When I said I will upload by February 1st, I totally meant 14 months later... Totally.
Blood. So much blood. Nero's blood. Spilling out of his body. The katana in my hand. The hole in his chest. The look of betrayal on his face. His pained gasp. Him falling to the floor. His pulse fading…
I sat up suddenly, blood pounding in my temples. I gasped, trying to get oxygen back into my lungs.
"It was just a dream, just a dream" I repeated to myself, my voice shaking and hitching.
The nightmares were getting worse the more I tried to sleep. Each time I closed my eyes they were filled with images of me killing those who I cared about. This was the fourth dream within the time that my body had been preparing to capture Otto.
I gently massaged my temples and breathed as calmly as I could. I knew that I could not let panic take over me once again.
After standing up slowly, I walked quietly around my virtual box. It was so weird up here, being confined in my own head. It was like being inside a tiny cinema, but with no ability to turn off what movie is playing other than sleep. (And at the moment that wasn't working too well.)
Or perhaps it was like being inside a glass aquarium, but with surround sound. Either way you looked at it, it was still horrifying.
I looked out of my prison and saw my body walking around the hanger. People were scurrying around an armoured Shroud, preparing it for take-off. The non-Blackbox communicator on my belt buzzed, and my body answered it.
"Raven here"
The box crackled slightly, before Furan's harsh voice broke through.
"We have located the boy. I will transfer his location to you momentarily, along with other instructions."
My heart dropped as the communication ended. Otto had been found.
But how? Nero and Darkdoom would have taken every precaution to avoid being found, and if anyone could go undetected, it was them. I ran through a list of possibilities in my head. How could they have been found? The Megalodon was invisible to a satellite, so that was out. Could there have been a tracker on one of the kids? No, Otto or H.I.V.E. mind would have sensed it. Perhaps they were intercepted whilst in the water? But then how would the people intercepting them know they were a threat? All the other scenarios were either completely illogical or just plain wrong, so they were no help either.
A message popped up on my communicator, and I looked down at it, bracing myself for whatever was coming.
To: Operative codename RAVEN
From: Commander Furan P.
Subject: Malpense, Otto
Classification: HIGHLY CLASSIFIED
Subject inbound for GCHQ Cheltenham. ETA 2.5 hours. Disciple Nine recommends terrorist attack to ensure maximum secrecy.
I sighed loudly. Whoever Disciple Nine was, they had no imagination. I mean, come on. The traditional "terrorist attack" is pretty old and boing now.
There are far more interesting ways now to acquire your target now, such as hacking the security feeds and watching everyone run around in a panic whilst you grab/kill your target. That one's really good when someone records the footage for you to watch with a box of popcorn afterwards.
The old faithful, "I've got a nuke and I'm not afraid to use it" is pretty good too. They're really fun to do, especially when you leave a little box (of chocolates) on their doorstep after you leave and watch everyone panic over a box of assorted chocolates. It's hilarious to watch.
My communicator buzzed again and my body accepted the call. Furan's voice crackled out of the communicator.
"Can you do it?"
"Yes."
"Good. Bring the boy to Overlord once you're done."
The call ended without any more words being spoken. Furan was notorious for never saying more than what was needed over radio.
My body walked to one of the assistants fuelling the Shroud and asked him how much longer it would take. By asked, I really mean demanded. By demanded I mean near-interrogation voice. By near-interrogation voice I mean basically the voice I use for torture. Oops! I guess the animus or whatever it was had really messed with my sense of humanity.
The poor assistant squeaked out that fuelling would be done in about 2 minutes, and that I could start boarding. My body strode up the gangway and into the Shroud. Inside were around two dozen armed men, along with a decent supply of ammunition and the likes. My body strode into the cockpit and discussed the flight plans with the pilots. Turns out, my body liked the idea of a terrorist attack, and had decided to roll with it. I sighed once again. If I was going to be trapped inside my own mind, then couldn't my body at least make what it was doing interesting so I wasn't left to my own thoughts?
Once the flight plans had been discussed (trust me, they were REALLY boring) my body walked to a bulkhead seat, strapped itself in and began preparing sedatives and the likes. I felt a growing sense of unease settle over me once more, and I tried my best to shake it off. I had been doing so well, and I couldn't afford to let my mind panic.
The loading doors shut with a thud, and the engines began to whir. I sat down on the floor of my box and prepared myself for a long flight. A small sense of hope settled itself in my heart as the engines grew to a high-pitched squeal. Perhaps Nero would come and save Otto, and with Otto he would save me.
Sorry about such a delay in uploading, I had an idea for this chapter that just refused to work...
Hopefully there will be another chapter in the next two weeks. :)
Thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoyed it, as I certainly enjoyed writing it.
