Free Web NovelChapter 70: Chapter 69 - Outlier Capture(Part 1)
Point-of-View: Alexis Tucker
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"So, are you the Outlier that I’m supposed to babysit?"
"Oh, boy, I can already tell that you’re gonna be an absolute treat to work with," I responded with a sarcastic glare.
It was the next day, January 9th, and I’d just arrived in Germany. It was a little past midnight here, and I was feeling pretty groggy.
I’d gotten some sleep on the plane, but I didn’t exactly feel refreshed by the time we landed, if anything, I felt even more drained. Ugh, this sucks.
Anyway, after I landed, along with the two Category 2 Metas that were serving as my escorts and would be a part of the team for this mission, I was greeted by the Category 0 who was supposed to be paired up with me for this mission, Richard Walsh. And, uh, my first impression of him isn’t exactly a positive one...
"Great, you’ve got a mouth on you," He sighed as he scratched the back of his head, "Come along, let’s get this over with."
With that, a prolonged silence ensued. He led me out of the airport and we got in a car, I got in the passenger seat while the two others got in the back seat, before driving off to who knows where?
I did try asking him about this mission a couple of times, but he either just grunted in response or flat out ignored me. I’m guessing the higher ups must have forced him to pair up with me for this, and he’s not happy about it.
So he probably doesn’t intend on letting me get involved here, his goal in regard to me is likely to just make sure nothing happens to me...after all, as an Outlier, I’m considered a valuable weapon.
Huh, maybe that’s why I was sent on arguably the most potentially dangerous mission of the four of us...admittedly, I’m probably the weakest in a fight, despite my Aura capacity and max output being the highest after Aurora.
I bet they’re thinking that some real field experience is what I need to give me that extra push...well, I’m just assuming that’s the case, anyway. In reality, there might not even be a real reason at all, for all I know.
"Put this on," Richard suddenly spoke up, as he took out a red wig and handed it to me.
"Uh, what’s this for?" I inquired uncertainly.
"It’s a disguise, obviously. Eden is unlikely to show up, but just in case," He replied bluntly.
"Fine, whatever...," I grumbled in response, as I put it on.
I then glanced at my reflection in the rear view mirror...hey, not bad, I’m kinda rocking this redhead look.
"Could you stop admiring yourself like an idiot? You’re blocking my view."
"Hmph, well, fuck you, too," I huffed as I stuck my tongue out at him.
"Wow, real mature."
"Right back at you, I’m not the one who’s so salty that they won’t even tell me a thing about this mission in the first place so-...woah!" I shot back indignantly, before nearly bumping my head onto the front as the car abruptly came to a screeching halt. ƒrēewebnoѵёl.cσm
"Hold on, did Neo not give you the details of this mission!?" He exclaimed incredulously.
"Well, no, nothing besides the fact that it’s a lead regarding an Outlier, anyway," I shrugged in response.
"Why, that irresponsible-...!" He growled, before letting out an exasperated sigh, "You’ll only be an even bigger burden if you’re completely blind to the situation. Pay attention, because I’ll only explain once, got it?"
"Oh, uh...sure, got it."
He then began explaining the details of this mission. Turns out that this Outlier seems to be a part of a traveling circus, one of the Harmony members stationed here happened to pass by it yesterday and sensed a floaty, uncontrolled and massive Aura coming from the circus.
The circus group have apparently set up camp about a dozen or so kilometers up ahead, and we’re going to sneak in and kidnap the Outlier.
A handful of the other Harmony Metas stationed here have been keeping an eye on the circus group from a distance for the last few hours, and so far, they’ve confirmed that they haven’t seen any Eden Metas in the area.
But they also haven’t yet pinpointed whom the Aura they’re sensing is coming from, so we’re just going to have to search the entire campsite. The closer we get to the source, the easier we’ll be able to tell exactly where the Aura is coming from.
"There are six of us already there, keeping an eye on the campsite. And there’s four of us here, a total of ten. We’ll split up in five pairs and search...and whoever finds the Outlier will have to capture them without being seen. To be blunt, if there are any witnesses, you have no choice but to eliminate them," Concluded Richard.
"Wow, seriously? And here I thought Harmony’s goal was to coexist with regular society," I responded dryly.
"That’s right, but we can’t coexist if our existence is made public. All the online footage of you Outliers has been damaging enough, even though most people still believe that those are all fake, the footage of that pop star burning her fan to death drastically increased the number of people that believe the footage is real. Especially since she’s been missing ever since," He remarked with a grimace, a hint of bitterness in his voice.
What’s with that? Maybe he was assigned the task of capturing her, but lost to Eden? Or maybe he’s just a fan of her and is salty because Eden captured her instead of Harmony?
Well, whatever, not like I really care either way.
"I guess what you’re saying makes sense, but I don’t think I can just kill someone that easily...," I frowned as I felt conflicted.
"Didn’t you kill both your parents?" He countered with a raised eyebrow.
"I mean, yeah, but that was an accident. And besides, I hated them, so yeah," I shrugged in response.
"Well, I suppose that it doesn’t really matter, because you won’t be killing anyone. The Electro Skill is far too flashy, and highly unsuited for covert missions. Of all the Outliers, you are the least compatible and most useless with this kind of assignment," He informed me bluntly.
Yeah, that definitely makes sense...still, the way he said it really ticks me off...
"It’s not like I chose to be-...," I began, before trailing off as I sensed something, "Hey, feel that?"
A floaty, low pressure Aura. No doubt about it, this must be...
"Yes, of course I do...," He responded, but had a frown on his face.
"What’s with that look?" I inquired warily.
"Probably nothing...but we’re only about five or six kilometers away now," He replied, as he gestured at the GPS.
Huh? What does that have to do with-...oh, I see what he’s getting at...
"An Outlier’s unsuppressed Aura covers at least nine to ten-plus kilometers...and even if it’s not in control, that range shouldn’t drop by too much," I realized, my eyes widening. fгeewebnovёl.com
"Wait, what does that mean?" Chimed in one of the Metas that had escorted me here.
"No way to be sure exactly, it could be that the coordinates I was sent are inaccurate, or that this Outlier only has about half the Aura capacity compared to you others...either way, now I’m getting a bad feeling about this. And another thing...this Aura is undeniably not under control whatsoever, there’s no doubt about that, but...it feels a fair bit denser than an uncontrolled Aura normally would be," He remarked with a grimace.
Really? I can’t tell at all...is he just imagining it? Great, now I’m feeling kinda paranoid too...
...
Not long after that, we reached a spot close to the location, parking the car behind a couple of tall bushes to hide it and walking the rest of the way.
And soon enough, the campsite came into view, as we met up with the six Metas that had been keeping an eye on this place.
"Let’s not waste any time. Pair up and move out, we’re going to comb this place and find the Outlier, capture them and leave. Avoid being spotted at all costs...any witnesses will need to be eliminated," Instructed Richard bluntly, before we all paired and split up.
It was pretty dark out tonight, with some clouds blocking the moon, but there were some lights coming from the campsite, dimly illuminating the area. There were plenty of trees and bushes around though, so sneaking towards the camp was easy enough.
It was really big though, with several tents, vehicles and large cages with animals in them. I highly doubt that everyone in the camp is asleep, there’s bound to be some that are still awake. This is not gonna be easy by any stretch of the imagination.
Even if we do find the Outlier, if we fail to knock them out before capturing them, they’re bound to put up a fuss and create a commotion. How do we-...I then stopped as an idea occurred to me, something that could make this a lot easier...
"Hm? What are you doing? Come on, don’t dawdle, we can’t waste any ti-," Richard began impatiently.
"Hey, what if one of us heads deeper into the trees and creates a diversion? And in the ensuing chaos, the others sneak up and nab the Outlier?" I suggested hopefully.
This way, we could possibly be able to capture the Outlier without having to worry about witnesses...
"That’s-...actually, not a bad idea, admittedly," He responded with a nod, "Okay, then let’s-...what the...!?"
Before he could agree to my plan, he was interrupted as a loud explosion rang out from the opposite side of the campsite, as a bright flash of fire and lightning burst out.
"Did one of the others get the same idea? I think there’s a Light Skill being used too-," I began in puzzlement.
"No...none of them have a Light Skill, and they wouldn’t have done so without consulting me in the first place. And besides, look how far that spot is, we all spread out at the same time, there’s no way one of the other pairs reached that area already," He frowned with a look of concern.
"Wait, does that mean-..."
"It must be Eden, but this timing is too suspicious to be a coincidence...which means that Neo’s hunch was right. We really do have a traitor in our midst," Surmised Richard grimly.
Well, uh, that’s not exactly surprising...the fact that the Meta-Orbs were scattered was more than enough proof of that, wasn’t it?
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