Divine Awakening

Tripwire marched quickly to the board, rubbing his hands in anticipation.

Izzy had long since decided the man was insane. She guessed his age to be around twenty-seven and she considered his survival a near statistical impossibility.

Tripwire actually enjoyed this activity, making him easily the worst adrenaline junky Izzy had ever met. She didn’t like thrill seekers.

Izzy had dated a rock climber her freshman year in college, but it hadn’t lasted—for obvious reasons. Rock climbing ranked right under motorcycles for the dumbest and most preventable ways to die. Even if Death came for everyone, why—

That thought gave Izzy pause as she recalled the actual appearance of Death in the sky above Alexandria. Death. Literally a mere five hundred miles away. Death, Famine, and what many believed was the god Ra. The Pit had turned the world upside down and she’d voluntarily left her family to get closer.

Izzy wondered how her family was doing—and how they’d dealt with her disappearance. She regretted not gathering enough courage to tell them her plans to come here. She’d been terrified her family, especially her dad, wouldn't let her.

How could Izzy explain what was happening to her? Or that she needed to be here?

They deserved better though. It didn't make sense that she could muster the courage to face the Pit and too cowardly to tell her family about her decision.

Tripwire let out another whoop and rubbed his hands together in excitement. He had a rugged, practical build and a lot of restless energy. He loved talking about bombs, explosives, and prepping for the collapse of society, and he probably hadn’t stopped smiling since the Pit appeared. His hands were both scarred from some past act of insanity, and he wore a utility belt full of half-hidden metal contraptions and items he could use to rebuild civilization.

Tripwire placed a finger from each hand into the “circle of trust” and kept them there until Nomad turned off the small generator.

Nomad shook his head in disbelief before nodding toward the rear of the apparatus.

Izzy calculated a zero percent probability Tripwire would pee himself in round three.

Tripwire turned and grinned at Wiki. “You ready, kid?”

Wiki, on the other hand, was almost sure to lose control of his bladder, and Izzy resisted the urge to once again complain to the Captain about having a fourteen-year-old kid on their team.

Wiki had spent enough of his early life in India to retain his accent. Despite his age, he carried an aura of maturity probably reflective of his expertise in ancient languages, the paranormal, and the occult. His thick black hair fell over the deep brown skin of his forehead like a waterfall. His large dark eyes usually sparkled with curiosity and intelligence, but now they betrayed his fear.

Izzy liked talking with Wiki as the boy had the best stories. He lived for ancient mysteries and the supernatural. His lean frame and slightly hunched posture betrayed a lifetime of studies and little time outside. The uniform hung loosely on him.

Like always, Izzy hoped Nomad would let Wiki skip this torture.

Nomad looked on impassively though, and Wiki sighed. To the boy’s credit, he got it over quickly, and a single high-pitched screech later, round one had ended. Now they’d need to do it all over again.

Nomad stood, and everyone focused on the team leader.

"I feel like none of you are listening to me. Here, let me demonstrate how it’s done. Wiki, did you activate a new location?"

Wiki nodded, his eyes wide. Izzy mirrored that surprise as Nomad had never taken part in this activity.

"Great." Nomad glanced up and down the line as if making sure he had everyone's attention.

Nomad faced his own contraption and reached out a hand, but he hesitated a few inches from one of the holes and turned around to face everyone again.

"I would like to utilize my right to ask a person for advice."

Nomad walked down the line, meeting each person's gaze. Everyone had the same confused look as obviously none of them could help.

Nomad stepped away from them and turned to the rear of the hangar where Captain Riegel and the newcomer sat.

"Shamrock, can you tell me which one of these is safe?"

Now Izzy could stare at Shamrock without embarrassment. Everyone's attention focused on the man sitting slouched next to the captain.

Once again, Izzy felt the mental pressure when she tried to force icons to appear, and she quit before giving herself a migraine.

Shamrock stood and made his way toward Nomad. He moved like a predator, a combination of grace and coiled energy.

The sound of Shamrock's sandals slapping the concrete of the hangar blended with the electric hum of the generator. As he passed, Izzy detected no icons, but the temperature dropped by twenty degrees, and she shivered.

Along with the cold, Izzy felt dread. Not from Shamrock himself, but from something he carried. Or maybe something that followed him. It felt like death.

Shamrock didn't hesitate and pointed to a hole that looked just like all the others.

Nomad immediately placed his finger in the hole, and for the first time, the generator didn't change its pitch.

Everyone turned to stare at Shamrock.

Nomad removed his finger and cleared his throat. "Oh, where are my manners? This is Shamrock, and he’s the squad leader of team two. I guess it's only fair that he joins us in our activity. Let me set it up."

Everyone continued to stare at Shamrock, who didn't seem to care about all the attention. He remained focused on the circle of trust, and a moment later, Nomad reappeared.

"It's ready," Nomad said.

Shamrock turned from the board and gave Nomad a wry smile.

"They’re all active," Shamrock stated flatly.

Nomad did a terrible job of acting surprised. "What? Really? Let me check."

Ten seconds later, Nomad reappeared. "My sincere apologies, Shamrock. I removed the clip, but it fell back onto the contact."

"No harm done," Shamrock responded as he stepped forward and placed his finger in one of the holes.

Once again, the generator didn't react.

Nomad tapped his chin in thought and glanced between the team and Shamrock. His gaze landed on Shamrock. “It just occurred to me that your late arrival kept you from our fun little game all week, which seems a little unfair. You want to take those turns now? Say…twenty.”

Izzy’s eyes bulged. Could someone even survive getting shocked like that twenty times?

Shamrock shrugged.

“At ease,” Nomad said, and everyone immediately dispersed into small groups.

Nomad snapped his fingers, “Oh, we need to fix this first,” and stepped over to the generator, which he dialed up to six.

The odds of not getting shocked twenty times in a row when confronted with a thousand choices sprung into Izzy’s mind.

Wiki stepped past Patch and touched Izzy’s elbow. “What are those odds?”

Izzy turned to the boy and whispered back. “Take all the grains of sand on earth. Now times that a billion billion billion times.”

“So you’re saying he has a chance,” Wiki said with a grin. “I’m so relieved. Literally. I thought I’d be the first person to wet themselves playing this game, but he’ll piss himself for sure. Hopefully he doesn’t lose control of his lower intestine, because—”

Patch pulled Wiki away. “Boundaries, Wiki. Remember. Too much detail.”

Nomad disappeared behind the contraption, and then his head reappeared.

“Hey Shamrock, since we’re short on time, let’s do this in a minute. I’ll disable a different contact around every three seconds. Sound good?”

“Sure.”

Izzy felt sorry for Shamrock. Varying the time a contact remained safe to touch increased the difficulty by an incomprehensible amount. It was impossible, which made her wonder if Nomad and Shamrock were cooperating somehow.

Brainwave had the same thought. “This scenario is impossible. You obviously have some method of communicating the correct location.”

Brainwave stepped into Shamrock’s personal space and studied the newcomer’s eyes and ears. “Take your sandals off.”

Shamrock didn’t hesitate and removed them, displaying the bottom of his feet to prove he hadn’t hidden any secret devices there.

“Yes,” Shamrock said to Brainwave.

Brainwave looked confused. “Yes, what?”

“You can blindfold me. I could tell you wanted to suggest it but feared overstepping in such an unfamiliar situation. I’m telling you it’s fine.”

Izzy could see Shamrock’s comment shook Brainwave, but the Mentalist recovered and asked Stitch for a roll of gauze.

“How is he going to see the holes?” Izzy said loudly, speaking before her brain could shut her up.

Brainwave smiled at Izzy. “He offered. It’s his problem.”

Shamrock gave Izzy a long look and then nodded in thanks. He took the gauze from Nomad’s medic. He quickly wrapped his eyes and ears with the entire roll.

Izzy lost her balance within moments of closing her eyes, and she didn’t know how Shamrock stood so confidently.

Nomad disappeared behind the contraption again. “Let me know when you’re ready to go, Shamrock.”

Shamrock turned and stepped up to the wheel like he could see perfectly fine. “Ready.”

Almost immediately Shamrock stuck his right index finger in a hole a foot above and to the right. As soon as he removed it, he stuck his left finger in another. Izzy didn’t understand how he could find the holes so easily despite being blindfolded, let alone keep from getting shocked.

Eleven correct choices later, Shamrock stopped, and ten painful seconds passed. Izzy thought she might scream from the tension as time ticked away. Then a choice, as he quickly knelt and stuck a finger in a hole near the floor. Another five seconds passed before Shamrock chose again. Then eight more times in the same number of seconds.

Nomad reappeared. “Great, now that Shamrock’s caught up, let’s start round two.”

Shamrock unwrapped the gauze from his head as the line reformed and stuck the bandage in his pocket. Then he strode over and got in line behind her and in front of Stitch. It meant he already knew their callsigns.

How could Shamrock act so nonchalant? Didn’t he know he’d just done the impossible.

No one spoke as Babble strode to the “circle of trust.” She turned and looked Shamrock up and down approvingly. "Any advice?"

Shamrock pointed and directed her with clear instructions.

After a brief pause, Babble stuck her finger in the hole.

Nothing happened for three seconds, and then Babble clapped her hands in joy before striding over to Shamrock and hugging him.

Izzy felt a little alarmed that Babble’s action bothered her. Why would she care if the translator hugged Shamrock? Surprisingly, Babble’s display caused Shamrock to look uncomfortable for the first time.

And so it went with Shamrock unerringly directing each person to the only safe location on the board. When they finished the third round, Izzy calculated the statistical probability of guessing the correct hole almost forty times in a row to be around one in ten to the power of one hundred seventeen. Far more than the number of atoms in the Universe.

Either Shamrock and Nomad had some type of system that despite Brainwave’s precautions, informed Shamrock of the correct location, or Shamrock truly was the luckiest person on earth.

Whatever the case, Izzy felt immense gratitude toward Shamrock, and it looked like everyone else did as well.

The generator vibrated with stored energy from the dial being cranked to level 10 for the entire third round. Only Nomad remained.

Nomad turned to Shamrock and asked the same question everyone else had. "Which one of these is safe?"

For the first time, Shamrock didn't immediately respond. Instead, he stepped out of line and studied the two teams.

"He's been doing this to you for over a week?"

"Yes," Syntax responded immediately. "He's a monster."

Shamrock nodded in thought before turning back to Nomad.

"Well, I'm sure he knew what he was doing," Shamrock said as he pointed to one of the thousand holes.

Nomad narrowed his eyes at Shamrock.

"What?" Shamrock asked. "You wanted my advice, and there it is."

Nomad stared at Shamrock for another three seconds before slowly nodding and stepping up to the circle of trust.

The squad leader of team one paused for a moment before sticking his finger in the hole identified by Shamrock.

The generator moaned as a surge of current passed through it.

Two things etched themselves into Izzy's memory.

The mischievous smile on Shamrock and the glorious scream of Nomad as he convulsed for three seconds before the electricity caused him to black out.