Chapter 55: The alleyway

[Welcome to the Ghost Protocol]

[First-tier training: Threat recognition and Situational Awareness]

[Scenario 1: The Alleyway]

[Objective: Survive without sustaining any injury]

[Failure will result in reset. You will repeat the scenario until you succeed.]

Everyone saw the interface floating in front of them.

The gang they had met before coming to the library materialized. Their faces were twisted with hatred.

Aiden started his attack. Ivan ran out to start fighting as well. Alex grabbed an iron pole and started swinging. A woman with a knife lunged at Adrienne. Ember raised her pistol instinctively.

Suddenly, the world dissolved into white light.

They were back at the start, and the gang was beginning to materialize.

“What the fuck?” Ivan snarled.

“A reset. We failed, so we’re doing it again.” Ember answered.

The second time began. Alex immediately neutralized the person who lunged at Adrienne. But because he was focusing on the person with the knife, he missed the person who was about to hit him. The man was swinging a lead pipe at his head. Ivan saw it and moved quickly. Unfortunately, the pipe caught him on the shoulder. Ivan screamed in pain. The sound of his bone breaking was so loud they turned to look as his arm went limp.

The beginning.

“Damn!” Ivan cursed, clutching her perfectly fine shoulder.

“Everyone was focused on getting Adrienne out of danger, so we ignored the other threats,” Ember said. “This is exactly why we need the training.”

The third time, they were able to avoid a few hits. Aiden gave the instructions. “Ivan, left side, behind you. Marcus, front and centre. Alex, come here.” Still, they were hit.

The lesson continued over and over again, but they were always hit unexpectedly. They couldnt’ understand why. After the nth time, they paused briefly while the gang was materializing to talk.

“This isn’t working,” Aiden said. “We’re definitely getting better, but it isn’t enough. We must be missing something.”

“I think I know what it is,” said Ember. “We’re supposed to be learning how to use our senses. We haven’t done that. We’re just looking for targets and avoiding getting injured. Why don’t we try using our senses? Intuition. Have you ever seen someone and could feel they dislike you?”

“So we feel their dislike? They all seem to hate us,” Adrienne said.

“Not hate. We should feel their hostility. Feel the largest threat. Don’t just use your eyes. Use your intuition.”

This time, they entered the alley. Rather than rush up, they took the time to feel their surroundings. They weren’t looking at the enemy directly; they were trying to feel them instead.

Ember felt it first. It was cold, a different vibration in the otherwise calm alley.

“Alex,” she said. “Three o’clock, low, behind the dumpster.”

Alex didn’t hesitate. He found the man, his hand clamped around his neck, lifting him off his feet and slamming him against the wall. The gang noticed their sneak attack didn’t work, charged towards them.

But this time, Aiden and his group didn’t panic. They learned to work together well after fighting so many times. They moved more like one entity.

Aiden moved, his movement minimal but brutal. Ivan’s knife was precise. Alex and Adrienne stood back to back, creating their own defensive positions, trusting each other, their movements in sync. Sarah directed, calling out any threats she saw.

“Sarah, duck.”

Sarah dropped without a question. Ember used her mental power on the attacker. It didn’t kill the attacker but caused her steps to falter, which gave Aiden the time to come up and neutralize the target.

The seven stood in the middle of the alley, not a single injury on any of them.

The simulation stopped.

[Scenario complete. Zero injuries]

[Analysis: Team coordination and threat prediction have increased.]

The only sound remaining was the sound of their breathing.

The world around them dissolved into nothingness. The group stood in a white void. They weren’t physically exhausted, but they could feel the mental strain. Any physical pain they felt before was gone. Only the phantom pain was left in its wake.

“That was intense,” Adrienne said as she looked at her hands.

Alex reached out to hold her hand. The rest of the team noticed her actions. They could understand. They were also feeling the same way. Although it was a simulation, the people they hurt were somewhere out there in reality. When they were fighting, there were many times they actually killed them, not just simply injuring.

Because it all felt real, in their minds, it was like killing the same people multiple times. They could feel the pain when they were hit. They felt the blood on their hands when they killed them. The warm feeling accompanied by the metallic smell was overwhelming at times. Being able to hold on as they are now is already a blessing.

“As intense as it was, we were able to learn. We relied on each other, trusted each other’s instincts. It counts for something.” Aiden’s steady voice made them feel like what they did was wrong.

“We learned to see the threats in front of us and what was in the dark,” Ember said.

They fell silent, thinking about what they learned.

Sarah broke the silence. “I want to learn how to fight. In all that training, I was the only one who didn’t really do anything. I could give warnings, but every time I needed to fight, I couldn’t do it. Seeing everyone like this, learning while I stay stagnant, I feel out of place.”

She continued, “If one of you gets hurt, of course, I can patch you up, but what if I am alone and there is no one to cover me? What do I do then? How will I defend myself?”

They looked at Sarah. She was right. They had been protecting her until now. They hadn’t even realized what they were doing. In their mind, because she is a nurse, it is normal for her not be on the frontlines. But what if there is a case where they aren’t able to help her?

As if on cue, the Covenant Engine issued a notice.

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