Time Limit

Time’s value already disappeared the moment that Athene entered into the boy’s mind. She knew that hours could easily pass for her. Such time made her grateful the longer that she remained unable to move forward. However, it also brought her closer to her limits. Athene expected a challenge, but she couldn’t remember his mind’s complexity being so great. The only thing she remembered from the encounter was the feeling of him being different. It told her not to underestimate him.

An invisible force threw her back to the center. All the open gates and doors closed up upon her rejection. Then as though to add insult to injury, the entire layout changed as it had before. “Damn…” The Atlantean woman panted slowly pulling herself up from the floor. Her appearance looked ragged and pathetic, but she didn’t care. Appearance meant nothing to her. She only wanted the answers that she demanded.

“How many times…” Athene dropped herself down sitting needed to catch her breath. Every failure ejected her painfully with damaging feedback. It always changed immediately after as well. All she managed to do was figure out a pattern of how it made itself impenetrable. She felt like the defenses taunted her. A few times, she thought she found a way through with a noticeable method for cracking the defense only to see it change.

She tempted her body to stand, but her weak knees dropped her. “…I’m not going to last for much longer…” Even with a perfectly healthy mind and body, she didn’t know if she had the mental or physical stamina to survive in his mind. She figured since it was only because her mind had protection through the use of her powers that kept her from being completely crushed. “…I have to find a way…”

Chapter 140 – Time Limit

Following behind Chiharu at some distance, the rest of the group with Yumi closed in on the camp. While never spoken, it was understood by everyone that they would wait at a safe distance from the camp until Chiharu returned. They took cover near a small outcropping of brush.

Fumiko rested near the bushes with a full view of the others. She didn’t have the stamina of Seiji or the determination of Yumi. The only thing keeping her going was the fact that she tried to keep the team together. It allowed her to ignore most of the problems that plagued her mind. Before they split, ever since she left the village she had trouble focusing on anything. She barely even remembered the fighting that happened.

She saw the weakness that Yumi thought she held within that bred her uncertainty. However, Fumiko knew that Yumi would still be able to fight in the end. When pushed in the corner, she saw that Yumi would be able to survive. The problem was that she had doubts about herself. Yumi might have the appearance of being weak, but Fumiko knew that herself fell into weakness. Her practice back home gave her the confidence she needed to believe she could survive. While not athletic or skilled with the gift of tactics, she faced down terrible things already.

The fear and terror she felt when she thought she might die stayed with her. She thought it gave her confidence and control. She thought it meant she understood herself better. Yet, her first fight that actually made use of her abilities forced her to discover how empty it all was.

Concentrating on keeping everyone together made her ignore it. She couldn’t forget it. The waiting brought back her fears and slammed the weight down on her. Only a few minutes had passed and Fumiko already felt like the ground was water pulling her down to the dark abyss. ‘…so suffocating…I-I can’t let…it…’

Fumiko slapped her face sharply to snap her out of her problems. ‘…I don’t have time for this…’ She looked over at Yumi. ‘I need to stay focused for her. It’s only us this time. I don’t have the luxury for doubt right now.’

Amongst her thoughts, she lost a sense of time. However, across from her Seiji already looked ready to charge the camp. She prayed that the dangerous situation kept his impatience in check. They couldn’t take the risk of going into such a large camp unprepared. ‘While we did win last time, it was not an easy fight. We don’t even know how many of those like Yuki are inside.’

While it did seem that Seiji’s better judgment held out over his instinct. As with anything else, it could only last for so long before it eroded away. The continued absence of Chiharu mounted the tension for everyone. Seiji broke through the tension in his typical bull-like fashion. “The hell’s taking the brat so long! We should just storm the place and get the two of them out!”

Yumi flailed her arms a little trying to calm down Seiji, but failed to find the right words. Fumiko took a moment to sweat, a little amused. ‘Even though he’s stupid, he does manage to find the right moments to provide a distraction.’ However, she knew that she couldn’t be amused with the scene for long. Seiji knew nothing of restraint, she learned, when it came down to running off his impatient nature. “If you keep shouting they’ll end up hearing you,” she commented, pointing her thumb behind her at the camp.

He gritted his teeth in annoyance, but also understanding. In reduced volume, he continued, “ We’ve waited long enough! We need to do something!”

“We need to wait on Chiharu to return,” insisted Fumiko.

“Tch!” Seiji waved his hand in a dismissive motion at her mention. “She talks big and acts all damn confident, but she’s probably just captured in her overconfidence. They probably know that we’re out here!”

“Getting worried?”

Seiji jumped back in surprise at Fumiko. “What?! Ridiculous!” He crossed his arms and turned away from her gaze. “She’s annoying and doesn’t think about anyone but herself! Why would I care what happens to her?”

“But she’s one of us!” Yumi protested. Her attempt to stand to join them came rushed and tripped her legs. She caught herself before she stood up, turning the action into an all-fours lean forward.

“The hell she is! She only came because she thought she would get a fight out of it!”

“That’s not true!”

“Of course it is! Or have you missed the fact that she refuses to call any of us by our name?”

“…Chiharu…” Yumi lost her words again. She had never thought about it, but the moment he said it her mind went through everything that Chiharu said. She tried to find a single time that she actually said anyone’s name. Nothing came to her.

“I’m surprised you noticed,” noted Fumiko, “You always surprise me on the things that you’re actually aware of.”

“And your condescending tone is always just as annoying.”

Fumiko shrugged to him with a bit of a grin. “I can’t help it that you’re breaking your archetype every time that you do.”

“Enough with your stories.”

“I know it goes against your nature, but you need to be patient and believe in Chiharu.”

The arguing cooled off Seiji enough that he sat down, though still not pleased. “I don’t know why you trust her.”

Yumi turned her head over their cover back to the camp. It looked no different to her from when they arrived. She couldn’t tell if something had gone wrong with Chiharu’s infiltration. She imagined that if she was caught they’d see activity or hear something. The whole field remained eerily quiet. “…Chiharu…”

“Don’t worry, Yumi.” Fumiko placed a hand on Yumi’s shoulder to grab her attention. “Chiharu will be fine. She’s strong and smart.”

“I know, but…” She turned her head down as doubtful thoughts filled her mind. “…she could have been, it’s possible…”

“Don’t let what Seiji said bother you. He’s just worried as well and doesn’t have any other way to express it.”

“But he—“

“That’s just how he is. They have a complicated relationship. He’s probably more worried about her than even me…” Fumiko stared over at the camp, losing her words.

“Fumiko?”

On the not quite opposite side of the camp (because nothing should be symmetrical), five figures in white uniforms stood gathered. Vangelis stood out in the group for his less conventional interpretation of their military uniform. It had everything that made up the uniform, but the loose pants had long cuts up past the knees. The pant sleeves barely managed to hug his smoothly toned legs. Additionally, rather than wearing his rank badge as everyone did he used it to hold back his wild hair. It looked almost humiliated, reduced to a mere hair accessory, and perhaps he intended it with such an action.

Vangelis surveyed his team. The woman that Simonides forced on him stood on the far left of the group. His team, the three others bunched together in confusion. Using his orders from their Captain, he demanded all of their presence with no further information. He could tell with the way Iole carried herself that she knew the mission. “You’ve been selected for a mission by order of the Captain. We leave immediately.”

“That all you going to say?” questioned one of the MP users, immediately standing defensive.

Turning a little aggressive in stance, the middle MP user spoke, “Yeah, how can we even trust what you say?”

“You just order us out here because you out rank us with no word.”

“I picked you all for this mission because I knew you all wanted a piece of the action. You’ve been bored with just routine catch and release patrols.” Vangelis leaked some of his unique enthusiasm into his words and motions. “You want something real, right?”

“What are you offering?” They began to become curious and interested in his words. The confusion faded from their eyes. A bit of the lust intoxicated them.

“You know the reason why the Captain in his infinite wisdom has removed all of us from such important tasks, right?”

“The attacks at the barrier and in Skoupa.”

He clenched his fist in excitement. “That’s right. The traitorous rebels, they have MPs with them.”

“Rogue MPs?”

“Yes,” smirked Vangelis.

The others looked around at each other. They might not have shared the deep pleasure that Vangelis had for violence, but they did stand out from the rest of the neat order that Atlantis worked to maintain. Vangelis acted openly without care or remorse for his attitude, but because what he did ended up getting results, he continued to get away with his actions. They didn’t have such fortune or confidence to pull such a feat off.

However, the meaning of his words sank into them. They knew what happened to rogue MPs. They knew the laws that put them in place and forced them into service. Their system was rigid for MP users. So they all understood what Vangelis thought about. While the thoughts of it weren’t the strongest in their mind, it did fuel them in a way that they had never felt before.

The notion of having a challenge and something different appealed greatly to them. Endless monotony of the status quo grated against them. It never ceased and at the end of their lives, it would still be the same thing. The only chance for something different or interesting was the rare chance of a real fight with another MP user. A fight that was not staged or training, but a true test of their mettle. It rang strong with their hearts. The only chance to be free came on the field.

They all quickly agreed in their minds and nodded. “We’re in,” they replied in unison.

“Of course you are,” Vangelis remarked arrogantly, “I picked you.”

Team Yumi still waited for the return of Chiharu. The time that passed worked against Seiji. He stood up a few more times in their waiting, but sat again in silence. It provided a distracting amusement to Fumiko.

Thirty minutes or an hour, none of them really planned for how long to wait. Yumi just sent Chiharu off and didn’t really think ahead of contingencies. She just assumed Chiharu would be back safely in a short amount of time. The longer time passed, the more worried she became until she couldn't take it anymore. “I think something’s wrong.” Yumi looked out to Fumiko and Seiji for their opinions.

“I’ve been saying that already,” Seiji said quickly, still holding a grudge.

Fumiko's face turned flat looking at Seiji. “You’ve been saying that since we arrived. It takes time to scout out a place.”

“She’s just a kid, what the hell she know anyway?”

Yumi stepped in between them before they continued. “Yes, it takes time, but with Chiharu’s talents it shouldn’t be this long. I think something unexpected happened.” She looked over her shoulder to the camp. A deep longing feeling that ached in her chest pained her.

“But she went in so we could make a plan. We’ll be going in blind.”

Seiji rolled his arm around his shoulder as if he was warming up. “Plans are made to be broken anyway! We just charge in and deal with anyone that stands between us and Yori! It’s simple, no plan needed.”

“But we don’t know how many of those soldiers like Yuki are in there! It’s dangerous!”

“It’s dangerous either way. It’s just whether you know what you’re dealing with or not.”

Yumi stood up and turned to the camp. She made up her mind. Both her brother and Chiharu waited for them in the camp. They didn’t have anything but questions, but she couldn’t delay them any longer. Resolve would have to carry her through. “We’re going in!”