⟢───── Ashes × Aether ─────⟣
SYLVANNA — HIGH NOON DEBRIEF FACILITY
The room where the debriefing took place held steady light.
Chrome panels lined the walls. A table anchored the center. Three chairs on one side. One on the other.
Kit sat alone.
A man stood across from him, hands clasped behind his back. His posture carried assignment more than rank.
A data tablet chimed once as the man spoke.
“State your name.”
“Kit Asher.”
The man nodded and gestured toward the surroundings.
“You understand where you are.”
Kit looked around once. The room. The door. The ceiling seams.
“Yes.”
“Describe your condition.”
“Good, I guess.”
A pause. The man tapped once on the panel at his wrist.
“Expedition designation?”
“Depth Seventeen, Helionite recovery and survey.”
“Role?”
“Support. Environmental response.”
“Confirmed.”
Another tap.
“You boarded the High Noon rail at Depth One without incident.”
“Yes.”
“Casualties sustained.”
Kit’s fist clinched briefly.
“Twelve confirmed dead.”
“And the rest.”
“What do you mean? You guys are the ones that grabbed all of us before we even had a cha–”
The man held his hand up before Kit could finish. He didn’t look surprised.
“Seven names appear unresolved in the telemetry,” he said. “Two explorers. Five additionals.”
He lifted his gaze.
“Buck.”
Kit’s eyes stayed forward.
“Kyro.”
A shift rippled through the room. Chairs moved slightly. Tablets adjusted.
“The X’Omneran Officers.”
Silence followed.
Kit leaned back.
Just enough.
“You’re playing games.”
The man’s tone stayed level. “Explain.”
“You asked about casualties,” Kit said. “Then you asked about people who didn’t die.”
A few seconds passed before the man spoke.
“The explorer Buck departed the rail before arrival here in Sylvanna,” the man said. “We’re asking why.”
Kit smiled once.
“Ask Buck.”
“He hasn’t reported.”
“Then log that.”
A brief murmur broke across the table from Kit before another one of the observers spoke. “Was his behavior abnormal?”
Kit turned his head.
“abnormal? Everything we saw was abnormal.”
A beat.
The first man resumed. “Did Buck present a threat to the expedition.”
“No.”
“Did Kyro.”
The room sharpened.
Kit turned back forward.
“My uncle kept us alive.”
The man took a step closer to the table.
“Did Kyro engage any members during the expedition operation.”
“They engaged us.. While my Uncle was leading us back to the evac, when everything started to fall apart.”
The man’s next question came almost disregarding everything Kit had just said.
“Did Kyro escalate?”
Kit laughed under his breath.
Once.
“Is that what this is?”
No one answered.
Kit leaned forward now, forearms resting on the table.
“We came back from Depth Seventeen,” he said. “You’ve had our vitals, our footage, our telemetry. You had all that before I sat down.”
He lifted his eyes.
“Stop wasting time and just get to what you’re asking me already.”
The man studied him.
One of the observers shifted. “Do you know where Kyro is.”
“Yes.”
Silence snapped tight.
“And?” the man pressed.
Kit held his gaze.
“You’re asking the wrong questions. Would you die for that answer?”
A long pause.
The recorder hummed softly.
The man straightened.
“This session is concluded.”
Kit stood.
No escort touched him.
As he reached the door, the man spoke again.
“If Kyro contacts you—”
Kit stopped.
He turned halfway.
“He won’t,” Kit said, “and even if he did, what did I just ask you? Try it.”
He stepped out.
The door sealed.
⟢───── Ashes × Aether ─────⟣