(TPOR) Chap 148: Stick To Being A Timer (Patreon)

Daniel ran a hand down his face. In front of him the map was zoomed in on the location of the ship he was currently in. The stealth drones deployed around the forest weren’t given the best feeds at the moment. They were mapping the forest properly but that was all there was to it. however, they were showing inconsistencies. The topography was all wrong and the heat signatures were questionable.

He didn’t like it. In fact, he liked to think it was the only reason he had understood what Zed had been talking about. He wasn’t sure what exactly was wrong but he knew there was an issue. The question, however, was how Zed knew, too.

Now that they knew Zed, most of the Olympians would take his words for granted, consider it the ramblings of a jovial mage quite accustomed to ramblings. Daniel knew better. All the showmanship and extra shenanigans had been the side effect of some level of nervousness. His brother was much like Zed, full of words and jokes and concealed seriousness. But there were times when his words had weight, when he walked into a room, gave the piece of information he deemed relevant, then gave an update on what he was going to do with it. Times like those were when everyone could be certain his brother would do whatever was in his power to do what he said.

“In two hours he’ll be gone, not three,” he muttered to himself. “And the problem’s supposed to happen in eight hours, not seven.”

He wasn’t doing any mental math. There were no calculations going on in his head, no algorithms being manipulated. He was merely voicing out what he knew.

He rubbed his chin, still looking at the map but paying no attention. “How does he know when it will happen?”

With his free hand, he moved the map so that it focused on another point of the forest. It remained zoomed in. The topography was off here and he was unwilling to send one of his men out to check it.

“If I was going to attack,” he mumbled to himself, “I’ll come in from here. A rune-craft’s shield isn’t omnipotent and you get a good blast at the mana-engine if you attack from here…” He frowned as his thought process flowed. “Get that and the ship’s grounded for a solid day. It’ll leave us all as sitting ducks.”

He spun the map, moved into another vantage point. The topography was off here as well, almost as if the drones were doing a guess work of what it was supposed to be. Such things only happened if there was some form of mana distortion that only occurred in very mana-dense environments. Another possibility was if their drones had somehow already been hacked, given improper information to relay back to the ship.

He swiped the hologram. It obeyed seamlessly. The map disappeared and a new projection popped up in front of him. he stared at eight three dimensional displays of their mapping drones. Each one represented each drone they currently had in the sky. A letter from the English alphabet hovered above each one.

“Run diagnostics report on drones A through H,” he commanded.

An automated voice replied almost immediately, robotic as robotic went. [Running diagnostics on Olympian drones within the vicinity.]

It was feminine, almost soothing. Ven had always hated the design. Daniel never really cared here or there for it.

He folded his arms in front of his chest and watched the diagnostics happen. Each drone turned white, turning a soft green from one point to the other as they were scanned. The entire process took less than three minutes. Daniel stood with folded arms through it all.

[Diagnosis complete,] the voice informed him. [Drone functionality at 100%. Battery life currently at an average 72%. Estimated time to critical battery life: fifty-eight hours, fifty-five minutes and thirty seconds.]

Daniel said nothing. The drones were in perfect condition. Yet there was a threat out there and very close. He didn’t like this. He had suspected this would happen but had put it off when he had seen no signs on their return to the ship. Doctor Langly had claimed that Ven had suspected the anti-mages would be interested in the mana surge, that there was an expected attack. Nothing of the likes had happened, neither had one happened on their way back to the ship.

If Ven had been right and they were after the surge, their best bet would be going after Big Man Desolate.

But they don’t know he has the surge. They’re probably waiting for us to let our guard down.

Daniel ran a frustrated hand over his face. Being captain was making him think. He wasn’t much of this kind of thinker. His thinking strength laid along the lines of devil’s advocate. Give him an idea or a plan and he could poke it full of holes. Coming up with a plan was not his thing. Even if it somehow was, as a devil’s advocate it was his nature to poke holes in whatever plans he came up with. Living like that would ensure that there would be no plans ever made.

He tapped a part of the table and the holograms disappeared. I hate being captain.

After a while, he found himself pacing around the table, thinking. If they were somehow ambushed here, they would be sitting ducks, surrounded on all sides—if his suspicions from a review of their environment was right. Could they survive such an attack?

Their armors were strong but their enemies would be attacking knowing that. Which meant their enemies believed they could take them despite the armors.

“Fifteen people are too many to be pulling a Houdini,” he muttered. “We can’t wait eight—No, seven…”

His words trailed off and he found himself standing in front of the door. For some reason the door felt very loud even if it was properly closed.

He opened it, let in the bright white light from the hallway. It poured into the room, trailing a long rectangle along the ground on a straight path. The beautiful shape disrupted by the silhouette of him cast by his shadow. He opened the door as wide as he could, then shut it with as much force as he could muster without breaking it.

It slammed with a loud thud, banging with a clash that filled the room.

Daniel frowned. For some reason it felt surprisingly good. Maybe he did understand a bit about the red haired mage.

“No,” he banished the thought. “I do not speak Zed.”

Regardless of whether he spoke Zed or not, he had come to a decision. He couldn’t wait two hours. That would just be increasing the risk to his men’s lives. He had to call HQ first.

He opened the door and left the room. On his way to his destination he ran into Kid. They weren’t far from the planning room and Kid had a strange look on his face.

“Is there a problem?” he asked Kid.

“I’m not very sure,” Kid answered, scratching the top of his head with a finger. “Did you hear someone slamming any doors around? Sounds like something Zed would do and I felt that maybe I should let him know we don’t do that around here.”

Daniel hesitated before answering.

“I did not,” he said, then continued walking. He passed Kid and made his way forward.

“Odd,” he heard Kid say behind him. “I could’ve sworn I heard a door being slammed.”

Daniel continued on his way until he turned a corner and Kid was out of sight. The walk to the communication room was not long yet he felt like it would take forever to get there at a walk. The possibility of an attack and his lack of a plan against one was making him impatient.

He picked up the pace, making sure to remind himself of one crucial piece of information.

I don’t speak Zed.

Somehow it was important to remember.

………………………………..

Zed strolled into the infirmary with an exaggerated swagger in his steps. He was going to need to convince the others to leave the safety of the spaceship and follow him all in the name of avoiding a danger that would be born of staying in the safety of the spaceship.

I need to convince them to leave safety and venture into possible danger to avoid possible danger or stay in safety and suffer the possible consequence of possible danger… shouldn’t be too hard.

Everyone was where he’d left them. When he walked into the room, closing the door behind him, they all turned to face him. Trevor had an injection in his hand but didn’t look like he was about to use it on anyone.

“Hey, Tyrese,” Zed said cheerily. “What you got there?”

“It’s Tre—never mind. It’s an adrenaline shot.”

“You gonna use it?”

“No. It’s for—”

“Did you find the captain?” Oliver interrupted. “And what was so important that you had to find him?”

“As a matter of fact, I did.” Zed strolled to join them. Shanine was now dressed in nice clothes. A simple blue shirt and black jeans. Like him, she wore no footwear. “Did you check out the bathroom while you were checking out the closets?” he asked her.

She swatted his arm playfully. “I’m not a poop mage,” she complained.

I hope you’re not a blood mage either, Zed thought, worried. These guys don’t seem to like their kind… wait… isn’t that discriminatory in someway?

“Well, never say never,” he told her, instead. “I think I’ve got a big one stashed away that just won’t come out, and—What the hell?!”

Everyone turned to him in worry.

“What’s wrong?” Oliver and Shanine asked.

“I thought we had time,” Zed said, eerily. “I guess I was wrong.”

Quest: The Great Houdini

Danger lies around every corner, seeking preys where none may be found. Often times, prey wander onto their path, most times they seek prey out. Rest has taken its toll, wrapped itself about you. Do not fall into a false sense of security. Danger is on its way. You are surrounded.

· Objective: Escape the woods: 0/1

· Reward: [Riot shield] (Rune-carved).

Time remaining: [00:52:07]“Why the fuck do I get a timer if it won’t stick to being a timer?!”