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Chapter 7

I took a deep breath as I knocked on Nova's door. I was nervous and didn't know what to do. Is there anyone better to talk to than the person you know the most in this world, right? I mean, that wasn't saying much considering we only knew each other for like a week at this point but still. The door opened as Nova, with her deep gray eyes stared into me. I asked her, "May I come in? I wanted to talk to you."

She widened her door. I took it as a 'yes' and walked in. Her room was simple enough. It had a bed on the far side of the wall, tucked in a corner. There was a sofa on the opposite side of the bed and a desk at the end of the bed with a chair. The color scheme of the room was really comforting and cozy, I didn't know why. I sat down on her sofa and she sat down on her bed. "So, what's the problem?" Nova asked.

I sighed deeply, "I've been trying to come to terms with... what happened at the subway station. Killing those scrappers. It was them or me, I know, but still... taking someone's life doesn't sit well with me."

Nova listened carefully and nodded, acknowledging my struggle. "You have to adapt to survive here," her tone was as serious as always. "True, you have killed someone. And true, it's them or you. And I can assure you, they won't be the last people you'll kill."

I unconsciously tightened my fist, "I know. It's just that... I don't know."

She sighed, got up, and sat next to me. She patted me on the shoulder, "You're confused. You're confused as to why you're doing this. You're confused about why I saved you. The thing is, we're all confused one way or another. It's just that most people pretend they aren't. We all make difficult choices. You're at one right now. You're at a crossroads, at a decision. It's your decision which road you want to take."

"I know but which one should I take? Should I leave Darkhaven and become a normal person? Or should I stay here and try to be something more than myself?"

She smiled, "You already have the answer, don't you? I can recognize conviction and there's plenty of it in you."

I laughed grimly, "You're right. I already have an answer. I've had it since I first woke up in this city. It's just I don't know if it's correct."

I sensed her hesitation for a second. She started talking, "If it makes you feel better, even if you leave Darkhaven, you'll still have to deal with a lot of stuff."

I knew instantly that it was some big news, "What kind of stuff?"

She shook her head, "That's confidential information. Just know that in about a year or so, the biggest catastrophe humanity has ever faced."

I joked, "What? Aliens are going to invade or something?" I laughed at my own joke.

Nova smiled a little and didn't say anything else.

I was curious about Nova so I asked her, "How did you become a mercenary?"

Her eyes turned a little darker as she started reminiscing, "Well, I became a mercenary about... 80 years ago."

80 years ago? What? But she looks 20. Nova continued, "I became one to help my friend with his... war."

"So what happened? Why did you go single?"

"Who said I went single? I am still the leader of his mercenary army."

I asked curiously, "How old are you exactly?"

She shook her head, "I think...120 years old. Are you wondering why I look so young? You can thank Edward Winters for that. His life extension serum works really well."

"I must say, your life must be exciting."

She chuckled, "That's an understatement. Do you feel better now?"

I smiled at her, "I do. Thank you." Then I asked her, "Uhh... since I'm staying here, I should pay rent, right?"

She laughed for the first time, "There's no need. If you want, you can pay me but you're not required to pay me."

"I wanted to ask this. Why are you helping me so much?"

She became quiet for a moment, "You remind me of someone."

I didn't ask more. I nodded and said, "Well, thank you for the pep talk. I also want to become a mercenary. Where can I accept jobs?"

"I'll send you the coordinates. He's one of the best fixers in the city."

"Thanks again. I appreciate this."

Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.

We both smiled at each other.

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Turned out that the fixer was near our apartment, only 5 minutes away. I was tired of walking everywhere and I really wanted a vehicle. Regardless, that wasn't possible if I didn't have money. And although mercenary jobs were the most dangerous jobs in the city, it was also the best paying. Some top mercenaries earn more than most CEOs of those large corporations. Of course, they couldn't be compared to the earnings and profits of an entire corporation but still, it was a good way to earn money.

As I walked out of the apartment, I breathed in for a moment to prepare myself. I didn't really want to go outside because... well, trauma but still, gotta do what you gotta do. After a short walk, I found myself standing in front of a nondescript building. It lacked any unique element and it blended in perfectly with the surrounding buildings. I hesitated for a second before shaking my head. I've already made my decision. No need to hesitate anymore, Raven. I steeled myself, pushed the door open, and walked in before I could hesitate even more. Inside, the air was thick with the scent of stale cigarette smoke filling the dimly lit room. A man was sitting in front of a TV as he watched the ball match on it. Huh? TVs are still around? I thought everything was replaced by Nodes.

He had very mechanical-looking eyes and with them moving very mechanically, it looked really creepy. He was wearing a purple shirt with red shorts. He glanced at me from the corner of his eyes, "Raven? From Nova?"

I nodded, not letting my emotions show. He stared at me for a moment before gesturing me to sit opposite him. He puffed his smoke, "I don't really deal with beginners like you but because of Nova, I'll send you on a joint mission with another fixer. Your teammate will be here soon." He didn't even ask me if I was accepting before making arrangements. Rude ass fucker. Still, since Nova said he was one of the best, I did not really mind it. He's still an asshole though.

After waiting and wondering in my thoughts for about 5 minutes, my teammate arrived. It was a girl. Why is almost everyone I meet here girls? I wondered to myself as I nodded at her.

With just a glance at her, I could feel her extremely extroverted energy. She looked cute and very very energetic. Her eyes sparkled with a sense of adventure, and I couldn't help but marvel at her enthusiasm. I could never be as enthusiastic as her. Before I could even get up to introduce myself, she quickly arrived near me and said, "Hey! Are you my teammate? I'm really excited to be working with you. What's your name? Mine is Elizabeth. My friends call me Eliz. You can call me that too. Nice to meet you."

I became a little dizzy but I held myself, "My name is Raven. Nice to meet you too, Eliz."

Eliz jumped a little, "Oh, do you know what the mission is?"

I frowned, "No, I don't. Do you?"

"Yep! I'll fill you in on the way. Come on. I brought my brand new bike."

As soon as we got out, I was greeted with the sight of a cool-ass bike. It was a mix of black and red and it looked so cool. And besides, those two colors were my favorite too. The bike looked extremely sleek and futuristic, with what looked like a turbo boost at the back, it was my dream bike. Fast, cool, and fucking badass.

"What's the model?" I asked her.

"Tsuhuniki MkVII. Pretty cool, right?"

My eyes flashed as I recognized the name. It was the same company that made my eyes. Still, it was time for the mission.

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General Marcus Aurelius stood tall on the bridge of the Invictus, his voice resonating with authority as he surveyed the unfolding chaos.

"Attention all units, this is General Marcus Aurelius. Deploy Dark Matter Manipulators and Zero-Point Harvester to full capacity. We need every ounce of power at our disposal."

His commands echoed through the corridors of the flagship as crew members scrambled to carry out his orders.

"Captain, divert power to the Energy Shields. We need to withstand their onslaught," the general barked, his gaze never leaving the viewport.

"Aye, General. Shields at maximum," the captain responded, his voice tense with urgency.

As beams of energy lanced through the void, General Marcus Aurelius watched with a steely gaze, his mind racing as he formulated his next move.

"General, they are deploying Particle Beams Cannons. What do we do?" The Seer asked with a frantic voice.

General Marcus, calm and collected, turned to the floating golden holographic visual of a human woman with a shield and a spear in her hand. He gave an order, "Athena, Execute Scatter formation."

"Executing." All the ships moved in precise coordination as almost all of them dodged the particle beams. He continued ordering, "Deploy Space Anchors. We must not let them get reinforcement. Delta Team, deploy Psionic Beams and focus fire on the flagship."

The enemy ships dodged instantly. 'Sir, they are deploying Temporal Disrupters. Temporal anomalies are forming across the battlefield! General, what should we do?" another voice reported.

This time, there was a hint of panic in the general eyes. They had not encountered this technology before. As he thought of a way to solve the situation, the golden holographic Athena said, "General, from my calculations, THAT is the only way to get out of this."

The general tightened his fist. It was a dead trap, that technology. He knew it, his crew knew it. He knew there would be plenty of volunteers that would step up if they knew it was the only way. Although it was a war crime, he would rather face martial court than lose his crew. His eyes grew cold as he ordered, "Bring out the POW. It's time to put him to good use."

The crew grew silent for a second before responding, "Yes, sir!"

Athena from the side only glanced at him without saying anything. One of the crew members brought out the POW from the hold. After injecting 'it' with a serum, it suddenly collapsed on the ground. And by neurally connecting it to Athena, she directly had control over its mind for a split second. In that instant, by using the temporary and volatile 'superpower' given by the serum, all the temporal anomalies disappeared for a second. In that instant, the other part of Athena directly controlled the ships to perfectly fire at the enemy ships. By channeling all the energy into the Psionic Beams, the combined force had the energy to destroy the entire fleet 4 times over. It was the power of long-term Zero Point Energy Harvesting and Short-term Volatile Nuclear Fusion.

The general wanted to sigh in relief but held it in as he had to be composed in front of his crew not to instill panic. All of that, just to fight against a scouting fleet. 40 fucking years to get rid of their scouting fleet. Fucking shit. He was scared. If it was anything else, he wouldn't be scared. But having to fight for 40 years just to destroy a scouting fleet scared him. Granted, the ships weren't equipped with the best technology as most of the ships in his fleet were over 20 years old but still, it scared him to the core.