Alarm-09
Iv
Shit.
Fuck.
I had a bad premonition the moment I saw the screen of my cell phone. More specifically, the part of the screen that read “Dumb Secretary”. Putting aside my choice of nicknames, I really didn't like the fact Azul had personally come to call me. His original purpose was to keep an eye on Overwatch in case any Overseers did anything funny. Not that I completely trusted the man himself yet, but I trusted the Visionary who sent him.
“Azul. What’s wrong? Problems on your end?”
Honestly? An Overseer may have been the better threat. At least we knew what would be coming.
“Miss, around 2 minutes ago, a Crack had just been detected in Canada, approximately 1.2 miles away from Vancouver. Overwatch is in scrambles. Actions of other Overseers are still unknown.”
I didn’t bother asking for clarification. This was an emergency. It's proximity to a major city made this a lot more urgent than the current Crack I was standing in front of. If it's already been 2 minutes since it was detected, both the Engineer and Visionary should have been alerted. As agreed in the previous Council meeting, emergency protocols for Cracks should have been initiated. Division Michael should already have been mobilised, but it’d still take time. Time we couldn't afford. There was the risk of civilians carelessly approaching it, or maybe it could blow up, or maybe as I feared, an entire ocean could materialise from it and we'd have no personnel on-site to stop or even report it until it was too late.
I'd better do something about this myself.
I took off, channeling my Ability to accelerate my body to superhuman speeds. The surrounding cave walls quickly blurred and my vision rapidly changed. I wasn’t particularly going anywhere, just someplace out of people’s vision. Not that difficult considering how big this cave system was.
Within a brief few seconds, I was all alone, having crossed half a dozen different tunnels to get here. Without hesitation, I focused on my Ability once again. Since time was of the essence, I couldn’t afford to be spare. I was going to have to transfer my consciousness out of this body and into a duplicate one that I had stored around the Canadian Pacific coast, which thankfully shouldn't've been too far off from Vancouver.
With a single thought, I felt this body rapidly shrinking. It was slowly being dissolved into a mixture of oxygen and nitrogen that would rejoin the surrounding atmosphere.
As I felt my body quite literally vanish into thin air, I used what remained of my hands to break and crush whatever devices and pocket equipment I had been carrying around. Couldnt afford to leave them out in the open, you know. Thankfully, I hadn't brought any irreplacable devices with me.
I felt my consciousness black out, before instantly coming back. The surroundings had completely changed. Now, I was in the middle of some pitch-dark forest. Tall pine trees dotted everywhere I looked, forming a massive canopy of leaves above me. All around me, the sounds of bugs and owls echoed across the landscape. A brief wave of nausea enveloped me, but quickly faded away.
Now, I was going to have to take a gamble. Closing my newly-formed eyes behind my newly-formed shades, I concentrated. That feeling. Feel it again. Where is it? I couldn’t feel the previous Crack due to it being a first-time exposure, but now that I had felt it once, I was betting on the fact my Ability was strong enough to resonate with this one, even if it was a mile away. Tugging at my mind, I tried to feel a pulse, similar to the one I had felt before.
Nothing.
Alright. I didn’t want to do this, but I’ve come this far. Focusing on my Ability, I pulled at it. No, pulling wasn't exactly the right word, but I was trying to sort of expand its presence, mentally grabbing its form from the sides and making it seem larger. Make it act like an antenna to connect with the signal the Cracks were giving out.
Good news, this was a known technique some of the more powerful and proficient Origins like me could handle. Bad news, nobody really did it -myself included- since up to this point, it had been largely useless and irrelevant. So I was kind of improvising this on the go.
…
…
Come on.
…
…
…
There.
Turning my heels, I dashed across the landscape. I weaved in between the hills, trying to find the right footing on the uneven ground. Wait, maybe I could use the landscape? Twisting my body 90 degrees midair, I stomped my foot on a particularly large and sturdy-looking trunk. Then, I kicked.
All of a sudden, I found myself propelled a lot faster than when I was running on the ground. Yeah, I could use this. I began chaining my leaps, adjusting my weight and strength to use some of the more larger branches as well. Whilst doing all of this, I had to maintain my sense of direction towards the Crack, so I wouldn’t get lost whilst doing all of the above.
…… Insanely tiring and difficult. Multitasking wasn’t my particular cup of tea, though I had become used to it after decades of working as the Administrator.
Was this fast enough?
No, not enough. Reorienting myself on another trunk, I leapt into the air. I broke through the leafy canopy of branches and pine leaves, appearing above a sea of trees. Channeling even more of my Ability, I forced my current body to hover mid-air above the forest, before pulling it in the direction of the Crack.
Woooooah-
I was flying. This wasn’t particularly something I did often, since I often had to be discreet. Still, not pulling out all the stops could potentially lead to a natural disaster being summoned right next to a major urban center, that could seriously compromise our secrecy and harm countless civilians. I couldn’t take that risk. I wouldn't.
Thankfully, flying in a straight line proved to be a lot faster than what I had been doing previously. It wasn't something I was hoping to resort to, but the situation honestly called for it.
Thump.
Thump.
Within a dozen seconds, I found the pulsating sensation within me growing rapidly. I was getting closer.
Alarm-09
Iv
Shit.
Fuck.
I had a bad premonition the moment I saw the screen of my cell phone. More specifically, the part of the screen that read “Dumb Secretary”. Putting aside my choice of nicknames, I really didn't like the fact Azul had personally come to call me. His original purpose was to keep an eye on Overwatch in case any Overseers did anything funny. Not that I completely trusted the man himself yet, but I trusted the Visionary who sent him.
“Azul. What’s wrong? Problems on your end?”
Honestly? An Overseer may have been the better threat. At least we knew what would be coming.
“Miss, around 2 minutes ago, a Crack had just been detected in Canada, approximately 1.2 miles away from Vancouver. Overwatch is in scrambles. Actions of other Overseers are still unknown.”
I didn’t bother asking for clarification. This was an emergency. It's proximity to a major city made this a lot more urgent than the current Crack I was standing in front of. If it's already been 2 minutes since it was detected, both the Engineer and Visionary should have been alerted. As agreed in the previous Council meeting, emergency protocols for Cracks should have been initiated. Division Michael should already have been mobilised, but it’d still take time. Time we couldn't afford. There was the risk of civilians carelessly approaching it, or maybe it could blow up, or maybe as I feared, an entire ocean could materialise from it and we'd have no personnel on-site to stop or even report it until it was too late.
I'd better do something about this myself.
I took off, channeling my Ability to accelerate my body to superhuman speeds. The surrounding cave walls quickly blurred and my vision rapidly changed. I wasn’t particularly going anywhere, just someplace out of people’s vision. Not that difficult considering how big this cave system was.
Within a brief few seconds, I was all alone, having crossed half a dozen different tunnels to get here. Without hesitation, I focused on my Ability once again. Since time was of the essence, I couldn’t afford to be spare. I was going to have to transfer my consciousness out of this body and into a duplicate one that I had stored around the Canadian Pacific coast, which thankfully shouldn't've been too far off from Vancouver.
With a single thought, I felt this body rapidly shrinking. It was slowly being dissolved into a mixture of oxygen and nitrogen that would rejoin the surrounding atmosphere.
As I felt my body quite literally vanish into thin air, I used what remained of my hands to break and crush whatever devices and pocket equipment I had been carrying around. Couldnt afford to leave them out in the open, you know. Thankfully, I hadn't brought any irreplacable devices with me.
I felt my consciousness black out, before instantly coming back. The surroundings had completely changed. Now, I was in the middle of some pitch-dark forest. Tall pine trees dotted everywhere I looked, forming a massive canopy of leaves above me. All around me, the sounds of bugs and owls echoed across the landscape. A brief wave of nausea enveloped me, but quickly faded away.
Now, I was going to have to take a gamble. Closing my newly-formed eyes behind my newly-formed shades, I concentrated. That feeling. Feel it again. Where is it? I couldn’t feel the previous Crack due to it being a first-time exposure, but now that I had felt it once, I was betting on the fact my Ability was strong enough to resonate with this one, even if it was a mile away. Tugging at my mind, I tried to feel a pulse, similar to the one I had felt before.
Nothing.
Alright. I didn’t want to do this, but I’ve come this far. Focusing on my Ability, I pulled at it. No, pulling wasn't exactly the right word, but I was trying to sort of expand its presence, mentally grabbing its form from the sides and making it seem larger. Make it act like an antenna to connect with the signal the Cracks were giving out.
Good news, this was a known technique some of the more powerful and proficient Origins like me could handle. Bad news, nobody really did it -myself included- since up to this point, it had been largely useless and irrelevant. So I was kind of improvising this on the go.
…
…
Come on.
…
…
…
There.
Turning my heels, I dashed across the landscape. I weaved in between the hills, trying to find the right footing on the uneven ground. Wait, maybe I could use the landscape? Twisting my body 90 degrees midair, I stomped my foot on a particularly large and sturdy-looking trunk. Then, I kicked.
All of a sudden, I found myself propelled a lot faster than when I was running on the ground. Yeah, I could use this. I began chaining my leaps, adjusting my weight and strength to use some of the more larger branches as well. Whilst doing all of this, I had to maintain my sense of direction towards the Crack, so I wouldn’t get lost whilst doing all of the above.
…… Insanely tiring and difficult. Multitasking wasn’t my particular cup of tea, though I had become used to it after decades of working as the Administrator.
Was this fast enough?
No, not enough. Reorienting myself on another trunk, I leapt into the air. I broke through the leafy canopy of branches and pine leaves, appearing above a sea of trees. Channeling even more of my Ability, I forced my current body to hover mid-air above the forest, before pulling it in the direction of the Crack.
Woooooah-
I was flying. This wasn’t particularly something I did often, since I often had to be discreet. Still, not pulling out all the stops could potentially lead to a natural disaster being summoned right next to a major urban center, that could seriously compromise our secrecy and harm countless civilians. I couldn’t take that risk. I wouldn't.
Thankfully, flying in a straight line proved to be a lot faster than what I had been doing previously. It wasn't something I was hoping to resort to, but the situation honestly called for it.
Thump.
Thump.
Within a dozen seconds, I found the pulsating sensation within me growing rapidly. I was getting closer.
