A carpet of red and gold filled Rollo''s field of vision. His eyes were cast down, the nervousness he felt prevented him from looking up. The boy knew his life was over when a Valkyrie showed up at his house, but what he didn''t expect was to be brought in front of their boss right away.


    As the silence lingered, the boy couldn''t help but nce at the man sitting across from him. He regretted doing so right away. Sam Sanderson, the newly appointed Head General, was looking at him with a face thatcked emotion, though the darkness in his pupils informed the boy of the anger restrained inside. As if that wasn''t enough, the entire room was full of Valkyries.


    ''This is… this is much worse than I thought…''


    Though Rollo had an idea for as to why he was taken in by the upper echelons of the Resistance, he was unaware of the true reason that earned him the Head General''s ire.


    Sam was indeed seething with anger, but the reason had nothing to do with the boy.


    ''Damn it…''


    He was doing his best to restrain his emotions but that barely worked. A few minutes earlier, he decided to let loose and have some fun with Zero Five. They did it in the bath once then moved to the bed intending to go at it for the whole night. It was then that he received a call from Nana informing him of an important matter that needed his attention.


    He tried to leave it for another time, but his secretary insisted that he show up right away.


    Among the things Sam hated the most, having to stop before he''spletely satisfied ranked pretty high. Worst of all, the reason he got interrupted turned out to be not that urgent. It wasn''t that Nana made a mistake; the matter concerning the boy was indeed of utmost importance, but it could''ve waited for the next day.


    If she had understood that much he wouldn''t have had to leave his business unfinished and his mood wouldn''t have turned for the worse. Now he was feeling even more frustrated than before, and as his anger continued to boil, Sam decided that he would teach her not to interrupt his fun.


    ncing at the silver haired Valkyrie, Sam heaved a sigh and calmed his nerves. After a few seconds he returned his eyes to the boy sitting across from him.


    "Nino." He called.


    The Japanese doll stepped forward and bowed slightly.


    "Is it him?"


    "Yes, Doctor." She replied. "There is no doubt about it."


    "I see…"


    The silence returned, but it didn''tst for very long.


    "Rollo Romanoff." The Head General spoke. "Son of Daria and Boris Romanoff."


    The boy gulped audibly.


    "Do you know why we brought you here?"


    "... I… I do not know, sir..."


    Obviously he wasn''t going to admit to anything right from the start. There is always the chance to that they didn''t have anything to use against him and if he fell for their intimidation he would only be digging his own grave. Unfortunately for him, that would remain nothing more than siwhful thinking.


    "Several ounts of cyber crimes, including theundering of stolen funds, hacking into Government faculties, hacking into satellites, hacking into the Resistance bases and headquarters. Just a week ago you attempted to hack into the forty sixth base. And you''re quite good at hiding your tracks. I believed it would take us more time to catch you, but to think it happened this fast."


    Rollo didn''t say anything in return, opting to keep his head lowered.


    "One thing for sure, I never expected you to be this young."


    That was a lie.


    Sam sighed and looked at the boy again. It was true that he didmit quite a few cyber crimes, but his arrest had nothing to do with crimes hemitted so far. Nothing he did warranted the attention of someone in Sam''s position, but that was only when it came to the past. The future, on the other hand, was a different case.


    ''So that''s him…''


    Curly ck hair, pale white skin, dark brown eyes. Cloths that had been worn out by the constant washing and a pair of sses with a frame that had been glued back together multiple times. His appearance matched the earliest description they could get of him.


    Nino had spent most of her time looking through the Tapestry of Fate, trying to understand the divergences that awaited them and to choose the most optimal Path to take. By doing so she was able to learn of the many events that influenced their potential futures and the people who had an impactrge enough to pose a danger to them. One of those people was Rollo Romanoff.


    ''But seriously, how in the world did this happen?''


    Sam''s previous anger slowly faded, making ce for wonder and confusion. With the current state of the world, tracking a specific individual was quite difficult, especially if that individual was trying to remain undetected.


    The relevant governing bodies did their best to register all the refugees that came to the settlements, but with no way to confirm their identities, those who wanted to stay under the radar had more than one way to do so.


    It wasn''t that long since Nino informed them about Rollo Romanoff, but ever since they had tried to find him only to fail every time. The only reason they knew about him and the crimes hemitted was through the reports they gathered in the future, but those reports didn''t contain any of the specifics, making it impossible to find him.


    With that considered, the fact that Juni just so happened toe across him during an unnned visit to the First Settlement felt quite suspicious.


    ''Is Fate messing with us again?''


    "Um… can I say something?"


    Being under the watchful eyes of so many powerful people was messing with Rollo''s nerves, but even then he still managed to gather the courage to raise his hand and ask for permission to speak.


    "Go ahead." Sam was quite interested in what the boy had to say.


    Taking a deep breath, Rollo took hold of his emotions and forcefully calmed himself down. He entered a state of focus simr to when he''s engrossed in his hobby, even though there were noputers in sight. Sam noticed the change right away and upped his guard.


    It was as if the air around the boy suddenly changed, turning him into a person different from the nervous kid that was sitting there a few seconds ago.


    Opening his eyes, Rollo looked directly at the Head General sitting across from him.


    "I operated alone the entire time and never had any partners." He said, his voice calm and steady. "The children that lived with me had nothing to do with any of the illegal activities I was involved in."


    Silence returned to the room. Sam didn''t understand what the boy was trying to say, but that didn''tst for long.


    "Are you trying to protect your aplices?" He feigned a hint of annoyance, trying to probe the boy for a reaction.


    "I have no aplices." Rollo shook his head. "I work alone. The other kids know nothing about what I did."


    Though it wasn''tpletely true, he wasn''t telling a lie either. The other kids could barely read so most of what he did with hisputer looked like magecraft to them.


    "Other kids?" Sam turned to Nana with a questioning look.


    The silver haired Valkyrie adjusted her sses and answered his question.


    "ording to Juni and Ingrid, he has been hiding in the slums of the old city among other orphans that lived there."


    "Orphans, huh…"


    Suddenly, Sam got a really bad feeling.


    "There seem to be some problems with the social services in most settlements." Nana added. "We haveunched investigations into the matter, but it will take some time for them to show results."


    Corruption went unchecked due to the constant threat of Cmities, but now that the war was over and a new government is being set, none of that would be tolerated anymore. Still, weeding out the bad actors was going to take some time. Aware of what the potential futures held for them, Sam connected the dots and came to an upsetting conclusion.


    "For the time being, give him a room and keep a close eye on him."


    Sam gave some instructions and stood up to leave. Though his emotions were still under control and his expression remained neutral, Rollo was able to sense that something was wrong.


    "Um… do I get a phone call?" This time he couldn''t hide his nervousness, causing his voice to die out at the end.


    "This isn''t a movie, kid." The Head General replied. "Keep your head down and follow instructions, less you want to spend the rest of your life in a cell."


    Sam spared the boy one more look before Exiting the room. He silently walked down the hallway, his secretary and personal Valkyries following after him. He only spoke once they were about to reach the elevator.


    "Nino, check the Paths once more." He said, urgency clear in his voice. "Nana, Send someone to check on those orphans. Have Juni and Ingrid take them there."


    Nana looked confused for a moment, but then her eyes widened in realization. She nced in Nino''s direction as if asking to confirm her guess, and from the Japanese doll''s expression she realized they were thinking the same thing. The two of them teleported right away, each going to take care of their own task.


    Sam turned to Ichigo next.


    "Use your ability on the boy. Don''t let him out of your field until I tell you otherwise."


    "U-understood!"


    Watching her depart, the bad feeling Sam felt only got stronger. Even when he was making the right countermeasures, something told him that it won''t matter all that much.


    His mind went back to the boy, Rollo Romanof. His name came up many times in Nino''s reports on the divergences that could potentially ruin their future. In one of the paths he hacks the forty sixth base and releases its secrets to the public, in another he ys a vital role in Nataniel Carter''s rise to power and the civil war between the Valkyries and the humans.


    In one potential future, the boy would grow up to be a scientist that rivals Sam and Elina, creating weapons that put mundane humans on the same ying field as the Awakened. But the future that concerned Sam the most was one destined to happen very early on if they made no effort to prevent it.


    With the Primordial''s visit approaching, it was only a matter of time before the first Fallen makes its appearance. Trying to stop that from happening was like ying an impossible game of whack-a-mole; whenever they try and iste one of those destined to be the first to contract Madness, a different Path would open and someone else would take their ce, leading to the same result.


    Rollo was among those destined to be the first to contract Madness. In those Paths, something happened to the boy leading to the infection, and the destruction he caused made it impossible to investigate what led to his rampage.


    ''He is barely fifteen…'' Sam grimaced.


    Madness is fueled by the negative emotions in the human heart, which make the Fallen act on their darkest desires, even the ones buried so deep that people never know they existed. Sam didn''t understand why a boy of such a young age wished for death and destruction, but the instant he heard about the orphans living in the slums, he felt like he had an idea of what might be the trigger.


    With the boy in their custody they no longer had to fear the disaster he was fated to cause, but that didn''t mean they could just ignore the reason of his rampage.


    ~[ ]~


    Panic hit Rollo like a sludge hammer. He didn''t want to believe it, but something clearly happened to Kai and the others.


    ''I need to get-''


    "Don''t get any ideas, kid." Came a voice from behind him, and a hand fell on his shoulder.


    Rollo instinctively turned around to look at its owner, and the moment their eyes met he felt the shivers run down his spine. She was a Valkyrie, of course, but unlike the kind and energetic Juni this one was like a hungry beast. A beast that would shred him to pieced the moment he made the wrong move.


    "Just follow the orders and everything will be fine."