While Kael questioned his decisions, the convoy continued on undisturbed. Sweat dripped from his brow. The situation was simply too absurd. Under normal circumstances, he would never have agreed to attack a convoy, especially one belonging to the League, the worldwide organization that organized, controlled and trained Seekers for the benefit of all. Well, most of all.
But his little sister's condition was getting worse by the week. He was running out of money for treatment, and as an unknown Seeker, he wouldn't earn enough. He could barely scrape together enough to keep from being evicted, even after selling his late parents' house. To make matters worse, there was no real cure for Soulpox, the disease his sister had been suffering from for two years. Research was slow because hardly anyone in a million ever got the disease. Besides, she hadn't received any new medication this week. Kael would have to go back to those money-hungry bastards. Ah, but tomorrow was Sunday, they wouldn't let him in then. Had his sister at least taken the few remaining pills? Did she have something to eat tonight? Kael would have to go shopping groceries as well. The bathroom had to be cleaned again. Did they still have milk? Probably not. Had any civilians been hurt? Was...
'Stop it!'
He shook his head - as best he could, squeezed into this dark box. Maybe that was why he'd awakened the ability to create doppelgangers. Having to care for his sister, looking out for him and their housing as well, finding some kind of place in life, all of it was just too much at once.
But... now he had other problems. If he couldn't find a way out of this situation, all his other worries would be gone - or maybe just replaced with worse ones.
At least he had the file. And if his partner was right, this prisoner, this Tomahawk, could be the key to saving Mayia.
He closed his eyes for a moment. He pushed the unnecessary thoughts aside until only the shaking of the vehicle over the roads echoed in his bones.
'Better. Now what?'
First he needed information. Since neither he nor his partner had expected him to join the convoy involuntarily, Kael lacked important data to analyze the situation in peace. All he knew was that it was a League convoy transporting old goods from a now-closed base to a new one. That's why there were still old physical files on it.
And in the end, this whole attack had actually been easier than trying to hack into the League's digital database. It had worked, too. More or less.
Now that the Cold One had returned to him, his memories had come back with him. While Kael couldn't control his doubles directly or even communicate with them, they were ultimately independent team members. But as soon as they returned to him, he knew everything they had been through, everything they had seen, everything they had thought.
The cartel had fled. They were almost completely overwhelmed after their initial success, which had only been due to the element of surprise. As suspected, there were no Seekers higher than rank three, only rank four, but the Seekers the League had sent to accompany this convoy were anything but simple.
They used their soul abilities with absolute precision. Each of them knew their abilities and practiced them every day, competing with other talented Seekers from the League in the best training environments in the world. They worked together flawlessly as a team.
No wonder the Cartel didn't stand a chance against them. Kael suspected that they would go back to smuggling artifacts for the time being.
Especially after the captain of the convoy had appeared. That authoritative voice giving orders. It belonged to the young woman that was sitting in the car with Kael. Well, actually Kael was lying in the car, but that wasn't important.
The young woman was overwhelming. Kael, or rather the Cold One, hadn't seen her Soulskill in action, but she was responsible for more than half of the defeated Cartel members.
'And she looks the same age as me!'
She was probably just a spoiled member of the nobility... surely...
He would definitely avoid her if possible. Well, actually, he should avoid everyone. The two passengers were talking to each other, but in the box and over the roar of the engine, he could barely make out the words. He didn't know where they were going or how long it would take. But he had to escape. The only question was how?
He needed help.
Slowly he bent his arm under him and lifted the communicator. Before reconnecting with McTroy, he turned the volume down to the minimum. Then he pressed the talk button.
"McTroy. Can you hear me?"
There was silence for a moment. Then the answer finally came.
"Boy! You scared the hell out of me."
Kael raised an eyebrow. McTroy continued undisturbed.
"The file would have been completely lost."
Kael hissed back.
"And so would I!"
"That's what I was implying."
"No, you ah! Whatever. Listen, we have a problem."
Even in this situation, his partner actually managed to get on his nerves. Admittedly, this was a game they both played often. Not always at the most opportune moments.
"Go on."
"Well, do you want the good news or the bad news?"
"The bad news..."
"The good news is that I have the file with me."
Kael grinned and wished he could see McTroy's face right now. He cleared his throat and continued in a whisper.
"The bad news... the file itself is still on its way to the League."
"... "
"... "
"You're still in the convoy, right?"
"Ten points to McTroy."
But McTroy didn't sound amused. Kael didn't either, but a situation as bad as this had the charm of responding with inappropriate humor.
"Are you alone?"
"No, otherwise I would have jumped out of the vehicle by now. I'm hiding in one of the boxes. There are two other Seekers here - one of them is quite strong."
"Stronger than you and the Cold One?"
"I might be able to win against both of them with the Stubborn One, but..."
"You're right. A fight would only alert the others. But no matter what you do, you can't ride to the end, understand? As soon as you arrive at the League base, Seekers of rank three and maybe even two will be waiting there. You'll never get out of there unnoticed."
Kael gritted his teeth. He already knew that. What he needed now was not the consequences of failure, but the solution to achieve otherwise. There were already enough consequences for him and his sister. But he had accepted them when he had decided to commit such a crime.
"Any good ideas?"
"I'm thinking."
"No rush, take your time. It's not like..."
"Kael."
"All right, all right... I can manifest one of my incarnations. That would definitely take them by surprise. However, I would have to open the edge of the box a bit to get a view."
He waited patiently for an answer. In his mind, he began to simulate what might happen if he activated his Soulskill here. The other Seekers would definitely be surprised - maybe he would even get a good shot. But with such a commotion, the driver would be alerted immediately, and with him the entire convoy. No, something else, something to distract them...
"The safe?"
"The safe!"
He and McTroy spoke almost simultaneously. His partner explained:
"Your idea is good so far. You will open the box just a crack, and you will do it quietly and carefully. After that, the Cold One will have to rip the safe out of the wall - and throw it out of the moving vehicle."
Kael smiled. A nice plan. Almost.
"Why would they chase after the safe when I'm standing right in front of them?"
McTroy's answer came with a brief hesitation, barely noticeable but still speaking volumes.
"In there... if I'm right, there's something very important in there."
Kael furrowed his brow in the darkness.
"If it's so important, why wouldn't they have a rank three or higher guarding it?"
"Because that's a risk, too. No more questions. This is not your problem. Don't hesitate too long - I don't know exactly which base they are heading for, but they could arrive there at any moment. Don't forget, you can't afford a prolonged fight. Just make the distraction and get out of there."
With that the connection was broken. But Kael was suddenly not so sure anymore. McTroy hadn't just cut the connection to let Kael concentrate on the plan.
'He won't tell me what's in there.'
It gave him a bad feeling. Even for his partner's standards, this kind of secrecy was a bit concerning. But whatever it was, if it got him out of this mess, it was good enough.
Kael steeled his nerves.
'Do you hear me? Don't you dare try anything. Rip that safe out of the wall and throw it away. Do you understand me?'
The Cold One couldn't answer him, but Kael's goal was simply to cement this process in his mind. After all, the doppelgangers were independent parts of his personality, but they always had the same goal as he did.
And if the Cold One could do anything, it was to perform tasks with precision. Even if it was sometimes too precise.
'Come on.'
Slowly he stood up in the darkness of the box. The voices of the two Seekers were still a little recognizable. That was good. They were busy with themselves. And after the attack, they wouldn't expect anyone in the car. That would be too absurd.
With a click that seemed to thunder in his ears, the lid of the box opened a crack. Now the conversation could be heard, but he could only see the male Seeker.
It was the voice of the young woman, the captain of the convoy, who spoke.
"No, you do not understand. This mission was my responsibility and I jeopardized it."
The other Seeker, a slightly older man, replied calmly as he leaned back against the shaking steel wall of the transporter.
"Oh, Raeven, you'll be promoted soon enough. Don't worry, Soulweapon or not, everyone knows you deserve a promotion. The fact that none of us died is just another reason."
"But we have injuries. We also lost time and a vehicle."
Kael could hear a sigh. And as much as he wanted to hear these people's stories, he couldn't afford to hesitate any longer.
He activated his Soulskill. Something flashed brightly - and suddenly the Cold One was standing in the middle of the cargo bay, balaclava on, ready to pounce.
"Raeven, please- What the hell?!"
The male Seeker barely managed to stand up in shock as the Cold One finally did what Kael had hoped.
When it came to getting things done in the most efficient way, that part of his personality was perfect for the job.
In one swift motion, the Cold One reached for the safe on the front wall of the vehicle. And then, with a violent jerk, he pulled the safe out along with the armored wall it was attached to. The surprised voice of the young woman named Raeven echoed through the van.
"You!"
The Cold One raised the safe above his head, turned to the two Seekers, and said as emotionless as ever:
"I'm going to throw this out the car."
And then... he threw the safe at the Seeker's head.