As promised, here is the make-up page for In Beta. Now we’re back on track. Hooray!
Get caught up at the story hub. Enjoy!
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Again, Seraph felt the light pressure of Hawk’s hand on his shoulder. “She’s right you know. We gain nothing by rushing in half-cocked and unready. You’re angry now, and that’s understandable, but remember what the techs said about Beta’s safety locks. There’s a real chance that we could come to genuine harm in here.”
Unwilling to concede to her logic, Seraph shook her hand away violently and wheeled on her. “You don’t get it! Every one of those villagers that dies is because of me! I might as well be killing them myself for all the good I’m doing sitting around back here.”
“You’re wrong.”
Seraph was surprised to hear the admonishment coming from Brune, who had up until this point remained silent off to the side.
“What?”
“We all had Nemeses,” Brune replied. It was a simple statement, and a fact that Seraph knew, but the way he said it gave the young agent pause. In the short time he had spent with Brune he had become used to deciphering the intent behind his short replies. He wasn’t simply reiterating a known fact, rather he was trying to remind his squadmate that they had all been through this sort of situation at one point or another. It was a sobering thought.
“I…” He couldn’t seem to get the words that he wanted to say to come out so he settled for a simple apology, “I’m sorry.”
Brune simply nodded. Seraph took a deep breath and turned back to face his mentor. “Hawk, I’m sorry. You’re right, of course.”
She smiled briefly and nodded to him, “It’s tough, I know.”
He rubbed the back of his neck, embarrassed, “You know, through all of this I’d never considered the fact that you’ve had to battle a Nemesis as well.”
Hawk’s lips compressed into a small frown, likely at bitter memories brought on by mention of her Nemesis. It was starting to become a familiar response whenever an agent’s Nemesis was brought up. With all that Nephil had already put him through, Seraph expected his own face would go through a similar transformation if he managed to actually complete his mission.
He was about to ask Hawk more about her Nemesis when she cut him off, “If you’re not tired, maybe you should practice manifesting while the rest of us take a break.” Rather than wait for him to respond, Hawk left him standing there with Brune and followed after Aura, who had seated herself beneath the boughs of a nearby pine.
Brune also left him without a word, moving in the opposite direction, likely to rest by himself. Despite the delivery, Seraph had to admit that practicing his manifestation was probably a good idea. He looked around for a good spot to sit down away from the others, but as he did he caught sight of Peri and Gemini exiting the brush on the western side of the path they had been following.
It was strange enough to see them both coming from the same side of the path when each had been scouting the flanks separately. That thought had barely registered in Seraph’s mind before it was dashed by what he noticed next. Someone was with them.
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