“Take that, Fate!” Kirk laughed to himself as the final wave of enemies disintegrated under his barrage. He hadn’t needed the firepower early in the fight, but it felt far too easy when he finally unleashed his heavy weapons. The last group didn’t even leave any corpses, just singe marks. He took a final flight around the perimeter in his condor mech just to make sure he’d gotten them all.
The futuristic city looked eerily still as he glided overhead. Contorted robotic corpses of infantry and even dozens of skeletal mechas littered the abandoned promenade as a record of his piloting skills. He’d torn them apart with Flare Condor’s beak and claws before he felt there were enough intruders to warrant weapons. The first lap around the now-empty city was to ensure he was done; the second was a proper victory lap as he swelled with pride.
[Where are you? - Emily] The Whisper text appeared on his wrist in blue glowing letters as he heard her voice in his mind.
[On the way! - Kirk] he replied before he even knew where he was going. He checked the mini-map on his control panel, but there were no other objectives marked.
[What?- Emily] she asked.
[Where do I go? - Kirk] he asked her directly.
[Where are you? - Molly] The team leader suddenly wanted to know his whereabouts too. He knew the two of them were together with the rest of the group, but none of them were showing up on his map.
[Where are you? - Kirk] he replied to Molly.
[Don’t see you on map. - Kirk] he added more context so they would know it wasn’t his fault.
[Just die already. - Emily] She was his closest friend on the whole team, and they often ribbed each other, but even that felt harsh for no reason.
[What’d I do? - Kirk] he asked with sincere confusion in his voice. The nanos that formed the Whisper network were able to relay emotion as well as text and voice.
[Oh god, what’d you do? - Emily] she asked, except she sounded and felt genuinely amused.
[/p: I finished the mission. - Kirk] he notified the whole group to avoid feeling like the girls were ganging up on him.
[/p: No, you didn’t. - Molly] she replied in the group chat while Emily responded to him directly.
[Don’t kill them all! - Emily] she told him directly.
[Too late. I’m done. - Kirk]
[How do I get there? - Kirk] There was a distinct period of radio silence as he completed a third lap around the dead city.
[It’s okay. - Emily] she replied. And thanks to the nanos, she was unable to hide her disappointment.
[/p: Take a break. We’ll finish. - Molly] she informed him through the group chat as a way to let the rest of the group know too.
[What?? - Kirk] he asked Emily directly.
[I’m ready! - Kirk]
[Where do I go??? - Kirk]
[You messed up. It’s okay. - Emily] She insisted everything was fine despite the annoyed undertones.
[What happened? - Kirk]
[I won! - Kirk]
[You won the battle. - Emily] Her voice made it easy to imagine her shaking her head with the Whisper.
[You failed the quest. - Emily] she explained further.
[You were supposed to sacrifice yourself. - Emily]
[You were expected to die. - Emily]
[You would’ve respawned here. - Emily]
[We’ll be fine. - Emily]
[See you after. - Emily]
[/p: Sorry, guys. I messed up... - Kirk] he apologized to the whole team immediately.
[/p: But you kicked ass, right? - Xap] one of the guys asked with amusement in his voice.
[/p: Sorry we missed it. - Rigel] another teammate added with an impressed tone. Rigel was a good actor, so Kirk couldn’t always trust the emotions in his Whispers.
[/p: Now we know what you can do! - Rigel]
[/p: Enough. Let’s focus and finish up! - Ptunia] Petunia wasn’t the team leader, but she never hesitated to keep them all in line.
[/p: See you guys after. - Kirk] he said his goodbye so they could complete the mission they were supposed to do as a team. Then, he continued gliding another lap around the quiet city as the sun started to set.