After leaving her companions, Aida also heard the order to retreat and followed the other soldiers as they ran back into the base. She kept her head low so as not to attract attention. She purposely didn't enable her nothingness state as there were probably many observant high level soldiers who would immediately mark her as a danger if she exhibited characteristics of an assassin.
Standing at the front, General Mills passed down orders. "Everyone who is injured, go find a medic and get yourself fixed up. Those who aren't injured, close this gate up and fix the wall. Someone get me information on what happened here ASAP."
To the other soldiers, it felt like a war, but to her, it simply felt like child's play. Aida had allowed herself to receive some shallow wounds when she was involved in the scuffle out front. Afterall, it would look incredibly odd if she re-entered the wall after a fight and didn't even have a scratch on her.
Pretending to walk towards the medic, she stumbled along with the other soldiers. Despite this, she could still feel a little extra scrutiny being placed on her by General Mills. Her eyes narrowed, clearly he wasn't just some run of the mill soldier.
Moving out of line of sight, she could sense the General had other matters to attend to and wouldn't have time to pay attention to her. Sighing, she took this time to observe the wall. It was clearly a rush job by the government. The walls were made of cement and clearly brand new. She wrinkled her nose as she realized there weren't even bathroom fixtures, only porta potties.
Her goal now was to find a way to meet back up with Ace and Lucifer so they could enter the city together. Given their hacking abilities, Xiao Ai just needed to find a nearby functional laptop that wasn't blasted by the EMP and she would be able to send out a beacon to locate Ace.
Wandering around the base, Aida was surprised by the amount of emphasis the government had placed on reinforcing this particular part of the wall. She saw many tents with guns, weapons and even anti-ballistic missiles. If the fight were to continue, Aida's troops would have undoubtedly been decimated. The decision to retreat at that moment was the correct one.
She continued to absentmindedly walk around as she went into auto-pilot. Although it didn't show on the outside, her choice of leaving her companions behind had hit her harder than she expected, leaving her in a daze.
Suddenly, someone ran towards her from behind and shouted, "Hey! You shouldn't be here!"
Snapping out of her daze, she looked towards the man who interrupted her with killing intent. Before she had a chance to respond, another person in soldier uniform wrapped his arm around her shoulder and waved, "Hey man, take it easy. We just came from the battle, my friend here is probably just in shock. Those infected are crazy!" Aida immediately stiffened from the contact.
Softening his tone, the man said, "Well… okay, you should head back. This is the tech zone and only authorized personnel are allowed in here."
"Sure sure, we'll leave right away." With that, the man in the soldier uniform grabbed Aida by the shoulder and walked her away.
Aida waited until they were out of eyesight before flicking the hand off her shoulder, annoyed. She disliked any sort of physical contact, especially with strangers. Looking up with her cold eyes, she was surprised to see it was a familiar model-esque face.
It was the thief from Green Base! "You're the thief who dares steal my food!" anger caused electricity to spark in Aida's eyes, she raised her arm and prepared to exact her revenge. She was eager to vent her frustrations on someone.
Quickly raising his hands, "Hey hey don't forget, you were just saved by a thief. Besides, it's not like you were hurtin' for food."
Aida lowered her hand but the sparks in her eyes had yet to disappear. She asked with clenched teeth, clearly still holding a grudge, "Who are you and why are you here?"
Knowing Aida's strong abilities, he looked towards Aida warily as he slowly lowered his arms. "The name's Artemis. I volunteered for this fight and when I saw you enter, I stole a soldier's uniform and followed you in."
"Why?" The sparks in Aida's eyes finally began fading.
Artemis, in turn, relaxed as well. He shrugged, "Just because. It's not like I got a family or anything to go back to, so I may as well go where the wind takes me." There was a tinge of sadness in Artemis' voice.
Aida took a second to process what he said before nodding. Artie, who had a full list of Green Base's people, saved in his head verified Artemis' statements. He was trustworthy for now.
Xiao Ai popped out at this time and said, "Eh~ It's Mr. Thief! Hello!"
Artemis flashed a picture perfect smile at Xiao Ai and greeted her, "Hey Little Bun, how are ya? You pack a big punch for that tiny body."
Xiao Ai pouted and puffed up simultaneously. "Muu, Xiao Ai is not Little Bun, Xiao Ai is Xiao Ai!"
Ignoring the sidebar conversation, Aida turned around and began walking in a different direction in search of Ace and Lucifer. Artemis trotted behind her, "Whoa, where are ya going?"
Aida glared at him, "What's it to you? You should leave, this isn't a playground."
Unbothered by her glare, he smiled at her, "I'm already here. Why don't I help you out?"
"Suit yourself."
The two of them continued to walk around the base in search of Ace and Lucifer to no avail. Artemis was a true chatterbox and continued to talk even as Aida continued to ignore him.
Soon, the sun had come out and many of the soldiers were changing shifts. Aida decided to take this opportunity to leave the base as well. While they had a good cover so far, it wouldn't be long before the other soldiers found the passed out soldiers and went in search of the perpetrators. They had to reach and hide in the city before then. She was sure that Ace and the others would do the same.
***