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If there was one thing Loren Lighteyes had grown accustomed to during his time in Abolish, it was not relying on his superiors to provide a steady, guiding hand for him in life. Sure, it would’ve been nice if Caster was different in that regard, but oh well. Loren couldn’t be terribly surprised.

Here and now, though, in front of this stranger, Loren was mostly just worried about what new madness might be about to befall them. Even if this fellow turned out to be friendly, how would Caster see it? Loren had the feeling that the man was always watching, somehow. Even if he was not immediately present, he could show up at any moment and turn things upside down.

The break in the conversation drew out even longer, which did nothing for the mounting sense of tension and awkwardness in the air, but Loren had no intention of doing anything about it. He was completely fine with remaining silent.

To his surprise, however, Rezolo was the one who spoke up next from behind Loren’s shoulder. ‘Are you with the Vanguard?’ the reaper asked.

‘No,’ said the other reaper. ‘And before you ask, we’re not with Abolish, either. How about you?’

Oof. Loren really didn’t want to answer that. Why had Rezolo even broached the subject in the first place? That was uncharacteristically bold of him. And sloppy, too, potentially.

Perhaps the reaper was thinking the same, because he paused before continuing. ‘We are with the Freeman Fellowship. Are you familiar with it?’

‘As it so happens, yes. We have another acquaintance from your group. Ravi Zaman.’

‘Oh. I’m afraid we’re still rather new members, so that name means little to us.’

‘That so? Perhaps you can give us yours, instead. Mine is Garovel, by the way.’

‘Rezolo. A pleasure to meet you.’

‘Likewise. What brings you all the way out here?’

‘A very good question. I’m afraid only our boss would be able to answer that. And even we haven’t been able to get it out of him, so I doubt you’ll have much luck.’

‘I see. Do you know why part of the ship has been sheared off?’

‘That was also the work of our boss. We’re not sure why he did that, either. He and his reaper are quite the strange pair.’

Loren couldn’t help feeling tense about how forthcoming Rezolo was being. Technically, the reaper wasn’t actually telling them very much, but still. It was making him uncomfortable.