Awaking from his deep slumber, Ajax felt great. However, soon, dread took over. Today was the big day; the day of the MetEx raid. Of course, it wasn’t doing to be until the dark of the night shrouded the city, but that didn’t ease his nerves. Right now, he was immortal, in a sense. Though, when would his power run out? He didn’t want to test it. If he died today, everything he’d done would be erased, and he’d have to live it all over again. And, he couldn’t relive the kiss with Rhae without laughing his ass off. So, ideally, maybe don’t die today.

“Morning” Thorn greeted as the youth went to brew a coffee. “How was your date with the new girl?”

Ajax shook his head, “Not a date, dipshit. Team bonding exercise”

“Oh, yeah?” Thorn chuckled, “Is that why I wasn’t invited?”

“No. You weren’t invited because no one likes you” Ajax joked as we waited for the kettle to brew.

“Kill yourself” Thorn gave the one-finger salute with a touch of rebellious flair.

Swirling the coffee beans in the boiling water, Ajax soon had his black coffee, and it was time to get thinking. This was his make or break day. He wished for nothing more than to put all these events behind him. Also, he wondered just how his power worked. Like, how did his anchor work? Did he get revived the day before he died, or was that anchor his permanent one? He believe the former. But there were other options. Perhaps it judged the time required itself, there were cases where soul powers seemed to have a mind of their own. Additionally, it could be utterly random, and he could have been revived an hour before his death, or a year before it. Lots of possibilities and a way to prove it, just not something he wanted to do. His hopes were for this to go off without a hitch, but whether it would was in God’s hands.

“Ready for tonight?” Thorn pulled Ajax out his thoughts.

“Can you ever be ready to die? I’ve said my prayers if that’s what you’re asking”

Thorn sighed.

“You won’t die, you’ve got me on your side” Thorn boasted.

“Yeah,” Ajax nodded, “That's the nail in the coffin” he joked, Thorn letting out a light chuckle. But honestly, their mission today was a lot bigger than the two of them, yet it just didn’t feel real. They expected to feel incredibly tense, and sure, they worried a little, but other than that, they felt normal. Not that it was a bad thing, stressing out only got you killed at the end of the day. Perhaps that was why they were picked for this mission; their cool-heads.

When he was lying down in thought, a buzzing noise broke him out of that state. Feeling the vibrations push out from his phone and onto his leg, he wondered if it was Alice.

Princess: Almost time

Ajax sighed. They had exchanged numbers when he dropped her off last night. Indeed, it was almost time. He looked outside to the dimming sky, wonder what would await him today. Would this loop end? Would he have to do it all over again? And then, a terrible thought came to mind as he looked at the name ‘Princess’ on his phone. Had she been sent to replace Morti? Was she tasked with killing him in Morti’s stead? Surely not, right? She didn’t seem capable, no offence to her.

AJ: It is.

Princess: Are you worried?

Was he worried? Of course he was worried! Dying isn’t easy, even when you can rise back from the dead. And what if someone died? It’d be on his hands if he didn’t go back. He’d have to kill himself to prevent their death, and he wasn’t sure if he had the courage to do it. He’d have to wipe everything clean in order to save them.

AJ: No shit. You?

Princess: No shit.

Ajax chuckled as she copied his response. Why were they even talking about this? Asking questions they already knew the answer to? Well, it seemed to calm the nerves.

AJ: You ready?

Princess: As much as you can be. You?

AJ: No. I’ve left it to God

Princess: You’re religious?

AJ: I believe in a higher entity, so I guess so?

Princess: Interesting..

AJ: Is it now?

Princess: It is.

They continued talking about pointless things to waste some time, kill the nerves. Eventually, it was time to leave. They had to meet up with Martin in order to prepare for what was to come.

‘Higher entity, if you care at all, please don’t let me die tonight’ he looked to the sky before opening his garage and getting onto his beloved motorcycle, shark helmet equipped, ready to block any bullets after his skull. “Here goes it”

—----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Ready?” Martin asked as he grabbed the duo by the wrists.

“Thorn?” he asked through the intercom.

“Ready”

A dark-purple tint flashed across his eyes as he appeared in the MetEx building, floor thirty-three. Suddenly, he felt a strong sense of deva-vu, and of course he did, considering he had been here before. All of it; he remembered all of it. The data transporting to the chip; the alarm being triggered by what he thought was Morti’s stupidity, but could have been sabotage; the bullet going through Martin’s skull; the fear as his ability refused to activate; the barrel of the gun before his eyes as a final flash of light blasted before his life came to an abrupt end. It was hard to ignore that feeling that wished to pull him back; to forget this mission and go home. However, that wasn’t an option, not for Ajax. He owed Cyx a lot, and if he left now, Rhae was doomed to die; Martin, too.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

No words were uttered as they moved through the large building, dispatching any guards with silence weaponry or tasers. So far, everything was going as it had before. Not too many guards, which was again an odd sight. Soon, they were in the control room, two guards out cold, five staff members either knocked out or dead. When there were too many, sometimes you had to pull a trigger or two to dwindle their numbers. Nobody enjoyed it, but it was necessary.

At that, Ajax plugged in the drive from Thorn and started collecting the data. As a beep resounded, the data was collected. In that moment, Thorn spoke.

“I’m out” he said, frustrated. “The rest is all you”

The minute Thorn was kicked off the server, all the alarms seemed to sound at once, and tons of guards piled up behind them as they sprinted down the halls. It wasn’t long before they started firing. Why weren’t these guards at the control room? Just didn’t make sense.

On the run back, he noticed something he had missed previously; a pile of knocked out guards. Martin? Surely not. But then who? A bunch of guards piled up and no alarms start ringing? How did Thorn miss it?

“Almost there, Martin”

“Hurry it up” Martin replied, eager to leave.

Much quicker than last time, they made it to Martin. And this time, they took the pre planned route, too. Perfect.

Noticing them, Martin seemed annoyed, probably from the idle waiting. In the end, he could have been easily taken out whilst they gathered the data, so it made sense he was agitated. As soon they got close, he grabbed their arms and teleported them out, back into the alleyway.

“So, how much of the data did you get?” Martin asked. Hearing those words made Ajax flinch, almost grabbing his gun and blowing the teleporter’s brains out. The world loved to play it’s tricks.

“All of it” he replied.

“All of it?” Martin asked in shock. “Wow. Good work”

Yes, it was good work. They survived. And things went much smoother than last time, with the traitor out of their midst. Though, he did worry about where that last one got off to. That was a loose end that needed tying up fast.

“See you at the casino” Martin moved off, exiting the alley, “Tonight will be a celebration”

For a moment, Ajax didn’t process the world at all, as his thoughts grasped all his attention. He had won. He had managed to survive. What would he do now? What would he do with his power? Test it? But what if it didn’t work like he thought? What if it sent him back to where he started, erasing everything he’s worked so hard to cause. This was a successful run, as good as it could get. So, should he risk losing it all? Should he risk shattering this existence?

“AJ?” he heard an angelic voice call out from his side.

“Sorry,” he turned to face her, “I was lost in thou-”

Again? Time stood still as their mouths collided, a moment of pure bliss that eclipsed the world around them. Ajax…liked it. And it seemed like Rhae did, too. Again, she wasn’t the best kisser, but Ajax could teach her a little. In this moment, they were alive.

But just as quick as it started, it stopped. They had to go. If they stayed, MetEx would find them, and they’d be worse than dead.

“We should go,” she said, as her lips left his. They separated, going towards their vehicles to head to the casino. Ajax took the scenic route, going around all of town to get to ‘Perdita Inventum’, one of Cyx’s casinos, and the most successful of them.

Looking around, he found himself again, lost in thought. It had been happening a lot recently, feeling as though he was detaching himself from the world. He had a lot to think about. Morti; MetEx; Rhae; Alice; the surviving traitor. Would they discover he killed Morti? Would a war start between Cyx and MetEx? Another devastation for the city. What were he and Rhae? What about Alice? And what about the final traitor? Who were they? What did they want? Why did they have him killed? Who did they work for? How did they block his power? It clearly wasn’t perfect since his power managed to send him back, but it still blocked his other abilities. It was dangerous. They were dangerous. And there could be more.

At the entrance to ‘Perdita Inventum’, he greeted Otto once again and made his way into the depths of the casino, reaching the Cyx lounge at the back. By the time he had arrived, everyone seemed to have been called in to celebrate. The quite gloomy room from before had been transformed into a true party. Each table held spirits, there was some cocaine on a few tables, which he chose to ignore, and everyone seemed pretty excited. Why wouldn’t they be? The tides had changed in their favour. All that was left was diving into the data and breaking the encryptions, which would be difficult, but not impossible. For someone like Thorn, it was more than possible; it was probable, it would just take time. They’d get some good data soon, but the whole things would take a much longer time to go through. Thorn would have to unlock all the files, and people would have to go through it; work out what’s important and what isn’t.

Inside, Rhae, Thorn and Seiji were sat at a table, drinks in their hands. Smoke-addict was again smoking a cigar as he sat at the table, indoors. Walking over, Rhae smiled warmly at his presence. He didn’t know how to feel. It was so sudden, but it was so right. He was torn.

What if he died? What if he went back and she forgot? What then?

“Nice job, AJ” Seiji waved.

“Where’s Julia?” he asked, curious about her lack of presence.

“She’s upstairs playing poker. She’ll be down soon” he explained, pointing his index finger upwards.

“She gambles?”

“She gambles” he replied with a nod.

She play poker? Her? But she can’t even control her expression. Had he misjudged her?

Dismissing this revelation, he sat down beside Rhae, much to Thorn’s surprise, which soon turned to amusement.

‘Bastard’ he cursed, seeing the look on his friend’s face, ‘Crack a single joke and I’ll break that smug face’ he clenched his fist. Whilst Thorn seemed ready to laugh, Seiji looked at Rhae, at Ajax, back, forth, back, forth. Suddenly, his jokeful expression became one of horror. Was he jealous? Rhae was quite the looker, after all. But this reaction? Seiji already had a girlfriend; Ajax shook his head in disappointment.

Before Seiji could say something, the giant entered the room, his aura strong and controlling. Yet, his expression seemed honestly joyful. Did the giant have emotions? He wasn’t a robot? Such a shock.

“Rhae” he greeted her with a nod, “Well done” he said before walking up to the front, ready to greet the room with another one of his speeches. Ajax was a little pissed, considering he’d risked his life, well technically…in the first loop, he risked his life and he got no reward for it. But his g-...Rhae got praise?

“We did it” he said with a proud look, “We have gained an upper-hand on our foes, and we will not waste it. A war is coming, whether we like it or not, and we have the high ground. But that is not important now. A celebration is due. Ajax, Thorn, Martin you did well. Rhae, you have proved yourself to me, and whilst I am still against you joining the Cyx, if you wish it, I will consider you joining Ajax’s group. Now, let us celebrate”

At that, the room went from silent to exceptionally lively. Everyone instantly downed their champagne and got their hands on the spirits. Over at Ajax’s table, he had questions.

“You haven’t joined the Cyx yet he put you on the raid?” Ajax was shocked. “Who are you?”

“I…” she couldn’t seem to push it out.

“Ajax” the giant said, startling the group. “Don’t go upsetting my daughter or I’ll chop off you hands” he joked. “Well done, today. I knew you were a good kid when I dug you out the gutters”

“D-Daughter?” Ajax went into panic mode, “She’s your daughter?”