Yesh Academy
Luna, Terra
Gaea Solar system
Milky way Galaxy
Neutral Free Zone
3rd March 2019
Leon left Phoebe's office to the training facility where he found Sam, where she was training her martial arts skills. She was dressed in a white gym tracksuit, her green hair tied in a bun as she swung her fist against dummy practice. Whenever her fist hit the dummy, a hologram image showcase a measure of the force she was using against the dummy. Her measurement was pretty high, enough to pound steel plates into paste. He could see a vast improvement in her combat skills, a sign that her mastery of the Adamantium fist style had moved to the peak of the minor mastery realm. Leon was very caught off guard by Sam's speed of development. She was growing at the same rate he grew when he was younger learning both Combat and Mystic arts. At the rate she was going, she was going to reach the Master realm in a year or two. There was also her activating her innate ability like it was easy. Note to self, to be able to manifest an ability factor that comes with a unique technique was not something that an Adept realm could do. A lot of biological changes was needed in the body for one to be able to activate their ability and this normally happens in the Warrior realm where the biological changes happen. Leon couldn't understand how she had been able to pull it off but it kind of made sense to him when he thought more about it. Before her Awakening, she was already able to use her innate ability to tap into the emotional state of those around her. Now that she was Awakened, her Gene data was stronger than before. As he was thinking deeply about the mysteries of Sam, Sam on the other hand was checking Leon out. Even in the state of her being annoyed by his words from before, she couldn't deny that her annoyance wasn't that deep. She had felt his presence as soon as he came into the facility watching her. She had tried her best to ignore him, but the smell of citrus and lavender from Leon moved her mood from being negative to positive. Her sudden mood change made her stop her training and turned to face Leon.
"So what's the verdict," Sam asked.
"You should rest up," Leon said with a smile, dimples forming on his cheeks. "You're gonna need all your strength for what's going to happen."
"How long do I have to rest," Sam said. She had been asleep for a week now, so that kind of rest was not something she wanted. Leon could read her intentions.
"I'll give you five days. After that, We'll be moving out," He said giving her time to do all the preparation she needed. After that Leon left Sam alone in the training floor.
****
"You called for me," Emanu said. She had just arrived to the site of the circle of Menhirs, that were rooted to the greenery ground. Sam got up from her lotus position where she had been meditating, cultivating her spiritual power after she was done with her physical training. She had come to this clearing where Emanu had first trained her to use the excess amount of World energy to stock up her reserve of Od while strengthening her soul core, the organ responsible for siphoning Odic energy. Sam had sent a message to Emanu that she needed her help with more training. And luckily she had replied to meet here for the training.
"Yes, I need your help," Sam said. Emanu smiled, brightening up her beautiful fair skin free of blemishes. She jumped to hug Sam even though she knew that Sam had issues with physical contact, especially when it came to strangers. If it was anybody else, Sam would be fidgeting, becoming anxious just from the touch but because it was Emanu, she let it go. Ever since she met this strange girl, Sam couldn't help but feel a strange bond with her, like she was a lost childhood friend that she had lost contact with. Sam's life had totally change. Weeks ago, she was a loner who had no friends in school, always by herself, trying to create a relationship with someone she didn't even like, and now she had become friends with one of the most beautiful girl she had ever seen.
"So what do you need help with," Emanu said. "Is it with Leon? I have to say your taste seems right. For a moment, I was worried what with you being involved with that Human. Don't get me wrong, he seems okay, for a Regular Mystic, but-" She stopped when she saw the expression on Sam's face. She was giving Emanu a weird look. "You know Rosa wasn't that bad either....ugh!...Hmm! So how can I help you," Sam was still giving her the weird look.
"When I fought against those Assassins-"
"Sinutu and Anuntium," Emanu said.
"Is that their names," Sam said. She realized that she didn't even know anything about the Assassin who came after her or why they were after her in the first place. How did they get to the school? These were questions she forgot to ask and one that she wasn't in a hurry to know right now. There were more important things she needed to get to. "Well, I don't care. In the fight against them, I..." Sam began to explain to Emanu how when she had been caught by the ability of one of them, she had chosen to deliberately get hit by one of their attacks, and tried to use her Validus technique to tank the attack, and how the attack had no effect on her. She explained how the Assassin had been stunned by her accomplishment.
"He called it a Counter...no more like Perfect Counter," Sam said. "I don't know what he meant by that because I tried to use the Adamantium Validus technique. That was my intentions but it seems I didn't pull it off. Can you tell me what this Perfect Counter is?" Emanu couldn't believe what she was hearing. She could understand why Sinutu had been startled by her actions. Even Emanu was shocked even though she knew the reason for Sam's shocking growth speed.
"Punch me," Emanu said.
"Huh!" Sam said. Emanu smiled as she spread her legs a few meter apart. As she did so, Sam felt the presence of a weird energy field around Emanu. She felt the World energy's flow around Emanu become strange.
"Punch me like you mean it," Emanu said. She spread her arms apart like she was inviting Sam to punch her in any part of her body. "Make sure you infuse your mana in your punch" Sam wasn't sure what Emanu was getting at but she trusted her. She circulated her mana within her fist and sent a quick jab right at Emanu shoulder. As Sam's fist connected with Emanu's shoulder, she felt no impact nor feedback from the punch. She was surprise by what had happened. The mana in her fist had been dispersed, spreading out of her body and becoming one with the strange energy field that circled Emanu.
"That's Perfect Counter," Emanu said. "It's a Mystic technique that allows you to defend against any form of attack by neutralizing the damage. What you did against Sinutu was exactly what I did against you now. Counter is different from Validus in that Validus is a technique that strengthens your physical body through the mana skin. It's strength depends on the output of mana that one can release into the technique. Counter on the other hand doesn't require continuous input of mana for you to maintain it. A Perfect Counter can neutralize any form of attack no matter how powerful it is. The only downside is that using Perfect Counter is very difficult for one to perform. It requires a great efficient use of mana control and mental concentration that one can't normally do in the midst of battle."
"What about the boost in strength," Sam said. She remembered the spike in her mana flow after she had used the technique.
"Perfect Counter is so difficult to use, that when one tries to use it, the efficiency of the Counter is less than hundred percent. A less than hundred percent Counter is still useful as it can reduce the damage of an attack depending on how much efficiency one uses. So when one achieves a Perfect Counter- a hundred percent efficiency- especially at the last second, the Odyllic responds back by giving you a massive boost in power. It's a risk and reward system." Sam looked at her hand as she remembered how her mana felt during that time. She had never felt so in the zone of fighting than she had before that. She wanted to feel that sensation again.
"Can you teach me how to use it," Sam said. Emanu deactivated her counter as she thought about it. The truth was that Emanu didn't have to do anything due to the indications she had seen from Sam's growth. Even without her help, Sam should be able to use more Mystic techniques as time went on. The more she released that Soul power within her, the more her body would remember how to fight efficiently. But in the end, Emanu couldn't refuse to help her. After all, Sam was her...
"Hello...Emanu! Can you teach me," Sam said waving her hand in front of the girl who looked like she had spaced out.
"Huh! Sure...Sure, I can help teach you how to use it," Emanu said. "But don't be surprised if you can't use it again. From what you said to me about the other situation, that was a do-or-die moment. Your body was pushed to the brink to protect you. To be able to use a Counter, it takes a lot of mana control which Adept ranks can't even perform. That's how advanced the technique is. Are you ready for that?"
"Yes!" Sam said. In five days, she would master the Counter technique. She had no choice but to do so.
-
Five days later...
After showering and dressing up in the black combat suit that Emanu had provided for Sam, she left her room to find Leon waiting for her on the outside. He was wearing a long black coat with a black jacket with golden ends on the sleeves, buttoned up with a white shirt underneath, black pants with black combat boots. On his pants, he wore two beige belts with eight golden studs on the top while a golden chain hung off the lower belt. On his jacket were three golden pins on the lapel in the shape of what looked like a Griffon, the Golden Dawn symbol, and one that Sam had no idea what it was. His appearance was so dashing, a sort of golden radiance laced around his tannish skin. Sam couldn't help admiring his beauty.
"Black looks good on you," Leon said admiring how the combat suit fitted around Sam's curvy body. During the past few weeks, she had gained a lot more muscle than fat, but that didn't stop her body proportions from keeping their feminine form. Something that Leon was happy about. As much as he loved his women being warriors, Leon preferred the curvy, feminine ones over the masculine looking ones. His mind nearly went to a past experience but he shook it off.
"And you," Sam said. He nodded and both of them left the southern tower to go to the Western tower where the technology department was located. Sam was bewildered by the look of the department. It was like she had been transported into some kind of futuristic place filled with machines and technology that Sam hadn't seen before. There were people in white suits working in their stations, robots moving equipment from one place to another. Leon ignored all of it while he led Sam deeper into the department to another space. They approached a door which Leon knocked on before opening it. When they entered the room, Sam was surprised at how hot and dark it was. There was a pounding noise coming from somewhere, the noise sounded like a hammer hitting something. Sam noticed a shelve full of all kinds of weapons, from gauntlets to swords, spears and daggers. Across the ceilings and the floor were pipes, channeling what looked like orange liquid towards a specific place in the room. In the middle of the room was a table, and around the workbench was a magic circle glowing with mana. Standing above the workbench, dressed in overalls and pounding a silver hammer on the bench was Emily Legens.
She was focused on her work, not paying attention to Leon and Sam that had entered the workshop. She pounded away on the item she was working on, orange sparks flying off. She kept on pounding, shaping the item into the desired form that she wanted. Her Internal senses were focused on the object, her Odic force controlling the flow of mana from the magic circle which acted as her forge, and into the item she was pounding away with. As she pounded the shortsword she was crafting, making sure to make the right pathways within the blade that would direct the mana into the core she had already formed within the weapon. After Emily was sure that the core and the pathways were connected, and the runes she had weaved inside were stabilized, she then put away her hammer. She deactivated the magic circle around her workbench, which was made up of Adamant metal and connected to the pipes around the room. Emily picked up the shortsword, a large dagger with orange hilt and red blade guards. The dagger was decorated with runes and engraving, a sign of the mana pathways that Emily had formed within the item. She could feel the power of the enchantment she had weaved within the blade, making it stronger than even a normal Adamant blade was suppose to. Adamant was a precious ore, known for it's sturdiness and it's ability to conduct mana, which is why it was a good metal to use to forge weapons. But Emily still preferred Seriphium ore to the Adamant ore. While Seriphium ore did not possess the same sturdiness that Adamant ore had, the ore was known for it's self sustenance in replenishing it's own mana without the need of enchantments. One didn't need to forge mana pathways due to the natural pathways that the ore posses, making it capable of growing beyond it's initial state, unlike Adamant ore that could not grow. But seeing as she lacked Seriphium ore, and Adamant ore was all the school could give her, Emily was forced to rely on crafting Epic and Rare grade weapons. When Leon cleared his throat, Emily turned around and finally acknowledge them. Sam had been admiring the girl as she had worked, showing off a side that she had never expected to see from her.
"What's this," Sam said.
"It's called Forgemastering," Leon said. "Emily here is a master of forging,"
"It's just a hobby," Emily said. She added the dagger to the other daggers she had forged, stepping off the magic circle, careful to not step on the line as it was still hot.
"Forgemastery," Sam said.
"The art of forging Spell blades," Leon said. He pulled out one of his blades, showing off the silver sword. This sword was different from the one Emily had crafted but in truth, it was Emily who had crafted it. Emily picked up a towel from one of her benches, using it to dry away her sweat.
"Forgemastery is one of my specializations as a Mage," Emily said. "If you want, I could give you some basic lesson-'
"As much as I'm grateful with the two of you bonding, we're not here for that," Leon said. Sam had been excited at the thought of learning something that might be good for her, but then she remembered why she was here.
"Is it that time," Emily said.
"It is," Leon said. "We'll be heading to Ginny's workshop, meet us there," Leon waved at Emily before he and Sam left. Emily sighed as she dropped the towel, taking off her clothes as she went to the shower that was in the workshop. The workshop was her personal place in the Academy that Phoebe had personally granted to her, and it was where Emily spent most of her time if she was not teaching or joining Leon in his personal missions. And now it seems they were about to go on some mission for Golden Dawn. After she was done showering and getting dressed in a black combat suit outfit. Her orange reddish hair was twisted into a bun on the back of her head. She met up with Leon and Sam, who were waiting for her by a large door in front of them. They entered the room, where a tiny girl with grease-stained blond hair turned around in her seat. Her goggles were on her forehead revealing purple eyes. She smiled brightly when she saw Leon, breaking into giggles. Emily groaned like she was used to seeing people excitedly glitter at Leon. She must be a huge fan of his. Sam thought. Though she hadn't met the girl called Ginny, she had heard Emanu talk about her. Leon smiled as he patted Ginny on her head.
"So you must be the Sinclair girl," Ginny said. She gave Sam a look over and began to walk around Sam observing her. "Hmm, you don't look like James," Sam was shocked to hear her Father's name out of her mouth. She spun around to stare at the short girl with the overall dress.
"You know my Father," Sam asked.
"Hmm, I was an acquaintance of him long ago," Ginny said. Sam raised an eyebrow at her words. She found it hard to believe that this girl who looked younger than her would have been alive to know her Father. "I was more on speaking terms with your Mother on the other hand," Sam couldn't believe her ears. She tried to grab the girl to ask the questions plaguing her.
"You knew my birth mother," Sam said. The girl, Ginny, blinked as Sam tried to grab her, but she quickly moved out of the way of her touch. Sam was surprised by her speed as the girl went over to Leon, who continued to pat her head.
"Sorry," Ginny said, her voice dropping—sharper now, edged with something cold. "I don't want to talk about Sophia… or your family."
The shift was immediate.
The playful curiosity from moments before vanished, replaced by a quiet, menacing intensity in her gaze. Her violet eyes locked onto Sam with a warning that didn't need to be spoken twice.
Sam felt it.
The pressure.
A subtle instinct told her not to push—not here, not now. Questions burned in her chest, but she swallowed them down, letting the moment pass.
Leon stepped in smoothly, his tone neutral. "So… what do you have for us?"
Ginny clicked her tongue lightly, the tension dissipating as quickly as it had come. She slipped away from Leon's side and darted toward one of the cluttered worktables in her lab.
Sam's eyes followed her.
The workspace was chaotic—monitors flickering with fragmented data, dismantled machines strewn across the surface, weapon components lying beside circuitry in a way that made no immediate sense. It looked less like a lab… and more like the aftermath of relentless experimentation.
Ginny slipped on a metallic glove and reached into a sealed glass container, retrieving a small orb.
It glowed faintly.
Not brightly—but enough to draw attention. Its surface pulsed with a soft, inner light, and something about it felt… off. Not dangerous—just unfamiliar. Like it didn't belong.
"What is that?" Sam asked, unable to hide her curiosity.
"It's a core we recovered from a Starlight base," Emily said, stepping closer. "The place had already been overrun—Abominations, most likely. We were there investigating traces connected to the Fallen Stars."
"The Fallen Stars?" Sam echoed.
She glanced between them. "What is that?"
Emily exhaled and tilted her head slightly toward Leon. "You should explain."
Leon's expression darkened.
"Twenty years ago," he began, his voice quieter now, "there was an uprising within the Divine Federation. A coordinated attack… carried out by a faction that came to be known as the Fallen Stars."
Sam felt it again.
That heat.
That restrained anger simmering beneath his words.
"They struck the Stellar Council," Leon continued. "Half of Starlight's leadership was wiped out in a single day. At the same time, multiple outposts across the Federation were attacked."
His jaw tightened.
"If those locations hadn't been warned ahead of time… it would have been far worse."
"They were extremists," Emily added. "Fanatics who abandoned everything Starlight stood for. That's why they're called Fallen."
A brief silence followed.
Then—
"If not for one man," Emily continued softly, "the damage would've been catastrophic. A Pleiadian named Jonathan Haravok."
Sam's breath hitched slightly.
"Haravok…" she murmured.
"My father," Leon said.
The words came out flat—but the emotion behind them wasn't.
"He led the counteroffensive," Leon continued, though his voice thinned slightly near the end. "Before he…"
He stopped.
Didn't finish.
Didn't need to.
The air grew heavy.
Sam felt it clearly this time—the molten weight of grief and rage coiling beneath his composure. It pressed against her senses, suffocating in its intensity.
Familiar.
Too familiar.
Leon exhaled, forcing the moment aside.
"That's what we were investigating when we found the core."
Silence lingered again—thick, uncomfortable.
Until—
"Can I continue?" Ginny snapped, cutting through it.
She rolled her eyes, already moving past the emotional weight of the conversation.
"This core," she said, lifting the orb slightly, "is unlike anything I've ever seen."
Her tone sharpened with interest now.
"After analyzing it, I was able to identify the type of energy inside."
Leon's eyes narrowed. "What is it?"
"Vitanium."
Emily immediately frowned. "That's not possible."
She stepped closer, studying the orb again. "I examined the core myself. That energy doesn't feel anything like Vitanium." Emily had spent some time studying the core, trying to find out the mystery of it, and she had reached dead ends, so she had gone to Ginny to get some help.
Sam glanced between them. "Okay… what is Vitanium?"
Leon answered this time.
"Those blue crystals in the Echo Field," he said. "The ones you saw when we first met."
Sam blinked.
"The glowing ones?"
He nodded. "That was Vitanium."
Realization dawned slowly.
"They're that valuable?"
"More than that," Emily said. "Vitanium is one of the purest sources of Lifeforce energy in existence. It can regenerate tissue—organs, limbs… even stabilize dying bodies. It's used in high-grade medicine, potions, cultivation refinement—"
She paused.
"And it's rare. Rare enough to start wars."
Leon's gaze hardened slightly. And far more important than just medicine…
Ginny waved a hand impatiently.
"If you'd let me finish," she said, "you'd know this isn't normal Vitanium." She raised the orb slightly. "It's been refined… purified to an extreme degree. The energy inside has been completely transformed into something else. That's why you couldn't tell it was Vitanium." Emily hissed, knowing full well that was not an excuse she could accept for missing something like that in the first place.
Sam leaned in slightly.
"What kind of energy is it?" She asked.
"At first, I couldn't identify it," Ginny admitted. "But after running multiple comparisons…"
Her grin widened.
"It matches the energy signatures found in Automaton cores."
"Automatons?" Sam echoed.
She knew the name—one of the Nine Races—but the concept still felt strange. Machines… as living beings?
Leon's eyes sharpened. "You're certain?"
Ginny scoffed lightly, gesturing toward the mechanical components scattered across her lab.
"I think I know Automaton physiology better than most," she said.
Then she tapped the orb.
"This is artificial."
A pause.
"Or rather… it's the result of an experiment."
Her voice lowered slightly.
"It's producing something extremely similar to Energion."
Leon turned back to Sam.
"Energion is what powers Automatons," he explained. "It converts Odic energy into whatever form is needed—fuel, output, function. It's one of the most efficient energy systems in existence."
"More efficient than Seriphium," Emily added quietly. "If you can combine Vitanium's regenerative properties with Energion's conversion… the results would be…"
She didn't finish.
She didn't need to.
Leon's expression darkened. "And how does this connect to the data you found?"
Ginny's excitement returned instantly.
"Oh, right. That."
She rushed back to her terminal, dragging a holographic display forward.
"I cracked the encryption," she said. "Barely. Most of the data wiped itself before I could extract it… but I salvaged fragments."
Her tone shifted—less excitement now, more unease.
"And this is where things get strange."
Leon stepped closer. "Go on."
Ginny brought up a series of fragmented logs.
"The base wasn't just storing energy cores."
She looked at them.
"It was conducting genetic research."
Emily's brows furrowed immediately. "Enhancement?"
Ginny nodded. "Biological modification. Artificial evolution."
"That's prohibited," Emily said. "Federation law strictly forbids that kind of experimentation."
Leon's eyes narrowed. "Why would a Starlight facility be running illegal research?"
Sam crossed her arms, frowning. "What's wrong with genetic research? Isn't that… normal?"
Leon exhaled slowly.
"According to Annunaki doctrine," he said, "tampering with genetic structure violates the natural order of the universe."
Sam blinked.
"…You all use magic."
Emily gave a small, amused exhale. "Magic is part of the natural order. Creation, however…"
She tapped the console lightly.
"That belongs to the domain of the gods."
Leon rolled his eyes slightly. "And mortals who try to replicate it are labeled as sinners."
Sam tilted her head. "…Convenient."
Ginny ignored them, pulling up one final fragment.
"There's one term that kept appearing in the data," she said.
Her voice dropped slightly.
"Starseed Genes."
The room went still.
"It looks like their objective," Ginny continued, "was to artificially awaken them."
Leon's gaze sharpened immediately.
"…Celestial Physiques."
Sam frowned. "What does that mean?"
Leon turned to her.
"Not all Pleiadians naturally awaken their Celestial lineage," he explained. "That awakening is what allows them to ascend—to become more than mortal."
He gestured slightly.
"That's why Awakening Temples exist. Through rituals—through prayer—the innate gratia within a person is triggered."
Sam instinctively touched the mark on her body.
"The Divine blessing…" she murmured.
"Yes. The gods who give their blessings are known as household gods among us Pleiadians. Each of these household gods are guardian deity of a Celestial House." Emily pulled the top of her suit to reveal her collarbone that had a glyph symbol etched on it like the one on Sam's backhand. The rune symbol looked similar to the Scorpio zodiac sign like the letter M with a barbed tail turning upwards.
"My House is the House of Scorpio," Emily said. Sam turned to Leon who smiled at her.
"I'm of the House of Leo," Leon said. Sam was not surprised by that. Her hand went to her right backhand where the symbol was similar to one of the pagan gods. Had she been blessed by a god different from the ones who blessed Leon and Emily? After all, Asha was a heretical god according to Emily.
"Yes, the Starseed genes play a significant part in Awakening the Celestial Physique," Ginny said. "It is responsible for annihilating the impurities of a mortal body, making the body strong enough to survive the energy of awakening one's core. Also, I don't think the Stellar Council or the Congress of the Divine Federation are aware of this. This all reeks of black ops and off the books."
"Ever since the uprising, the Federation's strength hasn't been what it used to be," Emily said. "Including Starlight. So it makes sense that someone..someone would be looking into alternative ways to bring about Awakened powers without the help of the gods."
"We know the base was being used as some sort of secret experiment on humans," Leon said. " Vashin Priyham, the Erlking Emily and I hunted-"
"Um...Sorry but I'm kind of confused here," Sam said. Leon smiled at Sam before going into an explanation about hunting some kind of beastman that had been infected with infernal energy.
"So this Vashin Priyham worked in this research base by providing humans for the experiments," Sam said. "But he was turned into an Abomination before he could spill what he knew. And he was killed by you."
"Yes." Leon said.
"Sorry but how does that relate to the Abomination that came after me-"
"Because the Infernal energy that infected Vashin was similar to the infernal energy of that Great ape," Leon said. He turned to Ginny who was looing through the datas she had managed to scrounge up before it deleted.
"Do you have anymore information about what was going on in the base," Leon asked.
"I was able to access the base's security system. And it seems someone must have tampered with the research, done something which led to the death of everyone in the base." Ginny said. "I can't tell because I have no bodies to examine. But my guess is there was an incident in which the radiation must have leaked out and killed everyone there. Remember as much as Vitanium is precious, it has the dangers of producing dangerous levels of radiation."
"And according to what I could find, it seems the experiments were not going as planned," Ginny said. "Playing around with Vitanium radiation to awaken the Starseed genes comes with a hefty price. A mutational disaster." She pointed at the monitor as a video showed a cage filled with what looked like monsters. They were humanoid, with reptile-like scales smashing their bodies against the cage. Devices were being operated by machines that were probing them.
"Which is why they're experimenting on humans instead of Pleiadians," Leon said. "If the experiment works for humans, then it would be safe enough for Pleiadians."
"Unfortunately, I don't have more information to go on. But I do have good news for you, Leon." Ginny said.
"What is it," Leon said.
"The other data you gave me to examine," Ginny said. "I figured what it was."
"Did you now?" Leon said. Ginny touched the screen of her monitor and the image changed to something else. This time it was an image of a wall engraved with runic formulas.
"This is a Tempus warp gate," Ginny said.
"A gate," Leon said.
"What's a Warp gate," Sam asked.
"It's an ancient gateway that was once used to travel from planet to planet," Ginny said. "In ancient times, before technology advanced to create transport ships, Warp gates made it possible to get to another planet. No one knew how they worked only that planets with high concentrations of World Energy had operating Warp gates,"
"The problem was there wasn't a whole lot of them on most planets," Leon said.
"I'm surprised there is one on Terra," Emily said.
"According to the runes on the gate, it seems it's calibrated to transport only within the planet, not outside of it," Ginny said. "I tried to see if I could find out how long the gate has been there, and from my studies, it looks like it's been there for a long time."
"How long?" Leon said.
"A couple of millions years," Ginny said.
"Hmm, So Terra's one of those planet," Leon said to himself. "I guess we should head over to Cedar Lake. Let's see what it has to show us,"