Planet Omega

Chapter 4

 I made a blueprint after Emma got me a recent map of Spectre City. She very much would have preferred I rest and heal up some more, but I told her to go fuck herself. If I don't do something, I will find the tallest building, get up to the highest point, and simply roll off the side because even that would be preferable to being stuck here much longer.

It's my shoulder wound that makes her worry, because that spot is a more complicated area. Humans have bones that easily shatter, is what she told me, so I let her check my wound multiple times a day to alleviate her anxiety. As if a pawn could just...be anxious. Though we argue several times a day, it gets easier with each argument to feel like she's as real as I am. Sometimes, it's even a matter of whose feelings are truer in that very moment, a bizarre thing to even ponder.

That map, now printed in a physical form and spread out across the entirety of Emma's kitchen table, is already marked up and drawn upon with pen. More than once, Emma returned only to see me kneeling on the table, leaning over the map in the most uncomfortable sort of way that allows me to see details up close.

I circle the most precious buildings in the city to the empire, and note down with other colors which are the most heavily guarded. "Naturally, the emperor's palace is a fortress, impossible to get into. For now, anyway," I explain to Emma, tapping the center of the city with a finger. "Other buildings that are incredibly important to the empire are institutes, food storehouses, and armories. Rather, where they make, assemble, and store the guns, swords, and other weapons. Some are better guarded than others, depending on where in the city they're each located."

My finger moves to each of those spots on the maps that I had previously circled. Emma leans in closer to get a better look at each location, then moves her own finger over the paper map. "You forget that the source of their seemingly infinite power comes from the pawn laboratories. This one got taken out." Emma take the pen from my hand and makes a giant X over one of the labs on the map.

I can't help it. I turn my head and give her a look, one that she returns despite how close our heads are. "You mean the one you got taken out?" I ask, raising an eyebrow.

"I would never," Emma replies emphatically, then looks back down at the map.

I have no idea if she's being sarcastic or not.

"Anyway," she continues, "There are nine more labs frantically working to get going on overdrive to make up for the loss of the tenth. The fewer the pawns, the better any of our chances are with the other buildings. You know soldier pawns are exactly what they have guarding important buildings, and they are significantly harder to take down than human soldiers are."

"Mm," I agree, furrowing my brow at the overall map while my eyes take in the details. Getting it down to five labs would cripple the pawn production so badly that it would take years to rebuild. But hitting the city where it hurts the most might be even more important. "Food storehouses and armories need to be the prime targets, I think. Even pawns can't be armed if there's nothing to arm them with."

Slowly, Emma nods at my words, and I can almost see those literal gears turning inside that violet head of hers. "Armory then. The less they can defend themselves, the less magic you need to use," she says.

Speaking of my magic, I haven't gotten the chance to use it really since that day in the square. Its weaker when I'm not accessing a natural element, especially without runes, and any spell I do might accidentally tear Emma's place apart. Truth is, I'm scared to try it out again. I don't want to be faced with the fact that I suck as a mage apprentice, and eight years cut off from magic had been detrimental to my ability. I have a limited amount of power I can use to take anyone down before I have to return to a physical weapon.