(Back at night, Commander Locke walks across a hallway, his expression calm and collected as ever while carrying a folder. He sees two security guards standing before the office door, and after the duo see him, one of them immediately opens the door for him. He enters the office room, seeing a man in his early fifties with straight grey hair and dull blue eyes, wearing a sleek, formal suit with a blue tie and sitting cross-legged on a chair, two cups of coffee placed on the table; this guy is none other than the Secretary of Defense himself. Commander Locke firmly nods at the man, who adjusts his posture as the former takes the seat opposite to him.)

  Commander Locke: (firmly, grabbing the cup of coffee ahead of him) Secretary Lawson. You wanted me to meet you

  Secretary Lawson: (sipping on his cup of coffee) Thank you for arriving so readily, Commander. I’ll get straight to the point. What’s the latest on Operation Crosshair?

  Commander Locke: (handing over the folder to the Secretary) Still pending. However, we’ve got verified intel on the location of the targets, and my soldiers are thoroughly sweeping the area as we speak. If that won’t result in the completion of the operation, then it will ensure a confrontation with the targets at the very least. It’s only a matter of time. (as the Secretary inspects the folder) A confrontation did occur, actually. However, as reported, Agent Focus did not acknowledge our direct orders to return to headquarters.

  Secretary Lawson: (his voice getting slightly sterner) Don’t give me that. You know as much as I do why he wouldn’t acknowledge your orders. You just thought he’d be too naive to understand what this would mean for Aegis, didn’t you?

  Commander Locke: I concede to that. Apparently, Agent Focus was aware of the situation at hand. As unsatisfactory as it indeed was, I commend his foresight. No wonder he’s regarded as one of Aegis’s best first-generation Surge users.

  Secretary Lawson: And the fact that he went rogue against our orders makes him the Surge Beacon’s associate… and a dangerous outlaw as well. However, as I previously clarified, the situation isn’t that simple.

  Commander Locke: With all due respect, I beg to differ, Secretary. (bitterly) It was Aegis’s inept decisions that left us at such a critical juncture. They were allowed too much wiggle room and took it upon themselves to capture yet another Surge Beacon without even reporting to you. May I remind you that, according to the report Commander Cromwell gave afterwards, the Surge Beacon was traced to a heavily populated area? They were aware that they’d be risking the failure of the mission, numerous casualties, and the secrecy of Surges, and not only were they willing to gamble on it, they also sent a promising and powerful yet ultimately inexperienced operator to handle this. They didn’t even try to work their way out of this risk by sending their best agent, the person they relied on to capture several Surge Beacons years ago.

  Secretary Lawson: In their defense, he was priorly deployed elsewhere when they made their decision.

  Commander Locke: My point is… it’s rather simple. Aegis is no longer a powerful asset, but a liability instead. Their development of Surge users was always going to place the government under public scrutiny, and the revelation of this secret will have catastrophic repercussions. It’s not only limited to the public. Other nations will question our government. In order to absolve ourselves from the responsibility of bearing that secret, there’s only one available course of action. As soon as the Ironclad Response Unit captures both Agent Focus and the Surge Beacon, Aegis will be disbanded, and all who are associated with this agency will be placed under arrest. The IRU will seize all of Aegis’s intel and take this increasingly worrying matter into its own hands. That was what we agreed on, and that was what the government has officially sanctioned.

  Secretary Lawson: And if you fail? Do we let those two off the hook? It’s undeniable that Aegis is to blame for our current situation, but in the event that the targets escape your grasp, we’ll need Aegis’s help. Your feud with Aegis doesn’t change that fact.

  Commander Locke: And let them escape the consequences?

  Secretary Lawson: (finishing his cup of coffee) They won’t, but their presence is still vital as of now. If you want Aegis to be disbanded so badly, then make sure that you can compensate for their absence first, and to that end, the IRU must accomplish what Aegis failed at. Your soldiers must capture the targets. Understood?

  Commander Locke: (finishing his coffee as well then standing up, firmly) Understood.

  (Commander Locke then takes his leave out of the Secretary of Defense’s office, opening the door himself. Despite leaving with a rather calm expression, it quickly develops into a subtly bitter expression as he clenches his fists.)

  (The sun finally rises at Larkspur village, signaling the beginning of a new day. As the light of sun shines on Flare, she starts turning in her travel bed, still closing her eyes. Suddenly, a bucket of cold water is poured right at her face, causing her to wake up in surprise.)

  Flare: (starting to open her eyes, groaning in annoyance) What in the world?!

  (She gets off her travel bed and, to her surprise, ends up setting foot on a rocky ground rather than the regular floor of her room. She glances around at her surroundings in shock, finding herself at a forest, the same spot in which she and Focus have previously sparred yesterday. She ends up seeing Focus standing in front of her, holding an emptied bucket and then throwing it away with an unbothered expression, which only annoys Flare even further.)

  Flare: (exasperated) Of course it’s you! What the hell, man?! Why did you take me here?! How did you take me here?! YOU’VE GOT LOTS OF EXPLAINING TO DO, GRUMP-IO!!!

  Focus: (unamused) In my defense, the original plan was to wake you up precisely at sunrise. I waited a full hour for you to wake up. At least you’re looking wide awake. I knew that cold water would do the trick better than boiling water.

  Flare: (flames coming out of her head in anger) ANSWER ME!!!

  Focus: (flatly) Well, you did say you wanted me to, and I’m quoting, “let you in on that whole nonsense I’m spitting so that you can kick my butt and pay me back for this”, so Mr. Gallagher and I set up the area at night.

  Flare: (raising an eyebrow) And you two didn’t sleep at all? How?

  Focus: (pointing at several empty cups of coffee on the ground) Does that answer your question?

  Flare: (glancing at the empty cups, blankly) Kinda.

  Focus: In any case, I asked for some alone time, and the old man was generous enough to accept and wait for us to meet up with him come noon. I’m stuck with you now, just as you asked.

  Flare: (faintly smirking) Is that so? Glad to know you won’t chicken out of it after all.

  Focus: What type of person do you take me for? I gave you my word, and I’ll stand by it. (narrowing his eyes) But what about you? Will you chicken out of what’s coming?

  Flare: (cracking her knuckles, her grin widening) Not a chance! Now gimme your best shot!

  Focus: Then I’ll hold you to it. We’ve got six hours until noon. I’ll make the most of it.

  Locked in, Loosened Up: https://suno.com/s/UmgDb0VHMKHNs1ur

  If you come across this story on Amazon, it's taken without permission from the author. Report it.

  (It’s then that Flare’s training montage begins, and it’s definitely not something she was ready for. First, she’s asked to run several laps around a certain circular track in the forest, and as early as the second lap, she already starts panting and slowing down, while Focus is running backwards, his hands in his pockets, and still outrunning her with an unamused expression, even slowing down to talk to her.)

  Focus: (unamused) Tired already? We didn’t even start. That was only to get your blood pumping.

  (Flare grits her teeth as she tries to push through and run faster, while Focus runs backwards beside her with an unamused expression. He deliberately lets her get ahead of him then picks up a twig out of a tree nearby, then as she keeps running, he pokes her in the back with the twig, further annoying her.)

  Flare: (annoyed) Hey, what’s that for?!

  Focus: (deadpan, still poking her) Don’t mind me. Just keep running.

  Flare: Why do you always have to make it so difficult?!

  Focus: That’s the whole point.

  (Flare does her best to stay focused as she repeatedly gets “Focus”ed with a twig [all pun intended]. After that bit of jogging, Flare moves on to several other exercises, including pushups with Focus sitting on her back, making every push-up even harder for her.)

  Flare: (gritting her teeth) You’re… really heavy!

  Focus: (unamused) Oh, please. I’m of average weight.

  (After they’re done with that, Flare and Focus are locked in an arm wrestling match, placing their elbows on a log. Flare grits her teeth and yells as she uses both hands to try and overwhelm Focus, who remains unamused, his hand not faltering in the slightest. With a simple move, he overwhelms both of Flare’s hands and slams them into the log, causing her to yell in pain from the strength behind his move.)

  Flare: (wincing in pain) Hey, watch it!

  Focus: (in blank bafflement) I wasn’t even trying.

  (After a while, Focus moves on to the next exercise, with Flare standing in the center of a lush area while blindfolded. She grits her teeth as she tries to anticipate what comes next and glances around, which couldn’t be more pointless given the blindfold on her. She ends up getting hit by a pine cone at the back of her head, and she grits her teeth in annoyance as she turns around once again, with Focus taking cover in the lush area while storing up loads of pine cones behind him and grabbing two more.)

  Flare: (annoyed) Now how am I supposed to dodge when I can’t see, genius?!

  Focus: You don’t need eyes to dodge. You need awareness. Most people rely on sight, and that’s their mistake. Your other senses are faster. Hearing, pressure, air movement… they all give away what’s coming before your eyes can catch up.

  Flare: (unamused) Careful, Focus. Your unbearably zen energy is showing again.

  Focus: Don’t believe me?

  (Focus tightens his grip on a pine cone and throws the pine cone at Flare with a powerful swing at high speed. It doesn’t hit her head, but rather, it travels just beside her ear, and Flare hears the powerful swooshing sound of the projectile from up close, her mouth open in shock as the cone strikes a tree instead.)

  Focus: You heard that, didn’t you?

  Flare: (shocked) Y-Y-Yeah.

  Focus: See what I’m talking about? When someone moves fast, they displace air. You can feel it — a rush, a change in pressure, even temperature, and a sound. Every sound has direction. Every step has a rhythm. If I move to your left, your right ear hears me half a second later. If you can sense that shift, you’ll know which side the hit’s coming from. You’ll never be blinded. That’s anticipation, not reaction.

  (Flare opens her mouth in shock at those words, which apparently have actually made sense to her. Focus runs around her while taking cover in the bushes, then he throws a pine cone at her at high speed. Flare makes a low grunt as she hears the swooshing sound of the approaching pine cone, but before she acts on it, it hits her head, knocking her back.)

  Flare: (thinking to herself, gritting her teeth) I heard it! I actually heard it! Now I just have to dodge the moment I hear it and sense its direction. Should be simple.

  (Focus throws another pine core at her, but she manages to clear her mind enough to hear the pine cone approaching and notice the direction of the shift in wind it causes, effectively stepping away from it. Focus throws two more pine cones at her, and Flare dodges one of them in the same way, but the other strikes her head. Focus grabs two other pine cones and throws the two of them at Flare once again, and she senses the two of them approaching and their direction as well, dodging both of them simultaneously. Surprisingly enough, this actually impresses Focus, bringing a faint smirk out of him.)

  Focus: (thinking to himself, faintly smirking) That’s right, Flare. That’s how you do it.

  (After a while, she performs balance drills on a fallen log, with Focus standing in front of her and throwing pine cones at her. Her movements are rather erratic when trying to dodge the pine cones, and she eventually ends up losing her balance and falling off the log. However, instead of his usual unamused expression, Focus appears more patient than usual.)

  Focus: (firmly) Avoid erratic movements. Do your best to maintain balance and posture by minimal, precise movements, especially when you’re in such a situation. Simply leaning your body would help in that regard.

  Flare: (sighing deeply) Yeah, right.

  Focus: Now go at it again. Dodge the projectiles and try to reach me.

  (Flare heads for the fallen log again, while Focus remains standing on the other end of it, several pine cones in hand, and he throws them at the former once again as she tries to reach him. She goes on and on with this, falling time and time again, sometimes losing her balance due to the pine cones and other times because she rushed it, but regardless, she keeps getting back up to have another go at it, as if improving with every attempt. Eventually, very eventually, she goes at it again, this time perfectly leaning her body to dodge Focus’s pine cones, to his surprise.)

  Focus: (thinking to himself, surprised) She’s really getting the hang of it, and sooner than I expected.

  (Focus starts throwing even more pine cones at her in quick succession, but she blocks them with precise chops, all while maintaining her balance. She nears the end of the log and jumps at Focus for a blow, but he easily grabs her fist and subsequently roundhouses her in the right side of her hips, sending her falling into the ground. Flare grits her teeth and rolls on the floor, clutching her head while yelling in frustration, and Focus raises an eyebrow in bafflement as he lands on the ground.)

  Flare: (shouting and rolling on the floor in frustration) WHY DID THAT HAPPEN WHEN I WAS SO CLOSE TO FINALLY LAND A PUNCH AT YOUR UNBEARINGLY UNDERLYING SMUG LITTLE FACE?!!! IT’S RIGGED, YOU HEAR ME?!!! IT’S RIGGED!!!

  Focus: (baffled) … Sure. Well… at least I know what I’ll aim to work at. (firmly) Still, I’d say that was… not bad enough.

  (Meanwhile, a while after this moment is over, as noon finally arrives, Mr. Ghallagher is in his kitchen, pulling one of his trademark pancakes out of the oven, a satisfied smile on his face as he sniffs the odor. He grabs a knife along and places it on top of the small pancake then walks out of the house, possibly to meet up with Flare and Focus. He passes by several townspeople, who warmly greet him.)

  Townsman 1A: (grinning) Morning, Shay!

  Mr. Gallagher: (chuckling warmly) Gordon! How’s it goin’, lad?!

  Townsman 1B: We’re all heading to prepare the festivities for tonight! Wanna join?

  Mr. Gallagher: Ah, sure! I’ll be with ya in a jiffy! Don’t be waitin’ fer me.

  Townsman 1A: So what’s with the pancake anyway?

  Mr. Gallagher: (grinning) Ah, regarding that, I’ll be bringin’ a few guests along. Give ’em a grand welcome, will ya?

  (The other townspeople nod with a grin and wave at Shay as they head off to prepare for the festivities tonight, who returns the nod with a friendly smile as he heads off on his own way. Watching this exchange from afar is none other than Gauntlet, who remains out of sight in the village as he closely watches Mr. Gallagher. He heads off to hide out of sight and out of earshot elsewhere before linking up with the Ironclad Response Unit soldiers with his communicator, who are waiting at the outskirts of the village, out of sight as well.)

  Gauntlet: (via communicator) Okay, so remind me of your description again, will ya? Old man, old-fashioned red shirt under a denim jacket, thick beard, grey hair, and an Irish accent, is that right?

  IRU Soldier 1A: (via communicator, firmly) Just about right, sir. That’s the old man who talked to us last night.

  Gauntlet: (unamused) I still can’t comprehend why you didn’t at least keep a close eye on him. I mean, for crying out loud, didn’t he look the least bit suspicious to you?!

  IRU Soldier 1A: But sir, we had to focus on finding the targets back then.

  Gauntlet: (sarcastically) Fair point. I guess the matter was so urgent that you couldn’t even afford to send two or three soldiers to follow him.

  IRU Soldier: (wincing) We haven’t really thought of that.

  Gauntlet: (sighing deeply) Whatever. You folks are idiots, and there’s nothing I can do about it. Just lemme cook. I’ll let you know when to engage.

  IRU Soldier 1A: Um… sure.

  (Gauntlet rolls his eyes in annoyance as he ends the transmission, then he deactivates his gauntlets, reducing them into regular gloves to avoid drawing attention. After doing so, he walks into the open and blends in with the townspeople. He watches Mr. Gallagher as he heads to the outskirts of Larkspur, but instead of following him, he remains put.)

  Gauntlet: (thinking to himself) Won’t work. He’ll clearly notice that I’m following him. I’ll make sure to either wait for him to come back or keep an eye out from a distance. Either way, I can’t let him out of my sight. He’s most certainly the one who helped the targets escape, and now… he’ll lead me to them.

  (As Mr. Gallagher obliviously heads out of town, Gauntlet observes him intently, biding his time and waiting for his opportunity. Flare and Focus are still high on the IRU’s list of priorities. The hunt is still on, and Gauntlet is onto them.)