ALL NOVEL [5] First Heroic Act
Eva mouth turns into a twisted smile. That was definitely the sound of a bomb exploding. Even though she doesn't know what kind of situation she is in, she feels excited.
Eva doesn't know who did it or why they did it. Even when she tries to think of something, she can't really figure out anything with her current information.
"I mean, who would bomb a mall in the middle of the day? There is nothing to gain other than the mass death of civilians. Who would stand to benefit from that?" Eva can't really figure out anything. The only consequence of this will be the loss of public trust in the government in questions of national security.
"I guess the AGA will stand to benefit from that, but it was too reckless for them to make a move like that. If they are the ones who are truly responsible for it and the public found out. They will lose all standing and credibility." Simply put, the action was merely too foolish that even Eva doubted the possibility of it.
"If it's not the AGA, then who... Oh, the ceiling is falling. I better move somewhere else first." Eva then casts her gaze toward the restroom where Reina is. "She'll survive, if not then. Oh well."
Eva then walked a little further away from where she was waiting for Reina. She was still on the second floor but far enough from the falling debris. Even though it's most likely that the explosion took place on the first floor based on the sound, the second floor of the shopping center is still holding up pretty well, maybe not for long since the entire building is starting to crumble.
This is definitely a good opportunity for Eva to make a performance, but how? She can't exactly change to her second persona at the moment. The surveillance camera footage would definitely survive and capture her movement when she tries to amplify her appearance, and there is also the risk of eyewitnesses.
"Maybe I can find a place first..."
"Girl! What are you doing standing over there?! Evacuate immediately!" Eva's train of thought was disrupted when the sound of a man yelling at her was heard.
The man looks like he is in his thirties, wearing a black Astral Agent uniform. While he was busy trying to help the civilians to evacuate. He saw a girl standing still, not moving at all, in the midst of the panicked crowd who was rushing and yelling in hysteria. Perhaps due to the tense situation, he hasn't noticed that the girl is holding a walking cane in her hand.
He runs toward Eva and then finally notices the cane she is holding. "Fuck, what happened? Can you walk?"
"Great, now I can't leave. Please leave me alone," Eva sighed internally.
"Uh? Yes, I can. I'm still looking for my friend." Eva definitely can't say whatever she is thinking, so she just comes up with an excuse for now.
"Can you see what's going on around you? This building is going to collapse anytime soon! Come on, follow me!" The man urged Eva.
"No! I can't leave my friend behind. I need to search for her!" Eva is truly the greatest actor of all time. Her expression of concern looks so genuine that even Eva herself would be fooled by her own acting if she was the other party.
"I can't let you do that. You're friend probably already headed to safety. You can reunite with her later. I'm sure of it." The man tries to reassure Eva.
"I'll wait for her. Besides, I can't head to safety even if I want to." Eva showed the man a bitter smile. The man sighed and scooped Eva up.
[Masao Watanabe POV]
My name is Masao Watanabe. I'm a terribly tired person, I have my fair share of problems occasionally, but it definitely can't be worse than being involved in politics with the current rising tension.
As an A-Rank Astral Agent with the rank of Lieutenant, I definitely will be pressured to choose a side If I want to keep my job, and in the end, I choose my country.
I was pretty discreet with my allegiance, but when the AGA realized where my loyalty was. I was immediately demoted from my division and almost got arrested for "Suspicious Activity." But fortunately for me, one of our inside allies, General Richard Lawrence, who is currently in Japan was present and overruled the arrest.
With the help of some insiders, I managed to retain my job, well, mostly. I was transferred to the newly built Tokyo Astral Academy to be an Instructor there, with a "personal request" to influence and "recruit" the new generation of Astral Agents. Great, now we are involving children in politics. The world is getting more and more fucked up by the second.
I was never a great teacher, but with this, at least I won't be getting shot at anytime soon. Because the academy is still being built, they give me plenty of time for vacation as well as time to prepare and learn how to be an educator properly.
I go to the mall trying to find some material to read on how to be a good teacher. I can buy a digital book, but I get distracted too often whenever I use my phone. Besides, reading from an actual book definitely feels different.
I was at the library silently reading the book I picked, but then suddenly I heard the sounds of an explosion, it was a bomb. The once quiet library turned into chaos in seconds. I don't know what truly happened, but I sure as hell know this is an emergency.
As a public defender, of course, I will feel obligated to help the civilians to evacuate. My Astral Powers to create illusions are useless in this kind of situation, so the best I can do is follow my training and try to guide and help the civilian to safety the best I could
There isn't much time before the second-floor collapse, so I may need to evacuate myself too soon. Just as I was about to leave and headed for the stair to evacuate. I saw a young girl with shoulder-length silver hair standing still in the middle of this pandemonium.
I shouted to get the girl's attention and ran toward her just in case something was wrong. When I came closer, I finally realized that she was holding some sort of walking cane with her. When I checked on her and asked her some questions, she said she was searching for her friend.
This girl is either very brave or very stupid, there is no in-between. Even when I try to urge and reason her to evacuate, she won't budge. She said even if she wanted to, she wouldn't make it very far anyway. Hearing this, I sighed and scooped the girl up.
"H-hey! What are you doing?! Put me down!" The girl screams in protest, flailing her leg while holding on to her cane tightly.
"There is no way, in good conscience, I can leave you here," I said despite the girl protest. After a few seconds of protest, she eventually stopped flailing her leg and gave up.
While still holding the girl in my arms, I run towards the stairs that lead to the first floor. I can feel the second floor slowly begin to collapse after hearing a loud creak that can be heard all around me.
Just as I was about to reach the exit door on the first floor, the foundation on the second floor finally collapsed and blocked the way to the exit, stopping me and the rest of the civilians who were heading in the same direction dead on its track.
"Fuck, we are trapped!" A man shouted.
"Dang it!" Another one screamed in frustration.
I racked up my brain to think of anything. In this situation, when there is no clear way out of safety, the best you can do is find a place to hide and take cover from the falling debris. As if she was able to read my mind, the girl I was carrying suddenly shouted.
"Over there!"
She then pointed her finger to some weird-looking store. I was confused at first, but then I realized the place she was pointing at was full of mattresses and tables that we could use to shield ourselves. It was a furniture shop.
"Follow me!" I shouted, although some were confused, but as soon as they saw the furniture shop, they got the message and followed me.
"We still have time! Come on, line up the table and put the mattress on top of it!" The girl that was still in my arms instructs us. When others were panicking, this girl was able to keep a cool-headed state and rally everyone to work together.
Hearing this, I put the girl back on her feet. Then moved to work together to line up as many tables and mattresses as we could, just as per her instructions.
The location was reliable, and once we had finished putting everything in place, we crouched down underneath the improvised bunker and waited for the impact to take place.
"Is anyone here an Astral User?" I asked the crowd. Anything that may increase our chance of survival is definitely worth a shot. But sadly, nobody raised their hands except the silver-haired girl that I was carrying before.
"What can you do, and on what scale?" I asked her.
"I can read people's minds or use some kind of telepathy. I can maybe reach all the way across the country and up to thousands of different people if I really push it." The girl answered.
While this girl ability is undoubtedly impressive, her Astral Ability seems awfully similar to the general who saved me from an arrest before. Even her blue eyes and silver hair are the same color as that general. Wait... don't tell me?!
"Correct me if I'm wrong, but does your ability have an assigned name Minds Links? And if I may ask, what is your name?" I asked her to clear my suspicion. Maybe it was just a coincidence, and her power just happened to have the same effects.
"How do you know? And yes, my Astral Ability is called Minds Links. While my name is Eva Lawrence." What the girl said answered my suspicion. She really is General Richard Lawrence daughter.
"I sort of know your father. My name is Masao Watanabe, a Japanese Astral Agent. I applaud your level-headedness and leadership before. To be honest, I'm impressed." I speak with total honesty there. I'm not complimenting her to get closer to General Richard through her daughter. I'm not that shameless of a person.
"That's true. You did well there, girl." A man complements her.
"Yeah, he is right, even I almost lose it there." Another one joins in.
"Thank you for the compliment, but you're giving me too much credit. All I did was give instructions." Eva smiles awkwardly. It seems like she doesn't know how to take complement well.
"Ms. Eva, Can you send a telepathy to everyone in this building to come here for safety if needed. Just in case there is still someone on the first floor that hasn't managed to get out of the building or reach for safety yet." I told her, "Also, please send telepathy to the nearest fire department and Astral Agent headquarters, the location where we were hiding. When the buildings crumble, we will be buried and need someone to find and rescue us as fast as possible."
Eva ability can be very instrumental here, both to help the civilian that still can't find their way to safety and directly help any rescuer that comes to save us later.
"I don't have a license to use my Astral Abilities in public. Maybe I could break the rules since this is an emergency?" Eva is correct in her worried. It is highly illegal to use Astral Abilities without a license, no matter the circumstance. It is a stupid law during an emergency but law nonetheless, you could get into trouble by breaking it.
"Don't worry. I give you full permission to use your Astral Abilities in public. I'll take every responsibility that comes to it." But there is an exception to that rule. An Astral Agent can give temporary permission to civilians in case of something like this happen, but it comes with a lot of paperwork and only in a very urgent situation.
"Alright then." Eva closed her eyes, and I could see on her face that she began to concentrate.
"Please pay attention. If you are still in the building and are unable to find a safe place. Please head to the first floor near the exit for shelter. But please pay attention. If getting to the first floor or finding a way to exit the building became too dangerous for you, please seek shelter under a sturdy table or desk. Please do not give up. Assistance is on the way!"
All of us can clearly hear the telepathy Eva sends. Eva telepathy was transmitted even to the people already in the makeshift shelter. It seems that she can't correctly control her Astral Abilities yet.
"Acting is hard..." Eva sighed internally. At first, Eva wanted her second persona to take the show again, but then some random man just scooped her off her feet and started carrying her around. Blowing her whole plan!
But then she realizes something. It's not as if her second persona is the only one that has the ability to accomplish something. The current her can also do something in this situation. If she can't play the role of a bad guy right now, she might as well try her hand at playing the good guy!
And off Eva goes playing the role of a hero. It's not as fun as playing the role of a villain, but hey, it's something. Just as the show couldn't get more exciting, a little girl who looked no less than ten years old ran toward where they were.
The little girl probably got separated from her family and headed toward where they were due to Eva telepathy. But the problem is, five minutes have passed since then. And the building looks ready to collapse anytime now.
The little girl ran as fast as she could but tripped and fell off her feet. "We need to save her!" Eva said, her face full is of 'worry.'
"There's no time!" One of the men in the shelter said.
Before they can argue, the building finally collapses, and the roof that comes with it comes crashing down. Before anyone can stop Eva, she runs toward the girl to the best of her crippled leg can and then cocoon the girl in a hug.
Eva activates some of her amplifier ability to make her body stronger and brace for the impact. She actually can't fully amplify her body because if she does so. She'll get out without much of a scratch, and that will raise a lot of suspicion. She'll take the risk of a few broken bones and the possibility of dying anytime.
"NO!" Eva can hear the man named Masao Watanabe scream toward her before she finally collides with the falling debris.
It hurt much more than Eva actually thought. She can hear a few of her bones breaking. Due to the impact and pain, Eva slowly began to lose consciousness, but not before uttering the word. "Worth it."
(Hello it's your Best Clock Again! Like usual please let me know of any error and where I could improve, It will be very helpful for me. Btw the next chapter will be titled "The Anxiousness of a Friend and the Worry of a Parent." Stay tuned!)