping an eye on them and even reminding them to hurry up lest they stay past curfew.
Nero was beginning to get a glimpse into why a secret agency might want someone with abilities like his father. Just the ability to secretly transmit data was incredible. He wondered if Unity had ever tried to approach or recruit him.
Speaking of Unity, Nero was expecting a visit from them but wasn't sure when it would be. He briefly considered that Bael might act as the contact, but did not say anything to him at all. Flintlock had specifically mentioned that Nero was only useful, so long as
no one
knew he was a member.
Considering the limited remaining time, Nero had to sprint back to his barracks and reached with only a couple of minutes to spare. Upon arrival he was greeted with an unexpected but welcome surprise - he had been upgraded from the shared room to a private one, and all his belongings had been moved.
Nero wasn't sure why he had been upgraded, but did not question it as he did not exactly prefer communal showers. Upon returning to his room Nero showered, changed and then practised his spell model alteration for an hour.
The entire time he was waiting for someone to contact him, but with nothing as such happening, he went to sleep. He had only a few hours to sleep before he had to join Corporal Thomas and his team.
Falling asleep quickly was practically a requirement of military life, and for those cursed with the inability to fall asleep quickly, there were naturally Eldrim cards which did as much. Fortunately, Nero needed such aid, and after only a few moments of resting his head on his pillow, he was out for the night.
Yet it was not the usual emptiness of sleep that welcomed him, but a lucid dream. He found himself back in his prison cell, facing the darkness where he sensed something within.
"Meeting me in my dreams. I genuinely did not expect that one," Nero said to the figure in the darkness.
"This is actually a bit of a cheat, considering that this card was actually designed for interrogation. The fact that it perfectly facilitates a clandestine meeting is just a bonus," responded Flintlock, not leaving the shadows.
"If it's an interrogation card, does it give you insight into my thoughts?" Nero asked guardedly. He had his share of secrets to keep.
"Not really, but I
can
vaguely feel whatever you're feeling. Why are you so sure you can kill me even in your dreams?" Flintlock asked.
Instead of responding, Nero looked around the cell as if investigating the dream.
"How would one break free of such a technique? I expect that if I resist with my aether, or perhaps my innate ability I should be able to resist to some extent."
Nero tried, and
felt
like he could control his aether but something also felt amiss - as if something was lacking.
"No, actually, it's quite hard to break out of this. This is a 3 star level Arcanist card. While you think you're controlling your aether, in truth it's only happening in your mind. In reality, you aren't controlling your aether at all."
Nero's expression became more solemn as he realised how dangerous this card actually was! He had not felt it affect him at all, had no forewarning whatsoever, and saw no way to resist it once he was inside the dream. If any enemy was able to trap him in such a scenario…
"Don't take this too seriously. Fordham is not a simple place. It wasn't easy to get access to you here. If I hadn't planned weeks in advance to get you here into this very room, there was no way I could have done this. I suppose you should count yourself lucky that no one wants to put so much forethought and planning into assassinating you."
"Planned weeks in advance?" Nero asked curiously, turning his attention elsewhere. "How could you have possibly known I'd come to Fordham
weeks
in advance? That would mean you must have expected this mission as soon as events began to unfold."
Nero could not directly talk about Perilith, but his point remained. How could Flintlock possibly know?
"Believe it or not, from the moment you were selected as a potential candidate to enter Unity, your mission was always at Fordham. That you got an actual mission here was a happy coincidence."
"So the reason that Unity brought me here has nothing to do with my current mission?" Nero asked dubiously.
"Naturally. I expect you're under oath as it is and can't reveal the details of your mission. No matter what your mission here would be, that would not change. Your reason to be here never had anything to do with that."
Now that was unexpected. With the way everything seemed to be converging at Fordham, Nero expected everything was interlinked, but it wasn't.
"What's my mission then?"
"I believe there is someone on your team called Noman Berkin. Your mission is to get close to him, and without harming him in any way, learn the exact details of his innate ability."
Nero raised an eyebrow. Now
that
was even more unexpected.
"Why me for such a task, and why Noman?"
In truth, Nero had already picked up hints and cues from the others on his team that Noman was some kind of talented prodigy. It seemed that extended to his innate ability as well if an organisation as vast as Unity was paying special attention to him.
"We already have a vague idea of what his innate ability is about. It is a sealing ability, but we have reason to believe that his specific one is a little more unusual than the rest. Remember, your mission is to get
exact |le|mp|yr
details of his innate ability. It's best if you can get the actual phrasing on his innate card.
"I'll provide you with a file on all the details we have on him. Read them within the dream and memorise them, since I can't provide you with anything outside. I'll check in with you once in a while. Do not try to reach out to me yourself, that won't work here. Also, I'm sure I don't need to say this, but don't mention Unity or anything about it to Bael. His memory of his invitation to you has already been wiped."
Flintlock's last statement genuinely took Nero by alarm, for messing with memories was incredibly dangerous! If they began to mess with his memories…
"Relax! Sheesh, talk about uptight. We did not in any way tamper with Bael's memories. You think we'd risk antagonising Commander Dagon like that? Instead, it was Bael himself who wiped out all memories of his invitation t o you once the mission was complete. That was a condition of his mission to begin with."
"You're getting shadier by the minute," Nero said with a hint of dissatisfaction in his voice.
"Oh well, it is what it is. Once you complete this mission, you'll be able to join Unity properly as an outer member if you wish, and gain access to our vast information network. By the way, just to motivate you a little, I can share a little something with you. A few days ago, there was a little incident in a city in Saint Codale. The Clear Path terrorists were involved, and they were seen fleeing with wagons full of slaves and captives."
Nero said nothing, and stared towards the darkness. They both knew he wanted more. Nearly a minute of uninterrupted glaring later, Flintlock gave in.
"Sheesh. Do you ever blink? Yes, an Irene Hammel was witnessed on scene, not among the captives in the wagons I might add."
Nero simply nodded, and turned towards the file that had appeared and picked it up. The file was naturally based on Noman Berkin and his background. To his genuine surprise, his fathers name was Earl Berkin - as in Lieutenant Earl Berkin, the one running Fordham.
His mother was an artisan, and despite being an Arcanist herself, she was not in the army.
The only son of two highly talented individuals, Noman proved himself capable from a young age when he synchronised at the age of eight, and completed his highschool at the age of nine!
He had excellent performance in combat training and a mastery over aether rarely seen. During the draft, he was also deployed to Lumina, and while the specifics of his deployment are unavailable, he received many accolades for them! In fact, according to the file in Nero's hand, many of his accolades were sealed and his official file made classified to hide the actual scale of his contribution.
The thing that he excelled most in was actually sealing curses! In fact, it was suspected that the very first Berserker specimen had been captured live by Noman!