First Visit

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Outside, a flock of birds flies over the apartment, like a cloud of ink spilling onto the sky. "It's 11:00 A.M. now.. Xavier should already be awake, right?"  Worried that he isn't, I pace back and forth for another hour. Then 1, feeling antsy, immediately head upstairs.
Even when I'm outside Unit 602, I still can't believe Xavier is basically my neighbor.

"You're here early." Xavier yawns, looking almost harmless in his simple, white sweater. "Orange juice, coffee, or water?"

"Huh?"

"Are you thirsty?"

He takes two matching mugs trom the cabinet and heads into the kitchen. It seems like he just woke up. His hair is disheveled, strands sticking out from the back of his head.

"Water is fine"

"Ice or no ice?"

"It's okay. Xavier, l'm here because..."

"My place is a bit of a mess. You can sit anywhere, though. Do you want some breakfast? Fried eggs and toast... Oh, I'm out of eggs. Are sausages okay?"

"Thank you, but I'm not hungry. Also, it's almost noon..."I scoot to the edge of the couch, eager to get down to business. "I spent all night thinking that..."

"That..?"

"You and Lumiere are definitely connected. Ever since we met, you've been constantly looking for something. You just destroy Protocores as if they're nothing when hunters know how important they are. You can kill a Wanderer that even a group of hunters would struggle against. Not to mention, the "gossip" you heard about the N109 Zone is more in-depth than the info in the Association's databases. At the abandoned research base and in No-Hunt Zone No. 7... Maybe your goal aligns with mine as well as Onychinus's."

Xavier looks at me quietly, then flashes a faint smile. "So are you here to confirm my connection to Lumiere or are you here for something in the N109 Zone?"

"It doesn't matter. I'm just gathering information in a roundabout way. I'd really appreciate it if you could give me some ideas."

Xavier lowers his gaze, seemingly lost in thought as he stares at his slippers. Then he breaks the silence with a question. "The Protocore we found in the no-hunt zone had a red Protocurve. Do you know why?"

The air seems to freeze for a moment. I feel like I've grasped the unspoken meaning behind his words.He'll only reveal his cards when he's certain I'm on the same page as him. I take a deep breath and say...

"It's an Aether Core, right?"

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