The next zone on Arthur's trail was supposed to be active.
According to every map they had, Zone 40-B should have been teeming with hostile Forsaken and protected by a Reality-class Zone King. Arthur's most recent trail marker had even included warnings about "extreme environmental hazards" and "recommend full protective equipment."
Instead, they found nothing.
"This is weird," Lyka said, standing in the center of what should have been a dangerous zone. "Like, really weird."
The zone was completely empty. Not destroyed, not cleared, not even abandoned - just empty. Clean stone buildings, perfectly maintained paths, and absolutely no signs of life.
"Maybe Arthur already cleared it?" August suggested.
"No blast patterns," Lyka pointed out. "No scorch marks, no crystallized remains, no evidence of combat at all. This place is pristine."
August's Foundation monitor wasn't even flickering.
In every other zone, his immunity system had been constantly adapting to environmental hazards, Forsaken attacks, or reality distortions. Here, there was nothing to adapt to.
"It's like a movie set," August said, examining one of the perfect stone buildings. "Everything looks right, but there's no actual life."
Lyka was checking the building interiors, her sonic daggers ready for trouble that never came.
"Food stores are fully stocked," she called out. "Water systems are running. Lights work. But no people, no Forsaken, no Zone King."
"Maybe they evacuated?"
"To where?" Lyka emerged from the building with a confused expression. "And why? There's no damage here, no contamination, no signs of any threat."
They found Arthur's trail marker at the center of the empty zone.
Zone 40-B cleared. 0 Forsaken eliminated. Zone King (Reality-class) neutralized. No casualties. Standard protocol maintained. Proceeding to Zone 41-C. - A.S.
"Zero Forsaken eliminated," Lyka read aloud. "But he marked it as cleared."
"And 'neutralized' instead of 'destroyed,'" August noticed. "That's different terminology."
Lyka sat down on a convenient bench and pulled out her map.
"Sparkles, look at this. I've been tracking Arthur's route more carefully, and there's a pattern."
She showed August her notations - different colored marks for different types of zones Arthur had supposedly cleared.
"Red marks are zones where we found evidence of actual combat. Blast patterns, Forsaken remains, obvious destruction."
August counted the red marks. "That's only about half of them."
"Exactly. The other half are like this - empty, pristine, no evidence of any conflict."
August felt a chill of realization.
"You think Arthur isn't actually clearing zones."
"I think Arthur is doing something else entirely, and using zone clearing as cover," Lyka said. "But the question is what."
She pointed to the empty buildings around them.
"Look at this place. It's perfect. Too perfect. Like someone went through and carefully removed every living thing without damaging anything else."
"That's not how zone clearing works?"
"Zone clearing is messy, Sparkles. Lots of collateral damage, contamination cleanup, structural repairs. This?" She gestured at the pristine zone. "This is surgical precision."
They explored more of the empty zone, looking for clues.
August found something odd in what appeared to be a community meeting hall - a large circular room with concentric rings of seating, all facing a central platform.
"This looks like it was designed for speeches," August said. "Or meetings. Large gatherings."
Lyka examined the platform more closely.
"Sound amplification built into the architecture. And look at these acoustics - perfect for carrying a single voice to a large audience."
"So the Forsaken here were… organized? Civilized?"
"More than civilized," Lyka said grimly. "This is sophisticated social architecture. These weren't random mutated creatures - they were a functioning society."
The implications hung heavy between them.
August's understanding shifted again.
"If the Forsaken here were organized and peaceful, why did Arthur need to clear them out?"
"Maybe he didn't," Lyka said. "Maybe 'clearing' means something completely different than what we thought."
She pulled out her sonic daggers and tested them against the platform's acoustics. The sound resonated perfectly, creating complex harmonies.
"These Forsaken were acoustic specialists. Look at how this whole zone is designed around sound manipulation."
"Like the Sonorous Legion?"
"Exactly like the Sonorous Legion. Peaceful, intelligent, probably willing to negotiate."
Lyka's expression was getting darker by the minute.
"So why are they gone?"
They found more disturbing evidence as they explored.
Personal belongings left behind in homes - books, art projects, what appeared to be family photographs of Forsaken families. Half-finished meals on tables. Children's toys scattered in yards.
"They didn't evacuate," August realized. "They were removed. Quickly, without time to pack or prepare."
"But where did they go?" Lyka asked. "And why?"
August's Foundation monitor flickered green briefly, adapting to something he couldn't identify. The reading was subtle, barely noticeable.
"There's something here," August said. "Some kind of trace energy my Foundation is reacting to."
Lyka checked her equipment, but her sonic daggers showed no unusual readings.
"What kind of energy?"
"I don't know. Something my immunity system recognizes as a potential threat, but barely."
They followed August's Foundation readings toward the source of the trace energy.
It led them to a building that looked different from the others - more functional, less decorative. Like a workshop or laboratory.
Inside, they found equipment that neither of them recognized.
"This isn't Forsaken technology," Lyka said, examining what appeared to be some kind of containment apparatus. "This is human-built. Foundation research equipment."
"What was it for?"
Lyka studied the setup more carefully.
"Containment and… transportation? Like they were capturing something and moving it somewhere else."
August's Foundation monitor was flickering more rapidly now.
"The trace energy is stronger here. Whatever this equipment was used for, it left residue that my immunity system finds threatening."
They found a logbook near the equipment.
Not Arthur's writing - someone else's. The entries were clinical, detached:
"Day 15: Subject population responding well to acoustic conditioning. Cooperation levels at 94%. Ready for Phase 2 implementation."
"Day 23: Transportation protocol successful. All subjects relocated without incident. Zone 40-B now available for repurposing."
"Day 30: A.S. confirms zone status as 'cleared.' Cover story maintained. Proceeding to Zone 41-C for next phase."
"Cover story maintained," Lyka read aloud. "So Arthur is definitely lying about what he's doing."
"But what happened to the Forsaken?" August asked.
Lyka's expression had gone very serious.
"I think they were relocated. All of them. Moved somewhere else as part of some larger plan."
August felt sick.
"You're saying Arthur isn't killing the Forsaken. He's… collecting them?"
"It looks that way. The peaceful ones, anyway. The ones that can be 'conditioned' and transported."
Lyka sat down heavily on a crate of research equipment.
"Which means every 'cleared' zone like this one is actually a successful capture operation. Arthur's not protecting people from Forsaken - he's gathering Forsaken for someone else."
"But why?"
"I don't know yet. But I know it's not what he's telling everyone."
August's Foundation monitor was now flashing yellow warnings.
"The trace energy is getting stronger. Like whatever process happened here is starting to happen again."
Lyka stood up quickly.
"We need to leave. Now."
"Why?"
"Because if Arthur is collecting peaceful Forsaken, and we just found evidence of his operation, then we're probably not supposed to be here."
As if summoned by her words, they heard something in the distance - the sound of vehicles approaching the zone.
"Cleanup crew," Lyka said grimly. "Coming to make sure there's no evidence left behind."
They grabbed the logbook and anything else that looked important, then quickly left the research building.
"This way," Lyka said, leading them toward the zone boundary. "We need to get out before they realize someone was here."
They escaped the empty zone just as vehicles arrived at the research building.
From their hiding spot beyond the zone boundary, August could see figures in protective gear systematically removing equipment and sanitizing the laboratory.
"Professional cleanup," Lyka said quietly. "Military efficiency. This is a coordinated operation."
"So Arthur isn't working alone."
"Arthur is working for someone. Someone with resources, equipment, and the authority to stage fake zone clearings."
August watched the cleanup crew work with disturbing precision.
"Lyka, what if we're not following Arthur to help him? What if we're walking into a trap?"
"Then we'd better figure out what's really going on before we catch up to him," Lyka said. "Because if Arthur is collecting peaceful Forsaken for some unknown purpose, then either he's the villain in this story…"
She paused, watching the cleanup crew finish their work.
"Or he's working for someone who is."
They left the empty zone behind, following Arthur's trail toward Zone 41-C.
But now they were following it with the knowledge that nothing they'd been told was true. Arthur wasn't clearing zones - he was emptying them. The Forsaken weren't being eliminated - they were being relocated.
"The question," Lyka said as they walked, "is what someone needs with hundreds of captured Forsaken."
August's Foundation monitor had settled back to blue, but the memory of that trace energy lingered. Whatever had been done to the Forsaken in Zone 40-B, his immunity system had recognized it as a threat.
"Maybe we'll find out at Zone 41-C," August said.
"Maybe," Lyka agreed. "Or maybe we'll just find another empty zone and more evidence that we don't understand what we've gotten ourselves into."
Behind them, the cleanup crew finished their work and departed, leaving Zone 40-B looking exactly like it had when they'd arrived.
Empty, pristine, and completely devoid of the Forsaken society that had once lived there.
Ahead of them, Arthur's trail continued toward zones unknown, carrying secrets that grew darker with every supposed clearing.
August and Lyka followed that trail with growing certainty that they were walking toward answers they might not want to find.
But also with the determination that someone needed to discover the truth about what Arthur was really doing to the peaceful Forsaken communities.
Even if that truth turned out to be worse than the lies they'd been told.