A few minutes later, the group of four approached the hidden base, with Lyn making no effort to hide the joy on her face.
"You really dislike spiciness, don't you?"
Bell's question broke the silence.
"No, no." Lyn's response to the question was swift. "I don't mind a little bit of spice, but whatever forbidden ingredients he puts in his cooking," She gestured to Dryan, who smirked, proud of his cooking. "-that turn the food from perfectly normal meals to something from the pits of hell, those, those so-called spices, I don't want to be anywhere near them."
A hand landed on her shoulder, drawing her attention.
"You're just not used to it," Tonathan's calm voice landed in her ears. "You'll start to enjoy the food soon enough."
They came to a stop and Bell put her palm on a tree.
"I really doubt that." Lyn kept eye contact with Dryan as she said that, her eye twitching when she saw that his smirk had turned to a full-blown grin.
She looked away from him and at the ground, where there was now a rectangular opening, having appeared when she was staring at the cook who had caused her tongue great anguish.
'So, why did he call us this time?' Lyn's thoughts changed their direction, and she started wondering why Reed had called for them. 'What was the last thing he was working on? It was something about physical refinement, right?'
As they navigated the base, she got a little excited.
So far, Reed had not disappointed her in the slightest, every few days, he called a meeting and handed out something or the other, and everytime, they were completely blown away by it.
The last time they had been called, Reed had given them each a book and told them to drop a bit of their blood on it, and imbue it with their mental energy.
When they had done so, they were told what the book was.
"It's both a backup and a defensive item." Reed had explained. "It contains all of your memories, along with your mental signature and physical information, and it is connected to your mind now. If you are ever attacked mentally, it will provide your mind a shield, and repair any damage."
"Oh my god..." Lyn had heard Bell murmur behind her.
"And in case any one of you dies, assuming I have your soul at hand, I can attempt to build you a new body and revive you using the stored information."
Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Tonathan grip his book tightly.
She looked down at the thick, undecorated book in her hands, marveling at its capabilities. She ran her hand over its cover.
"How did you come up with such a thing?" She asked Reed, the idea for such an item hadn't even crossed her mind.
"I've had a lot of debates with my friends and family, about hypothetical situations," Reed spoke in a matter-of-fact tone. "Never thought about one of them actually happening... But here we are, so some of the ideas are coming in handy now."
Lyn saw a trace of sadness and longing cross his face, and Lyn saw Tonathan flinch.
Reed had told the four new additions about what they were, and how they ended up here, and for some reason that she could not understand, Tonathan seemed to feel guilty about it.
The sound of a door sliding open broke her out of her thoughts.
The inside of the room was a little dark, with only one light lit, and directly under it, was Reed himself.
Unlike his normal self, he looked haggard, with such prominent dark circles under his eye that it looked like he would keel over any moment..
He was sitting on the floor with his back to a wall, and he was gnawing on his knee, paying no attention to their group.
"Boss?" Tonathan called out.
"Wait a minute, I'm thinking."
The four of them stood in the doorway, waiting for Reed to finish his thinking.
A few seconds passed, a small sound was heard, a soft ting of metal striking metal.
Reed shot to his feet. "Turn the lights on." He said as he turned and walked towards a table.
Lyn and the other three walked forward as one of them pressed the switches, lighting up the room.
Reed looked at a clock, then nodded. "It's time." He said to himself and walked out of the room, the others making way for him.
"Time for what boss?" Dryan voiced the question on everyone's mind.
"What have I been working on recently?" Reed answered his question with another question.
"Something about clearing the body of defects and upgrading it." Bell answered.
"In a nutshell, yes." Reed led them through the base. "I have completed the formula, and Ghran wanted to be the first to undergo it, and you are going to see the result."
'That answers why I couldn't see him.' Lyn mentally answered her own question.
Ghran was the oldest of them, and he was also the most powerful.
He was also the most willing to listen to Reed, not doubting any command or instruction. Lyn had wondered multiple times what Reed had offered the man to receive such zealous loyalty.
A door slid open.
The group of five entered, and four of them immediately noticed a large rectangular object in the middle of the room.
It was three meters tall, two meters thick, and a meter wide, with various lights and pipes scattered over it.
In the middle was a cylindrical shape.
Seeing the cylindrical shape, a few images popped into Lyn's head, reminding her of a few movies she had seen a few years ago.
She looked at Reed, only to see that he was looking at her as well. They made eye contact, and Lyn was now sure that the shape of this object was in no way a coincidence.
Reed walked over to the object and pressed a button.