The forest grew distant.
The Alpha did not.
Daniel braced his hand against the ground.
His fingers sank into the mud.
He pushed.
Nothing.
His left arm hung.
His shoulder burned.
One eye closed.
Blood running down over the eyebrow.
Over the cheek.
To his mouth.
He breathed.
Not enough air came in.
He pushed again.
One knee.
Then the other.
The world tilted.
Daniel fell.
“Daniel!”
Far away.
0
“Get up.”
The Alpha.
Daniel braced his hand again.
Found a stone.
Gripped it.
Pushed.
Knee.
Foot.
Breath.
Up.
His body trembled.
The Alpha did not advance.
She was watching him.
Daniel raised his head.
One eye closed.
The other on her.
Xenya took a step.
Vega raised her voice from the ground.
“No.”
“But…”
“Wait.”
Xenya looked at her.
“He can barely stand!”
Vega did not answer.
She was looking at Daniel.
So was Alyra.
Something beside his right hand had just changed.
The air curved.
Very slightly.
Like heat over a road.
But it was cold.
The distortion ran along Daniel’s fingers.
Disappeared.
Returned beside his wrist.
A spark jumped between Xenya’s fingers.
Veered aside.
She looked at it.
Then at Daniel.
“What…?”
Alyra slowly let her hand fall.
The little water she still held suspended returned to the stream bed.
“Is that Ether?”
Vega narrowed her eyes.
“It looks like a manifestation.”
Alyra turned towards her.
“Of what?”
Vega did not answer.
She had no answer.
Neither did Daniel.
He did not look at his hand.
He did not look at the air.
He did not seem to have seen anything.
The Alpha.
Only the Alpha.
She lowered her body.
Daniel breathed.
Once.
The Alpha shot forward.
“DANIEL!”
The claw went straight for his chest.
Daniel could not dodge it.
Not like this.
Not injured.
Not at that distance.
The paw came in.
And did not reach him.
Xenya froze.
The claw had passed in front of Daniel’s chest.
Close.
Too close.
But it had not touched him.
The Alpha landed.
Daniel was still there.
Xenya looked at his feet.
He had not jumped.
He had not run.
He had done nothing she could recognise.
“No…”
The Alpha turned.
Daniel took a step.
One.
He should still have been several metres away.
He was not there.
His fist struck the Alpha’s muzzle.
The animal backed away.
Daniel turned.
Another blow.
The Alpha responded.
Claw.
Daniel leaned his body aside.
It missed.
Another.
Daniel took half a step back.
The claw fell short again.
Xenya slowly shook her head.
“That isn't speed.”
Alyra looked at her.
Xenya did not take her eyes off Daniel.
She knew speed.
She knew how a body went in.
How it stopped.
How it came out.
This was not that.
Daniel took another step.
Another impossible distance.
“He isn't getting there sooner.”
A branch behind Daniel seemed to break.
No.
It was still whole.
It was just…
in the wrong place.
Xenya frowned.
“He's covering less distance.”
A faint outline surrounded Daniel.
It was not smoke.
It was not shadow.
It was not light.
The background behind his body seemed slightly displaced.
A branch began in one place and ended a few centimetres further on.
The edge of his shoulder looked dark.
Then transparent.
Then normal.
It never stayed the same.
The Alpha attacked again.
Daniel turned.
The claw passed by.
One step.
Daniel appeared beside her flank.
Fist.
The Alpha backed away.
Daniel advanced.
Another step.
A blow.
The Alpha took it in the jaw.
Xenya’s eyes widened.
“Come on…”
Vega heard her.
“Look.”
The Alpha had stopped attacking.
Daniel did not advance either.
Both were breathing.
She tilted her head.
A step to the left.
Daniel turned.
Another.
Daniel followed her with his only open eye.
The Alpha lowered her body.
Alyra understood.
“She’s learning.”
Xenya lost her smile.
The Alpha attacked.
Daniel moved.
The first claw missed.
Just as before.
But the Alpha did not adjust.
The second paw was already coming in from another angle.
Daniel appeared there.
Impact.
The claw struck his side.
Daniel was flung away.
Rolled along the stream bed.
The faint distortion disappeared.
“DANIEL!”
Xenya advanced.
The canids moved.
One from the left.
Another from the slope.
Two closing in behind.
They did not come in.
They closed around them.
Vega raised her voice.
“Xenya, back!”
Xenya stopped.
Electricity around her arms.
“He’s alone!”
“I know.”
“Then let me go in!”
“And you won’t come out.”
Xenya looked at the canids.
Then at Daniel.
She did not answer.
The Alpha did not look at the rest either.
Daniel.
Only Daniel.
He breathed against the mud.
Once.
Again.
He closed his right hand.
Pushed.
Knee.
Foot.
Up.
The distortion appeared again.
Unstable.
Clinging to his body.
The Alpha came in.
Daniel took a step.
Nothing.
The claw struck his chest.
Daniel fell.
Xenya’s eyes widened.
“It failed.”
Alyra looked at her.
Daniel coughed.
Blood.
“Whatever he’s doing,” Xenya said. “It failed.”
The Alpha approached.
Daniel braced his hand.
The distortion returned.
Disappeared.
Returned again.
Daniel raised his head.
The Alpha attacked.
One step.
This time Daniel was no longer there.
He appeared beside her neck.
Fist.
The Alpha roared.
Daniel turned.
So did she.
Claw.
Daniel tried to move aside.
Nothing.
The blow shook his torso.
He fell.
“He can’t control it,” Vega said.
Melisa was watching Daniel’s breathing.
The blood.
The shoulder.
The way he kept trying to stand.
“Then he has to stop.”
Vega did not answer.
“Vega.”
“I know.”
“Then make him stop!”
Vega raised her voice.
“Daniel!”
Nothing.
“Daniel!”
He braced a knee.
He did not turn.
He did not answer.
Melisa understood.
“He can’t hear us.”
The Alpha.
Daniel.
The Alpha.
Nothing else.
Daniel stood up again.
The Alpha feinted.
Daniel reacted.
She changed direction.
One step.
Daniel’s outline seemed to shift.
The Alpha did not attack where he was.
She attacked beyond it.
Daniel appeared there.
The paw struck him.
He fell onto his side.
The Alpha did not come in immediately.
She waited.
Watched.
Alyra swallowed.
“She knows where to look for him now.”
Vega tightened her jaw.
Daniel stood up.
Again.
Blood fell from his face.
One drop.
Another.
The Alpha advanced.
Daniel took a step.
This time he appeared too close.
The Alpha could not complete the blow.
Daniel collided with her body.
His right hand found something in the mud.
Metal.
He closed his fingers.
An A.R.E.
The one he had lost.
The blade was damaged.
Daniel raised it.
The Alpha attacked.
Metal against claw.
The impact shook Daniel’s right arm.
The large claw became trapped between the damaged blade and a rock.
The Alpha pulled.
Daniel did not let go.
The background behind his hand shifted.
The blade seemed to bend.
No.
The rock.
No.
Something between them.
CRACK.
The A.R.E. broke.
Something spun through the air.
Fell into the water.
A claw.
Large.
Broken off at the base.
The Alpha recoiled violently.
Blood on her paw.
Daniel was left with half a hilt in his hand.
He let it go.
He did not even look at what had happened.
The Alpha roared.
Xenya raised her daggers slightly.
Iskander opened his eyes on the ground.
Serrano turned his head.
Vega stayed motionless.
The Alpha looked at her paw.
Then at Daniel.
There was no A.R.E.
There was nobody between them.
The Alpha advanced.
So did Daniel.
Claw.
Daniel moved aside.
Fist.
The Alpha dodged.
Another claw.
The distance seemed to change.
It missed.
Daniel went in.
A blow.
Flank.
The Alpha responded.
Daniel took it in the torso.
Fell.
He stood up.
The Alpha came back.
Daniel took a step.
Nothing.
Impact.
On the ground again.
Melisa shook her head.
“He can’t go on.”
Xenya tightened her grip on the daggers.
“We know.”
Daniel braced his hand.
Pushed.
His right arm trembled.
The left was still motionless.
One knee.
Up.
The Alpha was breathing with her mouth open.
Blood on her flank.
An injured paw.
One claw missing.
Daniel:
one eye closed.
Blood covering part of his face.
One shoulder out of action.
No A.R.E.
Both motionless.
The other canids stopped moving.
The Alpha lowered her body.
Daniel did not change his stance.
She charged.
Xenya took a step.
“Daniel…”
Five metres.
Four.
Three.
Daniel was still motionless.
Two.
The faint distortion around his body changed.
Until then it had trembled.
Appeared.
Disappeared.
Now it clung to him.
To the arm.
To the fist.
The background behind his knuckles shifted.
One metre.
Silence.
Daniel threw his fist forward.
There was no light.
There was no discharge.
There was no explosion.
His arm travelled the distance of a normal punch.
The Alpha was still too far away.
The fist connected.
The Alpha’s body was flung away.
Across the stream bed.
Earth.
Stones.
Vegetation.
A rock broke under the impact.
The animal rolled.
Again.
Until she stopped.
Silence.
Daniel stayed with his arm extended.
Xenya did not move.
Neither did Alyra.
Iskander watched without blinking.
Serrano had stopped trying to sit up.
Melisa froze.
Vega looked at Daniel.
Then at the distance between him and the place where the Alpha had fallen.
She said nothing.
Daniel lowered his arm.
The distortion trembled one last time.
Disappeared.
“Daniel…” Xenya whispered.
He did not answer.
Something moved in the vegetation.
Xenya raised the daggers.
The other canids turned.
The Alpha appeared.
Slowly.
One paw.
Then another.
Limping.
Breathing.
Blood.
Her flank rose and fell too fast.
One paw barely bore weight.
Part of her fur was covered in mud.
Alive.
Daniel did not move.
Neither did the Alpha.
They looked at each other.
One of Daniel’s eyes.
Both of hers.
The Alpha raised her muzzle slightly.
Breathed in.
Daniel remained in front.
Blood.
Mud.
Motionless.
The Alpha took a step back.
Then another.
One of the canids moved towards Daniel.
The Alpha made a low sound.
The animal stopped.
The Alpha kept looking at Daniel.
A moment longer.
Then turned.
A canid followed her.
Another.
Then the rest.
None attacked.
Daniel kept looking towards the trees.
The last outline disappeared.
Xenya slowly lowered the daggers.
“Daniel.”
Nothing.
He looked at his right hand.
Opened his fingers.
Closed them.
His legs gave way.
Xenya moved.
Reached him before he hit the ground.
“DANIEL!”
She held him on his right side.
Daniel did not react.
“Melisa!”
Melisa was already running.
“Lay him down! Now!”
“The shoulder…”
“Don’t pull the left one!”
Xenya changed her grip.
They lowered him.
Melisa placed two fingers against his neck.
“Pulse.”
Daniel breathed.
Very little.
“Daniel.”
Nothing.
Melisa examined the eye he could open.
Then looked at the wound on the other side.
“I need supplies.”
The technician reacted.
“I’ve got some.”
“Bring them.”
Xenya was still kneeling.
Her hands covered in blood.
“Is he…?”
“He’s alive.”
Xenya closed her eyes.
Just for a second.
“Press here.”
Xenya placed her hand.
“Like this?”
“Higher up.”
“Like this?”
“Yes.”
Melisa looked at the shoulder.
The chest.
The head.
“Fuck, Daniel…”
Engines.
This time they were not far away.
Lights passed through the trees.
Voices.
“A.E.E.!”
“Medical team!”
“Contact located!”
The technician raised an arm.
“Here!”
The first operators came down into the stream bed.
Then the medics.
They stopped for just an instant.
The scene spoke for itself.
Damaged trees.
Displaced rocks.
Blood.
A.R.E. remains.
Marks in the stream bed.
Vega on the ground.
Serrano on a stretcher.
Iskander unable to stand.
Alyra resting on one knee.
Xenya covered in mud, blood and marks from blows.
Melisa bent over Daniel.
Daniel unconscious.
“Medical priority,” one of those in charge ordered. “Triage and extraction!”
Two medics went straight towards Vega.
“Operator Vega.”
She nodded.
“Side. Knee.”
Another team reached Serrano.
“Operator Serrano. We have your leg injury on record.”
“How thoughtful.”
“Serrano,” Vega said.
“What?”
“Shut up.”
The team leader approached them both.
“The E-47 deployment retains you as joint command.”
“Correct,” Vega replied.
“I need a preliminary situation report.”
Serrano looked towards the forest.
“Pack withdrawing.”
“Alpha?”
“Alive,” Vega said. “Injured. She withdrew with them.”
The leader looked at the stream bed.
The trail.
The blood.
“Fatalities?”
“None confirmed.”
“Injured?”
Vega looked at the group.
“Everyone.”
The man surveyed the scene.
“What happened?”
Silence.
Xenya was still pressing Daniel’s wound where Melisa had told her.
Alyra looked towards them.
Iskander raised his head slightly.
Serrano watched Vega.
Vega looked at Daniel.
Then at Xenya.
The leader followed the Alpha’s blood trail.
“I need to know what intervention caused the withdrawal.”
Silence.
Xenya looked at Daniel.
Then at her daggers.
Alyra looked at her.
And understood.
So did Vega.
“Voltris intervention,” Vega said.
Xenya raised her eyes.
For a second she said nothing.
Serrano looked at Vega.
Then at Xenya.
“Under joint coordination,” he added.
The leader waited.
Xenya looked at Daniel again.
“Mine.”
Iskander closed his eyes.
Alyra lowered her gaze.
Melisa kept working.
Nobody corrected Xenya.
The leader made a note.
“Outcome?”
Vega answered.
“Alpha injured. Pack withdrawal.”
“Only Voltris?”
“No,” Serrano said. “Joint engagement.”
Vega nodded.
“The whole team.”
The leader looked at the state they were in.
It did not seem hard to believe.
“We’ll go through the details at base.”
“Yes,” Vega replied.
The medics began preparing the evacuation.
“Stretcher here.”
“I need immobilisation for the shoulder.”
“Iskander can’t walk.”
“Neither can Vega.”
“Serrano is ready.”
“Alyra, can you stay sitting up?”
“Yes.”
“Xenya.”
She did not answer.
“Xenya.”
“Yes.”
“We need to move him.”
She looked at Daniel.
“All right.”
Melisa stood to make room.
Then she saw something in the water.
Metal.
Part of the broken A.R.E.
And beside it:
something curved.
Dark.
Melisa approached.
Crouched.
Picked it up.
A claw.
Broken off at the base.
Blood still on it.
Xenya saw it.
“Is it…?”
Melisa looked towards the forest.
Then at Daniel.
“Yes.”
Xenya looked at the claw.
Then at the A.R.E. remains.
She said nothing.
Melisa opened an equipment bag.
Put the recoverable pieces of the weapon inside.
Then the claw.
Closed it.
“It goes with his things.”
Xenya nodded.
Daniel was placed on the stretcher.
Left arm immobilised.
Oxygen.
Bandage around his head and face.
Some of the blood was still visible.
Xenya walked beside him until a medic raised a hand.
“I need room.”
She moved aside.
One step.
Nothing more.
Alyra passed with another operator’s help.
She looked at Xenya.
Xenya looked at her.
Neither spoke.
Iskander was lifted by two people.
“I hate stretchers.”
Alyra turned her head slightly.
“Shut up.”
Iskander closed his eyes.
“All right.”
Serrano went out next.
Vega behind.
Even from the stretchers they argued over which of them should be evacuated first.
The medics ignored them both.
The vehicle started.
Daniel did not move.
Melisa was still beside him.
Monitor.
Oxygen.
Bandages.
Xenya opposite.
Alyra beside her.
Iskander secured on another stretcher.
For several seconds:
nobody spoke.
Xenya looked at her hand.
A spark appeared between her fingers.
Straight.
Brief.
Familiar.
She extinguished it.
Alyra was the first.
“We all saw it.”
Xenya looked up.
Iskander opened his eyes.
Melisa kept working.
“Not now.”
“Melisa…”
“I said not now.”
Silence.
A few seconds passed.
Melisa finished adjusting the bandage.
Looked at the monitor.
Then at Daniel.
Alyra spoke more quietly.
“Was that Ether?”
Melisa did not answer.
Xenya looked at Daniel’s face.
“I don’t know what it was.”
Alyra swallowed.
“But it wasn’t any House.”
Iskander closed his eyes.
“And he’s still…”
He did not finish.
Nobody needed him to.
Daniel remained unconscious.
Beside his stretcher:
a broken A.R.E.
A claw from the Alpha.
And somewhere in the A.E.E.,
his file still said exactly the same thing.
RESERVE: 0
FLOW: 0
CONTROL: 0
SYNCHRONY: 0
ZERO.
CUT TO BLACK.
END OF EPISODE 22 — DISTANCE