Appearing in the Coalition’s cafeteria, Eni expected to see anything—from more training drills to secret briefings—but instead, she found only mundane melancholy. Nick sat at a long table, slowly and lazily sipping milk from a large mug. Noticing his guest, he didn't jump up or act pleased. On the contrary, he slowly pushed the mug aside, slumped over the table with his head resting on his arms, and closed his eyes, making it clear his social quota for the day had been reached.

  "Um... Nick?" Eni shifted awkwardly from one foot to the other. "I wanted to talk to you and... ask a couple of questions."

  Without opening his eyes, Nick merely parted his lips lazily:

  "Got it..."

  Eni fell silent, trying to process this sudden shift in mood. Where was the crazed demon who had been tearing across the training ground an hour ago, summoning hundreds of swords? Sighing, she decided to go for the direct approach:

  "Do you know who the Voice is?"

  Nick reluctantly lifted his head, glanced at her with a hazy, half-asleep gaze, and collapsed face-first onto the table again.

  "No, I don't. He doesn't reside in this world. He's in another."

  "And... the prophecy?" Eni didn't back down. "How do you know it?"

  Nick forced himself to sit up with visible effort and poured a glass of water from a carafe.

  "You already know the answer," he said after taking a sip. "Books, tablets, cave paintings. I’ve been piecing it together for years."

  "Then why didn't you tell me the whole thing?" Eni asked, remembering how he had abruptly cut the story short.

  Nick looked at her with a heavy gaze and snapped:

  "Next question."

  Eni realized it was useless to push that door. She gathered her courage and asked the question that had haunted her from the start:

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  "How do you know everything? Literally everything that happens around here."

  Nick exhaled heavily and slammed his mug onto the table in irritation.

  "You already know! Didn't the Voice tell you about Alvina? If there’s a plant or an animal nearby... they’re like her ears. That’s the basics, Eni. You should’ve figured that out when the Voice was drumming it into your head, and then—SURPRISE—he suddenly needed sun-grass. Or... whatever it's called."

  The answers were petty and brief, but Eni kept pressing:

  "You were so... energized just a moment ago. Why did you drop off so suddenly?"

  Nick started counting on his fingers, listing his imaginary woes:

  "Not everyone has a tank full of energy, Eni. Especially since I happen to be an introvert. Add to that a dash of bipolar, PTSD, and the fact that my arm literally got torn apart in the sun. My internal battery is dead."

  Realizing the Head of the Coalition had an entire zoo of demons in his head, Eni asked the ultimate question:

  "Do you know who I am?"

  Nick’s face became chillingly serious for a second.

  "I don't even know who I am. So the answer is a negative."

  A shiver ran down Eni’s spine. If even this genius who assembled the Coalition didn't know his own past, the situation was far bleaker than she had imagined. Her eyes widened in shock. Nick, without even looking at her, sensed the shift.

  "All heroes have their souls erased," he said hollowly. "No one knows anything about their past. But the Voice needed us all for something. Hah... apparently, he ended up being wrong about all of us."

  "Erased souls?" Eni caught the word. "But... he just erases memories. The soul is something else entirely..."

  "No," Nick interrupted. "Me, you, Maeno, Vee, Alvina, Alvi... None of us have brains, because we aren't made of flesh—or our brains were turned into mush long ago, or they just rotted away. But we are still us. Each of us has a soul. Maeno is proof; she’s a spiritual entity. And I’m just living ink. The Observer simply stole us all and shoved us into this in-between world. He needs something here desperately."

  Eni remained silent, trying to grasp the scale of this theft. The silence was broken by Nick. He suddenly smiled and began gesturing animatedly, acting out a scene for an imaginary audience.

  "It would be hilarious to meet my parents and Maeno’s parents," he began, shifting his tone. "'Hello, your son and daughter-in-law already have a kid. Truth is, your son didn't want him because he basically hates children, and anyway—this woman tricked him, and she’s not exactly a daughter-in-law... But your son is enjoying it all for now, so he’s not complaining.'"

  Suddenly, he changed his voice to a high-pitched parody of an imaginary mother:

  "'But son! You’ve been gone so long, and now you say such things to your mother! Have you no shame!'"

  Nick made a look of maximum confusion and replied to himself:

  "'Look, lady... who are you exactly?'"

  Eni couldn't help it; she snorted. A second later, they were both laughing out loud, filling the empty cafeteria with their mirth. After half a minute, Nick cut his laughter off sharply and looked at Eni with a stone-cold face:

  "Not funny."

  Eni continued "dying" from laughter, doubled over, while Nick just smiled faintly, watching her reaction. He stood up from the table and headed toward the glowing Obelisk, but turned back at the last moment:

  "What’s your play? Going to continue your lonely journey, or... coming to our little meeting? You’ll see all the Archons at once, and... oh, who am I kidding? You definitely want to."

  And without waiting for an answer, he vanished in the blue radiance. Eni wiped away tears of laughter and stepped through after him, muttering under her breath:

  "Total psycho... But I can't believe a guy like him actually has a wife and a kid. Poor people..."