Crystal Tear

This was the first time I heard about it…

I have been making plans on my own for a while, but I never took the time to know what everyone else thinks about leaving. Even if I knew that most of them will come with me, I'm not going to force them if they want to stay here.

I looked back at Hayley, who avoided my gaze. Noticing the awkwardness, Dr. Harting intervened.

"We are not here to talk about that. From the beginning, there was a partnership between Spencer and Green Shelter, but they weren't an official part of it.

I know that it's a massive hit for us, we will need to adapt, not many of you have noticed, but in the last few weeks, we have been trying to lessen the dependence of anyone that is in contact with Spencer or his group. That way, when the time comes for them to leave, it will make as less impact as possible.

About the intelligence division, I'll start looking for people for that can support the operations from here. Blake and Frederik stay to coordinate this, the rest of you can go."

With that, Dr. Harting ended the meeting.

It took me a moment to process what he said. Most of my people have indeed been slowly pulled off from essential places in Green Shelter.

Isabella started as one of the few nurses and a key part of the clinic, but right now, most of the management that she was in charge of is in other people's hands. Gerhard was working mainly by himself and wasn't part of large projects. They were also trying to not rely much on Dante for the communications.

But the trickiest one was Hayley.

I could understand why she was reluctant to leave. Her situation wasn't like the others, for the people in the hunting teams she was on the same level as Blake, and some have her even higher.

People saw her freezing the Alpha cow, she always has been a symbol and kept them safe during missions.

Losing her would be a huge hit for everyone, losing me will not have the same impact. I'm strong, people know it, but I don't take part in missions like her, and when I do I, take my people and some elites.

Why would she come?

Her only remaining family member will probably stay here. They don't get along anymore, but the same it's true for us.

After what happened between Hayley, Rose and I, the relationship has never been the same, she has distanced herself. There is no real reason for her to come with us…

After being in this situation for months, I understand that I'm not leaving Rose, that agreeing to this will hurt her.

The most important of all is that I don't want it either.

Hayley is an important part of my life, I care about her and want her to be happy, but I can't give her what she is looking for.

I understand that I don't feel for her the same she does for me.

"Spence!"

I turned around and looked at Hayley. I could see it in her face, she felt guilty for not telling me about it before. I didn't judge her because of it

"I…. we need to talk, do you have time tomorrow?"

I wanted to tell her that we could talk at that moment, but I understood that she has yet to make a decision, probably she has been thinking about it, and she will tell me her final decision tomorrow.

"I have something to do in the morning, but we can talk before the daily training if you want to go."

"Sure, I don't think I can stay, I'm training some squad leaders and trying to make them get used to the daily training."

"Okay… so… are you going home?"

"No, I have a lot of things to do… if I decide to leave, the hunting teams will be in chaos, so I need them to be as prepared as possible for any situation."

I nodded at her.

"See you later then."

"Bye"

She walked away, trying to catch up to Milo and go to the HQ. I just watched her leave.

Rose at my side looked at her too.

"She is not coming, right?"

"I don't think so, I can't give her the reason she wants to follow us."

___________________________________________

While training the previous days I managed to control and try the limits of the level two.

Before I struggled to add the fourth layer and now it was as easy as the second, the time it lasted was also improved, if I had to make a guess, I feel like six layers, or maybe seven layers was the current limit. About the time, the one I set up two days ago was still working fine, the same as the 2 that I created yesterday.

Right now they were positioned as a triangle around the vortex. With three, the vortex has slowed down and wasn't as scary as before.

I set this up like this for two reasons, first I needed a stable form to try my powers, the first area I set was to see the limits, the second two was to see it as a steady formation and how much strength they held.

From this triangle, I could set three more areas to enclose the vortex and seal it temporarily.

The four layers appeared around me, as I expected the EP I spent on Visualization paid off. The synergy was high, and the control it brought was above what I expected.

Changing laws was complex because you can't see the exact results of the changes you make, with visualization I could see them and adjust it as I go, instead of going for a trial and error route.

Creating three four-layer areas wasn't as difficult as before, and unless I made a mistake in selecting the laws to suppress the vortex, this would be fine.

I couldn't shake the feeling that something bad was about to happen… as always, so before going in, I decided to redo the first area again.

Moved towards the center slowly.

Besides being a little windy, nothing else was out of the norm, no pulling force from the center as before so I could say that it's working.

As I walked forward, I noticed a giant bowl-shaped hole with nothing in about a half kilometer around. I just jumped down and kept going.

I could already see in the center, something that can only be described as a Space crack.

The numbers on it were chaotic, and it felt like it was at the same time absorbing and throwing out everything, at least that's what I got from visualization.

Previously the Alpha cow had two specific portals, one in and one out, somehow they both fused together when the inner dimension of the cow collapsed leading to this space crack.

I memorized all the data I could, it will be useful if I want to seal this crack before leaving, but for now, I had a different reason to be here.

From the position of the crack and the direction of Green Shelter, I had an idea where Hayley was when this happened.

I moved forward, keeping an eye on the crack and the variables from the vortex. I had to be careful, but I couldn't take the risk of waiting too long, or a surge of energy could appear and mess up my seal.

I activated aura vision, and something happened. I just wanted to see the details of the creation of the source stones, but a known aura spread from near the space crack.

I found something even better than just a memory, but I had to act fast.

I walked forward, I could finally feel the pulling force from it.

I was too close to the crack, but I could handle it.

A few more steps.

Once again, I checked the situation around me, and after knowing that nothing was going to happen, I got on my knees. The soil was cold, but somehow I knew that the coldness wasn't going to hurt me.

I started to dig until I touched something hard and icy.

Without caring too much, I grabbed it and take it out from there.

It was a piece of frozen mud. I didn't need to see what happened here anymore. I blinked away without hesitation and moved fast to a safe zone.

After opening the rock in the center, I found what I knew was there.

A small drop-shaped crystal…

One of Hayley's tears.