Caeyin’s exploration of the human’s world wasn’t as productive as he had hoped it would be. Most of the buildings were sealed off, preventing his access, so he was restricted to the outdoors and the few spaces that were unlocked. Of course, he could have easily broken into the closed buildings through the fragile windows, but he was tentative to damage anything. His people could salvage and reuse most of the materials he came across. If the glass from the windows proved to be valuable, he didn’t want to be the one to destroy them.

On the other hand, his curiosity to see what was behind the sealed doors gnawed at him like the sharp teeth of those hairy creatures. Perhaps it would be worth it to shatter one window in exchange for the valuable information he could gather by going inside. If he found something more valuable than the materials that made up the shell of the structure, he was sure the Pilot would praise him for it.

Having made up his mind, he picked up a large, square rock from the ground, tossing it in the palm of his hand as he assessed its weight. It was definitely big enough to smash a window. He turned back to the nearest building and cocked back his arm to throw the rock. However, just as he was about to let it go, he froze in his tracks. In the corner of his eye, he saw a flash of movement. Lowering his arm, he looked just in time to see a figure slip inside of a building with a metal door.

The figure walked on two legs.

His heart beat a little quicker with excitement. Could it be that he had stumbled across a human? They were all supposed to be dead, but perhaps this one hadn’t succumbed to the virus yet. His lip quirked upward in a smile. Finding resources in a building would earn him praise from his Pilot but bringing back proof that he’d killed a human had to be worth quite a bit more. This could be the opportunity he needed to prove himself.

Leaving the oddly shaped rock behind, Caeyin drew his Silencer and made his way towards the door that the two-legged creature had disappeared into. When he reached it, he gripped the edge and gave it a sharp pull, grimacing slightly at the low groan it made in response. Any chance he had of catching the human by surprise was gone now. At least he knew who or whatever was inside didn’t stand a chance against him. The Pilot had made it perfectly clear that none of the beings on the Earth were as genetically advanced as their kind. Even if this human heard him coming, it didn’t stand a chance.

Once he had pulled the metal door open far enough, he slipped inside. The space on the other side was dark, illuminated only by the violet glow of his luminescent eyes. He stepped carefully down an empty aisle, holding his weapon at the ready to shoot at the first sign of motion. Strangely, he saw nothing. It was like the human had disappeared. He frowned to himself, slowing to a stop as he tried to figure out where the figure had gone. There weren’t that many places to hide that he could see, except…

His eyes widened as he heard a scraping sound above his head. Inhaling sharply, he looked up just in time to see someone push some heavy boxes off the shelf he was standing beneath. He scrambled to get out of the way but wasn’t quite fast enough as one of the boxes clipped his shoulder and knocked him into the shelving on the other side of the aisle. Recovering from his surprise at the sudden attack, he shook his head and looked up again, only to lock eyes with the human.

The moment didn’t last long before it took off again, sprinting for the door. He blinked as he realized it was getting away. With no time to think, he took off after it, only to come to a halt when the metal door was slammed in his face. This human was starting to grate on his nerves. Curling his lip in annoyance, he pushed the door open again and chased after the human as soon as he caught sight of it.

Of course, the creature continued to be a nuisance during the pursuit. It threw small objects at him as it ran, seeming to try to keep him at bay. While he cared little about the faint bursts of pain that came whenever one of her projectiles hit its mark, its efforts made it harder for him to aim his weapon. After a bit, he gave up on trying to shoot the human and decided to focus on catching it the old fashioned way instead.

Eventually, the Earthling made its way to a ladder on the side of a building and began to climb up. Caeyin smiled to himself. It looked like it was going to trap itself. Shoving the barrel of his Silencer in his pocket, he gripped the rungs of the ladder and followed the human up. However, he didn’t get far before he felt a sudden jolt to his head and lost his grip. Unable to regain it in time in his momentary dizziness, he dropped back down to the ground, landing hard on his back in an impact that knocked the breath from his lungs.

His annoyance turned to frustration as he got up again to keep chasing the human. It was going to pay for that.

With renewed energy fueled by his desire to kill this irritating creature, he reached the rooftop in no time at all. Taking a quick look around the space, he saw that the human was already sprinting towards the edge of the building. He was mildly surprised to see it clear the gap between the building they had been standing on and the one directly adjacent to it, but he didn’t have time to marvel at the sight. Hurrying to catch up, he followed the human’s lead, jumping across the gap onto the next rooftop and repeating the motion every time it slipped away again.

Unfortunately for the Earthling, its efforts weren’t enough to get away. Just as it landed on another building, Caeyin hit the rooftop as well, using the combination of the momentum from the jump and his own weight to force the human to the ground. For a short while, they wrestled as he tried to pin the creature down and reach for his Silencer, while it fought back relentlessly to break free of his grip. His eyes darted to its hand as it drew an object that looked similar to his weapon and aimed it at his head. Instincts screaming that the unknown item was dangerous, he abandoned his effort to retrieve his Silencer and instead pushed the human’s arm away just as the object let out a deafening noise that rattled his teeth.

Ears ringing from the shock of the sound, he shook his head in an attempt to clear the incessant noise away. Unfortunately, the human hadn’t been quite as affected as he had. It took the opportunity to slip out of his grip and climb back to its feet, aiming the loud object at him again. He narrowed his eyes. If this human thought it was going to get the best of him after pulling a dirty trick like that, it had another thing coming.

Finally able to slow down and clear his head, he looked up to meet the creature’s gaze. His pupils dilated as he tapped into the ability that was the reason why he was so despised by the other Lunairan soldiers. Reaching out telepathically, he seized control of the human’s optical nerves, forcing a vision over its eyes like a curtain. He rose steadily to his feet, now in no hurry as he knew the human believed he had disappeared from the rooftop. It was the same trick he used in all of his sparring matches—the reason why he was unbeatable in a fight. No one could fight an enemy they couldn’t see.

Curious to get a better look at his enemy, Caeyin circled the human inquisitively, though he was careful to avoid its frantic movements as it tried to find him. Now that he wasn’t caught up in chasing or fighting with it, he could see that it was a female with blue eyes and long, yellow hair that fell across one of those eyes like a veil. The features were interesting to him. He had never seen colors like those before. All of his people had the same dark hair and violet eyes. He wanted to take a closer look.

Drawing his Silencer from his pocket, he raised the weapon to put an end to the human. However, before he pulled the trigger, he hesitated. This female had caused him quite a bit of trouble. Killing her now would be more merciful than she deserved. He smirked, quietly sneaking around to stand behind her. As soon as he had reached his position, he stepped forward, disarming her of her weapon and pinning her arms behind her back in one swift motion.

Now that the human was unable to get away, he broke the vision to allow her to see once more. “Disappointing,” he said with a click of his tongue as he lifted his silencer to her head. “I was hoping you would put up more of a fight than that.” He wasn’t sure if she could understand him, but even if she couldn’t, he wanted her to fear for her life before he ended it.

“Oh well,” he sighed, slowly pressing down on the trigger of his Silencer.