Rosemary sat on one side of the subway, while I sat on the other, further down. We were soon arriving to the first stop.
Please don't get off at this stop.
"Arriving to Reagen Station." The rails screeched as the subway came to a halt. As the doors opened, Rosemary didn't budge. She remained seated. Since it was late, there was no one waiting on the platform to board either.
Good.
I recalled the pathing of the subway I took. Between Reagen Station and the next stop, it was about a 15 minute interval. That was the time I had to work with.
"Please stand clear of the doors." The chime played, the doors shut, and the subway was back in motion.
It's now or never.
Before I got up to make a move, I took note of the details Ian had provided me. Rosemary's Fractal was the ability to camouflage with the background using a specific surface of her body. 'Two-dimensional,' Ian had called it, meaning she could only camouflage from a certain angle, but the rest of her body would remain visible.
Although, he did say she was suspected to have already achieved a Fractal Activation. And if she did, she could camouflage from all angles, essentially becoming invisible.
Knowing that, I had to be careful with my approach. But I also had the advantage considering we were in an isolated space. Even if Rosemary could go invisible, there wasn't much room to move around inside this cart.
I can take her out before we arrive to the next stop.
Finally, I stood up without looking in her direction to avoid suspicion. I just wanted to make it seem like I was ready to get off at the next stop. But when I turned my head to take a glance in her direction, her seat was empty.
What? Where did she go?
"Did you think I didn't notice you following me around for the past few hours?"
As I heard those words without seeing anyone around me to say it, my danger senses quickly flared. But with a lack of sight for what that danger was, I couldn't react in time when I felt something shove me onto the floor without seeing it.
"Ough!" My back hit the ground hard. I heard footsteps rush past me, but looking towards it, there was nothing there.
Ian was right! She already had a Fractal Activation! I can't see her at all!
As I tried to recover myself and get back on my feet, my chin was suddenly struck upwards with what felt like a heavy kick.
"I don't know what you want from me, but you aren't fooling anyone looking like that!"
I felt more kicks strike my body from different angles, all while not being able to pinpoint from which direction they came. Rosemary's camouflage Fractal was troubling me. I may have only had one eye, but at this point, I may as well have been blind.
I need to adapt, quickly!
I was struck in the face.
Think, think! How can I beat someone I can't see!?
I was kicked in the gut.
I can't depend on my sight anymore. I have to tune into another sense completely!
Although invisible, I could hear as Rosemary's shoes screeched around me in a circle. The momentary lapse brought me back to my professor's teachings about the five senses, and any lack thereof.
'In the lack of a sense, the others will be magnified.'
I listened as Rosemary's footsteps were frantically surrounding me.
Hearing. My ears will be my guidance.
I closed my single eye and abandoned sight completely.
Tap-tap-tap!
I could hear how closely she approached with the gradual increase in the volume of her footsteps.
Tap-tap-tap—!
There was a sudden cutoff in her steps. I knew what was coming.
Flow State.
I leaned my head aside. As I did, I felt the wind of something fly past my head. I'd just narrowly avoided an attack from Rosemary, I assumed.
"What—?!" She said, surprised. Then, I heard her footsteps approaching again. I locked-in, waiting for the moment her motion's noise cut off again.
Tap-tap-tap—!"
I swayed aside completely this time. I felt something brush against my shoulder, before hearing something slam into the door behind me. It seemed as though I'd used the momentum from her attack in my favor. I heard her footsteps heading another direction now, and with my hearing, I estimated an angle to strike at. But my attempt landed on nothing.
The most I can do with my hearing right now is estimate what approaches me. Estimating an advance towards the sound is not nearly as simple.
I found myself at a standstill. With my magnified hearing, and my Flow State, I had enough capability to defend effectively against her attacks. But with Rosemary's surprising unpredictable movement, and my inability to see her, there was no way I could even land an attack on her.
Tap—!
Her advance towards me was sudden, but I'd still evaded it nonetheless. I felt something trip over my foot, only to hear it tumble onto the floor afterwards.
Her Fractal cannot camouflage her sounds. That will be her downfall.
With my eyes still closed, and hearing clearly where she had fallen, I tried one more attempt at an attack on the invisible foe. I threw my leg up and stomped downwards on what I hoped was a vital point.
Slam—!
It landed on nothing. But then I suddenly felt vibrations along the floor leading towards my foot.
She's sweeping at me.
I immediately lifted my leg to avoid her attack, but realized what opportunity this gave me. Aligning the timing of my foot, and the speed at which her foot must have been approaching, the dots in my head connected to form a perfect counter-move.
Slam—!
I stomped my foot down once again, this time, feeling something break beneath it.
Crack—!!!
"Agh—!!! Fuck—!!!
I heard Rosemary screech in pain. Although I couldn't see her, I could most definitely hear that my attack had landed. My stomp must have broken her foot, or ankle.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
She was limping away from me. I could hear that clearly.
"You aren't getting away," I said. She didn't respond, probably because she knew I could now pinpoint her location through sound alone. Suddenly, I heard a door slide open. Not the ones that lead to the platform at a stop, but the ones that connected one cart to another.
Shit! A witness?
I opened my eyes, worried that some person may have just stumbled in on my activity. But to my surprise, it was none other than the girl with oversized shoes.
Soho?
She smiled upon seeing me.
"Help me!" I heard Rosemary scream. "That man over there is trying to kill me! He's been following me around! Get help, please!"
I watched as Soho's face scrunched with confusion while a voice spoken from someone unseen yelled at her. She raised her eyebrow at me, and I nodded back. I think the silent message we communicated was pretty clear.
She's invisible now.
Soho scoffed at the realization. She looked at the empty spot between us, assuming that's where Rosemary was. "You're mistaken, Rosemary."
"Huh…? How do you know my name?"
There was a moment of silence, through which I'm sure Rosemary understood the situation she'd found herself in.
Tap-tap-tap!
I could hear her now trying to run away, past Soho, who smirked.
"Kinetic."
As the word left her mouth, my feet suddenly slipped-out from beneath me. The surface I stood on had spontaneously become so slippery that I couldn't even regather myself to stand. Ahead of me, between Soho and I, I heard someone land hard onto the floor as well.
"Ough—!"
Rosemary must have fallen the same way I did. We were both struggling to get back up on our feet, slipping off of our hands and knees. Meanwhile, Soho watched with amusement.
"Now you know the other half to my Fractal, Klyson." She stood there, completely unaffected by the slippery surface beneath us. I watched as she walked over to where Rosemary could be heard tumbling, before bringing a foot up and slamming it downwards.
Crunch—!!!
"Agh—!!! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck—!!!"
After struggling for some time, I'd finally gotten back on my feet. The surface wasn't slippery anymore. Soho stood by where we could both hear Rosemary whimpering in pain.
"Finish the job, Fractless," she said.
I nodded and walked over. Before I could make a mess out of my target, my body clock told me that the 15 minutes were nearly up. If there were people waiting to board at the next stop, they'd all find evidence of the crime committed on this cart. I couldn't expose myself like that in just my first mission. I looked around, checking if there was anywhere I could possibly hide a body, but everything was open and revealing.
"What are you looking for?" Soho asked.
"A place to hide her body."
"What—!?!" Rosemary screamed. "What do you mean!? What do you mean by that!?"
Looking all over the place, I noticed that there was yellow lining on the rim of one specific window in the cart.
[ EMERGENCY EXIT ]
I walked over and peeled off the yellow seal on one side only, then, the window flung open, hanging only by the seal left untouched.
"Wait, what are you doing—?" Although I couldn't see her, Rosemary was making it easy to trace her using her voice. I began to hear frantic shuffling away from me, but with two broken ankles, it was safe to assume she wouldn't get far. Soho watched as I grabbed and picked up an invisible figure from the floor. I could feel her flailing her arms at me, trying to get off.
"Stop! Stop!!!"
Carrying her on my shoulders, I'd finally arrived at the open emergency exit. Using my strength, I lurched the weight forwards through the window.
"No—!!!" Rosemary screamed. Her voice cut-off as I heard her body tumble against the tunnel wall before the sounds of flesh grinding against metal rails began to echo back towards us. I immediately closed the window shut and re-aligned the yellow seal afterwards.
Clap. Clap. Clap.
I looked down towards the other end of the cart, where Soho stood there clapping.
"That was amusing to watch."
I fought back the guilt of my murder and forced a smile. "Finally decided to show up?"
Soho laughed. "I've been here the whole time, Klyson."
The wheels of the cart began to screech.
"Arriving to Nividia Station."
The 15 minutes were up. Soho and I got off at the next stop.