Sprayfire

Chapter VIII - Calm Moments

"So, Mitchel... What did Max say - when are we leaving?", I asked Mitchel, as we walked down the corridor.

"I'm not quite sure. Most likely tomorrow, because it's already too late to embark on a mission. Daylight will be lost, and if we get caught in the dark, we'll be almost defenseless.", he replied.

"I see.", I said. "So, where are you headed?", I asked.

"I'm going back to my room to start planning stuff for tomorrow.", he said.

"Alright then. Have a good one!", I replied, as I turned around and walked in the other direction.

The upcoming mission sounded pretty dangerous. No wonder everyone else is preparing like there's no tomorrow. I started to wonder if I was prepared for this extraordinary event - if I was ready to unleash something into the world. Thoughts started clouding my mind, just like it does every day - filling my brain with various opinions, ideas, reactions, and those mental images that sometimes give me the creeps. It wasn't long until I bumped into General Fiona.

"Hey! Watch where you're going, man!", said Gen. Fiona, as if she were a little bit stressed.

"Oh, sorry Fi.", I said, as I crouched down and helped pick her stuff up. "Just out of curiosity - what do you think of our operation tomorrow?", I asked.

"What do I think?", she screamed, as she threw some of her files onto the floor. "I think it's a real bummer! I just joined EASE a while back, crashed a helicopter yesterday, and then we get assigned to a mission where we might not come back alive?!", she said, as she started panicking.

"Hey - don't worry, we'll be able to do this. We're a team - teams go do things together.", I told her, as I organized her stuff and handed them back.

"Hopefully you're right.", she said, as she held her box of stuff. "Which reminds me - aren't you going to start preparing as well, Craze?", she added.

"Yeah, I'm gonna prepare. I just think way more often than I should, and it's kinda virtual and everything. My mind's a crazy labyrinth full of undiscovered stuff - reason why I get delayed on stuff sometimes. But yeah, I'm going to prepare.", I told her.

"Alright, well, I'm going to head off into my room and start preparing. See you soon, Craze.", she said, as she walked past me.

I continued walking down the halls of EASE. With every ticking second of every winding minute, my mind keeps processing messed up junk about nearly everything. It keeps taking me on these crazy memory rides that I can never understand. I mean come on - why does it need to remind me that I had a double cheeseburger back at Alpine's the other day. How come it always remembers the sunset.

"What is that amazing smell...", I said, as I sniffed the gentle aroma and followed the scent.

Strangely, the scent was coming from the Tech Lab. I walked inside and tried to track the delicious aroma. It turns out, it was freshly brewed coffee from the rest area. Knowing that my head is starting to go on it's daily routines again, I did what I had to do - get a warm cup of fresh coffee.

"Mmmm... it tastes like caramel with a hint of peppermint.", I said, as I indulged a few sips of the coffee.

"That's because it IS caramel with a hint of peppermint, ya dummy!"

I looked up to see a guy holding up a newspaper in front of his face. The guy was actually Jaydee, relaxing and reading the comic strips in the newspaper.