Decrypt

● Graviton

Exact Location: Gravity Fall Street.

"The Star Lord is scared of the humans," the gray-haired man started again. "But I, Leo Silas-- I am not scared of the Star Lord or anyone out there!"

"I am only scared of the Greyes and the punishment they can put us through. The Star Lord must be concocting with humans and that's why he hasn't done anything about them."

The man spat on the ground and continued. "The Star Lord once had a human consort, woe to him, woe to him, and any Grey Lander who insults the Greyes by marrying a human, I swear your punishment is the most severe of all."

He gulped down a cup of water before speaking again. "If the Star-Lord doesn't do anything about this, then he'll be the first to be punished by the Greyes, he'll be the first to die, we have to hurry… time is running out, we have to annihilate these humans before it's too late."

"Hear me! Hear my words," he continued.

****

Exact Location: the Star Lord's villa.

Atlas Finn slowly pushed open a door and walked into the room where the Star Lord resided. He walked a few steps closer to the chair he was sitting on before bowing. "You called for me, my Lord."

The Star-Lord was a huge and puffy man. He was pale-skinned with dark hair and blue eyes and had a red marking below his right eye which was among the things given to every Grey Lander that is to become a Star Lord. He sat on a chair with his hand supporting his head up.

"Ah, Atlas… indeed I did, please sit, there's something I want to talk to you about."

The dark-haired man bowed again before sitting on a nearby chair. He looked around the room and noticed that every Heavenly Protectors that used to be guarding the Star Lord was out of the room.

Jasper Orion, the Star Lord stood up on his feet and began pacing around the room. "What do you think of my son?" He asked.

Atlas stayed quiet for a second before speaking again. "Do you mean Zephyr?"

The Star Lord turned to him with a frown.

"I apologize, my Lord…" he got down from his seat and went down on his knees with his head bowed. "The question puzzled me is why I spoke that way."

The Star Lord exhaled heavily before continuing his walk. "We Grey Landers can live for thousands of years, we can live forever if we are not killed or our soul gets taken by the Greyes," he continued. "I have lived with my son for hundreds of years and I feel like I still know nothing about him."

He stopped and turned to Atlas who was now sitting on his chair. "I'm asking you this because you've worked for me since the arrival of your people, and you are among the two humans I trust, plus you seem to be spending some time with him."

"Of course."

"Do you think he'll make a good Star-Lord?" He questioned.

Atlas watched the expression on the Star Lord's face before speaking. "I truly believe anyone with your blood is destined for great things, my Lord."

Jasper exhaled and walked back to his seat. "Enough about Zephyr, let's talk business..."

A few hours later, Atlas walked out of the room where he had the hours-long conversation with the Star-Lord and wiped the sweat from his face. He inhaled and exhaled rhythmically to get his breathing down.

As he stood up straight to continue forward, he found himself staring into the blue eyes of a familiar short-haired, pale-skinned woman.

"Dahlia," he mumbled. He had expected she would come to him but didn't think it would be that soon.

"Zephyr seeks your presence," she said while still holding an indifferent expression on her face.

Without waiting for his reply, she turned and walked away. Atlas pinched the bridge of his nose before following behind her. The beige-haired lady led him to a balcony where a pale-skinned man sat on a chair with a table next to him. He had long white hair which poured down his shoulder and blue eyes. His nails were long and painted black.

"Lord Zephyr, you asked to see me."

The lady named Dahila quietly sat on one of the many chairs around. Zephyr hummed and filled a cup with a drink that was on the table. "Yes. I want you to tell me the conversation you had with my father."

"It's nothing serious, Lord Jasper was only asking what kind of Star Lord you were going to be and I promise I said good things about you," he stuttered.

"And?"

Atlas looked up at the beige-haired lady before settling his eyes on the young Orion. "Well, he has finalized the decision to rally every Heavenly Protectors in at most thirty days to proceed with his plan of trying to clear the Forbidden Zone, as per the request of Miss Jericho. The first badge of the Heavenly Protectors will leave secretly in three days through the West Palm Mountain-- he wants to do it so to avoid any action from the Other Worlders."

Zephyr pinched the bridge of his nose and groaned. "I see… It seems being alive for so long has clouded my father's decision-making," he sighed. "Have you managed to administer the drug?"

"I have, it should take effect before the thirty days."

Zephyr took a sip of the drink before setting the cup on the table. "You are very bright for a human, I am impressed, you may leave."

The human clenched his fist but managed to stop himself from making any rash action. "As you command." He bowed before walking away.

Zephyr crossed his legs. "Dahila, get me Miss Jericho, I have a lot of questions I wish to ask her," he snickered.

.

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● Satellite

Exact Location: The Sweepers Organization.

Liam and Cole walked into the main building where they met Thomas and Zara already waiting for them.

"Anyone have any idea why we've been called in so late at night?" Cole asked.

"I have a feeling it has something to do with the Luminaire stick we inserted, maybe it isn't functioning well," Zara stated.

"At least someone among you has got some brain cells." They all turned to see Owen approaching them with a wicked smile lingering on his lips.

"You had one job to do: insert the Luminaire stick and dip, but you still managed to mess things up, you guys just can't get anything right can y…"

"That's enough Mr. Bennett, get your squad into the briefing room, a man with a heavy voice cut him short.

Owen cleared his throat defeatedly before walking away.

The man was tall, bald with orange eyes, and had a full beard. He walked up to Cole and extended his hand for a handshake while placing his other hand on his shoulder. "Mr. Jenkins, I'm sorry if this call is interrupting anything you had at home." He raised his head to look at the others. "And to all of you as well."

"Oh, absolutely not Mr. Anderson, we knew this work would involve late-night calls when we signed the papers."

"Of course. Let's proceed to the briefing room then." He turned and started away.

"'Absolutely not?'" Thomas repeated Cole's words. "He's damn right it interrupts what I had going on at home, I should be out there chilling with my wife and…"

"Shut it, Thomas, no one wants to hear it," Zara chipped.

They proceeded into the briefing room where they met Owen and other squads of the organization.

"Once again, I'd like to apologize to everyone for the inconvenience this may cause," Daniel started. He clicked a remote and the screen behind him lit up, showing some images and calculations involving the Forbidden Zone.

"Earlier this week, the Luminaire sticks that were inserted reduced the gas spread level by seventy-five percent and even pushed back the infection in the West area, allowing us to regain lost area," he continued.

"But as of last night, the Zone increased by fifteen percent, we even lost connection with the Luminaire stick inserted by Mr. Jenkins's squad… now, our team came up with one conclusion, the storm somehow destroyed the stick…"

"What if it is the creatures? They could have begun moving forward."

Daniel frowned. "Mr. Bennett, we all know the creatures don't leave the concentrated area…"

"And that is a statistic from two years ago, we don't know how concentrated the area was last night, or right now."

Liam looked at Cole and breathed out uneasily before turning back to the screen.

"That is true, that is why we are sending four squads into the Zone, now," he revealed. "Mr. Bennett, your squad will be responsible for protection, so you'll be carrying a heavy Bio-suit equipped with tactical gear to protect the others. Mr. Gan, your squad will be responsible for measuring the concentration of the Zone…"

He continued. "Ms. Saddiq, your squad will serve as the first aid to everyone, your team is specialized in that anyways."

"Absolutely."

He nodded. "And Mr. Jenkins, your team will find out what happened to the Luminaire stick and scout the area for other activities."

"Yes sir."

"Alright then, that's all… I can't be in communication while you're inside the Zone so you all need to work together thoughtfully. Let's gear up, go!"

They all stood up and one by one walked out of the briefing room.

"Mr. Grayson, a moment please."

Liam stopped and turned to Daniel. He nervously rubbed his hands on his side as he walked up to the leader of the Sweepers organization.

"This is Mr. Harrison."

The teal-green-eyed man turned to see a young boy sitting on a chair in the front row. Just by one glance, Liam could tell he was a Newborn (Humans born on Grey Land).

The boy was light-skinned with an undercut light red hair and had a pair of glasses over his red eyes. He stood up with a smile and walked over to Liam. "I'm James-- James Harrison, it's a pleasure to meet you." He extended his hand for a handshake.

"Right." The light brown-haired man turned to Daniel. "Mr. Anderson?"

"Yes, he'll be joining your squad and will be on this mission with you, he's your responsibility." Daniel tapped his shoulder before walking out of the room, leaving the two together.

"You know, I've always dreamed of moments when I'd walk into the Forbidden Zone, I can't believe it's happening now."

"How old are you?"

He smiled gleefully. "I'm 18, old enough to not need my parents to make this decision."

Liam groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Awesome--- just awesome."

....