[02] Sinking Ship!

[Alexander Trafford]

If Alexander thought his partnership with Sage had been dreadfully uncomfortable, then he vastly underestimated what awaited him in the next corridor. His current situation personified the pinnacle of awkwardness. Victoria he hardly knew, so she did not contribute to the strange nature of this party, but the other three had been participants in the Dante’s Abyss tournament – and he had fought all of them. The only other person (besides Sage) who had witnessed the true nature of his internal demons, who had glimpsed behind his omnipresent façade of cool casualness, was Sophia. His relations with Kaden were only bizarre to the extent that he had shot the blonde courier in the shoulder – and would have shot him in the chest if the simulation had not been terminated prematurely.

Why, then, would Kaden want to group himself with the likes of he? The psychokinetic rolled this over in his mind for a moment, before realizing that he did not particularly care about the motives of the former ‘wascally wabbit.’

“How does he know how strong we are?” One of the three females questioned, although Alex could not identify who (he thought it to be Victoria, but he was not positive); he was too busy watching the noble bastard move down the slanted hallways towards rising waters.

There was no response, as the question was perceived to be rhetorical. Regardless, the inquest piqued interest in the now-penniless-peasant. If Kaden knew about his strength, then perhaps he possessed further knowledge in regards to his abilities in general. If it was possible that the powerful courier could shed any light whatsoever on his scientifically engineered talents, then how could Trafford justify passing up such an opportunity?

The Omni Corporation themselves could not explain what they had done to him; the consequences of their current energy infusion projects were known in advance, of course, but how the end results came to be was a mystery in it of itself. And he had been their first ‘volunteer,’ subject to the injection of more raw power than any single human being in the history of the experiments.

Alexander nearly forgot to withdraw a fresh cigarette as he began walking down the corridor. But, luckily, he caught himself and gently closed his lips around a crisp Marlboro.

“W-where are you going?” Sage questioned him hesitantly, retreating slightly from the agitated tone that she had displayed in her interaction with Kaden.

“I’m goin’ wherever that guy is goin’,” Trafford replied as he glanced over the group. He had questions that needed answering.

As for the others, Victoria had already made her intentions known, but he was still curious as to what actions the priestess and the ice queen would take.

“Are any of you coming along?” He asked without any expectation of a verbal response. Then he simply smirked, turned on his heels, and continued down the slanted incline towards Kaden and towards the freezing sea.