The Cardinal Directive: Mission Log #54

Breach

[Start of Season 2]
[Previous]

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>> ...
>> Confirmed.
>> Now playing Mission Log #54...

The footage shudders and clicks into place, following a lone silhouette as it slips through the Olympica compound and down into the Pit, weaving around the few people still awake until it finally reaches its destination.

The form creeps silently into the room, careful not to disturb the many sleeping figures clustered in their cots. As they sit down in an empty one, though, it seems their entrance has not gone undetected.

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Squinting in the darkness, Wendy all the same was sure she knew who this was. She’d heard them slip away after everyone had turned in for the night, vacating the cot next to hers.

“Joey?” She whispered.

“Yeah. Just me,” Jovis answered softly, taking off her shoes and leaning back into her cot.

The darkness warped time with thoughts of the day’s conversation. It was hard to tell how long she’d been gone. “Everything alright?”

“Yeah,” Jovis sighed heavily. “Yeah, everything’s gonna be okay.”

Silence fell between them. After a moment, though, there was a soft rustle and creak. A light tug at the side of Wendy’s cot. It was a signal they gave each other often — one she realized she hadn’t responded to in a long while.

Sure as the sunrise, she reached out to where she’d felt the pull, finding Jovis’s hand and taking it in hers.

No more words were exchanged. Not about where she’d gone or why. Not about what had been said down in the bellows of Olympica, not that it would’ve been safe to talk about here anyway. Even if it was, she didn’t imagine Jovis would want to.

It was a hard sell, everything going on with Cassidy. Everything going on with Wendy. Even after it all, she wasn’t sure Jovis understood. There was a time where she’d thought that sort of disconnect between them would’ve been impossible.

Jovis squeezed her hand. Wendy squeezed back.

The silence and peace, for whatever they were worth, did not last.

A loud ker-CHUNK sounded off as the room filled with red light and a siren began to wail.

Wendy was back on her feet before she even understood why, instinct and training kicking in like a switch had been flipped in her brain. She ran through a mental checklist so fast that she could barely hear herself think — suit, boots, supply packs, helmets — go, go, go—

While the majority of teams were still scrambling to grab their supplies and get dressed, Wendy’s team was already sprinting into the hall.

There was no time for rest.

The final trial had begun.