The next morning, sunlight shone on William once again. Glancing at the clock, he moaned and gathered it wasn't too late, or too early. He shouldn't waste time in bed over nothing.

  “Why do they make bes so damn comfortable here?! They should make it worse so one couldn't waste time on it. Yeah... not that I plan to sleep on the floor or... nah. Let's just get out.”

  Complaints were futile. He got up, put on his clothes, and went to the kitchen, where Mi-Yung already waited for him.

  “Good morning, I guess?” She said to him, tapping her fingers against the table.

  “Is something wrong?”

  Mi-Yung had been waiting for a whole night, and Luke did not come. It seemed his shift had been extended, and no one had even informed her. She was a bit pissed off for sure.

  It was worth a try to change her mind a little, and William gathered that much about her already.

  He was too late. “I have a game plan for you, William.”

  “Plan?”

  “I want to see more of you. In ten days, there are people who want to see you, know you, and visit you. It was a promise made by a couple of Pillars in the Assembly where I went yesterday. It isn't a big deal, by the way.”

  “Pillars?” By now, William was aware of what that meant and what kind of freaks she mentioned. “Is my presence a bad thing? I thought it was normal to let recruits free for a bit of time, so...”

  “It is like that. What we are is a bit different. Maybe even difficult, as well? Anyway, I want to see you and ensure it goes well for everyone, and the start of it is with words and understanding, which I lacked all those days ago when I was like a sick lady meeting a dog. It is... a bad comparison. I apologize.”

  “Alright.” William shrugged and sat beside her. “What do you want to know? This reminds me of Kaufman... He was also curious.”

  “I was the same until I changed my mind a lot. Not for the better, I might say.”

  “Should I be worried?”

  “I am not Kaufman!” Mi-Yung argued, irritated and still wearing casual trousers and a shirt that revealed a bit of her Emblem. It began to shine, and the skin around it cracked a little, revealing colorful veins.

  “Alright. You are not. I trust you, so what can I do for you?”

  “Rank 0. Details about your Emblem and other related information. I want a thorough understanding of it and what I can expect from you or it, and not with force, or by force. I want to hear from you. You! I mean it. Not like Kaufman.”

  William hummed. “So, what he did had a meaning? He cracked me, asked me if I was seeing something, and his force pushed me down as if I were a huge haystack, or... rock. Yeah. Maybe a rock.”

  “A poke then. He wanted to test your Emblem directly, and it took the bait. I could try it myself if you want.”

  “If it's not going to hurt too much, why not?”

  Mi-Yung got a little startled, and her eyes shifted. “You... changed your mind about it?”

  “About what?”

  “Future, or Kaufman?”

  “I just don't want to run away. I used to do that a lot in the past. A looot.” William moaned and recalled quite a few terrifying moments. “I know that Rank 0 exists. I said it. Ten years ago, it crawled before me like myself, in a place where I should have died. It was like a nightmare. That day. That night. I don't know every little thing about it, but I swore I saw those Screens drawn on the Upper Floors.”

  “Maybe dreams would help?”

  “What? Hell no. I have nightmares about it from time to time, but a lot of it comes from my experiences and my Emblem. I don't remember those Screens. I was very little.”

  Mi-Yung leaned further into her chair, crossed her arms, and looked at him. “We have time. No hurry. Speak about your guesses, memories, the lack thereof, or pour it all at the table, cuz I am fine with any little and even fake, missed details.”

  William scratched his hair and looked at the table. “I don't like recalling most of it, but a lot of my bad memories revolve around the Emblem. It's how many people perceive it, and say how monsters grow and haunt us, people. A walking gem or a tool. Some wanted it very much. Me, I guess. I met Lunatics.”

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  “Outsiders?”

  “Yes; them too. I was out of the boundaries of the Federation quite a few times. Most of my life, I just tried to live.”

  “Because you thought your parents would be somewhere out there, right?”

  “I thought so. Naively, we traveled a lot. Then... they were gone. All but memories and shadow and hand reaching for me.” William said with difficulty, clenching his right hand on the table.

  “Where?” Mi-Yung demanded and figured this single topic was bigger than she expected. She thought he didn't know a lot due to the very obvious trauma of cracking and dying at Rank 0, and it was true. It seemed she was mistaken about it, and his ideas and those Screens described completely different materials. It was worrisome.

  “Rooms. Some camps. Places. Dark ones. A lot of it is hard to remember. It is sometimes like a dream. I was young, wild, weak, so I guess that explains it.” William shrugged. “As for your words, there is one thing to say. My Emblem is very alive and has a couple of self-defense mechanisms.”

  “A rare kind of Rank 0 then.”

  “There are... kinds? Which? You spoke of it before, right?”

  “A little, but it isn't as if Rank 0 is very easy to research. The chain is missing. Rank 0 is a point where Emblem is in a bizarre tension, where the pre-awakened state of Ego and Arcana appear and do weird things. Common Rank 0s are a simple accumulation of extended Arcana that could increase the rate of Awakening and its methods. It's mostly about quantity. Almost all Walkers have this form. Either for a few months before natural Awakening, or a year, or longer, and so on. The longer it is, the weirder it gets, and the better it probably is.”

  “Probably? What about the Forced Awakening?” William asked in curiosity and less avarice.

  Mi-Yung hesitated for a single moment, as if gathering thoughts, and spoke. “That's the thing. Rank 0 is rarely seen in the spotlight because of the time difference. You might guess the rest.”

  “Ten years... is plenty or too much? It overwhelmed me, or not even that?”

  “Exactly, and it isn't even everything. Why was it possible? When? Is something required? Is time everything? What about quality, if your Emblem is vibrant, or not so vibrant? Does it do even stranger things if Darks are involved, or is it a matter of personality or sheer luck? I could count such Rank 0s on both hands and even then, neither is the same, let alone concrete evidence to any answer.”

  William was curious about those examples and stated what he knew without passing out his disappearing Emblem. That one wasn't good, but just wrong, and probably not even that bad, but still... He was stubborn and kept it for himself.

  “Self-defense... crashing? It killed before. I think I did too... but I can't possibly recall it.” he waved his hands before him, a bit helpless.

  “I am not biting your head off just because you can't answer it or don't want to. In fact, it makes sense, and it is fine if you don't remember.”

  “Well, there are also... emotions. It does things like my state of mind.”

  “Nerve system?!” Mi-Yung wondered. “How far does it go? It is in your arm, so that is interesting.”

  “Anger. A lot of it. I can't control it, but when I met Luke, it got a bit out of hand.” William said, thinking that Mi-Yung already knew about it.

  “He said something about it. Like a snake, it attacked him when he mentioned your father and wasn't very good at it.”

  “Yes; I didn't even know he was a Walker. Then, he even said my mother was one as well. He was so nonchalant about it that I got angry. I didn't even know what to feel. It just flew out, and I didn't care. It felt good in an odd way.”

  “That's because it isn't bad, maybe. Your Rank 0 could be that, and many people might say otherwise, but those are idiots. Why? Because you are with me, right now, and it didn't even break you, correct? You calmed it down.”

  William's hands shivered, and he tried to reclaim his thoughts. This talk was long overdue, but he didn't want to spend much time on it or dwell on his own pity. Mi-Yung was constantly moving from one thing to another, and now she was bringing it to a proper side because of Pillars. That didn't sound good, but again, no more running away.

  “Anything else?” she asked.

  “That's about it. I don't recall my body besides wounds, tense muscles, and bones.”

  “Is that your healing factor? Most Rank 0s possess power over flesh and flow because Emblems are part of the body, and prepping for the Awakening is natural.”

  “Maybe? It sounds... average. I got cuts, and they healed over time. It is normal.”

  “And when it activates?”

  “I don't feel much. Heat. Deep pain and noises. A lot of buzzing noises.”

  Mi-Yung frowned, figuring there must be something else missing. What, exactly? She delved through her memories and found a couple of topics, but... could they mean anything?

  Sighting, she adjusted her hair and felt a small headache. “Whatever. I think involving Emblem Association might be worth the damn headache because they are curious experts. Just... don't mess with them too much.”

  “What? Why?”

  “I will talk to you about it later. If you want it, that is. Are you accepting this proposition?”

  “If you say more, I might.”

  Mi-Yung sighed and never thought he would be this argumentative. “A much throughout test is about science stuff. You might not understand it even if I explain it, but in short, it is the science behind Walkers, Emblems, and Arcana energy. I am pretty sure your Arcana is special.” She glossed over it, and William wasn't sure if it even sounded better than Kaufman.

  “I see...”

  “That means ten days are ahead of us. In the meantime, I want your Emblem answers, guesses, tricks. So, can you give it a try in some way? I am not forcing anything, by the way.”

  William shook his head resolutely. “Don't force it. It is worse every time. Kaufman did it without a shadow of mercy, and he is powerful and I definitely felt it didn't do shit.”

  Mi-Yung nodded and got up, stretching her arms and shoulders. “Rank 8 is extreme, and his method is like his fickle mind. I won't touch it like him. You do it. It should be better, so think about it and--”

  “I refuse.”

  “Hm. Very well. The next thing on the list is physical condition. I'd like to see your body and condition, as well as any sequence that comes to mind. So... get going.”

  “Wh--” William had no choice.

  “It is not a choice, William. Get undressed. You don't want me to do it.”

  William grunted, winced in the chair, and felt that she was extremely intense today. He got up, took off his shirt, and then his trousers. At least his underwear kept his dignity, as it didn't cause any trouble. Mi-Yung wanted different kinds of assessments and definitions.