🏆 WATTPAD CREATORS PROGRAM 🏆
🏆 8CC November - December 2023 Completer 🏆
𝘛𝘏𝘙𝘌𝘌. 𝘛𝘞𝘖. 𝘖𝘕𝘌. 𝘉𝘦𝘨𝘪𝘯.
Thirteen remembers one thing from the moment he woke up: live on, through whatever means necessary. When he is thrown into a society...
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Thirteen jabbed his thumb on the longest key on his board, bringing the screens to life. The electricity line sparked, making some displays blink and glitch. Another thing to fix. Later. Time wasn't the most stable medium around.
The counter's blare and the red lights flashing in the hall snatched his attention back to the problem at hand. Another counter, but he had a plan. At least, he thought he did. The moment the screens flickered on, Karrel's move became evident. The pins. They were gone.
A curse flew out of his lips. His hand flew to his ear and switched all the channels on. "Command is blind," he said. "Report hostiles status, stat."
Five's link fizzed. "Copy that," she said. "Location—vulture dog, west. Heading to alpha rise, north. No hostiles in the west."
"No hostiles in south," Eight's voice followed after Five closed her channel. "Heading towards hostile territory. North. Are the others there?"
Thirteen followed the only pins left on the simulated map of the grounds. "En route," he answered.
"Entering hostile borders," One reported. "Shadows moving southbound. Four. First count. I can be wrong."
The door to the command center burst open and Nine and Eighteen spilled out. "What's going on?" Nine asked. "Is there something wrong?"
Thirteen didn't turn away from the screens. "Pins' input down. Karrel must have figured it out," he said. "Activate your ability."
"On it," she replied, shedding her jacket. Her toned arms ripped off her tight tank top. When did she find the time to work out? Oh, right. Thirteen freed her from her job ages ago when he developed the pin system. Look at where they were now.
She braced the edge of the table and closed her eyes. "Eighteen," Thirteen called, sensing the older girl creeping towards her usual spot. "Go through the records on that screen. We don't have much time."
Karrel could find the fighting unit, and no one would be able to stop her. Not without knowing her ability and how to stop it. Only Five could take Section H's leader on a stalemate, but if Karrel got a hold of stronger, elemental abilities like Eight's, then Five was toast.
"Nine, any progress?" he asked.
The girl's head tilted from side to side as if a seizure was slow to come. "I'm trying," she said. "They're too far out. Reaching the northern quadrant is hard."
Another curse flew out of Thirteen's lips. It was followed by another and another, until a string of them followed in his wake. He waved Eighteen off just as she came to bring a stool to where he instructed her too. This was why Thirteen preferred systems and digital interfaces. They were faster. More efficient.
Time wasn't a stable economy, and everyone ran out of it all the time. He couldn't afford wasting it like this. "Back off," he hissed. His fingers ripped drawers until he reached the lowest niche. One of Five's earlier daggers slid into view. She had given it to him long ago, claiming he needed to have ways to defend himself should the building get overrun. Not going to happen in a long while, but Thirteen kept it there to humor the effort.
