"So, you guys ready?" Marina asked the three of them.
"More than ever!" Charlie responded and put her arms around Susan and Anna. "Bring it on, we can take it!"
"Good to see you're in high spirits," Marie said and tapped on her phone. "Marina, why don't you tell them what they're supposed to do, I have to answer this."
"Got it!" Marina answered and turned to face the three of them. "This first practice will be simple."
She pulled up a small screen, showing them a layout of the practice range. "Your mission is to make it to this location," she said and pointed at a small dot on the map. "Anna, I've sent you the layout of this map, so that you can keep track of where to go."
Anna looked down at the device on her wrist and nodded. "Got it!"
"There will be a few stationary turrets scattered around," Marina continued. "They will shoot you on sight, so be careful. The only way to deactivate them is to shoot them. They will turn off once your ink touches them. But it has to be a solid hit, a small drop of ink won't be enough."
"Question," Susan said and raised her hand slightly. "Will we be using actual ink? Won't that be dangerous?"
"No, you'll be using harmless ink," Marina answered and pointed at a few ink tanks laying on the floor. "Switch out your ink tanks now, we'll be using the harmless ones."
Susan reached behind her back and began loosening the ink tank on her back. She hadn't used harmless ink in a long time. The last time she did, it was during turf war. But that had been such a long time ago.
Once all of them had switched out their ink tanks, Marina continued. "Once you've made your way to the objective, you can come back to me and I'll brief you on round two. That one will be a little bit different, but I'll explain more once we get to that."
Marie put down her phone and looked up. "Alright, now that you're ready, follow me."
Susan, Charlie, and Anna followed Marie towards the bundle of buildings in the distance, Marina, Pearl, and the three agents not far behind. Pearl hadn't said anything since she arrived. She'd just been sitting in her chair, sunglasses on, leaning back in the sunlight. Susan had a feeling she wasn't a fan of explaining stuff to newbies.
Once they made it to the practice range, Marie bent down next to a machine on the floor and pressed a few buttons. The machine lit up and a small electrical hum could be heard from it. It took Susan a few seconds to realize it was a respawner.
"Everyone register into the respawner, we don't want any accidents to happen," Marie said, and everyone stepped on the machine. Once everyone was registered, Marie took out her charger and addressed Susan, Charlie, and Anna.
"Now that we're using harmless ink and a respawner, you won't be in any danger if you're eliminated during this practice. But, out there on the field, you won't have that luxury. Out there, there are no respawns, no second chances. If you mess up out there, it's over. I'm sure you three already know this, maybe even experienced it. But you cannot be reckless, no matter what. You got that?"
"Yes ma'am!" the three of them answered in unison.
"Good," Marie said. "And quit with the "ma'am" thing, we're all equal here."
A smile spread across her face. "But, for now, since we're using respawners, you don't have to worry if you're splatted. And if you mess up…"
Without warning, Marie aimed her charger at Pearl and pulled the trigger. By the time anyone realized what had happened, Pearl was gone, the only things left of her being a puddle of ink and her sunglasses. Marie laughed and rested her charger on her shoulder.
"…you can just respawn back in," she continued and looked at the respawner in front of her. The machine hummed and after a few seconds, Pearl was standing there as nothing had happened. However, she had a furious look on her face.
"What the hell Marie!" she complained. "A warning would've been nice!"
"If you'd known, you wouldn't have that look on your face," Marie answered, a smirk spread across her face. Pearl strode over to where she'd stood and picked up the sunglasses.
"They're all covered in ink, damn it!" Pearl continued and tried to wipe it off. "I just bought these, you couldn't have warned a bit in advance!?"
Marie ignored her and continued to address the newbies. "Alright, that should be it. Any questions?"
Susan's mind was racing. It sounded simple enough, but in a way, it was too good to be true. She gazed over the practice range, trying to find good vantage points. There was one building that rose a little higher than the others, so it might work. She only had to get there.
When no answer came, Marie turned to Marina. "Are the turrets ready?"
"Yep, all ready to go!" Marina answered and put down her screen.
"Good," Marie muttered and faced the newbies once more. "Before you go, there are a few things we want to give you."
She reached into her pocket and took out three small earpieces. "Put these on, that way you'll be able to communicate with each other from afar."
Each of them took one and put them inside their ears. "Testing, testing, one, two, three," Charlie said, and Susan could hear her voice in her ear.
"Works on my end," Susan said and adjusted the earpiece. "What about yours, Anna?"
"Everything's okay over here," Anna answered, her voice echoing in Susan's ear. Marie nodded in approval and reached for something else in her jacket.
"You'll also need these," she said and handed them three, small, black, pen-looking things. When the three of them looked completely clueless on what those things were, Marie spoke.
"These are expandable batons. We call them splatbatons. They can come in handy if you lose your weapon, or if you need to take care of someone without getting lethal."
She clicked a small button on one of the batons and the metal extended out. "I know they don't look like much, but they hurt a lot if you're struck by one."
She handed them their batons, Susan examining hers and then attached it to her belt. She had never been the greatest at close-quarters combat, so she didn't imagine she'd be any good at using it.
"Alright, that should be it," Marie said and pointed towards a small house at the edge of the practice range. "Just step inside and Marina will tell you when you can begin."
"Alrighty!" said Charlie, obviously excited to get out there. Her enthusiasm made the ink Susan's veins race throughout her body, and she nodded, ready to begin. The three of them made their way to the building. When inside, they took out their weapons and awaited Marina's instructions.
"So Anna, you have the map, right?" Charlie asked and spun the dualies in her hand. Anna nodded and looked down at the screen attached to her wrist.
"It's all here," she said and tapped a few times on the screen. "I'm still trying to figure out how this thing works, but I'll be able to read the map."
"Good," Charlie responded and turned to face Susan. "Any opinions?"
Susan glanced at the map on Anna's screen and thought for a moment.
"I think it's better we make our way to the goal by climbing up on the houses," she said and stroked her chin.
"You too, huh?" Charlie asked. "I was thinking of that as well."
Susan nodded before she continued. "If we make our way through the streets, it'll be way too easy to ambush us. These streets are really narrow, and our visibility would be extremely limited."
Anna nodded along. "And if we make our way over the rooftops, we'll have a better overview of our surroundings. That way…"
"We can get to the goal as safely as possible," Charlie finished for her. "I like it!"
Just then, Marina's voice echoed in their earpiece.
"You can begin."
Silence fell over the group, as the three of them listened for any sound. But the only thing they heard was their own breathing. Charlie nodded her head towards a window, and Susan understood immediately what she meant. She crept her way towards the window, her finger ready on the trigger.
Peeking outside, she checked if the coast was clear. She had expected to see some of those turrets, but to her surprise, the town looked as dead as it had ever been. She double-checked just to be sure, before giving Charlie and Anna a thumbs up.
"Be on your guard," Charlie whispered into the earpiece. "We have no idea how these turrets work."
Susan and Anna nodded, before following Charlie out the door. When they came outside, a deadly silence greeted them. It made Susan uneasy. Her finger on the trigger, she scanned around for any threats, but no matter where she looked, there was not a single turret in sight.
Charlie and Anna looked like they were just as uneasy, as they glanced around. Anna had nocked an arrow, ready to draw it at any time. Susan glanced towards where Marie and the others had been just a moment ago, but they had disappeared somewhere else. She tried to steady her breathing and focus. This was easy. They just had to make their way to that goal. Nothing to worry about.
When they came up to the nearest building, Charlie signaled to her to climb up first. Susan nodded in response and looked for a good way to climb up. She could use the windows to heave herself up, and then jump up and grab hold of the roof.
She began her climb, her charger hanging by her side. If a turret spotted her, she'd be in no position to fight back. Once she had climbed up, she pulled out her charger and scanned for threats. But there was nothing. Not even in the distance. The knot in her stomach got tighter. She didn't like this. They should've at the very least spotted one turret by now. Nevertheless, she signaled the other two to climb up.
When all three of them had climbed up, Anna looked down at her screen and pointed in the direction they had to go in. It was directly across the middle of the town. The three of them crept between rooftops, ready for anything.
"You guys seen anything?" Anna whispered into her earpiece. Her voice quivered. It was obvious she was just as stressed as Susan was about how easy this had been.
"Not yet," Charlie whispered back. Her voice wasn't as uneasy as Anna's, but Susan could hear she was a bit on edge. "What about you, Susan?"
"Nothing," Susan responded. "And remember, we gotta use our agent names."
"Yeah sorry, I forgot!" Charlie whispered back before she continued. "Okay, let's just make our way over there. And don't rush. If we do, we might get ambushed more easily."
"Got it," Susan answered. "Omega, anything on your scanners?"
"I've been trying to figure out how this damn thing works," Anna whispered and glanced down. "I think I performed a radio scan, however, nothing came up. That means these turrets are not receiving and sending out information by radio waves. That is, if I actually performed a radio scan, if not, then I have no idea what I did."
"Alright, keep working on that thing," Charlie whispered. "Tell us if you figure something out."
"Also, I think I can perform an EMP with this thing," Anna added.
"An EMP?!" Charlie whispered. "Use it, and we won't have to deal with these turrets!"
"It wouldn't matter," Anna responded. "From a device this small, I doubt the radius would be large enough to solve our problem. I'd have to be standing, at the very most, a few meters away from the turret for it to be effective. Besides, if I did, it would kill my earpiece, and if you were standing close enough, it'd kill yours as well. And that's not something we want to happen."
"No, guess not," Charlie whispered. "In any case, let's just make our way safely to the goal. You good there, Alpha?"
"All fine here," Susan responded. She glanced up at the tower she'd spotted before. She had planned on climbing up there to get a good vantage point, but it would be a huge detour, and she didn't want to separate herself from the group.
"How far is it now, Omega?" Susan asked and looked away from the tower.
"We're halfway there," Anna whispered back.
"Good," Susan responded. "Let's just keep our gua—"
But then, something green flew past Susan's head. It was so close, Susan could feel the wind stroke her chin. She ducked down and scanned around for the thing that had shot her. Her eyes fell on the tower, and the outline of a turret could be seen through one of the windows. It was a sniper turret. It hadn't been there a second ago. Where on earth did it come from?
"Take cover!" Susan hissed into the earpiece. But just as she did, a small hole opened up at the corner of the roof of the building she was standing on, and a turret sprung out of it. Before she had time to react, a barrage of ink came flying towards her. She was just about able to roll out of the way and shoot the turret with her charger.
The turret stopped firing, and remained still, ink dripping down its lifeless shell. Susan had no time to breathe, as a second and third turret rose out of the buildings around her. A second shot from the sniper turret whizzed past her head, and Susan had no choice but to dive off the building she was standing on and through the window of the one next to her.
Her knee smacked into the window, and a burning pain shot through her body as she crashed into the floor. Nevertheless, she fought the pain and stood up, the loud thump of her heart booming in her ears. When she'd made sure she was safe, she whispered into the earpiece.
"Omega, Beta, you still there?"
The radio buzzed as someone tried to answer. Finally, Anna's voice came through.
"Yeah, we're still here," she answered. Susan's breathing steadied and she glanced out the window. There were three turrets out on the street, but she could not spot Charlie or Anna.
"You guys get separated?" she asked and took aim with her charger. She pulled the trigger and ink flew into one turret. Before the other two had a chance to shoot back, Susan disabled them with two well-placed shots.
"No, me and Omega are together, where are you?" Charlie responded. Just then, Susan could hear the sound of ink being shot somewhere to her left.
"That being said, we're not in a good position," Charlie continued. "There are two turrets in front of us, one behind us, and three above us. If we move an inch, we'll be barraged with ink."
Susan grunted, millions of thoughts racing through her mind. "Make a sound, so I'll know where you guys are," she said. There was no response, however, she could hear a single shot being fired not far from her.
"Okay, I heard it, I'm on my way to help," Susan whispered and began climbing out one of the windows. She had to make sure she stayed out of the sightline of the sniper, and she leaped through the window of the building next to hers.
"I think I can get one of them from here," Anna whispered into the earpiece.
"Don't take any risks, I'll be there in a second!" Susan whispered back and pulled out her little pocket mirror. She had completely forgotten she had it and used it to peek out the window. There was a single turret out on the street, and she took it down with a single shot.
"Hold on," Anna murmured. A few seconds later, Susan heard something whizz through the air, metal colliding with metal, and the sound of ink exploding.
"Got one!" Anna said triumphantly. "Now there's only five left!"
"Good, now sit tight, I'm almost there," Susan commanded. She dashed towards one window and peeked outside with her mirror. It took her a few moments to find the two of them, where they were crouched behind cover.
"Alright, I'm here," Susan whispered and looked around for the turrets. She could locate all of them, except one.
"Where are you?" Charlie asked. "I can't see you."
Susan used the mirror to reflect the sunlight into Charlie's eyes, getting her attention.
"Ah, there you are," Anna whispered. "There's a turret directly above you, so if you could take it out, it would help a lot. That one has us pinned down, and if you take it out, we'll be able to move more."
Susan tilted the mirror upwards, and sure enough, there was a turret right above her. "Can you get it from there?" Charlie asked.
Susan stroked her chin. "I'm not sure. It might be too risky. If I want to get a good shot on it, I have to stick my whole upper body, and my charger out the window. It'll take too long for me to set it up, and the other turrets might spot me and shoot me down. And at the angle I'm at, I can't take those out either."
"Any other solution?" Charlie asked. Susan's mind was racing as she tried to find a good way to take out the turret. Suddenly, an idea formed in her mind.
"Omega, can you take out the turret?" she asked.
"If I could, I would've done that long ago," she responded. "I can just about see the top of it, but if I try anything else, I'll be sprayed with ink."
"So you can see above it?" Susan asked. It took Anna a few moments to respond, as she was clearly confused.
"Well yeah," she answered in a perplexed tone. Susan nodded to herself.
"Alright, I have a plan," Susan whispered. "Omega, I am going to toss a splatbomb into the air, and I'm gonna need you to shoot it. The arrow should trigger the explosion, and the ink from that explosion should deactivate the turret."
"You want me to do what?!" Anna tried to protest. "Su-, Alpha, I can't hit that kind of shot!"
"Don't worry, you got this," Susan whispered and took out a splatbomb. "Just aim in front of the splatbomb."
"But…" Anna started, but her voice fell silent. Susan could see her draw the bow, and Susan prepared herself to throw the bomb.
"Three, two, one, now!" Susan counted down, stuck her arm out of the window, and threw the bomb into the air with all her might. A few moments passed without a single sound. Then, the sound of an arrow being released and an explosion of ink could be heard somewhere above Susan.
"Did it work?" Susan whispered, waiting impatiently for an answer. A few seconds passed before Anna's voice rang in her ear.
"It's down!"
"Great, that gives us a chance to move!" Charlie said. "Alpha, you take out the turret behind us, Omega, you deal with the ones on the roof and I'll take the ones in front."
"Got it!" Susan murmured and aimed the charger out the window. The turret entered her sight and she took it out before it noticed her. She glanced down and saw Anna fire an arrow at the last turret on the roof, while Charlie dove out into the street and took out the ones in front of her with ease.
"Alright Alpha, get down here, I think we're gonna need a new plan," Charlie said once the fight was over. Susan acknowledged and jumped out of the window, landing on both feet on the ground below.
"Alright, so traveling by the rooftops isn't an option," Charlie said and spat out a blob of ink. "Omega, what's the shortest and safest route to the goal?"
Anna checked on her screen and frowned. "Well, if we go down this alley and stay close to the left wall, we should be able to avoid the sniper. However, I have no idea how many turrets we'll meet."
"Figured out how to do a scan?" Susan asked. If they could locate the turrets, they would be able to find the safest route.
Anna shook her head and scratched her head. "Not yet. I need to talk to Marina about how to do it, this thing is needlessly complicated. Oh wait, maybe this is it…"
She tapped a small icon at the top of the screen. "Nope, that's just the internet browser," she said and turned off the screen. Susan sighed. "Well, wouldn't be the first time we go blind into something."
"Yeah, this shouldn't be a problem," Charlie murmured. "Alright, let's move!"
Susan got ready to follow her, but they were stopped by Anna's voice.
"I forgot to mention something," she said, and Susan and Charlie looked at her in question. Anna continued. "I said we'd be able to avoid the sniper while we made our way to the goal. However, there's just one problem."
"And what's that?" Susan asked.
"Well, the goal is right in the middle of a large and empty town square. We'd be completely exposed to the sniper. And as we all know, that sniper has ridiculous range, so Alpha would never be able to take it out from there."
"So, are we gonna take a detour and take the thing out?" Charlie asked. Susan thought for a second, glanced in the direction of the tower before she answered.
"No, that'd take too long," she said and the other two looked at her. "You guys make your way to the square, I'll deal with the sniper."
"What, are you crazy?!" Anna said dumbfounded. "You wanna go alone? You have no idea how many turrets are between you and that tower!"
"I'll travel faster if I'm on my own, you guys just get to the square. Once I've taken out the sniper, I'll meet back up with you."
Anna looked like she wanted to protest, but Charlie looked more open to the idea.
"You sure you're up to it?" she asked, looking Susan straight in the eyes. Susan stared back and nodded.
"Yes, trust me."
Charlie evaluated the idea for a second before asking: "How are you gonna meet up with us? You can't tell me you're just gonna run all across town?"
Susan smirked and tugged at the cape on her back.
"This cape isn't just for show," she said, and Charlie understood immediately what she meant.
"Alright, we'll clear a way to the goal, but we're trusting you to take out that sniper. Just let us know if you get in trouble."
"Got it!" Susan answered, and their eyes met for a split second, a mutual understanding between them. Then, her eyes fell on Anna, who looked like she wanted to argue, but her arms went limp by her side as she realized she was outnumbered.
"Fine, if that's your plan, so be it," she murmured, worried. "But if this plan goes south, don't say I didn't warn you."
"It'll be fine, trust me!" Susan said and winked at her. "I'll be back with you before you know it!"
Charlie looked down the street and shook her head. "Alright, we've delayed this long enough, let's move!"
Susan nodded and prepared herself to sprint towards the tower, but she was stopped when Anna placed a hand on her shoulder.
"Be careful, alright," she said. She still had that worried look in her eyes. It didn't really fit her. Her smile felt a lot more natural.
"You gotta have more faith in me than that!" Susan laughed. "Look at you, all worried. I'll be fine, I promise!"
"Yeah, I know," Anna murmured. "See ya soon!"
Susan smirked, turned around, and ran as fast as she could down the alleyway. Eventually, Charlie's and Anna's voices faded out of earshot, until all Susan could hear was the sound of her shoes meeting with the concrete below her, while her swift breathing and heartbeat echoed in her ears.
The route to the tower was an easy one. There weren't many turrets, and of the few that were, Susan either avoided or took out with ease. Before she knew it, she was standing by the door into the tower. Susan took a deep breath, trying to control her heartbeat. She'd run so fast, that it felt like her heart was about to burst out of her chest.
Slowly opening the door, Susan peeked inside. She'd expected at the very least one turret to greet her, but the room she entered was completely empty. Susan looked around for cameras, tripwires, anything that could signal a trap. But there was nothing. Just an empty spiral staircase that led up to the top.
Susan's mind raced as she thought the plan through. There were probably a few turrets stationed somewhere in the staircase, ready to fire at anyone who tried to climb it. She'd have to be extra careful. Her charger ready, she began climbing the staircase, one step at a time.
The problem with spiral staircases was that your view was extremely limited. Anyone could be waiting to ambush you, and you wouldn't know about it until you were right next to them. Susan held her breath, listening for any clues, any sound that could indicate that there was a turret waiting for her. But there was nothing.
The higher Susan climbed, the more anxious she became. Every time she climbed a step, she was ready to pull the trigger. But there wasn't a single turret in sight. Not one. Surely, this couldn't be that simple—
Suddenly, the silence was broken by a loud bang somewhere above her. The deafening sound tore through the silence, making Susan jump and almost fall over. The sniper must've fired another shot.
Regaining her balance, Susan turned on her earpiece. "I just heard the sniper fire a shot, you guys okay?" she whispered. She didn't know how strong the audio detector was in these turrets, and she sure as hell didn't want to take any chances.
Charlie's voice came in, her breathing heavy. Despite this, she sounded just as pumped as ever. "Yeah, we're okay!" she replied and cleared her throat. "I must've entered its sight, but it missed me by half a meter or so. But we're doing great! What about you, where are you?"
"I'm climbing the tower, I'm just below the sniper now," Susan whispered back. "I can take it out in just a few moments, stay safe until then."
"Got it!" Charlie answered. "You got this!"
Susan turned off her earpiece and aimed her charger once more. She was nearing the top, and she doubted that any turrets were guarding the stairs. She knew the sniper was facing towards where Charlie and Anna were, which meant its back was facing Susan.
She could spot the sunlight from outside peering in from the top. Susan held down her breath. The turret was right behind the corner. She just had to shoot. Susan opened her eyes, and silently counted down from three in her head.
"Three… two… one…"
Susan jumped out and aimed her charger, ready to—
Bang!
The sound was deafening in Susan's ears. Something stroked her left ear at immense speed, and Susan's hearing faded out, the noise ringing in her ears. Susan stumbled and fell, pulling the trigger by instinct. Immense pain shot through her body as she crashed into the ground below her and rolled down a few steps. The world spun around her as she fell further and further down the steps.
When she finally came to a stop, her body ached from the pain, and the sound continued to ring in her ear. Groaning, Susan tried to stand up, much to her body's disapproval. Her hearing slowly faded back in, and the sound of someone's voice rang in her ear.
"Alpha! Alpha! We heard gunshots, everything alright?!"
It was Anna. Grunting, Susan turned on her earpiece and sat up, leaning against the wall.
"Yeah, I'm still here," she groaned and exhaled. "Damn thing knew I was coming, almost got me."
Susan pulled out her pocket mirror and examined her own face. Her left ear was colored green from the turret's ink. She cursed and tried to stand up. After a few attempts, she was able to pull herself up and pick up her charger. Her body still ached, but she bit her lip and tried to ignore it.
"Did you get it?" Charlie asked, sounding concerned. Susan shook her head, trying to stop the world from spinning.
"I'm not sure," she gasped. "I shot towards it, but I don't know if it actually hit."
There was a moment of silence on the other end before Charlie's voice came in once more. "Yeah, I think you got it."
Confused, Susan spoke up. "How on earth do you know?"
"I'm standing directly in its line of sight and it's not shooting me, so it's safe to say that you got it."
"Oh," Susan murmured. "Alright, I'll be with you guys in a second, where are you?"
It took Charlie a few moments to answer. "We're almost done with clearing out the square. While you were up there dealing with the sniper, we've been picking off the turrets one by one."
"Alright, I'll glide down to you," Susan replied and checked if her charger had broken from the fall.
"Yeah, see ya in a second!" Charlie said and Susan turned off her earpiece. She groaned again as she struggled to climb the stairs. Every step she took, it felt like a dagger was being plunged into her side. When she finally reached the top, she stared up into the turret's barrel. The blue ink from her charger covered the machine, making it as lifeless as a rock. She examined the turret closer. How had it known she was coming?
When she came closer, she realized how. The turret was shaped like any other turret, a cubic form, with a barrel on one side. However, this turret was different. Instead of having one barrel, it had four, each pointing in a different direction. Each barrel could move individually, which meant that while three barrels kept an eye on the town, one could always point towards the entrance.
"Clever," Susan murmured and looked over the town. From where she stood, she could see the entire cavern. The sun shone down from the big hole in the ceiling, filling the cave with sunlight. For a few seconds, Susan forgot herself, letting the fresh air fill her lungs. But then she saw movement out of the corner of her eye. She looked over there and noticed two figures standing in a large square on the other side of town. That must be Anna and Charlie. They waved to her, and she waved back.
Susan looked down at the ground below. The fall was high and surely lethal. But, Susan had done this many times before. It was almost second nature to her. She took a few steps backward, took a breath, and leaped off the tower, spreading her cape as she did so. She was stuck in freefall for a few moments before her cape caught the air and she began gliding towards the square.
But there was something wrong. Susan was usually really good at keeping herself steady while gliding. However, now she was having difficulty with keeping herself from plunging to the ground below. Her limbs protested and she felt as if her arms were about to fall off. It probably hadn't been a good idea to glide right after falling down a set of stairs. But, it was too late now. She just had to keep it together until she landed.
"Hey Alpha," Charlie's voice came into her ear. "I'm no expert when it comes to gliding, but you're looking kinda shaky over there. You okay?"
As much as Susan wanted to say everything wasn't okay, she forced a laugh. "Yeah, everything's good!"
"Alright, if you say so," Charlie replied and fell silent once more. Once the radio was turned off, Susan cursed under her breath. She couldn't take this much longer! She was now circling the square, desperately looking for a place to land. There was a small patch of dirt in the middle of the square, a place where she might be able to land with minimal injury.
As Susan got closer and closer to the ground, the knot in her stomach got tighter. She was going way too fast! What if she overshot? Susan swallowed her fear and got ready to land. As she approached the ground, she emptied her lungs, and extended her legs, preparing for impact.
Her landing was far from perfect. The second her feet hit the ground, her knees buckled and she plunged forward. She tried to roll to break the fall, but it barely helped. She slid in the dirt for a few meters before coming to a stop. She expected to feel pain, but instead, she just felt exhausted and numb. While she recovered from the fall, she heard someone sprint towards her, and before she knew it, Charlie's face entered her vision.
"Hey, you okay?!" she asked, a worried tone in her voice. "Can you hear me?"
"Yeah, I'm doing absolutely fantastic," Susan lied and gazed up at the ceiling far above them. Just then, Anna entered her vision as well.
"What on earth happened?!" she asked. "Why'd you crash?"
Susan felt funny, like she was in some kind of trance. Exhaustion overtook her and she spoke without thinking.
"I don't know, just felt like it," she answered, much to Anna's and Charlie's confusion.
"You felt like it?" Anna repeated after her. "Did you hit your head or something?"
"Me? No, no no, I'm fine, I just need to stand up," she said in a swoony voice. She attempted to sit up, but as she did, the world swirled around her and she lied back down. Worried, Anna asked her.
"Susan, we have a neighbor that lets us watch his TV. What's his name?"
Susan struggled to comprehend the question. Neighbor? What neighbor? They had their own TV. Or wait… Was that before the flood? Weren't they in Inkopolis? But that was buried in the flood. Was there even a flood? What does this neighbor have to do with anything? Did he cause the flood? Why does she want to know who this neighbor is? Doesn't she know already? Why is she asking me, why should I care what this neighbor is called?
After a while, Susan gave up on trying to figure out if they even had a neighbor to begin with and why Anna wanted to know who he was, and just said whatever.
"I don't know, Bob?"
Anna remained silent for a few seconds and then looked at Charlie. "She's either really drunk or she hit her head really, really badly."
Charlie reached for something in the dirt and pulled out a large rock buried in the ground. "Probably this," she said. "There's a stain of blue ink on it."
Susan had given up on trying to understand what they were saying and just gazed into nothingness. After a few seconds, Marina's voice rang in their ears.
"Nicely done! I honestly didn't expect you to do this so smoothly!"
Charlie stood up and spoke back. "It didn't go off completely flawlessly. Susan hit her head really bad, and she's completely out of this world."
"Really? How bad is it?"
"Really, really bad!" Anna answered. Marina remained silent for a moment before she answered. "Alright, wait for us there, we'll bring in some stretchers and take her to the infirmary."
"Got it," Charlie acknowledged. "We'll just wait here."
The radio fell silent, and Charlie bent down. "Find where she hit her head and put a cloth on it," she told Anna. "We don't want her to lose ink."
Anna tore a piece of fabric out of her T-shirt and examined Susan. "Found it," she said and placed the fabric up to her friend's head.
"Alright good," Charlie said. "I'm gonna need you to hold it there until they arrive. Maybe I can-"
Their voices faded out as the world around Susan became hazier and hazier. She felt exhausted. Maybe it wouldn't hurt to close her eyes for just a few seconds. Anna's and Charle's faces faded out, as their voices echoed somewhere far away. Whatever they were talking about, it didn't matter. She just wanted to sleep…