Chapter 9 by Green

Chapter 9

By Green

“So you’re the famous Frazer Maerd.”

The four of us were all in the secret room. Eric sat on his bed, drinking a glass of water. Frazer leaned against one wall. Bluu also had a glass of water and glanced between Eric and Frazer. I stood by the door.

“And you must be Eric Zhang of Sunside,” Frazer said. “But defected to Wang Group. I wonder why?”

“Ask your sister,” Eric huffed. “We don’t exactly see eye to eye, as you can tell by what she did to me.”

“Then we’re all in the same boat,” said Frazer. “I hope you’re down to go back because I need your help to infiltrate Sunside.”

Frazer explained everything that had happened, from the raid at Wang Group headquarters to the antidote to the hostages that needed rescuing.

“We think they also have Roshani,” Bluu added solemnly.

Eric made a sharp inhale and closed his eyes, processing all the information in his head. Then he turned to me and said, “You were willing to take a risk on me with the antidote?”

I shrugged. “Either that or it was to leave your silhouette vomiting in the Dreamworld. You seem like a risk-taker anyway. And you saved my life in the parking lot, remember?”

“I guess I was right to cover your arse,” Eric said. “Because you’re going to be important in our infiltration. Can you isolate emotions in the Dreamworld?”

“Um, no?”

“Then start practicing.”

~

It took the rest of the night and the next day to get the hang of it.

At first, Bluu and Frazer were my “training dummies.” They would go to sleep, feeling a certain amplified emotion, and wander the Dreamworld for a while. Then I would enter and try to pinpoint a particular emotion that only one of them exhibited. It wasn’t the same as sensing silhouettes. These guys were real Dreamers who were fully conscious. It was like an ever-changing exam of true-false questions.

We had to be careful to stay close to the building. Nighttime was the best time for Dreamers to be active in the Dreamworld. With all of Sunside on the hunt, the four of us were very vulnerable to attack, even with a strong Dreamer like Frazer around. The thought of Freya and her black tendrils stabbing through the darkness gave me chills and ample motivation.

Once I was able to sense basic emotions like sadness, pride, and frustration, Eric decided I should try pinpointing feelings amidst large groups of people. With Frazer and Bluu on the lookout for any nearby trouble, Eric and I located crowds of silhouettes, and I identified which ones were sad, happy, angry, and relaxed. He especially wanted me to identify people who were contemplating cheating in a relationship.

“That’s got to be a breach of privacy,” I said. “Why do we even need that?”

“Because you’ll be looking for disloyalty,” said Eric. “And that’s exactly what we need.”

At daybreak, Eric’s and Frazer’s Dreamselves went to scout the Sunside territory since they’d both been there before. Bluu and I counted the number of antidotes we had and estimated how many hostages there were. We concluded we didn’t have enough for everyone.

“Hopefully she hasn’t poisoned everybody,” I said.

“Yeah,” said Bluu. “Hopefully.”

Eric and Frazer returned at noon to reclaim their physical bodies. Then they set out again. Since Frazer had mingled with the Sunside henchmen, he knew a couple members who were thinking of defecting. Eric confirmed a few, and these were the people they were going to meet physically in hopes of secretly enlisting them to help. It was just me and Bluu waiting in the building for the most part.

“Hey Jimmy,” Bluu piped up. He and I were organizing some files in Roshani’s secret cabinets that Bluu had access to. Though they were classified profiles of each Wang Group member, I couldn’t help look through a few of them.

“Yeah?” I said, instantly putting away the file I was currently peeking at.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “For trying to sacrifice you.”

I stared at him. He was rifling through some papers but it seemed aimless and nervous.

“It’s okay,” I said. “You only just met me and those hostages have been your friends for a long time. I get why you did it.”

“Doesn’t make it right,” he sighed. “I even pulled a gun at you. That was stupid. Stupid, stupid, stupid.”

“It’s good that you’re a horrible shot then,” I said. “Don’t bring yourself down, Bluu. We’ll come up with a plan and save everyone.”

“Yeah. We’re lucky you’re on our side. I don’t know what Eric’s thinking but your ability is crucial in all this.”

“That reminds me, I’ve never seen your ability before,” I said. “You have wings, right?”

Bluu smiled. We both took the cue to lie down and close our eyes.

When I woke up, I saw a flash of magnificent blue.

Suddenly, the whole room was filled with majestic feathers of shades of aqua that sprouted from Bluu’s back. The wingspan was immeasurable and the height was towering. Put on some armor and he looked like the Falcon, but with much better authentic wings. It felt like they engulfed the whole world, turning everything blue.

“High-speed peregrine-style,” Bluu said proudly. “I like to dive-bomb or race with them.”

He folded the wings and I watched with wide eyes as they shrank into his back and disappeared altogether.

“I like to keep them hidden. And when people least expect it…”

The wings burst from his back like a blue explosion and I almost fell on my bottom from shock. Coupled with a machine gun, this guy was a fighter jet.

“That’s pretty amazing,” I said. “Did Roshani give your ability a name too?”

“Eh, it’s not as fancy as Emotion Manipulator. Mine’s just ‘Flight’.”

“I wonder what Roshani’s ability is?”

“Super strength.”

“What?” I said in disbelief. “But she’s...she’s so short.”

“Don’t let her hear you say that. Short people can be surprisingly strong. I experienced that firsthand.”

We talked about the abilities of the other Wang Group members. Through Bluu’s stories, I felt like I knew the team even without meeting them. They didn’t care about rankings like Nozpin did. They looked out for each other as equals, as a family.

When Eric and Frazer returned and as Eric explained the final plan to all of us, I was more determined than ever to get those hostages back.

Nightfall. Step one of the plan began.

I was crouched in an alleyway in the Dreamworld, my eyes focused on a group of figures standing out in the street. Dreamers from Sunside.

One of them was feeling disloyal. But that wasn’t enough so I stayed as quiet as possible as they passed me. I was alone; Eric, Frazer, and Bluu were carrying out the other half of the plan. I had to buy them time.

The next Sunside Dreamer I saw was also alone.

He was feeling disloyal. I stretched my senses and didn’t pinpoint any other emotions nearby. This was it.

I stepped out of the alley. As soon as he spotted me, the Sunside Dreamer sprang into battle stance. But I raised my hands in surrender.

“It’s me, Jimmy Cartwright,” I said. “I’m here to turn myself in.”