Chapter 23: Trial by Fire

~ "When you are left with only one path, there are those that accept their fate, and then those that break through and create their own path. Which one will you be when the time comes?" ~

"Liam, time to get up! Breakfast in five, final meeting in 15."

I groggily lifted my head up as the sound of Q's voice carried throughout my room, combined with the slamming of the door. "Got it. I'll be there." I replied sleepily. I grabbed a pair of sweats and a t-shirt from atop my dresser, and slippers as I stepped out for the quick breakfast that was prepared for us. As I flopped into the seat, a plate with some eggs, toast and a glass of water appeared in front of me. Q's voice rang out, after everyone else sat down.

"Alright everybody, final meeting with information briefing will be later, but some quick things to note outside of that. One, since this is going to be in a populated city, we are going to be taking a stealthy approach. That means you will not be taking your uniforms but taking all the gear that was specialized for you. You will all also be taking ballistic vests for safety, although we don't foresee this being an issue, we can never be too careful. The clothes you will wear have already been picked out and fitted for you by Dr. Whitlook. She will give you these at the same time as your specialized gear. Now finish eating, shower, and go meet her. After that, meet me in the sparring area."

I quickly ate the eggs, downed the water, and took the toast with me as I made my way back to my dorm to grab a towel and a few other things for the shower. After getting done, I made my way towards the Nerve Center. As I got towards the entrance, I realized I was the last to arrive. Akira was the first to speak up.

"Nice of you to join us, sleeping beauty. Beatriz and Thomas already are in the sparring area, and Evelyn just went in."

"Good to know, so what kind of stuff did Dr. Whitlook make for you?"

Akira looked a bit embarrassed. "A compact skateboard and something to help me keep my hat on, I didn't want it to look like a party hat, but it seemed like she figured something out. What about you?"

"Not a lot, the main thing was figuring out how to keep me cool although they also gave me this wristband but said to only use it in emergencies."

Akira looked worried as I said that. "What constitutes an emergency?"

"Hopefully nothing too bad, it's basically to help the drawback of my Heirloom, after using it for a long time or doing a lot at once, I noticed I got achy and tired all at once, as if what I would have gotten when using it was put on pause until the Heirloom reached its limit. As long as I don't hit the limit though, I'm fine."

They looked a bit more relieved as I explained it. "Alright, we'll be careful." As they looked like they were going to say something else, Dr. Whitlook's voice carried through, "Next!"

"Well that looks like you, I'll see you in a bit."

They looked as if they wanted to say something before opening the door, but just waved and went into the Nerve Center. After some time, I finally got to go in and speak with Dr. Whitlook.

"Ah Liam, good to see you! Alright so here is all your gear, we were actually able to combine the ballistic vest and the cooling gear, so it's a little less bulky underneath your jacket. The temperature controls are at the bottom buttons, the very bottom will drop the temperature, the second one will increase it. Obviously since you have the jacket, that's your layer that you are getting, but we have a shirt and these pants. They're breathable to help deal with the heat and humidity since you are going in pre-monsoon season. Good luck!"

I picked up the clothes and went to one of the testing areas that looked like it was quickly transformed into a makeshift changing area. The clothes fit perfectly, and almost felt weightless compared to the sweats I was used to wearing. After getting changed I made my way to the sparring area and sat down. Q began shortly after.

"Alright everybody, listen up. To finalize your mission details, you will be going into Dhaka, Bangladesh to find and stop the guerilla company causing hindrances in the chemical manufacturing plants in that area. The main goal is to find and apprehend their leader, code named "Pixie". You will be flying in, and once there you will be on your own. We will give you tools for communication amongst yourselves, as well as a direct line to me, but try not to contact me until after Pixie is apprehended. The goal here is stealth, attempt to blend in and draw as little attention as you can. You all have the description of Pixie, you all have been trained, you can do this. That is all, meet back at the Nerve Center, we fly out in 30 minutes."

We all stood up and made our way back to our dorms to grab any final items. As we were walking back towards the Nerve Center there was a silence that spoke volumes. Anyone could tell what it meant; it was the nerves of those who were scared of the uncertainty of what was about to happen. Just a few months ago we were all in high school worried about our next exam, but now we were about to fly to another country, in another hemisphere, to apprehend a dangerous criminal. Thomas broke the silence first, trying to break the unease with some lightheartedness.

"Man, I never thought I'd get to travel out of the country this soon. At the very most, I thought it would be Canada or Mexico. Guess I can cross that off my bucket list." Surprisingly Beatriz was the one who laughed first. It was infectious though, spreading quickly to Akira, surprisingly, then to me and Evelynn. We were able to pull ourselves together as we made our way into the Nerve Center, and saw Q and Dr. Hawkins waiting for us.

"Nice to see you all are in high spirits." Dr Hawkins said, "Me and Q will be coming with you, but staying in the plane acting as a mobile nerve center in case anything goes completely wrong, or if we are required to step in for whatever reason. Now shall we get going? It's a long flight."

Evelynn spoke up, "How long is this flight by the way?"

Q smirked, "Oh nothing crazy, just a measly sixteen to seventeen hours."

We all looked at each other, dreading the idea of a sixteen-hour flight but not really able to do anything about it. We followed Q and Dr. Hawkins through the Nerve Center into a door that seemed to appear out of nowhere, down a hall, and eventually made our way to what seemed like the garage we came back from a month ago, but instead of black SUVs, there was just a singular plane in the middle.

Q looked at us, "Alright everybody, get in and pick a seat. Try to get some rest. Its gonna be a long flight."

~ ~ ~

I woke up to Akira shaking me, "Come on food critic, we're here. Time to get going." I sat up and looked out the window, instead of the clouds below me I saw at the beginning hours of the flight, instead all I saw was the asphalt tarmac. I heard Dr. Hawkins speak up as I sat up, rubbing the sleep from my eyes.

"Alright everyone. We have officially landed in Dhaka. Me and Q will stay in the plane, and are able to be reached at any time on line two. You all will be always speaking to each other on line one, make sure to check in with each other at least once every minute. The officials in this area are aware of our presence, so you shouldn't have any issues there. How you go about this is completely up to you, but make sure to be careful. Do you all understand?"

We all nodded, and made our way out of the plane. As we made our way towards the exit of the airport, we all fixed our earpieces in place, tested to make sure everything was working and set out to find Pixie. Before we left, we stopped in a café near the entrance, and discussed what our plan was going to be. Thomas spoke up first.

"So I think I should split up from you guys."

Evelynn spoke up, "Why? We need to stay together."

Thomas kept calm and gave his explanation. "We don't. We were told to be careful. My Heirloom lets me see in different forms, including telescopic vision, and after doing a bit of work with it, I can scan what is in my field of vision if I have enough detail. I know Pixie's description, so I can find them easily. But to do that, I need a vantage point to get a clear view."

Evelynn looked frustrated but began nodding. "Alright, but I am coming with you, at the very least if you run into anyone who won't let you up there it is a lot easier for me to convince them."

"Alright. So, Evelynn and I will find a vantage point to try and find Pixie. I think the rest of you should be good together. Anybody have any objections?"

We all shook our heads.

"Good, now let's see if we can catch a Pixie, shall we?" Thomas clapped his hands together and got out of his seat, suddenly much more serious, as if he was preparing for a track meet.

As we all made our way out of the airport, we split apart, Evelynn and Thomas going for a high rise building they saw a few miles away, while Beatriz, Akira, and I began walking towards the chemical manufacturing plant that we were given information on as being the next target. Every minute or so, I could hear Thomas checking in, making sure we were alright, and we would reply and ask the same thing. An hour later, Thomas checked in but with some more information.

"Alright I finally made it to the vantage point, I can see you all, so far, no Pixie, there are some blind spots though. The alleyways to your left approximately 45 meters away I cannot see. I can see the exit and entrance of them, but nothing inside. Can you guys go check them out?"

"Copy that." After Thomas gave us the information, I looked at Beatriz and Akira. "Alright guys, you heard Thomas. Akira, since you have that skateboard as well as your Heirloom, want to go up ahead?"

Akira looked back at me. "Sure, I can do that, just tell Thomas to turn on thermal vision so he can see me." As they said that, they flipped their skateboard, extended it and started skating towards the alleyway. As I told Thomas to turn on his thermal vision, Akira disappeared. Me and Beatriz made our way towards the alleyway as well, and suddenly we heard Akira in our headsets.

"I have eyes on Pixie! She heard me and is running off the back entrance, I am in pursuit!"

Thomas suddenly replied, "I have to switch to scan and telescopic, I can't keep the thermal up. Careful Akira I don't have eyes on you anymore."

"Fine, I'll just make it easy, you should see me now."

"Yeah I got eyes on you and Pixie, be careful, Beatriz and Liam will try to cut off you and Pixie, just be careful."

"You don't have to tell me twice."

I looked over to Beatriz, "Make something to roll on, like skates or a skateboard or something. Make a rope too. I can start running and that way you can keep up."

Beatriz looked flushed, as if they were about to vomit, but nodded. "Okay, give me a minute. I can make something quick, but circles are always an issue." After a few minutes there was suddenly a coil of rope, and Beatriz was attaching skates to the bottom of her shoes. "Ready."

I grabbed the rope, took a deep breath and as I did, the same thought echoed, as if spoken by me as well as my Heirloom, Run.