Cyberpunk: Ultimate Cyborg System-Chapter 485: Five Years Ago.

"What did you say?"

Lightning crackled as the question was asked, the speaker being their source, not the cloudy sky outside. His blonde hair stood as tendrils of electricity danced between the strands, following the rhythm set by the pulsing veins in his head.

"You hear me?" A cloud of white smoke rose in the air. "You are not to engage with him. Wipe him from your head. Pretend that he doesn’t exist at all."

A red-haired woman sat behind a mostly empty desk, the only thing on its surface being a small ashtray. She tapped her cigarette, letting the burned end fall off before bringing it to her mouth. She glanced at the man standing in front of her, anger and confusion in his eyes. Going by his peculiar attire, it appeared that he was preparing to storm out at any moment.

"I don’t understand..." The man, Lightning Strike, could only glare at his current commander. "We finally have a lead, and you want us to sit around and do nothing?"

"For now," Caroline Lincoln replied. "This isn’t just any villain we’re talking about. If we aren’t careful enough, this whole matter might end in a disaster."

"That explains nothing!"

"You don’t need an explanation." Caroline shot back. "Your job is to follow orders, and nothing else."

"Well, forgive me for having a difficult time following nonsense." Strike gritted his teeth. "You cut a deal with them? Since when do we negotiate with terrorists?"

"Since you failed to capture them twice."

The officer in command raised her tone, driving the point in and killing any will Strike had to continue the argument. He could only glare at the clenched fists as she put out the cigarette, the light surrounding him lowly fading.

With a sigh, Caroline stood up and walked over to the nearby glass wall.

"It’s not that we are letting them off the hook." She said. "Right now, our priority is to retrieve our martyred brethren. Once that is done, we can go about developing the right approach to taking them down."

~[ ]~

"And that’s how things are."

Strike was just done delivering the news to his team, and from the looks on their faces, they had the same reaction as him.

"This is bullshit!"

"Hey! Don’t break anything!"

Libertystar went to punch something, but Strike was able to stop her in time. Huntress, the one who helped identify the suspect, seemed oddly quiet.

"So, what? Are we just going to go along with it?" Prying herself from Strike’s hold, Libertystar looked around the room. "We have been searching for months! How can any of you be calm about this!!?"

"Pipe down, Mrs. Freedom."

The instant that reply she heard that reply, Star twisted its body and threw a punch. The entire five hundred meters trembles, and for a moment, the people inside it thought an earthquake had struck.

"Whoa whoa whoa! That was a serious blow!" A shadowy figure raised his hands in the air, the white circles he had in place of eyes staring down at the arm going through his chest. "What would you have done if I were corporeal?"

"I wish you were," Star growled between gritted teeth.

Strike could only hold a hand to his forehead. In the end, he failed to stop another wall from being destroyed.

"I know how you feel, but you need to calm down." He said. "The kid is our only lead. If we rush things, they might choose to eliminate him just to cut the thread."

Full of rage, the last thing Star wanted was to hear a sound argument. That only helped fuel her anger, but since she couldn’t come up with a counter, her only choice was to stomp away. Strike watched her go, then turned to their shadowy teammate, fixing him with a glare.

"And where have you been?"

"On vacation," Erebus replied. "I found this really nice farming village. The people there look a little rough around the edges, but all they do is play games and plant crops and trees."

"I meant, why weren’t you..." Tired, Strike could only sigh. "Just... read the report. We will decide on your punishment later."

"Okay oka- huh? What punishment!!?"

"The punishment for neglecting your duties."

"But why!!? I used to travel all the time! Since when did it become a problem!!?"

"Since the start." Strike grimaced. "We’re up against someone who can throw black holes, and you’re the only one who can do anything about it. What made you think you could just disappear for days on end?"

"Is it my problem that you can’t handle that much on your own?" Erebus’s eyes lost their upper half as he frowned.

"Yes. Yes, it is. What part of we’re a team you don’t understand?"

"Okay, okay! You’re nothing without me! I get it!"

As the two continued to squabble, Huntress silently watched from a distance. No one bothered to question her about it, but she wasn’t the only one whose silence wasn’t probed. 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚

As the discussion seemed like it was about to reach its end, her gaze seemed to turn to a nearby sofa. A muscular man sat there, still dressed in the same blue costume and red cape. He was staring at the tablet in his right hand ever since it was handed to him. Knowing what was on that screen, the green-haired Huntress seemed to grow a bit curious.

"You have been awfully quiet, leader." She spoke with a hint of sarcasm in her voice. "This is what you have been looking for all this time."

Paragon ignored her, his eyes still fixated on the screen. It displayed a profile of the main topic of their discussion—a young man with short red hair and rough features. The file had so many redacted lines that one would think he was being erased from existence. Among the few lines that can still be read was the alias.

"This kid..." The instant he spoke a word, all eyes turned to Paragon. Even Star, who should have left, peeked her head through the living room entrance.

"You... know him?" Strike frowned, finding the very idea.

The strongest hero gave one nod.

"We met only once, five years ago."

The others waited for more, but it didn’t look like he intended to. A few seconds later, Paragon placed the tablet on the coffee table and stood up, his cape fluttering slightly as his feet rose from the floor.

"This matter is no longer up for debate." He said, slowly floating toward the exit. "Follow the commander’s orders and wait for further instructions."

The words echoed in the spacious room long after he left. The others exchanged a few looks, and for the first time, they seemed to agree on something. Dante Sokolov, or whatever his real name was. Something was definitely up with him, and since it managed to catch the interest of their new leader, it was unlikely to be anything simple.