Just a quick foreword…
So, quite surprised to be honest about the support shown for the story so far (I mean, only two chaps in so far) but it is welcome. So thanks everyone.
However, just as a warning, for the next month or so (at least until 17th of June) I have exams and revision so I will try to keep updating, but don’t expect anything consistent as I have to fit things in around my exams at the moment.
Also, Overwatch open beta has started so yeh...
Don’t worry though, this is not hiatus. Just there may be one or two updates per week until after my exams.
So yeah, thanks for the support and enjoy! undefined
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With a soft ding, the lift doors open to reveal the drawn and dishevelled faces of seven teenagers who promptly stagger out into the hallway as they drag their meagre luggage. They have just arrived at a sparkly new hotel in the centre of London, having arrived in the country just over an hour ago.
Rubbing her face as she turns, Katie fishes through her pockets to produce four electronic key cards with a flourish as she thinks about the room arrangements.
“Hmm… Dave, you go with Ashley. Your room is 605.”
“Oh, yay!” Ashley squeals, eagerly reaching for the key card, “I getta stay with bro! Come on, let’s go! This is gonna be so much fun!”
In her excitement Ashley forgets her luggage and proudly marches down the corridor holding the card before her like a sword.
Katie chuckles slightly. It is easy to forget just how young she is sometimes, what with her hiding behind Dave most of the time. Glancing at the boy in question Katie sees him grinning wryly as he bends down to take his sister’s luggage to the room.
Sensing his chance one of the twins steps forward, Katie is not sure which, and declares proudly, “Allow me to be your humble roommate for the duration of this trip,” as he bows extravagantly, a broad grin splitting his face.
“Oh no, take me rather. I think you would find me more… satisfactory,” says the other with a snicker.
“Ew no.” Katie recoils at the thought. “You two share a room. As far away from mine as possible thank you very much!” Returning the grin Katie flicks a card at the two of them, which is deftly caught, before the two turn in unison and march away with a laugh.
Those two… Just two more left.
“So Katie… if you’re fr-“ starts Allan before Katie cuts him off.
“No. You are with Paul, Allan,” Katie says while pointing at their temporary team member. Short and round, the teenager resembles a bowling ball with short brown hair and a pair of thick glasses.
“Alright,” is Paul’s only answer as he continues to shovel doritos into his mouth. He is, of course, ‘Yanus’, whose ability allows him to create portals to a separate, pocket dimension for storage and as weapons.
Katie would never have brought him to begin with. Not that he isn’t powerful enough, he’s plenty strong. One of the Primes at the Academy. It’s just that he isn’t the best team player, spending most of his days playing videogames alone in his room. It just makes him unreliable for the team as he doesn’t coordinate quite so well; a serious problem when facing someone who has the power to kill thousands or decimate the landscape.
With a sigh, Allan takes the key and walks to his room, followed closely by Paul, still somehow demolishing his bag of crisps and carrying his bag at the same time.
Holding her own card, Katie makes her way over to her own room and opens the door.
“Damn. No expenses spared, huh?” she mutters to herself as she surveys the room.
It is clearly meant for the wealthy, with a large double bed against one wall with snow white bedding. On the wall opposite there is a large plasma screen TV, probably with 3D functions and surround sound.
Next to the bed is a large desk with the usual kettle and complimentary tea, with a large, and upon further inspection, well stocked minibar.
As Katie enters, she sees an ensuite bathroom immediately to her left and a walk in wardrobe to her right.
After a brief pause she strides purposefully into the room and drops her suitcase at the foot of her bed before sinking into the seat at the desk with a relieved sigh. That damn Stepper. Katie has already vowed to kill him one day. Or at least feed him some cookies with salt rather than sugar.
Thinking back, Katie recalls how upon leaving the Medical Block they immediately started searching for Stepper, eventually finding him hiding in the library surrounded by atlases and maps with lots of help from Tracker. Though they had already covered much of the town-like campus before doing so.
Luckily for the team, he was more than glad to help. “Finally get to stretch,” was all he said before closing his eyes and ‘Stepping’, as he calls it.
Not really the best name though. Perhaps ‘ripping a hole in space-time and falling through a blender of light and gravity, before being thrown onto the, thankfully, firm ground’ is more suitable. Not the nicest of experiences.
When they arrived, Katie only had time to look up and see the bastard give a salute, before ‘stepping’ back to his cosy library. He didn’t even have the decency to tell them where he dropped them!
One very stressful hour, and many harassed local residents later, the team finally arrived at the hotel they had been booked into at half past seven.
Shaking her head, Katie jumps up and begins sorting through her luggage, taking out the things she will need for the next day and putting them in a separate rucksack. Most of it is rather innocent: a camera, some gloves and scarf, bottled water. Some of it, not so much, such as the taser, pepper spray and suppressor restraints.
Don’t underestimate modern weapons when fighting the Unlocked. While many of them are capable of withstanding hails of bullets, they all need to breathe still and they all have a weakness. Take Dave for instance; while he is immune to external damage, sleeping gas is still effective and renders him unconscious just as fast as a normal person. Obviously finding said weakness is rather tough, no one just tells you where to hit them after all.
Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.
Finalising her preparations Katie walks over to the desk and dials the number for Allan’s room. Waiting impatiently and tapping her foot, it is finally answered.
“Hello?”
“Oi, Allan. Get everyone sorted and in my room as soon as possible. We need to discuss what we’re doing tomorrow.”
“Huh? Alright then.”
Hearing the click of the line being cancelled, Katie puts the phone down and takes a seat to wait. Not for long thankfully, as just five minutes later the door opens and the whole team files in.
Ashley runs in first and starts jumping up and down on the bed with a huge smile on her face before the rest of the team walks in. Everyone seems settled in, more relaxed at least, with some having changed into more comfortable clothes.
Katie firmly claps her hands together to call order and the others quickly form a half circle around her. They all know the drill, even Paul, who seems to have opened another bag of crisps, as he has been on missions with the rest before.
“Right, briefing plans people. Legal stuff, yada yada, blah blah blah…”
Lowering her hands, Katie looks her team in the eyes. “Obviously this is confidential, as per the United Nations ‘Act of Unlock Collection’, section four, paragraph nine. Anything I say here doesn’t leave the room. Got it?”
When they all nod in assent she continues, “Also, anyone unwilling to take part in this mission speak now. This is your only chance to back out.”
No one moves. No one every moves when Katie’s in charge.
With a pleased smile Katie motions to Allan, “Map please.”
Waving his hand, Allan quickly brings up and wide map of London which floats over to cover the wall. A series of red dots then appear, mainly focused along the northern bank of the Thames, one blue dot slightly further from the river and one green dot on the north bank.
“Right people, game faces on now,” says Katie before turning to the map. “This shows all the information we have at the moment regarding the movements of the target. I know it’s not much but due to his nature, there isn’t much to say in the first place.” Noticing the confused looks on her teammates’ faces, Katie elaborates, “From what we know he is currently homeless and tends to move around a lot. Basically he has no ‘base’ and just wanders the streets. Why are unsure why.”
“Anyway, the red dots show the locations in which the bodies were found without wounds. The blue dot is roughly the location where we think the video was taken of the target being stabbed and the green dot is us right now. As you can see, it seems the north bank is his stomping ground, roughly ten kilometres across.”
Tracker, though it could be Scanner, stirs and says, “Moves around doesn’t he?”
Katie nods, “Yes, I am aware it is large area so my plan is this: we split into three teams. Tracker, Scanner and Yanus I want prowling the area, keep your eyes peeled and scan as many people as possible.” Recalling the figure from the video she relays the information, “I want memories of a young man, roughly our age in a long coat with an eyepatch over his left eye and bandaged hands. Don’t focus on specifics, just memory concentrations. What places have seen him the most. We need to find out where he likes to go.”
“The next team will be Rock, Ash and myself. I want us to ask people; store owners, residents anyone who would stay in the area for a long time if they know about his patterns. All of this information will be relayed back to Intel here who will crunch the numbers and try to narrow the area down.”
Looking into the faces of her team, Katie can’t help but remember Pete’s words and worry. She isn’t sure she can cope if one of team dies on her watch, it’s never happened before and she’ll be damned if this is a first. “One more thing. This guy is very dangerous. You all heard what Maria saw, so we can assume that he won’t exactly be friendly. What’s more, we don’t know what his ability even is, so if you see him, do not try to contact him in any way. Just alert Intel and tail him, but avoid contact. I don’t want anyone dying, alright?”
Her team all nod, faces grim. Katie never warns them about the dangers of a mission, preferring to trust in their own judgement and abilities. She must be worried to go so far for a briefing.
“Don’t worry. We know the drill, we’ll get the job done,” Dave says in a low voice.
The sudden noise seems to break Katie out of her thoughts as she looks up, “Damn right you’ll do your job. We’ve got a reputation to maintain here and if it is spoilt by one of you, I’ll have you doing training until you puke.”
With a grin Callum leans over to Conor, “That’s our Katie.”
Waving her arms at them, Katie makes shooing noises, “Get out of my room now and get some rest. We need to up early tomorrow. We have a lot of ground to cover. Go, go. Get out!”
Laughing to one another, the others leave the room so Katie can get ready for bed.
Allan however hangs back while fidgeting nervously.
“What?” Katie asks, peeved. She really wants to get to bed, but now this buffoon isn’t done.
“I don’t know… I just have a bad feeling about tomorrow. We don’t know enough about this guy.” Taking a breath and wringing his hands Allan carries on, “I… I don’t like it.”
Katie frowns. Seems like she isn’t the only one with her misgivings. “I don’t like it either. But we have to bring him in. Just keep a close watch on everyone tomorrow and warn them. I don’t see what else we can do right now.”
Sighing Allan nods, “Yeah…” as he leaves the room, slowly closing the door behind him.
Katie stares at the floor, deep in thought before shaking herself and clapping her face. “Nothing we can do about it now. One step at a time. Just one step…”
Having shaken herself from her reverie Katie quickly changes and brushes her teeth in the ensuite bathroom, before jumping into bed.
Staring at the ceiling in the dark, Katie eventually falls into a fitful sleep as she dreams of a shadowy figure with an eyepatch chasing her through the streets while laughing manically, its one eye glowing balefully as she tries desperately to escape its gaze.