A sudden voice called out,
"Aléssio ? Are you awake ?"
As I slowly opened my eyes, I felt someone nudging my arm. I looked around despite my blurry vision. Everyone was surrounding me as I lay on the floor.
Sheng Yue sighed and crouched down, then poked my stomach several times. I immediately sat up, covering my stomach in confusion.
Shin Hayato extended a hand to help me up,
"Why did you suddenly faint ?"
I blinked and stuttered,
"Well... forget it."
I stood up and looked around. Everything seemed normal. But as I turned to look at the corridor, the same distortion was there. It was still, as if someone is spying on us.
I immediately told them to come closer and whispered,
"Someone is here with us. We should get ou—"
Skov furrowed his eyes and swing his hand in denial,
"Nonsense ! What made you think we can leave my unit's teammates !"
I shook my head in a hurry,
"You misunderstood ! What I meant to say is we should head out or find somewhere to stay and discus—"
Arlo intervened and hid behind Shin Hayato while pointing at the distortion,
"Why is it... weird ?"
Without any words, the distortion moved slightly forward to us. I yanked Skov away as the distortion suddenly lunged at him.
The distortion slowly fade, revealing someone's face. I widened my eyes in fear as I recognized his features despite only meeting once.
In a flash, his Bio-organic Dagger to past through Arlo and nicked his cheek. Arlo staggered as he slowly move back, falling down and touched his cheek.
Shin Hayato quickly crouched beside him,
"Arlo ! Are you alrigh—"
Arlo pushed Shin Hayato away and covered his cheeks,
"Stay away !"
Shin Hayato tried to get near Arlo but was pushed away every time. Suddenly, the Bio-organic Dagger vibrated on the wall it was attached to.
I shouted,
"Arlo ! Shin Hayato ! Get out ! The hunter is going to lunge at you !"
Just as he did, Shin Hayato grabbed Arlo and shielded him with his body, avoiding it just in time.
Skov immediately pounced on the person and struck him with his Dual Energy-Blade that was the Energy Bow.
That person immediately grabbed another of his Bio-organic Dagger and parried Skov's attack.
Sparks flew around them as their weapon clashed, both of them gritted their teeth as they tried to push each other. With a sharp push, both of them broke apart, their boots sliding across the smooth floor.
The person slid back a few steps, lowered himself into a defensive state,
"Fool ! You should've pay attention to your back !"
A sudden glowing feather-like blade pierced through Skov's shoulder, making him screamed in pain and fall slightly while holding that blade.
As Skov tried to pull that blade out, more feather-like blades pierced his back.
I looked to where those blades came from. As I turned, the feather-like blade was thrown at me, directly in my eyes.
Cassandra rushed to jump in and fling that blade with her Vibro Dagger.
She raised her voice slightly, looking at me,
"Aléssio ! Don't just stand there ! Take care of Arlo or do something !"
I tried to speak, but my voice felt like it was held back by something. I don't know what to say, I don't know what to do. If there's a fight, I prefer to stay at the back. But what could I do now ?
Just as I was lost in my thoughts again, Sheng Yue grabbed my arms and sprinted to Arlo's direction.
She grabbed Arlo's arm and sprinted to the armory room,
"We must find the Varelius' unit members while they hold those hunters ! Do you have any idea about those hunters, Aléssio ?"
I held on my ChronoLume tightly,
"The person wielding the Bio-organic Dagger is the son of one of those higher ranks, Htet Naing. For the other one, I... don't know."
Arlo looked at me with those little widened eyes of confusion,
"Is there any way to make those weapons not functional since they're uhm... system like or electricity ?"
I thought for a moment then shook my head,
"Maybe yes, maybe not. I'll learn that skill if I have tim—"
A man shouted, stopping our tracks in front of the sleeping pod,
"Not so fast !"
That man immediately grabbed a massive mechanical warhammer and slammed it to the metallic floor, causing the ground to shake slightly.
All of a sudden, bunch of robots appeared carrying a Laser Pistol and started aiming at us.
Sheng Yue lowered herself, preparing to run,
"Aléssio ! Do you have any plans !? Aléssio !?"
As she turned around, I piggybacked Arlo and ran for my life.
Sheng Yue immediately screamed and chase after me,
"Are you trying to leave me to die or what !?"
The robots continue to chase us while shooting lasers. Good thing the robots have such a bad aim. If they didn't, I'm afraid three of us will die immediately before I have the chance to press the 'Reset' button.
Arlo clung to my back like a koala and looked behind,
"Where are we heading ?"
I frantically looked around and saw a blue HoloSign saying, [Supply Room].
Sheng Yue kept sprinting like a maniac behind us, hands waving on top of her head,
"Why did you decided to head here !? We're cornered because of you dumb Blondie !"
I immediately paused and noticed that I led them to a dead end. Arlo clutched and gripped on my clothes more tightly than before.
I quickly ran to the door and pressed on the [Close] button frantically.
Sheng Yue immediately fastened her pace and widened her eyes blankly,
"Aléssio ! Don't you fucking dare leave me out here !"
The door slowly glides to close. The robot's aim started to be a little more precise each second.
Sheng Yue cursed loudly as her legs tried to ran faster,
"阿莱西奥 ! 别关门 ! 你想让我死在外面吗 !? (A-lai-xi-ao ! Bie guan men ! Ni xiang rang wo si zai wai mian ma !?)"
As the door nearly closed, Sheng Yue immediately maxed her speed, her legs running tired from the pressure.
Just as I thought she wouldn't make it, she quickly slide in just in time as the door closed.
She huffed and panted, taking a deep breath before shaking my shoulders,
"I called your name once, no, twice ! And you didn't even bother to save me or do something !"
She dropped as the pain of the legs suddenly settle in. Arlo quickly get off from my back and sat beside her, opening his medical crate.
He grabbed a small pill and gave it to her,
"This could help you relax your muscles or pain a bit. Make sure not to overwork yourself again as the result would be twice uhh... harsher, I think that's the word."
She took the pill and swallowed it in a gulp,
"Thank you Arlo. At least you're useful, unlike someone who has a blonde hair."
I grinned sheepishly and scratched the back of my head,
"Well... A kid's and my life is more important than something."
Sheng Yue immediately tried to stood up but was stopped by Arlo who tugged her shirt.
Arlo looked at both of us and squatted,
"Do you think they can live ? Cassandra, Shin Hayato, Varelius, and Skov."
Sheng Yue shook her head,
"Either alive or no—"
I immediately cut in to make sure to make Arlo's hope stay high,
"High chance they're alive. Don't worry, uhh..."
I thought for a moment to think of a word that is easier to be understood for Arlo.
Sheng Yue laid on the floor and put both her hand on her stomach,
"Imagine this, Arlo. You and one of your friend are fighting 4 people, who do you think will win ?"
Arlo raised his hand and started to count,
"Uhh... The four people ?"
Sheng Yue gave a thumbs up and tried to stand up as she used a nearby table for help.
I smiled and added to what Sheng Yue said,
"I also see Skov's blade slice through the enemy's invisibility cloak thingy. Uhm... Do you get what I mean by invisibility, Arlo ?"
Arlo looked at me furrowed his eyebrows in anger, disgust, I couldn't tell,
"I understand okay ? I'm not a toddler. I'm 10 years old and I'm capable of understanding that."
I sighed in guilt,
"Sorry then. But yes, our side have a high chance of winning as one of their hunter's core item is destroyed. Now we just need to sneak in and safe Varelius' team members."
Sheng Yue shook her head and crossed her arm,
"I think it's better if we help them first. What do you think is right, Arlo ?"
Arlo looked around the room. His hand was dragged as he placed on a table and walked to another one. Until, he arrived at a locker.
As he slowly opened the locker, a bunch of cloaks was inside. Some were hanged while some were folded.
On the side of the locker there was a HoloSign writing, [Illusion Cloak].
Arlo grabbed three of them and handed one for both of us,
"I have a plan."
Sheng Yue tilted her head,
"What is it then ?"
Arlo pointed at the vent and turned to her,
"Do you think you can crawl ?"
Sheng Yue shrugged,
"Depends."
Arlo grabbed a chair and placed it beside a table,
"Aléssio, help me put the chair on the table."
I nodded and picked the chair up, putting it precisely so that Arlo could open the vents.
Just as Arlo was about to yank the vent's door, a loud BANG was outside the door.
Arlo quickly yanked open the vent cover and prepared to get in as he gripped on the Illusion Cloak.
The door glided slightly.
I immediately helped Sheng Yue to walk while urging Arlo to try to push in.
Arlo got in the vents and covered himself with the cloak while putting his hand out of the vents to try and help Sheng Yue.
Sheng Yue shook her head firmly,
"Arlo, hurry up and go ! No need to help me !"
I quickly found a crate nearby and pushed it near the table so Sheng Yue could climb while using the table as something to hold on.
The door glided open each second.
I held the chair to stable it as Sheng Yue climbed on it. Arlo moved slightly further so Sheng Yue could have space when she entered.
Just as Sheng Yue was about to get into the vents, a familiar firm voice came from the door.
I quickly climbed to the chair, pushing. Sheng Yue into the vents as I stuffed myself in.
The same firm voice spoke up again, this time with confusion,
"What are you three doing ?"
I popped out of the vents, only to see Shin Hayato and the rest grabbing those two hunters by their collar.
I slowly climbed out of the vents,
"Hehe... Sorry."
Sheng Yue got curious and came out to, followed by Arlo. As they stepped into the room, we quickly shut the door.
Skov dragged Htet Naing into the center of the room and forced him to kneel. Varelius pressed on the [Close] button to shut the door.
Shin Hayato pushed the other one who was wielding the feather-like blades to kneel beside Htet Naing.
Cassandra and Skov stood at the door while Varelius and Shin Hayato stood in front of them.
The air stilled as if it was under the pressure of being watched by a higher being.
Varelius spoke up,
"Introduce yourself and tell us where my team mates are."
Htet Naing stayed silent before shrugging,
"You think I'll abandoned my loyalty to someone !? What a foo—"
Skov immediately kicked him by his back and pressed one of his Dual Energy-Blade to his neck.
The anonymous person was about to grabbed a blade from his core item that is shaped as a wing, but was then pinned by Shin Hayato.
A sense of slight confusion or something crept to me. I thought to myself. Is this truly the descendant of a high ranking military ? If so, why does he only knows how to ambush people ?
As I continued thinking, a sudden sense of being stared or targeted fell upon me. Goosebumps were all over me.
Until I realized something, we didn't capture them.
This was just their persona.
The door glided opened, revealing the true Htet Naing with two people, one holding the massive mechanical warhammer, and the other one hovered on the air with the wing.
And that's when I finally understood why they had a better technology despite I was the only mechanic in the Saviors program.
That mechanical warhammer not only creates robots.
But can also shape people from the wielder's imagination.