'What is he trying to say?' Khan wondered as his paranoia kicked in.
Professor Parver seemed to have good intentions, but his words sent mixed signals. They almost hinted at the secrets Khan was seeking, but their vagueness made the whole revelation suspicious.
Somehow, Khan couldn't believe Professor Parver only wanted to state how much Bret loved his mother. The part about the Tainted humans added a deeper meaning that touched on the right topics, and Khan couldn't hold back from asking more questions.
"Why are you telling me this?" Khan questioned, ignoring whether he was being disrespectful. "Is there something I should know about Tainted humans?"
"Many things, obviously," Professor Parver chuckled in his usual kind tone. "The entire scientific field is flooded with reports and theories."
The answer didn't say anything. Professor Parver could have remained silent, and nothing would have changed. Still, Khan saw something different in it. Actually, he found two hidden meanings inside it.
Professor Parver coughed before Khan could ask more questions, and that violent reaction continued for almost half a minute. Even with the paranoia, Khan accepted that the man's suffering was genuine, which enforced his silence.
"I'm sorry, Captain," Professor Parver eventually spoke while some lighter coughs still afflicted his throat. "It seems that I reached my limit for today."
The illness' good timing deepened Khan's suspicion, but his hands were tied. If the Professor didn't want him there, he had to leave.
Khan would lie if he said that he didn't consider violent paths. Yet, the Professor was a fourth-level warrior who had shown nothing but kindness to him. Besides, the unique location prevented any rule-breaking behavior, making Khan disregard those dark thoughts and depart.
The jeep was still outside the lab, and Khan felt to have every right to ride it. He recalled the road back to the elevator, so he started the engine and let his mind wander.
The Professor's second-last line told Khan two things. The Tainted humans' topic had many secrets, and the scientific field could uncover them.
Those hidden meanings could be a ruse to make Khan accept the Professor's offer. They could also be the result of his paranoia in front of an honest answer that didn't plan to have any secret purpose. Anything was possible, and Khan could only try to guess the truth from the vague pieces accumulated throughout the years.
Khan had gathered many clues since his enlistment. He had yet to find proper answers. Yet, something had begun to take form in his mind, and those thoughts kept him busy even when he returned to the car in the western district above.
Elizabeth, Khan's mother, was probably a noble. He could quote Madam Solodrey, Ella, and maybe Raymond to prove his point. That lofty status would even explain the harsh punishments applied to his family, so Khan decided to start from there.
Princess Edna couldn't be sure, but her idea of Nak on Earth could make sense. It would also stand to reason that the Global Army had learnt how to control them, and that reasoning made the Second Impact suspicious.
The existence of a rogue Nak's ship was possible, but Khan inevitably thought about conspiracies. He had learnt how strict the nobles were, so the Second Impact could have been a punishment for his parents' unauthorized union.
Of course, the fact that the Second Impact had happened when Khan was five went against that hypothesis. A noble family would have acted far before that if they were against his parents. Still, Khan felt the need to keep that option open to avoid missing details.
With Elizabeth gone, Bret had done anything in his power to save Khan, and no one seemed to know exactly what. Both Raymond and Professor Parver had confirmed that, but Khan couldn't exclude other possibilities. Someone inside the Global Army or families could be aware of Bret's methods.
Professor Parver's vague words also added value to Raymond's interest in Khan. According to the former, first-generation Tainted humans always went crazy, which could hinder eventual studies. Khan didn't know why they were special, but the Professor's revelation was something he could agree on.
'Could the nightmares make someone crazy?' Khan wondered as the car headed toward the second district. 'They definitely made me crazy.'
Khan realized that the Professor was probably talking about a different type of crazy. Yet, when he added his father's unknown procedure and the nightmares' secrets scenes uncovered on Nitis, he could find a few explanations.
'What if he suppressed part of the nightmares to help me retain my sanity?' Khan questioned in his mind. 'What if my current nightmares were always supposed to be their true version?'
The other Tainted humans probably didn't experience the Nak's hand's influence, but no one had suppressed their mutations either. Maybe, Khan would have obtained his current appearance and nightmares after the Second Impact if Bret didn't intervene.
'But, why?' Khan asked himself while looking at his palms. 'The following generations still get the mutations. Even Professor Nickton said that I'd pass them down. Unless there is something specific that only the first retain.'
Khan saw the nightmares as a possible answer once again. They didn't only weigh on his sanity. They also carried a map or, rather, a picture of a system. Maybe, Raymond and others inside the Global Army were after it.
There were other possible answers, and Khan realized his unique position after considering them. The following generations could probably get the nightmares, but that would likely lead to madness too. Maybe, he was special because he could retain his sanity without forsaking that crucial mutation.
Khan obviously knew that his idea was frail since he had built it on guesses and vague clues. Getting a single thing wrong could make everything fall apart. However, that was the best he could come up with after being enlisted for more than three years.
The situation wouldn't look too bad if Khan had a few concrete answers, but no one wanted to give them. He had even found possible leads, but they were impossible to pursue for now. The families' upper echelon, the nobles, and the top of the Global Army were out of his reach, and his other options were far from ideal.
'Raymond is a big no,' Khan sighed. 'He can trick me too easily. Lord Vegner is probably connected to him, so I don't know. Is Professor Parver really the best I have?'
Khan couldn't help but find the situation annoying, and landing in front of his building only deepened that feeling. He realized he wasn't alone as soon as he stepped on the sidewalk. Another car was there, and the luxury it reeked revealed the owner's identity.
"Captain, the Headmistress-," The car's pilot tried to call Khan when he saw him heading toward the other vehicle, but the glare that landed on his vision made him shut up. The gesture had generated an instinctive fear that made him unable to speak.
Khan reached the second car and entered it without bothering to knock. His expression didn't change when he found Lucian and a few soldiers inside, but his mana had a different reaction, which he managed to suppress for now.
"I'm sorry I couldn't call earlier, Captain," Lucian announced. "Lauter's outpost kept me quite busy."
"Just go," Khan stated as his gaze fell on the window. "We'll talk once we land."
Lucian smiled and gave the order to the pilot, who set off to head toward the private location used in the previous meeting. Lucian made his guards stay behind when the vehicle landed, and Khan followed him into a familiar private room.
"I think apologies are in order," Lucian exclaimed as soon as he sat at an interactive table. "I wanted to warn you, but the timing was more important."
Khan sat on the other side of the table without uttering a single word. He could almost hear his mood worsening before Lucian's casual behavior. The explosion was imminent. It only needed a trigger.
"Still, things went perfectly," Lucian laughed. "The video went viral in mere minutes."
Lucian showed a satisfied smile, but his expression froze when the interactive table flew on his chest and slammed him into the wall. The impact made him unable to breathe for a few seconds, and the hand that reached his throat prolonged that state.
Khan held Lucian's throat in his right hand and pulled him out of the table to slam him into the wall again. He was lifting him with a single arm, and his fingers didn't move even when Lucian tried to open them.
Monica could make Khan feel better about the video's comments, but those emotions remained. The previous reasoning had also put him in a bad mood, which fueled those extreme reactions.
Truth be told, Khan acknowledged the value of Lucian's actions. He simply hated to be a pawn in someone else's game. That had already happened with Raymond, and Professor Parver looked ready to imitate him, so Khan decided to vent on Lucian.
Lucian's training kicked in. He calmed down and lowered his arms to pour mana into them, but Khan tightened his grip and disturbed his concentration. His cold glare remained on Lucian for the entire time, and the latter finally experienced some genuine fear.
"Snap your fingers," Khan threatened, "And I'll snap your neck."
Khan softened his grip when he saw that Lucian understood his situation. Some air managed to reach his lungs at that point, but Khan didn't put him down. He kept him on the wall as new threats formed inside his mind.
"What is it?" Khan questioned. "Did you think that an infusion put you at my level?"
Lucian's eyes had long since widened. The situation felt unreal. Khan's reaction was way too extreme, and inspecting the room only reminded Lucian that the area had no cameras.
"You left your guards outside," Khan continued, "And money can't save you here."
"K-Khan!" Lucian whispered, but Khan didn't let go. Too many people were trying to use him, and he couldn't stay put anymore. Lucian's case was also worse since many of his ploys involved Monica.
"I thought I was the monster of Nippe 2," Khan scoffed. "Isn't that what you wanted everyone to see? If you wish, I can show you the monster."
"Y-you can't-," Lucian tried to argue, but Khan tightened his grip to interrupt the line.
"I can't what?" Khan asked. "No one can stop me here. Before you get any ideas, your guards wouldn't make any difference either."
Softening the grip allowed Lucian to breathe again, and he didn't hesitate to speak. "Will you ruin your life just to punish me?"
There was some scorn in Lucian's tone, which told Khan how he had yet to understand the nature of the situation. Luckily for Khan, he only had to be honest to clear that confusion.
"Do you think I care about my life?" Khan chuckled. "I killed children for Liiza. I can kill you for Monica."
Lucian didn't want to believe those words, but Khan's eyes weren't lying. That was a crazy truth he had to accept. If things really went south, Khan was willing to go far and beyond.
Khan waited until Lucian's mana released the desired scent before voicing one last threat. "No more games."
Lucian could only nod, and Khan let him go afterward. Lucian's legs gave up as soon as they touched the floor, but Khan ignored that crash and returned to his seat.
A few coughs resounded in the room. Lucian took some seconds to calm down and clear his throat, and a worried expression followed. Yet, he quickly suppressed it to sit on an empty chair.
"You could have just told me," Lucian complained, stretching his neck to disperse the soreness caused by Khan's grip. "Though, I'm glad we are finally speaking openly."
"Do you think it's wise to joke right now?" Khan wondered.
"I'm not joking," Lucian stated, pulling the table closer to open one of its drawers. "We can't be allies if we keep holding back our words."
Khan's attack had shattered the glasses in the drawers, but the bottle had survived, and Lucian drank from it. He even handed it to Khan once he was done.
"You have some crazy in you," Khan admitted while taking a long sip from the bottle. "I just threatened to kill you, and you talk about being allies."
"I'm a proud descendant of the Hencus family," Lucian declared. "I'd be unworthy of my name if I let this much scare me away."
Khan had to admit that some respect had appeared inside him. Lucian had stones.
"What?" Lucian asked. "Did you think I'd run away?"
"I only wanted to make my position clear," Khan revealed. "What happened afterward wasn't my problem."
"I understand," Lucian stated. "I won't act on my own anymore. You have my word."
"I don't know how much it's worth," Khan openly mocked before changing the topic. "So, the video was your first move. What's your grand plan, and how does it involve Monica?"
"It's quite simple, really," Lucian snickered. "Your value already skyrocketed due to the video. You only need to get closer to a different family to force the Solodrey's hand."
"Another family?" Khan asked. "Do you mean yours?"
"Oh, no," Lucian shook his head. "I'd lose face if you got close to mine just to return to the Solodrey. You need someone you can abandon, someone you can afford to offend."
"I'll think about it," Khan replied as ideas already formed in his mind. "What then?"
"You get close to them," Lucian explained, "You keep increasing your value, and you wait for the Solodrey family to make their move."
"What if they don't?" Khan questioned.
"I'll give you another mission," Lucian revealed. "It probably won't come directly from me, but it will give you another chance to show your strength. Of course, a second video will reach the network at that point."
Lucian wanted to make the Solodrey family scared of losing priority over Khan, which could work. However, there was a key aspect that Lucian still needed to explain.
"What's in it for you?" Khan asked.
"I already got my outpost," Lucian responded. "This friendly relationship is another big reward. If something happens, I'll come to you as a friend and ask for your help."
"What if I ignore you?" Khan wondered. "Will we go back on veiled threats?"
"Ca-," Lucian began to speak before choosing to use different words. "Khan, you can threaten me all you want, but I know you at least try to do the right thing."
"How is plotting against my girlfriend's family the right thing?" Khan mocked himself.
"I call that normality," Lucian laughed. "Welcome to the political game. I hope you enjoy the ride."
Khan and Lucian exhausted their topics at that point. They took a few more sips from the bottle but eventually decided to leave. It was getting late anyway, and Khan couldn't stay outside for too long.
The arrival in the building's main hall put Khan into a pensive state once again. Lucian's plan was reasonable, but Khan could play with that. He could establish a game within the game.
If Khan accepted Professor Parver's offer, he would grow closer to the Global Army without risking offending other families. Moreover, he would also build connections that might help him against powerful forces if necessary. He would grow independent while sticking to Lucian's plan.
The idea lingered in Khan's mind during the climb in the elevator, but his actions against Lucian eventually reappeared. He felt better after venting, but some negativity remained. He had shown his true face, and hiding it didn't feel right.
The flat didn't agree with Khan's mood. The cheerfulness that filled the symphony invaded him as soon as the elevator opened and almost washed away his negative feelings.
A series of steps resounded through the flat before three faces appeared past the elevator area. George, Anita, and Monica showed broad smiles before shouting simultaneously. "Surprise!"
Khan was at a loss for words, but Monica didn't hesitate to approach him to explain the situation. She had worn a new dress, and the sight almost made Khan unable to hear the words she whispered to his ear.
"It's to celebrate your mission," Monica revealed. "There is even a cake."
"Ask him where he keeps the good bottles," George called while Khan was still busy looking at Monica in disbelief.
George's words put a smile on Khan's face, and Monica grew happier seeing that. She kissed his cheek before taking his elbow and voicing a request he couldn't refuse. "Shall we go?"
Khan nodded and let Monica pull him. He couldn't help but feel happy, and the return of his previous thoughts didn't ruin his mood anymore. They only filled him with a latent resolve. He knew he would burn the entire world to protect those smiling faces.
