Personal endangerment. With added, possible endangerment to others.

Lying to the authorities.

Conspiracy. Despite how pitiful and small said conspiracy was.

And now assault/putting an officer of the law in harm’s way. During a Shift-based event, no less.

As Jackie ran ahead along with her accomplice-friends, it’s sad how they’re not going to be running away. Y’know, the sensible option.

There’s still so much of the plan left. And more reasons to hate herself.

As the leader of the pack—and the creator of the plan—Jackie forged ahead to scout, picking up where she was doing when she was brought into this futuristic base. Trying desperately to spot the thread.

If there were any, it wasn’t just buried. It simply didn’t exist anymore.

Here they were, rushing down this pristine, endless hallway. Tight corners that repeated, walls so thick with plated armor and pushed out further due to internal reinforcement—felt like they were closing in with each endless pass. The overhead lights so bleary, that there was always a hint of hope as the light blinded them, that they broke the cycle… Only to recognize the same hallway structure again, and how inhuman it all was. Out of place they are.

How in over their collective heads, they are.

“You couldn’t find a trick to this place, Jackson?!” Maddie shouted behind her, out of breath yet managing to inject anger in her voice with such force. “We’re running on fumes already—the Egg-Shells are gonna swam us any second now—and the soles on our shoes are gonna run down before we think of anything--!”

“Just pick a weird wall to open up and work with it--!” Aiko earnestly suggested with no hint of irony or sarcasm in her tone.

“OF COURSE YOU’D SUGGEST THAT--!” Tracy shrieked, clearly struggling to even pant as she ran. “Speaking of—anyone else, please, suggest something!”

“And there’s still the issue that we might be too late…” River managed to still sound low energy in this tense situation. “We could do all this perfect, and the Shift already happened five hours ago. Somehow. It’s a possibility we have to keep in mind as well—”

The possibility they all feared was beginning to happen.

Alarms began to blare, rocking within the tall and stocky walls. Said walls began to form massive holes, openings that were primed to allow many Enforcers to rush into the scene. And all Jackie could hear was the stomping of heavy-set boots, sounding far away. For now.

Jackie was going to shout at the girls, to just jump into the entryways and hope for the best—but as she arched her head toward her left side, only to watch in real time for the walls resealing themselves. Within seconds.

It was hard to rack her mind, for a solution—for anything.

There was just no winning this. Jackie felt her head hang down, on the verge of letting her eyes shut tight. Giving into the stark reality that she ruined her life for nothing. Again.

And she was immediately thankful, that she didn’t allow her eyes to close in that moment.

“OH MY GOD—” she shouted in slight delirium. “GIRLS—I FIGURED IT OUT, I FIGURED IT OUT!”

If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

Jackie turned to her fellow co-conspirators, “The shoes! Praise the shoes—thank River and Aiko for shoes!”

“Aw-fuckin’-great--!” Maddie shouted at her, the small girl’s face not just glistening with sweat, but looked close to death. “The girl that thought she knew what she was doing just went insane!”

Jackie stopped in her tracks, staring directly at the floor. She heard “similar” footfalls stop behind her, and Jackie knew that her beaming could be felt beyond her. Hands on her hips, with a wide grin on her face as her body language conveyed this sense of weightlessness. Relief.

“What the fuck are you doing?!” Maddie didn’t stop, but prowled forward as she hooked her arm within the “hoop” of Jackie’s left. Tugging with bewilderment. “They’re coming, you ass!”

“We’re… Doing what, with asses…?” Aiko panted out in confusion. Jackie thought it was an amazing comeback for those two precious seconds.

“One…” Jackie slid her arm out of Maddie’s grasp. “We need a second to breathe… And more importantly…”

The tall young woman pointed down limply. Moving that finger up and down slowly, to prove a point.

What was revealed were streaks on the floor. Dark brown and black shoe tracks that was dotted across the once-clean surface. But tellingly, these steaks only came from two sources it seemed, versus what should have been a gathering of mess.

“Woooah—” Maddie sounded legitimately impressed.

“THE SHOES WERE TO BE THANKED-!” Tracy mindlessly shouted in zeal.

“Thank god for me not giving a shit about myself…” River commented lackadaisically.

“So, we follow these trails or what, yes?!” Tracy asked, anxiously. The sound of her voice “cutting” out, indicating that she was constantly turning away.

“We don’t,” Jackie answered, proudly. “Now this place isn’t a maze anymore. Once we see the shoe scuffs, it means we’re going in a circle, already took the path. Once we see clean floors, the path is literally clear!”

There was a shout from Tracy, and that was cue for everyone to immediately dash forward once more.

Jackie looking back, gritting her teeth as she looked on at their current obstacle.

“Thing is,” Jackie mutter to herself, “It gives them a trail too…”

One would think the Enforcers couldn’t remotely move in their suits. They were slim tanks on legs, or “human-sized mecha”, River once called them. Pale white armored shells that shared the unified EXTANT design document: “oh god, account for everything, and reinforce everything for good measure, then add MORE”. The heavy-set armor was divided between forearms, shoulders, thighs-to-shins, pelvic region, and chest. The areas, were grey, with flexible sleeves that had ridges to allow for the material to coil in on either and allow for the person to move. But even then, there was this framework that cut through these areas, acting as pistons and attachments for the armor. The segments of the body were plated up so badly that the boxy chests, in particular, caused a noticeable hunch to the wearer of the “suit”. Because the user’s back held up this stab of machinery to make this abomination work.

Enforcers had many names. “Shells”, “Pearly Whites”. But usually, it’s “Deadmen”. Not just because of the nature of their job, but more that they have what looks to be the tops of coffins hoisted on their backs. It served a very important function, other than keeping the suit running.

So with all of that in mind… The girls should be able to run circles around even a squad of them. But it isn’t the case.

Due to the reinforcements upon reinforcements of the suits… It allowed for the people in the suits to converse as much energy as possible. It was the very reason these things were created, otherwise they never would’ve worked in the first place, given how much strain it would take by simply getting into it—let alone use it. Are they slower than, say, someone running full speed away from them? Of course. But that’s not the game they’re playing.

It’s endurance. Jackie was athletic, maybe Aiko being a tangentially close second. But that still meant three people suffering at the moment. Maddie would never admit it, but she was struggling to maintain her pace. And even as a fit person, the psychology of repeating this pathway took a hell of a toll on Jackie already.

Meaning that they were already exhausted, when they were still at stage 2 of a plan that required 5 of them.

The exhaustion was setting in. Against an enemy that could barely feel such.

Jackie couldn’t take the excuse—she simply wasn’t allowed to. She had to shoulder all of this on her own, and damn it, she will until the bitter end. She made a creed to herself before all of this insanity happened: she’s responsible for the plan and all that entails.

With gritted teeth and balled fists, her eyes darted about, in search of the pristine path they were all searching, and hoping for.

It was immediately disheartening, starting to see the trails Aiko and River were making, simply growing bigger.