CHILDHOOD TEAMWORK

I would rather my journey end right here than never start it in the first place. The moment I heard about the opportunity, me, a villager from a simple place, I decided to move forward. If it so happens that I meet my end before realizing my dream, then I'll accept it and not regret trying to save her.

“There’s no way they followed our train all the way down here. Talking about some annoying pests,” said Masashi, shooting them down with Riko’s help.

“Looks like your darts training came in handy,” I said, raising my hand to him.

“Can’t say the same about your archery skills. Did you forget how we used to compete?” he said, gripping my hand and pulling me back to my feet.

“Don’t worry, you know I always come back when it comes to doing something I want,” I said, fixing my clothes.

“How dare you break my drones like that? They’re worth more than you guys!” he shouted, crushing one of his last drones in his palm.

“Say, how do we defeat that guy?” asked Riko, who took cover behind the shield, as well as Masashi.

“His armor cannot be destroyed with regular-graded weapons, and even special-graded weapons need more shots to take him down. It’s called an obsidian suit. We’ll need to break the weakest part of it first, the glass on his mask,” said Rin, peeking at Souta’s body.

“Rin, do you smoke?” I asked, thinking of a plan to defeat him.

“Don’t tell me you’re saying I should quit too. Fine, I do smoke a little… what’s the problem?” she said, raising her shoulders.

“No, I just need a lighter. I’ve thought of something; listen to me,” I said, explaining the plan.

“Ryo, that’s too dangerous. I do have the sharp objects, but let’s reposition for the time being and—”

“That’s so amazing! Let’s do it, guys!” said Riko, excited about the idea.

“I guess we have nothing else to choose from,” said Masashi, not disagreeing with it necessarily.

“God, I’m going to get fired if this is found out,” said Rin, with her palm on her face, worried about it.

"This is the only way to do it, considering what we have in this room. Besides, I can take responsibility for anything that happens," I said, placing my hand on the shield, about to proceed with my plan.

"This isn't about who's taking responsibility... If you kids are the ones mostly fighting him, especially on your first day, it will almost appear as abuse of the military," 

"Don't worry, Captain Rin. We've always helped each other overcome dangerous problems. We'll probably be better off just working together," said Masashi, looking at us and reminiscing about the days in the village.

"Fine, but I'm helping too, regardless of how small my contribution is," she said , agreeing with our plan in the end

“Ready? Let’s go!” said Riko, getting up and opening fire with Rin to cover us. Me and Masashi split up, left and right, hiding behind some industrial boxes, delivered before we arrived, scattered across the facility.

“Good, I managed to get to the first box. Now I’ll just have to wait and—”

“It’s pointless to try teaming up against me. I cannot be killed!” said Souta, firing back at us, destroying the box I was hiding behind.

“Dammit, regular weapons are still this strong?” I grunted, forced to move to another box. I didn’t stop. I couldn’t stop. I had to pass this obstacle by any means necessary. The second box was destroyed, so I had to advance again. Then the third one, the fourth one, and when I lost count of them, the final box was torn apart. However, I was finally close to him. I was close to my goal.

“You think I’ll stop just because you’re stronger than me?” I said, throwing Rin’s sharp needles at him.

“You should have stayed behind that shield. These little things are nothing to me,” said Souta, blocking them with his arm.

“Those? Probably not, but I’m sure this will mean something to you,” I said, throwing the lighter at his face.

“Are you stupid? These are meant to resist the sun. They won’t—”

“We know that. That’s why I’ll cool things down a little,” said Masashi, following my action by squeezing the handle of an extinguisher I noticed before.

“W-what the hell did you do?” he said while putting his palm on the missing glass on his mask.

“Thermal expansion. I lit up the surface around your mask first before Masashi cooled you down for good.”

“Sir Souta, I told you to wait for the rest of the team and not chase them alone,” said his subordinate, panicking about the broken glass.

“Tsk, I can’t believe you thought about this at this moment,” he said, covering his face even harder.

“I just thought bugs needed to be sprayed down. You’re done now,” I said, about to shoot him.

“Guess I’ll have to use them today, even though they’re a prototype,” he said, opening a small bag and releasing different robotic bugs.

“There’s no way this is happening,” said Masashi, seeing how the glass pieces of his mask were being picked up one by one by the bugs and reconstructed in seconds.

“You like it? I named them Bee-Bots. They act exactly like bees, serving me. You’re dead, kid,” he said, aiming his guns at me.

“I’m right in the open now. I can’t dodge it,” I muttered to myself, simply watching the muzzles of his guns.

“Dammit, at this time to run out of ammo. I’ll have to finish you with my hands!” shouted Souta before charging at me, throwing his guns to the side.

“This isn’t good. He’s much stronger than me in that suit,” I said, while blocking his punches, feeling the attacks in my bones.

“You have nowhere else to run, kid,” he said after one of his attacks dropped me, looking down at me.

“Checkmate, I’ve got your queen,” said Riko, shooting at the bee-bots who were standing close to his mask, following him. Suddenly, his bees started flying in every direction, even attacking his own mask, destroying it.

“What did you do, Riko?” asked Rin, lowering her gun in disbelief.

“He said the robots act like real-life bees, so I thought killing the queen might do something. The queen was probably the main software, controlling everyone else. It seems without a program, they just attack anything.”

“This isn’t over yet. I didn’t come this far to get nothing. The promotion is mine. I’ll climb the ranks and get it!!” he shouted, extending his hand at me.

“You should have stayed with your team. And that’s because you wouldn’t die now if you did,” I said, pulling the trigger.

“Sir Souta!!” shouted his subordinates, finally being courageous enough to raise their gun.

“Don’t even think about it,” said Masashi, aiming his gun at him.

“We’ll need to leave this place before his team arrives,” I said, getting up from the floor.

“I can’t believe I’m alive. This isn’t real,” said one of the scientists while coughing blood in his hands and barely standing.

“Doctor Arata, it’s good you survived,” said Rin, helping him stand up.

“They say luck doesn’t exist in science, and that everything can be explained… It wouldn’t hurt to doubt that once in a while,” he said, adjusting his coat.

“Please go with Ryo on the train and get your injuries fixed,” she said, gesturing to us to do so.

“I didn’t know Ryo could come up with such a plan… it seems that kid is something,” uttered Rin quietly, looking at me as I left the building.

“He studied a lot of science ever since his mom’s been sick. We can’t really help him much… We can just follow him wherever he goes,” said Riko, turning away her eyes, keeping her hands together in the back.

“Yeah, he would do anything to win. I feel like that’s his biggest strength, and also his weakness,” continued Masashi.

“Sorry, everyone, I couldn’t be of much help either,” said Rin, looking at the ground in disappointment, her face hidden by her hair.

“Don’t worry, Captain Rin, you’ve kept Ryo in check. That’s all that matters. I hope you’ll continue to do so,” said Masashi, going to the exit as well.