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As the three were leaving Whistler Tower, Daniel got a message from his employer. It was originally going to be a day-off, but apparently, he was needed back at the store. Finn was kind to take him there before heading back with Oliver. The griffon Solar Angel was still haunting Oliver's mind. She was so beautiful and formidable that it had to be unnatural. He thought it might had been her special power; to influence people by mere presence.

As Finn and Oliver were making their way through the traffic, Oliver noticed that Finn was looking serious and almost grieving. He tried to open conversation. "That Solar Angel is pretty amazing."

Finn snapped out of his thoughts. "Hmm? Oh, yes, she is."

"She seemed so caring and yet somehow so cold at the same time."

"That's the way she has always been. She is a very motherly figure within the Palace, but sometimes forgets those who are not there. Like you, for instance. If she was really worried about you, she would've called me to take you there in the first place."

"She called you 'Phantom Dreamcatcher'. Is that your special title?"

"Yes, although I was usually called just 'Phantom'. I'd prefer you not to call me that when out in the public. That would raise suspicions."

"Gotcha. By the way, why did Daniel cry back there?"

"He did? I didn't notice, because... you know... Anyway, enough about that moment. It was really moving and all and..." Finn was getting flustered and was waving his hands as he spoke.

Oliver realized that he was very uncomfortable about the matter. "You don't have to explain. My parents always reminded me not to put my nose into things I shouldn't. It must be a really painful matter."

"Thank you. I think in time I will tell you everything, but right now I don't trust you enough. We just met, after all."

As they spoke, the onboard AI had popped up an announcement. Finn checked it and looked dead serious. "Oh boy, we got company. Looks like the CTI got our trace. If we keep it cool, we might go unnoticed."

Oliver looked behind and saw a black military vehicle with red stripes following them about 300 feet away. It was getting closer and closer, but clearly kept its distance. Then he noticed they were near the building Finn's apartment was in. However, they flew past it, clearly trying to lure the CTI to think that it was somewhere else.

After about ten minutes of flying Finn was getting nervous. "They have been following us the whole time, even though we've been just circling around. I think they're after us."

Finn reached for the middle console and pressed a couple of buttons. A strange wave of blue glow ran across the vehicle. At the same time the AI voice announced: "Cybernetic shields: active."

Oliver was about to freak out. "Is your car armed too? That is so cool!"

"It's necessary, because you never know when the CTI might be after you."

Suddenly the AI interface began making siren sounds. "Alert. Incoming missile detected."

On that moment Oliver's heart stopped for a few seconds. They were shooting MISSILES at them?? Finn was seemingly nervous too and grabbed the steering wheel. He began making evasive maneuvers and managed to avoid the incoming projectile. It flew past them from the left and exploded mid-air. The shrapnel hit the shield, making it sparkle but was unscratched.

Their luck was short lived, as more missiles made their way towards them. Finn avoided them all heroically but was clearly struggling. "Fuck! If they keep up like this, we're doomed."

Just after he spoke the vehicle shook and trembled, as they got hit. Several warning lights lit up on the dashboard and warning sounds echoed in the cramped space. Oliver was feared to death and was squeezing his tail. Finn lost control of the vehicle for one moment, but luckily recovered quickly. "Damn it! Put on some fucking defenses you stupid AI!"

AI recognized the voice command. "Activating: fucking defenses." With hydraulic sounds small hatches opened and weapons emerged from beneath. There were small machine guns and what Oliver assumed were heat-seeking micro missiles.

In addition to the weapons, Finn opened the rooftop and climbed up, so his upper body was outside. Oliver saw how Finn began conjuring a large round shield around the vehicle. Incoming missiles hit the shield, making it vibrate and sparkle, but overall it held. The car began shooting back, but it seemed to have very little effect.

Suddenly Oliver heard a strange noise like a hive of angry bees, which turned out to be a group of drones, which began circling around them. They were firing with small machine guns, hitting the vehicle's own shield, making it sparkle and flicker rapidly. The AI announced: "Vehicle shields at ten percent. Please disengage combat and seek out the nearest Helix-approved maintenance depot." Finn was grunting at the AI as he continued fighting back the enemy.

One by one the vehicle's weapons defeated the drones, but the shields were down. Finn attempted to enlarge his own magic shield but couldn't keep up with the incoming fire. The windows broke, and shards of glass flew everywhere. Then, a missile hit the car and made it swing and tilt heavily. Finn was struggling to stay up and fell to his knees, with his arms and head still outside. Oliver was gripping his seat tight, but the explosion took him by surprise and for some reason his seatbelt gave up. He was tumbling in the vehicle, hitting the ceiling, seat and dashboard. Then, somehow, he fell through the broken window out of the cabin.

"FINN!" Oliver was screaming as he was plummeting uncontrollably towards the ground. He was spinning rapidly and could barely see anything due to the strong wind. Helplessly he tried swimming through the air, but it was no use. He was approaching the ground, fast, and he thought that was it; he was going to die.

Then he felt a strange sensation erupting from within himself. He wasn't sure if it was his mind, head or something else, but something strange was definitely going on. His hands began to glow with mysterious golden light. Without even thinking, he somehow turned in the air and was now facing steadily to the ground. He also noticed that his falling speed was slowing down steadily, but he was still falling way too fast.

As he looked around in despair, he saw a dark figure swooping down after him. He realized it was Finn, and behind him Oliver saw a large explosion, as the beautiful sports car was destroyed. Now it was only the matter of whether Finn would catch him or not.

Just 20 feet before hitting the ground Finn caught Oliver and made a quick turn back up towards the sky. Oliver was in shock and was shaking and crying. Finn was flying incredibly fast, much faster than Oliver had seen any other dragon fly, but it probably had to do with the initial velocity he gained from falling. He navigated between the buildings and traffic and didn't stop even though the CTI was already far behind them.

Finally, the two arrived at the balcony of Finn's apartment. The dragon did a pretty clumsy landing and almost crushed Oliver. Finn panted heavily, and Oliver noticed that he was injured. A laser weapon had pierced his left arm and he was still bleeding. Immediately the visual interface of Biggins appeared and welcomed the two back. "Welcome back, master Finn, sir Oliver. Oh dear. That looks serious."

Finn stood up and was holding his arm. "It's nothing. Prepare the medical station and get me some vodka."

Blood was dripping to the floor and Oliver followed Finn keenly, who was clearly pissed. "Those damn mother fuckers destroyed my car! I had just finished the payment plan! FUCK!" He noticed that Oliver was watching him keenly, so he stopped the swearing. "But the important thing is that you are safe and unharmed."

"I didn't believe that CTI would be as dangerous as an army."

"You were right, it isn't. It's more dangerous. They might not have as much manpower, but their technology and firepower are something to be worried about. I hope you now understand why you must hide."

Oliver nodded. "Shouldn't you see a doctor or something?"

"I have my personal medical bay. Biggins will tend my injuries. It's not going to look pretty, so you should probably wait here and do something else until I get back."

Finn climbed upstairs, and Oliver was alone in the living room area, or at least he thought so. Suddenly an army of small robots emerged and began cleaning up the blood. It took no time whatsoever and soon everything seemed like nothing had ever happened.

* * *

Now that Oliver was certain nobody was looking, he checked his hands. There was nothing. He thought whether he had been imagining it or not but was certain it had been true. There was no way he could've just turned himself around while in freefall, nor was he able to slow his falling speed so much without any equipment. If that hadn't happened, things might be very different now. He shuddered at the thought.

Oliver grabbed his commlink with shaky hands and decided to send a message to his mom. At first, he was unsure what he would tell her so that she wouldn't immediately go nuts and call him back. He was eventually going to get back home, but after the incident with the CTI, he didn't believe it was the right time yet. After pondering a while he simply told that he was fine and spending the whole weekend with Daniel and a new friend. Despite it was a lie, Daniel would most likely play along if she would ask him.

It took only a couple of minutes when his mom sent a message back. "Remember it's Rose's birthday tomorrow, so be sure to get back by 3 pm." Oliver had forgotten about that altogether. Rose was his older sister, who was spending more time on her commlink, chatting with her numerous friends rather than with Oliver. Still, she wasn't annoying or overprotective and they got along decently well.

Finn returned to the living room with a bandage on his arm. He was holding a bottle of clear liquor and his walk was a bit wobbly. He crashed down onto a couch and took a good sip of the booze. "Good grief that hurt! I'm sorry you must see me drinking. Trust me, it's under control. The proper anesthetics for the medical bay are both very expensive and hard to come by, and those drugs that I have just won't make you completely numb. I've figured that I just have to use something else to ease the pain."

"It took only 20 minutes! Is it completely healed?"

"The wound is sealed and the healing nanites are doing their magic. It should be completely cured by tomorrow. Luckily the wound wasn't magically inflicted. If it were, the pain would've been mind-breaking. I could force myself to sleep through the operation, but I don't exactly enjoy it."

Finn took another glug of the liquor. Oliver was still feeling frightened by the fall and didn't exactly dare to open a conversation. Finn noticed how the little fox was still in fear.

"Look, kid, I know you're afraid and indeed you should be. You fell over 500 feet and were closer to death than ever. However, living in fear doesn't help things one bit. I've learned that the hard way."

"What happened?"

Finn sighed. "It was a long time ago. I was on a mission with another gifted one from the Circle. We got ambushed by the CTI and we had to kill the baddies to survive. Unfortunately, one of those was actually a member of the Circle who had turned bad. The Circle didn't know about it and when we told our superiors what had happened, they didn't want to believe us."

"But you had to do it? Please tell me there was no other choice."

"I don't know, but we had to act fast and it was the safest bet. My colleague took full responsibility despite my objections. She got permanently banned from the Circle but was killed a few days later. She was a very close friend and I mourned for her loss for weeks. I was incapable of performing my duties and during that time the battle against the CTI was intense. Many died, amongst them were many friends."

"That's just horrible!"

"Believe me when I tell you I was utterly numb and helpless. Solar Angel came to me a few days later. She wasn't the leader of the Circle back then, but still very influential. She filled me with hope and lifted me out of the depression. Truth to be told, I owe Solar my life. I was so deep in the darkness that I almost... damn it..."

"Did you try to kill yourself? Was it that bad?"

"Yes... it was... My life hasn't been easy. I never had close friends before joining the Circle. I was okay at school but had to work hard to get decent grades. My parents were expecting me to become a lawyer or a doctor or something. They didn't approve at all my choice of career as I decided to become an actor. Sadly, it didn't pay well enough at the start, so I had to do some modelling work and, I admit, adult entertainment."

What did they think when you discovered the gift?"

"Discovering the gift didn't exactly help things. At first, they were confused and didn't know what to say. I think that it was worse than if they'd just said 'yes' or 'no'. Luckily my grandfather was also gifted, so I got basic tutoring. However, bearing the gift also meant that I couldn't walk on the streets without thinking every possible scenario beforehand."

"That is very sad, but now you have friends! Friends that care and understand. Daniel is a super good friend! And there must be many friends in the Circle too."

"He is my world. Without him I would feel cold again. Still, those people in the Circle are mostly a bunch of proud, selfish, pretending to be aristocratic, egoistic, fortune-seeking idiots who won't care about other people's feelings or the real world. Solar Angel and Mother Nature are a couple of the few sensible ones."

"That sounds a bit harsh. Why do you think that?"

"Experience. They think they are too important to care for anyone else. If you ask me they are just full of shit. They have simply let CTI turn Nexus City into a place where gifted ones are hunted and executed on the streets. Only those living in Palace are safe. I tried to make them realize there was life outside their palace of wonders. They didn't listen to me then and never will. Who knows how many lives have been lost because of this. They have blood on their hands, but they just don't get it. That's just the way things go."

Finn was getting agitated and took a long sip of vodka before continuing. "You know, kid, it was a good thing Solar ordered me to take care of you."

"Are you serious? Only about an hour ago I was nearly killed!"

"And I caught you before you turned into a pancake. And you're welcome."

"Sorry, I didn't mean it like that. This whole thing is just so confusing. First, I get to know I have the gift. Then, I find out that some army-like baddies are after me. How do you think I'm supposed to be feeling right now??"

"Well, I don't blame you being angry. Many who have just discovered the gift are very unhappy. Remember that it hasn't always been like this. Before the CTI got to power, gifted ones were living pretty decent lives. They weren't exactly welcomed with open arms, but they weren't hunted by mobs wielding torches and pitchforks either. CTI convinced the politicians that natural magic was unpredictable and uncontrollable, so they introduced the red magic as a solution. Everyone would gain access to it and it was relatively safe."

"What do you mean by 'relatively safe'?"

"Well, that's what they say at least. As far as I'm concerned red magic will eventually corrupt the user no matter what. I've seen it happen many times. No matter how careful you are it will happen sooner or later, even to the best of people, and I can tell you it's not pretty."

"Do you think things were different from now if CTI wasn't in power? Do you think people's minds would be more open to the likes of us without them?"

"That's a good question. I think that people have always feared the unknown. The gift is very alien to everybody, no matter if you bear the gift or not. I believe that at some point there would have been a similar outcome. Not necessarily this violent, but pretty unpleasant nonetheless. I think it's partly because people envy those with special powers. After CTI though, the gift has become more like a curse."

Oliver was processing what Finn had just said. Then he checked his hand once again, but just as he was about to ask Finn about it, the interface of Biggins emerged. "I'm sorry to bother you, master Finn, but I must remind you that you have a performance tonight."

"Oh fuck! I almost forgot it was Saturday. I'm sorry, kid, but I've got to get ready. Now that I don't have a car, it will take a lot longer for me to get to the theater. Besides, I look like I've been hit by a car."

"Should I order a taxi for you, master?"

"Yes please. I'll be ready in 30 minutes. And call Daniel and tell him to get here as soon as he can."

The interface of Biggins disappeared. Finn stood up, clumsily. He had obviously been drinking a lot, but nonetheless made his way upstairs, grasping the railing for support, and disappeared from sight.

Oliver was alone again in the large living room. It was noon, but it felt like they had been away for the entire day. He was afraid and couldn't help thinking about the CTI and what would happen if they would find him. He was also feeling very tired and curled onto the couch. He closed his eyes and before he knew it he was fast asleep.