The Muse

The Muse - Episode Six - Gloryhound

The Muse - Episode Six – Gloryhound

Years ago, there was an outbreak of the dark plague. It was the same year Rahydra brought a child upon the world. It was the same year Rakan and Rahydra went different paths.

The outbreak was a curse that was supposed to wipe out the population. Back then there were six cities. One was called the City of Hana, entirely infected by the dark plague, while the other cities survived, some, barely. Rahydra went to Hana to contain the dark plague and drew a river to separate it from the other cities. It was considered a dead place. While Rakan founded an underground organization fully equipped to fight against gluttons and the MARU. He aided the saveable infected ones and the lower ranks. Those he helped became members of the Underground. But some blamed him for the tragedy. Eventually, Rakan changed his identity to Ehren, the never-aging commander of UG. He dedicated the rest of his immortal life to restore the peaceful Saikan.

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The day after the party, Ri bid farewell to Trajua's group who were deployed to Xi. They flew with an airux up in the sky and went further from view. Ri stared and wondered what will come to her life next, and who will aid her next time she would need help. And then she remembered Clio, whom she still haven't seen.

She went back to the UG HQ (Underground Head Quarters) for the physical training. As she walked in the hall, some of her co-recruits stared at her, seemingly annoyed that she won the hole game. Especially this man called Hanqui, the man who pushed the most recruits to the hole, who could have won the game if only his leg weren't pulled by Trajua's group. He approached her.

"You're thin, you're weak. One push and I could have gotten you to that hole. Thanks to your friends, huh. But now it seems there will be no one helping you now." Hanqui said in all arrogance.

"Why do you sound like an immature, gloryhound cry baby threatening a lady?" She smirked in offense to him.

"People like you are an eyesore. You didn't do much but climb with the help of others and you receive recognition. Listen up, you can't cheat anymore. You understand?!" Hanqui was furious.

"Calm the fuck down, big bear. You're drawing too much attention. Look at the group over there, see them? They're not just staring at me, they also gaze at you. You and those big fat muscles that overthrew them to the hole. You think they didn't break a bone? Listen up as well, you're the one in danger, because they'll be coming for you and not me." She said and walked away confidently. The group she talked about approached Hanqui. They were a group of homeless teens led by a guy called Kalem. There was an exchange of angst. Then there was a man in hologram form, General Ysun, in charge of battlefield in UG wars. His sudden appearance took all attention. He spoke to the recruits.

"Good day. I am General Ysun, warlord, and I will be training you from now on. The tests are not yet over, recruits. They are endless. Day by day there are fights we must win. I am hoping that you'd come in handy when real opportunities come, and they're just right there, all the time. Before you go to the real battle field, you must harness skills that are relevant to the job you will be doing. Physical and emotional control plays major part in these, including making decisions on your own when all else fails... because worst scenarios happen and must be assumed always. Right there at the center, look... (an object appeared, timed) anyone know how to defuse a bomb? (The recruits react) Don't worry, it's just a tiny atomic bomb enough to cause explosion in the entire hall. We will not die, but you might. So I suggest you all work on this one. We look forward to your survival."The hologram went off. The doors were locked. Everyone reacted. Hanqui spoke up, gathering everybody."

"Everyone! Listen up. Let's split groups and contribute efforts all together. I need all teknikiins, knowledgeable ones to think of a way to defuse it. Others, I need you to find clues and necessary things to decode the encryption barriers. That's the way to do it! So come on, let's get started before we run out of time! By the way, for those who do not know my name, you can call me Hanqui." He confidently took leadership. The recruits split in groups. Hanqui huddled together with recruits who are knowledgeable in tech for defusing the bomb. The recruits who used to be mad at him joined him and followed his orders. He taunted Riantheliss by looking and smirking at her.

She, on the other hand, wasn't done analyzing the situation. While everyone roamed around to find clues, she leaned on a wall looking at them. At another corner, a band of recruits weren't exactly doing anything. They were also just watching. They have two hours to figure it out.

An hour passed, the recruits found a hidden storage where metal junks could be found. Some had random words written on them. Mostly letter "G" has always been visible.

"Looks like we're almost there! Let's decode the password out of the clues and we're close!" Hanqui said, encouraging everyone to figure out the clues. Then, Kalem spoke.

"From what I remember last night, the big word commander Ehren talked about was the word glutton. With the clues on hand, the symbols and letters, they would only point out to that." Kalem suggested to try it for the password.

"No, that was too easy!" Riantheliss kept to her self while observing what they do.

"Let's try all possible word combinations relating to that." Hanqui said excitedly. He had men whom he assigned to approach the timer. They typed the password. "Glutton". It was successful. The password was correct, except that there's another password after the password which also starts at letter G. The recruits freaked out. They did the same routine for finding the clue.

Riantheliss paced as she thinks. She then approached the band of recruits in the corner that aren't contributing. But even before she spoke, a guy talked.

"Not doing anything? Really?" He said to her.

"Maybe looking for a group go lift her up. Surprise, we are the chosen ones." Another one said. They laughed. Then another guy stood up.

"What can we do for you, Miss?" He asked nicely.

"Riantheliss, my name. You are?" She replied.

"Coltho. We'll accept you if you answer this question: Do you think what they're doing will actually work?" He asked and the men behind him laughed.

"No. What they're doing is bullshit." She answered in wonder if these people think the same.

"Join us." Coltho invites her. Then she met the others who introduced themselves: Teetho, Jeanie, Data, and Klot. Apparently, they were not just idly watching. They were brainstorming. They asked Ri what she thinks.

"The bomb will explode. Worst case scenario." Ri told them.

"And the clues?" Coltho asked.

"... are not actually clues but distraction." Ri said.

"Could be! That's a good assumption." Teetho contributed to the brainstorming, he is Coltho's twin. Ri was a little confused upon their resemblance. Then Jeanie, the tall woman talked.

"Those big metal junks wouldn't be in the storage coincidentally. You think the UG didn't even think about this test?" Jeanie said.

"Let's say, the bomb will actually explode. Do they intend to kill recruits for the sake of test?" Data said.

"My parents worked in a factory of explosives. I figured this kind of bomb was faced upside down. The impact would most likely affect the ground. Frankly, it will burn you if... they don't have a sprinkler up in the ceiling! That's it! Check if the ceiling has water sprinklers." Coltho suggested. They looked up and saw a lot of water sprinklers set up in case of fire.

"So the bomb is real and it will explode if the worst case scenario happens. We will not die but there will be some casualties. Shouldn't we start doing something?" Ri said. They all agreed.

"The plan. Get the metal junks and begin covering the bomb to lessen the impact. Those metals are heavy and we need more man power or we won't make it in time. Then, let's figure out how to climb the wall because the impact will be on the ground, and we should be atleast 8 meters higher to avoid minor burns. Let's assume the worst case scenario and let's get going!" Coltho said in enthusiasm.

"The plan is solid. Except that we have a problem..." Ri said, and they all looked at Hanqui who would get in their way. "I don't think he will follow through this plan. We have to get enough people to side with us." She added.

"You'll be in charge of that." Coltho said and went with the boys to get the metal junks.

"Jeanie, Data, find a rope or anything to climb the wall. Prepare for everybody climbing. We have forty-five minutes. I will talk to Hanqui." Ri told them and they part ways.

Riantheliss went to Hanqui and Kalem. Hanqui greeted her. "Are you here now to help us? We have enough people already." He taunted. "But if you kneel infront of me, I will let you get along with us." Hanqui said, feeling all powerful.

"How's the progress?" Ri asked. Kalem walked closer to her.

"We successfully decoded the first password and the second password, but there's another password." Kalem said.

"...And this is probably the last one we are working on. We're close to it, we don't need your help." Hanqui said.

"Well, I have a very bad news for you, which I confirmed just now. The bomb is going to explode. We are preparing for the worst case scenario, just like what the general adviced us. You can either stick to your dead end plan and burn later or prepare for impact." Riantheliss said. It was overheard by many.

"She's right. This is dead end." Kalem said. The recruits were reacting.

"Why are you listening to her?! This plan is absolute, we are there! Ten letters starting with letter G!" Hanqui yelled at her.

"Gloryhound." Riantheliss said.

"Don't just guess! We have limited number of attempts! We base on clues found on the metal ---" Hanqui stopped as he saw the big metal junks being carried by Coltho's boys.

"We're covering the bomb. No more attempts. We need more man power." Riantheliss said dignified.

Kalem called her group and helped carry the metal. Hanqui called his group to stop them from covering the bomb and clashed with them. There was a huge fist fight between the recruits. After some minutes wasted, Riantheliss shouted. "Thirty minutes! We have thirty minutes! Everyone, do as I say! Cover the bomb and climb up the wall if you want to survive!" And everybody made up their mind to do just that. Except Hanqui who was eager to fight for what he believes in. His veins were thickening and more visible, he was red in anger. He's trying everything to stop them. So they tied him up until they all managed to cover the bomb and climb up the wall. A minute left before the explosion, Hanqui began acting differently. He was full of rage that his muscles became bigger and he became taller. He was able to tear the rope with his teeth and went down to type the password. "Gloryhound, it is" Hanqui whispers. He was more and more looking like a scary monster. The recruits were scared. He started uncovering some parts of the bomb until it exploded. It was a real explosion. The smoke was thick and the sprinklers went on. The doors opened and rescue came in. No one was harmed except Hanqui, who died.