FORESIGHT and SCOPE: BOOK TWO

C H A P T E R F I F T Y-O N E

FERN'S POV

Splash!

I plunged into the rapids and was instantly sucked under. My skin shrinked against the frigidness the moment my body made contact. My fingers clung to my bag and the side of Tech's helmet on my head as I spiralled like a propellor in all directions in the murky torrent. My breath was knocked out of me when my body suddenly lurched upward, catapulted through a chute, and finally toppled over the anticipated cataract. I hit feet-first and submerged into the calm, crystal-clear pool. The bright blue, yellow, and white aurora consumed my hazy vision. Underwater, I caught two muffled splashes, indicating Wrecker and Hunter both made it as well.

With one hand still gripping my bag, I used my free one and my legs to reach the surface. The moment my head popped up, I inhaled deeply and proceeded to hack up water that had rushed underneath the helmet. I lifted it to spill out the excess diluge.

"Fern!" Hunter's voice coughed to my left.

"Fern!" I heard Omega's small voice somewhere on my right. "Over here!"

I floated on my back and kicked until my heels knocked into the slanted floor, crawling the rest of the way onto shore. I was still recovering the wind in my lungs when the young girl tackled me in a hug. Forgetting about my waterlog, I embraced her with one arm across her shoulders and a sigh of relief. "You okay, Half-Pint?" Her soaked, blonde hair tickled my nose.

"Yeah." Omega released me and assured me with a smile. She then giggled. "Tech's helmet looks good on you."

Nearby, an incoherent sputter expelled from the helmet's rightful owner.

On our left, Wrecker and Hunter joined us on shore. The former chucked the intellectual clone's pack without care and dragged his body belly-flat on the sloped bank like a beached purgle, groaning with exhaustion. Omega left my side to check on him. Hunter quietly adjusted himself, shaking out of his ears and pouring water out of his headgear.

"If you don't mind returning my gear," Tech towered over me, holding out his hand in assistance. "I would greatly appreciate it." I accepted his help. After he hoisted me to my feet, I shrugged and playfully tapped the sides of his helmet. "Actually, I do mind. It's unforgiveable how you have access to all these electronics, and I am still borrowing your datapad. This is my fifth time asking when I'm going to get my own, Wired-Brain." Tech rolled his eyes and removed his property from my head, revealing my scrunched-up nose and smirk.

"Says the woman who believes armor slows her down." Tech grinned at his blithe banter.

"Hmm, touché." I then patted my soaked bag while my hips swayed. "I survived the old acquaintance of 'cascading down a dark tunnel and getting ejected from a waterfall into an underground lake—all in a blue-hue illuminated cavern.' At least this time, I did not have an injured shoulder." I snickered with a dramatic wave of my hand. "I'm still alive, which means the ipsium survived the ride, too."

"Excellent." Tech simply nodded, his light-brown eyes crinkled behind those goggles of his while his hand reached up to his chin. "And yes, the profuse amount of similarities between the unforeseen 'side quest' on Iego and of what occurred here are more or less phenomenal." In the shimmering, illuminescent reflection of rippling water, his prominent features seemed softer than usual, like a weight has been lifted off his conscience—in constitution to the intellect's exceptional mind, it must've been a huge relief—and he was now radiating in a new light.

Perhaps, he and Omega came to an understanding...

Tech noticed me staring and averted his glance just as quickly, his sharp cheekbones flushed. "Anyhow, if you please, Fern, I have located a suitable mark we can place one vial of the mineral to effectively detonate this wall here." He gestured to the sliver of orange sunlight peeking through the rock.