Even the best-laid plans have the capacity to fail... Or so I poorly recall if that was how that proverb went. Still, it was the most basic rule of combat and any other activity that might require careful coordination to properly work. Theoretical plans will always never be the exact same in application as opposed to the drawing board; the same reason why battlefield tactics existed as opposed to grand strategy. Quick thinking was more important in the heat of battle, while logical analysis was more for the bigger picture in terms of massive wars between nations. Then again, we weren't really so much fighting as opposed to just being casual rebels right now, but I'd like to think that we were being decent enough that it'd actually work when things really start falling right into place.   Which was to say, was simply wishful thinking if I really took everything into account.  <

I watched as Livia wielded the piece of charcoal with a practiced proficiency. Scribbling on a part of the board that had little to no notes written on it, my sister seemed to have drawn something that wouldn't look too far out of place from an actual rune. Not that it was a known rune, I think, but from the way she punctuated it at the end, I'd think that it was more of a schematic than anything else. "There," Livia beamed at me as she placed her piece of charcoal down. "This will be a part of the solution." Raising an eyebrow, I trained my gaze on the seemingly finished schematic as I wracked my brain to even piece together what the damn thing even was. I knew that it wasn't a rune, not with the way that it seemed to overlap constantly over itself. The way it was presented made me think that it was like... a set of gears? "I haven't managed to ma

I have no idea what I'm doing. Well, I did, but I sure as hell wasn't confident in whatever half-baked plan my brain would ever come up with. While the logical part of me gave me some assurances in terms of probabilities and such, the pessimistic part of my brain would never stop nagging me about that one critical part that could end up causing a catastrophic failure. Then again, when had I ever not thought about the possibility of failure in every single thing I've done? That was just the way my depressed brain worked, I guess; making me a nervous wreck most of the time. Would it have helped if I actually had some semblance of positivity in me? Probably. Unfortunately, I was pretty fucking stubborn in terms of refusing to change. "So, are we all in agreement?" In the grand scheme of things, my strange obsession about m

Minutes passed. Then an hour, and yet the tension was still as palpable as a massive tumor as Livia and I waited for the Addends to disappear. While our view of the compound was somewhat obscured by the fact that we had to hide still, what little information we did get was more than enough for us to know that the time was not yet at hand at all.   The rooftop we were waiting on was somewhat built to our favor, at least; a door leading inside the building closed by the side as an array of boxes littered the place. That and the smell of dried fish permeated the air to the point that it honestly felt like I was at a wet market.   To be honest, it was kind of nostalgic.   But to reiterate, the place was a perfect vantage point for us as we crouched behind a stack of boxes that reeked of salt and the sea. I'd guess this was a dried f

"Time~ Old dry winds go by~ Lone air comes quietly~" The monotony of idleness was something that was rarely truly appreciated, in my opinion. Usually taken for granted or practically ignored in favor of work or other responsibilities, the act of doing absolutely nothing and simply basking in the quiet ambiance of your surroundings was kind of relaxing in terms of destressing. Granted, you'd have to be able to forget or ignore the pressing matters of whatever work you're currently putting off or the impending demise of your entire species, but otherwise, it was an entirely valid way to waste your life away without feeling like complete shit. "Time~ Old dry winds go by~ Uncertain space~ you~ need~ to fill in~" It was nostalgic, in a sense; just leaning on a wooden crate with my ass on the ground, sitting beside someone you really care about as you bo