Chapter 8 - Mission

[MISSION - LOG START]

“This… might have been… the worst idea… in a while…”

Cough

Wheeze

I staggered home after my first run in what felt like years - “run” being a very generous term. What had actually happened was a light jog for about 2 minutes when I suddenly felt a wave of exhaustion and soreness start to overwhelm me. Thankfully, it was nothing compared to the blunt force impacts and numerous lacerations that I had experienced in “The Grand Challenge”, but discomfort would always be an unpleasant feeling.

“Water… I need water…”

After stupidly not bringing anything with me to run besides my apartment key, I fumbled through the doorway, walked clumsily to the sink, and grabbed the nearest cup to start pouring tap water into.

“This must be… what being exhausted actually feels like.”

My fridge was rather barren besides a couple of microwave-ready meals and various sparkling waters I liked to keep in stock, so plain drinking water was almost never a desired necessity. But with my body craving something to quench its thirst, it might as well have become the most delicious liquid in the world.

“Damn… and I still need to get ready for work.”

After greedily drinking the tap water, I sluggishly made my way to the small living room and sprawled out onto the floor. Since I never had guests and never really had a reason to spend time in this room, it was devoid of any furniture, so I simply laid on the carpet floor and took a moment to collect myself.

“I don’t even know… if I’ll be able to shower in time.”

As the fatigue and exhaustion almost made me pass out, and with sleep generously offering itself once more, I steeled myself to get off the floor by turning onto my elbows and slowly pushing myself up.

“Maybe a shower would make me feel better… at least it would get the sweat off me.”

Ti ti ti ting!

While showering, I heard an abnormally loud notification go off on my phone.

“It couldn’t be… now of all times?”

I quickly rushed to finish up my shower and approached the phone in my bedroom to confirm my suspicions.

IT’S TIME. YOUR NEXT CHALLENGE AWAITS.

Picking up my phone and reading the notifications, I glanced at the top of my phone to check the time.

“8:47…”

I sighed in resignation as I opened my work laptop and began typing something to my manager on the corporate messaging app.

“Hey boss, something came up so I won’t be able to attend our daily team meeting today. My updates are as follows…”

---

I opened my eyes after launching “The Grand Challenge” and found myself back in Usika’s body. Taking quick stock of the area I now found myself in, it appeared to be some sort of lab in a school building. Long, empty horizontal tables were arranged neatly in rows behind me, and on the right edge of the room were various cabinets, sinks, and counters that would typically line a school lab. Instead of the expected instruments and glassware lining the counters, I saw various books, papers, and notepads taking their place. Glancing towards the front, I saw a chalkboard with various notes and discussions regarding the state of Usika’s world. In front of the chalkboard, I saw a lone desk covered with a makeshift map with various objects scrunching together towards the middle, most likely a 3-D representation of Usika’s world.

“This… is what remains.”

The grave words echoed in my head as I thought back to our recent meeting with Sital, just as that same familiar voice made itself heard once more.

Err-hmph!

A loud cough jolted me back into the present as I quickly shifted my attention to the owner of the voice, finally noting that Sital was standing beside the chalkboard at the front of the classroom.

“I’m sorry if I’m starting to bore you, Usika, but all this information will be the difference between the success and failure of the next mission. Is there something you want to know that will keep you engaged?”

Completely taken aback and a bit flustered at being publicly lambasted by an authority figure, old juvenile feelings of embarrassment began to well up in me instinctively.

“No… I’m sorry. I just got a bit distracted is all. Please continue, it won’t happen again.”

A soft but firm voice spoke up from my avatar as Sital nodded in confirmation and continued on with her presentation. I wiped the mental sweat from my brow and internally chuckled to myself at the embarrassment I probably would have caused had my avatar not been there to step in.

( Sorry for popping in so late. )

Usika shook her head as if to not be annoyed by my sudden reappearance and began whispering in a low voice.

“No worries, Pablo. I had a feeling you were coming back sometime soon, though admittedly you did take quite a while… you almost missed what I think could be the most important development.”

( Missed? What could I have possibly missed? )

Just as I was about to mentally review what I had seen, Sital stopped presenting and turned to face us.

“So that is our assessment of the situation at Steel’s Crossing. Do you and Ikari think this is something feasible to execute?”

( Ikari? Who is that? )

Usika turned her head so I could see who she was referring to. At a different table to my left sat a girl who looked slightly older than Usika. She had intense scarlet-colored hair curled outward as it reached the top of her shoulders and wore a long black jacket with blue ripped jeans and a grey colored shirt.

( Floofy… )

I unconsciously whispered my internal thoughts to Usika, thinking that Ikari’s hair reminded me of the texture of sheep’s wool. Ikari turned to face us, and my jaw mentally dropped a bit as well. It was hard to see it at first as her floofy hair covered her face, but after looking directly at us, a number of lacerations and bruises could visibly be seen. The aura radiating from her did not invoke a sense of pity for her condition. Instead, I felt a pulsating anger and determination, and quickly had her scorn directed at us.

“She asked you a question, Usika. Are you going to answer her or are you going to continue staring at me?”

Attempting to regain my professionalism once more, I quickly had my avatar bring a balled fist to her face, and Usika loudly coughed into it without missing a beat.

“Yeah, sorry, just have a lot on my mind today.”

Ikari clicked her tongue and turned to face the front of the classroom once more, and Sital took the silence as agreement. Realizing what was about to happen, I projected a question for Usika to ask.

“Sorry, could you give like the 30-second summary of what we’re about to do? Just want to make sure we’re all in alignment with the mission and whatnot.”

Sital visibly sighed, and I could feel Ikari rolling her eyes beside me, but Sital conceded with the request.

“Alright everyone, here is what we know so far.”

Sital had a lecturing stick in hand and pointed to the crudely drawn overhead map on the chalkboard.

“Steel’s Crossing was once a popular shopping plaza that sprawled several acres of land. Various food and equipment stores populated the property in the past, and until recently, it was one of the last homes of the Remains until it was invaded. Our forward scouts have been encircling the safer parts of the perimeter and have confirmed that various Turena have been patrolling the area.”

Patrolling? Does that mean they are not just mindlessly wandering towards human settlements? I projected my question for Usika to ask, and Sital paused to reply to us.

“Excellent question, Usika. As we are unable to enter Turena territory, we are speculating that they have some sort of condition required for advancing into our own territory. We hypothesize that some sort of process is taking root within in Steel’s Crossing, and that process is both draining the land and powering the Turena around it.”

Sital stopped to pause and look at both my avatar and Ikari.

“This is where you both come in. We believe that with Ikari’s current powers and your potential, Usika, we have what it takes to turn the tide on this battle for humanity.”

Sital then paused to look down at the table in front of her with the makeshift diorama of Usika’s world.

“If we can retake Steel’s Crossing, we will have a stronger foothold in this region and learn more about how to deal with this type of Turena. To that extent, we will now have Ikari train you in an attempt to awaken more of your powers, and once we discover your strong suits, we will commence the operation the subsequent day.”

With Sital finishing her piece, Ikari loudly slid her chair backwards to get up from the table and quickly sent a fiery glance over at us as she made her way to the exit. I slowly got up from my chair as I had Usika follow behind Ikari. I wondered what kind of powers Ikari had already awakened and hoped that her behavior towards us was simply a bad first impression.

[MISSION - LOG END]