Checkup

Storm 01 walked into the Blue section with Rory. The other Storm troopers were already there, some seated. It was their final check before they set out for their expedition to Moonfour.

"Hey!" They both turned and saw Sox Code waving at them from one corner of the room. She was seated on a chair situated in front of a round table along with Ada who had a mug in her hand.

"Why are you back here?" Storm 01 asked as they approached them.

"Some of us got here early, and now we are waiting for the results," Ada said, looking between the two of them. "Were you two too scared to make it here on time?" She added.

The two joined them to sit on two separate chairs. "Of course I'm scared," Rory replied. "We are about to embark on a battle that we could literally end up dead in."

"I'll personally carry your body on my back and bring you back here if I find you on the battlefield," Ada laughed mischievously. "Maybe lay you down next to pretty Percy, alright?"

"Hey." Sox slapped Ada on her shoulder. "That wasn't funny, Ada, at all," Storm 01 stated.

"Please, you guys don't understand classic humor, it's brilliant." Ada took a sip of the coffee she was holding.

Sox took Rory's hands in hers. "It's gonna be fine, we are all gonna make it back alive," she reassured.

A member of the Blue team walked up to the little group. "Storm 01?" She called out. The said name turned to look at her with his brows raised. "Yeah?"

"You are with me, your doctor is waiting in the back room," she revealed.

"Right." He waved the others before following the Blue agent through a door at the back of the room, a hallway, and finally to another door. The agent stood aside and outstretched her hands for him to walk past her.

Storm 01 shoots her a smile before he entered the room. The room had a single bed, two chairs, and a table on another side with a huge drawer stationed near the wall. Ishary sat on one of the chairs. She rise to her feet as Storm 01 entered the room. "Hi, finally, you are here."

"Ishary, hey. We are in a different room?" He mumbled.

"Yeah. I kinda didn't want anyone to know about this, so..."

Storm 01 nodded understandably. "I get it. This is like a secret act we plotting, and just the two of us know about it?"

"The lady that brought you here knows too."

"Well, if it's not a secret plot, then what are we doing here?" He questioned.

"Remember, some days ago when you told me about the visions you've been seeing lately," she started. "I did some research and I..." Ishary stopped for while before speaking again. "To chew it down, I thought we should dig in deeper and see what's really happening," she explained.

"Uhhh, you think that's a good idea? Nothing good comes from 'digging deeper'" Storm 01 attested, indicating she thinks twice before proceeding with her plan, especially one that the agency doesn't know about.

"It'll be fine, we are just checking. It probably won't even work," Ishary held on. "Come on, lay on the bed, let me just get the device."

Storm 01 let out a soft sigh before doing as the Blue agent asked. He set himself on the bed before turning himself to Ishary. She took a helmet-like device from one of the drawers and type rapidly into her computer.

"I want you to try and relax. Don't let yourself think too much about what we are doing, think of something else," Ishary says as she strode up to him with the device in her hand.

"Like what?"

"I don't know, maybe think about your mom? The moments you two spent together," she suggested.

"I have no memory of her, she died when I was young," Storm 01 revealed.

"Oh," she froze. "Well, err... What about your..."

"Dad?" He chipped in. "I don't even want to talk about it."

"I'm sorry. It must be tough growing up without any parents."

"I didn't say I didn't have any parents... Never mind. What about you?" He quizzed.

Ishary finished setting the device on his head and strolled back to her computer, taking some time before answering Storm 01. "I am from the Underground," she started. "My two parents died in the line of duty. Because of that, the state took responsibility and sent me to an orphanage in Zoda. I would have been in the Storm troopers just like you, but they claim I have no battle gene, so I ended up joining the medic school to become a doctor."

Storm 01 turned his head to look at the ceiling. "Why does everyone who joins Department H always have a sad childhood? It is as if they only go for the broken ones," he exhaled.

"But isn't that a good thing?" The Blue agent probed.

"Huh?"

"They take those who have no one to care for them and give them an opportunity to be someone. Isn't that a good thing?"

Storm 01's lips were already parted, he was about to shoot the words out of his mouth but he held himself back. "I guess you are right, they give 'hope' to people."

Ishary rolled her eyes at him. "Okay. Now let's get back to business," she said before exhaling nervously. "Just focus on the dot in front of you and breath normally," she instructed.

Storm 01 did as he was told and focused his eyes on the red blinking dot that just appeared.

"You'll feel a little shock in the back of your neck any moment now…"

The Storm agent felt shivers go down his spine which caused him to shut his eyes. By the time he opened them, he was standing, but not in the room he was in earlier.

Sweat started to drip down his forehead as he walked around the place. The surrounding looked like a recent battle scene with flames all around. The ground was destroyed extensively, it was as if a nuclear was launched there.

"Where am I?" He thought to himself.

Storm 01 kept walking forward. He looked to his side and noticed some parts of the Department H spaceship on the ground. "This is," he stopped and moved forward a little.

His heartbeat raced faster as he walked around the place. He went down to his knees to pick up a wristwatch from the ground that seemed to have made it through the explosion. He wiped the dust off of it. "This can't be another vision, right? It can't be." he stood up and carefully looked around. He noticed some men in protective gear helping some agents up from the disaster.

Storm 01 opened his eyes to snap out of it. He violently ripped the device from his head. He was panicking and sweat dripped from his face.

"It can't be another vision. It can't be!"

"Just calm down, stay calm," Ishary tried to calm him down.

...