"If we don't make contact, then they'll sterilize everything."
"..."
'That...'
Was not what he'd expected.
It was a matter of ti before the governnt took action, but still. Sterilization protocol. In other words, high-yield kinetic strikes. Bombs. A complete wipeout on this hotbed city of Nightmare Creatures through and through.
Hope observed each of their expressions. And with a reluctant conclusion, he noticed there weren't any impish hints of lies lurking on their features.
Hope's brain short-circuited for a mont to process the information.
"..."
And that mont was up.
Well then. What should he even say?
"That sounds...efficient."
"...?!"
'Wrong answer–'
!!!
Prince recoiled from the statent that had him pull off a piece of fabric the wrong way in which Hope's arm twitched to smack him in the face.
"Efficient! Are you serious right now?" Minho snorted. "This city is full of people. Families, kids, people who didn't ask for this. We've been risking our necks out there, clearing paths, and–"
"You were threatened enough when you've mistaken for a stray."
"Forget about that!" Of course, Hope couldn't. "You lasted long enough to have seen it yourself. So strays we've co across are strange. And aggressive. And–"
"And present..." Corrin muttered.
"Look! We've been ordered to gather survivors at certain points where they'll send additional teams to extract them."
"Let catch you up, stiff." Corrin tiredly looked off to the side. "We can't reach anything out. The gate's interference isn't helping, but it's also either their uplink is fried or they're ignoring us. It would be unlucky for the latter...but if we don't send confirmation of the city's progress, they'll proceed with– Oh what did they na so fancily? Plan Oga."
Plan Oga...
"You don't have to believe in their motives. I sure as hell don't. But...well...I do chose life."
'Wait...'
Hope frowned at those words.
'For the people in power who didn't give shit about the ones who couldn't afford to be in fortified cities, their motives for this operation don't add up.'
And also for the governnt's inaction towards this city's settlent disputes, unless it disrupted their supply lines, already spoke volus about their insensitive nature to lackluster communities.
'But despite that.' Hope eyed the other two Awakened.
'Their minds seem to be made up.'
Even if they were revealed that side of the governnt, they were still holding onto faith and trust in them.
'Trust them to kill us faster.' Hope silently comnted.
Why did Hope even beco a soldier?
'For the glory of humanity.'
'Tsk. No. For damn survival.'
Whatever job had to be done didn't matter to him. Unless he was getting paid or fed.
These Awakened on the other hand, soldiers they were but uncalloused in many ways, have an overactive sense of responsibility.
"When exactly?" Hope asked instead.
Corrin looked absentmindedly at the ceiling. "Soon was it?"
Minho answered. "At this point, likely next week."
Soon?
How vague.
If not a clear countdown, then that ant they were waiting for sothing.
Hope pinched the bridge of his nose.
'Ah questions. Questions. Questions...'
Nevermind that. Maybe Hope didn't give the most appropriate answer. But whether it was cruel or not, logically speaking, wiping out a city in one go that was drowned in chaos did not seem entirely foolish. It would save their army's numbers from further loss in their Quadrant and any wasted ammunition.
But the unfortunate factor was that Hope was in the damn city.
So if this plan were to be executed.
'Then I'm really pressed for ti.'
"..."
'But what kind of fucking odds is this?'
It was one thing to go up against a Fallen or several opponents, but facing a whole bomb countdown?
'Sigh...I'm really going to kill that Spell.'
And so what if he planned to only free his teammates and leave? It wouldn't be the first ti they turned their backs on a dood setting. The city wasn't their responsibility. That was not a weight they asked for. That was sothing for the Awakened or people like Immortal Fla himself to sacrifice themselves for.
Hope placed a hand on the table to stand up. "I'll save my teammates myself. I don't have ti for any of your side projects."
"If you say so....Plus...I'm...asking all three of you."
"...what?
"What?!"
"...?!"
Although Prince couldn't speak, Hope saw his mouthed words had matched theirs.
Corrin raised his hands in mock surrender tilting his head down, his eyes peeking over his glasses.
"Look...I get it. You're the lone wolf type, right? Big hero."
'No. No. No. Not a damn hero.'
"But be honest...You're forgetting one thing: You don't know Sector 5. I do. A settlent that ambushed your convoy and took people hostage, Stiff. They're fortified...ard...and desperate. So walking in there alone...? You're really asking for a death wish."
Hope's lips pressed into a thin line.
He had a point.
Hope couldn't deny his disadvantageous position. But no matter the reasonable points Corrin made, there was still one other annoying factor standing in the way of this long-term negotiation.
At that mont, the dimly lit room humd an awakening machinery noise as Corrin walked towards the wall of monitors. He typed onto the keyboard—the clicking and clacking sounding like the march of heels. The screens glitched, blinking from misshapen shapes to rough diagrams and notes around a modeled image of a skyscraper.
Hope studied the structure. "Is that?"
"Sector 5. Lo and behold...Also one of the more fortified and resource-rich sectors...But after the monster gate opened, it was overwheld by the influx. What you're seeing is what I've been hacking into their systems for weeks. Here I have partial maps of their layout...security protocols...annnd even weak points in their defenses—"
"If you can do that and read internationally, then what's the problem in relaying a transmission for us?" Minho folded his arms.
Corrin scratched his beard. "That doesn't require to bypass secure physical firewalls...Or deal with layers of disconnected, crumbling infrastructure within the city." He said as he gestured to the windows which were blinded. "It's a simple miracle of passive activity of reading and browsing..."
"So what does your plan have to do with ?" Hope said as he leaned onto the table feeling the burns rippling again.
Corrin cleared his throat. "Since you've got your eye on the sa place I need to get to, you three could just slide in, connect to their hub, hold for a little bit, then slide back out...How's that sound?"
'The fuck–'
"With these guys?"
"In that dungeon?!"
Prince nervously waved his hands.
"What the hell is that supposed to an?" Minho snapped as he whipped towards Hope.
'Exactly what it ans.'
Corrin rubbed his eyes. "I'm not asking you to fight them again. Unless...you're wanting to kill an Awakened."
Hope blinked at those words.
That would make sense as to why a cohort with a Master of their own struggled with the ambush. It wasn't because of the mundane humans, or weaponry, but because of the involvent of other Awakened.
'The Sector has Awakened...what else? A Master?'
"..." Hope paused. "They don't have...Masters do they...?"
"As far as I could gather? No."
Just as those words left his mouth, a mory chid in with his mother's cheerful voice:
'Count your blessings, Hope!'
Hope's eyebrow twitched as her echoes sparked a quiet choir in pursuit.
It was just like his mother to chi in with her unsolicited advice at any opportune mont.
Minho shook his head. "We can't be separate from the group for too long. How long do you expect this to take anyway?"
"Expectations wise...One day. One night. And– Oh. Would you look at that...? It's night too....Haha."
The three of them stiffened.
Hope could see the other two Awakened's eyes tremble.
Hope did want to preoccupy his night with sothing other than the voices but things were becoming complicated.
Hope closed his eyes and breathed in. Counted to ten. Then breathed out.
It was ti to address the obvious factor.
"There's one main problem."
"Oh? Don't tell you're really getting cold feet now, Stiff..." Corrin said as he rested the side of his head on his fist.
"No. But...." Hope looked around. "Do you possibly have a whiteboard or sothing...?
"...huh?"
Apparently, Corrin did.
Just behind a stack of scratched hardware, a dusty board was wheeled out next to a little lamp in view for them.
Hope quickly bandaged himself in between that ti before he stood in front of it, the act blinding him with mories of his officers diagraming the board for the troops.
Hope wouldn't mind switching ti dates.
At that mont, Hope's hand twitched on a marker. He was reluctant to admit it, but he would rather follow through with Corrin's plan in one day than waste another 24 hours doing nothing for his teammates.
"Tch. Alright...Quite the setup. How more bloody ominous can this be?" Minho comnted under his breath.
Hope frowned. "As two of you already know, I'm a Drear. And if we are going to follow through with the plan, I need to explain sothing."
"Prince and I didn't even agree–"
"It's about my Flaw."
As expected, puzzled expressions creased all their faces.
Why would any Spell carrier even ntion their Flaw to soone else? It was a weakness. A secret. A fault that strained their potential like a bulb under a shade once known. Of course in Hope's case, he likely did not have to worry for such a scenario.
But what Hope had co to understand was that the Spell was particular to each person.
A Flaw was not a universal curse, but a tailored one.
Because what may be convenient, prospective in one's eyes was alternatively a reckoning for another.
Hope started writing on the board.
"My Flaw is that I'm forgettable."
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