"Cough!"
In the midst of Nora, Joanna, and the others crowding around me from every direction, chipping away at the mysterious reputation I had worked so hard to build, a slow, tired cough echoed through the noise.
All heads turned at once.
"Isn't that...?"
"Vice-Director Vale? How did he get here?"
"Is he going to bring us back?"
"Alright, calm down, everyone. I need your attention for a moment."
Coughing again, the Vice-Director's eyes languidly scanned the surroundings. His gaze settled on several people, including me, and in particular Ariel, before he started to speak again.
"Congratulations to all of you who have made it to this point. From what I've managed to gather, this will be all the people who have made it in the trial. There are a few that have perished, but in this line of work, such casualties are normal. By now, all of you have understood that this wasn't a simple trial."
No, no, it wasn't.
This was just us doing your dirty work.
