When I returned to Mendoza’s apartment, the smell of alcohol and cucumbers had faded noticeably. It was overpowered by a scent of pine and nuts. But not the herbal-tea kind of pine, more like bathroom freshener. As if someone had sprayed it into the air.

  Which was probably exactly what had happened.

  The dent in the wall was still there, but the remaining shards of gss and pster had been cleared away, along with the empty bottle from under the table.

  On the table, set before the chair I’d used earlier, there was now a tall lidded cup. Another cup stood in front of Mendoza.

  She gave a slight nod toward the chair.

  I sat down, and, at her request, began recounting everything from the beginning. Then again.

  After the first telling, the tea had steeped long enough to drink, though the water still scorched my tongue, whereas Mendoza drank without a problem.

  The first retelling was just a summary of the conversation with Soro. The second time around, I focused on the details: specific phrases, pauses, the moments when she stopped to think or changed the topic. Of course, I had to mention that Soro thought I was flirting with her. I told it truthfully, but carefully.

  Leaving that out would’ve done more harm than good. It was too big a chunk of the conversation to just erase.

  Thank God Mendoza had already regained her composure. She listened without interrupting, and every question she asked had purpose. Including the pointed one about whether I had, in fact, flirted with her student.

  “I’m not going to scold you for having dirty thoughts,” she said. “I just want to understand what was going on in both your heads.”

  “Well, they weren’t that dirty. I wasn’t pnning to mix business with pleasure. The thoughts were there, but not the intent.”

  After the second run-through, I fell silent. The room psed into that uncomfortable quiet again.

  I had a rough idea of what was going through Mendoza’s head. Her thoughts were darting from fact to fact, trying to find a connection, and failing.

  At least, that’s how it was in my head.

  She had only one issue on the table. I had two. And I had already risked irritating her with the flirtation mention, so…

  “Master Mendoza, there’s one thing I can’t leave unaddressed. The way you summoned me… it was too public. Far too soon after her death. If the demons didn’t already know that Soro and I spoke, they do now. This looked… like a setup.”

  Mendoza didn’t take offence, she looked more surprised than anything.

  “Are you accusing me of something, Sullivan?”

  “You gave my master your word you wouldn’t put me in danger. But now… I’m exposed. Only a fool wouldn’t connect Soro’s death to my sudden summons.”

  “You think I should have waited and wasted time?”

  Somehow, I got lucky, she didn’t take offence at that either. Which meant I had to tread very carefully if I wanted to keep her neutral.

  “It doesn’t matter anymore…”

  “And yet, Vacv praised your analytical mind and unique perspective. Please. Evaluate my actions.”

  Her voice was still calm, but for some reason, I had the distinct impression she was furious underneath.

  “You acted based on the facts and assumptions avaible to you. I’ve told you about our conversation, but I don’t know anything about the local demons or the specifics of Soro’s death. Without that, any judgment I make would be little better than reading tea leaves. The decision’s already made. So let’s work with what we’ve got.”

  Mendoza took a sip of her tea.

  “I pulled you out of the Garden in case you’d already drawn attention, and the demons were targeting you next. I didn’t want to put you in danger. But I wanted even less to return Vacv his student in a body bag.”

  Fair point. That angle hadn’t even crossed my mind.

  “Given the circumstances,” Mendoza went on, “do you want to return to Bck Lotus? I can have a flight arranged today, if you wish.”

  I hesitated.

  My goals here weren’t yet fulfilled. Holding the best for st hadn’t turned out to be such a brilliant idea.

  I had to weigh the risks.

  Mendoza clearly wanted to protect me, assuming she wasn’t lying. Or… this could be a well-pyed manipution.

  Is it?

  Vacv would already be offering me a new reward... She’s not doing that.

  “No,” I shook my head. “I’m not done here yet. Two more Gardens: Fire and Bde.”

  She paused for a few seconds, then nodded.

  “Very well. I’ll assign one of the senior disciples to shadow you.”

  "Please, don’t," I asked. "It might be a logical move after pulling me out of the Lightning Garden, but in terms of my personal safety, it won’t help." I recalled what Soro had said about Mendoza’s limited resources. "You’d be wasting a disciple who could be used for something more important."

  "I still don’t want to return Vacv your corpse," she remarked.

  From what I understood, the demon cells at different schools were isoted from one another. Information sharing between them was minimal, if it existed at all. So even if the locals had noticed me, they probably didn’t know the Bck Lotus demons had already tried to kill me.

  I could expect the usual — poison and covert attacks. The first, my foundation and bracelets should counter. The second... my amulet shield might help.

  It wouldn’t be a Point again, not this time. But my shield was fourth-stage, and the demons were limited to third due to the body-switching issue.

  "I have ways to protect myself," I said. "I’ll message my master that this is my decision. Besides, to the demons it will look like a trap. You pulled me out of the Garden, then sent me strolling around the school like nothing happened."

  She raised an eyebrow at that.

  "You were just lecturing me for turning you into a target, and now you’re doing it yourself, even turning down protection. What is this? Strategy, courage, or just pin foolishness?"

  "I’m hoping for the first one. And I’m not refusing protection. Just give me a distress beacon. Something you can monitor. Link it to my pulse, or neural activity. If anything happens, you’ll know instantly. But as long as I’m in one piece, let me look like an easy, tempting target.

  “If I understand demons right, it’ll make them hesitate, and that hesitation gives me time to finish what I came here for. And it gives you a chance to track any moves made against me."

  This time, she didn’t answer immediately. Then she sighed.

  "Deal. Wait here. I’ll find you a beacon."

  "Can I make requests?"

  "Of course. It’s your skin on the line."

  "The beacon should have more than just automatic triggers. I want to be able to activate it manually in a few modes: emergency, possible threat, and cancel."

  I leaned back and took a sip. The tea had cooled down by now. Mendoza left the ft.

  Unlike Novak, she didn’t keep everything she might need in the next room. Or maybe the beacon was a bit too custom-built to keep on standby.

  Still, she was gone no more than five minutes.

  When she returned, she brought with her a small, ft capsule.

  "This is a temporary solution. It links through your interface as an external device. It will monitor your vitals and transmit them to me. You won’t be able to contact me directly, but I’ll see if your heart rate or adrenaline spikes. As soon as I find something better, Patel will bring it to you.

  And until then, please don’t leave your dorm room."

  "Understood. Thank you."

  I linked the device, and we tested that it worked. Then I had an idea — I deactivated it, and we agreed that would serve as an emergency alert. If I switched it back on suddenly, it would mean: warning, something’s up.

  For that signal, I wanted something that would allow Mendoza to listen in, maybe even receive other data. Something powerful enough to cut through jammers or suppressors.

  I recalled the fight with the demon puppet on the pasture. Novak had definitely been watching, and listening, but I didn’t know how. I suggested Mendoza reach out to him and ask, no point in holding back.

  She seemed to take the suggestion well.

  We said our goodbyes briefly, and I made my way back to my block. First via the rooftop, where I got dressed again, then through the metro, the Armour Hall, and only then to the dorms.

  The room greeted me with silence and the same bridge view from the fake window. Only this time it was daytime, and without the city lights, the view was far less majestic. I was in an evening mood, so I switched it to a sunset.

  Finally, I turned off the Thousand Sparks of Awareness.

  The technique had burned through a ridiculous number of calories, so I set about preparing food: patties, pasta, and a sad made from semi-prepped ingredients.

  After the meal, drowsiness hit me hard. I crashed onto the bed without even taking off the suit. Fell asleep instantly, and seemingly woke up just as instantly. But the sun in the fake window had long since set, repced by a brilliant spray of stars and five moons, including Verdis.

  I hadn’t just woken randomly. Someone was banging on my door.

  "Open up! I know you’re in there!" Zhang’s angry voice came through the buzzer.

  I opened it.

  Her eyes were burning with fury.

  She jabbed a finger into my chest and shoved me back into the room, stepping in after me.

  "Don’t think you can avoid this conversation," she said, still pointing.

  The gesture was ambiguous. Was she accusing me, threatening me? I didn’t feel any micro-impulse probing.

  "This isn’t the best time..." I tried to deflect.

  "It is the time! My friend died under very suspicious circumstances!"

  She closed the door behind her, finally lowering the finger.

  "You think I had something to do with it?" I protested, putting on a show of indignation.

  "I think you’ve got answers. Patel pulled you out of the Garden right after she died. That’s not a coincidence."

  "Actually, Mendoza pulled me out as a precaution, in case something happened to me too. She also found Soro’s death suspicious. I spent a lot of time with Soro in her final days, so Mendoza pressed me for every detail."

  "And?" Zhang demanded.

  "And what?"

  "What did you tell her?"

  "You want me to tell you what I discussed with Soro’s master?"

  "Isn’t that obvious?!" she shouted. "You know something!"

  She stepped closer, too close, and pressed her index finger under my chin.

  I opened my mouth to say something about her aggressive behaviour, but the door buzzer spoke again.

  "Sullivan, it’s Patel."

  "Come in," I called out.

  Zhang ground her teeth but lowered her finger.

  The door opened. Patel stepped inside, a small case in his hand, already apologising.

  "Sorry for —" he stopped mid-sentence. "Zhang? Didn’t Order already tell you off? You’re here harassing our guest now?"

  "I want to know what happened to my friend!"

  "Who was dear to me as well. You’re digging in the wrong pce. Leave Sullivan alone."

  Zhang clenched her fists.

  "Go get some rest," Patel ordered.

  She shot him a gre like lightning, but turned and left without another word, giving me one st hard look before she was gone.

  "She’s going to keep digging," I said.

  "Yeah," he nodded, pcing the case on the table and opening it. "Here you go."

  He handed me a new capsule, identical to the first.

  "Extended functionality," he said. "All controls will show up in your interface once it’s linked. And now…" he pulled a sphere on a tripod out of the case, "…let’s sort out the security of this room."

  MaksymPachesiuk