RTS System in the Apocalypse: New World

Hans moved. His hand landed on Kimmy’s shivering shoulder.

The same unnatural calm that always enveloped him flowed outward.

As it streamed towards Kimmy, the pink outline faded away.

As expected, Hans thought. System, your regulation mechanic is truly miraculous.

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[ Warning: Please do not abuse this function. ]

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Hans wanted to curse, but the situation at hand was more serious.

He had wondered why Kimmy always felt close to him.

She was captured by his soldiers, taken as a prisoner, pressured by his aura, and had seen him as a monstrous person more than once.

By normal logic, she should have avoided him especially with her sensitive perceptions.

Yet every time her mind was close to breaking, his gentle touch brought her an unspeakable comfort.

For someone like Kimmy, that sensation had left a deeper mark than he expected.

Her body probably remembered him before her thoughts could explain why.

Kimmy’s trembling slowly eased.

The hybrid DASF halted, his hands stopped reaching as he saw the Commander.

”Her pulse is dropping. Breathing is stabilizing. Power usage retreating back to her mind.”

Callum marveled at the Commander’s quickness and reaction. He even suspected there was more at work here.

The Commander seems to calm her down every time he touches her. I wonder what kind of power the Commander has to have this effect.

Yunera reached them a breath later. ”Ah, what did you do?”

She had felt that Kimmy’s aura was about to go berserk once more. However, Hans’s sudden arrival timely stopped the impending disaster.

This is the second time this happened!

Hans removed his hand from Kimmy’s shoulder. ”Stopped her from overexerting herself.”

Yunera didn’t react strongly. She knew that there must be something about Hans that can forcefully calm down Kimmy at times like this.

Kimmy stumbled backward, caught by Yunera’s small frame. ”Sister, are you alright?”

”I’m... I’m fine now,” she weakly replied.

Hans stared at her still trembling body. ”You don’t look very fine at all.”

”If you didn’t exert her powres,” Yunera complained. ”She wouldn’t be this weak at all!”

Hans shrugged, not rejecting her words. Indeed, Callum’s attempt had drawn Kimmy out, but that was to be expected.

Before Yunera could continue, Callum spoke.

”The responsibility is mine.”

Yunera’s glare shifted to him.

Callum remained calm. ”I stressed her powers in an attempt to find her pressure point.”

”Does it have to be this hard?” Yunera argued.

Hans raised his hand slightly. ”Enough. You’re angry, not wrong. But dragging the argument won’t help her.”

He snapped his fingers and pointed at the hybrid DASF.

”You, show us her status right before the outburst.”

The hybrid DASF brushed the sweat off his face and cleared his throat.

”Before the surge, Miss Kimmy’s physical baseline became unstable. Her focus did not break.”

Hans raised a brow. ”It didn’t?”

”No, Commander.”

”How can you be so sure?” Yunera questioned.

”I can track her mind’s activity and somewhat decode a part of these nerve signals.”

”That’s the power of a Cognitive?” Hans felt it was extremely terrific.

”It’s a basic power for my own path,” the hybrid DASF scratched his chin. ”Others would have manifested a different power.”

The pair of SAS agents were shaken by this revelation. The HELIX can even do that?!

The hybrid DASF continued. ”The problem came from Viper’s additional instructions that obfuscated Miss Kimmy’s vision. The freight yard remained as her spatial frame. Your outline remained as her primary anchor. Then my two squadmates began shuffling at different speeds around the edge of her perception.”

Yunera frowned. ”Explain it properly.”

Johannes and Evelyn were keen to listen as well. After all, this might give them a reference for their own HELIX development as well.

The hybrid DASF paused, choosing simpler words.

”She was not distracted,” the DASF said. ”She was overloaded by too many things that all mattered.”

Callum nodded. ”Priority conflict.”

”Yes,” the hybrid DASF said. ”If she ignored the DASF units, she would fail the test. If she ignored the Commander, she would lose the anchor. If she ignored the freight yard, she would lose the frame. Miss Kimmy tried to keep all three clear at once.”

Hans rubbed his chin in contemplation.

Kimmy had focused on tracking the hive’s lair not long ago.

She probably eliminated all the background noise and decided which was the path that led to the true lair. Clearing all distractions and focusing on the clearer picture felt simpler to her.

However, when several objects fought for the same space at once, that was when things got out of hand.

Hans observed her pale face. A plausible guess came upon his mind.

Her vision about the tunnel space should have been similar. Too many sensations, too many objects to follow. She cannot eliminate these images as they all shared the same important space.

He shifted toward Callum and raised a brow. Viper must have expected this. It seems that I should make use of these DASFs’ knowledge sometimes.

Tyrus’s Project HELIX documents barely discussed anything about the powers emitted by each axis.

Most notes were theoretical in nature. Hans couldn’t decide whether they were true at all.

Tyrus’s input was useful, but too theoretical. Hans did not doubt the man’s knowledge; he doubted whether that knowledge would actually hold to reality.

He feared to assume that Tyrus’s words were true, only to see such assumptions fail at the most critical times.

”Do all perceptual superhumans share the same power?”

His question perked everyone up save for Callum and the other system units.

”It is usually the case, Commander,” the hybrid DASF answered. ”However, the specific extent and effects of their power still varies personally. An example would be Miss... Yunera and Agent Johannes. Both share the Somatic Axis path but Miss Yunera specializes in speed while Agent Johannes is more balanced.”

”Listening to your explanation seems better than listening to Tyrus,” Hans sighed, waving his hand in resignation.

Commander, Dr. Tyrus has explained this before, Callum pursed his lips.

Kimmy lowered her head. ”I just wanted to follow Sir Callum’s orders.”

”No one is blaming you,” Hans comforted. Yunera shot a glare at him.

Callum approached Kimmy and stopped in front of her. ”Your instinct is not wrong. Your power wants to hold the image together. The problem is that you lose control when constraints stack upon one another.”

”So what should I do?” Kimmy asked softly.

Callum turned to the hybrid DASF.

”We can slowly train her mind to accept additional constraints. She has to preserve her control while her spatial vision multi-tasks.”

”It sounds so easy,” Kimmy sighed. ”But it’s... hard.”

”It is,” the hybrid DASF corrected. ”You should know that you are already touching the early signs of a Tier breakthrough.”

Everyone was surprised.

”She’s that fast?” Evelyn blurted.

Even Yunera couldn’t help but take more glances at her frail-looking sister.

”I... I didn’t know,” Kimmy blushed, stealing a glance toward Hans.

”Her training direction is now evident,” Hans said. ”Engineers, you’ve noted these things, haven’t you?”

His eyes slowly shifted. At the corner of his vision, the two Engineers stood straight.

”Long before you have said it, Commander!”

”Good,” Hans smiled. ”Do you still have anything else to say?”

The hybrid DASF shook his head, then retreated. Callum did the same.

”Nothing more, Commander.”

”Everyone should take a rest first,” Hans yawned. ”Viper and the four DASFs will finalize the training direction of the four of you. When will it be done?”

”We can start by the afternoon, Commander,” Callum replied.

”You heard the man. Any questions?”

”No.”

Everyone responded.

”Okay, dismissed.”

As the group dispersed, Hans’s comms buzzed.

”Watcher Three to Golden Eagle.”

”Come in, Watcher Three.”

”Loot has been assembled on the usual spot, Commander. Watcher Three is waiting for your arrival.”

Hans glanced at his Gold value. The captured industrial complexes are doing small work. 400 Gold a day... not bad.

No matter how small it was, Hans would open his arms to any opportunity that would give him Gold daily.

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[ Gold: 26,145 (+400) -> 26,545 ]

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”I will be there in five minutes,” he replied after a moment of pause.

”Understood, Commander. Watcher Three, out.”