Chapter I - 6: The Mind
Alice's mouth was dry and she felt a crushing sense of trepidation.
She leaned on the wall, trying to make sense of what was happening to her.
Her breathing was quickening and her heart rate was accelerating.
'My kid's waiting at home.'
Words resonated in her mind. As they looped, her chest pained her.
'Maya…'
At the same time, her hands turned numb and were shaking.
Mentally evaluating herself, her eyes widened when she realised her condition.
Suddenly, dizziness invaded her psyche as she was overwhelmed with a nauseating sensation.
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Don't. You MUSTN’T. Get out first.
Think of the positive… You're getting out of here… You'll be free from this dreadful base… You won't immediately get shot at for killing five Gigans… Five Gigan soldiers who just did their jobs and got killed for it… By me… Damn it… Screw this! Bury the thoughts! Clear the mind, Alice!
Mentally fortifying herself while taking deep breaths, she reached the exit door. The few seconds it took honestly felt like an eternity to her.
As it was sliding open, she heard running footsteps and shouting at the other end of the passageway.
"The shots were from the Auxiliary Terminal! Move out!"
Now outside, the door closed behind her. She then whacked the exterior door pad using her gun, smashing the panel and rendering it inoperable.
Afterwards, she fled as the rain lightly drummed on her suit and slid down her visor.
She ran further as an alarm siren wailed in the distance. The longer she ran, the more her thoughts resurfaced.
The circumstances… Are more than meets the eye… I’m not… I’m not just dealing with terrorist cells or alien invasions… I’m facing a government body… With normal Gigans… Doing their nine to five…
During her frantic aimless run, teardrops began to well up in her eyes.
Gigans working… To support their families…
'My kid's waiting at home.'
The sentence, once again, forcefully entered the foreground of her mind.
Said tears now slowly streamed down her face.
Agh! Can't they just be the 'bad guys'!
She knew not for how long she fled, it might have been for minutes or even hours. What she knew for certain was that she was sapped of all her energy, both mentally and physically.
She showed no concern about where she was anymore as she lay down, back to a wall. Her head tilted upwards only to face the office skyline, the pouring rain and the imposing white ship in the sky.
Eyes fixated on the battleship, the sandman eventually brought her to sleep.
Unbeknownst to her, in the cracks of a nearby wall, two pairs of eyes were observing her.