Ira Riese:
PRT Headquarters
Messiah’s eyes lit up not with happiness, but with an impressive glow. Epsilon stared for a second too long, and had to blink away the light’s affect. The ward dropped back before matching Epsilon’s pace, and placed a hand on her shoulder.
“Hey, you doing alright? You seem nervous.”
Epsilon flinched very slightly, clearly not expecting the show of affection, and seemed uncomfortable at first. As the hand heated up she relaxed a bit more, her body getting progressively less tense as the seconds ticked by. She nodded dully at first, enjoying the touch as she kept her eyes on her feet, but then she responded to the question. Her voice was barely a mumble, and only those listening close would be able to hear her; excluding Sonar.
”Yeah I’m alright, just. . . What am I supposed to do against twenty armed individuals?”Sonar spoke next, but his words. . . It was hard to explain. When he spoke so only you could hear it was almost intimate, like someone whispering into your ear. Luckily you couldn’t feel his breath against your ear, because that would be even creepier. Regardless Epsilon tensed as the words were spoken to-No. It wasn’t like being spoken to, it was like the words were being left in your head. It was distinctly more private.
"Don't worry, Ira. You're brilliant and capable! In fact, I'm the one that requested you be on this team when you first signed on."Confusion blanketed Epsilon’s face as she processed the words. He sounded sincere, and he obviously meant for it to be comforting, but. . . It didn’t seem true. She pondered for a few seconds more, before Tulpa, who was directly in front of Epsilon, spoke.
"I can scout,"A pause
"...with my ability that is."The face of the young Japanese girl brightened beneath her mask, and she watched Tulpa as she. . . Scouted? Could she see things around her as if she was standing there? Could she look through the eyes of others around her? Epsilon was almost jumping up and down in excitement and interest. As she wondered a silvery light suddenly came up from the ground, just intense enough to be seen past the sun’s light. Before Epsilon could fully take note of its existence it sank into the ground. Her eyes shifted from the
projection to Tulpa, watching her closely. The newest Ward waited a few seconds, and spoke as if from a distance.
"Most of the thugs are armed,"Epsilon’s gaze fell in disappointment. Guns, they had guns, and she had no way to fight against that.
"Weapons are melee in nature. Also, they have hostages, roughly half a dozen. They're tied up with rope, if I'm getting this right."A breath of relief escaped Epsilon’s lip, before her breath caught again at the mention of hostages. Hostages?! Why the hell did they have hostages? How long had they been planning this for, and how could these thugs expect to protect the hostages with Wards like Dean and Messiah around. As she was lost in thought, she was suddenly interrupted by Margrave saying something. Something Epsilon immediately disregarded, as she had more important things to deal with.
"Now we have an idea of what we're up against, Wards. I can distinctly hear twenty-nine different bodies. Twenty thugs with melee weapons plus Eyeblight, which means we have eight hostages tied up. They're positioned exactly thirty meters south of us, near the drain mouth where the water pours into the creek. It's rather lucky that we caught Eyeblight in such tight quarters. That means his natural agility and athleticism will be somewhat mitigated. I recommend a two-pronged assault. Tulpa,"Sonar paused, shifting his gaze to, in Epsilon’s opinion, the current most interesting Ward.
"Since you volunteered, on my signal manifest your projection from inside the drain tunnel. That way, we draw their attention from the mouth entrance."Epsilon’s jaw dropped as she stared at the newest Ward member. She could manifest a full-fledged projection?! Why had Decoy not told her this earlier!
He deserves a talking to She thought to herself with an almost faux anger.
"While the Community is distracted with the sudden appearance of Tulpa's projection, I will lead assault team A through the mouth. I want Martyr and Epsilon with me. Martyr, if any of them try to escape, make sure they'll have to fight for it by plugging that exit with as many clones as you can. Epsilon, if there's anything you can do to nullify Eyeblight's shifting, do it."Epsilon shook her head, recalling Eyeblight’s file. She responded quietly, just loud enough that everyone in the group of Wards could hear.
”No, not unless he is in his human form. But even then-No, I’m sorry. I came unprepared.” As she spoke, she shifted her eyes up to Sonar, but he continued without immediately commenting on the words Epsilon had spoken.
"Once they realize that we're blocking off the easiest escape route, they may try to simply charge passed Tulpa's manifestation. Messiah, you and Margrave are assault team B. Your job will be to back up Tulpa inside the tunnel in order to make sure none of them can get out that way. Your fire walls should prove essential, but remember that we don't know if Eyeblight's transformation makes him more susceptible to combustion, so be careful. We aren't trying to murder anyone. I'm counting on you to make sure that none of the thugs can get in close enough to hurt Messiah." Epsilon didn’t notice the look given to Margrave, for her eyes had returned to her feet. Despite this she still listened intently, making sure she didn’t become a burden. She was, admittedly, a little bit disappointed she wouldn’t get to spend time with Tulpa, but at least she didn’t have to be with Margrave. Give and take.
"We all good with that?"Epsilon made no verbal response, but simply nodded as she moved closer to Martyr and Sonar. As she moved, Martyr spoke, his words clearly directed at Sonar and Margrave. Despite this the ignorance in those words shocked even Epsilon.
"Wait, I know Margrave's power doesn't affect flesh, but when Eyeblight is wheat or whatever, can Margrave turn him into a toy? That would be really useful, that'd probably limit his mobility even more actually. If so, congratulations Mar, you might be useful for once."Epsilon spoke next, sounding confident and a bit annoyed at the condescending tone. I mean, no one liked Margrave, but that didn’t mean you had to be a huge throbbing phallus symbol. She automatically used a teacher-like tone, sounding like a verbal pat on the head. Her voice died at the end as she realized how rude that could be perceived to be.
”No, no. Wheat is living material, and Margrave’s power doesn’t even work on dead flesh. After all, hay is made out of plant material.”
