Vol 2 Ch 3(Kenneth): Expedition (Part 3/3)

The wire had snapped, the two were across, it was now just me and this thing, half corrupted as well, there was no fighting, running would be the best option here, it seemed to be staying still, maybe it went off of sound, it would explain why it found us when it did. I slowly moved to my right, I would grab the zipline box then throw it, it was the only thing I really could do. I slowly walked over to the box, picking it up by one of its handles. I threw it at that thing and tried to look for an exit, that was before something grabbed my arm, I summoned my spear and got ready to jab at whatever grabbed me, that was until I saw Lee.

"W-" Lee covered my mouth before I could speak, he motioned to the thing, when I looked over, I saw it shredding the box to pieces, even though it was almost made entirely out of metal.

"sound and motion" Lee whispered to me, even with him only whispering, the creature was moving towards us, we both stayed as still as could be, well, I was, Lee was making slight movements, looking around the roof. He took his hand off my mouth, and used his other hand to cover his own. I followed suit to cover the sound of my breathing, it wasn't loud or that audible, but just incase.

The creature came closer, and when it got right next to us Lee summoned his sword and jabbed it in one of its ears, the creature let out a high pitched scream, but before I could move my hands to my ears, Lee grabbed my arm and jumped off the roof

"Are you insane!?" He ignore my comment and just resummoned his sword, jabbing it into the wall. We came to a sudden stop, so sudden in fact, that it hurt my arm, it felt like any faster and my arm would dislocate.

"Sorry, it was the only thing I could think of" We both dropped to the ground and started walking

"It's fine...why did you come here? Did you forget what we said earli-

"I know, that's not why I'm here, I won't stay here long, I just want to grab something from the dorms real quick" He interrupted me, from the dorms? Many things came to my thoughts, but there was one, in particular, that was the highest value to him.

"Alright, just don't hurt yourself more than you are already..." As I spoke he touched his left arm

"Not much can get worse" He anxiously chuckled "...Hey, just don't tell Crystal or the others I was here, I won't be around for long, I'll be back on the train before you know it" He started walking away from me, heading towards the dorms.

"Actually...if you want, you can tag along with me, if course not when Crystal and Matt are near, then you can bail" After my suggestion, Lee looked back and smiled

"What? Making sure I don't get myself get killed?"

"Eh, just don't want you to be alone for long" He walked back to me

"Alright, let's get to it then" Lee smiled, and yet, it was clear he wasn't happy, I looked in the direction of the plan and sighed

"Yep, let's get going"

We mainly walked to the building that Crystal and Matt were at, of course, I wasn't gonna rat him out, but being higher up is way better than being on the ground floor. I don't know why the air felt uneasy, maybe it was the lack of us talking, maybe it was because there was things we hadn't told each other, one thing was certain though, that whole friendship we had when we were little, and when we first started being DTs, wasn't alive anymore, or at the very least, not as strong.

"Lee" I looked over at me with an expression of questioning. "I'm sorry"

"..." he looked at the floor and kept walking "You have nothing to be sorry for" Even though he said that, a part of me felt guilty, but I knew I should still apologize, after all, if I hadn't gotten infected then Lee wouldn't have thought that curing Sam was possible, or, maybe she would still be here...After I thought that I realized something, Bravo team, the whole Bravo team sticks together forever thing was a lie, the only reason that me and Lee met was because of Sam, the only reason that Lee tolerated Nicholai, was because of Sam. Bravo team...it only existed because she was around. At the least, that was my theory

"I see now..." I said it aloud, but Lee seemed to ignore it.

"Why are we here?" Lee asked, finally talking after a few seconds of silence

"Crystal and Matt came over here using a zipline" He looked at me

"Why was there no rope then?" Right, I forgot to mention it.

"Some weirdos shot it, it seems like they know who we are" I was going around the subject, but Lee seemed to know already.

"Their the remains of the group we shot down, aren't they?" He said it with such a broken voice. "It's fine, I wasn't exactly on good terms with anyone in Eaxura anyhow" He seemed to noticed that I was paying mind to his voice and changed it to a more casual one.

"ah huh..." Every second that passed, every floor we climbed, it felt like the tension...no, more of the guilt that we both had, it felt like it was growing the more time we were around each other.

"Hey..." Once more, the silence was broken, and we were near the others, whatever the subject would be, it was most likely going to be the last one before we split. "Do...do you hate me" It was phrased like a question, and yet he wasn't asking, it was more for reassurance, wanting to know that he was right, and yet, I didn't know what answer he wanted...and...I didn't know what I even wanted to say.

"I...can't answer that, not now" Lee gave a slight, quiet chuckle at my response.

"Yeah, that's about what I expected" I noticed that he was staring at something, a pathway to a different roof "How about you set up a sniper post?" He changed the subject to the mission, a part of me was glad he did.

"But, I'm not exactly the best sniper" He looked at me, unimpressed

"Fine, how about I try to snipe, then you take credit for anyone I get?" The plan was slightly flawed, but I felt like he could manage.

"Alright...don't do something stupid" Either he couldn't hear what I said, or didn't bother responding as he walked across the platform, I, however, continued the climb up the stairs "It's just like that mountain ain't it?" I wasn't going insane, and yet I spoke to myself, I don't know why though...

Soon I stopped climbing the stairs, I sat down on one of the steps, closing my eyes while catching my breath. When I opened my eyes, I noticed that the hud was back on

PTS Active

Lee- "Ken, we got a little issue, I shot a person near Crystal, it was non-lethal though, so if she calls you, just make sure you cover it up by saying that"

Ken- "W-

PTS Deactive

It turned off before I could reply, most likely being replaced with Crystal's

PT* Active

Crystal- "KENN^TH! WHAT THE HELL!?"

Ke&neth-" What? She's alive, go check, Kenneth out"

Crystal- "Right..."

PTS Deactive

Huh, there were still minor issues with PTS, but it seemed mostly cleared, I guess I was near MEMP, which means I might be able to turn it off. I started to climb the stairs again, it could only be a few more floors higher, this building was tall, but not overly tall that you couldn't scale it in one go.

I made it on the floor that I suspected the MEMP was, but, as obvious as it was, there were guards, or at least people in the room. I finished climbing the stairs and went behind a server rack, there were many chances to get into the room, but if it was locked then I would most likely be caught, and even then, they might just reactivate it, maybe destroying it was a good option...then again, those things are partly made of magic, so maybe the MEMP keeps them away, I decided, maybe I could set something up that allows us to bypass the MEMP, I already created a program before so maybe it would work for this one as well.

PTS Active

there were no more issues, either it was already off, or it was because I was extremely close

Crystal- "They know of your existence, this weirdo has some sort of magic laptop, imma be in a cult soon!"

I looked around, damn it... I didn't expect this, I saw Lee moving, I had an idea of what to say.

Kenneth- "Pardon? What did you just say? Err forget it, I'll change positions"

PTS Deactive

Great, they know I'm here, I should get this over with. When an opening presented itself I charged the door, well, charged is a more aggressive term even though I was being stealthy. When I reached the door I noticed it wasn't locked, well then, that's some luck right there. I opened the door and I saw someone staring at me

"...hi?" We stared at each other in silence, was the guy contacting his superior, or was he panicking like I was, as I stood up and got ready to run I felt a prong hit me, the guy just tazed me! He grabbed me by the shoulder and started dragging me along

"Teal, another one was found" I was shoved in a room, the room contained a girl, Crystal, and Matt, and another guy who looked really familiar

"Hey, don't treat our guests with force!" From who I could guess was Teal looked at me "You alright" I looked at Crystal and Matt, seeing if she was good, they nodded, signaling that she was fine

"Besides for a minor injury fighting one of those things, yeah" Teal looked at me again

"Zeeks?"

"Zeeks?" I questioned it, out of all the things to call them, Zeeks?

"Those things, we call them Zeeks" I really wanted to ask where the name came from, but it was fine, I could already put together how weird this place was

"Yeah, don't ask, I already did and I was already confused" Matt shook his head, just as confused as me and Crystal

"We already asked though" I said with a sarcastic tone

"Ain't my problem" ah huh...let's not forget who built you that arm Matt, considering it 'Wasn't my problem'

"Well, now that everyone is here, let's go look for that ring thing" The guy who brought me in looked worried about Teal's suggestion

"Hold on, are you sure, did you forget who they are? And you're really the only per-

"I said, we, are, going!" Teal gave the guy a glare, causing him to quickly bow and reposture himself

"Yes, yes, we'll let you get to it, you're the boss after all, I'll be taking my leave" The guy left and Teal went to the door, walking past me.

"I won't be able to make the dog tags right now, but as an apology, I'll assist you in finding that ring...thingy" Dog tag? Huh? What did I miss?

"Teanial" I responded, making sure she knew what we were looking for "The thing that the ring uses is Teanial, it's a very bright yellow thing" Teal's face lit up after hearing my comment

"Good, then I was right, one of my people found it, it's in your guy's old dorms, the ones that you guys were in when you were cadets...if that's what they called you back then..." We were only there for a day, but, that was accurate.

"Right, let's get to it then" I readjusted the bag I wore "Luckily, they didn't take my stuff"

"Right, let's go!" Teal picked up a coat and bag on the wall and put them on, then she put on a holster and put a pistol in it "I'm ready, let's go" She began to leave the room, humming a tune...that tune that she hummed, it sounded familiar...did...did we know her? It's like Kai, we didn't realize that he was our teacher at first, although, we realized it fast...and it's not like our memories were perfectly intact, even back then, it felt like we had missing memories. Before I noticed, in the corner of my eye I saw Teal, at least, I still assume she's Teal, jump out of a window...huh? Wait, HUH?

(Of course, you all know what happens after this, elevator, conversation, they make it to the dorms, alarm goes off)

"The future is weird ain't it? Have you heard of it before? That changing something in the past, can drastically change the future, just keep that in mind when you make choices here, and use these future chapters as a way to see what will happen if you continue down this path, of course, that means there's a chance I could disapear as well...You're welcome by the way, who else would be collecting these chapters for you all to read, then again, I wouldn't say that you all want to read them, but at least a certain few would like to learn their story, heh, reminds me of a song...Well, that's it for now, see you all next time we come here"