COVELENT: XenoTrait

Felix and Kim arrived at headquarters, and Felix stood at the gate and called Jean.

The gates opened. Felix turned back to look at Kim and said, "Thanks for the ride."

Kim barked, "Any time, sir!"

Felix walked into the building, the gates closing behind him as Jean opened the door for him.

Jean, with a serious expression, said, "Welcome back, sir."

Felix nodded as he walked past Jean.

Jean asked, "Mr. Felix, where is it that you want to go to?"

Felix replied, "I’m here to meet the old man."

Jean exhaled. "Please address Mr. Takakura with the utmost respect."

Felix said, "Sooo, are you going to take me to him?"

Jean answered, "Yes, follow me, please."

After a bit of walking, Jean stopped and pointed at a door and said, "Here, go in this room. He has been waiting for you."

Felix entered the room.

Mr. Takakura said, "So, what do you want to discuss?"

Felix replied, "Oh, I’m here to give you a list of animals I want you to bring to me."

Mr. Takakura said, "Okay, write down the list and leave it there."

Felix did as he was told.

Mr. Takakura said, "You may leave now."

As Felix was by the door, he said, "Oh, and by the way, they must be still alive, all of them."

Felix left the room and pondered, "Okay, the crucial animals I need have been noted and are going to come to me. This might give me the edge I need over Markus... Markus..."

Felix’s footsteps echoed through the long corridor as his expression hardened.

"Markus..."

Felix clenched his fist slightly as memories surfaced. He pondered, "Markus is not just another opponent. He has a lot of money and resources, plus that ability of his... and to top it all off, Markus is very skilled at using it..."

"...Haaaa," he sighed.

Felix remembered the last time they crossed paths: in a long hallway with many people surrounding them, a tall, muscular man with white hair and blue eyes bumped into Felix. Markus then continued on his path.

"At the time, he seemed so harmless, but because I let him go, the world today went to shit because of him, and it’s my fault."

"That’s why I..." Felix muttered under his breath as he walked toward the exit hall. "Mark 8 only kills humans but not non-humans... animals are spared, and this is how I’m going to cure the world."

He paused near a window overlooking the training grounds below. Takakura’s agents sparred in silence.

Felix thought to himself, "If we don’t complete the serum soon and stop Markus... it will soon be the end of humanity as we know it."

He pondered, "Very little was publicly known about Markus’ past... some said he appeared suddenly within the world, but it’s all because of the Cain Foundation."

Felix exhaled slowly. "As soon as I find him... he’s dead."

Behind him, Jean watched silently from the corridor, noticing the unusual intensity in Felix’s posture but saying nothing.

Somewhere far away... in Russia.

Markus opened his eyes.

A glowing shine flickered briefly across his arm before he covered it.

"...So you’re preparing too, Felix," he murmured.

Rain tapped softly against the glass walls of a building labeled "Sector C" in big, bold letters. This was the strategy room.

Markus stood in silence, staring at a holographic map projected above the table. Streams of data flickered across it: movement routes, surveillance feeds, and heat signatures layered over the city.

With a slow breath, he lifted his hand.

He held tiny marbles in his hand... tiny black particles formed from within his hands. They gathered around his fingers, compressing tighter and tighter until—

Tick.

A small crystal formed. It was clear.

Markus murmured, "Perfect... diamond."

Markus rolled it between his fingers before crushing it effortlessly back into powder. The particles floated briefly before dissolving into the air.

"All positions confirmed," said a voice behind him.

A tall woman with brown hair and two different-colored eyes, one black and the other blue, with jet-black glasses, stepped forward from the shadows.

Markus didn’t turn. "You located Felix... Reina?"

Reina nodded and activated another display.

A gray cloud appeared on the hologram, slowly reshaping into a trail moving across districts.

"Not directly," she explained. "But we tracked his unique heat signatures."

Markus’ eyes sharpened slightly.

"Heat?" Markus questioned.

Reina replied, "Yes, heat signatures unique to him that were present the last time you two confronted each other."

"The heat signatures and patterns match him exactly," Reina continued, "and we’ve mapped his recent movements through an informant."

Markus smiled faintly.

He waved his hand gently, and the hologram projection aligned to show a map of all of the previous places he visited.

"So even when he runs... we can track him with the map."

Reina hesitated before speaking again. "And... the secondary operation?"

Markus finally turned around.

His expression had changed. It was calmer.

"Yes," he said quietly. "Begin preparations."

A new image appeared above the table of a young girl with dark hair and serious eyes.

"Amme," Markus said.

Reina crossed her arms. "Your niece."

Markus said nothing for a moment.

"She is connected to variables Felix doesn’t understand yet," Markus said at last. "If Felix continues evolving, then she might just become a risk... or leverage, and we can’t have that."

"You’re not going yourself?" Reina asked.

Markus shook his head. "No."

His fingers twitched slightly, and the tiny marbles in his hand gathered again around his hand and crushed, forming thin diamond shards that hovered like floating blades.

"If I move personally, Felix will notice immediately."

The shards shattered into glittering powder.

"Send Kade."

Reina raised an eyebrow. "Why him?"

"He specializes in silent retrieval," Markus replied. "No damage to most things, and most importantly, no attention."

Reina nodded and began transmitting orders. "Operation Plan: Kidnapping Amme..."

The hologram shifted, displaying a residential zone at the city’s edge.

"Target leaves one specific place at 16:30," Reina reported.

"Security is minimal to not be noticed. Surveillance will be disabled for a six-minute window, and this is where Kade intercepts her."

A narrow alley lit up on the map.

Markus watched carefully. "No harm comes to her," he added firmly.

Reina glanced at him. "Understood."

Markus’ gaze softened for only a second, barely noticeable.

"Family is a weakness of mine that I refuse to show openly, but also it is going to be a necessity," Markus pondered.

"If Felix learns what she is to me," Markus said quietly, "he’ll move faster than planned."

The rain outside intensified. Lightning flashed, illuminating Markus.

"Once Amme is secured," he continued, "we draw Felix out," said Markus.

Reina smirked slightly. "Using heat to find him... and blood to bring him."

Markus didn’t respond.

His eyes remained fixed on the blinking point marking Felix’s location.

"Let’s see," Markus murmured, "which evolves faster... your Traits... or my diamond."

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