CHAPTER 7

Week 4

Jasmine had been practicing fighting, running, and other generally physically intensive activities while holding her breath this past week. It was difficult— the girl hadn’t realized how important breathing was when your body was doing intensive work. Unfortunately, her power demanded her to do so.

She heard a crash as the makeshift wooden wall came down as if it was made of paper. She jumped back and shot twice from her handgun toward her target as she made sure not to let any oxygen leave her lungs. The face of the home was completely torn apart, but the furniture would make a good distraction.

Three more bullets in the clip, Jasmine thought as she jumped over a counter. From the corner of her eye, she saw Veronica slowly walk into the home, without a care in the world. The metahuman grabbed a chair and threw it at one of the remaining walls, seemingly randomly. The wood splintered into a thousand pieces, but none of them hit Jasmine.

As slowly as she could, Jasmine got up from her crouching position and aimed her gun directly at Veronica’s head. She shot the three remaining bullets into her, and they had no effects. As soon as she had revealed her position, her adversary weaved in between the chairs and the tables, looking to stop her from shooting. Before she could reach her, Jasmine yelled out.

“I’m out! I’m out, it’s over!”

Veronica stared at her now that she had reappeared. Jasmine sighed as she held out her hand. The other woman shook it.

“I thought you were going to kill me. You’re terrifying, you know.” The girl continued.

“That is the effect I was going for, yes. But do not worry, harming you was not my intention. I only had to disarm you to win.”

“Still, what if the house had collapsed on me…”

Veronica didn’t answer. The two metahumans got out of the half-destroyed house and met Loeb right outside of the designated fighting area. He had come back yesterday and had been eager to see their progress.

“So?” He asked. “Who won?”

“Jasmine attained victory. She hit every single one of her shots, twelve in my chest, ten in my head, four in my back, and the last four in my right thigh. It was an excellent performance.”

“I see, good job. You have come far in your marksmanship then.” The general said while staring at me. “Veronica, next time, I expect you to do better. One hundred pushups!” He continued.

Jasmine’s eyes widened, but Veronica instantly got in position and started doing them. She hoped she would never disappoint the general again.

At least I managed to do my run in the allotted time today. She thought.

The girl looked back at the wreck of a house she had just been in. It was surprisingly still standing, but it was the last of multiple. The general had arranged an entire fake hamlet to be built for this fight. Supposedly it was supposed to get them to be ready for real confrontations, but Jasmine mostly expected those to be in cities instead of small villages. The goal of the game for her had been to empty two clips into Veronica while being chased by her, and it was easier than it sounded. Every tiny movement and every shot alerted Veronica to her presence, and the H1845’s range wasn’t that good. Then, the girl also had to reappear every forty seconds or so to take a few deep breaths and go invisible again. All in all, Veronica had been able to track her effectively. That was what Loeb had been trying to stop.

“Go talk to Franz.” The general said, taking her out of her thoughts. “Your left arm is bleeding, and so is your cheek. Come back afterward.”

Jasmine looked to her left and saw blood trickle down her arm as the pain of a dozen cuts registered in her system. One small splinter of wood was even stuck inside of her. She winced and made her way to her friend.

After a few minutes of walking, she met him inside of a tent, reading a book.

“Franz? I hope I’m not interrupting here?”

“Oh, what’s up— what in the world happened to you?!” Franz yelled out as he dropped what he was reading. “I thought it was a reassessment test, not bloody murder.”

“I’m fine. It’s just a few cuts. I need you to fix me.”

“Of course.” He said as he got up from his chair. “Here, sit. Take that… wooden pike out of your arm.”

She followed his instructions, wincing as she removed the splinter penetrating her arm. She felt his hand on her hand. Jasmine flinched at the contact, and it took a lot of restraint not to scream.

Bad memories.

He closed his eyes, and a numbing feeling washed over her cheek and arm. The girl sighed in relief as she saw her wounds close.

“Do you have a towel for the blood?” Franz asked her. She heard the relieved tone in his voice.

“No, but I’ll get one, don’t worry.”

“Nonsense. Here, you can take mine if you don’t mind it being drenched in sweat. The summer heat’s killing me.”

“Thank you. I can never get over how amazing your power is… you’re— it’s great.” Jasmine said while stumbling slightly over her words.

“It was nothing, kid. Be careful out there.”

Jasmine frowned. “I told you not to call me that.”

“Right, sorry, I keep forgetting. You remind me of someone I used to call kid all the time, so I suppose it just transferred over.”

“Hmph. Whatever. Enjoying your book? What are you reading?” The girl asked as she got up from his seat.

“Oh, you are gravely mistaken if you think I’m reading this out of my own volition. I’d rather fight Veronica or argue with Agnes.”

Jasmine chuckled.

“It’s an anatomy book,” Franz said as he showed her the cover. “I’m learning about the human body to be more effective at healing fatal wounds.”

“Ah, right, that sounds miserable. Well, I won’t keep bothering you then. Thanks for the help, Franz.”

“Anytime, Jasmine.”

The girl left his tent as she made her way toward the general again. Soldiers went about their business in the camp, either training, talking, or working on the makeshift village. Loeb had brought more with him after arriving. When she got back, Veronica was about done with her pushups, and even she looked exhausted.

“I’m back, general.”

“Good effort.” He said as he looked at Veronica. “Jasmine, how much have you improved at managing your power in my absence?”

“My record right now is a minute thirty, give or take, general.” She answered sharply.

“I didn’t ask for your record, I asked if you’ve improved. On average, how long can you go for?”

“If I’m not completely relaxed? Um… thirty to forty seconds, sir.”

“Allfather, that’s terrible. Do you think you can get that to at least two minutes by the end of your training?”

“Hard to say, I don’t think so, though.”

General Loeb sighed disappointedly. “Alright. Franz is still studying, I hope? Marshal Gessner has great hopes for him.”

“Yes, he is.”

“Well, I’ll leave you two be then. Take the rest of the day off. Tomorrow though, I want you to double your breathing exercises.”

“Thank you.” They both replied in unison.

The two girls walked back into the Dilliers research center in silence. Jasmine couldn’t help but sneak glances toward the tired Veronica. It was the first time she had seen her actually expressing emotions. Sometimes, she even wondered if her condition was one of the drawbacks of her power.

“Do you wish to say something, Jasmine?”

The girl jumped in surprise.

“Y— no. I’m good.”

“Curious. I thought perhaps you were thinking about our test. Going against you is very frustrating.”

“Thank you, I guess? I mean, you did great too. I’m sure you were somewhat holding back.”

“That is correct. I did not want to kill you by accident.”

Jasmine’s blood ran cold. She paused.

“Ah.”

“Still, you are quite talented. Perhaps we could go again tomorrow? I have been thinking about strategies to keep you from escaping.”

“You should ask the general about that then.” Jasmine said as she undid her hair bun. She shook her head and let her hair fly freely.

“I will.”

“Well, this is me then. I’m going to the common room.”

“Farewell, Jasmine.”

“See you later.”

Jasmine shuddered as the elevator doors closed. Speaking to Veronica always made her feel like something was wrong. She did not act human, and the way she spoke was utterly alien. Jasmine pushed the door open and entered the darkened room. As she flipped the light switch and looked for the television remote, she started taking deep breaths and holding them in.

It was supposed to be second nature to her. Or at least that’s what the general had said before he left. His voice rang through her head saying ‘always train your breathing and your lungs,’ and she applied herself to it. She grabbed the remote with her invisible hand and turned on the television, switching between channels until she found the one she was looking for. The girl hadn’t memorized most channels yet.

“...reeling from the terrorist attack. The city had just barely recovered from the war, and now our dear citizens will have to bear another traumatizing event. I must ask, how many more can our nation take? I have Senator Leeuwin of Beylin, who was present at the attack, with me today to answer exactly that. Senator, take it away, please.”

Jasmine frowned. She had missed the start by a few minutes. After a short pause, the Senator started talking as the camera changed.

“Thank you, Dominic. I was indeed present at the National Assembly that day, and I had to witness twenty of my co-workers being killed in cold blood. I must say, I will never resign, and I will not be intimidated by terrorists. To my colleagues, I must plead with you. Stop resigning! You are playing right into the MSA’s hands here. This is what they want. For Azeris to survive this time of strife, we must help our neighbors and help the reconstruction efforts. Maybe even consider volunteering in your city. I will add this, Dominic, I will fight until the end for every Beyliner and every Azerian. Donate to my campaign…”

Jasmine tuned out as soon as the Senator started asking for money. The MSA’s attack had indeed ended in less of a catastrophe than expected, but the fallout had been worse than the attack itself. Fear had been struck deep into the heart of Azerians. No one knew where they would strike next, and it had been too quiet.

The army had gone in after the twentieth Senator died, on general Loeb’s direct orders. The MSA’s paramilitary force had fought fiercely, but they were forced out of the building after around one hour of fighting inside the building. The flier escaped as soon as they got in, and the ordinary men were left to die alone. Some had been captured. Their mugshots were plastered all over the news. Jasmine assumed they were being tortured for information even now.

The girl took another deep breath, going in and out of invisibility, and listened again.

“Thank you, Senator, but let’s keep it on track. What would you say right now to your constituents that are increasingly worried about an attack every single day? Some of our citizens believe this is another Plana situation in the making.”

Another pause.

“I would say to trust in the TIA, the military, and Marshal Gessner. Azeris will prevail so long as we persevere and we believe in ourselves. They are working around the clock to find out where we will— we might be struck next.”

“Thank you for your time, Senator Leeuwin. Up next, we have two viewers calling from home about their worries and their problems regarding the situation.”

Jasmine heard a phone ring for a few seconds. The news anchor continued.

“Ah, here’s our first, um, caller. You are live on ANE, what’s your name?”

“Hello? Can you hear me…?”

“Loud and clear, miss…?

“Miss Frieda. First of all, thank you for doing this, Dominic. For bringing the news back again, it’s been tough not knowing what was happening around our country. Me and my husband, we watch you every night.”

“I live to serve, miss Frieda. Someone has to pick up the slack around here to make it normal again.”

“Of course. That’s what I like about you.” The woman said. “Well, personally, Dominic, I must tell everyone at home that I am a woman of the Allfather. I love everyone equally, but these metahuman terrorists need to be dealt with to protect the rest of us. I don’t trust any of them, and I’m sure every metahuman will be joining them on mass to punish us good folk that did nothing wrong.”

“That’s certainly a possibility, but the MSA also had non metahumans storm the building—”

The woman interrupted him. “A terrifying thought. I always knew not to trust the freaks, but now I have to worry about neighbors as well? Truly a shame that our government isn’t doing anything to help us common folk.”

“I agree, but we’re running out of time here. Thank you for your time, miss Frieda, have a nice afternoon. Up next, we have the filmer of the original video that was leaked to us, but first we’ll be taking a short ad break—”

Jasmine muted the television and sighed as she saw an ad for life insurance.

“Looks like they’re getting back on track.”

The girl jumped as she heard Agnes’ voice behind her. As she turned, she noticed her friend’s annoyed expression.

“Agnes, don’t scare me like that… what’s with you?” She asked worriedly.

“Biermann is mad at me again.”

“What did you do?”

“What? Little old me?” She answered sarcastically as she grinned. “Nothing much, I just pranked him.”

“Pranked? Did you turn into one of his co-workers again?”

Agnes chuckled. “Nah, that one’s stale. I actually used the hair you gave me last week to turn into him. I ordered a bunch of people around. It was fun.”

“You’re being too reckless. One day there’ll be actual consequences, plus you shouldn’t irritate him too much. He’s been busy lately.”

Agnes sat next to her.

“Hey, it actually wasn’t my fault this time. Old Loeb told me I was doing good getting used to the pain, but I have to improve my acting if my power’s ever going to be of any use.”

“I don’t think he meant impersonate someone as important as doctor Biermann. And call him general. You know he hates when we don’t use his title.”

“Meh, General, Shmeneral.” She said while grabbing the remote. “You’re too serious all the time, you should relax. Why are you watching this garbage anyway? Can I switch the channel?”

“No, the ads are almost done. I’m interested in what people think.”

“Why? They’ll always hate you. That bitch they called hides her hate behind her religion, and the viewers at home gobble it up. Feels like the old king all over again.”

“You were here during the entire call? At least say something, that’s creepy.”

“I didn’t want to interrupt. Anyways, people like her will end up in the Void regardless, so her time’s coming.”

“I’m not religious, so that doesn’t comfort me whatsoever. Oh, it’s starting again, turn it up.”

“Sure.”

The sound of the television came back on. The host, Dominic spoke again, his voice accompanied by a jingle.

“Welcome back to ANE, I’m your host, Dominic, and I have with me the recorder of the video that revealed this terrible terrorist attack to us. Now, please state your name, sir.”

“I’m— my— Clemens.” He replied, his voice shaky and soft. He was nervous.

“Thank you for having the courage to come on air, Clemens. Most would be terrified to be in the spotlight after being so close to such a brutal attack. Now, give us a bit of background. What were you doing so close to the National Assembly on that day?”

“I usually walk there every morning to go to work— ah— I work at a, um, a Math teacher at Saint Helena Middle school. Normally I would take the bus, but tickets are too expensive these days. I’m, uh, saving.”

“I see. And what was your first thought when you saw those vans first approach the steps of the building?”

“I saw the vehicles stop, and I remember thinking— or rather, feeling weird. I should have known to run then, but curiosity got the best of me. I thought they were escorting a Senator or even the Marshal himself, I don’t know. But then the first terrorists got out, and I thought I was a goner, so I just started recording.”

“And when their leader started flying upward, did you think to run?”

“I did, but my legs were just frozen. And then he yelled out some kind of order and destroyed parts of the building— I don’t remember what language it was. But after that, I managed to get myself together and ran.”

“We covered it this morning, but I assume you were busy. The leader spoke Saverian. Some of us might ask ourselves, is Saveria funding these terrorists? The way they worship the metahumans, it’s entirely possible.”

Agnes scoffed.

“How can you watch this garbage, dude? I can’t believe he just said that! And his viewers will just gobble that shit up, Allfather I hope he rots. Just because metahumans and humans are equal in Saveria doesn’t mean we’re worshipped!”

“I know. Believe it or not, I’m frustrated too, but I have to watch. I have to know the people we’re saving, and what they think so I can maybe change them one day.”

“You’re a decade too late for that.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure. Be a little more optimistic for a change.”

“The fact that you out of all people is saying that hurts me. That’s like Veronica telling me to be more expressive.”

“Did she tell you that?” Jasmine said, her eyes widening.

“No, of course not. It was an example to show you how absurd you’re being.”

“... we need to look at other possibilities. Maybe it’s Escann funding the MSA, after all, the war that plummeted our nation into ruin is still fresh in the mind of many. I wouldn’t put it past them.”

“I don’t know, Dominic. I think that might be a little bit farfetched—”

“Sorry, Clemens, we’re out of time. Thank you again for coming on air with us today. Up next, a statement from Marshal Gessner…”

“See how he cuts him off as soon as he goes against the narrative? I hate this host so much, and I can’t stand his pretentious ass. Have fun listening to people that hate you, but I’m out.” Agnes said as she stood up and left.

Jasmine stayed and watched for a little more.