"Oh," Old Dream huffed a laugh and found what Mi-Yung said fascinating. He knew what was going on, and Rey said it. Ten days meant ten ways to gather truths and lies alike.

  And they were right before him. "He was five years old. Ten years ago. In a time when this young one walked and communicated, yet the mind was fresh and dull, and many died and ceased to exist. A fine time of Madness, I tell. Tell, young devil, what kind of people were your parents like, and where have they brought you, or why? They weren't the youngest, though they brought you to this world and took you out alongside their sins."

  Suddenly, those weird feelings evaporated as if they were all but a dream, and William found his eyes staring at the ground. Lapping for breath, before him was a strange face, a dried arm, and two very different Walkers. Both worried for different reasons.

  "Tell. Tell!" Old Dream demanded from William and didn't even touch him.

  William winced his head, shaking off the feeling as if he had gone through a weird, familiar trip. "Oh... What the fuck is your problem, old man? Parents, you mean... They were there, living. I was young and gone. They were all gone, and Mother was crying... leaving. Father felt distant, like a figure made of stone and metal. He was far away. Mother was around, worried. There was room. Darkness. A lot of red nonsense and words that felt like stings. I said... M-Yung knows it," William spoke out of his mind, barely feeling right to do it that way.

  Old Dream's Suggestion worked wonders, and Mi-Yung knew there was no way to look further, for there was nothing further. It was like reading into a book that had torn pages or pages that were scribbled with the nonsense effect of a fucked up child.

  Old Dream didn't care, clicked his tongue, let go of William's mind, and crossed his arms. Then, William fell, hitting the floor with his back.

  "That much is curious. A child comes with a lot of terms, let alone a five-year-old devil. It is no small thing, you see. Very well. Trust is gained. A price shall be paid." Old Dream cursed at those beside him and walked aside, sitting on the ground and waiting for the rest of this affair to start.

  Mi-Yung turned to him. "Is that all you have to say, old man? You think I accept this?"

  "You speak as if carrying the world on your shoulder is easy. For a mere girl, you are sometimes too brazen. My acts can't be forged or misspoken. You saw it. Felt it. Know it. He is 'that' devil."

  "And you are repeating yourself day by day, Old Dream. If you told me, he would have been prepared. Now, look at him?" Mi-Yung sneered at him and turned to Rey.

  He sighed and checked on William, who was dizzy and felt the Skill Old Dream Suggested wrecking with his brain and body alike, and nothing was helping him whatsoever.

  No pain came, though an unwavering storm overcame his Emblem, revolting it, affecting it more than anything before. Maybe that was also what Kaufman tried, while Old Dream was much different because that's what Rank 8s were like.

  Rey helped him up, worried that something bad had happened. "Take care of your breaths, but not too large. Think of a line and imagine a road. Then, a room. Then, yourself. It helps gain a grasp of reality, but I don't recall that room. Not a tunnel either, or light. Or.., well, I speak nonsense. Think whatever you wish for."

  William grunted and tried. He tried very hard and found no small road or mere line. It was a vast plateau, illuminated by a flash of bright red light everywhere. It gasped. Howled. Then, countless cracked lines, making up the plain, created a vast, demonic face that tried to swallow him.

  Then he opened his eyes, blinking and looking at Mi-Yung as if he had a bad dream. "Was... this all? Can I leave now?"

  "Not yet. Sorry."

  "Um. Give me that... I am over it." William moaned, pulled his sleeves down, and offered his right hand as if they wanted to cut it off and eat it.

  Rey felt there was no point in further worries. He diverted his attention elsewhere, glancing at the one lone figure in a corner, who observed them for a while out of obligation, fear, and substantial dread.

  She was a small, shivering woman, wearing a white blouse, a coat, and old-looking glasses; her dark, messy hair gave her little brilliance to work with, but that was fine. She had been locked up here for years anyway, not out of obligation, but necessity and willingness.

  "Come forth, Deputy Zenya."

  "S-sir is too kind. Far too kind." Zenya, a lady from northern China, came forward, pleading for no one in particular, because her position and life were not her own.

  Rey was her highest boss, China was no longer her home, and even if she was much closer and fervent to the First Head, having three Pillars present was a big deal. They also came with one youth whom she had never seen, and he came here, with them, of all things.

  For a Deputy, her words were laughable until one realized who else was there—Mi-Yung, a Lower Pilar. Then, Old Dream, the oldest epicenter of the Federation, and many even dared to proclaim him as the pinnacle of all concepts. Rey was obviously a big deal.

  "Zenya, calm down. This is official business. We talked about it." Rey talked to this woman, who was still a head taller than he was, and kept being overly polite, shivering, and awkward.

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  "But the First Head will be furious if this goes through me and without him. This choice. This meeting. A test? Rank 0s are wonderful and various. Such a chance, like visits of the three Pillars, is heavy. If Your Excellency told the truth, it is an inadequate business. Too burdensome for me. He is busy. Far too busy." Her English needed some improvement, but at least she was understandable and quick-witted.

  It was a wonder why First Head wanted her as a Deputy, though Rey couldn't refute his ideas in the slightest because it wasn't his point, or maybe even a possibility. First Head was an old freak even for Rey, and he was quite adamant about his choices. It was better for Rey to ignore it and deal with it for what it was.

  "Prepare the room, Zenya," he ordered, and she had to follow.

  Old Dream looked at these little, pesky matters without care, and Mi-Yung looked more worried than the rumors told. Zenya was fully committed to the pursuit and passion of the First Head, which meant research, tasks, and other responsibilities. She had to give it a chance! He was her world, in a sense.

  Her face changed when she began working because she recognized these Pillars were serious. Finding keys, piles of documents, and a couple of small cubes were about it for the preparations, since the main point was already there, no longer on his knees.

  This room was one of many laboratories connected to numerous large tunnels and rooms. They resembled bunkers, and there was a neat point in their sentiment and sturdy protection.

  In the back, there was a circular opening leading to an expansive room with a large, specialized chamber. Fully metallic, it resembled a refurbished silo, with the top nowhere in sight.

  "Oh, come in. Come in. All ready. What is it going to be, Your Excellency?" Zenya said, turning and looking at one hell of a curious group.

  She was conscious of their visit for days, didn't sleep at all, and felt dreadful over it for one single reason. Her true boss wouldn't be present.

  One thing was a personal visit from the Association Pillar. That, she could deal with. But Old Dream was seen as enigmatic and incredibly difficult to meet, let alone speak with. Then, there was Mi-Yung. An idol! A lot of people in the Association adored her for various reasons.

  Personally, Zenya was excited mainly because she had written a comprehensive theoretical essay about her Emblem and its related sequences of skills, fuses, and prevalent rules of her body.

  It was hours long just to get to interesting points, and that was the single reason she was here, not now, but in this entire laboratory. Among her peers, she was seen as someone who could think critically about Walkers at a high level. And she was just a regular human. The First Head picked her as his assistant for that reason alone.

  William looked at that chamber and shuddered. "What are you going to do to me?" That door was at least a ten-inch-thick steel plate, with walls probably being the same or thicker. Looking up into complete, still darkness was more ominous.

  "You are going to do much of it to yourself." Old Dream suggested and pushed him to the chamber as he made yet another move. Both Mi-Yung and Rey were too late. Old Dream locked the door with a wave of his hand as he entered the chamber.

  Mi-Yung panicked, but Rey stopped her steps. "Calm down. This was agreed on. He won't do something silly twice. I expressed my test and patience, too, and he called his personal interest ten days ago, so what are your personal suggestions or hopes? You should grit your nerves... really."

  "I would be happy for you to do it instead. Zenya can't, I know, but that old man?"

  "You know he can hear you. Additionally, he is familiar with First Head and knows much more than that, which we approved. You did as well."

  "I know that," Mi-Yung grunted and let this go. "It doesn't change the fact that I don't like it. Also, William's Emblem builds one phenomenon if the world is right."

  "I don't get that one," Rey said beside her. "But I don't need to. Youths and newer generations have their perks, and it is happening more and more lately. Perhaps he is the same, or has yet another threshold been met? If so... how?"

  "Let's hope it isn't too bad and odd at the same time, but I will see his Rank 1 first. Not you."

  "Agreed, though, regarding his parents--"

  "Stop it, Rey." Mi-Yung refused him and walked close to the chamber. There was a tiny window on the door, and proper ones were around the corner, where devices allowed people to speak to those inside.

  Many mechanical components, including dials, buttons, and levers, created a complicated machine. This entire room and that chamber were one massive contraption, and Zenya sat before the control panel, darting her eyes over screens, her hands touching dials and buttons. It was ready very soon, with electricity buzzing and lights flickering on many screens and walls, full of cables and dials, lit up.

  Inside the chamber, William got to his feet, feeling cold and flustered because that freaking relic came too. There was no wind inside. There was something else in this chamber. No end in sight. Very few lights--but not that he needed any when his own exposed Emblem created a crimson ambiance and started to wince and throb his arm.

  It was at least a ten-foot-wide circular room. In the middle was a metallic chair with cuffs on the armrests, which jolted his breath and mind, and his eyes blinked if he saw it right. There was even a freaky metallic collar...

  Old Dream was beside the chair, touching it in melancholy and lost thoughts or dreams.

  "This brings back memories." Old Dream laughed, eyes blazing, and a crazy smile spread on his face. "I killed so many. So much!"

  "Focus." A voice echoed from the speaker not so far away, coming from Mi-Yung. "I will wreck your silly rules otherwise, Old Dream. Take care, OR!?"

  Old Dream calmed down his smile alone. "Right. Right. Where have we been, young devil?"

  William stood at this point and hugged his arm. "What is this about? A test or torture? Kaufman forced it already... sir. Do you plan to do the same thing? I thought you promised Mi-Yung--"

  "Oh, she means no harm. I do. You don't fear it that much, either. There are parts that are expecting that from you, young one. There is a whole realm of depth into the spirit of Emblems and people, and it has many layers."

  "I know that. But this... test? What's the point of that? Mi-Yung said--"

  "Bah. What Mi-Yung said, felt, dreamed?! It doesn't matter. There is a point in Madness." Old Dream kept interrupting William and clutched the chair's upper portions until it creaked.

  William wasn't sure if he was angry or not.

  "What is that chair?"

  "Do you want to sit on it?"

  "No."

  "Then stand. Zenya?" Old Dream demanded, looking at one side of the chamber where her window of operation showed her resolute face. She also had her own microphone.

  "All ready. Where to go?"

  "Physical sequence."

  "Oh, but that..." Zenya shuddered because of the incoming pressure pushing against First Head's construction. That wasn't cool, but what could a feeble woman do? Watch? Smile in fear and horniness for knowledge? Both?

  Old Dream's aura flared up, and William felt a new kind of pressure ravaging this silo. Much of it was like the wind; every screen outside flickered, and Zenya felt it as well. Everything did.