Axel
Wednesday, 14th of October, 198 A.C, 5:30
“
– leaked data fragment of [redacted]
At once, I came to the realization that I wasn’t dreaming anymore. That’s always the worst part of dreams, isn’t it? When you’re having a great time, enjoying some fantastical world, but suddenly you notice the pillow under your head.
I decided I wasn’t quite ready to deal with living yet, but the hum of the generator downstairs, while much quieter than I would normally expect, was still loud enough to keep me from falling back asleep.
I groaned and tried to sit up. Forgetting that I was in a sleeping bag, I tried to prop myself up with my arms. My elbow hit the bottom of the bag which in turn pressed the top of the bag down onto my chest, resulting in me unceremoniously crashing back down onto the floor.
After a bit of thought, I decided life was still worth living. Careful to take my hands *out* of the sleeping bag this time, I sat up and rubbed the sleep out of my eyes.
Once my head had cleared a bit I got up, and careful not to wake anyone, grabbed my backpack. A quick look through it revealed street clothes, a water bottle, a flashlight, snacks, and a few other odds and ends.
Well that’s good, I thought. Casey hadn’t stolen anything. Satisfied, I headed to the bathroom for a shower and to get dressed. The water was cold, as usual. The boiler was long past its prime and none of us had the plumbing know-how to fix it.
After gearing up, and a bit of self-affirmation, I stepped out into the landing of the run-down house that we called home for now.
Back in Spark I would have started out the day with a run, but I was outside the city limits. I would have to settle for some training in the basement instead.
As I walked through the kitchen I passed by a teen pouring over a mid-grade laptop. To his friends, the boy was Trevor, but on the job his moniker was The Scout. He had light skin and a face featuring thick eyebrows that were always at least a little furrowed.
By far the most attention grabbing bit of his getup was the monster of a backpack on the chair beside him. It was almost as big as him, but his stocky frame enabled him to lug it around with ease.
“What are you working on over there?” I asked, peering over his shoulder as I made my way past him.
“Huh? Oh, hey Axel,” Trevor replied, his eyes still fixed on the screen. “Not much, just checking the news before I hit the hay. There’s been an uptick in attacks recently. Might be rough getting back in when we’re done here.”
“I’m sure it’s nothing to worry about, as long as I don’t hold you guys back too much.” I paused. “Hold on, shouldn’t you be on post?”
“Normally yes, but Yumi took over a bit ago. Said I should get some rest.”
I nodded. “Alright. I’m gonna head down and get some exercise. I’d recommend taking her up on that suggestion if I were you.”
“Yeah, yeah. I’ll head up in a bit.” He shooed me off.
I decided to leave Trevor to his devices and head downstairs to begin my workout.
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I still couldn’t believe that I was outside the city limits, working with a squad of Veiled no less. The only thing more surprising than how quickly they took me in was how genuine their acceptance of me seemed.
“Axel.”
In fact, I was so new that I hadn’t even gotten a Veil yet. Actually, that was another thing. Most of us hadn’t even attended VA. The way the squad had gotten the spare Veils was admittedly a bit… worrying for our long term safety, but if that was the cost of getting some Veiled who weren’t CEOs or celebrities I would gladly take it. It certainly gave us a unique flair, at the very least.
“Axel! Now’s not the time to get all spacey on me! We’ve got a problem on our hands!”
I wondered what kind of Veil I was going to get. Perhaps some form of speedster power? Or maybe something to do with endurance? I didn’t have any traditional fighting abilities, so I hoped it would provide me with some way to keep up with the rest of the squad. But then, maybe taking on more of a support role would fit me better.
“Nrg, fine! If you’re not gonna snap out of it yourself, you leave me no choice!”
There were some other definite benefits to having joined. There was a sort of freedom in being outside the city limits. Besides, the other members of Impulse were never boring. Sable was quickly becoming a close friend, and I was getting Trevor to open up a little more every day. And then there was-
*CLONK!*
I fell flat from the impact, the pain in my shoulder bringing me back to reality. After reeling for a few seconds, I rolled over and met the glare of a young woman standing over me, a pair of tonfa in her hands. “Oh, hey Yumi. What’s up?”
She was a few inches shorter than me, with khaki skin and a mess of black hair that came down just below her chin.
She was the kind of person who’s stress level could be measured by counting how many tics she was fostering. Right now I counted three: clenched left hand, bouncing right leg, and right hand squeezing left arm.
I couldn’t count any facial tics though, due to the Veil covering her face. Hers was a ceramic mask featuring a sharp, geometric design with a stark white base and black accents.
I tried to convert my sprawl into more of a casual lounge. “Ah, sorry. Veil’s on,” I said, gesturing towards her. “I should be calling you Berzerker.” I hadn’t quite gotten used to switching between names and monikers.
“Nevermind that right now. Get up, quick!” she rushed. “We’ve got to go. NOW.” The Berzerker put her tonfa away and pointed her thumb over her shoulder.
As I stood up, I realized for the first time just how armed she was when fully geared up. She practically shone with the amount of weaponry strapped onto her, from the tonfa, to her throwing knives, to the narrow falchion sheathed at her side that she insisted on keeping with her at all times.
This was, of course, all drastically contrasted by her backpack. Or well, backpacks. She had a few that she switched between, each of them a collection of vivid colors and adorable prints. Today’s choice was sky-blue with various cartoon cats scattered across it.
“What’s the rush?” I asked, rubbing my still-throbbing shoulder. “Did something happen?”
“Shit just hit the fan, that’s what happened,” she replied. “Seriously, The Pugilist is going to give me a heart attack one of these days. I get that our contract requires some run-ins with Psychons, but this is ridiculous.”
“Wait, Psychons?” I asked, feeling some panic of my own rising up. Now that I listened, I could hear the thuds, yells, and occasional gunshots of combat above me. How long had I been spacing out? “Isn’t the base supposed to be fortified?”
“Yeah, but we’re not talking about a shade or two wandering by. The Pugilist had the grand idea of luring everything in the area right to us, for whatever ungodly reason.”
“Oh. Well then.” I said, taken aback. “So I’m guessing the plan is to pack up, do a bit of skirmishing, then skedaddle back to Spark?”
“Close,” The Berzerker said, “but the Pugilist is insisting that you don’t do any fighting yet. He thinks it’s too risky for you before you get your Veil, and I’m inclined to agree. For now, you should get to packing up our spare gear.”
She paused. “Oh yeah, before I forget: you’re going to need this.” She handed me a half-balaclava. “It isn’t a proper Veil, but until you can get one of your own, you’ll still need something to cover that face of yours.”
Our heads snapped to the stairs as we heard a slam, followed by the Surgeon yelling, “Dear *God* Aegis, how do you expect me to sew *that* one up!?”
“I’ve got to go now,” said the Berzerker. “Good luck.”
A few seconds after she bounded up the stairs I could hear her shriek, “Damnit, Casey! Give back that knife!” The subject of her ire howled gleefully in response.
I sighed. Apparently I wasn’t the only one who needed to work on using monikers.
Well, I thought, if there’s one thing this new life of mine won’t be, it’s boring. Trying not to dwell on my fears, I donned the balaclava and sprinted off to help The Scout.