Planning Ahead

"Ah, I understand. This is a big issue, huh?" Tasyah said after hearing what Jordan had to say.

"Oh, by the way, Zeed, Jordan."
"Yes?" We said simultaneously.
"I know this is important and all, but..."

I braced myself for the impact. Here it comes!

"... WHY ARE WE HAVING THIS GROUP CALL WHEN I WAS IN THE TOILET?!"

So, to summarize. Jordan called me when we had dinner. He had something important to say. Since I asked him to wait, he disconnected the call. Seiza and I quickly finished our meal and headed back to the RV. When we arrived at the RV, Tasyah was nowhere to be found. I saw Wiwin crying because... she let Tasyah down again. I had no idea what happened while I was gone. But that gave me a clue about where Tasyah might be.

I rushed to the toilet and met Harold. "Oh, Harold."

He smirked and said, "Ahh... I failed her." Scratch that, that was not a smirk. He even dropped a tear.

I was a bit confused, so I asked, "You what? Failed who?"

"Tasyah. She is there. Trying to fight for her life."
"Ah, great. I need to talk to her."
"Go ahead. I need to go back anyway."

And that was where we were now. I brought Popo with me and... did the thing first.

"Just looked away! I had to look at your aura seed."
"Aahhh. Why is this complicated?!"
"It's not complicated. We just have bad timing!"

Tasyah, Jordan, and I got a jolt. We were connected. As soon as we connected, Jordan immediately explained the situation. Oh, I also closed the toilet door first. Wouldn't want Tasyah to be seen by anyone... including me, of course.

So now, you have caught up with the current time.

Me: "Sorry"
Jordan: "Ehek. This is a bit awkward, isn't it?"

YOU'RE NOT HELPING!

"We're connected, Zeed. I can hear you, so don't start shouting in your thoughts", Tasyah said... And I could still feel her anger from that sentence.

"Sorry."

We got new information about Hexes through Jordan. He said that even after getting the coordinates to Hexes' bunker, he still couldn't find it. That was concerning.

"Tasyah, I know you have that mind RAM or ROM thingy. Could you find information about the bunker in Java, Indonesia?"

Tasyah went silent. I felt an aura surrounding her. It wasn't as powerful as Jordan or Seiza, but it was there.

"Nope. I couldn't find any in my memory."

As soon as Tasyah said that, Jordan went berserk at my heart. I shouted, "HEY. What did I do? Stop that, Jordan?"

"... Sorry. Force of habit." WHAT THE FUCK, MAN?!

"Could we please focus on what we're talking about? Please! So we finish as soon as possible."

Jordan asked, "Why do you want to..."
But he got interrupted by Tasyah: "YOU IDIOT! I'M STILL DOING MY BUSINESS!"

I also added, "This is also midnight, man. You're lucky we're all still awake."

He squeezed my heart once again. "STOP IT!"

Tasyah interrupted us, "Hey, are we done here? I seriously need some alone time. It's hard to do my business when two men are outside my stall, you know."

I apologized and went out with Popo. I was walking toward the RV while still on a call with Jordan.

"What should I do now?"
"You asking me?"
"I mean, what do you do, man? You are currently on vacation with the others. Do you even have a plan?"

I wanted to smug him so bad, but I roasted him instead. "And what? You said that as in you got a new lead for Hexes' bunker. Hasn't it already been three days since we both went our separate ways?"

He tried to squish me again, but I quickly answered, "Look, I have some lead, okay. We met these two... I wouldn't say heroes, but they do have powers."

"And... you trust them?" I could hear his concern.

So, I assured him, "They are escapee. They even rebelled against their parents, who are real heroes."

As usual, I felt what he felt. But I wouldn't say these are usual feelings for him. I never thought I would feel joy coming out of him. Was that really a good thing?

"Hmm... One step ahead of me, huh? Very impressive."

"... You make it sound like we're racing against something."

"Of course, we're racing. Seiza and I could die in three to five years, remember? We are racing against time, Zeed."

I almost forgot about that fact.

"Tell me more, Zeed."
"Oh, right. We are now on a ride to the westernmost part of Java. We don't know the exact location, though, but the two have mentioned it was on an island. It should be easy to spot, right?"

Jordan went into thinking; I could hear him mumbling.

"Jordan?"

He was shocked. From that? He changed a bit, huh? How could he be shocked by me calling him?

"Zeed... Could it be located on... Krakatau?"

I got chilled. That was an active volcano. How could a base built there... Unless.

"We have met a lot of crazy and wacky heroes, Zeed. There is a possibility."

I stopped walking and stood straight. "You're right, especially... Him."

"Yes. Him. The person who has luck on his side."
"The one we met before we made the group."
Then we said this together: "The one... who started World Dawn."

We went silent. The midnight wind felt heavy. The crescent moon emitted a small light. Even with the light, the surroundings were dark. I stood in the middle of the road and calmed myself. I took a deep breath and fully let it out. I could feel that Jordan did the same.

I initiated the conversation: "We need to be on guard."
He agreed and gave me a fluffy feeling in my heart: "Yes. Be careful out there, Zeed. Who knows, you might meet with him again."
"I will... You too. I hope you found what you needed to find, Jordan."
"You too."

I was about to cut the call, but then, "Oh, by the way, Zeed. When you reach the place, what will you do?"

I got thrown off, so I answered, "Hmm... We'll... see?"
"..."
"... Okay, I know. I will talk about it with the team."
"You don't have power as I do, Zeed. Don't be naive and go there without a plan. You have a death wish if you do."

He was right. But this is also his fault! I wasn't meant to be a leader, you know! I didn't ask for this role! You made me!

"I could still hear you, Zeed."