Chapter 98: A New Development

I decided not to approach Cliff straightaway, as I wanted to wait and confirm whether these thoughts were impulsive. So, once again, I blended into the background, allowing others to lead the way. Luckily, Code stepped up and took control of the current awkward setting. It has been a while since I've seen him assume a leadership role, and I was relieved to see he still had it in him.

The first thing he did was track down the location of the blinking red dot, which just so happened to be in Faith's tent. As Code approached it, Faith scurried out, and the two nearly bumped into one another. Faith began rubbing her eyes and apologizing, informing him that she had just been awoken by a strange sound coming from her backpack, and she didn't know what it was. After returning inside and retrieving her bag, she passed it over to Code, and the two joined the rest of us over by the supply area.

Sky was the first to run over and check in on Faith, laying down an interrogation with all sorts of questions, each one different but all more or less asking Faith about how she was feeling. Occasionally, Sky also sprinkled in the common question, 'Are you sure you're okay?' which, for some reason, made me disheartened. It was nice to see someone genuinely care for another person purely out of the goodness of their heart, but… I don't know.

It feels like I've never been on the receiving end of that sort of thing.

Faith repeatedly assured Sky that she felt perfectly normal, which even Faith was surprised about. She told us that she remembered everything that occurred until Cliff let the arrow fly, and then there was nothing. Faith wasn’t feeling any pain. She had only just… passed out.

After Sky wrapped up, Forest gave his own thoughts on the matter, surmising that Faith's body must have been unable to handle whatever emotions had overcome her. He mentioned to Faith that she most likely experienced a sudden influx of fear, anxiety, and distress. In other words… she had a silent panic attack, which caused her body to shut down despite not experiencing any physical pain.

It was a loose theory, but it made the most sense given what we knew, and Faith agreed. Hearing that, Sky embraced Faith again, expressing her concern, and Faith quickly returned the kind gesture.

Meanwhile, Code had waited for us to hash out this mystery before announcing that he wanted to take a peek inside the backpack. Perhaps Code was also interested in what happened to Faith before he showed up, which makes sense… he did kind of walk in on a standoff.

After briefing us on his intentions, Code transitioned his focus to the backpack to try and figure out where the beeping noise was coming from. Hunter frantically advised Code to watch out for any traps. Still, Code brought up the valid point that my group had yet to encounter Zeris, meaning that there was an extremely low possibility that Faith's backpack had been tampered with. However, just as a safety measure before he dove in, he asked Delta, Faith, and me if we had heard a beeping noise at any point yesterday. All of us responded no.

Before getting started, Code slipped Faith's canteen out of the side pocket and handed it to her, advising that even though she felt fine, she should probably hydrate just to be safe. Faith thanked him and did as Code asked of her, taking sips every so often.

Lastly, as a courtesy, he asked Faith if he could go through her stuff, and she willfully complied, adding that she just wanted the beeping to stop.

Same Faith, same…

As he unzipped the top compartment, Code explained that this annoying beeping must've only started recently based on the information and context clues he's drawn from. He took out a spare, dirty t-shirt and placed it on the ground beside him before unveiling the noise source.

It was the compass.

Last night, Faith gave me the plank and blank paper she had brought during our conversation with Sky. The compass wasn't abnormally large or small, as you could comfortably clutch it. Honestly, I had forgotten Faith also had the compass, as we didn't even use it yesterday, but things are starting to add up. The compass hasn't served any purpose to us besides acting as a compass, but as is the theme with the other items we initially obtained… there's something more to it. Code continued to speak to us, relaying his thoughts and telling us that the compass was still functioning as a standard compass.

I then remembered something and glanced over at the model. We were now in the middle of the design, and the center had shifted.

"Code, check this out," I say, and he doubtfully looks at me before looking at the model himself. I could see his eyebrows raise at the change, and he began rambling about his thoughts and theories about what he believed was going on and what the purpose of this compass was.

However, as I observed him doing this… something came back to me that had slipped my mind earlier.

What's Code’s story? He returned to camp alone, and we still don't know how he got so beat up. Hold on… maybe I'm just seeing things... or possibly I'm seeing things more clearly…? But he isn't nearly as battered as when he first returned, not even close. Was my mind playing tricks on me earlier and overexaggerating his injuries?

I guess… that's possible?

"Have you tried looking for anything obscure on the back or sides of the compass?" foolishly asked Hunter. It was a question that he could surely answer himself if he gave it a little thought.

"Of course I have," Code quickly replied, tapping the compass in aggravation. "I would've told you all if I did, but there's nothing out of the ordinary."

Forest then walked up to Code and gestured his hand out, asking if he could give it a go. Reluctant to give in to failure, Code immediately turned Forest down. But as if he hadn't recognized the voice of who had asked him… as Code glanced at Forest to see who had spoken to him, he probably deduced that maybe he should allow Forest a chance.

I nearly scoff. If it were anybody besides Forest or probably me, Code would've stood his ground and backed up his immediate, blunt rejection. Whether the rudeness was conjured out of his own frustration didn't matter. But, because he recognized that Forest was also pretty clever, he set his pride aside and offered Forest the chance to solve what he could not.

I feel like I’ve always experienced the luxuries of having a superb intellect. That said, I've always viewed it as a double-edged sword… as my intelligence has always significantly impacted my life, whether I wanted it to or not.

Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.

Nonetheless, Forest looked to have instantly squashed any ounce of respect that Code felt toward him as he immediately tossed the compass in the air after receiving it. Code frantically watched it as it flew through the air while I grinned at Forest's genius. Forest had tossed the compass in an arc where it would land at least ten feet away from the closest person, me.

Suppose the compass was a ticking time bomb that was supposed to explode on impact. In that case, I might get a few scrapes from some debris, but I was in no way in any immediate harm, considering the size of the compass. Even so, I took the natural safety precautions of stepping back, partially shielding my eyes and turning my body away as the compass came plunging back down.

As it made contact with the ground, no explosion occurred, and the beeping stopped immediately.

Delta quickly whined, "Oh, look what you've done. You broke it, dumbass!"

But as I turned back to the 'map model', it adjusted and shifted once more. Nothing had broken… the beeping had only ceased.

Code pushed Forest on the shoulder, "What the hell was that man?"

Forest wagged a finger as he ignored Code's shove and picked up the compass, "A gamble, a calculated one."

He then inspected the compass from all angles and noticed a newly opened hole on the side. Pinching his two thumbs together into the gap, he pried the compass apart from within until there was a 'clonk' sound, and the compass snapped open.

"And it seems… my little gamble paid off," said Forest as he rejoined the rest of us, resting the two connected halves of the compass on the palm of his hand.

Everybody crowded around Forest to look at what he was talking about while I stood back and peered over Sky's shoulder.

On the left half, it appeared once more as your everyday compass. But on the right half, there were a bunch of tiny flips, switches, and gadgets crafted into the metal alloy that was now colored red. Most importantly, though, the number '1' was at the very bottom, placed just above the rounded curve of the architectural design of the compass.

Then, behind me, a loud, steady sound was exerted from the 'map model', almost like the sound a remote-controlled drone gives off. The model had yet to adjust further, but a new development and crucial change have occurred.

A red, cylinder-shaped beacon had taken form exactly where the red dot used to blink, with the number '1' floating just above the beacon. Then, three more colored dots appeared, all of which were gathered in generally the same area.

"The other compasses…" whispered Code before dashing over to them just as they began to resonate that same irritating beeping we heard earlier, this time with triple the force.

Quickly doing what Forest had done, Code eagerly lobbed the three compasses into the air. All the compasses went quiet as they landed, and Code unfastened two while Hunter opened up the last.

That same drone noise came back to life, as this time… the 'map model' took on a new development route. The current model retained its actual shape and form but shrunk in size and shifted to the left. A new model was then drawn up, centered around a green beacon with the number '2'. Once it took shape, it also minimized and shifted to the left. This process repeated until four models had been created, each possessing and centralized around its own numbered beacon. The current model we were looking at revolved around a yellow beacon with the number '4', and the other three beacons also appeared on the model, each color-coded to the interior color of their correlating compass.

The lot of us once more exchanged reactions blended with emotions such as surprise, confusion, curiosity, and more.

Further assessing the model, I double-checked that each colored beacon corresponded with its supposed designated compass, validating that all colors aligned correctly. And that they were. One was red, two was green, three was blue, and four was yellow… there weren't any fallacies.

Code was the first to make a move as he reached his hand out to the translucent model… and a barrier in the shape of a hemisphere quickly appeared around the model, acting as a dome forcefield in a way. Additionally, as Code made contact with the barrier, two arrows manifested side by side before his eyes, one pointing to the left and the other to the right. They both shimmered a light sky blue color and only a few seconds later, the arrows faded out of sight.

After placing a few fingers on the dome exterior, Code dragged them across the barrier to the right, and the fourth model swiftly shrunk and shifted to the right. In contrast, the third model came into view from the left and expanded into shape, taking a few seconds to focus as it became the primary model we were looking at. And once again, the arrows reappeared for a brief couple of seconds before going away.

"I see, so you can change which model you're looking at. These compasses also seem to act as locators, each correlating to their own model. Look, even though this is the beacon '3' model, you can still see the other beacons for the models '1', '2', and '4'. However, they are slightly duller in color compared to beacon '3'," said Code as he swiped his fingertips to the left twice, going from model '3' to model '4' and then back to model '1'. "The cycle also repeats, which makes switching the model you want to look at far more efficient, especially when changing between models '1' and '4'."

Remembering the plank message, I recite, "The choice to believe is on you, as a group or alone…"

"What?" asks Code.

"We'll catch you up later, but that was a line from a message that we believe is from Zeris. I think this 'map model' we're looking at now will play a role in that decision. Anyway, just watch."

After asking Hunter to pass over his locator, I walked to the other side of camp and stood by the food basket, "See? My beacon moved, and the others stayed put, right? Did model '4' also adjust?"

Changing from looking at model '1' to model '4', the model quickly revamped and refocused around my new location, and Code responded as he waved for me to return, "Yeah… yes to both questions! It did..."

Walking back over to the 'map model, ' I give the others a rundown of my theories, which have just been proven accurate. Those being that by using the 'map model', the holder of the 'map model' could track the locations of four separate people, despite how far apart they may be.

With that basis, I further theorize, "So evidently, this design implies that we'll most likely be forced to split up at some point, whether it's of our own discretion or not. There's only eight of us here; we don't have numbers to spare in our decision… so-"

Code interrupts me, "Let's… okay, you said something along the lines of: 'the choice to believe, alone or together', something like that, right? I think I need to know everything, and I mean everything. Only then could I judge fairly on our supposed 'choice'."

Instead of giving him a smile or anything that may raise unnecessary alarm, I keep a straight face and deliver the following words in a tone resonating with conviction, "As I said, we gotta catch you up. Maybe now is the best time to do that. But for us to make a fair judgment... I must emphasize the same concern. Intentional or not, you haven't spoken about what happened to you yesterday. I believe we have a right to know, especially since Scar didn't come back with you."

Code's eyes averted from mine, and he awkwardly rubbed his hands together as he said, "Of course, that is more than fair. We should get started right away."

70:39:42… 41…

***

While the group struck up a fire and seated themselves around its' welcoming flame, a lone individual casually awoke deep within the woods. The injuries he had picked up yesterday were gone, already healed into scars... and after a long night, everything had become clear to him.

After a long while of just sitting there with his eyes open, Armaros brought a finger to his face and slowly brushed it along the path of his scar. After his finger stopped tracing his scar, Armaros dropped his hand back to his side and let out a weary sigh. Only then did the assassin finally speak…

"Talen… where are you?"