Alaric XVThe first thing I noticed was the blaring sounds of the base mixing with the higher notes. Lights of every color, even the two I had no name for, flashed across the room in every direction like a strobe light. The music was so loud that I doubted any human could hear anything.I couldn't even hear Bianca at first, though her lips were moving. I had to focus and then I could just make out the words she was saying: "That's Pointblink, my favorite band!"Pointblink? That was a familiar name. I wasn't surprised to see Yayoi on the stage, rocking with her guitar. She was singing in Japanese about a lover lost in space and how his wife spent the rest of her life looking for him.Was Yayoi here to keep an eye on me? This gig didn't seem like something that had been planned hours ago. This had to be planned in advance. So was Yayoi always going to play here? Or was this just so she could keep an eye on me?I guess Kaya wasn't able to convince Mireille to change her mind. Mireille se

Evelyn XIIIThe nurse at my bedside looked over at the invisible screen. It appeared like she was touching air, but it seemed like someone took my linker off, because I couldn't see anything.Director Miyuki looked at the nurse. It was the first time she looked away from me since I got to the infirmary. Hawkendale and Nori stood quietly in the corner, staring at Miyuki with open lust and open fear. Hawkendale was the former."Well?" the acting director asked in her soft, quiet voice.The nurse nodded. "Her brain patterns have stabilized. They were fluctuating when she arrived, but they are stable. If I had to guess, I'd say that whatever effect drove her into vision is over."The nurse knew about my vision? I hadn't told anyone."What vision?" Miyuki asked."I don't know, but the way her brain patterns were acting, she wasn't unconscious. It matched similar patterns from hunters who were subjected to mental attacks by titans."Miyuki turned to me. "What was this vision?"I didn't want

Evelyn XV"I thought we were going to patrol," Norima groaned. "I want to go see the city! I've never been to Pluto before!""I want to go eat sushi!" Hawkendale declared. "I want to see a sushi train! I've heard this city has sushi trains!"These two thought with their stomachs. Not that I could blame them. They were raised in a lab and I knew from personal experience that lab food wasn't very good.Still, I didn't want to stay here and listen to this. I had a message to analyze. My brother's murder had declared war. That was more pressing than parenting these two children.I was even starting to miss Johana. She had a mouth on her, but at least she could prioritize her work.These two didn't need to be Sword Hunters. They needed to be put in special classes to reintroduce them to society. They weren't complete lost causes, but they needed a push here and there."If you pass my test, we'll go on patrol tomorrow," I said to placate them. God knows I'd have to beat them to make them li

Alaric XVIPound. Pound. Pound. Pound. Pound. Pound. Pound. Pound. Pound.Pound. Pound. Pound. Pound. Pound. Pound. Pound. Pound. Pound. Pound. Pound. Pound. Pound. Pound. Pound. Pound. Pound. Pound. Pound. Pound. Pound. Pound. Pound. Pound. Pound. Pound. Pound. Pound. Pound. Pound. Pound. Pound. Pound. Pound. Pound. Pound. Pound. Pound. Pound. Pound.Pound. Pound. Pound. Pound. Pound. Pound. Pound. Pound. Pound. Pound. Pound. Pound. Pound. Pound. Pound. Pound. Pound. Pound. Pound. Pound. Pound. Pound. Pound. Pound. Pound. Pound. Pound. Pound. Pound. Pound. Pound.My head was aching like you wouldn't believe it. It felt like how I imagined a hangover would feel, multiplied by cancer. I was half convinced that someone was inside my head, hacking on the inside with a fucking pickax.Pound. Pound. Pound. Pound. Pound. Pound. Pound. Pound. Pound.Pound. Pound. Pound. Pound. Pound. Pound. Pound. Pound. Pound. Pound. Pound. Pound. Pound. Pound. Pound. Pound. Pound. Pound. Pound. Pound. Pound.

Interlude: Henri Part 1Day before PartyWhen he clicked his linker, a message from Bianca appeared. After everything that happened at the last party they went to, he wasn't in the mood to speak with any of his friends.If it wasn't bad enough Sword came and crashed the party, and his parents found out. Henri's parents weren't supposed to find out. His mom screamed at him for half an hour straight about going to a party in the woods. On top of that, he lied to them about where he was going and now they didn't trust him anymore.Now when he wanted to go out, he needed to run it by his parents. Then they drove him there and made sure he was telling the truth. Well, that was how it was supposed to be, but he hadn't been allowed out of the house for anything but school.Now Bianca wanted him to go to another party? He was never going to be let out of the house and she expected him to go to THAT district? Bianca was crazy.There was a knock on his door. He quickly closed his linker and thr