"Excuse you?"

M&M's voice echoed throughout the room before it melted into silence. Her eyes located mine and I stared back with narrowed eyes, not being able to provide a sense of reassurance for her because I also had no idea what to make of our overseer's claim. Arsomis whistled jokingly as his head traveled around the room once more, not believing that everything in the compartment belonged to... us. Anyone else would do fine— would make sense.

But us? We were ordinary people that were scrambled together into a team like fried eggs. Held together by sticky rice. With a side-serving of knuckle sandwiches and a pack of six beers because what sane person would involve themselves in the underground business without being drunk? Side note, my child Pooh was an exception.

The motorcycle's helmet that I was holding tightly in my hands fell limp on my lap as I took slow breaths to process what was going on. From the corner of my eyes, I saw our chairman dragging one of those metal cold chairs that seemed like it would break under all of our weights from the wall and he placed it near us. He spun the chair's metal back 'round and seated himself on the padded seat, legs outstretched too coolly for his age.

He tapped the back of the chair towards us and opened his mouth. "Sit. For us to move forward, I'm going to have to ask you to put your trust in me." When we all didn't move, he let out a rough sigh and added, "Like you all did in the past."

We all found ourselves locating where our Commander stood for the next clue of what to do. I shot Pierce a silent side-glance and he naturally reciprocated, despite not knowing who I was behind my mask. The man then turned his head to survey the rest of the team. When he nodded in reassurance, we relaxed and finally decided to comply.

Pierce pulled over a stained, wooden box crate and sat on it leisurely. M&M hopped on two monster truck tires that were stacked atop each other. L01 found a table against the wall and sat on it after clearing some worn-down appliances out of the way. Arsomis found himself a desk stool that went along with the table L01 was sitting on and he sat himself on it. Pooh sat on the backpack he brought.

I remained by the bikes, unmotivated to exile myself from my unofficially claimed throne, and swung both of my legs to the side of the seat so that I faced the group. K2, at the end of the day, was the only one that sat on those metal chairs that, while meant to be sat on, were discarded by us.

When we were all gathered, the older man noticed our odd, personal habits at the get-go and let out a small sigh. "We have chairs, you know."

"Congratulations, and my niece has cavities," chimed Arsomis' sarcastic tone. "Now tell me what's going on. Why and how did you bring my team here?"

K2 flicked out a physical copy of the invitation we all received from his inside coat pocket between his pointer and middle finger. The card was tossed to Arsomis and the darker man caught it in his large palm, rotating it around to examine.

"Osias Blak— director," He growled all of a sudden. "How can you be so careless? You know who I am and yet you bring me here to them?"

The older man brought up his hand and immediately silenced the rambling. "Hold your ground," His deep voice resonated. "There's a lot happening today and by the end of it all, that would be the least of our problems."

K2 peered at each one of us individually and nodded quietly to himself, as if he had reached a conclusion. He then looked at Pierce.

"Do you guys want to learn about your past?"

Silence befell the group as we wondered how much he knew about us, and how he knew it when we ourselves didn't know. We glanced at our leader for his thoughts. He loosened his tie quietly as he met eyes with our government official. "Yeah. Our memories... we all lost it."

L01 intervened. "How does he—"

"I'm your leader." Pierce quickly shut him down as he angled his head to the man. "If I don't know, then who does?"

L01 quieted down and Pierce resumed his conversation with K2. "What do we need to do? We can't keep going on like this. Something needs to change, otherwise we'd just keep going in circles."

K2 listened on with sincere eyes and after looking down at the ground for a second, his head rose back up with a sympathetic side-smile.

"Then take off your masks."

That simple, short sentence caused a silent uproar. Pierce had shifted on his crate and M&M froze from swinging her legs into the tires. Pooh's hands flew up to his mask protectively and Arsomis' hands clenched together. L01 turned dead silent, and I flicked the helmet's face shield down with a loud click.

"You're kidding?" Arsomis was the first to speak up again. "After all these years, now when nothing's going on, we break a rule that we established ourselves? This isn't right. Commander, tell him we're not doing it."

The man spun his head to Pierce, but was let down when the other man seemed to be contemplating it. M&M pointed her dagger at Pierce and got his attention. "We should go for it," She thinned her lips. "We need to be able to communicate our sides of the story. We've all seen and experienced different things. We can't share it and still be strangers."

L01 coughed and we turned our heads to him. "I second that. What were the aliases for? To keep us safe. Now we're in danger because we don't know who we are."

Pooh did a little motion to his mask that showed the mask being ripped off. He then gestured to everyone, and we knew he was in agreement with exposing our identities today. The boy turned his body and placed his hand reassuringly on Arsomis' lap, trying to get the man on board.

Pierce seemed torn on figuring out the right decision and remained silent as he watched each of us from the sidelines. I noticed and set my jaw firm, turning to the rest of the team. "Arsomis, you've just met your team today. Are you not happy?"

The buff man raised his head until his eyes locked on me. "Of course I'm happy."

"Do you trust us?" I proceeded.

"I have to."

"But do you?"

"I do." He nodded.

"Then will you stop trusting us after seeing our faces?"

Arsomis sighed and glanced at Pierce, realizing a bit late that he was putting our leader in a difficult position. "Never." He confirmed.

I nodded. "At the moment, some of us are being pursued, some of us are being impersonated by foes, and some of us have gotten attacked. It's time we clarified amongst ourselves who we are so that we can focus on ourselves. Inside of six brains, let's have one and tie the knot on our teamwork."

After a moment, and after he had glanced down at Pooh with a soft smile, he looked at Pierce and stated, "Our girls grew up well." When Pierce flashed him an amused smile, Arsomis let out a soft laugh and announced, "Count me the fuck in, Commander. Whatever my team decides, I'm not missing it."

"Hey," M&M suddenly jerked her head in his direction. "Watch your mouth, you big piece of computer shit. There's children here."

"Profanity, mother." L01 shot back, almost instinctively, as he leaned over Arsomis' shoulder.

Our Commander's low sigh and voice all of a sudden quieted everyone down as he turned his head to me. "I can always count on you, V. That hasn't changed even if we met in person." He gave me a light smirk and I found myself a bit taken aback. Then he proceeded to announce, "So, I heard all of your talks. Now for the last person, what do you say I do?"

Pierce found my eyes and my whole world stopped spinning. It was so silent in my head, yet my chest thumped louder than an orchestra of drums. But that all lasted for only a short moment, because I was soon reminded that I could trust this man, even if we've only met for a few days. In my heart, it felt like we knew each other for an eternity. So... how could I say no and turn back now?

"I'm on your side," I rest my head on the fist that was propped up on the helmet. "I will always be on your side. You don't need to ask for my confirmation. At the end of the day, it's your call, and I trust you will make the right decision. Whatever it is, we're right behind you, Commander."

Pierce stayed quiet to let the words sink in before I saw an odd look in his eyes. He frowned all of a sudden and snapped his head back up at me. I kept myself still as his eyes traveled down my body and took in my figure. When his eyes trailed back up to my lips, and then to my eyes, he abruptly announced in his alternate voice, "Masks off. Voice changer off."

We all proceeded with the latter first, and all six of us reached up to our collars and switched the tiny button off from our voice changers. K2 had been silent this whole time to let the team negotiate amongst ourselves, but he chose to put himself back into the conversation at this time.

"How about Beta go first?"

Pierce glanced at the man with raised eyebrows before he nodded. We held our breaths while quietly waiting for what was coming next.

This was it. It was happening.

And just like that, Beta was the first to take his mask off. He untied his ebony mask and swiftly ripped it off without another moment of hesitation. Pierce's face and identity was now exposed in full view. He brushed his hair back after the mask fell to the ground, and when his hand dropped to the side, it brushed against the single silver ring piercing on his ear so that it swung in place. When his grey eyes opened, the rest of the crew shifted in intense concentration.

Pierce smiled, and it radiated a confidence that we could trust in. I found myself mirroring that smile to myself. I was prepared for this. Pierce's identity was revealed first. After that, everything would be civilized. We could do this. The next person just had to follow exactly what he did.

"Well, guess it'd be kind of awkward if I didn't introduce myself, huh?" Pierce glanced at K2, who gave him a reassuring nod to proceed. "I'm—"

"Fucking shit it's Pierce—"

"Ohmygod it's—"

"Pierce??"

With the voice changer off, I began to think my mind was playing tricks on me. Those voices sounded so familiar, it was creepy. The sudden uproar caused K2, Pierce, and I to snap our heads to the rest of the team in confusion. Pierce and I side-glanced each other in horror as he stood up.

"Hold up," Pierce placed his hands on his hips as he leaned on one leg. "Why the fuck do you all know my name already—"

A thought occurred to me, and I went dead cold. A thought that held the chances of such a small percentage of probability. "You've got to be kidding me." I murmured, stunned in place as my eyes hopped from one person to the next suspiciously.

Pierce's head spun around to me and he arched his brows. "You sound an awful lot lik—"

"—Pooh, can you take off your mask for me?" I used the motor's helmet to point at the boy with the same height and same outline of someone I met recently. "You were from the café, weren't you?" It was easier to make out a child's body than five grown adults all dressed and suited up.

All eyes directed to the junior as he glanced around, shrugged slightly, and slipped off his mask as well. My eyes widened when the mask hit the ground.

I was right. It was Asao.

Arsomis suddenly jutted in, "Hold up. This is fucking weird. I saw him in the café too."

"What?" L01 exclaimed. "You were there?"

The mask came off of Arsomis' face without further persistence and we all straightened up. All upright like a brick wall. All tensed as a trigger on a pistol.

"What the fuck is that actor doing here?" Pierce choked out a cough, shooting daggers at K2. I swallowed and quietly loosened the buttoning of my suit jacket, feeling doomed. Where on earth was this mask reveal going?

M&M untied her mask and let it roll off the tires she was sitting on before Osias and her engaged in an intense stare. "Was she not the lady that was involved in that chase??" Osias exclaimed, a hand cupping his lower jaw as he rubbed it in disbelief.

"Kenya?" L01 and I bursted out together.

Kenya ignored everyone except for L01 as she raised her dagger at him threateningly. "You came from my direction when we met up. Your car took every turn I took. Don't tell me you... came from that same school?"

As soon as I processed what she meant, my eyes widened in horror. I snapped my head at L01 and held my breath. He glanced at the others confusedly and then his eyes darted to me with a sigh. I watched him intensely behind my mask. The man then took his mask off, and I finally lost it.

"I call fucking BS." I scoffed with distrusting eyes as my best friend's face came into full view. The others turned to me, stunned at my sudden, unusual outburst.

"What do you mean, 'BS?'" Cody shouted back, a tad bit concerned regarding the last person to reveal their identity, which was me. "This is my face, thank you."

I turned to K2 with my arms outstretched. "That's fucking Cody!" I point at the man of interest. "Why'd you guys have to bring him into this? Who dragged him here? He's supposed to be at the auditorium—"

"Wait, how the fuck does she know that?" Cody looked up at me in pure horror as something clicked in his head. From the corner of my eyes, I saw Kenya and Pierce connecting the details too. Pierce had silently pulled out his phone and checked the last person he messaged, and then he dropped his hand and gave me a look of disbelief.

"Take it off."

I twisted my head to look at Pierce. Fuck. "Actually," I laughed nervously, scratching my head. "Venus thinks this is a bad idea—"

"You were the one who supported it," His voice raised. "Take it off, Venus."

Cody had taken a seat on the ground as he placed his head in his hands, not wanting to see or hear what was to become of my fate.

My body froze all of a sudden as I picked up something with my ears. A rhythmic tick that so faintly blended into the background. My back straightened up and my ears perked up to the side. The others noticed my sudden alert stance and they pressed me for what was wrong. "Fuck," I mumbled, eyes narrowing in a direction away from where we all sat. "Do you guys hear something... in the corner of the room?"

The team immediately made a great deal of having their guards up by snapping their heads to the other side of the room. I hopped off the motorcycle and raced for my life to the door, full aware that the ticking earlier was actually just thumping and it was my heart because I was about to lose my life if I didn't escape.

All of a sudden, I heard a voice from several feet behind that demanded for my return. "Grab her," Pierce stated with a level tone, breathing in and out roughly.

Osias and L01 managed to get close enough to grab my arms and dragged me back. I cursed as I swung my head back to the front unwillingly, getting pulled back to the circle.

"What are we in now, some mafia?" I retorted when I was in close range of my teammates.

"You'd be surprised," Osias whispered down as my eyebrows raised slightly, before Pierce came up to me.

"May I?" He leaned his head to the side as he waited for my word.

I gave him several words, instead. "You're asking like you don't own a sparkly seal that can control even your teammates." I rolled my eyes and his hands cautiously slipped off the cream white mask I had on. Everyone gasped as the mask fell out of Pierce's hand.

"Risa."

I avoided Pierce's eyes after he had let my name slip out of his mouth and took a step back away from me. Cody released me completely like when two poles of a magnet repel and he stepped next to Pierce to examine me clearly, as if he didn't trust his eyes.

Cody's eyes then widened with a scoff. "You little—"

Before I could react, Pierce grabbed my body and brought a fist to my skull, kneading it a tad bit too aggressively on my head. "I... told... you... to... stay... in... SCHOOL..."

I winced and tried to block him as the rest of the team crowded around us. "I'm going to go bald if you— PIERCE."

"Good, go bald. Give me one good reason to not end your life right now. What is your college ass doing here?" The man lectured me endlessly and everyone watched on dumbfounded. "Let me remind you, Risa, that I accepted this job to never have to speak about school again, but LOW AND BEHOLD, I met you!"

I shut my eyes and sighed at my misfortune before trying to peek one lid open. To my surprise, the man had turned his attention away from me and to K2 for the time being. "I call BS." Pierce gritted his teeth.

"So do I." Cody cut in, not taking his eyes off of me. "Risa Kennedy? Y'all playing."

K2 seemed mildly irritated as he cracked his neck back and suddenly leaned forward with a bellowing voice, "This isn't a card game. What the hell are you guys calling BS for?"

"Because this is BS." M&M frowned as she directed her dagger at him. "How is this possible? We all met each other."

"Bitch, the bathroom?" Cody suddenly interrupted, turning on me as his hands flew up in the air. "PLEASE. HOW DOES TAKING A SHIT TELEPORT YOU TO HERE? I ALWAYS KNEW YOU HAD A SHITTING PROBLEM."

I gasped and completely forgot about Pierce as I stumbled up to Cody and stabbed a finger to his chest. "WHAT WAS THAT? Is this the same guy that fantasizes about his own team and shamelessly advertises himself to me and probably the entire school at that? BEST FRIEND MY ASS. If stupidity was a religion you'd be the Pope."

"How the hell did she ever become Venus?" Cody spun his head away from me and directed it to Pierce with a finger pointed at me. "This is so wrong."

"Why can't I be?" I cocked my head and got his attention again. "You want to be Venus? Switch titles?"

"This is not some game you guys—" Our envoy was interrupted by our leader, and he didn't even seem surprised at this point as he placed his head in one of his hands.

"Risa, come here. I'm about to show you what happens when you lie to Beta four different times." Pierce gestured for me to come closer. While his tone was sweet, I sure as hell wasn't blind to the fact that the man was simultaneously cracking his knuckles.

"Nah, I'm good." I shut down his offer in a staggered breath, scooting away. My head turned to our government official. "K2, are you not going to fix this mess you started?"

"How is this my fault?" The older man jumped in, suddenly earning all of our attention.

"You think it's OUR fault?" We all shouted in unison.

"Leave it to your kids to gang up on you." The man coughed, loosening his collar. He somehow magically got all of us to settle down again and take up our original seats. I made sure to leave some space between Pierce and I just because I wanted to live to see another day.

"So you all know each other, is that what I'm hearing?" He looked at each of us before his eyes lingered on Pierce's. The younger man nodded slowly as he shot me a dark look.

"Apparently, yes, that's what the situation is. Makes it easier on me for the introductions, huh team?"

The rest avoided his eyes as they distracted themselves with light tapping and low whistles. I suddenly realized something strange and my finger raised to point at one of our members. The others' eyes followed my hand and we all eventually directed our attention to Pooh.

"Have you... talked this whole time... Asao?"

Pierce's expression darkened as he seemed to remember something. Kenya kept her eyes on the child and Osias placed a hand on the boy's shoulders. Cody leaned forward at the sudden question and chimed in, "No, he hasn't."

I glanced at K2 with concern in my eyes before the older man nodded solemnly. "Asao's mute."

"Was he born with it?" Osias asked.

"No. It developed."

"Developed?" Cody repeated, stunned.

We saw the boy nod and suddenly it all made sense why he didn't talk in the chatroom. He had found a way to communicate without his voice. In that case, there was no point for him to pretend he could talk online when he didn't.

I turned to K2 to clarify his statement. "You said he developed it? So something happened that made him voluntarily stop talking?"

"Can I assume that you are understanding what I'm trying to say?" K2 raised his eyebrows.

"It's related to our past," I answered confidently. "The reason why Asao, and the rest of us, are now in this state is because of something that happened... a year ago?"

"Precisely. Have you ever wondered why your team is put on the spotlight for the public to see?" K2 suddenly posed the question.

I turned to Pierce and the man nodded. "Always. It was strange and I couldn't fix it since I don't have access to the chatroom."

"Pierce doesn't have access to the chatroom?" Kenya restated with furrowed brows.

We dived into the discussion of the current Beta being fake in the chatroom. What Asao and I discovered in our private talk. What Pierce and I had been up to. What the rest had experienced. We confirmed all sides of our stories to match up to the present, and then the voice turned over to K2 to explain his side of the story.

"Let me formally introduce myself," Our director cocked his head towards us with a crooked smirk. "You are now in the presence of Law Enforcement, Special Unit Agent code: Kasper 279-904b. I have been assigned to your team since it's creation and my due purpose was to guide and oversee this team. I granted you those seals you all have hidden in your coats."

We all coughed and rubbed the nape of our necks innocently, avoiding each others' eyes in case the guilt came back.

"You said, 'was?'" I spoke up and arched my brows. "Or am I picking up the wrong thing?"

"I indeed said, 'was.'" He nodded at me with a tilt of his head. "That, was four years ago. Now, you all work for an organization that's funded and recognized internationally. Back to what I was saying about the spotlight, that was all planned and forced on you. This team has been working for the wrong people."

"Did they do something to us?" Pierce cut in. "They did, didn't they?"

"Actually, before they did something, you guys made the first move." K2 smirked. "Let's backtrack to the origins of this team. Your official title is the 6 Greatest Errors of All Time, correct?"

"We shortened it to T6." Cody added.

"Well, now I'm about to explain to you where the rest of your name comes from." K2 leaned his head on his fist as he looked at each of us. "Beta, Arsomis, M&M, L01, Pooh, and Venus. Once upon a time, you were not all hackers. Hence, your title vaguely refers to you as Errors. Why? Because you originally were picked and gathered together to do the wrong deeds of the organization you work for right now.

They picked the best of the best. Beta, the top-ranked agent tailed with the most kills. Arsomis, the ruthless mafia leader. Kenya, the skilled martial arts disciple of a world master. L01, the champion fighter. Pooh, the son of a Japanese General, who's family gained high status by working for the imperial family in the past generations. And Venus, the most targeted hacker for her anonymity and interference in crimes."

"There's only been one original hacker on the team?" Pierce asked in disbelief, turning to me. "And it's her?"

I gave the man a look and he mimicked back perfectly. K2 spoke again. "You heard right, there was only one. The rest of you were taught to hack and picked up the skill naturally. However, hacking is Venus' skill. You all have different potentials that have been hidden and locked away. I'm telling you this now so you can set yourselves free. We're putting you back to your respective roles, again."

Asao gestured his hand in a circle as if to ask, "We?"

K2 shook his head no. "'We' as in your guards."

"What guards?" Cody narrowed his eyes. "The only guards here were those grubby-looking men and ladies in suits out in the—"

K2 smirked at him and he quieted down. "I'd appreciate it if you didn't let my subordinates hear what I just heard. They all follow my command, so in turn, they follow your command. They're the original team set to protect you, but the organization disposed of us after you guys discovered the people you were working for were corrupt and tried to rebel. Unfortunately, we do not have records of that evidence you have obtained, and it has returned to our enemies."

"What happened in the fight?" I narrowed my eyes. The dreams I've been having up to now all made sense. They weren't just mindless dreams. They were memories.

"I wouldn't know," K2 answered me grimly. "We weren't there with your team. You were hidden some place. And by the time we reached your location, you were gone. They said they took care of the six of you, and that we would be punished for not holding you down. But of course, I am the top agent. It'll take more than what they've tried to get rid of me completely. I've worked all these years to gather my men and women again, and when I got them here, it was my time to disappear for a while."

"That's why I met another government official for that trafficking assignment." I looked at the rest of the team. "I knew something was up."

"I managed to find you all again through tracking devices that I installed in your belongings," K2 turned to look at Pierce. "Your piercing. For Venus it's her locket. M&M, her ring. L01, his watch. Pooh, his pendant. And I stayed by Osias' side since it made sense for me to go undercover as an actor's bodyguard. That was the only way I could keep an eye on you."

My hand silently went to my neck as I suddenly remembered that the chain around my neck was gone. Before I could say anything, however, K2 continued talking. "From what you told me before, it seems like they deported you all to different parts of the world and erased your memories."

"How could they just erase our memories?" Osias scoffed. "Some people just have so much time on their hands. Must be nice."

"Drugs." Pierce came in to get us back on track. "There are some on the market that suppress the memory. Or rather, the fear and anxiety that comes with a memory. And by dimming the fear, our brains naturally tuck away our memories because it's tricked to think it doesn't serve a significance. Propranolol could be a guess, it's a Beta-blocker, and they're blocking agents."

"Tie that in with some forced hypnosis through shock induction and that's how they took care of us." Kenya added, fists curling into a ball. "I remember. I haven't been able to sleep well because these little hints keep showing up in my dreams and I don't know if I should trust them or dismiss them."

"We owned a penthouse, didn't we?" Osias came in. We all nodded slowly as our memories came through. "We all lived together at one point. I recall specific rooms and how the place looks. Is the place still there, wherever it is?"

"It is." K2 reassured him. "We'll be returning there soon. Our team has been busy keeping it hidden and in good condition. All your possessions remain untouched since the last time you were there."

"This isn't like you," I smirked all of a sudden as I angled my head at our official. "Whenever we see you, you have a mission for us. Just because we're exposed now doesn't change anything, does it? So where are you getting at?"

"You catch on quick." K2 returned my sly smile as if he was proud of me. "Team, I'm officially assigning you, Project Pleiades."

"Does this assignment with the fancy name involve kicking ass and riding this motorcycle?" I smirked as I patted the padded seat of the sport bike.

"Better. You have to travel overseas for this one. A motorcycle won't take you far, but a jet..." K2's simple smile at the end made my eyes light up in excitement. But before I got my hopes up too high, the older man added, "Of course, my subordinates will take care of the steering and the vehicles we use. Permanently."

I cursed under my breath. "Party-pooper."

The man placed his hands up in fake surrender. "Just trying to save some lives here, sweetheart. You may have known how to fly one in the past, but I'm not taking any risks."

I raised my eyebrows. "I knew how to fly—"

"Kasper 1234-abc stop giving that damn girl ideas." Cody jutted in with a glare directed at me. I stuck my tongue out at him and he challenged me with his disapproving eyes.

"Pierce," The older man finally turned to our Commander, who had been listening with a sarcastic expression plastered on his face like everything being exposed today was a prank. "Catch." Out came a ring of keys that Pierce caught in his palm. He tossed it to the other hand while examining it.

"What are these for?" He asked.

Asao motioned the keys to a door and pointed to all of us. K2 saw the gesture and nodded. "Pooh's right. It's the keys to your penthouse. We're setting out right now."

"What about school?" I suddenly blurted out. Awkward silence filled the room.

Pierce's brows twitched. "Say that word one more time and remind me of your crimes again, Sunny."

"Sunny?" Cody interjected.

"It doesn't mean what you think it means." I grunted, folding my arms across my chest in defeat.

"We'll take care of it. And the investigations. I have a team already filling in for you, Beta." K2 raised his voice and forced a beam at us. "Right now, we're going to put Project Pleiades into action. I've received word from your organization that their next move is an event hosted in France. It's a calculated plan to get you six gathered at Château de Versailles, their headquarters, as an event masked under a ball."

Kenya frowned. "Of course we wouldn't accept. That would expose our identities immediately."

Asao picked up his mask on the floor and placed it on his face, and our eyes all widened as we located our own masks scattered in the room. K2 nodded at the boy. "Masquerade ball. You have no choice but to accept when they send the invitation. Otherwise, they'd become suspicious that you know something. We're going."

Osias jumped in. "Sure, so we're going to some fancy dance. What's the real purpose?"

"To get that evidence I was talking about earlier," K2 angled his head. "The head of the organization will be there and people from all over the world that are from their branch. Everyone there is invited as special guests, so there's no way to slip in without eventually being put in the spotlight that night. But, anything is better than you attending as yourselves. We'll be talking more about that on the ride to your penthouse south of the country's borders."

"Speaking of party," I abruptly turned to Pierce. "Why'd you accept an invitation to Serenity?" Kenya and Cody perked up too and they also turned their attention to the man.

Pierce eyed us weirdly. "What the hell is that? A moon?"

All of a sudden, a collective sound of an alert rang throughout the room simultaneously. I glanced at Pierce with a concerned look as the rest of us oddly pulled out our phones, all while K2 and Pierce watched silently.

The five of us with the alert snapped our heads up immediately as we turned the phone screen to Pierce. Our Commander raised his brows amusingly as he saw his own name typing something in the chatroom that hasn't been active for days.

━━━

Group Chat Name:
Salsa
Time:
6:45 pm

— Beta entered the chatroom —

Beta: Good news, team! We have our next 'mission.' Well, I wouldn't call it so much as a mission, but more like an invitation? Serenity. We're invited as guests to a school dance. I believe it's time for us to de-stress and have a few shots. All in agreement?

━━━

The real Beta caught the phone I tossed him and read the message silently. After a moment of silence, I saw the man's lips curl into a sinister side-grin, one that I haven't ever seen before.

"So this is Beta." He squinted his eyes amusingly at the screen as his lips parted. "I wonder what you accomplished with my team all this time. I'm excited to find out."

His out-of-place dark tone sent chills down my spine, even if the message wasn't for me. It reminded me that we still had a lot to learn about each other. About the whole team. Everyone eyed the man carefully, capturing the rare moments that Pierce broke character and shifted to his old personality of the past.

And that got me to think of something we'd all later come to find out.

Was he always our Commander?

▂▂▂▂▂

━━━☆
"Pleiades is a cluster of seven visible stars. In a legend, the Pleiades once made up a single star, the brightest in the sky. A god disliked the star for its beauty, and it was smashed into pieces, forming the Pleiades star cluster." ☆━━━

Minna: (The gif is indeed K2 and your man's in his mid-forties). Thank you for putting up with me and this story for 22 chapters! *smiles* We're now officially moving on to the second arc of the story. ♥️ *forgets to cite sources and moves on to hell instead*