Synchronization Part 2

A golden marble the size of a pebble, otherwise known as the sun, surfaced above the horizon to provide warmth and light to the world.

Under the morning twilight, Eve ran as he circled the perimeter of the area of the base.

Despite being so early, his face and body were slick with sweat, a clear sign that he was at it for some time now.

After his scuffle with Adrian yesterday, he was forbidden from going up to the fourth floor ever again.

So he slept on the first floor.

Thankfully, Este, trying to reconcile everyone, brought him his mattress so he didn't have to sleep on a dusty old floor.

'One of these days, Adrian is going to jump me.'

Hence he was training hard. To be prepared when the time comes.

His lungs burned and his legs felt heavy.

But he continued on running nevertheless.

During the week he trained at the hospital, he found out that his stamina improved significantly more the longer he kept his body moving.

Although it was painful, it was worth the stat increase.

Doing it multiple times was a key factor too. He already planned to spend the majority of the morning and the afternoon running like this.

Thump

'Oww, that hurt.'

Because his leg felt incredibly heavy, he ended up tripping and falling flat on his face.

He could almost hear Adrian laughing in his room.

'Well, a short break then.'

Eve turned around and laid on his back, seeing the sun take over the night sky steadily.

His breath was slow and hoarse, reflecting his calm mood despite his fatigued body.

The city stood as tall as always, bustling with life. Somewhat a decade later, the city could be wiped off the map.

He didn't rest for long, just a couple of minutes and he was on his training again.

The wind blew on his face, occasionally carrying small specks of dirt and dust that got to his eye.

'Damn this thing.' Eve cussed for the hundredth time since he woke up.

As he nudged his left eye, he came to a realization.

'Why am I so aggressive nowadays?'

He felt more and more aggressive by the day. His usual neutral demeanor was there but now, he thought that he was starting to be careless with his words and more impulsive in his decisions.

Was this the so called puberty and the hormones that come with it? Or was it something else?

Either way, some people were getting on his nerves.

He also recently discovered something in his [News Log]

[Log]

—

[Synchronization is in progress]

[Synchronization: 68%]

—

[Synchronization is in progress]

[Synchronization: 67%]

—

[Synchronization is in progress]

[Synchronization: 66%]

—

[Synchronization is in progress]

[Synchronization…]

—

He didn't know what synchronization implied but knew it wasn't supposed to happen.

Normally, he would go and ask Melina but she was occupied with her high school life. She has no time for stuff like this.

'Hell, she might be the one responsible for this message. Synchronization means two things operating at the same time right? Maybe she is planning something big, something similar to a Harvest Condition.

Maybe it's meant to be a massive rule list.'

In the end, he decided to let it be. It's not like he could get rid of it in the first place anyway.

'Looking at the time when these notifications popped out, the synchronization process is really slow huh? It averages 3 to 4% progress a day.'

The day proceeded without any interruptions. People left and entered the building, Este occasionally brought some snacks and drinks for Eve while Cel stared at him from a distance with binoculars, to make sure Eve wouldn't try to get funny with her.

Este didn't do this out of her feelings, but rather, out of obligation.

After all, with Melina gone, she was the only female in the group.

She felt she had an unspoken responsibility to act as the mother figure and get all of those short-tempered boys under control.

Somewhere during the evening, Eve felt bored so he sought to go back to Jonathan's and get his TV and consoles.

It was a decision that was made on a whim, yet he followed through it nevertheless.

The reunion went how he had expected it to go. Charlotte cussed at him for daring to show his face again and Jonathan seemed a little concerned.

"What brings you here? Are you alright?" Jonathan hurriedly asked Eve.

"Why haven't you made contact with me? Is Melina getting along with you? Is she getting… touchy?"

"I'm fine, I'm here to get some of my stuff."

"Well, I expected that so I already packed your belongings. Except you're two months late buddy, have you been wearing the same clothes every day?"

"If you packed them then give them to me already."

He left the house with a suitcase full of clothes and a pillow. He held a box in his other hand which had the console and the game disks in it.

Jonathan offered to drop off Eve with his car but he declined. He didn't want Adrian to see his grandfather.

Maybe it was out of consideration and fear of what he might do to him, or it was just a vain wish to not reveal any weakness of him.

So he walked alone, like a dumbass.

In hindsight, walking alone at night with expensive consoles and games is not a great decision.

Especially when there are many blindspots in surveillance in the city. In fact, there were way too many that he couldn't memorize the location of all of them.

And every single one of them was crawling with thugs and gangsters.

He was ought to stumble into such an area if he kept walking, and he did.

"Oi brat, stop right there."