Thalia and Theo sprinted to catch up with the vice-captain, who was casually skipping toward the monorail station. Thalia considered flying to keep up, but she decided to maintain a pace that Theo could manage. Surprisingly, Theo kept up with her just fine, even as they maintained their full-speed sprint.
Thalia noticed a sudden transformation in Theo's body. His muscles appeared more developed and defined, causing his clothes to fit awkwardly. The top button of his collared shirt looked as if it might pop off due to the rapid growth of his clavicle and chest muscles. Thalia reasoned that the drastic change in Theo's physique was due to the fact that she was already in top physical condition; she exercised every day, and her muscles were well-defined and in perfect shape. In contrast, Theo had spent most of his time studying.
It seemed the bonding process with his relic had jump-started all his neglected muscles, resulting in a significant increase in muscle mass. Theo was likely unaware of his own dramatic transformation. When he caught his sister staring at him, he asked, "What? Is there something on my face? Why are you staring at me like that?"
"It's nothing. Just keep running, dummy!" Thalia replied.
They arrived at the station, where two large men in black and green Apex polo shirts stopped them. "Relic, please," they said in unison, extending their hands. The siblings exchanged uncertain glances and shrugged. Thalia pulled out her storm fan and handed it to one of the men, while Theo did the same with his new necklace.
Thalia realized that the two men looked identical, leading her to believe they must be twins. The only way to distinguish them was by their hair color: the man she handed her relic to had red hair, while the man Theo gave his relic to had blue hair. Thalia quickly understood that the two men were part of the Shadow Corps, despite their unusual appearance. Both men wore a black wolf pin on the collar of their polo shirts. The black wolf serves as the insignia for the elite unit of trackers and informants.
They are most known among the combat units in the Expedition Corps. It was founded by the infamous and stunning Monica Blue-Rose, the heir to the prominent Blue-Rose family that controls all of New Roark's oil supply. Monica was also a vital member of the Legends assault squad, renowned for her intelligence and skills. After the squad was disbanded, she joined the Shadow Corps and subsequently established the black wolf unit.
The black wolves are famous for creating the black web, a network of informants in each district of New Roark. They control the flow of information in and out of the institute and keep track of all relics contracted to any agent of the Apex Institute. Their primary objective is to assist in retrieving and recovering illegal and unregistered relics.
After handing over the relics to the imposing twins, the one with red hair placed both Thalia's fan and her brother's necklace into a suitcase held by the other twin. Thalia guessed that the suitcase was somehow related to cataloging various items.
"Here you go. Have a good rest of your day," said the twin with the blue hair as he handed Thalia her fan.
Still confused about the situation, Thalia replied, "Thank you, I guess." She shrugged and tucked the storm fan into the waistband of her skirt. "Theo, let's go!" Theo looked like he wanted to say something but decided against it and followed his sister. They reached the monorail platform just before the train arrived at the station.
"What exactly just happened?" Theo asked as he settled into the window seat of the rail.
"I honestly don't know, but I assume it has something to do with how they keep track of all the relics in the institute," Thalia replied, glancing at the vice-captain, waiting for an explanation.
"Ah, those men are responsible for keeping track of and cataloging every relic inside the institute. The one with blue hair is bonded to a peculiar relic that can track anything placed inside it," Alexander explained as he removed his top hat and placed it in his lap.
"Wait, what if we had picked a larger relic than the suitcase?" Theo asked, unbuttoning his shirt to drape his silver necklace around his neck.
"Oh, you don't have to worry about that. I once saw them place an entire great shield inside one of those little suitcases. It's a cheap parlor trick, if you ask me," Alexander yawned and slumped in his seat, covering his face with his hat.
Thalia leaned over and tapped Theo. "Hey, when you two were talking in the vault, did you ever ask him about the eye patch over his right eye?"
Theo gazed out the window, watching a bird fly parallel to the monorail. "No, I didn't even think to ask. The vice-captain seems way too complex; I don't even want to try to figure him out. Plus, whatever's behind that eye patch seems scary enough to make the 'other guy' nervous."
Thalia straightened her skirt. "Speaking of the 'other guy,' you almost lost your cool back there. You need to get a grip. What would have happened if I hadn't stepped in?" Theo shrugged casually. "It's fine. I'm in control again, and that's all that matters."
The Monorail bells chimed three times, indicating that they were approaching the docking platform. The train pulled into a much larger station than the one in front of Pandora's Vault.
Alexander jumped up from his seat like a zombie being reanimated, flipping his hat back onto his head. "Come on, kiddos, it's showtime!" he exclaimed, skipping off the train and performing a spin as he waited for the siblings to catch up. "Hey, Vice-Captain, how many people are in our unit?" Theo asked while swiping his wristband across the entry platform to open the gate.
"Oh, you'll meet them soon," Alexander said, leading them into a wide corridor. "Can I assume you've been to the arena before?"
Thalia couldn't help but grin widely. "Yes, I'm fairly familiar with it. I've been allowed to enter for private training here twice already."
Theo gulped and slowed his pace. "We're meeting at the institute's official training grounds."
Thalia slapped Theo on the shoulder. "Yes, little brother! Isn't it exciting? This is a perfect chance to try out our new powers and the capabilities of our relics."
Theo scratched his head. "Yeah, right. Sounds fun," he said, a hint of worry in his voice. Thalia's green eyes sparkled with excitement.
"I can't wait to see what your bonded relic is capable of doing!"