GLASS || The Catalysts, #1 [REWRITE]

VII

There's a bout of silence as Caelus steps forward, pulling his wrist out for Arius. "Check it."

This takes the man by surprise. "Illeanna?"

"The accounts of both Miss Zabar and Mister Velasquez match their ability detection history—and the level of ability output is rather valid," Illeanna reads from the charts on the blue screen. "As for Miss Llewelyn, there was indeed a heavy spike of activity... right around after the Supernova was felled from our possession."

Arius clears his throat, eyeing Illeanna disapprovingly. But he merely sighs and shakes his head in defeat. "You didn't need to reveal that part yet—and neither did you have to mention our, well, mistake. The idea was to make them admit to when they've exercised their abilities, and then cross check the ability detection levels. That way, we'll have something to fact check them from. Now you've done it. How am I supposed to check if the young lady here is telling the truth?"

"Oops! Rookie mistake on my end, sorry," Illeanna exclaims, but she doesn't seem to look apologetic. Instead, the bubbly woman appears entertained as she watches Lena, then Caelus, who's stepped up front. "I mean, why would they lie?"

Arius pinches the bridge of his nose. "It's your first field visit, after all—anyway, let's see here. The Supernova..."

He continues to look at the screen, his fingers skimming through the charts. At one point, he pauses, his eyes flicking up from the screen to Caelus.

Before the man can say anything, Caelus elaborates, "The Supernova was going to explode—at least, we thought it was—until I used my abilities to trap it in an enclosed atmosphere. Needless to say, I've exerted a fair amount of power then. Thankfully, it was just a loose trigger with mild outbursts; if it did explode, none of us will be standing as we speak, because not even I can stop what that weapon can do."

In the silence that follow, Lena is more curious about the fact that Caelus had lied. The Supernova did explode, didn't it? She recalls the after effects of the bomb, the ringing in her ears. Her memory is all fuzzy from it all however, and she barely trusts her judgement of what happened. It's either that Caelus is lying, or that he's telling the truth with the so-called mild outbursts being the blow Lena herself had taken upfront. The truth here seems terrifying, for if that's the mere prequel of what they have seen for the weapon Supernova, what can it possibly do in large?

Neesha appears to have taken this opportunity to chime in when Arius is still looking a little skeptical of the events following the Supernova: "I mean it when I say I take full responsibility of my classmates' actions. I'll make sure Caelus files in a proper report of today's events." She glances at her friend, who settles on frowning as if knowing he isn't going to get out of this. When she turns her attention back to Arius, a small smile plays on the corner of her lips. "And I also appreciate that you decided to use the Fusion Lance instead of the Supernova, which will without a doubt cause significant causalities, more damage than my friend here can possibly hope to do."

At this, Arius flushes a shade of pink. He adjusts his sunglasses. Even a fool will notice Neesha's intention: she just directly criticized their professionalism for dropping the weapon, which may or may not have fallen into the wrong hands. While she doesn't mention that it may be charged and could have exploded, the implications are clear, and she need not mention the slip of it that nearly cost lives. It was a mistake, and if Arius' commanders know about it, he will be in deep trouble. Neesha is, in other words, asking for peaceful settlement. He doesn't push further. He daren't further questions Caelus' statements, neither does he finish interrogating Lena. She is easily forgotten in the midst of it all.

"Of course," Arius finally clarifies. "It is our duty."

"Yes. Thank you for arriving on time," Neesha offers. Another sharp, smart comment.