Limitless

Chapter 4

His mouth purses into a thin line, and the moment before he turns to his captain, he schools his facial expressions. 

"Times up! Formation lieutenants!" 

I maneuver my way around Water as I go to stand in my line, glancing at Franklyn to see he's looking a lot better. Water walks through a checklist to make sure that we're prepped, and I notice the monitor far ahead of me. 

Everyone is grouped into pairs, excluding surveillance since they'll be on base. I notice that I'm the only one who's alone and figure I'm the odd one out. They must've been doing the pairing while we were picking our weapons.

"One last thing. You do not leave anyone behind - dead or alive. Lieutenants, do I make myself clear?" His gaze is unrelenting, looming over everyone with the instruction.

 Keeping my left hand behind my back, my right arm rests at my side before my palm comes directly in front of the area where my heart is. I hit my chest twice then bring my right hand back behind my back. The reverberation of us acknowledging Water's command echoes through the quiet room. 

"A booster shot will now he administered to the Reachers." 

I've seen the power of what that injection can do. It elevates someone's powers to be able to function at unprecedented levels. Crafted through the blood of an elemental, it allows someone to use their powers at full capacity for 5 minutes. The time frame was created so that no one would take advantage of the boosters for sinister purposes.   

Jumping continents as we're about to do would kill all of our Reachers right away.

Two people grab onto a Reacher and instantly vanish. It's only then that I notice that Franklyn and the other two girls aren't beside me. They've already seated themselves at their designated stations, memorizing the layout and deducing the best possible routes.

My hologram buzzes to life, the first thing I see is my name with the indication floor level of 1. Franklyn Sorrono is on my team along with Eliska and Lisa - seniors who known for the mastering of their technopathy. They have the ability to manipulate sort of technology.

 I try not to feel disappointed at where I've been assigned to, opting to hand out some encouragement. "Hey Frank!" I shout. He looks at me with wide eyes, his forehead already gleaming with sweat. "You've got this. I believe in you." 

He gives me a nod of thanks before turning back to the monitors before him. When I turn back everyone has already left. Water comes to my side followed by Captain Hans. 

"These are 5 captured Metas in the basement of the warehouse, rescue you them and bring them back into the room Captain Hans teleports you to. My instructions don't apply to you. If someone catches a whiff that we're there, kill them immediately."

I nod in understanding, giving a Captain Hans a glance. She looks at me proudly and nods her head in agreement to what her superior says. "Don't worry. She already knows." 

"Hey!" I protest, glaring at Water. He promised me he wouldn't tell anyone.

"Don't worry, your secret is safe with me." Her head bows a little at the end of her promise and I'm immediately annoyed. Other elementals keep their powers a discretion because they have to, I keep mine because I'd rather anyone not know.

Before I can shoot more glares at Water, Captain Hans grabs my arm, and the rooms blurs. Suddenly I'm in a room with concrete walls, a long white table with pipettes, test tube racks and other scientific equipment. 

I struggle to hold in my breakfast as it threatens to come out. "Fuck." I struggle to adjust to the feeling.

"Yeah, we know." I open my eyes to see Lisa and Eliska staring at me. I immediately straighten up to see that the Captain has already vanished. I regret the action and bend over again to gather my bearings. The two continue their conversation as if I'm not there.

"Franklyn is such a wuss." Lisa comments with a scoff.

"He's the youngest and most inexperienced person on this mission, cut him some slack Lisa." Eliska defends.

My earpiece comes to life, "Uh, guys. I'm right here." Franklyn calls, embarrassed. I glare at Lisa she winces.

"Get on with the mission cadets." Water takes over our channel. 

Franklyn follows right after him, "Wait for my signal to exit the door."

Lisa and Eliska grips their guns and move closer to the door, slightly bending their knees and putting the barrel of their assault guns against their shoulders. Frank finally gives the signal after a minute, and they move out. Eliska sees that I'm not following, and she raises an eyebrow at me.

"I was instructed to wait for the elemental to get here." I lie. Her eyes widen as she remembers, and she nods, following behind her partner.