AST
PHASE 27 . FARTHEST DISTANCE
“Job!” Morgan clucked in annoyance as well as growling as Hubert cut off the call unilaterally. He fell silent while adjusting the rhythm of his breathing. “Look at it! Do you think you can rival me with your doll, huh?! Cih!”
The man clucked again before finally leaving the room. Meanwhile, a young man who had just come to his senses from his stupor looked straight towards the man's departure. His dark eyes looked at me towards the door before finally realizing that his hands were now bound by chains embedded in the wall behind him.
It was fortunate that the man did not tie his legs as well.
He leaned slowly against the wall and tried to cling to the surroundings. The room which is only 2x2 meters in size looks the same as the booth in general. The vertical iron bar became the narrow bars with the main room where the man was contacting someone.
Adnan knows exactly who Morgan just called. Who else if not the one who deliberately killed him through the hands of his own son. Frederick Hubert's.
The young man chuckled softly, half chuckling. He was well aware that his existence might have been a catastrophe for some, like Hubert or maybe Morgan. However, he does not realize something, if the ego of a figure like them who actually managed to lead him to meet someone who now enters the room in place of Morgan.
The black-haired man walked up to Adnan's bars and knelt down after being nearby. Highlight one of his blue eyes that was exactly the same as that of the young man looking straight with a grin carved into the corner of the lips.
“Welcome back ..., Adnan Harris,” said the man. “Do as we command, and you will get back everything you want.”
Adnan raised his gaze until the two faced each other. He did not know the man and had never met him before. However, the look in his eyes that were not wearing the eyepatch reminded Adnan of someone he had been looking for all this time.
Not Adara, but another figure who should have protected him since childhood.
“A ... well ..?”
***
“You've heard the information?” kei asked a man who was sipping his coffee. “Jason?”
The man looked towards Kei. A slight black circle was visible around his eyelids. Jason seemed to have sudden insomnia at the thought of a message from the center of the eastern alliance last night.
“If that is the case, they should have sent us help, ‘kan?” ask Kei again.
Jason nodded. His eyes were now looking straight ahead where he could see the refugees preparing to enter the APC.
“What center does not tell us about Paladin?” murmured the doctor who now took the same view as Jason.
The man who seemed to be a mess was even messing with his hair. “Entah,” timpalannya. “Let him be broken.”
Kei observes Jason's behavior that has now passed from him. Like a few years ago, Jason still can not rise from the slump. Losing his comrades-in-arms even made the man fall even more into the black hole. Although he did not serve as a lieutenant anymore, his knight soul still exists even though sometimes covered by the shadows of the past.
The young doctor sighed. The air in this area is very dry with the heat accompanying it. The sun never sleeps even though the dark try to get rid of it. Kei was almost dehydrated if he did not dispel those extreme conditions with his own job skills.
Why doesn't the world end?
His footsteps were blocked when he found a girl approaching him. Kei fell silent as he looked at Adara who was now looking at him. “Have eaten?” tanyanya opened her mouth.
The girl's forehead shriveled for a moment. “What are no other questions besides, huh?” he was half upset.
Kei chuckled in response. “You must eat to be healthy,” the ideal.
“Why should I? They also need to eat, ‘kan?” Adara set her sights on the refugees.
Adara pensive.
“Why?”
The girl slightly flinched then looked back at the man in front of her. “Nothing,” said.
“Thinking something?” selisi Kei. Adara didn't beat him. “I heard you tried to contact your friend. Is that true?” ask the man again.
A violent gust of breath burst out from the girl's nose. It clucked while leaning against the body of the nearby APC. “Maybe he's dead,” murmured later.
“Cih, you are this ...,” said Kei half pinched slowly the girl's arm. “I see doubt on your face.”
Adara looked back at the doctor with a faint smile. “I just.... always feel pain here,”—point to his chest—“but I don't know the cause.”
Kei frowned. “You have no history of asthma, ‘kan?”—The girl shook—“Other diseases?”
Adara nodded again. “I have enough nutrition and exercise despite staying separated from Mom,” he said. “But it always hurts here. Then, I always thought that someone was calling my name constantly, and that also always made my chest hurt,”.
Kei raised next to his eyebrows. “That's just endless pain, son,” he said as he swung one of his index fingers at the girl.
“Hm?”
The man chuckles in response to Adara's innocence. “Yes, later you will also understand,” he said as he stepped away from the girl.
“You are logged in to the APC that Jo controls!” exclaimed the doctor when the distance was several meters from Adara.
Meanwhile, Jo walks over to the girl. His eyes were on the doctor who had just mentioned his name, before finally observing Adara. “What's up?” tanyanya's confused.
“What is the name of the pain that infects the area here?” Adara asked without further ado while pointing at her chest.
Jo frowning. His mind guessed the no-no to the girl. However, he fell silent while thinking for a moment. “It ...” The young man raised his index finger. “I once felt it when I remembered my late parents,” he replied. “Maybe you're sick of missing your girlfriend.”
Jo then passed leaving Adara who was just stunned with a million question marks in his brain now. He clutched his chest. The pain is back on the attack. The longer it gets crowded. Adara shook her head as if blaming herself for indeed in reality, she missed that figure.
***
The land base of the western alliance still stands firm at this time. A gust of dry wind that brought with it dust and sand repeatedly hit the futuristic design building. The surrounding land and rocks were almost covered by the waves of dry sand like hell and only a few plots of plants that managed to survive there.
Erick observed the entire scene outside the base a moment ago. A memo seemed to be clasped in his hand, occasionally almost squeezed out. The young man was still adjusting the rhythm of his breath to keep his emotions stable.
For a week he has not heard from his best friend who is now in Cosmo. Erick could have guessed if Adnan—his best friend was— definitely got bad treatment there. Everything has been seen since Hubert got a call from Morgan, his former commanding officer, while he and Professor Harris' son were still at Cosmo. Many times he tried to connect his communication network with Cosmo, but failed.
Erick's daydream unravels when a large white envelope is presented briefly in front of him. The young man half jumped up and realized that a man he knew was now nearby, thrusting the file.
“What is this?” tanyanya while receiving and opening the envelope. “Tasks from Dad again?”
***