Extrasensory {CLOSED} IC

[Thaelasan]

Arc was currently seated next to Mel, whose previous work had left her slumbering again, peaceful and blissful. He was also checking his personal laptop, leaving Nate's to its own devices. But, thankfully, it seemed Lars wasn't trying anything at the moment. Then again, Nate would have warned him before anything even appeared on public websites.

But something still felt off. And he didn't like it one bit....

 

 

----

 

Nate stooped down, lifting the small, glass accessory with a bit of curiosity. A small bit of light reflected from it as he held it to inspect it.

"How flamboyant." Nate shrugged, holding it in his hand as he hung it loosely by his side.

"You know, I have to hand it to you." Nate said to the roof. "You're pretty tenacious. I mean, at least I know now you may actually like her. Good job."

He put his hands in his pockets, grinning.

"So, let's talk, Mr. Wizard, about Mina and everything like that. Start off fresh. After all, I don't think leaving the impression I'm gonna kill you is a very good one." he admitted, crossing his legs as he stood. "Don't you agree?"

[pudding]

The Wizard paused, sitting in silence in their hiding place on the roof as Mina spoke out to them, followed not long after Nate. Their eyes narrowed slightly at Nate's words, however. Might actually like her? Had he missed the entire part where they dated? The fact that the entire reason they showed up was to give presents to Mina? He seemed a little slow on the uptake about that, at least.

Well, it didn't change the fact the gig was up now. Turning quickly, they pulled themselves up and moved towards the ledge, crouching just before the gutter so they could look down at both Mina and Nate. Even if they were visible now, they were still aloof enough not to jump down onto the deck. Heck, with that large cliff behind the deck they weren't about to go prancing around with a man who had tried to kill them. And old habits of not getting to close to people died hard.

"I cannot help but feel like that defeats the purpose of spying," They replied, looking down at Mina first. Turning their attention to Nate, they frowned. But the expression was only slight and looked more disapproving than angry.

"I would be lying if I said I wasn't used to that kind of treatment," They replied with a loud, dramatic sigh and a shrug of their shoulders. Still, it wasn't as though they said all was forgiven. Because it wasn't and they were hardly willing to start off fresh. But they would sit there and be civil because what kind of performer would they be if they couldn't smile and pretend everything was fine? Not a very good one, at least. "But please, don't mind my interruption. What were you saying about staying off the radar?"

[shadow_claw]

Namina crossed her arms across her chest at the childish bickering between both men, flicking her head to push her bangs from her eyes. How immature did they have to be? Did they both of them honestly think it would get them anywhere?

"It's not so much as 'under the radar' as it is 'one step ahead of those looking for us'. Apparently, it's about time to get moving again." She fixed both men a look as she spoke. She didn't like the idea of being chased after and it showed.

 

"I've let you get this far in following me around because I trust you." Her gaze rested on the Wizard and softened. "I know you want to pick up where I left. I'm just...I'm not well enough for a relationship. Maybe the chain-smoking gave it away?" Her previously frustrated expression soon melted into a weary one. She was under a lot of pressure , trying to keep the nation from ripping itself apart. Personal issues only made it all worse.

 

"I'm not as strong as everybody wants me to be. I have so many people's lives riding on everything I do. I'm...I-I'm trying."

[Thaelasan]

Nate sighed.

"You really don't give yourself enough credit, Mi." he shrugged, hands still firmly in his jean pockets. "You're a shapeshifter caught in a world of normals, and yet you still managed to save three people including me, and you've managed to stay alive. I think of that as skill. Especially after you went through in the past. Look.."

He gestured at the lands behind the cabin with a swing of his right hand.

"Just enjoy the view, I guess. And relax, for once. I'm not getting any warning signals electronically and I'm keeping SE on his toes. You have absolutely nothing to worry about, so please, chill."

He placed a hand on her shoulder and then released her, heading back in through the door.

"Oi, Wizard man, as long as you treat her with some respect, we're cool." he waved, heading back inside. "Just try to lose the coat."

He closed the door behind him, but on the other side, he felt nervous and afraid, leaning against it and sighing.

"Dammit Nate..." he said, rubbing his hand through his hair again to ease his nerves. "Dammit... dammit... dammit..."

Why was it so hard to talk to 3D women? 2D girls were so easy to deal with....

Mina's route was HARD.

[pudding]

The Wizard waited until Nate had disappeared inside the house before dropping off the roof, managing to move quite gracefully and quietly despite their outfit and the height they had jumped from. Walking over to Mina, they carefully over to the railing before leaning against it so that their front was facing towards the house. Not just a means of looking relaxed, but also letting them look towards the house in case someone tried something. They knew better now. They weren't about to let anyone in the house get the drop on them anymore.

"Look, I'm not trying to get back together with you," They replied, looking at her now. "And while I like what smoking does to people, I do see that it is a stress relief for you. People have hard times, Mina. And the most important thing you can do is try to look out for yourself first. You can't pour water from an empty glass, after all." They paused, pulling a box of matches out of their front pocket with a shrug.

"What matters more to me right now is making sure you're okay. So if smoking is what you need, I'll give you a match. If you need to stay under the radar, I'll go digging and see if I can find anyone to help. Or at the very least, I'll openly steal more things from EDEN and draw their attention away. I'm here for whatever you need."

[shadow_claw]

Mina watched Nate leave, her eyes tired. She was so tired. Of everything. She just wanted leave it all. Nate was too overprotective, but so was the Wizard. They both put a lot of unwitting pressure on her. Her eyes watered once half her audience left, her vision blurring with tears. Quickly did she turn away from the Wizard. She didn't want him to see her cry. But she couldn't hold all this back. Everything felt so hopeless.

 

"Wh-why...why are you always so nice to me?" She stammered, choking back a sob. Fat tears rolled down her face and spattered against the deck. As soon as she turned back towards the Wizard did she fling his arms around him. Sobs shook her tall form, even as she attempted to stabilize herself. She was holding onto everything by a thread. This fight was a losing battle and it had her scared out of her wits.

 

"I'm s-sorry...I-I've always been so...so a-awful to you. A-And I've missed you...I-I just can't stand the idea of hurting you again."

[pudding]

The Wizard looked more than surprised when Mina suddenly threw her arms around them and took a slight step back, shifting his weight so he could properly support her without falling over. There was a moment when they hesitated, looking down at her as she cried and questioned his actions. She didn’t want to hurt them? She was already looking out for so many people and, yet, she couldn’t help but throw them into that mix as well. Even if they didn’t deserve that. Even if it was their fault the breakup had occurred. Even if they always managed to hurt everyone. The confused thief blinked a few times then closed their slightly open mouth, instead offering up a small smile as they tipped their head to one side to regard her.

“Mina,” They replied, using a gloved hand to wipe the tears away from her eyes. The other hand, the one closest to the house, grabbed ahold of their cape and lifted it up into the air, supplying a screen between Mina and the house. A small gesture of privacy considering the conversation at hand. They could give Mina that, at least. “I might be a thief but that doesn’t mean I cannot be stolen from. And this time, you’re the one who stole my heart. I have lived for many years now so I can say with complete honesty that the last thing I want you to do is try to keep me safe. If you don’t want to hurt me, take care of your self. What will make me happiest is to see you smiling again.”

Moving their hand that had been wiping away her tears to her head, they carefully patted her hair, trying to comfort her in the best way they could. They didn't want to overstep their boundaries.

"So tell me, what do you want to do?"

[Thaelasan]

SE: You cannot keep me at bay forever. I'm going to find a way through those firewalls of yours sooner or later. No matter how much coding you possess, I'll break it. Besides, EDEN has a trump card if you become too much of a hassle.

DE: Is that so? Then why haven't you already just taken care of me, then? Face it, you have no trump card. XP

SE: How adorable.

SE: You do realize that I already know everything about you, yet you know nothing about me?

DE: And? Why would I want to learn about you? You're just a nuisance.

SE: Really? That's all you think of me?

SE: Perhaps I should try harder.

SE: Nonetheless, you still have yet to make me even try to beat you.

SE: Please, give me a challenge for once.

DE: I'll try my best. :T

 

--- 12:13 DE: Has left the chat. ---

 

------

 

He was sitting on the couch now, toying with his laptop again, trying his best to ignore the possible reconciling happening outside on the deck.

"Nate? You ok?" Arc asked, concerned.

"No. Not at all." Nate replied. "But I can't really do anything to stop what's happening without making myself look like a jackass. She already thinks I'm an overprotective, overdependent weakling."

"To be frank, she's.. kind of right.." Arc began, but stopped. "But that doesn't mean you have to let it be that way forever."

"Whatever. 2D women are better anyway." Nate sighed, opening a visual novel and continuing from where he left off last time.

"...The girl you're trying to date is named Namiko.... Coincidence...?" Arc asked, smirking.

"Shut up." Nate grunted.

Edited December 12, 2015 by Thaelasan

[shadow_claw]

Mina didn't speak for quite some time. Instead, she merely stifled her sobbing. She shouldn't be so upset about this. She knew that. But this wasn't the first relationship she had walked out of for seemingly so reason. The pressure of having someone to please was often too much for her. Sniffling quietly, she leaned into the Wizard's touch.

"Thank you. I...needed to hear that." Slowly did she lift a hand, cupping the man's face gently. A smile twitched in the corners of her lips. As most of her smiles, it didn't last long. It quickly faded away

"I,,,want out. I'm sick of all this...th-this war." She tilted her head slightly and shuddered. This was supposed to be a short-time skirmish. A little something to make money off of before it settled down. That had been four years ago.

[pudding]

The Wizard offered up a small smile in response, moving their hand to gently touch Mina's cheek. She wanted out of the fighting, then? They didn't blame her one bit for that. Really, they had done their best to stay out of the way of both sides. They pretended to be normal so that neither side would focus on them that much. But Mina was already a part of the fighting. Going completely cold would be hard. Both sides would need a distraction if they were going to forget about her.

Now, of course, there were a few options. Faking her death immediately came to mind as they were probably the only one who could pull a stunt like that off. But there were other options that wouldn't be as difficult or frustrating. The most important thing was to know how much either side knew. Stealing and destroying all of their data on Mina would be a great start. "That's all I need to hear," They replied with a smile, gently patting her cheek. Letting their cape fall back down, they carefully unlatched it from their shoulders and instead moved it around to hang over Mina's shoulders. They beamed at her and tilted their head slightly to the side. "I'll go deal with E.D.E.N. immediately. No time to wait, especially if they're starting to move about more." They paused, lifting a hand up to the air. Immediately, a white bird flew down from the roof and landed down on their outstretched hand. With careful, gentle movements, they held the bird out to Mina. "Just keep her inside and feed her regularly. If you ever need to reach me, just set her free with a note. She'll find her way back."

[shadow_claw]

"I..." Mina protested weakly at the Wizard's actions, frowning as she was showered in even more gifts. This wasn't right. This wasn't what she wanted. She held out a hand, stopping and grasping for the being's wrist.

"No." Even when saying this, she cradled the dove gently in her other hand. Namina's gaze remained firm, yet clearly upset. She wouldn't be happy letting people run off to fight her own battles. This was a war she had agreed to take part in. Running away from it would do nothing but make things worse. "Either I'm coming with you, or you're staying here. With me. I can't bear the idea of you getting hurt because of me. I won't let that happen." Her grip slid further down, until she was holding their hand. She wouldn't let them get away with running off again. Especially not on her behalf.

 

---

 

Abbadon had gotten to work on their plan immediately. Instantly did they send a few texts from their smartphone to set things in motion. A new wormhole appeared, this time with several people on the other side. Other ESPers, eager to meet the suited person's needs. The first thing, of course, was to fix that pesky issue of height difference. An illusionist could take care of that easily. One person held some (admittedly stolen) clothes from Namina's closet, and another was keeping the robot busy.

 

There could not be any meddlers in this affair.

 

And yet, Jet resisted the crowd. He continued to glance over at the woman swallowed in a crowd of people, calling her name several times. This wasn't right. Something was very wrong here. It was only when the android placed their only hand on one of the strangers did they realize something was wrong.

 

They didn't even notice him. It was like he wasn't even there. And their gaze...was oddly empty. Thoughts were clearly being processed, but it was as if they were half-baked and fuzzy.

 

"Nano? Please, this is utter nonsense! At...At least clear it with the rest of the team first!'

"Don't worry, it's already been cleared." Abbadon replied casually. They produced a paper from their breast pocket, and handed it to the robot. It had all the stamps and approvals needed. But..how?

 

"Nano, something is wrong here. I cannot process what. But...Please, for your own safety-" As worried as he had been about the situation, it was easy for someone to just...unplug him. He had been running on mainstream electricity ever since the had been injured, and being unplugged, well...He couldn't generate enough energy to stay fully functional. Shuddering, the robot sank to one knee, the light in both eyes fading to a dull glow.

[Thaelasan]

SE: I have a gift for you.

SE: EDEN has sent out a small unit to the underground.

SE: Yeah. Remember where you fell? Almost died?

SE: Good times!

SE: But down there, there's a small research bay the government hid. Lars wanted it. And I want a favor.

SE: I'm going to time you.

SE: If you can beat Lars' little unit there, I'll win a bet, and I'll leave you alone for a bit.

SE: If you can't, well...

SE: The information in that research lab plus the new servers in it will be more than enough for me to overpower you.

SE: But that's no fun.

DE: I don't get your reasoning. It's like you can't make up your mind who you work for. :T

SE: Myself. And that's all you need to know.

 

 

------

 

"Well, Charlie Charlie... looks like we have a bit of a tip on something." Nate said, standing and stretching.

"To what? From who?"

"From SE." Nate said simply, heading to the door to get Mina.

"FROM SE? Don't you hate him? Isn't he your dreaded enemy?"

"He is."

"Then why believe him!?"

"There's one thing SE isn't, and that's a liar. Everything he says is utterly true." Nate said, leaning against the wall next to the door. "He told me the truth when he knew my name, knew Mina, knew everything. He's never lied to me. If what he says is true, EDEN blew up the subway to get at a research bay the Government hid under it."

"But what if it's a lie?"

"Then we're screwed. What do you want me to tell you? Would you rather it be true and EDEN get their hands on vital government information? What do you want?" Nate asked, knocking on the door to get Mina's attention.

"This... seems outrageous."

"Trust me. I know." Nate replied softly.

[pudding]

The feeling of firm fingers wrapping around their wrist was enough for them to stop short and look downwards, staring at their own hand and the offending fingers wrapped around their wrist. Their index finger twitched ever so slightly as they offered up a small smile at Mina. Trying to remain calm. After all, they were a thief. It was a rule of thumb that anything keeping you rooted in place was bad news for someone who spent a good portion of their time running away from others. There wasn’t that much of a difference between a firm grip and a pair of handcuffs, at least not with a line of cloth cutting off the feeling of warmth from skin. Maybe if they still weren’t wearing their gloves it would feel a little better but they really hated this scenario. They didn’t like being confined.

They didn’t like being trapped.

 

“Mina,” They replied, sighing loudly. Lifting their hand up so they could look at Mina holding their hand. Well, at least that was better than the original wrist grab. Looking back at her, they lifted their other hand and gently touched her cheek. “You know I can’t stay here. And you know that I won’t bring you with me.” They paused, moving their hand to gently lay on top of both Mina’s and their own. “While the times we spent working together in the past were wonderful, I regretfully insist on working alone. The Garden is a dangerous place that I can only just manage to enter and exit. I cannot bring visitors this time around.”

 

Glancing towards the door at the knock, they gently began to pry Mina’s fingers off their hand so that they could leave. “Besides, I need to go and it looks as if you have someone else who wants to talk to you. Just keep my bird safe, keep your head down and try not to cause too much trouble. It won't take me all that long to get most of this mess dealt with."

[shadow_claw]

In slow, subtle movements, Mina's hopeful expression melted into dismay. No...not again. It was crippling to think that somebody else was throwing themselves into danger. For her. "Don't force me into this situation. I...I know you won't die. But Lars...he has Anti-ESP devices. If you get caught..." There was no need to elaborate any further. She was a worrier, especially about people she cared about. Things have gone wrong for her so many times...She was convinced she radiated bad luck.

 

"Fine! If that's what you want, th-then...then go!" Mina wrenched her own hand from his grip angrily, turning towards the door. There she goes again with the tears. And she wasn't even sad! No way! They were over! There was no conceivable she could be upset over this! "Just...get out. You want to leave? Then leave. D-don't...don't come back here expecting a warm welcome."

 

Upon returning to the cabin, she stormed past both brothers and made a beeline straight for her bedroom. She didn't need everyone to see her cry. Again.

The resounding noise within the bedroom were because of several things. The first was Namina tipping her wardrobe over in front of the door. The second was screaming. Loud, angry sobs. The week spent recovering from the shock of nearly dying was erased in an instant.

[Thaelasan]

Nate sighed as she stormed past, hand on his forehead. There was no need for words. God, he couldn't understand 3D women for the life of him, even the girl he had been watching for years. He doubted anything he said would have any effect at all.

Even Arc remained silent, hands in his coat pockets, still trying to process Nate's information from a bit earlier. Mel, however, was still asleep, her hand laying over the sofa's side.

"Are you certain we should trust SE?" Arc asked as Nate walked past him, taking a seat in a chair across from his laptop.

"Yeah." Nate replied casually, tapping a few keys to enter his game again.

"And that's it? What are we going to do, then?"

"Let Namina choose when we go." Nate sighed. "If she doesn't go, I can't go."

"Why not?"

"Because, like you said, I need her." Nate leaned his head on a hand, the other pressing keys. "So if you want my help, she has to come along. You're free to go on ahead, though."

"No, because I have no idea what to do then." Arc frowned, sitting back down next to Mel.

"Get a drink, first, and calm down, of course. If you want, I'll pull up some co-op stuff."

"Really? Now of all times?"

"We haven't played together in years." Nate grinned. "So, care to join in?"

"I think first you should go check on Mina."

"Do you really think that's going to do a damn thing? It seems anything I say to her is wrong and creepy. Why don't you do it?"

"Because I'm an outsider. And I think you can do more than you know." Arc laid a hand on Nate's shoulder.

"Gah..." Nate grimaced. "But if she throws something at me, it's your fault."

"Of course."

Nate stood back to his feet, walking to the steps and heading up the first few. Anxiety gripped him slightly, becoming worse as he reached the top of the stairs. Finally, he was standing outside her door, feeling the tension on the other side and hearing the sounds of her crying.

Sounds that brought him pain. Why did it hurt him? He frowned, confused. Why did it hurt him to hear her cry?

He held up a hand to knock.

And froze.

"C'mon Nate..." he whispered to himself, under his breath. "You can do this..."

Finally, he rapped lightly on the wood.

"Hey, Mina, you ok?" he asked, concerned.

[pudding]

Oh dear. Of all the reactions they had been trying to achieve, that was not the one that they wanted. Tilting their head slightly to the side, they watched Mina’s back as she stormed inside the house and away from them. Now she was mad at them. And why? They were just trying to help. Help in ways only someone like them could. Mina was a powerful ESPer but their powers were different. When dealing with a place like the Garden, it went beyond simple shape-shifting abilities. Not when the shape shifting was limited to humanoid figures.

She would have had to pose as someone. Know everything about them to slip past Lars. But spies didn’t need to be people and Lars couldn’t keep out every fly on the wall. Besides, she wanted out. Going there in person would likely only drive her deeper back in.

 

“Well,” They finally said, looking at the bird Mina had left behind. They’d have to leave it somewhere. Perhaps her windowsill? No, she’d probably just try to hit them as soon as they got near it. Out in the open would be better. Turning around, they glanced around the balcony briefly before setting the bird down on the railing. The dove easily shifted off of his hand and onto it’s new perch, allowing the Wizard to reach inside of their jacket and pull out a pen and small notecard. Writing in swift, neat letters, they wrote down a single word before tying the note to the bird’s leg.

Sorry

 

Glancing back at the house, they bit their lower lip slightly then turned away. They just had to get this over with. Mina would be grateful once it was all said and done and they buried the final information on her. Well, that and when they let her die. Finding someone that looked like her would be difficult but necessary. To truly have Mina get out of the fighting, they needed to go beyond just wiping data on her. They needed to push her out of the minds of the Government and EDEN. What better way to do that then having her die? Her name would be written down on a list of casualties and afterwards, he would go back in and take all of the data. They’d need a good reason as to why all the data went missing, of course.

 

This was going to take a fair bit of work, wasn’t it?

 

Sighing, the thief jumped up, grabbing ahold of the lip of the roof and carefully scrambling onto it. Crouching, they crawled over the roof to the other side of the house before jumping off and landing on the grass. As they walked away from the building, they carefully pulled a phone out of the inside of their jacket and dialed a quick string of numbers. They needed to talk to Abby. If they were going to do this, they had to make sure Abby knew. They didn’t want to be stuck in a Government building or on a boat without Abby knowing. It might just sink or explode.

[Thaelasan]

When things are not as they should be, but rather as they could be, people begin to grow irritated, especially those who are very concerned with Will rather than Can. Organized people, who expect things to go a certain way and never consider that sometimes life is not what one expects.

To live a life allowing things to be unexpected can be dangerous but to live a life forcing things to be as expected can be painful. So, in short, always expect the unexpected.

And the reverse is also true.

 

After having finished getting ready, Lesley stepped from the confines of her room to pass down the narrow hallway that led back to the main parts of the ship. A few people passed by her - mainly shipworkers and some other ESPers, but no one particularly important. As she stepped down the metallic floors, she had no real destination in mind. It wasn't as if Lars had called her.

Still, for some, unknown reason, the events of the past week still itched at her brain. Had they really gone too far? Lars had never done anything of that scale, not once. No one had been told other than her about the attack and she hadn't known about the bombs til she had gotten into the car that day and found them in the seat behind her.

But,... humans were trivial when it came to who should die and who should live. She needed to stop doubting that. It wasn't her way.

In her thoughts, she walked right into a wall.

"DAMMIT!" she grunted, rubbing her forehead quickly. This wasn't... normal. There wasn't a wall here usually, not-

Wait, there wasn't a wall at all.

"What did I just-"

"You seem out-of-sorts, Lesley-san."

A boy of obvious Asian descent, wearing a hoodie and a pair of torn jeans, revealed himself from a nearby corner. He had headphones in his ears playing a smooth melody quite loudly, but not irritatingly. It just seemed to be his aura.

"Yuuta." Lesley sighed, standing back to her full height. "Business from Lars then?"

"No." Yuuta replied, shaking his head. "But you haven't been yourself lately."

It was miraculous that the boy could speak decent English. Having been torn away from his home by his own government at the age of nine, the only language he had learned was that of his home country. Governments had tossed him around for years, considering his father was American and the extent of his power.

Yuuta's power was the generation of barriers, and so far Lesley had come to understand that they could block anything from bullets to lasers to even the powers of other ESPers. As such, he was a valued member of Lars' main group, posted to defense in case things went awry. Though, no one but Lars knew exactly how big the barriers could be.

"Then what. You gonna offer me a drink or something? Hoping for a date?" Lesley rubbed her hands through her hair dismissively to smooth it back after her fall.

"You are beautiful, yes, but that isn't why I'm here." Yuuta replied, walking around her a bit. "You've been through quite a bit. City destruction. Brother searches that are fruitless. Quite a bit." he repeated, coming to a stop. "Your current state of mind can't be completely stable."

"My current state of mind is none of your personal concern." Lesley snapped. "Besides, shouldn't you be watching for signs of a threat?"

"We have radar for that." Yuuta grinned. "But I wanted to tell you that if you wanted to talk, I'm here. You may not know me well but I don't like to think of anyone, especially a girl, suffering."

"How nice. Where's Lars?"

He sighed and shrugged, realizing the futility of it all.

"He's down the hall, in his room on the ship, of course. But I wouldn't bother him." Yuuta added.

"You're not me." Lesley replied curtly, walking past him only to smack into another wall.

"No. You don't understand, Lesley. I wouldn't because I can't, and neither can you." Yuuta wasn't looking at her now. "Strict orders from him. Didn't you get the memo?"

"Urgh..." She couldn't respond to that. Sure she had seen an email this morning but she had ignored it like usual. Unless it was from Lars himself, she didn't...

"Wait, Lars sent that? Why wasn't his normal signature on it?"

"Another thing you didn't pay attention to." Yuuta frowned. "Everything, including codes, have changed since the attack - to tighten security. The government's doing everything to find us. We can't let that happen."

"Let me guess, you were the one who was supposed to tell me?" Lesley grimaced.

"I tried to do it in person but your door was locked and you yelled me away the minute I knocked. Then, I sent an email..." Yuuta smirked.

"You planned all of this didn't you?"

"You're so easy to predict it's ridiculous. But that's my job." Yuuta shrugged again. "Predict, respond. Otherwise, barriers don't mean anything."

"So why did you want me out here then, you ass?" Lesley crossed her arms.

"The recent cargo delivery."

"What about it?"

"Miss Perfect Lesley forgot it's her week to take care of signing for it and checking it over." Yuuta leaned down a bit so he was level with her. "I tried to tell you in a less... painful way but you really needed it."

"How dare you assume what I do and don't need!" Lesley grabbed his collar, furious. "Waiting for me to do all of this! How did you know I'd even take this route?"

"Because it's the same one you take every week, and you also always visit Lars around this time of day before you eat." Yuuta replied bluntly.

"What, are you stalking me now?"

"You don't seem to notice I'm normally in the room or in the hall when you do it." Yuuta frowned. "It's like I don't even exist."

"If I had it my way, you wouldn't, especially not right now." Lesley scowled. "Weak, half-blooded..."

"Rather than yelling at me, you could be doing your job, and then I'd be out of your hair, Lesley-san." Yuuta released himself from her grip, stepping backward a bit. "It's right down the hall. Maybe Lars will meet with you after?"

"Whatever." Lesley stormed down the hallway, ignoring Yuuta's smirk as she passed by.

[pudding]

His own room on the ship was, unsurprisingly, rather large. In fact, it was the largest personal room on the entire ship. The whole matter stood on some kind of ritual, however, that dictated that he must have the nicest room. The best things were always reserved for the leader. It was a hierarchy not just in terms of power and command, but in terms of perks. But it wasn’t strictly for the better. While the large glass windows that looked over the entire ship gave him a very good position to make sure nothing bad was happening on deck, it offered an entrance into his quarters in the event the boat was ever put through a raid. More than a dozen ESPers could easily enter the room without actually having to enter the boat just by breaking through the glass. He put himself out in the open by taking the nicest room.

 

And why, honestly? He didn’t need it. Oh sure, the luxury of it was something pleasant indeed. Going from shuffled between orphanages to sitting on plush sofas was quite the transition and one he welcomed. He had been cursed with an unfortunate lack of a childhood and, as a result, wanted to indulge as much as possible while he still had time left. And while they say money doesn’t buy happiness, the difference between sitting on a broken wooden chair and a recliner made of white leather was apparent. It was easier to sleep at night when the beds you laid down on were not filled with broken springs.

Or if you were fortunate enough to sleep on a bed and not just on the floor. Those had been some troubling years.

 

So no, it wasn’t that he didn’t like the room. The biggest bother to him was the excess in itself. The Garden was designed to be perfect for their uses. Rooms had been converted into labs, the deck was covered in foliage and the accommodations were actually quite large considering the fact the Garden did not actually house many ESPers. Most were located at the main base, after all, so they had room to expand and give each member their own room.

But his own room? He barely used even half of it. Usually, he returned at the end of a day to collapse face-first into the bed and just rarely he would manage to enter at a decent hour and sit down at the desk near the bed. The kitchen remained unused, the casual living area near it barely breathed on and the TV had not even been plugged in. The only other thing that remained touched aside from the desk and the bed was a map of the world laid out on a table near the center of the room. He used it often to try to visualize where he would need to strike next, not just in America but globally. But it was starting to gather dust as well now. He was running out of time. He needed to strategize but looking at a map was so difficult when the lines all blurred together.

 

Stumbling slightly, he made his way back to the bed, sitting down on the edge of it as a familiar, unwanted pain flared up behind his eye. Lifting one hand to gently rub his forehead, he closed his eyes. The sharp sensation gradually faded with a small push of power from his hand. After a few moments of sitting there with his eyes closed in the soft light of his own room, he slowly stood back up. They had just struck. Their action of violence against America had warranted the proper response. Now they had to strike again. It was the simple rules of chess, after all. War was all about attacking and retreating. They had retreated into hiding for a long time. Now was the time to strike and strike hard.

They only had one chance at this.

He only had one chance at this.

 

Gathering up his coat and shrugging it on, he quickly exited from his room, pulling out his phone as he did so and adding a few notes to remind himself later what needed to be done. First, he’d need to check progress on the Anti-Anti ESP devices. Then he would need to write up an ultimatum to the American government as both terms of their surrender and a warning. The bombs had partially been for another cause, but very much so to establish that it was impossibly easy to attack the Government right under their noses. The explosion had only been blocks from the Government building, after all. Next time they would not be so fortunate.

Finally, he’d need to call a meeting with all of the highest-standing ESPers. It was time to share some more details about the next attack he had planned. With just the highest-standing ESPers, there was little chance of the information being leaked. That was usually why most ESPers didn’t know about the plans until right until they happened. Sometimes, depending on what he was doing, Lars didn’t even tell them. He just disappeared and returned a few hours or days later.

[Thaelasan]

Little girl, what do you want most in this world?

My brother, please?

Ah... a sibling, eh? And where has he gone?

I ... don't know.

Hmm... then I will give you one hint...

Please. Anything.

Seek the Garden, child. Seek the place of growth... Everything will come together there, and you will find where you belong...

 

---

 

She stomped down the hallway, furious, unwilling to deviate from her set path.

"Ass.... scum... dirty-rotten oriental..." she swore heavily, cursing in remarks no one should ever hear under her breath. She was very quick to anger, and unlike her siblings, she was VERY, VERY foul-mouthed when it came to it.

"I'm here. Give me the damn manifold." Lesley snapped, walking towards the supervisor of the day.

"....Uh... oh... Lesle-"

"GIVE ME THE MANIFOLD YOU INCOMPETENT WASTE OF SPACE!" Lesley shouted, taking the clipboard from him. "What was the big deal, anyway?! Why did I have to be called down here?! Isn't your job to handle this so we don't have to?!"

"Uh... Miss, we don't handle this sort of thing.."

"WHAT sort of thing?!" Lesley growled.

"Well... uh... take a look, and please calm down for godsake." the man turned to the cargo, motioning with his hand.

Another man stepped up and began scanning the cargo with a small device. For a long while, nothing happened. Lesley began tapping her foot, impatient.

"What? A new toy or something?"

"Shush, please. Wait a moment." the man assured.

Finally, the thing began beeping, HARD, in a certain section of the cargo.

"....Alright, I admit, that sounds bad." Lesley said, slapping the manifold back in the man's hands. "So what's that thing supposed to do, besides grate on nerves?"

"It checks for signals and pings, radars."

"So, what? Something in there is sending out waves of some kind? Then just emp it. Don't we keep those for that purpose?" Lesley put a hand on her hip, unconvinced of the severity of the situation.

"That's the problem, ma'am. Since the last two incidents ended with either explosives rigged to detonate in absence of electricity or the destruction of valuable merchandise, we uh..."

"Oh. I'm not as important because I'm an ESPer?" Lesley cocked an eyebrow.

"N-NO ma'am. It's because you're one of the high ranking people. They said we should call you because it's your turn to handle dock maintenance..."

"Fine fine..." Lesley said, kneeling next to the large crate.

LARS was printed on the side. Ostentatious, surrounded by a red border. Obviously something important, part of one of his personal market deals with that * M. Lesley didn't trust M in the slightest. In fact, she really didn't trust anyone anymore besides Lars and her brother...s... she supposed. She didn't like the other one much.

She placed her hand on the side and closed her eyes. Soon, her mind was traveling within it, her telekinetic abilities scanning the entirety of the box for a long time. The men walked away, giving her space.

"....It'll be fine to blast it. It's a small ping device, a basic tracker. It's not linked to anything. But I'm going to inform Lars." Lesley grinned, finally having a reason to make Lars doubt that girl.

She began to head towards Lars' room. Let Yuuta TRY to stop her. This time she had a valid statement, a valid reason-

Within the next moment, there was a loud, flaming explosion. Heat blasted her forward from the bay door as the sound of alarms went off in the distance all around her.

She heard a loud ringing, unable to make sense of any of the noise. People were running past her, away from the docks, as the sound of metal cracked and split loudly from within. The entire boat slid in reluctance as the cargo bay shattered and began to sink into the depths of the water - with anyone trapped on it - including her.

She ran forward, clutching onto a splitting part of the ship as it tore from its holding. Glass shattered as she began to regain her full strength, clutching tightly as the floor gave way.

"No... no way... That... What..." she muttered, her mind racing, unable to make sense of anything. In the next moment, a hand was on hers, a face familiar, with another person, as she was pulled to safety, only to watch the entire section of the ship sink beneath the cold abyss. Pounds of cargo, smaller boats and ships, lost to the depths of the sea, only a gaping hole in the ship to show it had ever existed.

"....Wha.....what-...." she began, coughing from the smoke and dust. She looked at her hands, now burning and bleeding from the gashes caused from how tightly she had clutched the ship. Why hadn't she floated? Why hadn't she reacted with her powers? Her reaction had been...

It had been human.

Disgusted and nauseated from the explosion and the racing of her thoughts and her heartbeat, she turned away from her rescuers and vomited onto the metal surface of the floor.

"....What cause... bomb was..."

She heard voices behind her but they were clouded by the ringing in her ears. All she could do was lean against the wall of the ship, unable to understand anything anymore.

Her eyes began to close as she drifted into unconsciousness.

 

-----

 

"It's done."

Arc's face was both filled with sadness and despair as he released the device held in his hand. Mina's trust with Lars would be terminated and she would become his enemy. Having seen Arc with her and Nate, SE would most certainly inform Lars the trio were together, with Mel.

He hadn't wanted to do it, truly. He'd prepared the device to disarm, just like the one he had sent to the government building. It was an act of war he hadn't wanted to start. But for both sides to come together, their weapons and powers had to be reduced to nothing, their killing supplies nullified, their reasons to fight - gone.

He had to make sure they couldn't attack each other, at least, while Arc worked to formulate his own plans and theories. It's all he could do. And now... the other one.

He gripped the trigger tightly. A government research base, filled with anti-ESPer weaponry, but also close to civilian housing. A place meant for war. A place meant for death.

It was not justice. It was not pure or good.

He slipped his hand over the button.

And he made the choice.

 

-----

 

The next explosion shattered two weapons depositories in the surrounding area, where Mina's shipment had been sent. Within moments, politicians were calling politicians and generals were making demands. The attack would be blamed on EDEN at first, then they would receive the cryptic message using Nate's help - the one to ensure they understood that another force was out there to ensure the end of this needless conflict.

If they were called terrorists, then Arc was a terrorist. He didn't care, really. But he knew, if Lars and the Government continued at this pace, with bombings and ripping cities something Lars was capable of... It had to halt, for now. It just needed to stop.

But now came the following steps. The research lab in the subway. Then the other, smaller acts of espionage. He'd been planning this for three years of grueling thought and engineering, with Mel's help to survive... It was all coming together.

"I'm sorry Lars, but this is not how you will achieve anything other than genocide and a path to the pit." Arc said to the sky, grimacing. "....And... I'll join you there when it's over."

[shadow_claw]

Tears had started and they just didn't stop. On her hands and knees, Mina trembled in-between gasps for air. Look at what she had done. All this...why couldn't she have one solid relationship in her life? Everyone stuck their necks out for her sake. So many of her friends...her lovers...they all died. The Wizard had been thrown from body to body because of their recklessness. She couldn't stand it. She constantly put people in danger with her actions. It nauseated her just to think about it.

 

And just like that, she fell still. Her sobbing stilled altogether and the room was thrown into silence. Namina's green gaze lifted to the window. It was a gorgeous day outside. The sun was shining, the birds were singing...and the ravine behind the house was teeming with life.

 

If one happened to be inside the room, looking in, they would have been able to see her push the curtains away and slide the window open. And one would have seen her jump from it. What they wouldn't have seen, however, was a pair of wings sprout from her shoulder blades and snap open. Just like that, she vanished into the wilderness.