CHAPTER 15 – T-minus (1)

"There is a T-minus in everyone's life. Maybe once, maybe twice. Heck it could get worse. But... whether the count may be negative numbers, or positive numbers, they are headed to zero. Always."

"And the values are merely just… ah, instances! They don't exactly have a value, just differentiate from the other instance. The next instance could be worse, better. The pattern won't just… GO the way you expect or want it to. It may seem like it makes sense and it is headed that way, but only if you work on it."

"I know, I know, 'I'm hurt and this bitch is spitting shit', that is what you are thinking in your mind."

"So zero. All the numbers are always headed to zero. Now, I know, I said they values don't have a value. BUT, zero doesn't have a value. Meaning, the T-minus reaches this, and all is neutral. All the pain, all the happiness or sorrow. There is only peace at that instance. Disregarding the whole T-minus."

"So what I mean to say is, Scelesthe, try to view these as T-minus. All these missions we do. Every T-minus you face, you will always be taken to… peace."

I jolt my eyes open. As even when it was silent, now, it wasn't Zero yet. This team… was facing its T-minus, and I had to accompany them. As a Primevel warrior, and their teammate.

I sit on the chair, and look ahead of me…

Psyand had stopped crying. But not worrying, she was full of it. She was finally eating something, by herself, above that.

No one else in the room, but Psyand.

"Rusk still hasn't returned," I ask, stiffening myself.

"No…" Psyand says. "You barely slept, Ms. Scelesthe. Everything is the same."

"Hmm, really unnecessary, but so that name is your preference?" I ask.

"That is your real name," Psyand says. "Why even use another? There barely is a difference anyway."

"Hmm. Maybe it makes me feel stronger," even when I wasn't.

I get up and walk into the bedroom. With three people.

Wrap… still on bed. Psyand's mother, still looking at Wrap, with all her attention, to not even notice me. And…

"How is he?" I ask, to the third person.

.

.

.

"Don't just fly away, Feather. I knew you were here. Let us see how good you have become," Silver-mask says.

"It is poison," Feather repeats. "I'll be fine, really. Do something about Wrap!"

"FIGHT IT WRAP!" Rusk screams up his lungs.

I place Feather on the ground, carefully, and run towards Wrap, and push both my arms towards him, realeasing the urge from both my hands.

"About a minute, and a half. Or maybe two," I say, grabbing onto Wrap.

"There is a guy-"

Forcerer runs and picks Wrap, before Feather finishes his words. I help, and we take him away, as Rusk opens up the force-field from ahead of us, and closes it behind us, quickly. I cover Wrap, and this way we safely reach the building, mere seconds, gasping, and another minute to another apartment.

A person answers the door, and gasps, looking at Wrap.

"Grandpa, we need help," Forcerer says.

"It is a hallucinogen- well, get him some-" Feather appears from behind us - pushes inside the house, taking away 'Grandpa'.

.

.

.

"Alive. I guarantee you," Grandpa says. "But I'm not sure if that antidote…"

"You can trust that guy's words. After all, he was hit by the similar poison too," I say.

"Yes but… he didn't take the antidote. Even if he is a… powerful person… I'm worried," Grandpa says. "And we do not know if they got same poison."

I touch Wrap's wrist, and check his pulse.

"Beating, and better temperature," I say. "All thanks to you."

Grandpa blushes and laughs lightly. "All my life training was for nothing then. I saved a person," he says with glittery and unknown eyes.

I smile wide at Grandpa, and look at Psyand's mother, who has a continuous worried expression, and only looks at Wrap.

"Mother, Psyand has eaten. You don't have to worry," I say.

"How about… him?" Psyand's mother asks.

Right, there was another in a coma-like expression.

"Ah… I'll go check on him," I say.

I bow to Grandpa once, and exit the apartment. Right as I do, an arrow zooms towards me, and I catch it, with a not-impressed face. But it sends a jolt to me, through my gauntlet, so I drop it.

"You motherfuckers. Psyand or her mother isn't here, I will fucking rip your hearts out soon. Mark my words," I say, in a low tone, which probably even Rusk, past the force-field, can't hear.

"They can wait," Rusk says.

Judged too soon.

I enter through the gap which Rusk makes, and look at the two people inside. Rusk only seems to hold the second force-field he had made, to cover both the Exterior Beings, and us here.

I stand close to Rusk.

"They seem to know that we are trying to bait them, by going into two apartments," I say.

"As long as they don't go to Witch instead, on the third place," Rusk sighs.

"These guys can detect her location. So as long as they are here…" I say.

"I can't hold it forever."

"Right. How much longer can you?"

"Their attacks are barely doing anything to the shield, honestly. But maybe it is only the steroid-"

"-how strong of a dose was that even?"

"…well, Wrap seems to have-"

"-don't blame the dying guy, man!" I push Rusk's shoulder.

"Awe! Hey, don't… you know… trying to concentrate here."

I glance at Lost-Bird, still just sitting in his old position, now just… as if he really was in a coma: expression-less.

"Besides. Is Feather or Forcerer with… you know, in the apartment of this ex-military."

"No. But they don't know that. And Psyand can defend. And he is ex-military: he said he has a gun. He even has a licence to use it, and wouldn't be a problem at this… dystopia."

"So you came so that the baby bird is fed."

"Mama bird is worried. So this ostrich gotta do it."

"Ostrich?" Rusk scoffs. "How does that define you?"

"Hey, I throw a pretty sick-kick."

"Go run to the baby bird then."

I sigh inwardly, and walk towards Lost-Bird.

"You know, I can sense depression-"

Probably the book won't be helpful here.

"-sorry, I mean… ah…" I say, and just sit besides Lost-Bird.

Lost-Bird doesn't seem to flinch even at my dumb jokes.

"There… is this… you remember I talked about someone called Sync?" I ask, obviously didn't need an answer. "She is… probably the strongest superhero out there. Foreign land. Anyways – she started at the age of twelve, as I mentioned before. Now she'd probably be… nineteen."

"I know that I'm worse than kids. For being thirty-eight years old," Lost-Bird says.

Okay, he clearly did not look old, wow. But that was not important.

"Ok… feeling that it was a bad choice of a story. BUT, I have thought this through," I say, confidentially. "You see, there is another. The Goddess. She'd have started at about… twenty-eight-ish. Now she is above fourty."

Lost-Bird takes a breath in, as a sniffle.

"Both very different ages. But both couldn't bear it, when they lost someone. Heck, I could say Sync's was worse, as she couldn't remember, but… it never gets better. Whether you are young or old."

"I don't have powers," Lost-Bird says, seemingly ready to burst into tears.

"Whether you are a human or powered individual…" I say. "I know… I don't have a… power-lacking person's example. But – not pressuring you – you are a candidate for that example. Which I want to give, the next time I talk about this topic."

"I'm still powerless…"

"I do not know if you grief because you possess no such powers. Or I don't know if you envy not having a world-normal life, even when you aren't a powered-individual…" I say. "But neither is your fault Aaditya. You are trying your best either way… and that is truly inspiring enough for a powered-individual like me."

Well, there goes the thing I was hiding. Almost all of it, as I mentioned two otherworldly characters to him.

"So it was you," Lost-Bird laughs lightly.

"What can I say… Cinderella pointed that colleges aren't open on Sundays, which a bunch of powered-individuals missed," I sigh.

"I think you mean Aurora… well, doesn't matter," Lost-Bird laughs.

"Eesh, were you a nursery teacher?" I scoff.

"Jokes on you, yes. I indeed was. I hated the co-professor," Lost-Bird says.

"Wow. A lot of experience for such an age, indeed."

"Yeah… that is why I took the L from Psyand," Lost-Bird scoffs.

"L?"

"As in, loss. It is a slang common in between kids. Guess you wouldn't know."

"Ouch. We just started talking freely now: you can't hurt me so soon."

"Sorry."

"Eh, don't be," I say. "It isn't your fault Aaditya. The expansion of universe, and the rotations of object. It isn't your fault."

"Wow. Are you a poet?"

"Ah, finally! Yes! Yes! Well, a singer as a side business. Never worked. Truly hurtful part of my past," I say, remembering and whining.

"No worries. Even the co-professor I talked about, didn't succeed. And well, got better money making job than me," Lost-Bird says.

"Ah, good for them!"

"Did you…?"

I look at Lost-Bird and looking away, I scoff. "I don't know. Yet it feels fine though."

Lost-Bird just nods.

"T-minus… is just a countdown. And the minus sign… as I said, doesn't have a value. So it isn't always just negative. It is only an instance. Instance shall have positives, negatives… that is why a value can only represent it, not give it a fixed value."

"So even T-minus will have good moment, my dear Scelesthe. Like how I found you, in between such chaos. I see it as the good moment in the T-minus. Even when it CLEARLY is a bad moment for you. Being paralyzed and all."

"I know you can still hear me. So just trust me and keep counting down. I know you will hug and pat my back, for giving such a dumb quote sequence, out of that book that you hate. But the Primevel warrior book just makes sense. Trust me on that. Even when I couldn't exactly prevent your state."

"I know. One day you will remind yourself of these things I'm saying. It really shall motivate you. That too, is in the book. So hang tight."