Scientia Sector — Evening Arrival
By the time the rail line crossed into Scientia, the sky had already darkened.
The capital's central districts had felt polished, almost ceremonial in the way they carried themselves. Scientia was different.
Cleaner.
Sharper.
Every building looked intentional.
Glass towers lined with silver framing rose between old stone structures repurposed with modern technology. Elevated walkways connected research wings overhead, and soft blue lights ran along the streets and building facades like veins of artificial starlight. Even the air felt different here — colder, more sterile, touched by metal and ozone.
Levi stood as the train slowed.
Lily rose with him, adjusting her gloves.
"This sector doesn't look much like the rest of the capital," Levi said.
"It isn't," Lily replied. "The other sectors preserve tradition. Scientia prioritizes progress."
Levi's gaze followed a passing transport outside the window.
"…Feels like the kind of place where people hide things behind clean walls."
Lily glanced at him but said nothing.
The train came to a smooth stop.
The doors opened.
—
Scientia Station — Main Platform
The station was quiet compared to the central transit line.
Most of the people moving through the terminal wore white lab coats, officer uniforms marked with technical insignias, or dark administrative attire. Unlike the more openly armed presence in the Combat Core districts, the officers here carried themselves with a different kind of confidence.
Less battlefield.
More authority.
Levi noticed it immediately.
"No one here looks like they expects a fight," he muttered.
"They expect someone else to fight for them," Lily said.
That almost earned a reaction from him.
Almost.
They stepped off the platform and moved with the flow of traffic toward the sector exit. A large illuminated sign overhead marked the district in clean silver letters:
SCIENTIA — RESEARCH, DEVELOPMENT, ADVANCEMENT
Below it sat the emblem of Five Points.
Levi looked at it for a moment, then continued walking.
—
Scientia Sector — Exterior Transit Lane
Their lodgings had already been arranged through Combat Core channels, but neither of them had any intention of resting first.
Levi walked a step ahead, one hand in his coat pocket, the other loosely at his side near his blade.
"Do we go straight to headquarters?" he asked.
Lily nodded. "If they're willing to speak to us at all, it'll be before the night staff cycle changes."
"So they'll be less guarded now?"
"No," Lily said. "Just more tired."
Levi gave a faint hum of acknowledgment.
That answer made sense.
Ahead of them, the R&D Headquarters rose above the surrounding district like a fortress built by scholars instead of soldiers. It was wide rather than tall, layered in overlapping wings of reinforced steel and glass, with narrow luminous panels set into the walls. The structure looked too advanced to belong in the same world as the dusty towns Levi was accustomed to.
Levi took it in silently.
For all the power Five Points claimed to have… places like this were where the real danger was built.
—
Research & Development Headquarters — Main Entry Hall
The lobby was vast and cold.
White floors polished to a mirror sheen.
Tall support pillars.
Digital directories embedded into the walls.
Minimal decoration beyond official insignias and a suspended model of a Star Badge rotating slowly in a glass display chamber.
At the far end, a central desk of dark metal curved beneath the Five Points crest.
A receptionist in a technical officer uniform looked up as Levi and Lily approached.
"Names and division."
"Captain Levi. Lieutenant Lily. Combat Core," Lily answered smoothly.
The woman's eyes flicked briefly toward Levi, then toward the credentials they placed on the desk.
"Purpose of visit?"
"Research inquiry," Lily said.
"Concerning?"
Levi answered this time.
"Dr. Hagan Kestrel. X-9. And the destruction of the old R&D facility."
The woman froze only for a fraction of a second.
But Levi caught it.
Her expression reset almost immediately.
"I'll inform the acting head of this branch."
Acting head.
Interesting.
They were told to wait.
—
Research & Development Headquarters — Reception Hall
Several minutes passed in silence.
Levi stood near the edge of the room, eyes scanning the personnel moving through the hall.
Researchers.
Technicians.
Officers with encrypted tablets.
Two armed security units posted at opposite corridors.
Nothing about this place felt accidental.
Lily approached him quietly.
"You noticed it too."
"The pause?" Levi asked.
She nodded.
He kept his eyes forward.
"She knew the name."
"Yes."
"And she didn't like hearing it."
"No."
That was enough.
At the sound of approaching footsteps, both of them turned.
A broad-shouldered man in a dark, formal R&D captain's coat emerged from the corridor beyond the desk. He looked to be in his late forties, his blond hair graying at the sides, his posture confident in the way of men used to being obeyed without needing to raise their voices.
He wore the insignia of a branch captain.
"Captain Levi. Lieutenant Lily," he said with a polite smile. "I am Captain Verrick Soren, acting head of this facility."
His smile was practiced.
Too practiced.
Levi already didn't like him.
Soren gestured for them to follow.
"Come. We can speak privately."
—
Research & Development Headquarters — Captain Soren's Office
The office overlooked the eastern wing of Scientia through a wall of glass, though the blinds had been angled just enough to obscure the outside lights. Shelves lined one wall, filled with records, patents, and technical manuals. The opposite side of the room housed several secured terminals.
Soren took his seat behind the desk.
Levi and Lily remained standing.
"I understand you're here regarding old research records," Soren said.
"That's one way to put it," Levi replied.
Lily reached into her coat and set a printed archive summary on the desk.
"We found a record of a facility fire connected to the time of Dr. Kestrel's disappearance. We also found multiple access restrictions surrounding Prototype Collar Compound X-9. We're trying to determine whether that research truly ended with him."
Captain Soren glanced over the paper briefly, then leaned back.
"Dr. Kestrel's name has become something of a ghost story among young officers," he said. "Brilliant researcher. Unstable methods. A fire. Missing files. Missing man. It's exactly the kind of story people turn into a conspiracy."
Levi's expression didn't change.
"And?"
"And," Soren continued, folding his hands, "there is no official evidence that any of his work survived."
"Officially," Levi said.
Soren's eyes flicked to him.
Lily noticed it too.
The room was quiet for a moment.
Then Soren gave a small breath through his nose — not quite a laugh.
"You've got a direct way of speaking, Captain."
"Comes with not working in an office."
That earned the slightest smile from Lily.
Soren seemed to consider his next words carefully.
"At present, there is no active branch here conducting authorized X-9 development," he said. "If anything remains of that era, it would be fragmentary. Damaged. Unusable."
"Would," Levi repeated. "Not 'is.'"
Captain Soren leaned forward.
"If you're accusing this facility of concealing illegal weapons research, be careful."
Levi didn't move.
"If I were accusing you, Captain, I wouldn't be asking questions."
Silence.
Then Lily stepped in before the room tightened any further.
"We're not here to make enemies," she said. "We're here because people are already dying from the leftovers of that research. If there is anything you know that can help us stop more incidents, now would be the time."
Soren looked between the two of them.
Then, slowly, his expression shifted.
Not softer.
More measured.
"There is someone," he said at last.
Levi's eyes narrowed slightly.
"Who?"
Soren turned his chair slightly and looked toward the darkened window.
"A lieutenant assigned to this branch. She was present before the old facility was destroyed. One of the few remaining personnel from that time."
Lily exchanged a glance with Levi.
"She's been here that long?" Lily asked.
"Not continuously," Soren replied. "There were… administrative changes."
Levi caught that wording immediately.
Not transferred.
Not promoted.
Administrative changes.
Meaning buried paperwork.
Meaning a story.
"What's her name?" he asked.
Captain Soren looked back at them.
"Lieutenant Seraphine Vale."
The name lingered in the room for a beat.
"She knows more about the old building than anyone still serving in this sector," Soren continued. "Whether she'll tell you is another matter."
Levi didn't take his eyes off him.
"And why not?"
This time, Captain Soren's smile was faint.
"Because Lieutenant Vale is very selective about what she considers worth saying."
—
Research & Development Headquarters — Upper Hallway
A young officer escorted them from Soren's office through the upper administrative wing.
The halls were quieter here.
Fewer personnel.
Heavier security doors.
Long panels of glass revealing laboratories below.
Levi glanced through one of them as they passed.
Rows of disassembled equipment.
Containment tanks.
Weapon prototypes laid out in parts.
He looked forward again.
"This place reeks of secrets," he said.
"It's a research facility," Lily replied. "That's practically their purpose."
The officer guiding them pretended not to hear.
As they neared the far wing, the young escort slowed.
"Lieutenant Vale is in Laboratory Annex Four," he said. "She was informed you were coming."
That made Levi pause.
"Informed by who?"
The escort stiffened slightly.
"Captain Soren."
Levi said nothing more, but his eyes sharpened.
Lily noticed.
So he'd had time to prepare her.
Or warn her.
Either way, this meeting was no longer neutral.
—
Laboratory Annex Four — Observation Floor
The annex door slid open with a low mechanical hiss.
The room beyond was dimmer than the rest of the facility, lit mostly by blue-white work lamps suspended over an active central table. Pieces of dismantled gauntlets, containment rings, and technical components were arranged with near surgical precision across the station surfaces.
And at the center of it all stood a woman in a white officer's coat with the sleeves folded back, dark hair tied neatly behind her head, her posture composed and perfectly still as she adjusted the inner framework of some kind of blade housing.
She didn't look up right away.
She finished tightening one final component.
Set the tool down.
Then turned.
Young.
Around Lily's age, maybe slightly older.
Sharp eyes.
Controlled expression.
Too calm to be casual.
Her uniform bore lieutenant markings now… but there was something about the way she carried herself that felt higher than that.
Like the rank didn't match the air around her.
Her gaze settled on Levi first.
Not Lily.
Levi noticed that too.
"So," she said at last, voice smooth and unreadable, "you're the Combat Core captain who came all this way to dig through graves."
The escort shifted awkwardly beside them.
Lily's expression cooled immediately.
Levi remained still.
"If the grave still has answers in it," he said, "it's worth digging."
For the first time, the corner of the lieutenant's mouth curved.
Not quite a smile.
More like interest.
She stepped away from the table and brushed her hands clean.
"Lieutenant Seraphine Vale," she said. "And if you came here looking for the truth about the old facility…"
Her eyes flicked once toward the sealed cabinets along the wall.
"…then you're already later than you think."
—
Unknown Location — Secured Terminal
A new message appeared across a dark screen.
CONTACT MADE.
SUBJECTS HAVE REACHED SCIENTIA.
VALE ENGAGED.
A pause.
Then another line appeared beneath it.
CONTINUE OBSERVATION. DO NOT INTERFERE.
The screen went black.