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Champions of Battle: The Very Best – Opportunity #21

Catlin sat back down and looked passed the empty seat across from her.  The others ate in silence.  Brisa was walking up the stairs towards her cabin still wearing the armor and enchanted gear Catlin had made especially for her.  Catlin knew exactly where Brisa’s cabin was, but it was best not to force a conversation right now.

Catlin had approached Brisa’s door with a powerful disguising enchant to keep Brisa from freaking out on site.  The event at the shuttle platform had affected Brisa much more than Catlin had wanted.  There was no way to know Brisa would be so ill-equipped for life outside the news room.

She slowly got to know Brisa.  Honestly, she was easy to get along with.  As they bonded, Catlin slowly weakened the enchantment but Brisa was still not ready to know the truth.  She had thought that eating with the person she was hired to follow would be enough of an apology.  Perhaps it was working for a while

Catlin had dropped the disguising enchantment at the table some time ago.  Her mask also had a perception enchant making it easier for her to see through disguises.  With all that, Brisa was still under the influence of Catlin’s spell.  Which meant one thing: Brisa wanted to believe the lie.

Once her eyes were open, they saw how she reacted to being tricked.  She didn’t like it.  No one does.  No one ever does.  Catlin knew that from the start but she was assured that things would turn out for the best.  They were following an “inspired” plan after all.

Catlin turned to Neely, “You told me to hide myself.  Now she doesn’t trust us at all.”

“It was better than the alternative,” he rebutted calmly after taking a drink.  It was water this time, “Or would you have liked her to run, scream, and call security on you.”

His distant calm bugged her and his tactics were unfeeling.  All of her hard work was wasted.  She’ll be recovering from performing those enchantments for at least a day.  The fruit of her labor walked away along with Brisa.  Catlin had lost a friend and they still needed to find someone to report on Jaquan, all because of Neely.  “What do we do now,” she asked Jaquan.

“We continue on our way,” he answered with his mouth full, “You said she was only going to stay in the town for a little while, right?”  He chewed a bit more then he swallowed, “We just have to wait for the replacement team.  Then we check them.”

They continued their meal.  Everyone ate their fill except Catlin.  She wasn’t hungry.

—–

Brisa reached her cabin still a little shaken.  It seemed that the BigBad Crew was fine eating without her.  They seemed not at all hostile to her this time.  Still the tricks and betrayal were a different type of hostility.  They had attacked her before.  No matter if they were remorseful, they wouldn’t get another chance.

Catlin’s impromptu meeting was a good trick.  The Crew may have wanted her to join them on their trip.  However, after telling them her secrets, she didn’t feel safe around any of them.  Catlin could use her fears and weaknesses for any purpose.  The “Catlin” she met could have also been a smokescreen.  She just didn’t know.

Duard would probably call her a fool for leaving like she did.  But he wasn’t here.  Only she was here with no backup.  Still, Brisa had surpassed him on one note.  She had, after all, gotten as close to Jaquan as he did; and without getting stepped on.  Duard was probably just leaving the hospital after his three day reminder that Jaquan ‘hated’ reporters.

All the same, the shuttle was landing.  It was time to call South Coast.

#1 – Opportunity #20 – Opportunity #22

Sons of Sword: Tales of Glory – Lost and Found #17

Metcalf grabbed her gear and walked for one of the training center’s exit.  There was nothing left to do there.  She only had about five thousand academy points left.  This amount placed her with the lowest ten percent of the students at the academy; the lower half of the red zone.

It was a little hard to believe.  She had gambled points at the Stream Quarter Training Center for almost a decade.  For the amount of time Metcalf has been lingering in the school.  The final will be extremely had for her to pass.

Sure, she wanted to climb the ranks before midterm.  So did everyone else.  That was the only reason the training centers were packed this time of year.

She passed a few students worriedly looking at their rank on their handhelds.  Unlike them, she knew when to let go of hope.  With the training center’s stiff competition, no one would challenge her except a student in an equal position.  With the scant few points to work with, it would be weeks before she would manage to crawl out of the red zone.  By then; midterm would have passed; she would be on the final exam list; and the training center would be empty again.

She only gambled because it was the only way she could keep enough Academy Points to stay at the school.  It was possible to get points from accomplishing tasks in a class but the classes were boring.  She would prefer not to see Naoh and Koh but if not for them, she would have been out of the school a long time ago.

Exiting the training center, she took of her helmet.  The hue on her beautifully youthful face was split down the middle; red on the right and white on the left.  She still had a slight green tint due to her not quite being of age.  That did little to mask the face of a thinking reasoning warrior.

Strangely she was not upset at her fate.  Sure, she would prefer it to be different.  Leaving a school where students enjoyed everything, free of charge, was a major inconvenience.  Then again, she no longer had to prey on lesser skilled students.

She wanted to participate in real work and use her talents for something real.  Guard duty was in no way glamorous but her actions made a real difference in people’s lives.  With any luck she could land a good placement with a nearby city.

Still with the sudden change, Metcalf felt like she should be angry at someone.  However, no one person seemed to fit the criteria to be stuck with the blame though.

Lance?  Not him.  How would he know how things would end up for her?  He actually looked sad when he saw how many points she was losing.  He had the potential to become a great Protector.  He only had to learn to project more of his skills rather than touch everything.

Herself?  No.  Lance did something that the Quarter Masters had taught against for the longest time.  There was no way to predict that it would actually work.  She simply did what all students in her position would do.  She knew continued gambling would end like this eventually.  Students that gamble eventually lose.  She lost.

Naoh? Koh?  No.  They were heartless sharks, and there was no way they would help her now, but they had nothing to do with this.  They helped her stay afloat in the school until now.  And in the end, she made the decision to challenge Lance not them.

No one was to blame.  The day started like any other and it ended like this.  Metcalf didn’t like it, at all.  However, she lost her say in the matter a few minutes ago.  Her time at school ended at this year’s Final Exam, unless she passed.

Metcalf giggled at the thought, Yeah, Good luck with that.

#1 – Lost and Found #16 – Lost and Found #18

Champions of Battle: AD7 – Awakening #21

The observation apartments were in a separated division of the research labs.  There were many unknowns in research.  It was a precaution on the off chance that conscious subjects would control or react to devices being researched in the lab.  With the valuable items in the lab, it never hurt to be as safe as possible.

Several types of protective barriers blocked the way into the apartments.  With their high rank, Doctors Yu and Wu were able to walk through most of the check points unhindered.  They were stopped only twice.  Even they could be imitated or bugged by a crafty thief or saboteur.

The apartments were relatively nice; filled with soft things and many means of entertainment.  They were quite comfortable and themed in a calming light blue color.  From time to time, the laboratory staff spent time in them reading or resting on their breaks.  Today though, they were off limits.  A guest considered potentially hazardous was staying there.

The doctors approached the apartment door.  It slid to the right, opening the way for them.  Dr. Yu couldn’t help but stare for a while at the embodiment of her inspiration and her warning, AD7.

Their guest was examining a toaster though it seemed as though she had no interest in making toast.  She put her head to it as though she was thinking with it.  Then she put her ear to it and listened to it as though it had said something to say.  Looking confused, she simply set it back down.

She looked almost like a crisho female, though quite a bit taller and thinker all around though still quite fit.  Instead of the lizard-like crisho flesh, metallic patches of different colors, sizes, and shapes covered her.  Each patch held a powerful Hanja of matching size.  Both Adrianne and Chaeri knew what most of them did.  There were a few of them that were old or obscure enough to escape even their memory.

She was found with no clothing but in the interest of modesty, the lab crew dressed her with a simple tunic and slacks.  Even with the tunic, the two ladies could tell that her wings were replaced with sleek jet packs.

Their guest turned to regard them.  Her eyes were solid white dimly-lit lights.  She had a simple slit of a mouth that, dispite the metal face opened and closed as normal.  Inside of the slit, something that resembled a speaker took the place of her throat.  What passed for her hair was instead hair thin bits of wire.  It stayed in place but from time to time a single strand would move on its own.

Adrianne stared for a while awestruck while AD7 looked back at her.  After a time, she decided to speak, “Greetings AD7.  I am Dr. Yu head of this facility.”

Their guest looked back and smiled.  Her logical systems computed her situation in a split second.  Yu says Eight-Seven is Master.  Eight-Seven is not Master.  Yu knows neither Eight-Seven nor Master.  Yu is leader of this facility.  Facility has trapped Eight-Seven thinking she is Master.  Facility has high potential to be enemy of Eight-Seven and Master; reevaluate later.  Eight-Seven must escape facility to fully obey Master’s commands.  If Eight-Seven is to succeed in escape procedure, should gain trust of Yu.  Eight-Seven will impersonate Master and gain Yu’s trust.  “Hello Dr. Yu,” she spoke imitating AD7’s voice perfectly, “Your facility is remarkable.”

#1 – Awakening #20 – Awakening #22