[01:35am]

By 1:35am, the burial ceremony already came to an end as the cemetery was vacated, leaving only 6 people standing in front of the gravestone- Talia, Ghostwire, Kain, Daren, Brick, and Brad.

They had a moment of silence as they stared at the epitaph with the picture of the short Geneform performing a military salute.

It was a picture of Rex in his favorite attire, dark blue overalls, black gloves, yellow boots, and a yellow helmet.

He had a big smile on his face.

Looking at it, it almost felt like he was still alive and was looking right at them.

[Rex Mallow]

["A reliable teammate, a protector."]

["A friend."]

["A Mechanist who thinks outside the box."]

It was just words, but to them, it was 3 heartfelt sentences that felt like a chord connecting them to the deceased.

They stood in silence, looking at the gravestone for a long period of time as they relieved bittersweet memories.

For Daren, it was even more personal as he relieved every single argument that he had with Rex. The memories were still vivid. After a few minutes of silence, he knelt down on one knee before placing the bouquet of flowers that he brought with him on the gravestone.

He whispered a few words to the gravestone, then he stood up and turned to look at his crewmates.

By the time he was back on his feet, his eyes were no longer teary. Now, they looked sharp and filled with a quiet determination.

After a week, Daren finally made peace with his bestfriend's death.

He didn't say a word as he walked out of the cemetery first.

After that, Ghostwire, Brad and Brick walked forward at the same time and placed a flower each on the gravestone before also turning to leave.

Kain hesitated, but then he also took a step forward. He forced a smile. "I'll forever remember you my friend, I'll carry on your legacy". With that, he dropped a flower and also turned to leave.

And just like that, Talia became the only person left in the cemetery and she was lost in her thoughts.

Since Rex died, Talia had mostly maintained her composure as the leader of the crew, never crying in front of her crewmates.

But for the past week, her emotional state was anything but stable. She felt regret, she felt anger, she felt guilt, her pent-up emotions already filled her head. And now, it all cascaded, wanting an outlet to explode and vent.

She stared down at the gravestone in silence, then her shoulders shook in a barely discernible manner.

With everyone gone, Talia finally let down her guard as tears flowed freely down her reddened eyes. "I'm sorry". She whispered in a trembling voice.

"I'm sorry for failing you".

"I'm sorry for not being able to protect you".

"I'm the leader of the crew. I promised to protect you, and yet all I did was watch while you burned to death". She pursed her lips tightly.

It's been over a week already and yet that memory never left her mind as she watched the jury-rig bomb obliterate Rex's body into oblivion.

It's a memory that's been keeping her awake for days.

'It should have been me!'

As the leader of the crew, she saw it as her duty to protect those in the crew who were not strong enough to protect themselves- the Mechanists. And yet, when Rex needed her most, she let him down.

The boy was just 21!

The guilt never left her, it clung to her like a badge.

The failure and guilt had felt like a thorn in her heart for the past week, quietly tormenting her and now, she wanted to resolve it.

Only after Rex died did she realize that she knew very little about his personal life and family. After she did her research, she found that Rex had no immediate family to even remember him in death.

This made her feel even guiltier over the past week.

With her lips pursed tightly, she squatted in front of the gravestone and wiped her tears, then she placed the flowers she brought on the gravestone.

With her hand, she cleaned the dust that were beginning to gather on the gravestone. She continued like this idly for a long time, then a gentle smile finally appeared on her face.

"They love you". She muttered in a soft tone. "They acknowledge the fact that you saved them".

She laughed. "They built a statue of you in Community G alongside Audrey".

Her smile widened. "You saved hundreds of girls and women who were about to be sold into slavery. I've been rebelling for years before I met you, and despite all my experience, I can't boast of a similar feat". She stifled a laugh.

"You surpassed me".

She rubbed the gravestone in an affectionate manner, then she whispered. "Rest well Rex, I'll avenge you".

With that, she stood up and left.

When she returned to the bottom floor of the towering skyscraper, Cell Tower 06, she saw her crewmates waiting for her in the open hall.

She nodded at them before leading them to the elevator.

They went straight to the 15th floor of the tower where they met Gwen again who already got herself busy with administrative work.

Dressed in a sharp-looking beige suit, the moment she saw them, she walked towards them with a smile and asked. "How are you feeling?"

"Better than before". Talia smiled back, then she gestured at her crewmates. "They're ready to use their contribution points now".

"Great". Gwen smiled and led them to an isolated office.

There, with a data pad, she projected a holographic screen before them showing exactly how many contribution points they had individually.

Despite the fact that he just joined the Freegrid Collective, Brad also got contribution points due to his contribution in the showdown against the Zmer gang.

"I want to fully repair my gauntlets". Daren said immediately. "I also want a new dagger, preferably a plasma dagger, and a new shield generator. I'll exchange the rest of my contribution points for money".

Gwen nodded and immediately processed the order.

Ghostwire, Kain, and Brick also made their demands, getting a few necessities while keeping the rest of their contribution points.

Brad kept his contribution points fully to use on his research.

At that moment, Talia brought out a metallic gray gadget from her pocket that looked like a pendulum bulb attached to a thread wire.

"This is?" Gwen looked at the bulb.

"This is an Artifact," Talia said as she handed it to Gwen. "We recovered it from one of the Ascended of the Zmer gang. Unfortunately, we couldn't retrieve Parasite's Artifact, it was damaged in the explosion".

"Over the past week, I've observed its effects. Its main effect is that it enables an Ascended to travel into people's dreams in a lucid manner".

Hearing that, Gwen raised an eyebrow.

Talia continued. "Its secondary effect is that it can marginally reduce damage from kinetic attacks, I suspect that it's an Artifact of the Quantum Shaper Class".

"You're right," Gwen nodded. "Proto Shapers of the Quantum Shaper Class do have the ability to affect dreams".

Hearing that, Talia's eyes lit up. This was one of the reasons why she revealed the Artifact in the first place, Gwen's knowledge.

"Can you tell me about the Quantum Shaper Class?"

Gwen looked at her. "Of course, you're E Rank now, you have the corresponding clearance level, and that extends to your crewmates too".

"The Collective knows very little about the Quantum Shaper Class though, it's a Class that's extremely regulated and monopolized by the Federation. We only have Knowledge Scrolls for the F Rank equivalent".

"At F Rank, Quantum Shapers learn to perceive ADE at subatomic resolution. They have the highest ADE capacity, and their control over ADE trumps that of every other Class".

"Through their subatomic perception of ADE, they also gain the innate ability to read the vibration patterns of space and ADE".

"It's literally impossible to ambush a Proto Shaper because they'll always perceive it ahead of time".

"At F Rank, they unlock 3 abilities: Vector Sense, Quantum Touch, and Field Equilibrium".

"Field Equilibrium is a passive ability, and it's likely the ability of the Artifact to reduce kinetic damage. From our research, we believe that it grants Proto Shapers natural kinetic damage resistance, but it's not too strong, maybe just a 5% boon. If it's higher, it's not by much".

"Vector Sense when activated enables Proto Shapers to heighten their already sharp ADE-enhanced perception, becoming capable of perceiving direction, velocity, and momentum of all nearby objects".

"Most Proto Shapers are expert combatants, they're masters of perfectly manipulating force in combat".

"As for Quantum Touch, it enables them to interact with ADE in a subatomic level to alter motion and reality".

Noting the shock on the face of the agents before her, Gwen chuckled. "Even at F Rank, Proto Shapers can slow bullets and affect dreams, so yes, that Artifact is likely an Artifact of the Quantum Shaper Class".

Talia nodded thoughtfully, then she asked. "What of E Rank?"

Gwen shook her head. "Like I told you, only the Federation has the relevant Knowledge Scrolls and research. Quantum Shapers are the rarest Ascended Class in all of Neo-Tokara for a reason, but we still have a few speculations".

"We believe that at E Rank, not only will their Quantum Touch ability naturally become stronger and maybe even evolve, we believe that Quantum Shapers also gain power over gravity, but this is just speculation in the end".

"Nothing is proven".

"The General also believes the new leader of the Extremist Movement is an E Rank Quantum Shaper or even stronger. We don't know how he came to be".

Talia nodded. "Can I exchange the Artifact for more contribution points?"

"Of course," Gwen nodded.

"Ok, let's do it". Talia said decisively.

Gwen processed the tiny details and took the F Rank Artifact, converting it to contribution points for them. The others all agreed to save up their contribution points, only Daren shook his head resolutely.

"I want money".

"Ok". Gwen clicked her tongue and processed the transfer, then she looked at Talia again. "Anything else?"

Talia hesitated, then she nodded. "During the battle against Parasite, I already wrote it in my report. Parasite said something about Specializations, can I know what it means?"

Gwen looked at her, smiled and nodded. "You have the clearance level now to learn about Specializations, so yes".

"The D Rank promotion is unlike the first two Class promotions. At D Rank, Ascended go through a bigger qualitative change and are forced to choose between 3 different Specializations of their Class".

"The title for D Rank Gene Augurs is called Bio-crafters, and they get to choose between any of the 3 Specializations: Mutator, Beastframe, and Bioforger".

"Parasite's Artifact is a D Rank Gene Augur Artifact of the Bioforger Specialization".

"What of Cyber Gladiators?" Daren blurted out before thinking.

Gwen patiently looked at him and smiled. "At D Rank, the title for Cyber Gladiators is Exo-Fighter. They can choose between 3 Specializations of Exo Knight, Storm Striker, and Pulse Brawler".

Daren's eyes glimmered in wonder and longing.

Talia patiently waited for Gwen to finish explaining to Daren before she looked at her. "What of the NetRunner Class?"

Gwen's smile widened. "At D Rank like the General, we're called Infoseers. We get to choose from the 3 Specializations: Mindbreaker, Code Phantom, and Cyber Saint".

Talia's eyes gleamed, then she said sincerely. "Thank you".

"Don't mention," Gwen waved a hand in a perfunctory manner then she asked. "I guess that's all?"

"One more thing," Talia said. "Where can I get missions to quickly amass contribution points as fast as possible?"

"Drift Haven". Gwen replied immediately.

Her face turned serious. "We're still fighting an intense resources battle against the Omnicore Federation at the border. It's dangerous, but taking missions there is currently the fastest way to get contribution points".

"Understood," Talia nodded. "That's all".

"Good luck". With that, Gwen led them out of the office and waved them off.

…

An hour later.

Daren got his VX-09 Emberfists gauntlets back. After an hour of work, both gauntlets were fixed and back in perfect working condition.

He also got the plasma dagger that he wanted, and he got 3 new black coats with integrated shield generators that could be recharged 5 times.

He stood outside Cell Tower 06, facing him were his crewmates.

Talia had a complicated look on her face. "Are you sure you want to leave the crew and go to Leviathan Quay?"

Daren nodded seriously. "I need to become a Neo Cyber Gladiator as soon as possible. Besides, it's not like I'm leaving forever, once I win the tournament and become E Rank, I'll return".

"Ok," Talia said then she pulled him into a hug. "Good luck out there".

"Thank you boss, for everything". Daren said then he slung his leather bag across his shoulder, turned his back to them and trudged off into the streets.

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