The Five Evolution

『"Are you ok?"』

Seven hours since the Feast fiasco.

Seven hours. That’s how long they’d waited for the Alpha Beam to be repaired and brought back online.

That was enough time for Ethan to finally make the decision to speak to the Director.

And now, the five of them stood in the long hallway leading to the Director’s office.

Ethan walked over and stood in front of the office doors with his hands buried inside his coat pockets.

"You good, man?" Raj asked.

Ethan didn’t answer immediately. His eyes stayed fixed on the office doors for several seconds before he finally exhaled through his nose. "Not really."

Amara stepped beside him quietly. "You have to do this part on your own as well. But you just have to say the word."

Ethan looked at her for a moment and smiled. "I’ll be fine."

Amara leaned upward, and Ethan instinctively placed a hand across her face as she kissed him softly.

Somewhere behind them, Raj had a wide grin on his face while Hiro touched the frame of the door and muttered, "is this mahogany?"

Sophia rolled her eyes. "You’re all children."

When Amara finally pulled away, Ethan rested his forehead briefly against hers. "I needed that," he murmured.

"Go," she said gently. "Before you lose the courage to."

Ethan gave one final glance toward the others, then pushed open the door and stepped into the office.

The office doors shut behind Ethan with a soft click and silence quickly settled over the hallway.

"That’s our cue," Raj said, immediately pressing his ear against the door.

Hiro looked around once before joining him. "You know, if anyone asks, we’re conducting a security check."

"You both are pathetic," Sophia said from a wall she leaned on, watching them press against the door.

Meanwhile, Amara stared at the two of them in disbelief. "You’re eavesdropping."

"No," Raj said.

"Yes," Hiro corrected. "We’re eavesdropping."

Amara folded her arms. "That’s disrespectful."

"Suit yourself," Hiro said with a shrug.

Raj nodded. "We’ll tell you the highlights later."

Amara shook her head and deliberately turned away from the door.

A few seconds passed. Then a few more.

The hallway remained annoyingly quiet and Amara’s gaze drifted back toward the office door, then to Raj and Hiro, who were completely committed to being terrible people.

Another moment passed with her eyes still on the door.

Finally, Amara sighed. "Oh, scoot over."

Raj immediately shifted sideways.

"Atta girl," Hiro said triumphantly as he made room.

"Not a word," Amara said as she crouched beside them.

"I wouldn’t dream of it." Hiro responded.

Still leaning against a wall, Sophia stared at the three of them, slowly pinching the bridge of her nose. "You’re all hopeless."

"Are you joining us or not?" Raj asked.

After a long pause, Sophia pushed off the wall and came closer. "Move."

Hiro gasped dramatically. "Well, well, well—"

"Move before I move you."

On the other side of the door, Ethan was already talking.

***

Ethan stood before the desk of the director’s office, hands clenched at his sides, while Director Hale studied him carefully.

"I see," the Director said.

From the look in Hale’s eyes, Ethan realized there was no point pretending.

"Yeah..." Ethan said calmly, confirming it.

"Coffee?" The Director asked, raising a cup.

"I’m good." Ethan’s voice came with a small smile.

"So..." The Director stood up from his seat, his eyes faced down, staring at a file on his desk before trying to find Ethan’s.

"Yeah..." Ethan looked sideways, trying to avoid eye contact before finally meeting the Director’s eye, his clenched hands now unclenched.

"Ok..." The Director walked up to him, placing his hand on his shoulder.

"Uhm... ok." Ethan’s eyes shifted to the Director’s hand on his shoulder for a few seconds then back to the Director’s face. He tapped the hand on his shoulder gently.

The Director was quiet for a long moment. Then he nodded once.

Ethan turned toward the door. The moment he opened it, Raj scrambled upright, pretending he’d just been examining the lock.

Everyone else had a guilty look on their face. But Amara’s expression quick transformed to concern. "Ethan?"

He met her gaze. The concern in her eyes was impossible to miss.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

It was a simple question, but he knew what she was really asking. Ethan looked at her for a moment. Then reached out and took her hand, squeezing it gently.

Her shoulders relaxed almost immediately and that was enough to make him smile.

"Not the kind of conversation I was expecting," Sophia said, placing both hands into the pockets of her hoodie while she walked with them.

"It’s men stuff, you wouldn’t get it," Raj said, sounding so sure of himself.

Sophia looked at him for a second. "Men stuff," she repeated with an eyebrow raised.

"Men stuff," Raj confirmed.

Sophia turned and kept walking. "Hopeless," she said quietly, to no one in particular.

Amara moved to follow, but the Director’s voice stopped her.

"Amara. A word."

She turned back, surprised and stepped into his office.

"The Convergence," Director Hale got right to it, pulling up holographic files that showed the faces of eleven other people. "I hope your team is prepared."

"Look, I’m not going to pretend we know what we’re walking into," she said. "If you’re asking whether we’re confident—no. We’re not."

"But?" the Director prompted.

She stepped half a pace forward. "But what we are is capable. And survivors. And that’s what kept us alive so far."

"I see." The Director dismissed the holograms. "Because if they decide you’re not worth the investment, you’ll be separated. Split across different branches if you still wish to fight for the Institute."

She almost buckled under the weight of those words. Split up. Different branches. But she kept her expression neutral anyway. "Thirteen days," she said quietly. "We’ll be ready."

"I hope so," the Director replied. "You’re dismissed."

The door to Director Hale’s office closed behind Amara with a soft click, and for a moment, she just stood there in the hallway, breathing out slowly. The conversation still lingering in her mind.

Ethan was waiting in the corridor. Not pacing. Just standing there, like he’d known she’d need a moment.

"Hi," he said.

"Hi," she said back.

He nudged his head down the corridor. "Hiro has something he wants to tell us."

"Is he ok?" Amara asked.

Ethan gave her a reassuring smile. "I think he just found something that he so desperately needs to share with the group."

She nodded, a small laugh escaping her lips, and they walked side by side toward Hiro’s room.

As they approached, voices began to carry through the hallway—Hiro’s, faster than usual. Raj interrupting, and Sophia responding dryly. The familiar chaos of their group.

Before they even reached the doorway, Hiro appeared. "There you are," he said, then immediately disappeared back inside.

When Amara stepped in with Ethan, the room was a disaster zone, even by Hiro’s standards.

Papers covered the floor, along with thumbtacks and red string crisscrossing the massive conspiracy board that dominated one wall.

Fresh photos had been added since the last time she’d seen it, and empty energy drink cans formed a small fortress on the desk.

In the middle of all the madness, Raj and Sophia looked perfectly at home on the bed.

Raj sat forward, elbows on knees, while Sophia lay stretched across it sideways with one knee raised. Her head rested so close to the edge that her hair fell, nearly brushing the floor.

Amara immediately recognized several of the photographs. The Collector. The silent Apostle. Blurry images captured in Tokyo. Seeing them again made her jaw clench.

"What is all this?" she asked after taking in the room.

"You remember the creepy message from the Apostles right?" Hiro asked.

Amara stepped over some papers, joining Raj and Sophia on the bed, sitting down by its edge. "How could I forget."

She turned to Sophia and Raj, whispering. "Do you guys know what this is about?"

"Beats me," Sophia answered.

Raj simply shrugged. He didn’t know either.

"Seven hours was lot of time to think." Hiro turned from the conspiracy board, a wide, unhinged grin on his face. "I think I figured out the Apostle’s real reason behind Amara’s message."

The room went quiet.