A few hours before Kael went to the market
The portal closed behind Shaw with absolute silence. He now found himself in a corridor with metallic walls, illuminated by a bluish light emanating from tubes in the ceiling. The air smelled of forced sterilization, static energy, and something else—the metallic tang of fresh blood.
Rose materialized beside him immediately, on high alert. "An interdimensional military lab," she murmured, her crimson eyes scanning every inch of the surroundings with suspicion. "You really have a knack for walking into dangerous places, don't you?"
Shaw didn't answer right away. His footsteps echoed on the metal floor as he advanced, his senses sharp for any movement. He knew Navy, the woman with black eyes, would be nearby. And she wouldn't be an easy ally to convince.
A faint noise ahead. Shaw stopped.
Before he could react, three figures in tactical uniforms emerged from the shadows, energy weapons trained directly on them. At the center stood a woman with shoulder-length hair, her form-fitting tech suit pulsing with contained energy. In her hands, she held a device Shaw recognized immediately—a dimensional suppressor. Her completely black eyes locked onto Shaw—Navy—staring at him with a mix of caution and curiosity.
"Identify yourselves," she ordered, her voice as cold as the metal around her. "How did you breach our facility?"
Shaw kept his hands visible, his expression unreadable. "You don't know me, but you know Kael. He might be in danger if he goes to the Mnemosyne Market."
An almost imperceptible tremor ran through Navy's body, but her face remained unchanged. "And why should I believe you?"
Rose chuckled softly, a sound that made Navy frown, as if she'd only just noticed her presence.
"Because he's not here to fight you." Rose took a step forward, her sharp smile making one of the soldiers adjust their grip nervously. "He's here to offer an alliance."
Navy hesitated, but the device in her hands didn't waver.
"Against whom?"
Shaw finally spoke, his voice low but loaded with intent.
"Against the Watchers and the Collectors they've made a deal with."
The silence that followed was razor-sharp. Navy studied Shaw as if trying to read his true intentions behind that impassive mask.
"You know what they are, don't you?" she finally asked, her voice quieter now.
Shaw nodded.
"Controllers. They keep the dimensions under surveillance, eliminating anything that threatens their balance."
Navy let out a bitter laugh.
"That's what they want you to think." She lowered the device but didn't deactivate it. "The Watchers aren't protecting the dimensions. They're pruning them. Stealing and eventually erasing any world that develops technology or magic too advanced."
A chill ran down Shaw's spine. That explained why the Watchers were so interested in him. His dreamworld was exactly the kind of anomaly they'd destroy.
"And the Collectors?" he asked.
Navy closed her eyes for a moment, as if fighting a painful memory.
"They call themselves traders, but they're more like scavengers. They sell the remnants of the worlds the Watchers destroy."
Rose let out a low whistle.
"So the Mnemosyne Market..."
"Is a market for minor spoils that have no demand outside the 'Tree,'" Navy finished, her black eyes burning with contained hatred.
Shaw processed the information quickly. This changed everything. If the Watchers weren't guardians but exterminators, then his very existence was a threat to them. And Navy... Navy had more than enough reason to want them destroyed.
"What is the 'Tree'?" Shaw asked curiously.
Navy answered with a slightly sorrowful look.
"It's where we are now. Think of the planes as 'leaves' on a 'tree,' and the battlefield as the branches that connect them. There are 'gardens' with thousands of 'trees'... The battlefield essentially absorbs the planes because they were initially created for that purpose—beyond the fact that the planes are part of it. And when the battlefield absorbs enough of the planes' laws, it evolves into a higher-level dimension, thus supporting more powerful beings. That's all I know."
"You lost your plane to them," Shaw said—not a question, but a statement.
Navy clenched her fists but didn't deny it.
"And you're the first anomaly that managed to escape them." She looked at Shaw with a mix of distrust and hope. "That's why I'm listening."
Shaw kept his face blank, but inside, his calculations shifted. He needed allies. And Navy, with her knowledge of interdimensional tech and her thirst for vengeance, was exactly what he needed.
"Then let's make a deal." He extended his hand. "I give you a chance to settle the score with the Watchers. You give me access to your lab and your tech."
Navy looked at his outstretched hand, hesitating.
"What if I regret it?"
Rose grinned, showing too many teeth.
"Oh, darling, if this goes wrong, regret will be the least of your problems."
Navy took a deep breath. Then, with a decisive motion, she shook Shaw's hand.
"Deal."
As Navy began barking orders to her soldiers, Shaw gazed through the reinforced windows at the void of interdimensional space beyond. Somewhere out there, Kael was waiting. And the Collectors would have no idea what was about to hit them.
Elsewhere, in the depths of dimensional space, the Watchers sensed a disturbance. Something had changed.
And for the first time in centuries, they felt something they hadn't known in ages.
Doubt.