While others were out getting a scope out of the grounds, the fighting unit stayed back most of the time. Thirteen made them so. Five would prefer curling up in bed all day, but she had to drag her ass to the hall. Having divided the massive room into four, Thirteen closed off the quarter closest to Fourteen's conservatory and claimed it was for their simulations. He moved the multipurpose tables closer to the countertops and trashed the file cabinets. And he did this at the first hour of daylight, shaking the entire section awake. Even Twenty, the heaviest sleeper of them all—he literally slept like the dead—stomped out of his room complaining about the noise.

Thirteen gathered them into the closed-off space, which he decorated with unsightly lengths of frayed twine he found lying elsewhere, and started going off about developing their abilities and fighting as a tight unit.

"That's what Section H has been faulting us for," Thirteen said, his pacing igniting Five's nausea. "We have been entering counters without preparation and teamwork. Each of you should know each other's weak points and your cards to play."

Five almost rolled her eyes. They didn't deserve a lecture this early in the morning. Without a proper cup of cocoa, Thirteen's words flew by her head. The same case was evident in the others, especially One. The only one intently listening was Two. That kid, being the youngest of them all, had an impressionable mind. He probably thought Thirteen was an infallible god just by being an asshole and smarter than an average boy.

"Fifteen," Thirteen said, gesturing to the girl. Her ability involved telekinesis, giving her some degree of control over physical systems and select forces. "What happens when you make objects float with your ability?"

An uncertain look flashed across the girl's face. "I...minimize the attraction between objects and the environment and make them seem weightless," she said. "Isn't that what telekinesis is?"

Without explaining to everyone else what he meant, he had Fifteen stand in the center and told her, "Telekinesis is just one aspect of your ability," he said. "You can minimize attraction, but have you tried increasing it?"

It seemed to ring a bell with Fifteen, but for Five, it was nothing but a lump of nonsense. Shouldn't they be the ones who knew their ability the most? Why was Thirteen coaching them about it? Because Fifteen wasn't the only one who got notes from him. Back when Five was practicing swinging her blades and imagining Section H's Electric Blade at the receiving end, Thirteen popped up and asked her, "What is the average speed of you regrowing your hair? Does it take a significant amount of energy, both in growing it and manipulating its structure?"

Five would have scoffed and told him to muck off, but she felt bad for the guy. Maybe he just wanted to help and not knowing what to do with that desire. "About sixteen to thirty seconds, I would have about here," she said, tapping the side of her palm against her side to illustrate the length of hair. "That's enough for a lump of metal capable of molding a small dagger, a gun, or that metal pot."

"As for energy..." She tapped a hand on her chin, searching the ceiling for an answer she hasn't really thought of before. "I think my limit lies on having no sleep and food for a day. The growth slows down significantly. Somewhere in the thirty seconds to a full minute range? And well, think of growing hair at an accelerated pace as exhausting as walking a mile to shed weight or something."

"Biking?" Thirteen prodded. A strange subconscious thought, but perhaps, he had something to do with the activity before the Game. "Have you tried controlling other than your hair? Or perhaps made something to alter your own cells? We might have another Three if you kept at it. Might be useful in the coming counters too."

That was stranger than his biking comment, but Five tucked it at the back of her mind. Since then, Thirteen spent every non-counter day training everyone who wished to develop their ability, but he solely focused on Fifteen. He seemed to have found an interest in her ability, and aimed to unlock something with it. There were times when he would pair them up and have them battle it out or another combative comrade. He would always take notes, his eyes flying across the pages after every mock match. The mutterings never made sense, but they were a staple.

Five understood the boy's added efforts. More than running out of things to tinker with in the command center, he was bothered by how tight-knit Section H was when it came to counters. They had plans, and their units moved independently from their leaders. Thirteen wasn't doing this out of concern or the goodness of his heart. It was because he needed to understand their enemy before he devised a way to defeat them on their own board.

She wasn't keen on asking around, but she heard enough talks about playing cards from those who took Thirteen's training seriously. What was that about? She should've asked, because now, at the counter where they could lose their lives to Karrel and her goons, the same thing gurgled out of the comms in the form of Thirteen's voice.

"Play the card!"

Three words, and Fifteen leaped into the center of the fray, spread her hands, and let out a guttural scream. Everyone from Section H crashed to the ground, struggling to fight the heavy force pinning them down. They succeeded just by squirming. The card. This was what Thirteen was talking about. Fifteen's hidden use of her ability. And for Five...

Use her hair on her own body.

"Thirty!" Fifteen yelled through gritted teeth. Thirty what? Hours? Minutes? No. Judging by how contorted Fifteen's face had become...seconds. They have thirty seconds.

Five gripped a fistful of strands and snipped it. She wrapped it around her bleeding wrist and, with a great deal of pain, caused it to connect to the ruptured veins, nerves, and flesh. Black spots bloomed in her vision, and she bit her scream back. A groan echoed from her lips as she straightened, her work done.

Fifteen a few inches off Karrel with bared teeth. Her lips moved, but no words came out. Not enough time. Five lunged forward, reaching the first person in the line. She stabbed down, her dagger plunging into the poison boy's gut. Karrel shrieked, fighting against Fifteen's ability to no avail. How many more seconds...?

A column of fire streaked across the sky, landing on another guy Five had never noticed before. Whatever his ability was, it didn't matter. Karrel still had one less person. Fve was about to move to Electric Blade when the counter's monotone halted, plunging the world in irreverent silence.

"Go!" Five ordered the others, not looking back to see if they followed. Fifteen plopped to the ground, bleeding from both nostrils. Five clicked her tongue as she circled the girl's arm around her shoulders and dragged her across the field. What did Thirteen make her do?

It was only when they steered clear of Section O's territory did Five look back. Karrel didn't follow them. Relief flooded her system, no matter how temporary it was. Temporary, because In the next counter, Thirteen better be ready to face an enemy he knew nothing about. And Five didn't like it—with the price to pay being her life.

The cushions of his seat dug against his back, but even that was uncomfortable now. He had stared at the screens for far too long. His eyes deserved rest. But who was he kidding? He wouldn't. Rest wasn't going to pave their way towards the end, and with the counters happening more frequently than ever, they had to be prepared for all possibilities.

With the number of enemies dwindling from all sides, it pitted him closer and closer to Section H. If he wouldn't find a hole in their system now, he might never have the chance to. So, after Five and the others made it inside the building and it was certain most of them would live, he retreated to the command center and pored through the battle logs he recorded through the pins he made the fighting unit wear.

As per protocol, they surrendered the pins to him, and he hooked them into his private system. He collated every angle of the same battle, and parsed together a coherent shot-by-shot retelling of what went down. Personal reports took time, and with Ten's death, it would take longer to get them to talk. Best to resort to these means and save everyone the heartache.

As the screens displayed him a well-rounded view of the clearing of Section O's headquarters, Thirteen wheeled his cushioned chair back and crossed his arms over his chest. He watched a metal dart pierce the leader's neck just as Five was talking. That rude metal boy disrupted an essential negotiation. Now, Section O was scattered, and if Thirteen wanted to retrieve their chips, he had to track them one by one before Karrel got to them.

Then, Section H paid his comrades a visit. From the scowl on Karrel's face and the dark cloud passing across it, she still hasn't gotten over Thirteen's provocation. Worse, she seemed to latch onto it, tunneling her perspective and goals to nothing but bringing him down. He might have miscalculated her relationship with that girl, the one who saved her from Fourteen's bullet. It was good riddance, but a shame when Karrel walked away alive. They had one that one chance in taking out the most dangerous variable in the equation, and they mucked it up.

As expected, this has turned and bit their asses in the worst way possible.

He chewed on his lip as he watched both sections clash, abilities and weapons flashing against each other. His eyes trained towards Karrel's lithe form, following her movements through the grainy images playing on the screen. She was tall. Five should learn a thing or two from her. Karrel's blond hair bounced against her back in loose curls as she pummeled Thirteen's comrades.

Five's screen showed her somewhere with Ikerne, the one with electric blades on his arms, and with Verez, giving Thirteen a quick overview of the second-in-command's ability. The fool explained it himself. He could look into the different possibilities in the future, seconds at a time. Watching Five and Verez's metallic altercation, it couldn't have been longer than six seconds, since he didn't see one of Five's feints to parry it. A small detail. They might have both missed it, but everything was clear to Thirteen. His ability only lasted six seconds in the future.

And then, Five used her injured hand to attack Verez. So, the ability relied on logic, bias, and judgment too. He didn't think Five or anyone would dare use an injured limb. Pain was a natural deterrent, and believing that was his downfall.

Then, Five's lens pointed away from Verez and settled to where Karrel drove her sword into Ten. Thirteen switched perspectives and used Twelve's. The girl was somewhere on the opposite side, keeping Abelle, the girl with enhanced agility, at bay. She would whirl every once in a while, giving Thirteen a glimpse of how it went with Karrel and Ten.

Both women clashed, but Ten's characteristic determination was present. With enhanced strength being one of the abilities that couldn't be turned off, she should have had more confidence in her capabilities. Instead, confusion pushed her eyebrows together. When she tried to parry Karrel's sword or push the rival leader away, she succeeded in nothing but a weak shove and a limp swing. Was Ten poisoned? Farzad was capable of doing that. But...when did he approach her?

Thirteen screened through the videos, rewinding and reviewing each frame. Farzad was occupied with One who aimed at doing nothing but burning his face off for poisoning her last time. There wasn't a moment when he approached Ten.

So, why was her ability working against her against Karrel?

Thirteen narrowed his eyes, flitting through Twelve's feed long after Karrel threw Ten's body aside. The girl screamed with anger he didn't understand and lunged towards the leader. Their clash was short. Karrel didn't flinch when Twelve delivered her sonic blast. Instead, the frame wobbled and skewed. Twelve could be heard whimpering in the background for some reason. When she arrived, blood ran down her ears, so maybe it had something to do with that?

Twelve, in her pain-ridden haze, turned to the sky just in time for Karrel to show up from the edge of the screen, bearing her sword. Thirteen hit the key on his board to pause. There. Even if it was sharp and noisy, the image betrayed the truth. Karrel wasn't using an ability, even as she went for the kill. He switched screens and perspectives, from Five's to Fifteen's to One's. He halted the images at the right moments. The truth couldn't be clearer now.

When heading to counters, Karrel wasn't using an ability. Or maybe it was something she couldn't turn off, like Ten's. Thirteen had never seen the strong girl's eyes with the characteristic flash either.

Thirteen twined his fingers together, resting his chin over them. His forefinger tapped his jaw, his thoughts racing. A plan started forming in his head. Karrel might have a lot more in common with him than she was aware of. Interesting.

It was time to have a conversation.