Some peace and quiet.

“It’s been going well enough. Can’t say I like having to go back to school again, essentially,” John started. Orianna chuckled at that. He was relieved to see that the disease, whatever it was, didn’t damage her spirit at all. “Anyways, you were saying you need to go back to the Federation soon? What’s that about? They can’t even wait until you’ve completely recovered?”

“Got no time. I need to finish my training as well. You can’t be the only one having fun out there John,” she lightly patted him on the shoulder, “I’m well enough to do that at least.”

John was annoyed. He wasn’t even sure why, but something about the whole situation felt unfair to him.

’They couldn’t possibly expect her to be fine already, can they?’ John thought bitterly. His face showed the same expression, and when Orianna saw it she spoke again.

“Don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine. You should focus on your own training,” she said warmly. When his glumness persisted, she continued, “we’ll see each other out there again. We both know that. Perhaps as rivals instead of friends this time though.” Her smile showed no sign of regret. Not even any hidden emotions, she seemed genuinely happy at the thought.

“Yeah, you’re right.” John still felt unhappy about it. “Oh, right. I never did tell you what happened after you got knocked out.”

“Anything interesting?”

John quickly explained what had happened on XR2 after he left and that the Council was waiting for them when they got back. Then he told her what he saw when he went to visit her later.

“Weird. I don’t remember any of that. I just blacked out on XR2 and the next thing I knew I was here being treated,” her expression was one of confusion, “I’m sure it’s nothing though. That reminds me, I haven’t eaten anything real in days. I heard there’s a mess hall here, so I’m off to grab a bite to eat.” As soon as she stopped talking she got up quickly and started walking out of the room in the simple hospital robe she was wearing.

“You sure you’re ok to go there? I have no idea where it is.”

“Yeah, they told me I can go anywhere as long as I don’t leave the base,” she paused for a minute, “though if you’re so worried you could take me there.” John was sure he saw a wink near the end.

“Sure,” he was still worried about her.

“I’m fine, I’m fine. It’ll heal, no need to rush at me like this.” Bass grumbled. A wave of medics and Charlotte had been constantly harassing her for the last twenty minutes. Her wound had opened again during her magic lesson. The rest, except John, had gathered there as they waited for some unknown reason.

“You can’t always be this stubborn, Bass. Next time you might not get so lucky with where you’re hit,” Yan was used to it, but her teammate was still a pain in the butt.

“Not like I died from it. Would’ve been fine either way. Hell, I didn’t even need mister hero’s help,” her tone sounded mocking but her smile was genuine.

“You’re not fooling anyone with that,” the ice mage said accusingly.

Bass shrugged in response.

“Anyways, we going to grab lunch like usual or what?” she said, as soon as the wave of medics stopped and the wound was once again closed.

“Sure…” Yan quickly accepted, if somewhat hesitantly.

“Y-yeah.” Charlotte seemed as nervous as ever.

“I suppose that is as good a use of my time as any.”

Bass hoped John would join them this time, but the four of them eating together had been a long held tradition. They all found themselves as the outcasts the previous year while undergoing their basic training, and somehow they all ended up as friends. Or at least, she considered them all as such.

“Let’s go then.” They quickly travelled through the myriad of hallways to the mess hall. Where they found two strange figures already sitting at their usual table.

"Boss, what are you doing here?" Bass shouted across the room.

A few minutes after John and Orianna sat down to eat, a group of four entered the room. He didn’t take notice of them at the start, until he heard Bass’s voice calling across the room. They all quickly came towards them.

“You both are sitting at our table,” the sound mage laughed.

“Oh, sorry,” Orianna immediately went to get up. John stopped her for a moment.

“It’s fine, these guys are training with me.” He quickly introduced them all, to a mix of suspicion and awkwardness.

“Heyo! Nice to meet you, Orianna. Never thought I’d meet a Federation Explorer,” Bass said cheerfully. She seemed to be the exception.

“I-i’ve never met someone from the Federation…” Charlotte was even more withdrawn than usual.

“Why are you even here?” Yan was definitely suspicious. Matthew was quiet, but his gaze said everything. It was filled with a mix of contempt, suspicion and anger.

“I’m here because he saved me,” Orianna turned to John with a soft smile. Yan’s only reaction was a sigh.

The biomancer did not seem discouraged by the others, starting a lively conversation with Bass.

“So, where were you during our magic lessons?” Yan quickly asked John. Sitting down with hesitation.

“Oh. Apparently I’m being tutored by Ingrid herself, so I was there the entire time.”

“Makes sense. She’s probably the best Psychic mage around here. Lucky for you that you’re getting tutored by our boss,” she seemed unsurprised. Not letting Orianna’s presence disturb them any further, they all went to grab food at different times. It was as generic a meal as one would find in a school cafeteria, but at least it was something. John was famished, though he was not sure why that was the case. The last time he had eaten was the previous night, and he had gone a few days without food with no consequences since he got his powers. It was thus quite strange that he found himself once again hungry, but he paid it no mind. As he began eating ravenously, the conversation between Bass and Orianna continued.

"How'd you meet John?" Bass asked bluntly.

"The Federation uses the same testing grounds for Explorers. I met him there," Orianna responded, shrugging her shoulders.

"Is that where he 'saved' you?" Bass asked sarcastically, chuckling as she did.

Orianna answered completely straightforwardly, "yeah."

The sound mage burst out laughing. It was surprisingly quite lovely. Soft and touching in a way Bass's attitude didn't seem capable of producing. John was surprised, but the other three sitting around him seemed unphased. It was almost surreal to John how calmly they were all acting. Orianna and Bass continued in idle chatter, as the rest ate peacefully, entirely unconcerned about anything in the world, albeit they were also exceedingly quiet. Seemingly without interaction from Bass or himself, Matthew, Yan and Charlotte all chose not to make conversation. When John thought about it, it made some level of sense, they were all relatively quiet people. It was, however, somewhat strange given how much time they had to have spent with each other during all of their training.

John tried breaking the ice, "so, I've been wondering. Why did each of you come here? Bass told me this place is better than the rest of the Abyss, but I wanted us to get to know each other better, and this seems like a good way," in response, there was complete silence. Even Bass's and Orianna's conversation was stopped. John, surprised, started himself, "ok, I'll go first. I didn't really have much choice with how I was recruited. I didn't really know much about the Abyss before I was dragged here. And the decision was made for me, though it wasn't like I had many other options of my own. But regardless of what happened, the opportunity to explore new worlds like this is amazing. I still can't believe I'm not in some vivid dream or nightmare or something," he said, it was all somewhat embarrassing to share, but by the end he was laughing. Some strange mix of awkwardness and strangeness of all of it. Then there was once again silence…

Bass shattered it moments later, "adventure, you know? I'm always looking for somewhere new to go, and this seemed perfect. Plus, nobody knows me out here… Means I can meet a bunch of new people!" There was something about the way she said it that seemed off to John, but Orianna interrupted his thoughts.

"It's just what I've always wanted to do," Orianna said wistfully.

Yan was next, "To get away. From the Abyss, earth, all of it," Yan was blunt, but John had a feeling that feeling was shared between most of them.

"My reasons are my own, perhaps one day you'll earn the right to know of them," Matthew looked directly at John.

"I don't know… I-I just kind of ended up h-here," There was something more to be found behind every one of their answers, John was sure of that.

From then on, they only ate in silence, and once they were all done, Orianna got up. She said her goodbyes to the others quickly, and took John aside.

"I'm going, I have to. And I'm sure I'll see you again. You can handle yourself, I know that now. As what though, that's still up to you…" she trailed off.

"You will always be my friend. I hope I'll see you again too," John said, from the moment he had met Orianna she had been nothing but kind to him.

"Yeah… And don't think I'll pull any punches out there because of that. We're rivals, after all," All her energy seemed to flow back to her in an instant, "I'll see you out there," she left a moment later. A solemn expression formed on her face and she headed out of the room, once she had turned her back on John.

As the rest of them headed out of the dining hall, John felt terrible. It had been far too long a day. While contemplating going back to Springfield he said goodbye to his team. Even now, he already considered them his friends. Perhaps he wasn't as trusting as he used to be, but years of loneliness had left him wanting good company. If nothing else, this ragtag group of skilled idiots did make for fun company. Or at least, they did when Bass was involved. With both his tiredness and realization in mind, John retreated to his room.

Orianna hadn't been in the Federation's headquarters for some time, she forgot how awfully kept the place was. Files, maps and books were spread all over the main office, placed on every single surface that wasn't already occupied. Twenty or so people sat in simple modern office chairs in front of similarly simple modern office desks. They were all those responsible for managing every one of the Federation's resources.

"I found the gateway." Orianna announced as she approached a white haired woman.

"Good, we're gonna need every last resource if we're going to win what's coming. Welcome to the Explorers, Orianna."

She was the leader of the Federation, not known to many and elected by virtue of her merit. Her face was pale and beautiful, her outfit regal yet flattering, and her clothing and jewellery all contained a smattering of blue.