“Are you staying for tea?” Hen’Beo asked while Ang’Tue looked around in the spacious cave she and her daughter called home. The walls were made of polished, dark stone and the earthy smell that permeated the whole city was even stronger here. Though, not stale but refreshing. Doors led to different rooms and a wide window gave view to the expansive cavern outside.

  “I don’t want to trouble you.” He said smiling, “I just came by to say hello and see how you’re doing.”

  “No, please.” Hen’Beo insisted, “Little Gaya will be happy when she comes home from school and finds you here.”

  “Well, if it’s like that, who am I to refuse?” Ang’Tue chuckled, “But at least let me help you.”

  Together they headed into the kitchen and prepared a steaming can of sweet tea. Only after they returned to the living area and sat down on the couch did Ang’Tue break the silence.

  “How are you holding up?” He asked in a soft voice.

  “We’re managing.” Hen’Beo shrugged, “Gaya is bright like the sunshine and since the council confirmed that the data you’ve found indeed hold the key to stabilize the young generation she only got more lively. All of us are, in fact. You’ve done an incredible service for the Eltaran. Even if it isn’t the final solution we are searching for, it bought us plenty more time.”

  “Maybe…” Ang’Tue sighed and sipped from his tea, “But at what cost? I’ve visited my granddaughter not even once a year, missed seeing her grow up. And now my son is following in my footsteps and making the same mistakes as me.”

  “He has become a Seeker, someone who actively fights to ensure the survival of our people.” Hen’Beo said stiffly and Ang’Tue didn’t miss that she used the same words he had used time and time again when he left behind his family all those years ago.

  “Yeah, and yet you’re sitting here. Raising your child alone.” He muttered.

  Hen’Beo closed her eyes and savoured her tea. After a moment of silence she put her cup back on the table. “No, it’s not fair of me to hold his decision against him. Someone has to do this, someone has to find the lost data that will save all of us. And while I’m sad that he left, I know that everyone has someone they would leave behind. If no one was willing to leave his loved ones, who would be out there?”

  “Maybe…” Ang’Tue breathed out and then smiled, “But there is hope on the horizon. I can’t go into the details, but I’ve managed to secure the help of a certain group. They agreed to support the Eltaran in their endeavor to stabilize our genetic code. If things turn out well, we may not have the need for Seekers anymore in just a few months.”

  His daughter-in-law looked up in surprise, “Are you sure? Who is there that could even be of any help in our situation?”

  “I can’t say more about this.” Ang’Tue shook his head. He wasn’t willing to publicly reveal his deal with the Keeper just yet. He would leave that up to the people in charge to decide. “Also, it’s probably for the best if you’re not spreading the word. This is still confidential, not even the council knows of this.”

  “I understand, thank you for your trust.” Hen’Beo said, then she had a distant look in her eyes, “It would be great to have him back here, you know?”

  “I know…”

  Suddenly the door flew open and a whirlwind of flailing arms and bouncing pigtails rushed into the room.

  “Grandpa!” The girl squealed as she jumped on his lap to give him a hug.

  “Hey, hey! Where does all this energy come from?” Ang’Tue laughed, picked her up and sat her down next to him on the sofa.

  “We have learned about other planets today!” She exclaimed, “Did you know that some planets are completely covered in water? The people living there have to create small islands to build shelter and they only eat fish!”

  “Fish? Everyday?” Ang’Tue’s shot open in fake horror, “I could never live–”

  He was interrupted when the lights above him suddenly flickered, turned off and then back on. After a moment the fluctuations in the power grid were over and everything returned to normal.

  “That happened at the school as well. The teacher explained that this was because someone was testing their G-Anomaly.” Gaya’Beo said and then pouted, “What a shitty ability would allow one to spook other people by turning their lights off and on?”

  “Language!” Her mother scolded from across the table with a stern face.

  “Hoho, careful little lady! You should never underestimate someone’s G-Anomaly before knowing all the details.” Ang’Tue chuckled, having a good idea about who was causing the ruckus, “But do tell, what kind of mutation are you hoping for when you are old enough?”

  “Teleport!” Her answer came like a shot, “Then I could visit all the places I want, whenever I want!”

  “Sounds like a plan.” The old man nodded and ruffled her hair, “I’m not sure if there are mutations that powerful, but maybe you’ll get lucky.”

  ***

  While Ang’Tue spent some time with his family, the man with said shitty mutation was sitting crosslegged on a bed. This small, windowless room was far away from the research area of the city where all the sensitive machines were. Before he had moved in, the Eltaran removed all electronic devices and only a simple light in the ceiling remained.

  With his eyes closed, Robin tried to carefully feel for his newest skill. The Augur had spoken the truth when he explained how removing his Heart-Blood would affect him. He could feel the power pulsing through his body, interacting with the energy in his surroundings, and Robin already could confirm that he felt more clear-headed than before. Now he needed to better understand the changes to his mutation. He wasn’t even trying to activate the skill but to calm his agitated G-Anomaly that was still flaring up every now and then ever since the treatment was done.

  While he knew that parts of the city were affected by him, he wasn’t overly concerned. As long as he kept his emotions under control, he had mostly stabilized his condition by now.

  The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  “One or two days more and I should be back to normal.” He muttered just as someone knocked at his door.

  “Rob? How are you doing?” Niu asked as she stepped into the dimly lit room.

  “Better, I guess?” Robin said, made some space and gestured for her to take a seat. “Have you heard anything from Proto, the Keeper or the Eltaran?”

  “Proto set a meeting for the day after tomorrow. Shouldn’t you know this from his connection to your Interface?” She said as she sat down next to him.

  “Nah, I still haven’t recharged it yet. I enjoy the silence for once.” Robin said, “Two days is fine, I should be back on my feet by then.”

  “Yeah, I don’t think we could wait any longer even if we wanted to. Mul’Jin and the other leaders of Farlight are getting more nervous by the minute.” Happy chuckled.

  “Can you blame them? They welcomed us with open arms and we pulled them knee-deep into our mess.” Robin shook his head, “And they still have no idea what exactly is about to happen. Well, not that we are much better off…”

  After their lengthy discussion in the laboratory on the day before, Proto instructed the researcher Kel’Bak how he could solidify Robin’s G-Anomaly with the Heart-Blood before he made the Etraran extract his blood. They took three vials of his blood directly from his heart and then injected it into the cube from the Keeper.

  At that time Robin already felt woozy and could no longer properly follow what was happening. He only recalled that the Keeper courier returned to fetch the cube and left the city afterwards. Proto had apparently also ignored all questions about their next steps, insisting on waiting for Robin to recuperate.

  “How are the others?” He asked after an awkward silence hung in the air.

  “Ang’Tue is with his family and Alena is showing Krez around.” Niu said, “I used the time to take another walk through the cavern. It really is amazing.”

  “Alena and Krez, huh?” Robin grinned, “They are hitting off quite well, don’t they?”

  “Yes! I thought so as well, but Alena is shooting down all my attempts to learn some juicy secrets.”

  “At least she is happy.” he muttered, falling back to let his head rest on the soft bed, “She really changed a lot during the last weeks. Have you seen how often she’s smiling lately?”

  “Yeah, I’m happy that she finally allows herself to have a bit more fun in her life.” Niu agreed but then she turned more serious, “You are quite the opposite, though.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Well, look at you, sitting here all alone in this dreary room, brooding.” she said.

  “I’m not brooding, I try to get used to my new ability without endangering the whole city!” Robin defended himself.

  “And back in the forest? Was that also just training?” Niu scoffed.

  “That…” he began but didn’t know what to say, “It has been a lot lately. I feel like each and every step we take is an uphill battle. Each time we edge out a victory, the next challenge awaits us. Damn, just think back to the fight we had after reaching Bloom I. That was practically a war and we jumped right into it, taking huge risks.”

  “Would you do it differently if you were faced with the same challenge again?” she asked.

  “No, no I wouldn’t.” Robin grumbled and felt the grip on his emotions loosen, “I don’t think what we’re doing is wrong, it’s just that we shouldn’t even be in a position to get drawn into shit like that.”

  Lying on his back, he took a moment to stare up at the stone ceiling. The light was flickering rapidly as his mutation slipped out of his control.

  “And just think about what comes next - we are about to face the Second! A damn robot that has single handedly kicked the Drel’s ass. I just want a moment of peace and quiet, a chance to marvel at the wonders of the world without having to fight for my life the next moment.” His voice wavered as he tried to calm his racing heart, “That is why I set out. That is what I promised you and the others when I persuaded you to join this adventure.”

  “Rob, we all more or less knew what we agreed to when we joined this crew. Look at Alena, Ang’Tue and even Krez. They are all much better than when we first set out.” Niu said with a soft smile, also observing the flickering lights, “And the same is true for me, I find myself wearing my mask much less often.”

  She sighed and looked down at him. The lights in the room slowly stopped fluctuating.

  “You want to marvel at the wonders of the universe? Just think back to the evening in the cavern’s forest. This place is so beautiful, amazing and full of colors, concentrate on that instead of all the challenges that may or may not await us.”

  With a loud bang the light suddenly exploded, plunging the room into darkness, and shards clattered on the ground. Angry cries could be heard from outside as people tried to find out what was happening.

  “Full of colors?” Robin hissed, “Niu, my whole fucking life is grayscale. There are no shining colors for me, just different shades of gray. Every. Fucking. Day.”

  “Ah, shit…”

  They remained silent for a long while and Robin was already regretting his outburst. He knew Happy only wanted to help him and being an emotional asshole was the wrong way to thank her.

  He followed his own thoughts until he heard Happy whispering into the dark.

  “Not everything about that evening was bad.” she chuckled quietly, “You were there, and so was I.”

  Remembering how he had absentmindedly held her hand the whole time, Robin’s mood improved rapidly.

  “Yeah, it wasn’t all bad.” He agreed and a smile returned to his face while he promised himself to be less brooding and to look more on the bright side of life. There were still so many great things to explore.

  Suddenly he felt a hand searching for his face.

  “Uhm… what are you doing?” Robin hesitantly asked.

  The hand briefly paused before an answer came from the darkness.

  “Searching for my light…”

  Then his body froze up when a pair of lips touched his.

  ***

  “You have to do something. He’s getting worse…” Niu’s voice held anger as she spoke to the otherwise empty room.

  “Your latest visits seem to have cheered him up quite a bit.” Proto said in a teasing voice, “Are you getting all protective of him now?”

  “Damn, cut the crap!” She cursed, “Do you think this is funny? You’ve been eavesdropping, haven’t you? He is breaking, can’t you see that?”

  There was a long pause before the AI responded, “Yeah, I’ve run a few computations and they all came up with similar results... It doesn’t look good.”

  “Then do something!” Niu threw her hands in the air, “You’re a sentient AI created by the freakin’ Starborn themselves. Robin losing his color vision is your fault in the first place, so get your code together and think of a way to fix it!”

  “I’ve already experimented with a few things. But I haven’t found a lasting solution just yet.” Proto said, “I’m close to finishing the color-overlay he has already tested. However, that will only work as long as I have a connection and keep a few routines running. It’s not something that will permanently solve his bodily dysfunction.”

  “I don’t care!” Happy cursed, “I think right now everything is better than his momentary state. Make him see this place in all its glory. Make him experience the wonder that Farlight really is. It’s not like you’ll leave us anytime soon, so that should be fine for now. Just keep finding a permanent solution on your list.”

  There was a long silence and Happy honestly was confused by Proto’s hesitation. One could say many things about the AI, but being ungrateful or unable to comprehend human emotions wasn’t among it. As she had come to know Proto, spending a bit of resources to stabilize Robin shouldn’t even be a question for him.

  “Fine, I’ll install the update after the strategy meeting in the evening, okay?” He finally answered.

  “Good,” Niu let go of a heavy breath, “Thanks.”