Magi arrived at the Guild Hall fifteen minutes early for the team meeting.

  The corridor leading to their assigned room was empty, fluorescent lights buzzing overhead.

  He paused at the water cooler, filling a paper cup and watching the bubbles rise through the clear plastic container.

  He'd spent the previous evening searching for available apartments with better security features. The Syndicate's intrusion left him unsettled. Inconvenienced.

  He disliked complications.

  Voices echoed down the hallway. Marc and Eli approached, deep in conversation. They stopped when they noticed Magi.

  "You're early," Marc said, checking his watch.

  "Less traffic than expected."

  Eli studied his face. "You look tired."

  Magi shrugged. "Apartment hunting. The listings never match the actual units."

  The conference room door was unlocked. Inside, the rectangular table dominated the space, surrounded by eight chairs. A projection screen covered the far wall, currently blank. The air smelled of cleaning solution and coffee.

  Marc set his tablet on the table. "We need to talk about what happened at the Rift closure."

  "The split payment?" Magi asked.

  "That, and the classification. Environmental Stabilization hasn't happened in this sector for months."

  Eli removed her jacket and hung it on the back of her chair. "It wasn't natural. Something targeted that Rift specifically."

  The door swung open as Jax and Layla entered mid-argument.

  "—telling you, someone's messing with us," Jax said, his face flushed. "First the bone dragon, then this mysterious closure. It's connected."

  Layla rolled her eyes. "Not everything's a conspiracy."

  "Then explain how Crimson Tide knew to be there at the exact same time."

  "Coincidence. Bad luck. Take your pick."

  Jax spotted Magi. "What about your interview yesterday? What did Internal Security want?"

  The room fell silent. Four sets of eyes fixed on Magi.

  He took a sip of water. "Standard procedure. New C-rank teams get reviewed."

  "Bullshit." Jax slammed his palm on the table. "They separated all of us, but you were gone for over an hour. What did they ask you?"

  Marc raised a hand. "Let's stay calm. We're all tired and frustrated about the payment situation."

  "This isn't about money," Jax said, pacing now. "Something's happening, and it started with that bone dragon Rift."

  Layla dropped into a chair. "The bone dragon that nearly killed us."

  "The bone dragon that Magi destroyed with a touch," Jax corrected, pointing at Magi. "And then that black box that shattered and gave you that cube thing."

  "The void seed," Magi said.

  "Whatever it is. And then the ring that screams when anyone but you touches it."

  Eli nodded. "The necromancer's ring. Both are anomalous artifacts."

  Marc sat at the head of the table. "Jax has a point. There's been unusual attention on our team since those events."

  "On Magi specifically," Layla added.

  The door opened again. Senior Administrator Rhea Kendall entered, datapad in hand. Her gray suit matched her precisely cut hair, both without a wrinkle or strand out of place.

  "Echo Squad," she said, eyes sweeping across each of them. "I understand there's confusion about yesterday's assignment."

  Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

  Marc stood. "Administrator, we weren't expecting you."

  "Clearly." She gestured for him to sit. "I've reviewed the incident reports, including the Observer drone footage. The situation is... unusual."

  Jax crossed his arms. "Someone else closed that Rift."

  "Perhaps. The evidence is inconclusive." She placed her datapad on the table. "What concerns me is the pattern emerging around your team's assignments."

  "Pattern?" Eli asked.

  "Three statistically improbable events in succession. The bone dragon construct, the necromantic artifacts, and now a spontaneously closing Rift." Rhea's gaze settled on Magi. "All involving dimensional anomalies."

  Magi met her eyes calmly. "Coincidence."

  "I don't believe in coincidences, Mr. Necros. Not three in a row."

  The air in the room felt heavier. Layla shifted in her seat.

  "What are you suggesting?" Marc asked.

  "I'm not suggesting anything yet. I'm gathering information." Rhea tapped her datapad. "The Science Division is particularly interested in these events."

  "Why would Science Division care about field operations?" Jax demanded.

  "Because dimensional stability affects everyone." Rhea's tone remained even. "There's a theory that certain individuals may attract or repel dimensional energy. The Science Division calls them Resonants."

  Eli leaned forward. "Are you saying one of us is a Resonant?"

  "I'm saying it's being investigated."

  Jax pointed at Magi again. "It's him. The bone dragon called him 'the anomaly.'"

  Rhea's eyebrows raised slightly. "Is that so?"

  Magi shrugged. "It was talking to all of us. The translation was imprecise."

  "Convenient explanation," Jax muttered.

  Marc tapped the table to regain attention. "Administrator, what does this mean for our team assignments?"

  "For now, nothing changes. You'll continue normal C-rank operations with Observer drone monitoring." She stood. "But I expect full transparency from all of you. If anything unusual occurs… anything at all, report it immediately."

  After Rhea left, the room remained silent for several seconds.

  Jax broke first. "She knows something's up with you." He jabbed a finger toward Magi.

  "There's nothing up with me."

  "Then explain how you stopped that gold attack with your bare hand. Explain how you melted a bone dragon by touching it. Explain why cursed items don't affect you!"

  Layla stood up. "Jax, calm down."

  "No! I'm tired of pretending everything's normal when it clearly isn't." Jax turned to Marc. "You saw what happened in the arena. The display glitched out trying to read his stats."

  Marc sighed. "I saw it."

  "And Eli, you're the one who said the ring should have burned his hand off."

  Eli nodded reluctantly. "Standard necromantic cursed items do cause severe tissue damage on contact."

  "See? We're all thinking it!" Jax slammed both hands on the table. "What are you? Some kind of Guild spy? Syndicate operative?"

  "No," Magi said.

  "Then what's with all the secrecy? The basic attacks that aren't basic? The healing that fixed all of us in seconds?" Jax was breathing hard now. "Who are you really?"

  Marc raised his hand again. "That's enough, Jax."

  "No, I want answers!" Jax moved closer to Magi. "What are you hiding from us?"

  The room fell silent again. Magi looked at each of his teammates. Jax's anger. Layla's confusion. Eli's curiosity. Marc's careful calculation.

  "I'm not hiding anything," Magi said.

  "Bullshit," Jax hissed.

  "I'm exactly what I appear to be."

  "Which is what, exactly?" Layla asked, more gently than Jax.

  Magi took another sip of water. "A C-rank Raider with basic attributes."

  "Basic attributes don't let someone shatter a bone dragon," Eli said.

  "Mine do."

  Jax threw up his hands. "This is pointless. He's never going to give us a straight answer."

  Marc stood up. "Magi, we need to trust each other. As team leader, I'm asking directly: are you hiding something that could endanger this team?"

  Magi met Marc's gaze. "No."

  "Are you working for someone else? Guild Intelligence? Syndicate? Any outside organization?"

  "No."

  "Are you deliberately concealing information about your abilities that we should know?"

  Magi considered this. "I've shown you my attribute screen. I have basic abilities, but I use them effectively."

  "That's not an answer," Jax muttered.

  "It's the truth."

  Marc studied him for a long moment. "Okay."

  "Okay? That's it?" Jax looked incredulous.

  "What do you want me to do, Jax? Torture him for information he may not have?" Marc shook his head. "I've worked with Magi long enough to know one thing: he's straightforward. If he says he's not hiding anything, I believe him."

  Layla nodded slowly. "He's never lied to us."

  "That we know of," Jax countered.

  Eli tapped her fingers on the table. "Perhaps we're approaching this wrong. Magi, could your unusual results be caused by something you genuinely don't understand? Something about how your attributes work that differs from the norm?"

  Magi nodded. "That's possible."

  Jax opened his mouth to object, but Marc cut him off. "Then let's work with what we know. Magi is effective in combat. His healing saves our lives. Whatever the reason, he's an asset to this team."

  "And if Administrator Rhea comes back asking more questions?" Layla asked.

  "We tell her what we know. Nothing more, nothing less." Marc collected his tablet. "Now, we have a job to prepare for tomorrow. Standard Rift clearing in the western sector. Let's focus on that."

  The tension in the room slowly dissipated. Jax eventually stopped glaring at Magi and began discussing equipment needs with Layla. Eli reviewed the mission parameters with Marc.

  Magi finished his water, crumpled the paper cup, and tossed it into the recycling bin. His teammates had accepted his answer because it was technically true. He wasn't hiding anything from them.

  The problem wasn't secrecy, it was comprehension. How could he explain that he approached attributes differently when he didn't know how others approached them? How could he explain that what seemed basic to him produced results others found impossible?

  He couldn't explain what he didn't understand. And that was the problem. Not deception, but difference. A fundamental misalignment between how he experienced the awakened world and how everyone else did.

  As the team filed out of the conference room, Magi followed silently.

  Tomorrow they'd face another Rift, another challenge. And he'd continue using his basic abilities the only way he knew how.

  Effectively, efficiently, and without fanfare.

  The truth was, Magi wasn't hiding anything.

  And that was precisely the problem.