Alarm o’Clock

The train rattled faintly beneath their feet as Jessie and Mira navigated the narrow corridors of the lower cars. Jessie led the way, his Chrono Blade sheathed but ready, while Mira stayed close behind, her holo-tablet clutched tightly in her hands. Tidus’ robotic, flat voice crackled intermittently in their comms.

“So far so good. My data says that this is what a human would say.”

“We’ve just passed the second storage car. No sign of guards yet, but there’s heavy encryption on the cameras. I’ll need a minute, so keep quiet.”

Jessie glanced back at Mira, “Quiet’s not really my thing,” he muttered. “But for you, I’ll make an exception.”

“Gee, thanks, hero,” Mira replied dryly, not looking up from her screen.

“Please refrain from heroics, Fox,” Tidus chimed in, “The probability of you causing a scene is… significant.”

“Hey, Tidus, when did Hawk even program you to sass me?”

“Your demeanor invites it,” The drone replied smoothly, before turning to its creator, “Hawk, I’m redirecting the camera feeds—I require a mere six seconds.”

As Tidus processed the camera data, Mira crouched beside the door leading to the next car. The screen on her tablet displayed a glowing map of the train’s internal systems. “This next car’s narrow,” she murmured, tilting the display for Jessie to see. “And there’s a drone patrolling—Tidus, how soon can you disable it?”

“Disable?” Tidus echoed. “It’s a sophisticated machine, not a nuisance to be swatted. But… another five seconds should suffice.”

“Man this tin can works fast…” Jessie muttered.

Mira shot him a look before glancing back at the screen. “No visual blind spots, but if we time it right, we can use the drone’s sweep pattern against it. When I say go, move fast and stay low.”

“Drone disabling imminent,” Tidus said suddenly. “Its visual sensors will flicker briefly. I suggest we move.”

“Move!” Mira hissed.

Jessie didn’t need to be told twice. He ducked through the doorway, his movements smooth as he slid to the side of the narrow car. The drone hovered just ahead and for a moment, its glowing sensors flickered as Mira darted past Jessie, sticking to the opposite side.

While the drone’s sensors began to stabilize, Jessie made a sharp gesture, signaling Mira to stop. The drone swept its beam across the center of the car, missing them by inches.

“Nice timing, Tidus,” Jessie whispered. “But we’re not clear yet.”

“Correction: you’re ninety percent clear. Proceed with care.”

Jessie pressed forward, his senses on high alert. At the far end of the car, a panel marked “Authorized Personnel Only” glowed faintly. Mira’s eyes locked onto it, and she motioned Jessie to stop.

“That’s it,” she whispered. “The server room.”

“Finally,” Jessie muttered, his hand drifting to the hilt of his blade. “What’s the plan?”

Mira didn’t respond immediately, her fingers flying across the tablet as she analyzed the panel. “It’s locked down tight,” she said. “Tidus, I’m going to need you to override the security while I work on the physical bypass.”

“Understood,” Tidus replied. “But do note: any tampering could alert nearby guards.”

“Then I guess we’d better not mess up,” Jessie said, his tone light but his grip on his blade tightening.

Mira crouched by the panel, pulling out a set of compact tools. “This’ll take a minute,” she muttered, more to herself than anyone else. “Fox, watch the corridor.”

Jessie nodded, positioning himself near the doorway. The faint hum of the drone in the previous car kept him on edge, but the corridor ahead remained empty—for now.

“Tidus, status?” Mira asked, her voice tense.

“I’m bypassing the primary firewall,” Tidus replied. “Please hold your applause.”

“You’ll get a gold star if we make it out of here,”

Jessie glanced back at Mira, his expression softening slightly. “You’re always this fun under pressure?”

“Ask me again when we’re not seconds away from being caught.”

The sound of footsteps in the distance snapped Jessie back to the present. He glanced down the corridor, his pulse quickening. “Uh, Hawk? We’ve got company.”

Mira didn’t look up. “How many?”

“Enough to make this awkward.”

Tidus’ voice cut through the tension. “Security override complete. Door access granted. Proceed, please.”

Mira straightened, sliding her tools back into her pouch. “Fox, let’s go.”

“Finally,” Jessie muttered, stepping aside as Mira moved toward the now-unlocked door. He followed close behind, sparing one last glance down the corridor before slipping inside.

The server room was small but packed with towering terminals, each one humming faintly with power. Mira wasted no time, moving to the nearest console and plugging in her tablet.

“Fox, Keep watch, I’ll see what I can extract from here,” Mira murmured, tapping into the system. Rows of data began flashing across her screen, revealing complex mapping and surveillance data.

“Roger.” Jessie moved by the door, his blade ready, while Mira’s attention remained on the screen. But as she continued pulling data, a series of strange chrono distortions appeared in the files—geolocations of areas affected by time anomalies, along with timestamps spanning months.

“Uh, Hawk…what’s all that?” Jessie asked, glancing over his shoulder.

Tidus replied, his robotic eye seemingly squinting. “They appear to be places affected by time distortions… but allow me to say they don’t look like mere random sites.”

“Tidus’ right, something’s off with this data.”

Mira scrolled through quickly, noting patterns. The data extraction was going smoothly until the screen suddenly blinked, then stalled. Mira’s fingers froze, her expression turning grim.

“Wait… the connection just cut off.”

“What do you mean?” Jessie asked, trying to keep the anxiety out of his voice. “Can you, like, uncut it off?”

“Hawk means to say someone is jamming the transfer,” Tidus said.

Mira’s tone on the other hand was urgent. “It’s as if they knew we’d be—“

Then she froze. That’s when she noticed it. A strange, mysterious symbol had appeared. It was a serpent coiled like an 8, or an hourglass. Mira’s breath caught on her throat, her pulse quickening. She couldn’t believe she was seeing that symbol again.

“Uh, Hawk? Did you freeze too?”

Jessie’s words brought Mira back to life who sucked in a breath and opened her comm link, “Wolf, we have a problem!”

Right after, an alarm blared through the train, a sharp, shrill sound that echoed through the vents and halls. Jessie’s jaw tightened.

“You know, I hate to say I told you so, but…”

“Fox, Hawk! Status!” Rhea’s voice cut in through the comms.

“Compromised!” Mira exhaled, “We were about to extract the data but—“

“Doesn’t matter, just pull out for now. We have our own trouble to deal with over here.”

And then Rhea cut the connection.

◔

The alarm blared suddenly, a deafening shriek that echoed through the auction car and sent a ripple through the room. Buyers froze mid-conversation, their heads snapping toward the sound.

“Fox! Hawk! Status!” 

Rhea hissed as low as possible in her comms, trying not to let her panic show. A moment later however, the captain’s eye locked onto the peacock mask, who leaned towards the guard on his side and pointed a finger at her.

Just then Mira shouted back into the comms.

“Compromised! We were about to extract the data but—“

“Doesn’t matter, just pull out for now. We have our own troubles to deal with over here.”

Rhea sighed, cutting the comms again.

Her earlier questions were more than enough to raise suspicions it seemed.

“That can’t be good.” Dax murmured.

Rhea’s heart skipped, her body tensing even as she forced herself to remain outwardly composed.

So much for subtlety.

A low hum filled the air as the guards stationed at the car’s perimeter turned towards them and raised their weapons. The buyers around them stepped back cautiously, their murmurs rising into an audible wave of unease.

Dax and Talia moved into formation, instinctively positioning themselves around Rhea as the guards surged forward, rifles raised.

“Time to move,” Rhea hissed.

The nearest guard barked, “Surrender now, or we’ll open fire.”

Rhea kept her posture relaxed, raising her hands slightly, palms outward. “There’s been a misunderstanding,” she said evenly, her voice carrying just enough authority to give her words weight. “I’m here to do business, same as everyone else.”

“Business?” The guard’s cold, metallic voice emanated behind his black emotionless mask, “That business of yours seems to collide with ours. And we won’t let that go.”

The first blast of fire rang out, narrowly missing as it shattered a holo display.

“Eagle, Lion—stairs. Now!”

Dax grabbed a nearby table, flipping it for cover as bullets pinged off the reinforced surface. Talia darted ahead, leading them toward a narrow stairwell at the edge of the car. Rhea followed, firing off a sharp command.

“Move fast—they’re not holding back.”

◕

The alarm blared as Jessie and Mira sprang into action.

“I’ll call the Strider to pick us up!” Mira tapped her tablet, her hands a blur.

“Logical choice,” Tidus said flatly. “Meanwhile, I’ll create an exit.” The drone hovered, its laser cutting through the train roof to make a makeshift hatch.

Jessie unsheathed his blade near the server room door. “And I’ll hold the line.”

“Mask team, heads up,” Mira shouted through her comms. “Strider inbound—find an exit, now!”

Just as Jessie grabbed Mira’s arm to pull her toward the vent, the door to the server room burst open, revealing an auction guard. He turned towards Jessie and reached for his gun.

“Go!” Jessie shouted, shoving Mira toward the opening Tidus had created. He turned back, drawing his blade. “I’ll handle this guy.”

Mira scrambled up the vent, gripping the edges as Tidus hovered by her shoulder. She hesitated, glancing back at Jessie.

“Don’t be late!”

“Wouldn’t dream of it!” Jessie shot back before refocusing on the guard.

The enemy fired, forcing Jessie to narrowly deflect the shot with his blade and then dive behind cover. Before he could regroup, the guard shot one more time and charged, closing the distance with startling speed.

Jessie grinned, raising his blade. “Alright, let’s dance.”