Hi, I'm also done with this chapter. To apologise for the lengh of time between chap 6 and 7, here's the 8th one.
Enjoy.
Chapter 8:
Ash changed his behavior during the next days. He tried to ignore as much as he could this feeling of being able to decipher where moving targets would appear, but this wasn't easy. Another non-easy thing was when his squad had to return inside the city and to help people with supplies and news, which basically resumed themselves in "nothing has changed since the construction of the wall. We'll keep you updated if something's new".
Not only did Ash's mental accuracy developed itself, but now Ash could analyze people's mood and if they were to be trusted or not, and he didn't need to even have his eyes opened.
And one thing was sure, all the superiors inside the army were to not be trusted. Tobias's aura went to a normal to a suspicious behavior from Ash's perspective, but he managed to show nothing to his friend. Paul…was Paul honestly. His Aura would change between suspicion and trust, but Ash sincerely doubted that he was aware of the plan of superior officers. The worse was that the teenager had no idea how many people were to watch and denounce potential threats in and outside his squad and that was very annoying.
So, while he was helping with delivering supplies to citizens, Ash paid attention that he would react as less as he could to suspicious people, and pretend that he knew nothing.
In the city, Ash saw that babies were shining in white, and blue. Most of the non-trustable people were at least shining in pale blue or bright red depending on if they were to be subject to cowardice (blue) or to stab you in the back (red).
Other colors meant that people were afraid, happy, sad… and a lot more. Ash was more and more confused to see the world from the perspective of someone who could handle Aura. He could feel this energy, but the power that resided within himself was a peaceful one.
It was a good thing that the colors warned him if people were nice to him or pretended to, because Tobias was still making reports to the general. Ash could now identify someone from a far distance, which helped and didn't at the same time for the shooting practice. The squad went from shooting moving wooden figures to paint ball fights.
When he wasn't on city duty, Ash had to fight alongside others in different weather conditions. Ash didn't have a clue why did they had to fight in a dusty storm, or a cold, icy wind, nor why the weather was always so intensive, but as his powers grew more and more, he had a strong feeling that this weather could be associated with Pokémon powers.
Of course, he never shared his thoughts with no ones, even his relatives when he was allowed to visit, because he now knew that nothing and no one could be trusted. As the Aura allowed him to unveil a new world, it also forced him to shield himself from everything. What a pity! Ash's discoveries were to be kept to himself.
The teenager could tell his Aura powers prevented him from falling into booby traps. Since he heard Tobias talking to the general, Ash could feel that the mood had changed. He was forced to let himself being shot down more quickly than he would have liked (because he knew where the others were and couldn't hunt all of them down without being too suspicious), or he would fall for some stupid pranks despite knowing that he could have avoided them.
But Ash didn't know that his real test would be involving every soldier carrying handcuffs and doing a Royal Battle shooting exercise.
If Ash had no idea why would there be golden handcuffs involved, he knew at the second he had to put them on. The hands weren't linked together by a chain, and Ash felt more like a trapped genius who lost its magical lamp for two seconds, as he remembered childish fairytales.
The idea was simple: each soldier was given a map with a specific area to hide in. They were 100 in total. Once it was done, they would receive a signal to put their handcuffs on. Then, another signal to tell them when to begin the exercise. They were to fight in a 10 kilometers per 10 kilometers square (citizens had no idea of the space the army took from them), and the last one to not be killed would win some price. Each 30 minutes, they would receive the location of the other soldiers. As the game would progress, the area would be restricted until they would find themselves in the same area where they would fight to the finish.
Ash had no idea of what was the price itself, but the "it's going to be easy with my Aura" felt way less easy of a sudden.
First, the teenager had to adjust himself to his surroundings, since he was seeing from a normal perspective, and no longer with spots of colors, and second, he knew his results would be affected by his lack of sensing the others.
Good thing I thought of restraining myself these last weeks…, thought the teenagers, before loading his gun with a barrel of red paint, and readying himself.
"In position", Ash said to the transmitter. "Out".
The silence was almost ominous. Then, a "click" was heard and the royal battle began.
Each soldier checked the map and Ash noticed that no one was around. Since he had no idea how he would fucking do win without his Aura, Ash decided to play the sniper mode and went to a rocky area, where he placed himself under a big boulder to prevent other soldiers from sniping him from above, or behind.
Then, Ash unlocked the security and prepared himself for the fake kills. From time to time, the transmitter would beep, informing that soldiers were killed.
He didn't know how long he was waiting when another soldier walked in his shooting mire. Ash took the time to check through the googles whether the target was alone or not.
The man was alone. Ash placed his finger on the trigger and waited…
Fire.
A direct hit in the chest.
The other man fell down with a swear.
The transmitter beeped, informing the others that an enemy has been eliminated. Ash cocked his gun and prepared himself, as the soldier who was shot down reverted a white scarf, informing that he was dead.
The transmitter gave another signal, and Ash pressed the button to see the map. Most soldiers had gathered by the fake town, and Ash predicted several 'beeps' in the next minutes. Once the transmitter was silent again, the number had switched to 97 to 69 more soldiers that were still 'alive'.
No one around here…, Ash noted to himself. I guess they are first targeting the soldiers that gathered before trying to get the solitary ones.
All of a sudden, Ash found it weird that the others didn't try to find him.
If only I knew why, damnit! But with these stupid handcuffs, I have no idea how to sense the others!
Ash had only one solution left from his position. Watch and wait until a soldier would be within range.
He had to wait almost one hour before making the next kill. This time, there was another man, and Ash only survived because the soldier couldn't reach him properly thanks to the rocks, and got shot down from behind. Ash didn't waist his time and killed the one who eliminated the last foe.
28… These royal battles go so fucking crazy… I really feel that I'm at war…
The word war made Ash think of Mewtwo and the other pokémon. What if there were pokémon as strong as the one he could see? From his weird dream, Ash was sure there was at least one, but he had no idea how the world ended to be separated from the poké-
BANG!
Red paint splashed over Ash's helmet, and the sound of the transmitter informed him he was dead as Ash tried to recover from the impact. Ash signed and took the white scarf he was given from his pocket to put it around his neck once he managed to overcome the dizziness. He then stood up, picked his weapon and went down from where he was hiding, to join the other soldiers who already died.
The battle took several more hours where Ash was grateful to no longer be in. The teenager noticed that there were less people than usual since most of the soldiers who couldn't join were to watch the battle from the screens of the self-service.
This is definitely Sword Art Online, thought Ash as he could see the other soldiers trying to kill whoever was left in the fake town.
Not that watching the battle was mandatory, but it would have been suspicious if the ones who didn't participate weren't to watch it. But since Ash had participated, no one wondered why he didn't want to watch it till the end, even the superiors.
Time to have a good break by the coffee machine, thought Ash as he went through an empty corridor.
This is when he noticed that the door to an empty office of his squad was left open.
Ash knew that he shouldn't have opened it, but his curiosity took the best of him, and – after checking that no one was around – Ash entered the office and closed softly the door behind him.
He needed answers since the day Cynthia disappeared and his mom and uncle died. The battle would still go on for quite some time, and everyone was busy watching it. Ash knew he had to be quick.
He went behind the desk and opened a drawer. It contained cigarettes and wads of cash. Ash knew better than to take the money, and opened the second drawers.
Files.
That was better.
Ash quickly looked through them, and finally found his name.
Ash X (real name unknown from our services).
Born on 05.25.2165.
To be under constant watch. Suspected of being an Aura guardian.
Soldier related to traitors Cynthia Shirona, Delia X (real name unknown) and Aaron X (real names unknown).
Why are our names not known from the army? Wondered Ash. And why are they traitors?
Ash quickly read the description of where he attended school and entered for his military service, until he found the relative links section.
Cynthia Shirona: sentenced to the outside world of the Wall.
Delia and Aaron X: sentenced to death. To avoid suspicion, killed during a "terrorist attempt" while grocery shopping.
"No way…", said Ash without thinking.
He raised his right hand to massage his forehead and noticed that the handcuffs preventing him to see Aura hadn't been removed.
And that the commanding officer was standing in front of the door, the barrel of a gun pointed at his head.