C3: The Pool - p2

"So, the Juno Project…." I began.

"The event begins at 7 am on the coming Saturday. Cheers to Jenni for bringing in all the information," I nod at Jenni.

"Our objective? Overpower the power system in the hotel room, mask up, and then stall enough time until our Meg eats Juno. The main thing here is not allowing anyone else to feed on Juno, which will cause a power imbalance in the hierarchy of the Masterminds. A possible breakthrough to any other AI, and a major failure for us… as the Sharks."

"Also, remember Sharks. It's called the Juno Project. Hundreds of people are invited. The Owls, the Shogunate, the Crows, everyone will probs be there. This is an opening ceremony for Juno – but also a trap for all the Masterminds in the game. The Megalodon Project. The Juno Project. See the difference?"

Everyone at the pool nodded at my statement, which meant all of them had already agreed.

I looked to my side and passed the ball to the girl next to me, my bestie, Carry.

"Carry, darling."

She caught the ball, lowered her head to me, and said, "Thank you, bestie. Now, as Kimmy said, it's a fucking trap, obviously," she pushed her glasses back. "We gotta think smart, act fast. None of us can go down. If even one of us gets caught, we know that we're all dead. So, how many underlings of mine do we need for the mission? As he stated, there will be hundreds. Maybe like 20 of my men? And – the ball goes to you, Crowley."

She threw the ball to Crowley, who was sitting on the other side. He caught it with one hand and went back to thinking about his part, passing the ball between his hands.

"Hm," he finally murmured. "You can't forget the Ghosts, Cyber security, the Cage. To escape this, we all need to connect with Meg. Carry, and prepare the contributions for the families. All of those dads of yours are going to Hell on Saturday."

Carry half-smiled, lowered her eyes, and frowned. It was not the first time she had done this. But it was equally painful every time.

Crowley flipped the ball to Gendy. He caught it and simply said: "I'm the muscle. I know," and passed it to Lyla.

"May all those dads rest in peace," Lyla added, passing the ball instantly to Barry.

After catching it, Barry knew that he had the remaining role. He looked around the pool, grinned and said, "I'll be a waiter, got one eye in my pocket for the scan already. After that scan's done, I'll be inside… and the rest, I'll go with the flow."

"No unnecessary killing, man." I reminded him. He shrugged and threw the beachball back inside the Pool.

The planning was already completed. We only had to set off on our mission with the Sharks on Saturday and deal with whatever monster that was waiting in the corner.

After all, every mission we've been through was full of surprises. The Shogunate's genocide, the clusterfuck of Masterminds during the Meg Project, and the Owls' screech.

And the scariest one… the Cage of Cyber Security.

Suddenly, Carry kept her arm on my shoulder and made me turn to her, escaping from my thoughts.

"Boss Shark, you scared?" She asked me teasingly, tightening her grip on my shoulder.

I looked her in the eyes. She was fearless, as always. Just pure joy in those eyes.

"Never in a million years," I smirked at her. She bit her lip, slid her fingers down from my shoulders to my bare chest, and kept her hand there, feeling my heartbeat.

"Yeah, that's the Kimmy I know."

I chuckled and looked around the pool again.

The people sitting around here weren't just my team. They were my friends. Hours after I called them over, they were always at my doorstep. They'll ditch a ceremony just to come over to my place and hang out.

Lyla, Jenni, Crowley, Gendy, Carry, Blondie and even Barry the Hitman.

I don't fear facing off against the world's strongest people. But just the thought of losing people close to you…

Badum… Badum… Badum…

My heart began to beat faster as I imagined the people in this Pool disappearing. Carry's hand was still pressed against my chest.

She wrapped her right hand around my waist, clutched her left on my chest, and leaned against my shoulder, resting her head there.

"Shh… Big Shark, it's ok to be afraid," she whispered in my ear. "After all, we're all afraid, always. Aren't we?"

///To be continued///

<W/N> Like the book? Drop a stone. Flood the comment sections. Shower me with reviews. See you in the pages, beasts.