Chapter 46 - 45 - Encounter

Something's not right here...it had been close to an hour since we set out from the bunker, and so far, we hadn't run into a single Mutant. We had already covered more than four kilometers, so it wouldn't be too much farther before we turn back. I switched my X-Blasters to sniping mode, and as my right lens on my glasses lit up and magnified my vision, I scanned ahead to see if I could spot anything...nope, nothing but dirt. 

I was about fifty meters behind the other four, who had paired up as planned. There was about a ten meter gap between the two pairs, and I was more or less in the middle of that gap, so that I could evenly assist either pair...not that there had been anything to assist them with so far, though. 

"Well, this sure has been productive, huh?" Sighed Mitchell sarcastically into the communicator, sounding bored and a bit relieved at the same time. 

"Yeah, the coast has been clear and we're almost at the five kilometer mark," Remarked Seila, who switched from clumsy mode to serious mode the moment we left the bunker...I don't know her well enough to ask her why she doesn't just stay in her serious mode, but I was really curious to do so. 

"We've got about seven hundred meters left to go, and I can more or less guarantee that there's nothing out there for the next five hundred meters...although, if there's something underground, then I have no way of knowing whether or not they're there," I informed them, as I scanned ahead with my lens. 

"This is boring...but I guess it's not a bad thing that nothing's happened, huh?" Sighed Lin dejectedly, who looked pretty demotivated. 

"Yeah, well, stay alert anyway, better safe than sorry," I replied, continuing to scan ahead. 

"Agreed, we should keep our guard up until we're back in the bunker," Added Katie, her tone as emotionless as ever. 

Seriously, though, what's going on here? I muted my communicator and glanced back at Kilella and Johan. The latter was shrouding himself with an umbrella to combat the sunlight, so I couldn't see his expression, but my sister definitely looked concerned, a worried frown on her face. 

"Hey, is this normal? We haven't run into even a single Mutant yet. This is only the second time I've gone outside the Sanctuary, so I'm not exactly an expert on how things work out here, but...this can't be normal, right?" I inquired, while keeping one eye ahead in case something appeared. 

"Right, this is really weird...it's practically unheard of to not run into any Mutants after you've gone about two kilometers ahead of a bunker, and to not run into any for over four kilometers is...," Replied Kilella, biting her thumbnail with a worried look. 

"I'm getting a bad feeling as well, maybe we should turn back," Suggested Johan with a look of concern. 

"It's only about five hundred meters left, so there's no harm in covering the full distance, is there?" Argued my sister, though she looked pretty uncertain herself. 

I looked ahead with my lens again, scanning the area ahead, when some shapes came into sight...wait, what's that-...oh, never mind, it's just a bunch of rocks. Really large rocks, randomly scattered about. Huh...hold on a second...

"Hey, I see some rocks and boulders up ahead, but...the way they're positioned, it's almost like someone put them there. It's easy to miss at first glance from this distance, but when I took a closer look...well, they're clearly arranged in a U-shape, with the open end pointing in our direction. The space within the U-shape looks pretty big, a width of around fifty meters, maybe? And a length of about a hundred meters, though that's a bit hard to judge from this angle. This doesn't exactly seem like the work of a Mutant," I remarked, as I carefully scanned the area. 

"Yes, I agree...tell the others to get back, the exam is on hold until we determine what's going on up ahead," Instructed Johan, after mulling it over for a second. 

"Right, got it," I replied affirmatively, before unmuting my communicator and letting the others know what was going on. 

We then stopped and the five of us students gathered around the two Aces, looking at them expectantly. The others could all see the rocks now too, we were about two hundred meters away from there. Looking at the size of the rocks, they were definitely big enough for someone to be hiding behind, possibly those intelligent creatures that have been attacking X-Warriors lately...but that idea was ridiculous, they have no way of knowing that we'd be here in this exact location at this exact time...right? 

"We have two options...go back, or investigate. Either one is a valid option, so...let's put it to a vote," Suggested Kilella, after considering it for a bit. 

"I'm not sure that's the best way to settle this, but I don't have any better ideas, so I won't protest," Sighed Johan, though he didn't look too happy about it. 

We began voting one by one, with me ending up as the last person to vote...with a tie in place, three votes for each of the two options. I'm the deciding vote, huh? Not sure which is the right option, so... 

"<Activate Anomaly, Tier One: Save>." 

Okay, now that I've given myself a safety net, let's go with the more dangerous option...and so, I voted for investigating the mysteriously placed rocks. We then cautiously made our way forward, in a tight formation, with my sister up front, the four students besides me were about a couple of meters behind her, and about a meter spacing between each other. And Johan and I brought up the rear. 

"If there's any sign of danger, I suggest we retreat immediately. In fact, it might be better if we head back right away and report this first, before sending out a team of X-Warriors to investigate," Said Johan, who had voted for going back. 

"No, things have been really weird since we left the bunker, we should try and find some answers. Those rocks might have something to do with the lack of Mutants in the area," Responded Kilella, as she kept her eyes focused on the rocks. 

We were about fifty meters ahead of the rocks now...and now that we were this close, I think it'd be more accurate to call them boulders...each one was about five to seven meters tall, and three to four meters wide. I activated my right lens again and carefully scanned the boulders as we neared them...huh, that's strange... 

"Hey, those boulders...they're not very dusty. There's a stiff breeze blowing and plenty of dust in the air, just look at these plants," I remarked, getting everyone's attention and nodding at a few mutated plants off to the side, that were covered in dust, "That confirms it...these boulders haven't been in this spot for too long. And not just that, their surfaces look almost...too smooth. Like artificial, maybe?"

"Seriously?" Inquired Johan with a look of surprise, taking out a pair of binoculars and looking through them, "Yes, you're right, the surfaces of those rocks look smooth and unnatural, not to mention significantly less dusty than the rest of the surroundings. I can't believe you spotted that, very impressive."

"More importantly, now that we know someone or something moved these here recently, what does that m-...wait, what's that?" I said with a frown, narrowing my eyes as for an instant, I thought I saw a glint on the boulder farthest away from us, "Hey, I think there's something on that boulder over there." 

"Let me see...," Said Johan, adjusting his binoculars and looking through it at the boulder, "I think you're right, there's a slight gleam around the middle of the boulder...there's something reflective on it."

"Yeah, that gleam is making it hard to see exactly what it is. Maybe if I can get a better angle...," I muttered with a frown, trying to see exactly what was gleaming, before the glare reduced as I stepped off to the left a bit, "Is that a...? So, uh, I could be wrong, but...that kinda looks like a telescope or binocular lens, maybe even a camera lens...I think someone's watching us right now."

We had all stopped moving, about fifteen meters from the boulders, with uncertainty and caution in the air around us. No one said it out loud, but I'm pretty sure we were all thinking the same thing...if we walk onto the space surrounded by the boulders, we would likely be walking into a trap. 

"A lens, huh...yeah, that could be it. But we can't be certain from this distance...that said, getting closer would be too risky," Surmised Johan with a grimace. 

"Maybe our best option is to head back, there's almost no doubt that these boulders were placed here deliberately, it's obviously a trap," Added Seila with furrowed eyebrows, her hand on her chin while looking deep in thought. 

"Yeah, I think I'm gonna second that...I'm getting a kinda unsettling feeling right now, it's hard to explain," Chimed in Mitchell, looking uneasy. 

He was right, something felt off, but I couldn't quite put it into words... 

"It feels like...we're being watched," Katie suddenly remarked, and as she said that, it clicked...that's exactly what it was, which meant that the glint we were seeing was almost definitely some kind of lens, just as I thought... 

The way this was going, it looks like we're going to be turning around and heading back...well, I couldn't really argue with that, I was definitely of the mindset that getting any closer to the boulders was way too big a risk. Wait, hold on...maybe the tension is just making us overthink things, but...yeah, that might work... 

"Hey, Ella, I've got an idea...why don't you fly up a bit and see if anyone's hiding behind the boulders? If there is someone, blast them...and if there's not...blast the boulders," I suggested, after thinking it through a couple of times. 

Following a brief moment where everyone stared at me as they processed my idea, she replied... 

"Hey, that's not bad, Zax...yeah, nice thinking, little bro! <Primary Manifestation: Dragoness Armor>!" 

She put on one of the earpiece communicators, as did Johan, and spread her wings open. The rest of us stepped back a bit as she zipped up into the air, getting some height before flying forward and above the boulders. 

"Well, Kilella? Do you see anything?" Inquired Johan, as she hovered around the area. 

"No, it doesn't look like anyone's here...okay, which boulder should I blast first?"

"Does it really matter?" Inquired Mitchell with a shrug. 

"Kinda, yeah...sis, you can blast any of them excluding the one with the gleam," I suggested, as her hands began glowing. 

"Got it!" She replied affirmatively through the communicator. 

She charged up a red blast of XFE between her hands, before aiming it at one of the boulders that was three to the left of the one with the gleam, and fired...the blast shot towards the boulder, struck it...and sent it flying away, skidding along the ground and breaking apart...what the...? 

Either my sister's powers had gotten way, way stronger, or that was one extremely light boulder. I quickly looked through my right lens in that direction at the remains of the boulder...my eyes widening in surprise and disbelief... 

"Hey, are you seeing what I'm seeing?" Asked Johan incredulously, staring in the same direction through his binoculars. 

"Yeah...these are...these are definitely not boulders!" 

"Hey, quit keeping the rest of us in suspense, you gonna tell us what's going on or what?" Inquired Mitchell impatiently, the other three also looking anxious to know what we were looking at. 

The 'boulder' was hollow...and the inside of it was...unexpected, to say the least. It kinda looked like a cockpit, with a seat and steering wheel. And now that it had toppled over, I could see that it had retractable wheels at the bottom...it was some kind of vehicle, with the outside disguised as a boulder. There was something else too, hanging out of it, it looked like...a walkie-talkie? 

And most notably, there was also blood...it was a darker shade of red than human blood, but it was definitely blood...and what was bleeding definitely did not look human. It was human in shape, but it's skin looked tough and leathery, it had a long whip-like tail and sharp claws on its fingers...but other than that, it had a humanoid torso and limbs, and hair on its head...and especially notably, it was wearing clothes. 

"Sis, quick, blast them all!" I exclaimed, as I took out my Square Blaster and activated it. 

Before either of us could attack, the rest of the boulders suddenly split horizontally across the middle, the top opening up, to reveal...more of the same. The one at the far back, as it opened up, revealed the source of the gleam...sure enough, it was a telescope. 

So, that one had been keeping a watch out and communicating to the others with those walkie-talkies. No doubt about it, these things are intelligent. There were a fair number of them too...specifically, in total, there were twenty-two of them, excluding the one that my sister had blasted. What...are these creatures...?

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