Chapter 32 - The Heavenly Towers

"Ethan…oh my god, you are finally awake," Alina's relieved voice sounded from the side as Ethan slowly sat up on the bed to see her walk towards him with a glass of water.

"A-Aunt? Wha…I mean, where are we? What is this place? Where is Sui? Is she alright?" Ethan asked questions one after the another in a confused tone as he took the glass of water from her and again took a look at this luxurious yet simple looking spotless white room with basic furniture like a table, sofa, chairs, and even a large transparent glass that was rectangular in shape, attached to the wall like a TV.

Alina sat beside him and gently held his hand as she said, "You…You are in the Cosmic Bureau right now. And don't worry about Sui. She is alright now and is resting."

Ethan felt relieved that nothing bad had happened to Sui. However, his ears caught onto the first half of her sentence,"The Cosmic Bureau?" Ethan asked with a blinking expression and before he could ask, Alina took a small remote-shaped glass object with a black circular pad on top of it.

She swiped upwards on the black pad as the walls on his left side suddenly began to become transparent and Ethan's eyes only became wider as he saw the astonishing sight.

Ethan slowly got off the bed as he walked towards the large glass wall with awe filled gaze.

He could see a vast yet ethereal orange curtain of moving energy floating outside, seemingly infinite in every direction and seemed quite an awe-inspiring sight. He felt as if he was looking at a mysterious side of the vast cosmos.

And only after a few moments did he see large black buildings or towers with a futuristic design to the sides that seemed to be connected to the room or building he was in. He could see men and women in suits walking to and fro within the transparent glass walls located here and there on these buildings.

But something that shocked him was that the entire building seemed to be floating in empty space! There was absolutely nothing underneath him, and all he could see was the vast orange energy moving about slowly like waves and extending downwards infinitely.

Of course, he also had no idea how large the building or the entire structure he was standing in reality was, but his gut was telling him that it must be bigger than he could expect.

He could even see long, closed, transparent glass tube-like bridges extending between multiple of these large black towers and people walking to and fro within them.

"Is this some kind of advanced 16K holo display or something or maybe something more?" Ethan wondered if he was looking at some kind of realistic 3D projection or something since he really found it hard to believe what he was looking at.

Alina let out a sweet giggle feeling amused by his words as she slowly walked up to him and said, "Right now, you are in a special place known as the Nexus Point, and you are right now standing in what you can call as the headquarters of the Cosmic Bureau or the place where we work," Saying, so Alina also enjoyed the beautiful sight outside along with Ethan. No matter how many times she saw it, she could never get tired of it.

Ethan turned to look at Alina with a baffled expression as he asked, "Aunt…you too? You are also involved in this whole cosmic and infernal parasite business…just like mom was?" The last person Ethan expected to get involved in such complicated and dangerous things was his aunt, who easily gets lost in any place with multiple streets.

However, he now remembered why his aunt occasionally went for these "business trips" and would sometimes return after a few days or so.

Alina's brows wrinkled as she got worried and said while looking at him, "Ethan, I am sorry that I never told you about my real occupation. I have always wanted to tell you, but you know how classified and sensitive all this is. We are not allowed to tell anyone about what we do. Even your mother wasn't allowed to tell anything to you despite resigning from the bureau since the agreement of confidentiality is supposed to carry on till the rest of her life. But most of all, we do this so that people leading normal lives like you used to can stay safe while we protect them from behind the screen."

Ethan sighed as he slowly nodded, "I understand but…" Ethan gently held Alina's hand as he said, "...I wish I could have known about all this earlier so that I could have known how much you risk your life to keep me safe. There was no way I would have let you do this all alone."

Alina's hand covered her heart as she smiled and said with a lowered gaze, "You don't have to be that worried. Compared to the divergents who go out in the field, I am one of the few divergents who work in a safe environment…right here. I am not capable of going out there, nor do I have the appropriate abilities or skills."

"You are a Divergent too?" Ethan asked with glowing eyes, finding it hard to believe that someone as shy and gentle like her had superpowers. He had never remotely seen her do anything extraordinary or something that could suspend human beliefs. But again, considering the place she was working in, she must know how to be discreet, obviously.

Still, he was happy to know that someone he knew was just like him and wondered what all other surprises awaited him.

Alina nodded with an awkward smile, "I am not that big of a deal as you think. As I said, I simply work within this place."

"And what exactly do you do or what are your powers?" Ethan asked curiously.

"I am a Healer. Someone who can heal injuries or wounds but of course, to a certain limit," Alina answered modestly.

Ethan's eyes sparkled, "Wow…a healer? That's so cool, aunt! You are just being too shy about it," Ethan chuckled.

Alina's cheeks slightly reddened as she shook her head with a clumsy yet beautiful smile, "It's really…nothing."

However, Ethan suddenly remembered something important and asked, "Wait a second…if you can really heal people, then my mother—"

"I know you are going to ask about your mother, but trust me…I have tried many times…more than I count, but I am not capable of healing her heart. Her condition is…I don't know if it's too strange. The only way I see is that she gets a new heart but even then…I am sorry, Ethan…I don't want to worry you without knowing anything for certain," Alina said with a complicated expression as she softly looked at him.

Ethan felt as if a balloon of hope got deflated instantly, but then he knew if things were that easy, his mother wouldn't still be sick.

Still, he remembered about what the hospital told him and said, "Aunt, I don't know if you know but the hospital called and—"

Alina nodded with a wrinkled brow as she said, "I learned about it too, and that is why I think you might want to talk to Mr. Nuan. Let's first get out of here, and let me show you around the Heavenly Towers."

"The Heavenly Towers? That is the name of this…headquarters??"