Mission Possible

Tom remained in the hall for a long while after Jason had moved on. Mr. and Mrs. Forest had returned to their room, grateful to the team for the opportunity to help lay their son's spirit to rest, and Derek had returned to check on him.

"You okay?"

"I'll be alright. That was just a tough one." Tom replied.

"I get it. I remember how it was standing at the airport as the bodies of my friends were unloaded. That sense of finality that they weren't coming back. That all that time we spent together and all the effort we put in to protect each other seemed wasted. It's like, we were fighting a senseless war that never needed to be in the first place, and they lost their lives for it. But we have to remember that we can only make the most of the time we have. Life itself is dangerous. You could walk outside your front door and get hit by a vehicle, even before this System shit."

"Yeah. Such is life, right?"

"That's not what I mean. We feel this way because we made connections. That in itself makes it worth it. If you never felt this way, then you didn't have any friends, and that's a sad way to go through life. Far worse than the feeling you're experiencing right now."

"I mean, wasn't it Buddha who said existence is pain?"

"He did, but it was meant to say that pain is inevitable, but suffering is not. You will always experience the pain of life and loss, dealing with daily tasks or jobs you don't want to go to and rules or restrictions you feel are unfair, but that the goal is to see those moments in between when you do things you enjoy with people you love and find joy in spite of the pain."

Tom didn't respond right away, deep in thought about what that meant and remembering those they had lost since the beginning of this apocalypse.

"Not to try to immediately take your mind off of this, but there's something we need to discuss. There is a job we need to send someone on. Mike has been monitoring the HAM radio and picked up a signal from someone up near Oklahoma. They need help with a situation up there with a monster that is attacking them. After hearing about our setup, they want to join with us. Seeing as you can't tell people no, I figured you'd want to help them."

"I do, but we have so much preparation to do here; what should we do?"

"As much as I hate to say this, we should send just a few people to check it out. Also, James overheard the conversation and volunteered to go."

"That's a disaster waiting to happen."

"I don't know. I think it would be good for him to be in charge. I'm hoping it could force him to grow up a little."

"You can't be serious. James going out with a small group to tackle a mission?"

"I know, I know. But I want to send Jay with him. That should even out the crazy a little. What do you say?"

"I'll agree if you send a fighter with them as well. Or a Barbarian. I want a heavy hitter there, just in case."

"I think I know just the person for that job. Come on, let me introduce you."

"Can we do it in the morning? I think I need to rest now."

"I don't know if you've looked outside, but it's already morning."

"Dammit. Alright, let's go then."

Tom broke off to get breakfast while Derek went to gather the team he had in mind for the mission. After getting his fill of Goatamus bacon and scrambled eggs from the chickens the guild had been raising, he made his way to the security office.

"Tom, everyone is here, so let me introduce you. You already know James and Jay, obviously. This is Frank, the barbarian. He's the one I mentioned having in mind to go with James. Lacy is a cleric that can provide healing and protection for the team, Mark is a wizard to provide ranged attack backup, and little Susie here is a Spellblade."

Tom stared at Susie for a long moment before leaning over to Derek to whisper, "You are letting a child go on this mission?"

"Yes, she is quite skilled. Bron was the one who recommended her. She appears to be some kind of prodigy," Derek replied.

"She also has ears and can hear what you're saying. I promise to keep them safe on the journey," Susie said with a scowl as she stared at Tom.

"Sorry. I'm not doubting your...um...expertise; it's just that we don't normally see children ready to fight."

"That's understandable. I am rather remarkable. You'll see," Susie said with an air of confidence that made Tom rethink his first assessment of her.

"If Bron said she's good, then she's good. Just for my curiosity, though, how old are you?" Tom asked.

"I'm twelve. But I have been in fencing competitions and rapier training since I was four. My skills translated perfectly for this new System integration. I was also a MENSA student with an IQ of one hundred and fifty-five," Susie replied with a pose that showed she was very proud of her accomplishments.

"That is impressive. And I think you're one of the very few Spellblades I've met so far," Tom said.

"It was a pretty obvious choice. Given that the best probability for survival was to have the widest arsenal possible for as many situations as one might find themselves in. You yourself found a similar path, did you not?" Susie asked.

"I guess I did. Though I chose the Warlock class instead," Tom replied.

Stolen novel; please report.

"True, but it was a warrior-based path that came with spells. So, I see us in the same category of fighters. I was a video gamer as well as a student, so I know how all of this tends to work. RPGs were my favorites," Susie commented.

"You do realize that video games don't prepare you for the brutality of fighting in the real world, right?" Tom asked.

"I do. But I've already seen my fair share of combat since this whole thing began. I'm prepared," Susie insisted.

"Alright, then you have my vote. Derek, what are they in for?" Tom asked.

"Right. This mission is going to be a rescue mission. There is a monster or possibly a group of monsters attacking a small guild just this side of the Oklahoma border. They've been holed up in a mechanic's shop just off Interstate thirty-five and have been sending out distress signals for the past few days. Your mission, defeat the monsters, rescue the people, and bring them back safely. Any questions?" Derek asked.

"Any idea what kind of monster?" Mark asked.

"Not really. Just big. Not as big as we've seen before, so it should be manageable."

"Is this really all the people you can send?" Lacey asked.

"It is. We were barely able to send this many. We have a lot going on with preparations for the invasion. If Tom here wasn't such a softy and would likely insist on going himself if we couldn't find a way to send someone, I wouldn't be doing this at all. Sorry, Tom, that's just the logistics of it." Derek explained.

"And I'm in charge of this mission. So, you all have to do what I say," James added, puffing his chest out and striking a pose.

Everyone stared at James with a sour expression—except Derek, who was grinning like a fool.

"That's right, James. You're in charge of this mission. So, all the responsibility of what happens on the mission and to anyone involved rests squarely on your shoulders," Derek said, his arms crossed over his chest and an evil glint in his eye.

"Yeah, everything it....wait, hold up..." James stammered.

"Too late. You already agreed. So, I wish you all the best of luck, and we'll see you when you return," Derek said, turning to leave the room.

"Wait, hold on. Maybe we need to talk about this some more!" James tried to call after Derek.

"He's right, James. You asked for this, and it'll be good for you to have some responsibility," Tom said.

"Fine. So, what do you all have in the way of abilities? We are gonna be the next wonder team!" James tried to sound confident as he struck a heroic pose.

"I smash things real good," Frank said, pulling out what had to be the largest maul Tom had ever seen.

"I have all my healing crystals to make sure we can get rid of all that bad energy," Lacy said, holding out a handful of amethyst for everyone to see.

"Fireball is my specialty. It's a personal favorite spell of mine. I like it when things explode," Mark said.

James stared open-mouthed at the team he had.

"Thank you so much for putting me on this team," Jay said to Tom. This is likely to be the most entertaining experience I've ever had."

"You all really expect me to do something great with Hulk, a hippy lady, a Pyro, and a child?!" James asked, animatedly pointing at each of the team members. "Not to mention an emo spy."

"Hey, we aren't exactly excited about being on a team with sir-dicks-a-lot. We all have to do what we must to gain recognition in this guild." Susie shot back.

"Sure, sure, whatever helps you sleep at night, pipsqueak," James grumbled.

Susie growled at him and shot a hand out, glowing green. Vines erupted from the ground and grabbed James by the feet, swinging him around in the air. He began screaming like a child as he was whipped around the room before being slammed on the floor. When he gathered his wits, he looked up to find the tip of a rapier pointed at his neck.

"Do not underestimate me, douchebag," Susie said in a tone that showed she meant business.

"Oh, this is going to be so much fun," Jay chuckled.

Derek came back into the room a moment later.

"I almost forgot. Take these," he tossed small clear orbs attached to metal chains to each of them, including Tom. This is a new prototype communication device that Bohdan and Herbert worked up. It should allow us to communicate anywhere in the world as long as the person you are trying to reach has one as well. If you need to contact someone, just hold the item and think about who you want to contact."

"What?! This is incredible!" Tom exclaimed as he caught his pendant.

"Agreed! It was something I pushed them to get done sooner rather than later. You're going to love it!" Derek agreed and left the room again.

Jay held his pendant focused on James, "Calling dickweed, come in dickweed."

Jay's voice came through on James' pendant, and he turned and scowled at Jay.

"Looks like they work great!" Jay said, smiling at James.

"This shouldn't be that hard, James. Just get there, kill the creature, get the people out, and guide them back here. Easy peasy," Tom said, smiling at his friend. "We've done this before."

James' shoulders sagged as he put the necklace on. He looked over at his team again, who were still staring at the small clear orbs, and then at Tom.

"Yeah, you're right. I guess we should get going. We get to take the GS2, right?" James looked pleadingly at Tom.

"Sure thing, buddy. Here's the keys. Just bring it back in one piece," Tom said, handing him the keys.

Jay snatched the keys from Tom's hand before James could and held them between two fingers just out of his reach.

"I'll be driving to make sure we come back alive,"

"I'm in charge, and I say, I drive," James said, attempting to snatch the keys from Jay's hand.

"When you can take the keys from my hand, then you may drive, young grasshopper," Jay said in an old kung fu movie accent.

James sighed heavily, "Why me? Okay, everyone, to the garage. Time to move your asses and get going to kick some monster butt."