Chapter 293: Lunch and a recap with the Field Guides
The class ended shortly thereafter, leaving Brent, Esper Blake and Kellen alone. Brent wouldn’t let Kellen not eat, and practically dragged him to the cafeteria and put Esper Blake to good use. He even recruited another Esper in the line at the cafeteria to carry a few trays of food for them as well, and when Brent, Kellen and Esper Blake sat down, they had so much food piled in front of them that Kellen wasn’t sure that they were going to be able to speak and eat within the small amount of time they were given.
"You look thin. I know you’ve been packing it away even with all of your duties, so eat. I’ll make Esper Blake tell me about what happened. I intentionally avoided t.v.s so that I could actually focus on the class, but you saw how well that went." Brent told him, his lips smiling, but his eyes serious. Kellen flinched. Yikes.
"Uh, Esper Blake might be-" Kellen started but Brent shoved a fork towards him.
"I don’t care. I’ll hear your excuses after." He frowned at that. They were not excuses. They were the truth. Esper Blake was going to be biased, especially after having gone through a traumatic experience like this, twice.
Brent didn’t want to hear it, and turned towards Esper Blake as she nervously played with her hair.
"Well? You start from the beginning. Kellen and I need to eat, so don’t mind us." She nodded, nervous, as Kellen set up his plates in order, grabbing a napkin, and he glanced at Brent. Brent hadn’t set up shit, and was digging into his food already. Kellen followed suit, and Esper Blake was clearly shocked by their behaviour, but began speaking.
"Well, we had a plan put into place. Captain Sakura would be the guard on the left side, and would step onto the podium first. I would remain behind and keep an eye on everything else while Kellen stayed at the right podium. I think the press part went well. Guide Woods and Captain Sakura’s words were quite impactful, and I noticed quite a few members of the crowd enjoyed what, or resonated with what they were saying." Esper Blake took a sip of her drink.
"The whole time they were speaking, the security team was silently taking out any threats that popped up until shortly after they were finished speaking, a threat made themselves known. Guide Woods took it upon himself to shoot them from the stage. I don’t know how he made the shot, but he did, and they didn’t die either. The security team secured them, but things took a turn after that."
"The crowd was apparently filled with protesters. For what, I still don’t know. I was focused on getting Guide Woods to safety, and even then, I failed. We had someone betray us on the D.E.C. side, and they approached too quickly with their weapon drawn for my powers to be of any use." She swallowed thickly, her eyes hard as she stared down at the plate of food before her. Brent and Kellen said nothing, letting her finish.