Athanasia: My Hacker System

"What do you want?"

John could have easily shrugged himself free from Natalie, yet he didn't do it until the two went all the way to the opposite side. Then he simply shrugged off and looked calmly at her.

And she returned the look with an alluring smile on her face.

"You know, trying to gain something that you once lost isn't going to work."

She kept her smile, yet her words carried another meaning.

"I don't want to see you waste your time like that, especially when someone like me is on your side."

She even tried to extend a hand and touch his hair and face, yet Silas took a timely step backwards.

"Do you think this is the right time to discuss such stuff?"

His face carried another meaning, a serious warning, one that Natalie didn't give heed to. She knew he would stand tall and resistant to her attempts, till a point he would break and fall into her arms.

So she didn't get dejected by such blatant rejection. Instead, her smile kept growing wider.

She knew she spoke the truth, and he didn't shout at her like before. That meant she was already making progress, and that was indeed something worth smiling for.

"Let's talk about why we are here then," she chuckled, before taking some sort of board out from her storage device, "this is the detailed map of the academy."

She pressed on the surface of the board, and it kicked into life the next instant. The board showed a three-dimensional map of the academy, showing the different departments, the surrounding wall, and even the various defences.

To John, this was literally the first time to see this map. Even when he thought about the upcoming battle, he never considered seeking such a map. But now he knew he oversaw a small detail that would make a great difference.

Seeing the genuinely surprised look on his face made Natalie's smile wider. She knew what she was doing, and she felt lucky no one was a step ahead of her in bringing this map to John.

Now she had shown him her strategic value, her abilities to solve problems, and even her careful attention to tiny details, like this map.

"Here is the Military department," she pointed at the centre of the entire academy. Not surprisingly, the Military Department took the heart of the academy, "and this should be our red line."

"You mean the place we need to keep safe no matter what?" John paused, without lifting his eyes off this valuable map, "But this is what we are going to do anyway, so why stress on it like that?"

"Cause at first we'll let the enemies roam freely inside the academy," she used the chance of his focus, and slowly moved to stand closer by his side. By the time she said her next words, her body was literally next to his, making the latter flinch and take a step to the side with a warning glance.

"And during this, from the first moment of the battle, we'll need to purge the department of any invaders. This is our red line, this should be our safest base of operation, or else we'll be hectic and meet lots of unexpected trouble."

"But I told you already," John rolled his eyes, "we can't showcase our real strength in front of the world. Our weapons are off limits…"

"As if you can only fight with weapons," she blinked, feigning surprise, before touching the muscles of John's arm, "I bet you are individually strong with all those muscles…"

John shrugged her uncomfortable touches away from his arm.

"And your unique abilities," she added with a smile, as she was feeling more elated with how things were progressing between the two of them, "I saw your fights over the Backup Team position, and I know you didn't show your real strength even before telling me about your insane stories."

She kept moving closer, and John carefully stepped away.

"Your point?" At some point, he grew fed up with her useless attempts.

"You should scatter and attack any enemy within the department here," she kept her beaming smile, "you should keep this department free of enemies using your abilities only. In our world, your abilities, regardless of how scary they are, are still within the accepted scope in Athanasia and won't attract any attention."

John fell into deep silence as he began to formulate a strategy based on what she said. Seeing how he reacted made her feel more satisfaction inside. As now, it seemed without John realising it, that he started to rely on her opinions and plans.

That was why she tried to separate him from others, as she was sure that if she tried to say any of that, others would step in, add more details, and this wouldn't be her sole achievement with John.

John, however, was busy thinking about one issue.

"But what if we faced a situation we can't handle using our abilities alone?" he turned to her as he added, "Something like bringing huge weapons or machines to destroy the department?"

"Well…" she intentionally paused, "I know you started taking this very seriously from the start. And I fully get it. After all you saw in that crazy experience you told me about, it's only logical that you will expect the worst. But…"

She took a step closer, just touched his arm, again, with a finger. And this time, weirdly, John didn't flinch or shove her away like always.

She wasn't surprised by that, as she knew what she was doing.

The point she was about to reveal, she noticed since the first moment John told her about the Pocket Trial and the New World major events. Yet she decided not to reveal it until the right moment, which was now.

"You overthought this entire conflict," she slowly said, while keeping only her nail moving on his skin, "you estimated the enemy would bring lots of scary weapons, use their unbelievable machines from the very start. Yet you overlooked one simple, yet crucial fact…"