Cybernetic Beast Taming In A Game-like World

"He’s quite verbal for a child," Prime Minister Jorhan Thrace said, his voice as formal and mighty as his appearance promised.

"It’s his least problematic trait at the moment," Velara replied thoughtfully. She snapped her focus back, sitting straighter, a subtle gesture in respect to the Prime Minister’s presence. "But do you believe what he claims? That he had no idea how he survived and escaped the Rift?"

Prime Minister Thrace’s gaze drifted momentarily, the crimson lens of his monocle dimming as he processed. "Trauma can fracture memory so it is possible that he is being truthful. But it’s our duty to be thorough in situations like this. We can not risk the Conqueror’s forces seeping into our world unchecked."

"Is that confirmation?" Velara asked. "Are you adding Jethro Merrick to our silent watchlist?"

"We don’t have much of a choice, do we, Velara?" Thrace said, easing his face. "To survive the Conqueror with nothing but a Red Lizard— while others wielding Lightning Dragons and Windkiller Krakens, the highest of Black Ranks, have fallen —that raises more than just doubts about our Riftwalker training methods. It raises the possibility that there’s something hidden inside that boy. A power."

Velara’s eyes widened. "But what kind of hidden power could challenge Decterion’s?"

"That is what we must find out."

Velara lowered her gaze to the table, her expression tightening with a conflict she rarely displayed. "That boy. Do you think we could have done better for his family?"

Thrace’s eyes narrowed. "You’re thinking of this now?"

Velara looked at him. "Mardetta was one of us. She helped Beastcorp in many ways, and we just abandoned her family after she died. It doesn’t feel... right."

Thrace’s jaw tightened, obviously irritated by the conversation. "Mardetta was an employee, Velara. She worked for Beastcorp and she enjoyed the privileges of that. Then she died. We do not owe her anything beyond that."