When B3 notified him of the visitor Sam was expecting another soldier, but to his surprise the one waiting outside turned out to be a kid. Sure he was wearing camouflage, but his height and youthful face told that he was still in his early teens.

“Are you the ‘Doctor’?” The boy asked.

Sam looked down at himself. He wasn’t wearing his lab coat this time around so there was no hint pointing to his nickname. He guessed that the boy heard it from one of the girls, but if he came here to see their leader it didn’t make sense to address him that way.

“Indeed.” Sam said, stepping down out of the **. “Are you one of them, perhaps?”

The boy glanced in the five soldiers’ direction. All of them had their arms and legs restrained so they wouldn’t hurt themselves in a pointless attempt at escape. His eyes returned to Sam next, and without answering the question he went on to say

“The elder wants to meet you.”

The silence that followed was understandable. The boy was calm, and though he was surrounded by what the others believed are the enemies of his people he didn’t seem all that scared. But the most confusing part is that he spoke as if they’re supposed to know this elder he’s referring to.

In any case, it appears that the leader of those survivors has already made the decision to engage with their group. Sam knew there was more to it, but because of that he was reluctant to make a decision.

“Sergeant David!” He called. A couple of seconds later the man came arrived in quick steps. When he saw the boy standing a few meters away his eyes widened.

“Karim!? What are you doing here!!?”

He was about to approach him but stopped in his tracks, turning to Sam as if asking for his permission. Sam nodded once seeing no problem in letting him go.

“Hey! Why are you outside!? You are old enough to understand how dangerous the forest is!”

“The elder sent me.” The boy, named Karim, responded. 𝒱xt.𝑐

“The elder!?”

“Yes. She said wants to meet the Doctor.”

Sam’s suspicion wasn’t misplaced, but that only served to confuse him more. This elder they’re talking about told them she wants to meet him, the Doctor. That means she knew about him even though they have yet to meet, something that should be impossible.

‘What am I thinking?’

At the moment he was on a different earth in a different dimension. For the past ten years they were at war with reason-defying monstrosities and his body was no longer flesh and bone. It wouldn’t be strange for someone to have some power that allows them to know things they shouldn’t know.

“Kid, did you come here knowing there are angels around?”

“Yeah.” The boy replied. “The elder said everything would be fine.”

“Karim! How can you be so reckless!!?” David grabbed the boy by the shoulder, shaking him lightly as he shouted in his face. “Even if the elder told you to, why would you-“

“What are you saying, father?” The boy tilted his head, his eyes slowly widening. “Has the elder ever been wrong?”

“But-“

“Didn’t you go out today just because she told you it would be safe?”

“But…”

The fact that the two were father and son was overshadowed by how strange the boy was behaving. Sam’s theory seemed to be close to the truth. This elder they mentioned does know things others are unaware of. It might be that she can see the future, but apparently her divinations aren’t detailed which makes others reluctant to trust them completely.

‘Ah, I guess they would have doubts after meeting us when they thought everything would be safe…’

For some reason whenever there is someone with divination powers they always tend to give vague predictions that people don’t understand until it’s too late. Sam always thought such a trope was ridiculous, but now that he was having to deal with one his worries only increased.

“He’s your kid?” Sam asked. “has he always been like this?”

David directed a confused look at Sam before looking at the boy again.

“I meant if he’s acting strangely.”

If the adults had to be armed to the teeth just to go outside then the forest must be quite dangerous. For a kid to wander through it then walk into what could be an enemy camp and not even flinch when talking to their leader he must be quite messed up in the head.

“Ah! Sorry about that. He has always been like this. Even I don’t understand what’s going through his head.

Sam looked the boy in the eyes and the boy did the same. The two stared at each other for a while and neither looked away.

“Hey…” the boy suddenly spoke, “you aren’t human, huh?”

“Wha-” David was speechless, his head almost snapping as he turned to Sam.

“What are you so surprised about? Didn’t I just tell you I came from a different dimension?”

“Huh? But…”

“Calm down. I’m just kidding.”

The truth is that he didn’t know how to answer the question himself. Now that he used the ASC tech to replace every cell in his body it wouldn’t be wrong to say he isn’t human. No matter how much he thought about it it would be impossible to find a satisfying answer.

“Boy, nothing good comes from segregating people. Worst if you deny their humanity.” Looking at the Valkyries standing guard nearby, the question of whether they’re human or not resurfaced in his mind. His struggle to come up with an answer was quite the annoyance and because of that he preferred not to think about it at all. “Just because someone is human doesn’t mean they’re good. Monsters exist in all shapes and sizes. Even humans are capable of becoming one.”

The boy looked down at his feet, remaining silent for a while. David didn’t seem to calm down at all, sweating even more than when they first caught him and his friends.

“You’ll have a difficult time convincing the others.” The boy said a few seconds later.

Realizing he had just given his words some thought and arrived at a similar conclusion to his, all in the span of a few seconds, Sam couldn’t help but smile at the young boy.

“You have a smart kid, Sergeant David.” He said. “Alright then. Since this elder of yours went to the trouble of inviting us, how about we head there right away? We don’t want to keep her waiting.”

Beside the boy named Karim the other soldiers didn’t seem too enthusiastic about the invitation. Sam decided to take a small team with him; his two personal Valkyries in addition to CS and Nino. The others are to stay behind in case the Olympians noticed their arrival. That way they would act as a diversion so the humans’ hideout wouldn’t get exposed.