In the suburbs of Los Angeles, Damien strolled through the sidewalk, gazing upon the repetition of houses and mowed lawns. When he expected a hiding spot.

The first thing that came to mind was an abandoned warehouse or a dilapidated and forgotten home. But to think that his juniors would be living a good life in the suburbs.

Well, Echidna did have the money and capability to acquire the real estate, so it was to be expected.

Feeling the gaze of random people, Damien stared back, his eyebrows raised. When did Los Angeles become so peculiar? Wasn't it supposed to be the dreaming city of the West Coast?

He shook his head and threw the thought to the back of his mind. It didn't take long for him to reach the supposed location of the rendezvous point.

Looking at the normal two-story house, Damien tipped his fedora forward and walked towards the front porch. He knocked on the door three times, not giving the doorbell any heed.

He waited for a moment before the front door opened, revealing a little girl behind it. Her face was innocent, untouched by the horrors of the New World.

Most importantly, she was somewhat familiar to him.

It didn't take a second longer to realize who she was. Damien's sable-tinted gaze widened as he crouched and patted her head. "Hawk?"

The little girl tilted her head and looked at him before nodding. He smiled at the young one and asked. "Where is your mistress?"

"I'm in the kitchen." Before Hawk could answer his question, a mature voice escaped the corner. It came from none other than Echidna, the little one's partner.

Damien chuckled and stepped into the house, where he could smell the scent of orchids. He turned towards the corner and saw Echidna cooking a meal in the kitchen.

She wore an apron, her hair tied in a ponytail, as she wielded the cooking utensils with ease. Her clothing was different; it was ordinary.

Unlike the black suits typically worn by the Jaegers of SIGIL, or her expensive clothing from the Dobermann Family.

"Didn't expect you to be the type to enjoy normal, Echidna," Damien remarked while leaning on the wall. His image of her was that of a wealthy and powerful mistress.

It was no wonder he was a bit astounded.

Echidna stopped cooking and glanced at the black-suited young man. She looked at the kitchen for a moment and responded. "There are times..."

"When I wondered what life would be like when those black towers didn't fall. Would I be living a normal life, enjoying my existence, and handling the drama of relationships?"

"A question that I mostly ignored, but spending time outside of my responsibilities gave me time to ponder it."

Hearing her words, Damien sighed and understood the thoughts of the mistress in front of him. "I understand..."

Unlike the others, who had years to accept reality, it was difficult for him to welcome the truth of the New World. After all, the modern world was an imprinted image for him.

He didn't see it destroyed into rubble. What he saw was the remnants of its existence, the beauty of the old civilization where problems didn't have to coincide with life and death.

His old dreams were nothing more than to become rich or maybe have a family. It didn't pertain to the entirety of humankind. A vision for himself.

Damien walked forward and patted her shoulder. "Who knows... It might be completely different, or the same as how things are now."

"What is important is to achieve a future that feels the same as the old. It doesn't have to be an exact replica, but a world where interpersonal drama is the biggest problem we face."

"Besides, becoming homeless, of course."

Echidna chuckled at his remarks, shaking her head. "In any case, I heard about what you did in the Headquarters of Block 4, Senior."

"I expected them to label you as a terrorist of some sort, but they kept the event under wraps. Did you and Miss Alastair handle the infiltrators in the Federation?"

She understood the general plan her boss had in mind. To use herself as bait for the bastards to reveal themselves when victory was at hand.

However, looking at the complicated expression of her senior, Echidna sighed. "It appears that the plan failed. Did no infiltrators appear in the tribunal?"

"Unfortunate, there wasn't a single one of them. Only fools. The bastards are much more careful than I expected."

"I see... What does Miss Alastair plan to do now?" She tilted her head, asking about the future plans of the seventh Division.

Damien wryly smiled and answered. "She wants us to handle the infiltrators. When I got to the tribunal. She beat one of the Paragons up."

"It looks like she got angry at them. Who knows... If she were the one finding the infiltrators, the West Coast would be turned upside down."

Echidna pondered for a second before nodding in agreement. If it were the boss, things would have been troublesome for the West Coast.

"I agree with that conjecture. But how do you suppose we find the infiltrators? They seem cautious enough to hide any signs of their tracks."

The infiltrators of the Federation were much harder to find because of the sizable personnel of the federal government.

Unlike the SIGIL, where internal personnel could be counted in hundreds, the federal government had tens of thousands of public workers.

Even if they only accounted for those high up in the food chain, it would be even longer since they would be impeded by the bureaucratic process.

Unless they don't investigate in the usual and legal way.

Damien gazed at Echidna as an idea surfaced within his mind. Looking at her senior, she also noticed his sable-tinted eyes lightening. "A proposition, senior?"

"Yes, I might be able to search far deeper. But it would involve hacking every system within the city." The basis of this claim was Machine Control.

It gave him the ability to assert dominion over technology, devastating to a certain extent. After all, humanity primarily relied on its machines.

"Hmm... If the authorities couldn't track it towards the us or the Seventh Division, I believe that it's worth a try." She placed her pale finger below her chin and nodded.

Before the two could continue in their conversation, a knock echoed from the front door as Hawk immediately reached out to the doorknob and opened it.

Behind the door was none other than his crimson-haired partner, Hecate. She smiled at the little girl and patted her head. "I'm sorry it took me longer to find this place."

"Humans really do love repetition. If I didn't know the exact street where this house dwelled, I would have knocked on the wrong one somewhere else."

Walking forward, she looked at the kitchen and smiled. "If I had known you were cooking, I wouldn't have tasted the cuisines of street vendors."

"Hecate... It's good to see you back. How was your first vampire sickness?" Naturally, Echidna wasn't ignorant about what happened to the crimson-haired vampire.

Hecate smirked and remarked. "Felt like I was dying. I wonder how humans get sick more than once in their lives. To be expected from a daring species."

"That is the only good thing about mortality. It gives you resistance to a bit of suffering. But, eh... Resistance doesn't matter if you're dead." Echidna continued cooking in the kitchen.

Damien looked at the crimson-haired vampire and asked. "Did you enjoy the stroll in Los Angeles? Quite a different feel compared to the rest of the New World, right?"

"Ignorance is bliss... It's easy to be enraptured by the norm of this place. Probably reminds people of the Old World. It's like a flock in a farmhouse."

"Reminds me of the interesting strategies the Clan does to ensure that populations don't rebel." She muttered under her breath, earning the intrigued gaze of Damien.

"Oh, right... Most humans south of the Federation are under their control. How much of the population is it?" He recalled that humanity existed beyond the southern frontier.

"Thirty percent of humanity is under their control," Echidna answered from the kitchen while Hecate nodded. "Yes, quite a lot."

"Most humans under the Clan live normal-looking lives in cities that resemble the Old World. To them, the world didn't change at all."

"Those who question were drugged and manipulated to accept their reality. Humanity below the Federation became cattle."

"They live satisfactory lives, waiting to be butchered by their owner. So, it was surprising to see the same thing occurring in the Federation." Hecate waved her hand and whistled.

"I won't judge, of course... People have many options to tackle reality. Pretending to be ignorant isn't the worst of them all."

Damien shook his head and flicked her forehead. "She isn't wrong about how this place feels. It's like a theater, everyone acts on their roles."

"Some are good at doing it, but most are bad."

"Without a doubt, the infiltrators are within Los Angeles. Where they are remains to be a question waiting to be uncovered." He closed his eyelids, activating his personal skill.

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