New company

Codex wanted to appraise the vehicle they currently were on, considering it may be considered the same as the Hover Car. But he decided not to risk it as he only had one TP that he may need later, and he wouldn't like to use his TP Recharge that early.

He enjoyed the sight of the City from that great height, and he imagined if he could ever fly by himself. He kept looking towards Jasper for any signs of her 'magic' or any other signs of unusual power.

He had known little about Polymaths, other than their different kinds, and that each one had its own major research companies. He didn't know what the difference was between them other than skin color, but he had noticed some difference to the ones he had met.

Dr. Angler was a Blue Polymath, and he seemed like a caring individual and shown interest in the wellbeing of his patients. But, of course, that could be just because of his job that he had this kind of personality, or his personality was why he had this job.

Ana was a Dark Polymath and seemed emotionally neutral, which Codex could understand at some point. He himself couldn't read the mood of others that well, but he had found some scenes in the books he had read describing the different emotions of the characters in a detailed manner. This gave him some ideas on acting in specific situations. However, he wasn't certain if there was only one solution, as he had encountered the same situation in different books and the characters had acted differently.

Maybe he had to find his answers depending on the situation.

Then the final Polymath he had met was the one sitting across from him, Jasper the White Polymath. She seemed to be the opposite of Ana, as she ha always a smile on her face that kept changing to a smirk sometimes, and rarely it was a serious face.

"You mentioned about a cousin of yours? Is the one named Ana your cousin?"

Tira asked this question as it wasn't common for two Polymaths of distinct color to be related.

"Oh… yes, she is. I know it is unusual, but we aren't blood-related, of course. More like our Clans are friends for generations and considered pretty much a normal family."

"She said she was part of the Dark Clan. Does that mean you are part of the Light Clan?"

Codex didn't know what a clan was supposed to mean in this case. However, he had read about it and knew it was common in games, as a group of Players teaming up for a cause and to make their time in the game easier. There were some references to Clans in non-game books, but they worked similarly.

"You are correct. Not only a beautiful face, it seems."

Tira had closed her right fist and had it tight enough almost to make herself bleed by her nails piercing her palm. Fortunately, she controlled herself.

"As you seem to know, our Clans are very close, and that was since the Advent and even before that. I grew together with Ana tried to teach her how to be less like a zombie, but some things are difficult to change."

Codex remembered Tira mentioning that it was an unu0sual sight to see a Dark Polymath smile, which seemed to be what Jasper described as being like a zombie.

"I had heard that the Dark Polymaths seemed to lack emotions, while the White Polymaths were full of them, but why id it the case? It doesn't seem to be the way you grew up since you said you tried to change her while you grew up with her."

"It always was like that, and probably will keep being like that. It is in our blood; I guess you could say. But it isn't as strict as the stories you probably have heard. We aren't full of emotions all the time and not of every emotion but a variety per person. At the same time, the Dark One lacks an understanding of specific emotions depending on the person. Although Ana seems to lack on the most important ones."

Tira seemed interested in what Japer just told them. Even if the Polymaths were among the humans for a long time, some mysteries remained unsolved, especially for the White and Dark ones. Those were normally not appearing in public much, but no rules were forbidding them to do so. Just because they handled the annual budget of every company, the ones of the great Clans/Families kept a low profile.

Tira seemed to want to say more, but she stopped as she couldn't handle how she looked at her when they spoke. It had this weird look at her, full of fascination, and made Tira remember how they met. She also started feeling as naked as back then, so she stopped the talk.

Their trip didn't last for long as they landed on the roof of a multistory building.

The black-dressed man opened the door after they landed and helped them all to get out. Then, after everybody, except the one who drove the helicopter, got out of it, they used a door to get in the building and down some stairs.

They passed a few doors getting in the floor, as they went three floors down and then used the door of the next floor. There was a long corridor with glass rooms at left and right, with people working on different machines that seemed to be a different version of Codex's laptop as also bigger and not as easy to move around like a laptop was.

Other spaces seemed to have machines similar to the platform he used in the shop that they bought his clothes or some machines in the arcade but had a bit different design.

Looking at them, he could tell that they had made some adjustments and actually could see some people working on some of them, as they had their laptops or computers connected with a cord. So they weren't only making new games but also upgrading the way to play them, or so it seemed.

"Is this really a new company? You guys here seem to have all the latest equipment."

"Well, they have their sources. And no, mine or Ana's family have nothing to do with it. Even if I wanted, my family would never agree to provide anything at them."

Tira looked around like she was searching for something but wasn't finding it.

"You seem to have noticed it quicker than I thought. Your brain keeps impressing me. Yes, Ana and I are the only Polymaths that are part of the company, as everyone else is humans. At least for now. We try to hire a few others, but it takes some time."

She led them in a room with the arcade machines, and there was one similar to the shooting game that Codex played with Tira, but instead of guns, there were swords or, at least, their handles. But, again, it differed from the one Codex used, as it had no cross-guard.

There was a woman with her laptop as she was typing at an incredible speed. She had a plastic bottle that she kept drinking from while still typing with her free hand.

"Ray, I see you are working as hard as ever. If your hands get tired you…. "

"If you ask of giving me a hand massage, I am going to hit your head so hard that you are going to turn into your cousin."

"Oh, come on, Ray. Don't be like that. I even brought you a gift. A new tester, one that impressed even Ana. "

Ray looked towards her and then towards Codex and Tira.

"The boy or the woman? I guess the boy since the woman looks like a total noob."

"HEY. I know some moves."

Ray looked at her and then towards Jasper.

"You already made a move at her, didn't you? Poor her."

"You know I can hear you, don't you?"

Ray completely ignored Tira's comments as she put her laptop aside, drew one of the sword handles, and brought it to Codex.

"How about you show me what you got? Just finished a new level and want to see it in action."

Codex grasped the handle as a blade made of a light got formed. This didn't happen to the machine at the Arcade. He swung it around to test its weight, and it felt it to be better balanced and feeling more close to what a sword should be.

Ray turned the screen on, and it wasn't a flat one but had some curve that helped a bit in the depth of the game.

Codex made a few test swings and noticed the same effects on the screen as at the Arcade game, although it seemed more detailed. But then, the enemies started appearing, and they seemed to be water trying to get a humanoid form but being quite rough and with no details of their face.

Codex asked Soryn if he should be ok to have fun with it, and his second lieutenant gave an ok as far as he didn't go full power. Their way of communication seemed to have gotten better after the last mission. Maybe because Soryn was a mentor now, or his Communication had leveled again without him noticing.

He would check it later, but for now, he would have some fun.