While Ryan dapped me up, we both felt the fury of Sensei Martínez creeping up on us. His aura engulfed us, making us question our very existence.
"Can I play the trans card?"
With a quiet grunt, his disappointment dissipated: "I'll let you off... THIS time!"
"I take it you guys are gonna go find that leader then?" Elsie our support officer asked, "want some back-up?"
"Nah, we started with a small team for a reason, and it still holds up: too many people and we become too hard to manage, too complicated," responded Naomi, as she finished getting patched up by a medic. "We'll place a portal path if things get hairy, but for now we should try to keep the element of surprise."
Soon after, we found the island by tracing our attackers' phones - a small, green, isolated spot. From a quick glance, it looked abandoned, but we knew that the towering trees and thick foliage were hiding some dangerous predators. Luckily, we were a well-oiled machine - we had complete trust in each other, ¿right?
We started to plan our operation, while Alix started to form a small, icy boat for us to ride on. Suddenly, I felt a thud in my back and slipped forwards. My darling caught me, of course, so I was unharmed as I turned around to see the third attacker - a fool in a pristine, white 3 piece suit - being tackled to the ground. The newbie from the support squad apologised profusely as Elsie shook her head in the background.
"Does that happen often?" asked Riley, as they softly patted my back.
"Just when I'm too focused. I tried to mimic Ryan's radar path, but it never clicked for me. Its usually fine if I just keep my head on a swivel though."
"Skill issue." The whalfer smirked playfully, as I shot them a threatening look.
Individually, we split off to prepare for battle and I was approached by the professor - who we entrusting to a few of squad 7. They were coping extremely well, all things considered, keeping us in high spirits with their (definitely too complicated for me, but still) enticing lectures. With a hopeful - yet concerned - smile, they handed me a warm cup of cocoa and asked about my paths. I swear I felt my heart grow slightly when they congratulated my skills and told me that, "Naomi's a lucky woman."
"Nah. I'm the lucky one. Don't know how she's put up with me for 3 months, as of tomorrow."
"Very easily I presume. And you should trust her judgement, she's almost as smart as me," they chuckled adorably, making me join in as well.
"Actually, I did have something to show you, if you don't mind. Don't know if it will be useful, but I figure that if anyone could utilise it properly, you could."
With an inquisitive grin, I nodded my head, and the professor flipped through a big red binder to a page titled "The path of shared thoughts." As I read their notes, I understood the idea: if I could share my thoughts with someone, then they could act as my ears, I wouldn't have to keep my eyes on the move - it was a good plan, in theory.
"I wanted to suggest this to you in private, since I know how complicated relationships can be - and of course, you don't have to use it if it's not right for you," they began to ramble. "But, you seem really strong and good and-. I know I don't know you all that well but I believe in you, so just on the off-chance that it helps I-"
"Thank you, Riley. I really appreciate it," I formed, while patting them on the shoulder with a gentle smile. "I'll definitely keep a copy on me, and I'll try to use it - its an amazing idea. But it might take me a moment to be in the right headspace for it, you know. It's pretty scary to be that open."
"Of course. Now, go show the 『Evolution Protocol』 some natural selection for me, will you."
"Aye Aye."