Endless Evolution: Last Star

Soft rays of sunlight, coming through the window, fell on Adam's face. He frowned and turned away, not wanting to wake up - sleep was too sweet and pleasant to give it up.

However... the sun's rays weren't going to give up on him, soon forcing his eyes open.

The first Adam saw Silvana, sitting near, with a calm face, reading something on her tablet.

Then, he directed his gaze to his left, watching Alexia. Unlike him, she had been awake for a while now, and, right now, she was... practicing...

Whoosh. Whoosh. Whooooooosh.

Alexia quickly punched the air, boxing with a serious look. After completing a series of punches, Alexia immediately did a few push-ups despite half of her bandaged body.

"Fine, I want a snack!" Alexia said demandingly, turning to the young man who sat next to her bed, taking the same position as Silvana.

The young man had back-length blue hair, perfect facial features, and deep blue eyes as calm as the ocean.

Considering Alexia's temperament and her formidable gaze, out of the two of them, it was this young man who looked more handsome and cute. Most girls wouldn't be able to resist his glare.

"Sure. I've got it all set up, as always." Louis uttered before pulling out a container of onigiri and large meatballs. It was the fifth such container, with four more, empty, resting by the window behind him.

Alexia approached Louis as he fed her from his fork, with a caring smile on his face. It seemed that Alexia was long ago used to being treated this way, as there was no emotion on her face, and she just went back to practicing.

"Oh... Adam, are you awake...?" Alexia muttered as her cheeks flushed slightly.

Adam scratched the back of his head, puzzled.

"Yeah, though I'd prefer to sleep a little longer." Adam muttered, looking at the sun at zenith, "I feel like I haven't enough."

Silvana glared at him.

"Adam, do you realize this isn't the same day as Eclipse, right? You and Alexia slept for three whole days, and Alexia only woke up a few hours ago."

Adam nodded deeply.

Then, Silvana showed the prepared containers of his favorite food - meat and shrimp.

Adam might have wanted to ask something else, but he was so hungry that he immediately forgot about everything when he saw the appetizing piece of meat.

...

Wiping the sauce from his mouth, Adam finally came to his senses, satisfied. It took Silvana several servings to feed Adam.

"So... You're Alexia's Operator, right?" Adam asked, looking at Louis slightly puzzled.

This was the first time he had ever seen a male Operator. Although he had only seen one Operator before - Zola, Oren's Operator, they had a run-in in the virtual zone and then, in a joint mission.

Louis put one foot over the other, smiled, and nodded.

"On her first mission, Alexia killed so many monsters that she practically did everything alone. The missions department and the military noticed it, so I've been keeping an eye on that crazy kid ever since that day."

"Hey! You're only two years older than me! What's more, I'm thirsty!" Alexia said sternly, clearly displeased with what Louis had said.

Louis nodded, as he pulled four items out of the container - coffee and bitter chocolate, as well as chocolate milk and an eclair with heavy cream.

"I wasn't sure what you'd choose. It looks like you've just become very mature. So... What will you take?" Louis smirked. He knew what the answer would be.

Alexia lowered her gaze to the floor, clenched her fists, and took the milk and eclair. She sat down on the bed and with puffed-up cheeks, started drinking the milk through a tube.

Louis shrugged and took a sip of the double espresso, opening the chocolate bar.

Adam watched this duo with curiosity. Louis clearly cared for Alexia, for although he teased her, he was here all the time and had prepared Alexia's food and favorite sweets. He knew his task as Operator as well as her partner, someone who could banter or cheer her up at the right moment.

"Hey, Adam." Louis addressed him.

"Hmm?" Adam gave him a questioning look.

"You're from the Citadel, aren't you? I mean, you don't live in Bastion Radon." Louis asked.

Adam nodded.

"Yeah, once I get some rest, I'll return to the Citadel. I have challenging missions ahead of me, but I want to go home first."

Louis smiled.

"So do we."

"Agh...?" Adam tilted his head in confusion, "Don't you live in Bastion Radon?"

Louis shrugged.

"Yeah, but we moved to the Citadel a while back. There are more opportunities, missions, and allies there. We only came back to Bastion Radon for Eclipse because the military asked us to."

Adam's eyes went wide as he looked at Alexia, who was listening intently to their conversation but not showing it. She was enjoying her dessert.

'Was she called in on purpose? Though...' Adam pondered as he remembered the situation in the shower after Elemental Circle, back then Clara had come to him with a proposal, 'The same thing happened to me. Moreover, Erden Hage... He knew what my name was, so... prominent Phantoms are closely watched, aren't they?'

Well, it was no secret, that the military, the missions department, and the government were constantly monitoring the progress of the Phantoms, both squads and individuals.

It was important to reduce the risks of missions and to divide resources. The government tried to avoid discrimination by power level, but it was a natural process.

Those who were stronger and more capable than others could kill more monsters, and thus save more allies and ordinary people.

However, even if someone became overly arrogant because of this, it was not the government's problem. Their job was to make sure the Phantoms were as effective as possible - to raise the capable ones and forget about the weak ones.

"Silvana, we don't have any more business here, do we? I mean, I wanted to leave even earlier, but suddenly I had to get involved in Eclipse." Adam asked with a slight wave of his hand.

"No. I can order a fighter at any time. Just let me know." Silvana replied calmly, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Let's fly together." Louis suggested.

Adam raised an eyebrow as he looked at Alexia. She finished her eclair, tossed the empty milk to Louis, and stood up. Louis, with a slight smile on his face, caught it, not saying anything.

"I agree. I want to get back to the Citadel as soon as possible because my favorite event is coming up!" Alexia said energetically, looking at Adam.

Adam only tilted his head.

"Three days from now, there will be a Scarlet Light Fair - in the First Ring, the largest square, where there will be tens of thousands of people and various activities. Both common people and Phantoms are going there." Silvana quickly explained, realizing that Adam didn't know about it.

"The Scarlet Light Fair...?" Adam muttered as a happy smile appeared on his face like a child, "Sounds interesting!"

This will be Adam's first time attending something like this. His first opportunity.