Operation Sanitized ~The 38 Saga 2nd Book~

Prologue: Why Do I Feel So Numb?

~3 years later~

~7s POV~

I'm alone, with only myself to blame.

Leon went missing after splatfest, and I went looking for him. Then, I saw the boy I love change... Change for the worse...

I shouldn't have let him go off by himself that night, I should have went with him or told him not to go. Now he's evil, and I'm good. We are on different sides now, and it's all my fault. Now I sit here, crying, alone, with only myself to keep me company.

Cora and Tobias have their own life; they are dating, I can't bother them with this problem. I can't tell the agents either. I tell them, I'm dead. All I wish is that Leon comes back, all I wish is for him to be with me, all I wish is for my life to be normal, not the wreck that it is.

I'm still sat crying, nothing to keep my mind off of this issue. I've tried everything; gaming, sketching, watching movies, but my mind always goes back to the same place...

Leon...

I watched the boy I love turn against me, all I could think of now was the good times before; the times we were together, not separated, the times everything was joyful and happy, not sad and depressing.

I continue to cry as memories flud my mind, there is no escape from this eternal nightmare, and there is no going back from what happened. I pick up my phone and open the messages. I then continue to open Cora's contact and start to message her. It contains what had happened that day 3 years ago, and why I haven't told her until now. I read the message through, over and over, making sure I've missed nothing. My finger hovers over the send button, but in the corner of my eye I see an Octarian. It sits in the alleyway looking toward me and is ready to strike as soon as I send the message. I hesitate for a few minutes, my finger still over the send button, but in the end, I decide against it. I close off the messages and put my phone down. At this point, I couldn't do anything. Leon was gone, I would be killed if I said anything about what happened that night, but if I didn't, I would be putting my friends at risk.

What ever I decide to do, I would have to do it quick. I wasn't making life easier for myself by not making a decision. Anyway, Cora's birthday was coming up, I didn't want to ruin her special day.

I continue to cry, layed in bed, alone without anyone to keep me company. Its 5 in the morning, just like all the other days. I've had sleepless nights ever since Leon was turned evil, I'll only ever be able to get an hour or two in the afternoon if I decide to have a nap, but even then, I cry myself to sleep, knowing that Leon is gone and there's nothing I could do about it.

The sun is rising, we have a day until Cora's birthday on the 12th. Tobias said he would text me when he needed my help with what he is doing for Cora, but until then I'm going to try get some sleep and also get Cora's present when I go out later. Hopefully I can hide my feelings when Tobias and Cora next see me, I don't want them to worry about me anymore then they probably are. For now, I'm going to push my feelings deep down and not mention Leon or what happened to him, I just hope Tobias and Cora don't ask about it.

~8s POV~

I roll over and hug Cora, I wasn't able to get to sleep last night, so Cora came and snuggled with me, until we both fell asleep. I was worried for Sonia, she hadn't seemed right over the last 3 years, she had especially not handled Leon's dissaperence well. She wouldn't talk about him; if we asked, she denied knowing anything about his dissaperence. Not just that, she cut herself off from the world, she just hid inside most of the time, only going out when she needed.

"You ok Tobias?" Cora's words interupted my thoughts. Her sweet voice made me smile, and I replied. "I'm fine sweetheart, you can go back to sleep if you want." I turn over and look away, she could clearly tell I wasn't ok. "No, I don't want to go back to sleep, I want to know what's wrong." She leaned over me and looked into my eyes. This persuaded me to turn back over and tell her. "Your worrying about Sonia again, aren't you?" Cora knew I worried for Sonia, even she did sometimes, but this time I couldn't stop thinking about her. "I feel like she's hiding some from us... Like she knows something about Leon, and where he is..." Before I could continue, Cora came closer and then rested her head against mine. "We all miss Leon, but Sonia does the most. If she knows something, she'll tell us in time. It might have been 3 years since we last saw him, but I still have hope that he will come back." "Ok princess, if you insist. But something feels off about this whole thing, like something bad has happened to him, like someone has changed him..." For a while, we snuggled. Silence filled the room, along with small beams of light that made their way in threw the curtains, but after a while, we fell back asleep, not worrying about a thing.

~Commander T's POV~

"You said you wanted to see me, Master..." 4 walked into the centre of the room, his dulies spinning on his fingers. He had been training harder than ever before, and I had his first assignment all planned out.

"Your first assignment will be in a days time... It's 3s birthday tommorow, take her a gift. Make sure she receives it in the way we discussed, we want to make sure that it isn't spoiled or ruined now, do we?" One of the dualies dropped off the agents fingers as he looked up to me and nodded. "It will be delivered to her at the right time Master. Or should I say, she'll be delivered in time..." Laughter filled the room as all the sanitized Octolings joined in with mine and 4s; the agents wouldn't win this time, no doubt about it....