As the flying bike accelerated smoothly over the neon-lit skyline, Haruto gripped the edges of the seat, a rush of pure adrenaline washing over him. It was his first time ever riding a flying bike, and the sheer thrill of soaring through the open air blew his mind.
Leaning forward slightly, he called out over the rushing wind to Philo, who was gliding effortlessly in the lead. "Hey, Philo! Why are we even heading to your base anyway? What's there?"
Philo glanced back over her shoulder, her voice cutting clearly through their helmets. "Oh, you know, I just need someone to come with me to register my fingerprint at my main terminal so the mainframe will unlock and let me boot up operations again."
Haruto blinked, leaning back. "Wait, a fingerprint? What do you mean?"
"Well," Philo explained casually, "the main bases for all three founders are locked down by our original biometric signatures. But since I haven't checked on mine in ages, the automated security system went into hibernation mode. I need to go wake it up, and there's probably a crew of loyal technicians down there keeping the lights on."
Haruto raised an eyebrow. "Wait, so there are actual people working in your base who know you?"
"Yeah, a few trusted tech specialists," Philo nodded with a light shrug. "Though their information access is strictly compartmentalized, so there's zero security risk. Besides..." She shot him a teasing grin. "To be completely honest, I just got bored riding alone, so I dragged you along since you're totally unemployed right now."
Haruto slumped forward in mock defeat behind Marena, letting out a heavy sigh as the flying bikes banked hard toward a massive, high-tech industrial complex looming in the distance.
After a long and steady flight across the vast skyline, Haruto looked down at the sprawling landscape beneath them and called out, "Hey, how much further is this? We've been traveling for ages!"
Philo glanced back, her voice echoing smoothly through their helmet comms. "Oh, relax. You've barely ever left Daisy's zone since you got here, haven't you? Gampi City is massive, but Daisy actually controls the smallest territory of the three of us."
Haruto blinked, leaning forward. "Wait, really? Daisy showed me a huge chunk of the city before. Back when we used to go on our morning training jogs, she made it look huge. What percentage of the city does she even own?"
"Roughly seventeen percent," Philo replied casually. "I control the biggest share at around fifty percent, and Geeli holds the remaining thirty-three percent."
Haruto frowned, mulling over the numbers as the flying bikes banked sharply around a towering monolith. "That distribution is super uneven. Tell me honestly...why divide the land? It always felt like people in her zone were a bit jealous or possessive over the land."
"Oh, it's not just a feeling—they definitely do," Philo chuckled. "But we didn't carve up the city like that, you know. The citizens themselves did it. Long ago, the people in each sector chose to worship a specific founder as their literal god, and they drew the territorial borders based on their own religious zeal and faction lines."
Philo pointed ahead toward a massive, shimmering neutral zone nestled right at the geographic center of the metropolis. "There is only one place where everyone actually coexists peacefully:
the academy area where you went to meet with Gampid City's administrator main ai system. It sits right in the dead center, where followers of all three founders mingle together—though ironically, fighting is strictly forbidden there."
Haruto nodded as the memory clicked in his mind. "Ah, yeah, I remember that place..."
Up ahead, Philo pointed down toward a massive, towering structure looming below them. "We're here. Let's land."
As the flying bikes began their descent, Marena leaned in close, wrapping her arms securely around Haruto's waist and pressing her face against his back. Her cat ears twitched in mild boredom. "Hey, Haruto... this is starting to get a little boring."
Haruto chuckled slightly, keeping his grip on the handlebars. "Well, riding a flying bike was cool for the first ten minutes, but I guess it loses its charm after a while. Let's see what this place is actually like."
With a soft hum of their thrusters, the bikes touched down smoothly on the rooftop platform of a thirty-story brutalist industrial building.
The rooftop was dim and dimly lit by flickering neon tubes, housing various futuristic weapon, tactical gear, and heavy-duty machinery. A small group of armed guards stood stationed near the entrance hatch.
The moment their boots hit the ground and they stepped off the bikes, a dozen red laser sights suddenly snapped out of the shadows, locking straight onto their faces.
Haruto flinched, instinctively freezing up as the red dots danced across his forehead.
Beside him, Marena didn't even blink. Her facial expression remained completely blank, staring unbothered at the armed guards as if the lethal lasers pointed right at her were nothing more than harmless fireflies.
Philo stepped forward with a confident grin, pulling down her digital mask to reveal her face. "Did you guys miss me?"
Haruto immediately threw his hands up in surrender, while Marena scowled, squinting against the harsh glare. "Ugh, this light is hurting my eyes. Turn those overhead spotlights off!"
With a quick wave of Philo's hand toward the security console, the main overhead lights clicked off—except for the automated tactical spotlights that remained stubbornly locked directly onto Haruto and Marena.
Marena's eye twitched in annoyance. "I literally just said turn them off."
"This is actually the perfect time to test out Marena's power," Philo chuckled in her mind.
"Those aren't just normal security guards, they're automated combat robots. They have rapid self-regeneration circuits, so if you break them, they just piece themselves back together.Go try breaking them if you are mad ."
A wicked smile spread across Marena's face. " So these are just some toys. Are you really sure because I can break them?"
"Yes, I am really sure." Philo said with a smiling face.
Without a word, she raised her hand, and a sharp, violent arc of crackling blue-white electricity violently snapped outward from her fingertips.
CRACK-BOOM!
The blinding bolt swept across the platform, washing directly over Haruto. He braced himself, squeezing his eyes shut—only to realize the lightning bypassed him entirely, instead obliterating the entire perimeter of armed security drones.
When Haruto opened his eyes and looked around, the advanced robots were scattered across the rooftop in thousands of smoking, pulverized metal fragments.
Philo stared at the absolute devastation, her jaw dropping. "Whoa... wait, you didn't have to overdo it! Now their regeneration circuits are completely fried and they can't piece themselves back together!"
Marena stood tall amidst the smoking debris, casually blowing a stray wisp of smoke off her fingertips as she inspected her nails. She glanced over at Philo with a smug smirk. "Well, you told me to show them off. Plus, I did warn you."
Philo sweatdropped, waving a dismissive hand. "Yeah, yeah, whatever. The maintenance crew will just have to sweep up the metal scraps later."
Haruto stared at the destroyed machinery in absolute disbelief, turning to Marena with wide eyes. "Wait, what on earth was that?! What kind of magic was that?!"
Marena giggled, tossing her head back with a playful grin. "Magic? Who said anything about magic? That was just pure, raw physical speed."
Haruto blinked, pointing frantically at the scorched pavement. "Hold on, speed?! That wasn't just speed, that was a massive bolt of lightning coming straight out of your hand!"
"It wasn't lightning," Marena explained casually, leaning in closer. "I just channeled all the bio-electric and kinetic energy from my entire body straight into my muscle fibers in a single instant, moving fast enough to break the sound barrier and create a friction shockwave."
Haruto stared at her like she had grown a second head. "Are you serious? Can you teach me how to do that?!"
"Hmm, maybe later," Marena teased, her cat tail swaying happily.
Before Haruto could press her further, the heavy blast doors at the center of the rooftop hissed open, revealing a dark, cavernous corridor inside the complex. Philo gestured toward the entrance with her thumb. "Alright, let's head inside before anything else blows up."
As she walked through the doorway, however, Philo suppressed a quiet shudder, a cold drop of sweat rolling down her neck. Damn... her destructive power is on a completely different level, she thought nervously, glancing back at Marena. That lightning flash almost blinded me completely. If she had fired that off just a second faster, my sensors wouldn't even have caught it.
Philo stepped ahead of them into the dark corridor, raising a hand. "Give me two seconds."
She pressed a glowing mechanical switch on her wrist control. A vibrant orb of light shot into the air, instantly triggering the massive overhead illumination.
BANG! POP!
Confetti and party poppers exploded everywhere as the lights flooded the room. The massive base hall was packed with dozens of tech specialists and loyal faction members, all wearing festive hats, dancing, and cheering at the top of their lungs to celebrate Philo's return.
Philo froze in sheer shock, completely caught off guard. Haruto blinked, his brain short-circuiting as colorful ribbons fell onto his hair, while Marena stood completely unfazed by the sudden loud explosion of noise.
"Wait... what on earth is all this?!" Philo stammered, flustered.
An elderly, well-dressed man wearing a sharp coat stepped forward from the crowd. He bowed deeply with immense respect before Philo. "Founder! The moment the news broadcast showed you revealing yourself to the public, we were overjoyed! We instantly organized this celebration to welcome you back home. Please, join us and enjoy the party!"
From the back of the crowd, several workers started whispering among themselves, curiously eyeing the two strangers.
"Who's that boy standing next to her?"
"And who's that girl beside him?"
Haruto glanced over at Marena, noticing that she had already discreetly hidden her cat ears and tail beneath her camouflage aura to avoid drawing unwanted attention in the crowded room. She wasn't paying any attention to the murmuring crowd, simply letting out a lazy yawn.
Philo quickly stepped forward, raising her voice to address her loyal followers. "Everyone, calm down! These two are my personal guests—they're my friends."
Murmurs rippled through the gathered crowd before one of the tech specialists gasped, pointing directly at him. "Wait... isn't that Haruto?"
Haruto blinked, caught off guard. "Uh... haha, yeah?"
Philo looked between Haruto and her crew, her eyes narrowing in surprise. "Wait, you guys actually know him?"
"Of course we do!" another technician chimed in, stepping forward. "He's the legend who was seen standing right beside the Founder of the technology during a live broadcast days ago! Plus, word got around that he single-handedly busted that massive underground slave trader ring operating near the outer limits!"
Philo's jaw dropped as she looked at Haruto. "A slave trader ring?! You did what?"
Haruto let out an awkward laugh, scratching the back of his neck. "Ah... well, you know, just happened to cross paths with them."
Before Philo could press him for details, the elderly man stepped in with a warm, welcoming smile, waving his hands dismissively. "Ah, never mind all that heavy business today! Founder, please, put the work aside and enjoy the party! Besides, you look absolutely stunning tonight, just like always!"