The single word and his sudden change in demeanor were a shock to Noble's system.
It had been a long time since they had last spoken, after which Emer had abruptly cut off communication.
He had been angered when she touched his hand accidentally. Her carelessness had brought about some vision of calamity in the emissary's mind. Emer had been very displeased with her.
'What had he said?'
"May we never meet again…At least in the waking world."
The words came back and crashed against Noble's consciousness.
If the seer was running right now, there was a good reason for all of them to be.
"Everyone needs to get off the train," Noble muttered.
"What?" Aiden could barely make out her mumbling.
"Everyone needs to get off the train! Now!" This time her words were said with conviction.
"But this isn't my stop," the golden-eyed man explained even as the woman stood and pulled up the person next to her.
Noble began pushing those around her to the exit, trying not to hurt them while urging them out.
Hadn't they seen the other Awakened run?
If they had noticed at all they probably just assumed he owed her money or something else that did not concern them.
"Get off the train!" she screamed again. The doors were going to shut any moment. "Did you not see that man flee? Follow him!"
"Are you alright, Ma'am?" Aiden asked, his eyes filled with concern.
Noble sighed at his use of Ma'am. She couldn't blame him. That was who they were seeing. A professor and a humanitarian worker.
For an Awakened, she looked rather unassuming in her high ponytail and light grey outfit. Her goal had been to not stand out too much in the outskirts, but that mentality was counterproductive now.
Everything in her screamed that she needed to act fast. Something was about to happen, and Noble needed to get everyone off the train.
Yet, just now the passengers were all looking at each other and gossiping quietly about her ranting.
Noble needed a commanding presence to make them listen.
Unfortunately, the only way she knew to do that easily was to make herself more recognizable.
'I'm going to regret this.'
Seeing no other option, Noble summoned the familiar black and gold armor. The delicate lines of the [Fraudulent Facade] formed across her face.
Aiden blinked. "Queen Bee?!"
"Get off the train!" The force in her voice captivated the attention of those around her.
The young man next to her was the first to come to his senses. "You heard the Queen! Get off before the doors shut!"
"She can talk!" One of the other passengers muttered. Bee wanted to smack her forehead. Instead, she sent a jolt of fear into those still standing in place. That was the final push they needed.
People began to stampede to the exits. The doors started to shut, but the passengers, in their newfound fervor, pushed them back open and stalled their progress.
They squeezed and pressed until the car was empty. Trying to help the others, Aiden was the last one off. He hesitated at the door and looked back at Queen Bee. An unformed question lay on his lips.
"Keep running," she ordered.
"But...why?" he asked at last. The slender young man had been helpful in her goal, but Aiden wanted to know the reason behind being stranded at a stop that wasn't his.
She understood, but there was no time to explain. The doors were free and closing fast.
"Just go!"
Noble used her ability to lift the man and put him on the platform before it was too late.
"I'm sorry," she whispered, knowing he couldn't hear.
In truth, she wasn't yet sure why. Her responses were based on intuition and the little information she had. As the train took off, Noble wondered if she should clear the other two cars of people.
Or would it have been better for her to get off the train instead?
The professor didn't know if a calamity was going to befall her simply because she was on the train....or was she the calamity about to happen.
Awakened did snap on occasion. An evil version of herself could do a lot of damage. That was a chilling thought. Was she about to lose her mind and go on a rampage?
'I don't think so. I feel fine.'
Except she didn't.
Something in her soul was unsettled. It was difficult to put into words at first, but then as it grew stronger, a knot formed in her stomach.
The audible cacophony of unearthly screams grew steadily more pronounced.
"No no no no!"
There was no denying what she was hearing.
It was the Call.
The Portcullis Key in Noble's hand glowed brightly. How could it not? She was petrified. Looking out the window only confirmed her deepest fear was true.
In front of her, reality wavered. The view of the city bent and refracted at odd angles like it might be splitting in two.
Because it was.
In barely a moment, the fabric of space and time would be ripped apart, causing a hole to tear open the sky.
Or rather—a Gate.
Her communicator on the seat buzzed feverishly.
"EMERGENCY ALERT!
EMERGENCY ALERT!
GATE ACTIVITY DETECTED IN YOUR PROXIMITY.
ETA: IMMINENT!"
"You think?!" Noble wanted to throw the device across the train.
It wasn't the communicator's fault, but there was nothing else to blame for the current problem.
And it was a massive problem.
The last line of the message gave the only advice it could: "EVACUATE IMMEDIATELY!"
That is what she had already tried to do for those in the train car. She had likely saved all those people's lives. Instinctively, she pressed the blinking symbol in the corner of the screen.
The world around her slowed to a crawl.
ATTENTION ALL AWAKENED
REQUEST IMMEDIATE ACTION.
Noble steadied herself for the information underneath. Her mind raced as she studied the words.
Gate Category: 2 (75% probability), 3 (24% probability), Higher (undefined).
Strike force ETA: 5 minutes 47 seconds.
The first piece of information was arguably good news. It wasn't a Category 5 gate most likely. If it ended up being a category 2, then that was really the best-case scenario, all things considered.
The second part of the message was not terrible, though still regrettable. Noble sighed.
Under six minutes was a remarkably fast response time, but as the Gate was already in the process of forming, it was five minutes and forty-seven seconds too late.
Any moment, the gate would finish solidifying and unleash untold horrors on the residents of the NQSC. Even now the far-off track was being scissored by the developing rift. Pieces of it crumbled and tumbled down.
Racing forward, the train would never make it to another station.
The professor was left with two choices. She could fly away from the danger or face it.
There was no need for a debate.
Hadn't the beautiful Awakened stayed behind from Antarctica to protect and serve the people of her city? Just now they needed her protection more than ever.
As much as she hated it, there was only one option.
Gritting her teeth, Noble repeated the three words she never thought she would say.
"Stand and fight."