Chapter 16 - Recovering

Some time later within the relic outpost's medical center, Zenith was laid down on a bed, some tools being used to scan him for any internal injuries. The three from Allspace were sitting around him.

Fable grumbled, "It's my fault. I should have kept a better eye on him..." He felt guilty as Zenith was his responsibility. Jenabell sighed, patting her grandson's back. "No one could have expected this to happen. An object from an A rank relic site, in a capsule from an F one?"

While silence continued, Zenith suddenly groaned weakly, causing everyone to quickly look over and step towards him. Mirabell helped Zenith, her sound rhyming a bit. "Easy now, kid," Jenabell spoke, also helping.

Zenith reached and rubbed his head, having a splitting headache. Only coming to his senses after some minutes, he mumbled weakly, "Where am I?" Fable spoke, "You're in the medical center. You went unconscious after bleeding like a blood bag, giving us a big scare." He tried to lighten the mood but cleared his throat when he got a glare from Jenabell.

"How are you feeling? Any pain anywhere?" Jenabell asked. Zenith replied, "Just sore all over, and a headache." Mirabell looked relaxed, Jenabell also sighing in relief, though they still believed they made the right choice to bring him here.

"Okay, okay, I'm a curious person. You definitely saw something when holding that crystal thing, right?!" Fable blurted. Despite this, Jenabell and Mirabell also curiously looked at Zenith. "The crystal? Where is it?" Zenith asked. Jenabell added, "As soon as you fainted, it shattered into ash, probably a one-time thing. Whatever it was, it definitely had an effect."

Mirabell nodded, a chime sounding from her. Fable then spoke up, "We're pretty sure it's what caused the space qua-" Before he finished, Jenabell gave him a quick whack on the head, glaring at him. Fable gasped in pain, yelping as he held his head, grinning softly. "Oh right... hush hush..."

Jenabell spoke, "Some things are better left unsaid, to avoid any issues from bigger sources. Kid, what did you experience?" Zenith was careful, unsure what to do or how to say things. He didn't know if that being was really a human or not. So he said, "I talked to a human."

Jenabell was confused. "A human? You saw a human? Are you telling the truth?!" Jenabell was dumbfounded, excitement on her old face as if she had gotten younger. "Was it just a picture or something?" She contained her excitement a bit.

Fable and Mirabell also looked curious. Zenith shook his head. "We talked a bit." Jenabell's eyes widened. "I knew it!!! A living human, hahah!! Unbelievable!!" Her hands were shaking; Mirabell had to reach over and calm her down. Fable, though, didn't really understand the big deal. He asked away, "What did you talk about?"

The three looked at Zenith eagerly. He didn't hide anything, telling the truth. "He said that he stayed as long as he could and it was pointless to stay any longer. He seemed to be leaving." Jenabell and the others looked confused. "Pointless to stay any longer?... Do you know where he is?"

Zenith smiled bitterly. "Well... I think I talked to him in the past." Mirabell looked confused, while Fable pondered for a moment. "Talked to him in the past? You mean speaking through time?"

Zenith thought for a moment and nodded. "That's right. He seemed to know I was there, but umm... I don't know if he really was human." Jenabell then chimed in, "What do you mean you don't know if he was human?"

Zenith reached up, scratching his head. "He looked different. His hands and skin, it was like a mirror in space, reflecting everything." The three listening didn't know what else to say, so Jenabell added, "Did he tell you anything more?"

She asked eagerly. "He said he helped me with my resonance frequency issue?" Zenith wasn't sure what he meant by that. Jenabell's eyes narrowed, and she spoke to Fable, "Get a Test device." Fable replied, "On it!" heading off and returning a few moments later.

Using the device, he began to scan Zenith after inputting the prompts and commands. "Eh?..." Fable looked confused. Jenabell pushed him away and repeated the test several times with shock. "Incredible... You have a resonance frequency. This is a miracle. We got your official tests and medical records from your academy and the federation. They definitely stated you had no resonance frequency, but here we are."

Zenith's body shook. He was amazed, but soon excitement and joy filled his face. "I really got a frequency?! Is that the warm current I feel in my body?" Fable nodded with a smirk, Mirabell clapping while a joyful tune emitted from her.

"Not bad, kid. You pulled off a miracle. We can do a deeper test to see your percentages later as that requires a specialized room." Zenith felt his eyes water a bit but he held it in, not wanting to be too excited, afraid something bad would happen. "Thank you..." he suddenly spoke.

Jenabell gave him a soft pat on the back. "Don't thank us. You're the one who broke that puzzle, found the capsules, and managed to more or less save the current Allspace. The funding we can get from all that is going to help us pay off all our debts from over the years, and let us breathe a bit. I would say that crystal was the most valuable thing, and if you got a resonance frequency from it, it's only fair that it's yours."

Zenith's heart warmed. He felt relief and was thankful for being treated fairly like this, though he remembered something. "Having a resonance frequency suddenly appearing, won't others find out eventually?"

Fable and Mirabell seemed a bit thoughtful too, but Jenabell laughed quietly. "A millennium crystal isn't the only way to get a resonance frequency. There are other methods, such as special fruits grown in relic sites, although they are incredibly rare and don't guarantee you will get a frequency, and they are mostly used to already temper current resonance users. We can just say a capsule was filled with them and you used them all."

Jenabell seemed to understand the situation, having already planned ahead. She then stood up. "Fable, Mirabell, let's go catalog the contents on the digital market. Kid, you get some more rest. We'll be back later." Zenith nodded, Fable and Mirabell giving a soft look before leaving with Jenabell.

Zenith sighed softly and soon laid back down on the bed. He excitedly raised his hands to look at them and began to feel the current in his body, trying to move or will it, yet it only swished and swayed. He no doubt needed to train himself or get assistance from the others as to how to properly handle it.

Meanwhile, within the secure wing of the relic syndicate outpost, inside the information center, Lieutenant Amada was standing respectfully, 3 others beside her of equal rank. In front of them, a man with his arms out on a digital map desk that showed the entire system they were in. His attire and mannerisms no doubt showed that he outranked everyone. Suddenly he spoke up, his voice heavy, almost booming, "So, let's get this straight: the whole system shakes, and we don't know what the hell caused it?" He gazed at the side where several researchers were, who nodded at his words.

Their simple reactions seemed to annoy the man who added more, "So what the hell do we keep you guys around for?!" Even more irritated, the researchers jumped with fright, the lead one speaking. "Commander, this is a freak accident. We can't even be sure if it was naturally caused or artificial. We are doing our best, but it's been nearly impossible. None of our current technology was able to detect anything other than seismic shifts and spatial quakes."

The commander grunted, tapping the digital map surface of the system with all current locations. "I don't like this. I feel like a fish in a barrel. It's already reported to HQ, so let them handle it. If we really can't do anything or find anything no matter how hard we try, it's not our fault. May as well label it a freak accident." Helplessly, he sighed.

Though he understood that in the universe mysterious things happened every day and many of them could never be explained, he would just have to see how headquarters handled it. And since no damage was caused or deaths other than everyone being jumpy, it would be swept under the rug and forgotten about. Wasting resources to investigate something with no obvious answer or leads would just be stupid.