Optimus led the trio along the myriad of corridors and up and down numerous flights of stairs.  They must have been walking for twenty minutes before they reached two huge black doors, similar to the ones outside the hall.  The commander pushed the door open inwards and the three cadets followed.

“Go find what you need,” Optimus grumbled, turning to speak to the librarian sitting behind the desk.

Jessica and Tiffany looked around in awe at the most beautiful sight they had seen.  The ceiling for the library hall, which towered over them, was covered in clouds.  Not painted clouds either; real, actual, thin and wispy clouds.  The seemingly glass room showed the beginnings of a sunset, with blue skies at one side and the faintest tinges of orange and purple at the other. 

“Have you ever seen such a thing?” Jessica whispered.

“Never,” Tiffany echoed.

Seohyun wasn’t interested in the sights, although she would ordinarily be one of those gawping and fawning at the beauty of such things.  Seohyun was on a mission, and nothing could distract her from it.  She headed straight for an information kiosk, tapped at the screen, typed in her query and scrolled through the listed results.  Seconds later, a determined cadet strode with purpose towards the section of the library she needed, followed by two bemused and inattentive young women and one very grumpy suited commander.

“Grab a book, girls,” Seohyun muttered, thumbing along the array of spines.  “We need any information we can get.”

“And if this doesn’t work?” Optimus asked sceptically.

“Then we’ve eliminated an option, Sir,” she answered curtly.

“Excuse me?”

“Sir, I respect you,” Seohyun explained.  “You are a strong officer and your attitude and devotion is reflected by your team.  You are an excellent leader and you are loyal to Helix and his cause, and nobody is doubting that.  But we are fast running out of options here.  I might be wrong, and we might be wasting time, but I can’t see how these three events are so connected, and I know you can’t either.  But things are wrapping up in each of the target zones and the situation is getting no better for my team.  Nothing is adding up, and I am sure you can see it as clear as I can.”

Optimus stood upright, straightening his back.  He looked at the defensive angel stood before him, her eyes fixed on his.  “I can,” he admitted.

“I don’t think they’re as connected as we first thought,” Seohyun continued.  “I think Stonehenge might be an anomaly of its own.”

“But everything points to this time,” he argued.  “Every piece of intelligence we have is showing that this is the nexus point; a point in time where everything flows to.  What makes you so sure they’re not connected?”

“What makes you think nothing is adding up?”

Before Optimus could argue, Seohyun gave him a knowing look.  Something didn’t make sense.  Things didn’t add up.  Events weren’t unfolding as they expected.  They had overlooked something critical, and he knew it.  And so did Seohyun.  He sighed, resigned to his defeat.

There were few things in existence that Optimus despised more than the Fallen forces.  One was being forced to back down for being wrong, even by his superior officers.

Another was knowing that he might be wrong, and that a cadet might be right.

-----

“He’s where?” Chen asked, incredulously.

“He’s escorting three of my cadets to the library,” Taeyeon reported.  Alpha Unit were now in the hallway, awaiting their debrief session from their commander.  Delta had just arrived and were talking to Pegasus.

“Why?”

“We have reason to believe that something might not be right.”

“What do you mean ‘might not be right’?”

“Something seems amiss with our mission.”

“Oh,” he laughed.  “So you guys messed up and now he’s gone off to the library so your guys can play detective?”

“Something seems amiss with OUR mission,” Taeyeon emphasised.  “Our collective goal.  You know Helix said the four missions were connected somehow.”

“Yes, but we neutralised our objectives.  And we returned before Team Loser over there.”

“Chen …”

“I’m sorry, kid, but this is why we were put in this Unit.  Alpha.  Number One.”

“Which is more than the number of angels that follow your lead,” Helix boomed from behind the pair.  Chen jumped and turned around, saluting their Admiral.

“Sorry, Sir,” Chen reported.  “We assessed the situation and believed it better to attack multiple points individually.  Conserve resources and maximise impact.”

“And it worked.  Congratulations.  But we have bigger problems here.  What you faced was small fry compared to what Omega has.”  Helix walked closer to the Unit’s leader.  “Seohyun is following a highly credible lead, and your leader has been requested to assist them in whatever capacity he can.  Understand?”

Chen bowed respectfully and returned to his Unit.

“Any word?” Taeyeon asked.

Helix shook his head.  “Sunny sent us a copy of the concert’s programme, but it looks just like any other inventory.  There’s nothing unusual about it.”

“Should there be?”

“Sunny seems to think so,” Helix mused.

“Sometimes she can be suspicious about too much,” Taeyeon excused her absent cadet.

“Perhaps, but I’m not inclined to take anything for granted right now.”

Taeyeon nodded respectfully.  “Do you think we might be needing more hands?”

“Soon,” Helix looked over at the awaiting Units.  “This does seem to be out of your Unit’s depth.”

“Sir?”

“Don’t get me wrong, I have absolute faith in your Unit’s abilities,” Helix comforted her.  “I just don’t think we’re properly prepared for what might come.”

“Do you think they’re in danger?”

He turned to look at the hive of activity in the control room.  Yoona was talking away to her team, passing updates and taking information.  Raphael was looking at the activity of Beta Unit with another angel, pointing at areas on the display.

“Always,” he muttered, seemingly to nobody in particular.

“Omega One to Omega Control, come in Omega Control,” a voice came across the earpieces.

“Come in Yuri,” Yoona responded.

“We’re getting incoming,” the report came.  “Agents coming from nowhere.”

“Agents?  As in plural?”

“Yes,” Yuri confirmed.  “Sebastian is here with his band, but there are more agents coming.  Possibly two or three right now, total.”

“Three total?”

“Affirmative.”

“What can you see?” Helix asked, searching the display.  He had heard enough of the conversation to warrant intervention.

“Nothing, Sir,” Sunny reported.  “There’s no movement.  No distresses.  Just an increase in numbers.”

“Could be they’re coming to party?” Hyoyeon questioned, the double meaning of the “party” clearly communicated.

“I fear you might be right,” Helix sighed.  “Do you need backup?”

“Keep it on standby, Sir,” Yuri assured him.  “We’re not picking up activity right now.  But I’m sure this concert is what’s attracting them.  I just wish we knew why.”

Helix looked to the aloof Alpha agents, cockily slouched against the walls.  “I’m sending two cadets, Yuri,” he ordered.  “I don’t trust this situation at all.”

“We’re fine, Sir.”

“I believe you, but I’d rather be safe than sorry.”

Yuri took a moment.  “Thank you, Sir.”

With a finger, he beckoned Alpha Unit towards him, leaving Taeyeon and Yoona to get as much information from their Unit as possible.

-----

“So we should be ready for our midnight performance?” Lucy asked the stage manager.

“Certainly,” he replied, upbeat.  “I’ve got my best men on this baby; nothing will stop it from happening.  Come midnight, you’ll be putting on the show of your lifetime.”

“That’s what I like to hear,” she smiled.

Sooyoung watched the woman with as much suspicion as Sunny.  A few steps away from her other members, her focus was fixed on this woman.  There was no sign of her being part of the Fallen, but everything about her had the Cadet’s senses on high alert.  The way she walked around and observed the activity, the way she acknowledged Sebastian, how precise her commands seemed to fall.

“Something bothering you, Soo?” Yuri asked.

“Everything.”

“Something specific?”

“Her.”

Yuri looked at the target.  “You think she’s key?”

“Yes,” Sunny interrupted.  “She’s paying for this to go on.  She’s invited an act that has been possessed by the Fallen.  Somehow, she’s key to all of this.”

“She probably doesn’t know he’s possessed,” Sooyoung challenged her.

“She knows,” Sunny prophesised.

“For once, I’m completely with Sunny,” Hyoyeon stood, her arms folded.  “I know humans know nothing about us or the Fallen, but she knows something.”

A blast of wind from behind the foursome alerted them to another angelic presence.

“So what is this problem you’ve gotten yourselves into?” an arrogant Chen asked.

“Feel that?” Yuri asked, not once taking her eyes off of Lucy.

“Feel what?” Kiel, his accomplice, asked.

“The Fallen.”

“So?  There were Fallen in Greece,” Chen argued.  “We know they’re coming.”

“How was Greece?” Sunny asked.

“We took care of it,” Chen strode up to the group and rustled her hair.

“How was it?” she asked again.

“Amazing,” Kiel boasted.  “Six Fallen agents there, built like monsters.  Just another day at the office for us.”

“So it was busy?”

“Always.  We weren’t stood around talking about manicures or shoes,” Chen teased.

“Fallen were active?” Yuri ignored the insult.

“Of course,” Chen retorted.  “Kiel just said …”

“And what about here?”

“What?”

“What are the Fallen doing here?”

“Out to take over …”

“No,” Sunny turned to face the arrogant leader.  “What are they doing here right at this moment?”

Chen and Kiel sensed the air around them.  “Nothing,” the subordinate replied.  “Just coming.”

“And that doesn’t seem problematic to you?”

“That’s what they do,” Chen scoffed.  “They increase their numbers because they can’t win on their own.”

“So what’s he doing?” Hyoyeon pointed to Sebastian.

“He’s …” Chen looked towards the figure.  Being from a different time from here, he was not entirely familiar with the concept of concerts, least of all rock concerts.  “It’s a mandolin, correct?” he asked.

“Close,” Sunny corrected him.  “It’s an electric guitar.  A musical instrument that plays sort of like a mandolin, but it’s used in this time.  The sound is much different.  He’s plugging it in to that speaker, which will make the sound louder.  Then he will perform something.”

“Why is he doing that?” Kiel asked, confused.

“Good question,” Sunny replied, oozing sarcasm in her response.  “Why didn’t we think about that?”

“So what’s the answer, all knowing one?” Chen asked.

“That’s the problem,” Sunny clarified.  “This thing we’re standing on is a stage.  Tonight will be a concert, which will be watched by many people, and his band is the main attraction.”

“Concert?  Helix said there was a conCEPT that was causing problems.”

“‘Concept’?” Yuri asked, not believing what she was hearing.  “Did you even pay attention to what he was saying?”

“Of course I did,” Chen argued indignantly.  “He said you were in trouble and you needed us to save you.”

“So … no, you didn’t,” Sunny answered.

“So we need to save you from this ‘concert’,” Kiel mused.  “Why not just break the instruments?”

“Good grief,” Sooyoung rolled her eyes.

“What?” Chen argued.  “That’s a perfectly good suggestion.”

“Oh, sure,” Sooyoung spat.  “Let’s just go and break his guitar.  It’s not like they can replace it.”  She pointed to the rack of guitars lined up on the far wall.  There were about fifty of them, waiting for their owners to bring them to life.

“So we break all of them.”

The new arrivals ignored the sickly chuckle from Sebastian, immersed as they were in their own argument and hubris.  It took every ounce of effort from Sunny, Yuri and Sooyoung, and it took Yuri to take hold of Hyoyeon’s arm, to stop them from punching the guys.

“I think that won’t be a good idea,” Sunny calmly and carefully answered.  She answered in the tone of voice that betrayed the words had been carefully chosen and quietly ordered the others not to argue or debate.

“Agreed,” Yuri immediately echoed.

Chen and Kiel sighed impatiently.  “So what can we do?” Chen asked.

Sunny and Sooyoung locked eyes on each other.  “We need to scout a wider area,” Sunny suggested.  “We can feel more agents arriving, right?”  The group nodded.  “I suggest Sooyoung and I stay here and assess the situation, look for more intel.  You four go back and see what we’re up against from there.”

Yuri nodded, her hand still gripping Hyoyeon’s wrist.  “Agreed.  Fallen count must have doubled since you two showed up as it is.  Let’s go.  If you see anything …”

“You’ll be the first to know.”

Yuri nodded to her quick minded cadet and let go of Hyoyeon’s wrist, taking hold of Chen’s in its place.  As Hyoyeon took hold of Kiel, the quartet transported them to the monument.  Sunny and Sooyoung knew instantly that Hyoyeon’s first act when they reappeared would be an act of violence.

“You ask for back up and he sends a liability, I see,” Sebastian gloated.

“Not all of us need to be quick thinkers, Seb,” Sunny answered.  “Chen and Kiel are pretty handy in other ways.”

Another small chuckle hung in the air as Sebastian’s agent soul looked at the remaining duo whilst his human body continued its work.  “You can’t stop us, you know.  At midnight tonight, the prophecy will be fulfilled and we will take our rightful place.”

“Oh, I quite believe that,” Sooyoung answered, wandering around the stage, looking at the activity.

“You have no idea what you’re facing,” he smirked.

“And you won’t enlighten us.”

“If Helix won’t send his best Angels down to fight, I don’t see why I should disclose anything.”

Sunny turned away and smirked to herself.  She didn’t know what, but something told her that the taunting agent might have been caught in his own hubris; something told her Helix had indeed sent his best Angels.