New Eden: Live to Play, Play to Live

"This isn\'t certain, though. We can\'t go thinking like this," David said, trying to rid his mind of that thought.

"Yeah, I\'ve been telling myself that for the last few days. But my mind just won\'t let the matter rest. I\'m scared I may have made things so much worse for humanity simply by being forceful…"

David shook his head.

"C\'mon, wolfy. Even if you have, it\'s not like humanity is already better off in terms of strength. I\'m so much stronger now than I was last time, and you are leagues above what you ended like. That is, without counting all the others awakened that follow you,

"If you really did create the worst monster in existence, then at least you can say you redeem yourself by being a beacon of strength that can protect the people, no?" David said, trying to give him a silver lining.

Alex scoffed lightly, unsure he deserved a silver lining. If he had really sent a bitter Solomon through time, and given him the tools to go after Gaius, even if it meant sacrificing a few worlds on the way, wouldn\'t he bear all those deaths on his shoulders?

The thought alone was enough to make his body slump forward a bit.

Looking at the table, David erased the charts, knowing there was no point in explaining magic circles anymore. Alex wouldn\'t be a good audience, and all the information would land on deaf ears.

He brought back the briefing notes that he had out earlier and looked at the downtrodden Alex with a tired smile.

"Go get some rest. Korea is on an inverted clock from ours, and we will probably get there early morning tomorrow for them. Right now is probably our only chance to catch a few Zs."

Alex nodded, his mind heavy with the possibility of what he had done. As he was leaving, though, David\'s voice reached out to him.

"And Alex."

He turned his head halfway, barely enough to see David in the corner of his eye.

"The reason I didn\'t reach out to them is because I don\'t need them. I died a year into the final invasion, which is about a year and a half from now, by the original timeline. And even at that point, those powerhouses were only scratching the ceiling of power you already wield. Nôv(el)B\\\\jnn

"Even with the knowledge I have now, I wouldn\'t have made them as strong as you or me. The moment you displayed powers on this side of the veil, I knew they were not a part of this equation."

Without responding, Alex continued back to the front of the plane, where the passenger area was, but his mind felt slightly lighter.

In most cases, David might not be the nicest person in the world or the best speaker. But today, he had proven he could at least still be a good friend.

Reaching his seat again, his morose air had vanished, and he looked relaxed. He may not be at peace, but he was at least no longer troubled by his thoughts of inadequacy.

Kary could tell the difference the moment he walked back into the passenger cabin. She smiled at him as he stopped next to her.

"He still has some uses as a person, even though he reeks of death," she commented, talking about David.

Alex chuckled in response.

"Did you get an estimated time of arrival from the pilot?" he asked.

Kary shook her head.

"I haven\'t gone back to the cabin since we lifted off. It actually surprises me she hasn\'t sent the kids back here already. I guess they must be behaving enough for her to tolerate them."

Alex snort-laughed, imagining Violette and Jonathan could behave. But he felt like Cory was much more impressionable.

"I\'ll go ask her. I think a bit of rest might be a good plan before we make it there, and I wouldn\'t want the young ones to feel exhausted if we go into battle," he said, walking further forward.

Alex assumed the worst already, in case they needed to act as soon as they landed. It was better to be prepared than to get there and be caught with their pants down.

Reaching the cabin door, Alex gave two light knocks before the door opened, and he saw inside the cockpit.

The amount of buttons, knobs, levers, and indicators was mind-numbing, as he stepped in slowly, taking in the sights of the clear blue sky above the clouds.

"Major. Do you have an estimated time of arrival in local time and trip duration for me?" he asked, keeping it professional.

"I do, sir. It\'ll take us a bit an estimated three hours to reach London, where we are picking up a few more people, as well as refuelling, before leaving for China, to pick up our last passenger before making our way to Jeju.

"After refuelling, we will be in London for about an hour before making our way to Wuhan, which will take us another approximately five hours. After another quick refuel stop, we pick up our last passenger, and then we\'re en route to Jeju.

"The last leg of the trip should take about an hour, since we will be practically here already. So, in total, with our two one-hour stops, we will be there in approximately eleven hours.

"Calculating that Korea is thirteen hours later than Montreal, where we left from, and that we left around ten o\'clock, we should get to Jeju at around the same time tomorrow, sir."

Alex was a bit frazzled by the amount of stops they had to take, but then again, he wouldn\'t have expected the plane to hold enough fuel for the entire trip, either.

"Would we have been able to do the trip in a single flight if we didn\'t have to stop anywhere?" he asked, out of curiosity.

But the pilot shook her head.

"Sadly, this plane doesn\'t hold enough fuel for that. But we could have limited our stops to one, or taken a mid-flight refuel, as this plane is capable of such. In the latter case, we wouldn\'t have to land at all, and taking the shortest route, the entire trip would have taken about six hours," she claimed.

Alex was impressed by how much shorter this could have been. But they needed to make those stops, regardless.

"Then I will go get some rest. If something happens, have someone wake me up," Alex said, before turning on his heels.

"Yes, sir," the pilot replied, thinking, \'As if there was anything you could do…\'

Returning to his seat, Alex repeated what he had been told, and tilted the seat back to take a nap. He wasn\'t particularly tired, but he figured a quick nap would distract his mind from the negative thoughts.

Boy, was he mistaken.