4: Arrival

Shizen woke up bright and early the next day, ready to head to the airport in about an hour. Aya was already awake and munching on some pretzels while she did some final research into Aomori's rebels. Shizen made sure that he had everything packed and went through his normal morning routine. Once it was time to go, Shizen and Aya walked out of the house and he locked up, silently hoping that they would make it back here alive. They walked to the station and hopped on the train. They quickly arrived at the airport, where they took some time to relax and grab a bite to eat. After going through security, the two waited for their flight to be called.

During this time, Shizen couldn't stop thinking about the dangers that were likely ahead of them. But this was his idea and he was fully prepared to confront any perils that might appear. The other thing that he hadn't really thought about until now was whether the rebels would even want them there. He was confident that Aya could at least be helpful because of her exceptionally above-average intelligence. But what about him? He could do some things with his power, but the rebels most likely were trained to some degree and had powerful weapons. Regardless, he had made the choice to travel to Aomori with the goal of defying Blight, and he would see it through.

His daydreaming was abruptly interrupted by the announcement that their flight was now boarding. Aya quickly bounced up from her seat and walked towards the gate, with Shizen scrambling to his feet and following behind. Once they were on the plane, they found their seats and settled down. The flight would only be about an hour and twenty minutes and Shizen had gotten plenty of sleep last night, so he decided to watch a movie. Except he was more tired than he thought and only made it through about twenty-five minutes of the movie before he fell asleep.

By the time he woke up, they were an estimated ten minutes from landing. Aya was immersed in her laptop, likely doing more random research. Shizen felt a lot better after his nap and was itching to get off the plane and to the hotel that Aya conveniently remembered they needed right before they left. Eventually, they landed and the pair strode out into the airport, stretching their legs and arms. They proceeded to the nearby station to hop on another train to their hotel. Once they arrived, Aya went to the front desk and checked in while Shizen grabbed a can of soda from a vending machine in the lobby. Once she had the keys to their room, they headed up to the third floor where they were staying. Once inside, they dropped all their belongings and flopped on the bed. Unlike Shizen, Aya had not gotten much sleep nor slept on the plane, so she was understandably tired from the trip. It only took a couple of minutes for her to drowse off and Shizen decided to turn on the TV while he let her rest.

The channel that popped up was the news and it intrigued him. The current story was about an uncharacteristic widespread power outage in Aomori. It seemed that experts were still unsure how or why it happened, but many power lines had been severely damaged. Shizen's first thought was the rebels. He didn't know if they had the means to cause a power outage on such a large level, but he could see why they would if they could. It would likely make it harder for Blight to operate in the area and it happened right after they had successfully beaten a squad of Blight forces. Aya would probably have a better idea of what could have happened, so he would have to ask her later.

In the meantime, Shizen flipped through some other channels and watched whatever caught his eye. After about two hours, he heard movement coming from beside him as Aya sleepily sat up.

"What did I miss?" she said jokingly.

"TV," Shizen said flatly. "Though it seems there was a big power outage right after the rebel's fight with Blight."

"Yeah, I saw that," Aya said, visibly thinking about something. "It was most likely the rebels' doing, and they could have multiple ways of accomplishing it."

"Like what?"

"Well, there's definitely some machinery that could do it quite easily, though I don't know if they would be able to get their hands on something like that. I'm leaning towards the possibility of someone having powers."

"Powers? Like mine?"

"It's definitely possible that one of the rebels has the ability to manipulate electricity. It's pretty common among Blight's enhanced squads and there's a good chance that a portion of the rebels is Blight defectors."

"Damn. Though I guess that's good, huh? Having people with powers on our side is a big plus."

"For sure. Especially if this person can cause such a big power outage. Most electricity users can't do anything near that. If I'm right about this, then I think there's a good explanation as to why these rebels were able to fend off Blight."

"So when are we gonna pay these guys a visit?"

"It'll definitely have to be at night, just to decrease the chance of being caught by any random Blight soldiers. But hell, we could go tonight if we don't want to wait."

"Let's do it," Shizen ruled, grinning. He was getting weirdly excited now that there was a possibility of an ally having powers like him. That also meant that they could maybe stand a chance against Blight at least on a smaller level.

Aya got up from the bed and pulled a change of clothes out of her suitcase, heading into the bathroom.

"No peeking!" she called out.

"Why would I want to do that?" Shizen said coldly. "I never do at home."

"Hey!" Aya shouted, seeming like she was offended. "You make it sound like there's nothing to see!"

"Well you are pretty fl-"

The door slammed and Shizen let out a laugh, accomplishing his goal of messing with her a bit. He was becoming a little more optimistic about the situation, which helped him stay in a light-hearted mood. The last thing he needed was to let himself become depressed and pessimistic. Fighting Blight in any capacity would require them to confident in their abilities and their hope of winning. If there was any.