Chapter 401:Deadline.

Chapter 401: 401:Deadline.

Gareth closed his eyes briefly.

Antony watched him wanting to see all his reactions.

Yesterday, he might have expected the Soul Capacity fifteen candidate to simply choose the mission; instead Gareth looked at them.

"Opinions."

Rebecca answered first.

"Five hundred meters isn’t far enough to ignore without checking."

Leon nodded.

"If they’re seriously injured, they may need medicine," he said.

Mira looked worried.

"I hear at least two people moving. Maybe three."

Gareth looked at Antony.

He sighed.

"We check," Antony agreed.

"Even with the data?"

"We have time."

"And if it’s another strong beast?"

"Then we don’t charge into it just because someone asked nicely. We’re going to look from the outside first."

Gareth nodded.

"Five-minute assessment. If we can’t help without compromising the data, we transmit their position and continue."

Nobody objected, so they moved east. Five hundred meters became six hundred before they found them.

It was another squad; three candidates standing, one on the ground and another leaning against a tree with blood covering one side of his uniform.

There was a dead Tier Three beast laying nearby.

The standing girl saw them.

"Thank God."

Gareth immediately approached.

"Situation?"

"One broken ankle. One deep wound across the side. Bleeding controlled, but he’s weak."

Leon moved toward the injured candidates. Antony looked at the dead beast, then the blood.

This wasn’t an actor, these injuries were real.

Gareth checked the time.

13:12.

Extraction was still nearly forty-five minutes away at normal pace. Rebecca looked toward him.

"We can’t carry two and make it."

The other squad leader heard.

Her face tightened.

"We know."

Antony looked at the injured candidates. One could probably move with assistance but the one with the broken ankle couldn’t.

Emergency evacuation existed, but activating it meant automatic elimination for the injured candidate. Maybe the squad too, depending on how long they waited.

The injured boy with the ankle looked at them.

"Don’t call it," he desperately said.

His squad leader turned to him.

"Eric."

"Don’t."

"You can’t walk."

"Carry me."

"We’ve been carrying you for fifteen minutes."

"I can still finish."

Antony’s expression changed. He’d heard this argument already from a different candidate with the same desperation.

Nobody wanted to stop now.

Gareth crouched.

"If your squad carries you, they probably miss extraction."

Eric looked at him.

"That’s their choice."

The girl immediately answered.

"No. It isn’t only our choice anymore. We have the data too."

That mattered.

Their squad had completed Observation Post Four. The mission required the data unit returned.

Antony looked toward Gareth, his face becoming serious. This wasn’t simply helping another candidate anymore. They now had two squads carrying two separate data units.

The injured girl against the tree spoke weakly.

"Leave me with him."

Everyone looked toward her. She pressed a hand against her bandaged side.

"Call evacuation for us. The rest of you go."

Eric stared.

"You can still walk."

"Barely."

"You’ll be eliminated."

"So will everyone if they miss the deadline because they’re dragging us through the forest."

Eric clenched his jaw.

Antony watched him.

The boy looked close to tears, from frustration.

The squad leader knelt.

"We made it this far together."

The injured girl smiled weakly.

"Then make sure the data makes it the rest of the way."

Silence filled the forest.

Antony suddenly understood why the academy had designed Day Two this way. Yesterday, failure had been individual, but today, one person’s decision could destroy four other people’s chances.

Gareth raised the communication device.

"Academy Command, Squad Seventeen requesting medical evacuation for two injured candidates from unidentified squad at service junction east of Route Gamma."

Eric immediately shouted.

"No!"

His squad leader grabbed his shoulder.

"Stop."

"I can continue!"

"Eric, stop."

"We’re almost done!"

"I know."

"You can’t decide for me!"

The girl stared at him.

"I’m deciding for myself. I’m not carrying you anymore."

That silenced him.

Gareth transmitted again, this time the response came through.

"...coordinates received... medical team dispatched... estimated arrival six minutes..." 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ

The other squad leader closed her eyes, then looked at Gareth.

"Thank you."

Eric turned his face away.

Antony didn’t say anything. There was nothing useful to say. They left the two injured candidates with emergency supplies and combined the remaining members temporarily.

Thirteen forty-five approached far too quickly.

They moved fast.

Mira and the other squad’s navigator compared maps. Rebecca and Gareth rotated forward security. Leon stayed near the middle.

Antony shifted into his female configuration despite the additional energy cost. They needed speed now, no reason to conserve what he’d saved if the mission failed with energy still sitting unused inside his core.

At 13:41, the extraction marker finally appeared through the trees.

Antony saw it first.

"There!"

Everyone accelerated.

Four minutes.

The other squad leader was limping slightly. Rebecca grabbed her arm.

"Keep moving."

"I am."

Three minutes.

A warning tone came from their candidate devices.

[MISSION DEADLINE APPROACHING.]

Antony laughed breathlessly.

"Very helpful!"

Gareth shouted from ahead.

"Stop talking and run!"

"You’ve been waiting all day to say that!"

"Run!"

Two minutes.

They reached the final slope. The extraction gate stood below with the academy personnel waiting, just observers them.

Antony nearly slipped but Leon caught his arm.

"Keep going."

They descended.

One minute.

Gareth crossed first.

Mira.

Rebecca.

Leon.

The other squad members.

Antony came through near the back. The moment the two data cases crossed the extraction line, the system sounded.

[DATA UNIT VERIFIED.]

[SQUAD 17 - PRIMARY OBJECTIVE COMPLETE.]

[TIME: 13:58:21]

Antony stopped and bent forward, hands on his knees breathing hard.

Then slowly looked toward Gareth.

"We had..." he inhaled. "...almost two minutes."

Gareth was equally exhausted.

"Don’t start."

"Plenty of time."

"Antony."

"We could have walked."

Rebecca dropped onto the grass.

"If either of you starts arguing right now, I’m going to fail the examination deliberately just so I never have to see you again."

Antony laughed and sat beside her. Mira collapsed onto her back. Leon simply remained standing; Antony suspected if he sat down he wouldn’t get up again. Gareth handed their data case to the waiting officer.

The officer scanned it.

"Squad Seventeen. Data confirmed."

Gareth nodded.

"Are we done?"

The officer looked at him.

"With Phase Two."

Antony’s smile disappeared.

"No."

The officer checked his tablet.

"Candidates will report to Interview Building Three."

Antony stared in disbelief.

"Tomorrow?"

The officer looked at him.

"Ten minutes."

He slowly turned toward Rebecca who closed her eyes.

"I don’t want to hear it, go cry to someone else," she coldly shut him down.

He pointed toward the academy buildings visible beyond the extraction area.

"I told you this place doesn’t allow happiness,"he said to her despite her shutdown.

The officer continued as if Antony hadn’t spoken.

"Entrance Examination Phase Three begins in ten minutes. Candidates will be interviewed individually. Do not discuss examination events with candidates outside your assigned squad before your interview."

Antony looked down at himself; mud covered his clothing, there was dried beast blood on one sleeve, his hair had partially escaped its bun, his core felt exhausted, his legs hurt and he smelled like several hours of wilderness travel.

He raised a hand.

"Are we allowed to shower?"

"No."

"Change?"

"No."

"Eat?"

"After your interview."

Antony stared in despair.

The officer pointed toward Interview Building Three.

"Your ten minutes have already begun."

He immediately stood.

"Of course they have."

Gareth started walking. Rebecca followed. Mira groaned before forcing herself upright. Leon helped her.

Antony looked back toward the wilderness they had just crossed.

Almost none of the things that happened had been accidental. The academy hadn’t simply wanted to know whether they could retrieve a data unit. It wanted to know what they would do when the plan stopped working.

And now, apparently, it wanted them to explain every decision they had made while tired enough to accidentally confess to crimes they hadn’t committed.

Antony adjusted the rifle strap before remembering it belonged to the academy and handed it to the equipment officer.

Then he looked toward Gareth.

"You know they’re going to ask about us ignoring your plan with that beast."

Gareth glanced at him.

"You didn’t ignore my plan."

He raised an eyebrow.

"I told you we weren’t fighting it, that’s basically ignoring it."

"And then I agreed."

"The second time."

Gareth smiled faintly.

"If they ask, tell them exactly what happened."

Antony studied him.

"You’re not angry?"

"You were right."

That answer surprised him.

Gareth continued walking.

"Don’t look so shocked. I said I had wilderness experience. I didn’t say I was incapable of making a bad call."

Antony smiled.

"I might actually miss you if they reject you."

Gareth looked over.

"They’re not rejecting me."

"There it is. Your soul Capacity arrogance."

"No. I’m simply better than you."

Antony laughed.

Rebecca walked between them.

"Please stop encouraging each other."

The doors of Interview Building Three opened ahead. An academy officer stood waiting with a list.

"Squad Seventeen."

All five stopped.

The officer checked their candidate numbers, then looked at Antony.

"Candidate 1472. Antony Braille."

He raised his hand.

"Unfortunately still conscious."

"Room Seven."

He looked toward the corridor.

"Right now?"

The officer’s expression remained completely serious.

"Your interview begins in three minutes."

He exhaled slowly.

Now, while he was exhausted, filthy and still trying to decide whether his legs belonged to him, the Academy wanted to test what was left when he couldn’t simply fight his way through the question.

Antony straightened his candidate card and started toward Room Seven.