Endless Evolution: Last Star

This café was rarely frequented, usually, the peak was after business hours when people left their offices to rest, but it was morning now, and the roads were pretty empty.

Nevertheless, someone had been standing in front of the entrance for several minutes.

A girl with azure eyes and black hair looked around as if waiting for someone. Previously, she wore a strict military costume, but this time, she chose something looser, slightly revealing her wrists and shoulders, but the usual harshness was still there.

"Adam!" Narata's eyes went wide when she saw Adam walking in her direction.

"Hey! Been waiting long? Sorry, I guess I'm a little late." Adam scratched the back of his head awkwardly with a kind smile on his face.

Narata looked at him, bottom to top, examining his clothes. Oddly enough, he was wearing the same thing he'd worn in S-Zone, though he was no longer in prison and wasn't about to fight anyone.

"Tron's not here yet?" Adam tilted his head.

Narata sighed.

"Actually, he's already inside... Came in a few minutes ago, I didn't have time to run into him... At first, I wanted to go in, but... I'm too worried, so I decided to wait for you." Narata scratched her cheek shyly.

Adam nodded understandingly and opened the door, waiting for Narata to enter.

At first, she didn't understand the meaning of the gesture, then she blushed and quickly headed forward.

Tron was sitting at the farthest end - there were already four cups of coffee on the table, as well as pancakes with syrup. He must have ordered the first thing on the menu.

As they got closer, Adam and Narata stopped in surprise for a few seconds, but it wasn't Tron - it was the girl sitting next to him.

She was quite tall, wearing clothes that exuded modesty and unremarkability. She had calm green eyes and a long, rather thick brown braid, neatly twisted.

Unlike Tron, who relaxed back in the padded chair and kept one foot on the other with his arms crossed over his chest - the girl sat with a straight back, keeping her palms on her feet like a student on an exam.

"Oh, you're finally here. That's good, your coffee probably hasn't had time to get cold yet." Tron muttered, casting a hard stare at them.

Adam smiled, taking a seat. Narata followed behind him.

Tron leaned forward slightly, looking at Narata for a while, then shifted his gaze to Adam.

"Let's start with you. I expected there would be no meeting because Damien had forgotten that you were in prison. However, despite all the difficulties you managed to do it. You and the other two Phantoms defeated K2-Phantom, that's indeed commendable." Tron calmly said.

Adam nodded with flames in his eyes, remembering that fight.

"Would you like to join the Dark Order?" Tron asked sharply. It was obvious that he was more than serious, and all Adam had to do was answer positively to start the process.

"No, not yet." Adam replied without a second thought.

"Not yet... hah, whatever." Tron shrugged with a slight chuckle.

Then, he glared menacingly at Narata, making her flinch, but his attention shifted to the girl beside him, who hadn't said a word yet.

"This is Riska, she's my Operator." Tron said nonchalantly with a wave of his hand.

Riska showed a bright smile and nodded.

"It's nice to meet you. I hope today ends well."

She knew why Narata had come here too. Oddly enough, her smile was able to put Narata at ease.

"Narata..." Tron said slowly, "I think you already know that it's possible to fulfill your wish. However, it's one thing to talk about it, and another to show it."

"Agh...?" Narata tilted her head in confusion. She had no idea what Tron was talking about.

Tron waved his hand.

Riska nodded at his gesture and pulled some pictures out of her pocket.

Adam and Narata were surprised, but they hadn't had time to look at the contents of the photos yet. The mere fact that they were physical copies and not digital was enough to make their eyes go wide.

Riska was an Operator, so she knew how to use technology, especially computers on the highest level, if she had pictures like this, it could only mean one thing - no one was supposed to see it.

Then, Adam and Narata narrowed their eyes as they looked at the pictures, and shivers ran down their spines.

There were only six pictures - it was the whole story of the girl Phantom. First, she was a newcomer to the academy, then on her first mission, she succeeded. Next was training and a serious mission with many victims, fear, and horror in her eyes.

In the fifth picture, everything was covered with corpses, the only survivor was the girl leaning on her huge spear. At the end, the last picture was an image of Riska's.

"What... What does that mean?" Narata muttered in disbelief. She shifted her gaze back and forth between the pictures and Riska. The girl in the pictures had the same hair and eye color, but Narata couldn't say that these girls were much alike, though... she should have just looked closer.

"Yeah, you got that right." Tron muttered.

Riska smiled bitterly.

"A few years ago, I was a Phantom, though... technically I still have an Initial Gene and an Evolution Tree, just like you all."

Riska continued, "But... Phantom Riska Luiria no longer exists. I am Tron's Operator and no one else."

Narata gulped. Right here, in front of her, was a person who had gone through the path she was about to choose. It gave her an unprecedented confidence.

Sure, Adam and Narata were extremely curious why Riska had made that decision, but they didn't question her about it. Apparently, the root reason was the same as Narata's - Riska never wanted to be a Phantom.

"Sorry to be rude, but what did you do with your Nexus? I won't ask anything personal anymore, please answer that." Narata asked with such an eager look as if her life depended on it.

Riska smiled.

"You don't have to worry so much. My spear is fine, but I don't have access to my Nexus, and I don't even know where exactly it is."

Riska pointed at Tron.

"Back then, I gave my Nexus to Tron. I don't know and don't want to know where my spear is." Riska's voice was gentle and calm, but it changed abruptly.

She narrowed her eyes and looked intently at Narata, like a strict teacher at her student.

"Narata, there's something you need to understand. Adam and Tron have Nexuses, for they are Phantoms. We shouldn't have them, because Operators don't have Nexuses. Do you understand that?"

Narata flinched, then she gulped.

True, Narata wanted to renounce the path of the Phantom and become an Operator, but it still wasn't easy at all, even if she had the right determination. Even if her life wasn't what she wanted it to be, she needed to discard everything she had and start practically from scratch.

"Alright, that's enough lyrics. You've learned a little about Riska, now I want to learn a bit about you, Narata. I want to make sure you're ready to be an Operator." Tron said coldly.

"Be prepared to take a simple test."