Condition Evolution 2: A LitRPG / Gamelit Adventure by Sinclair, Kevin (black female authors txt) 📗

a plain but friendly face. Unlike Cassia’s pretty, resting bitch face. Both of them paled in comparison to Ember, but that’s just my preference.

I suddenly realized I’d phased out with my thoughts and had missed whatever had been said next. Luckily, I hadn't been staring.

“...Shaun here, seems to be my lucky mascot,” Ember was saying. “I’ve developed a lot in the two days he’s been awake.”

“Yes, Ogun told me you’re both doing really well.” She turned to me. “Hi, Shaun,” she said, extending her hand out. “We haven’t really met yet. Hopefully, we’ll have time to become friends. Ember here has told me a lot about you.”

“Nothing good, probably,” I groaned, as I shook her hand.

“Nope, nothing good at all. But it was said with genuine affection,” Astrid laughed.

“Well, suppose that’s something, and it’s a pleasure to meet you properly Astrid. With luck, I’ll have the chance to prove I’m not that much of an idiot.”

“I think you’ll do just fine, Shaun. Anyway, this is not just a social call, though I wish it was. We will be landing in a couple of hours. Everyone is needed to load up the ship as quickly as possible, so we can continue to make our escape.

“Ogun is taking one team of twenty, as will I. We will each be in charge of different needs. You two are on my team and we need you to collect oxygen and FSU stock. I will split our group up again into tens. You already know Cassia, so I’m putting you in her group to get the FSU stock.”

“Oh, goodie,” Ember said, full of sarcasm.

Astrid gave her a questioning look. “Is there something wrong, Ember?” Astrid asked, as I kicked Ember under the table.

“No, nothing at all. I can’t wait to work with Cassia.” I heard the sarcasm still, but Astrid seemed mollified.

“Well, when you’re ready, if you make your way to the training room and get what weapons and armor you need, then wait there, or in your rooms for the call.”

“Sure thing, Astrid,” I said.

Ember just nodded in response.

“She seems nice,” I said, once Astrid had departed.

“Yeah. She’s actually okay. I can’t believe we’re under fucking Cassia again though.”

“Must be trying to smooth out the animosity.”

“Best way of doing that is to keep her away from us, I’d say.”

“Hard, on a ship of forty people,” I replied.

“Not that fucking hard. There’s people on this ship I’ve never spoken to yet. Now come on. Let’s get ready.”

We quickly arrived in the armory and dressed for action. Ember found a small satchel for the metal balls and donned her sword from earlier. I found a belt for the two axes and strapped it around my waist. Then, gave a quick check of the charge and found one stuttered and didn’t start. “Shit. Axe is broken,” I whispered.

“Well, pick another one,” she huffed.

“I don't want to. I've practiced with these, and there's no others like them.”

“For fucksake, Shaun. We're picking up some crates! It doesn't matter if one axe doesn't have an energy coating. You heard Ogun. There's no one down there.”

I was about to respond when a red-haired, bearded man came up to me. He didn't say anything, but put his hand out. I was momentarily confused, before tentatively handing the broken axe over to him. He smiled and took it.

Pulling a small screwdriver looking implement from his pocket, he had the handle opened up in a second, then began fidgeting around with the odd looking transparent cables inside. A minute later, he handed it back over. I was seriously impressed with his confidence that it would work, without checking it over himself.

I thumbed the button and it sprung to life as it should. “Hey man. Thanks,” I said, just in time to stop him walking away. “What’s your name?”

“Gus,” he said, and tried to turn again, but I thrust out my hand. He shook it, just as another dark haired man appeared at his side.

He gave Gus a nudge and smiled at us. “Don’t worry about him. He's always quiet around new people. I’m Mick. We’re all in the same group, so thought it best to make your acquaintance before we head down.”

Mick was thin, almost gaunt, with jet-black hair and a well-groomed beard. He had an instantly likeable demeanor about him.

“Nice to meet you both. I'm Shaun. This is Ember.”

“Hey, Mick. I think we’ve spoken briefly before,” Ember said.

“Yeah, think we have. Still, good to get a proper intro. We're gonna be together a lot through this shit storm. I can’t believe how well you’re both taking it considering you knew nothing of Fystr a week or two ago,” Mick said.

Gus had slowly drifted off into the background and was now messing with a handheld terminal of some kind.

“We didn't really have much choice,” Ember replied, as she shrugged.

“Well, hopefully we can catch up at some point soon. We still have preparations to make,” Mick said on leaving.

“Nice guys,” I noted, putting my axes into the belt around my waist.

“Take some projectiles too, Shaun,” Ember said.

“Nah. I’ll more likely get myself killed trying to use them than cause any damage to anyone else,” I laughed.

For once, she had nothing to add, so we went over to a corner of the training room and sat quietly.

There were a few other small groups in the large room, but they also kept to themselves. I mused that team building and morale could do with some work.

C5

A Brave New Supply Station

“Attention!”

“All crew, please report to the cargo bay!”

“Landing in ten minutes!”

“We have been hailed by automated responses and can land in Bay One. This indicates there are no other visitors. We still have a negative reading on life signs, which is also very positive, but we must keep in mind a lot of this station is deep underground. Be ready for anything.”

Everyone in the training room started to get to their feet, setting off in a jumbled, staggered column toward the cargo bay. We passed