He woke from a nightmare.
Cato Sicarius sat up, gasping, his physiology already calming his racing heart. In silence, he got out of bed, and the Walking Titan projected his biometric data onto his goggles. The results were not good.
A voice rang out from a pool of light nearby. It came from a desk, where Bjorn sat. He plainly seemed to have no interest in sleep. "Nightmare?"
"Nightmare."
Bjorn snorted. Sicarius was not angry. He knew Bjorn was not mocking him.
"In that case, perhaps you should learn from me, Captain Sicarius."
Bjorn raised an eyebrow at him and lifted the dagger he was grinding to show him. He was not using a whetstone. Instead, he had partially activated the Walking Titan's enhancement mode and was tormenting the dagger he had gotten from the Iron Warriors with two fingers.
"Sleep stopped being necessary to us a very long time ago. The fact that you could sleep that deeply truly surprises me."
After hesitating for a moment, Sicarius still chose to tell the truth. "...I was indeed only in light sleep."
Bjorn's expression shifted noticeably. He turned around so he could face Sicarius directly. "Your Neuro-node failed to perform its function?"
"I'm not sure." Sicarius removed his helmet and touched his forehead. "The built-in Glyph Array did not alert me."
From another corner of the room, a calm voice cut into their conversation.
"Be at ease, Captain Sicarius. There is nothing wrong with you."
Mephisto's eyes looked as if they were gleaming in the dark. "You simply had a nightmare. That is all."
"But... I did not intend to enter deep sleep. I only wanted to rest briefly for twenty minutes. But the Glyph Array tells me I slept for three hours."
"Librarian Mephisto." Saul Tarvitz's voice sounded from the