In a secret settlement,
The flooring was made up of fully automated, white molded strips that gave a soft hum with each pressure from the steps of the outlaws as soon as they entered.
The interior is equipped with four motion-detecting light switches, which flickered on and off.
Several video cameras mounted on the corners of the metal walls, which were all searching for signs of movement, stopped and zoomed in on the team.
Pointing at the first camera, Dahlia called out to Rai. "It's best if you stay out of the control room and let someone else take your watch."
Rolling his eyes at the screen, Rai spoke to the microphone. "It's not my fault you all took so long to get back."
Slipping into view, Adam waved to the rest. "It's been about an hour, what took you guys so long?"
Ignoring Adam, Dahlia turned to the rest, debriefing the three awakeners.
With a nod of their heads, they all dispersed in different directions to carry out their tasks.
"What about me, what do I need to do..." Adam raised his hand, beaming with enthusiasm.
Giving a quick body scan, Dahlia scoffed. "You wouldn't want to know, take the night off instead."
Rai stifled a laugh, watching the two from the screen.
Pulling the microphone closer, he asked, "could you meet me up at our usual spot?"
"Me?" Adam questioned, pointing at himself.
Grimacing at the thought, Rai shook his head before responding. "I meant Dahlia, not you, old geezer."
Patting a shocked Adam on the shoulder, she held back her smile at the comment made.
Whispering into his ear, "better luck next time."
"I should go to my dorm, at least my bed would want my presence."
Watching Adam leave, Dahlia made her way to their secret location.
Walking into the dimly lit hallway, she made a stop at the sound of quick movements ahead.
Ccllk!
Crrreak!
With light steps, she makes her way toward the sound of a door opening, watching as a hooded figure enters.
Leaning onto the wall, she tried listening in on what could be going on behind closed doors.
Feeling a tap on her shoulder, she instinctively pulled on the arm, flipping and throwing the person onto the ground.
Stepping onto the shoulder, she made a little twist on the wrist.
"Ow! Ow!" Rai groaned in pain, "it's me, Rai."
Immediately letting go of his hand, she grimaced at the sound of the door beside her opening.
Stepping out and pulling down his hood, was a male who had his short black hair over one of his eyes.
His blue eyes widened in shock at the sight of Dahlia and Rai.
Regaining his composure and pointing at the two, "what are you two doing here?"
"Don't mind me, I just had my ass handed to me when I had wanted to ask the same question to Dahlia," Rai replied.
Dahlia's suspicious gaze was locked on Winston, "you should answer your question."
Raising his hands in surrender, he looked back at the store room, "you caught me..."
Jumping back, Winston furrowed his brows at the glow in Dahlia's eyes.
Quickly correcting his stance, he added. "I was hungry and needed a quick snack."
"There's the fridge situated in the kitchen." Rai cut in.
"You're hungry, yet you sneaked into the storeroom full of raw commodities?" Dahlia questioned with her arms folded.
"There's corn." Winston pointed out, pulling one out of his back pocket and showing them as proof.
Whispering into Dahlia's ear, Rai stressed the importance of their meetup.
The delay caused by Winston wasn't worth it.
Letting out a sigh, Dahlia nodded her head to the excuse.
"Any more sneaks in there or suspicious activity, you will be quarantined."
Gulp!
Winston nodded his head, dashing out of sight.
Casting a grim look over at Rai for ruining her chance at getting substantial information, she hit his head in a fit of rage.
A curse escaped Rai's lips as he massaged his head. "I deserve more respect than you give."
"Thanks for nothing!" She harrumphed, stomping her feet to the known location they were meant to meet up at.
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Dorm 9,
Dahlia held onto numerous files, shuffling through them with a frown.
Throwing them onto the table, she turned to Rai. "How did you get this information?"
Pacing back and forth to clear his thoughts, he could only stall the inevitable.
"Could you stop that?" Dahlia questions with a sigh.
Standing at a spot, Rai points at the files, "those are just detailed files on each known awakened ability grouped into five ranks."
Picking up a brown file with ranking written in bold capital letters, Dahlia opened its seal.
Pulling out a document, she skimmed through several blank pages till she reached the table of content.
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¶ Mental Awakener
¶ Elemental Awakener
¶ Biomorphic Awakener
¶ Enhancer Awakener
¶ Mystical Awakener
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Waving the document in front of her, she asked to be enlightened on what needed to be noticed.
"We already know about this, what's so special about it anyways?"
Rai reached out and snatched the paper from her.
Slapping it onto the table, he subconsciously straightens the numerous dog ears on the edge of the document's sheet.
Flipping through its pages, he had intentionally skipped the first awakener ability and moved over to the rest.
Pointing at the elemental awakener rank and the subdivisions that were listed below it.
Following the words, Dahlia reads in a whisper, "earth, water, wind, fire, plant, lightning, ice, shadow, and light."
"Who falls into this rank?" Rai raised the question, rubbing at his chin and hoping she would get the hint.
"All who are deemed fit... except you," Dahlia replied with a mischievous grin.
Sigh!
Choosing to ignore, Rai continued. "Earlier on, we had thought we were the last of the awakeners..."
"Wrong! You had thought that way up until now. All I said was there might be others we might not know about because they were either hiding or rehabilitated." Dahlia corrected, emphasizing the latter with air quotes.
"Ri–ight!" Rai slurred his speech as he narrowed his eyes at her, turning his attention back to the page.
Flipping through more pages, he pointed the next, "biomorphic awakener."
"Only a few awakeners have ever shown an affinity to this rank."
"The only variations known would be an awakener with shape-shifting and animalistic genetic mutation."
Dahlia nodded her head to the information, pretending as though it was the first time she had been told.
"Here we go," Rai smiled as he pointed at the enhancer rank.
Closing her eyes, Dahlia recalled what she knew from memory, "these awakeners possess all their capabilities, attributes, and aspects at an enhanced level, beyond that of the peak members of their species."
Rai blinked a few times, "it seems as though I'm wasting your time."
Shaking her head, she replied with a smile, "not exactly, it was nice to recall what I had learned two years ago."
"Do I still need to emphasize the mythical awakeners?" Rai asked, not wanting to give out unnecessary details.
Immediately turning down the offer, she needed answers, not lectures. "Just skip to what's important, I can read the documentation on them later on."
Masking his nervousness with a smile, Rai turned his attention back to the document, but this time he flipped to the very first-ranking ability.
"I know you might have read something about these awakeners..."
Dahlia raised a brow at his words, "there has never been one, just speculations penned down."
Pointing at the paper, he made circles around the page.
Slapping his hand so she could have a better look at why he had made such a fuss, she brought it closer to her eyes.
"Variation still unclear due to the subject showing no signs of the last report."
'The last report?!'
Rai took a pencil and wrote down a clue of initials on the table.
Staring at the letters–RW, Dahlia frowned at how vague the message was.
"You know that helps in no way." She deadpanned.
Biting down on his nails, Rai contemplated how he could explain without it coming off as a threat, even to them.
"Reality Warping." He whispered.
Dahlia felt her knees go weak from the words, holding onto the table for support.
"Don't be alarmed, he shows no sign of evolving his current variation into that," Rai explained, forcing a ruse smile.
Glaring at him, Dahlia patted her chest to ease up breathing. "What could that be?"
"Mentifery–the ability to manipulate reality through mind power," Rai explained.
"You call that something we shouldn't be concerned about?!" She yelled at Rai, feeling her heart thump hard with fear after recalling how they had abandoned the siblings.
'That explains the footage we had seen.' Dahlia thought as she stared into nothingness.
Snapping his fingers in front of Dahlia. "Earth to Dahlia!"
Shaking her head, she clenched her fingers into a fist as though threatening to do more than just hit him if he leaves out more information from her.
"What was in that last report?"
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Author's note
¶ How do you see the story so far?
¶ Do check out the weekly auxillary chapter[Bonus chapter task] to know how you can participate.