He left the arena floor then sat back down at Aura's side.
"Alright, who's going next?" Pierce asked, glancing around the room.
Most of the group avoided his eyes but Veil raised his hand.
"I want to," he volunteered. Pierce gestured for him to enter the arena.
As Veil was walking, Fenix reached out to hold Aura's hand, but she snatched it away. He gave her a puzzled look. She had on an expression he'd never seen before... it worried him. Even so, he tried to hold her hand again, this time she scooted just out of his arm's reach.
This small action from her tore him apart inside. He had to clench his fists and focus on Veil's trial to keep himself together.
"I had my son demonstrate a scenario that we should not encounter on this mission. It was just so that everyone could get a good understanding of how these simulations work. You'll be put in a situation more akin to what we'll be doing," Pierce explained as he entered in a new code on the keypad.
"Gotcha," Veil replied calmly.
"Situation: You are in a meeting, working as a bodyguard over an important individual. Locate all potential assailants or hazards in the room."
The computerized voice echoed.
Then the scenery of the arena warped into a large meeting room with ten guests seated at a large table.
There were five other guards in the room. Veil glanced around the room, as the people at the table were in a deep discussion. The person he was assigned to protect had a faint glow around them.
"I know with the recent bombings, there's some tension between our countries. I aim to rectify that," Veil's employer stated.
The man across from him rested his elbows on the table and said,
"How do you plan to rectify the loss of so many lives?"
The man's voice was cold; it was clear he hated the person he was addressing.
"You instigated a violent attack and now you want to talk of fixing it?!" A woman from the other side of the room declared indignantly. The one under Veil's care laughed awkwardly and Veil wrinkled his nose at having to protect such a person.
Veil's client cleared his throat, then reached for the glass of water in front of him, but Veil caught his wrist.
"What's wrong, Bodyguard?" the man said.
Veil blinked, a little thrown off by suddenly being called that title. He then immediately released the man and took hold of the glass, lifting it toward the light.
"The color of the water is slightly off, and something is still dissolving at the bottom of your cup," Veil commented. There were shocked gasps throughout the room, and Veil covertly observed every person's reaction.
"Is it poison?" the client asked shakily.
Veil smiled,
"I'm not sure..." he took another look around before continuing, "who prepared the drinks for today's meeting?" he added politely.
Some people at the table looked down, clearly nervous, another cut her eyes toward a servant quickly but kept her mouth closed.
Veil approached that servant and said,
"Was it you?"
The man avoided Veil's eyes but responded with,
"Yes."
The grin on Veil's mouth spread and he turned to the woman who had glanced over earlier.
"He works for you right?" Veil commented. She tensed in her seat.
"Of course not. He's part of this building's staff, I have nothing to do with him," she answered casually, seemingly relaxing the more she spoke.
"That's right! You have no right to interrogate her. If that man poisoned your boss, it was because of his own personal grudge!" another man chimed in. A few muttered in agreement and when Veil turned back to the servant.
He seemed uneasy but agreed and said,
"That's right, I acted alone."
A strange energy surrounded Veil and his eyes lit up faintly.
"Confess," he commanded.
A strange noise came from the arena and the scenery began flickering.
"What just happened?" Flow whispered to her father.
"... Seems the arena is having trouble adapting to Veil's specific ability."
After Pierce's answer the scene stabilized, and the servant's expression went blank.
"I was told to use a poison in your client's drink. It is slow acting so my employer could have plausible deniability."
"What are you saying?!" the woman from before screamed.
The man continued,
"My mother is sick, so they promised to cover her medical bills and forgive all my debts if I cooperated. I also must take any blame if the plan fails."
Two people, the woman and another man at the end of the table stood up to stop the interrogation but Veil looked at them and said,
"Don't move."
They both stopped in their tracks.
The servant went on,
"When I was six, I fed chocolate to my dog. When he got sick, I panicked and lied..."
"Keep the confessions relevant to this situation," Veil remarked with a laugh, then he muttered, "The character profiles in this simulation are so intricate."
"Lady A hired me, but Man A was the one who offered to forgive my debts. The man you work for has many enemies, most people in this room despise him."
After the servant said this, he stopped talking.
"Release."
With Veil's command the servant's eyes rolled back, and he dropped to the floor.
"... You have no proof to back up what that man said," Lady A argued, her shoulders were trembling, but she was still frozen in place by Veil's power.
"That doesn't matter," Veil replied. "I was hired for this afternoon, once this meeting ends, you're free to kill him if you please."
Veil's client jumped up from his seat and yelled,
"What are you saying?! You're supposed to protect me!"
There was a delay before Veil's response, but when his face was revealed, he appeared ecstatic.
"I will, for now. If you're upset, you can fire me and I'll leave right now."
Sweat appeared on the man's forehead and his eyes darted around the room, looking at everyone with suspicion. He then bowed his head and said,
"No... please stay," his employer whimpered shakily. Veil's face lit up with joy, and he turned to the people paralyzed under his commands.
"Release," he whispered. They both stumbled forward, then sighed with relief at having their mobility back.
"Let's finish this meeting without any more interruptions."
With Veil's suggestion, everyone returned to their seats and Veil resumed his spot standing behind his employer.
The meeting carried on but the client's demeanor changed completely. He was now acting much more remorseful for his past mistakes, eagerly offering support, money, relief programs; anything to appease the countries he had hurt in the past.
It was clear the officials still didn't like him, but after many promises at the detriment of himself, the atmosphere became noticeably less hostile.
Reluctant compromises were created and the employer left the room unharmed.
Veil seemed mildly disappointed and whispered,
"I was hoping for a fight."
The computer's voice could be heard from overhead.
"Simulation objective cleared successfully."
The space around Veil returned to its original state and he made his exit.
"You did really well," Flow praised as he sat down next to her.
On instinct he grabbed her cheeks and leaned in inches from her face before he stopped himself.
Her skin heated up beneath his fingertips, and she looked extremely flustered.
This expression increased his longing tenfold, but he glanced over at Pierce watching them, sighed, and let her go.
"Thanks," Veil grumbled with his leg bouncing anxiously. Flow's gaze lingered on him for a moment before she snapped herself out of it and turned her attention back to the arena.
"Who would like to go next?" Pierce exclaimed.
Caster started to raise his hand, but Cantarella put hers up faster.
"Cantarella?" Pierce appeared shaken for the first time. "You want to participate? I'm surprised by your enthusiasm."
She began chuckling, a shadow cast over her face.
"No, no, no... you're mistaken. I'm not volunteering to join this absurd show. I am merely informing you that if I don't get a break, this whole place will come crashing to the ground."
Her voice was low and eerie. It was clear she was at the end of her rope.
There was an awkward silence for several moments until Pierce said,
"Fine, we'll reconvene two hours from now."
As soon as Pierce left the room Cantarella sighed and deflated like a balloon.
"Oh, thank god. Bye everyone, I'm going to take a nap," she muttered, dragging her feet tiredly as she headed to the exit.
"What do you want to—" Flow began, but Veil cut her off with a deep sensual kiss. She put her hands on his shoulders, still trying to speak, but his lips wouldn't leave hers for longer than a second.
"Can we talk... privately?" Aura asked, grabbing Fenix's sleeve and ignoring the drama happening behind her.
"... Sure."
His response was quiet, nervous.
The two left together and Panther turned to Shade and said,
"I'll show you the game room," then she whispered, "let's get outta here," while motioning toward Veil and Flow who were still intensely making out.
Shade agreed and they quickly made their escape.
Vision walked out alone, and Mirror and Caster followed closely after him, hand in hand.
Once they were alone, Veil's hand began sliding up Flow's shirt.
She squealed and pulled away but that didn't stop him from groping her.
"Veil?!" she stammered in embarrassment. He met her eyes with a smirk.
"I only said I'd behave where your father can see," he murmured before placing light kisses down her neck.
She stiffened, squeezing her eyes closed tightly, and his smile grew as he felt her pulse quicken beneath his palm.
"B-but what about the cameras?" she argued.
"There aren't any cameras in here," he informed.
Flow knew this. Of course she did; she'd worked with the security crew of the Thunderbird personally.
Though she never expected Veil to also be aware of it.
Her lips quivered, as she tried to think up a more effective protest, but when he kissed her again all her thoughts vanished. She feared she'd end up going along with whatever he wanted.
Surprisingly, he stopped before things escalated much further. Flow was on her back panting and confused.
She was mortified by the thought of getting too intimate in the training room but... she was also disappointed that this was where things ended.
Hesitantly she asked,
"Why did you stop?"
Veil covered his mouth to muffle a laugh then rested his elbows on the bench behind him.
"... I would have lost control if I continued, that's why," he answered her calmly then glanced at her face with a wicked grin and said, "Why? Are you disappointed?... Pervert."
Flow's face turned dark crimson and she looked down, unable to respond. She let her hair drape down, in hopes he hadn't already seen her expression.