MEETING WITH PROBLEMS

We finally arrived in the Apatite city, and it was nothing like we expected. Well, maybe that’s not entirely accurate—it’s more that someone clearly knew all about these features, judging by the way she reacted to everything.

“Masashi, Ryo, do you see these guys?! They’re programmed police robots!” exclaimed Riko, almost touching one of them as it roamed the street, already causing us trouble.

“How the hell do they even judge who’s a criminal if they’re not human?” said Masashi, nudging one of them with his leg a little too hard.

“Citizen detected applying excessive force of 215 newtons against government property. Classification: Potential aggressive behavior. Ready to intervene if the citizen’s behavior isn’t corrected,” said the robot, suddenly opening its body to reveal two arms, one holding a gun and the other a baton.

“Woah, I barely even touched this guy!” Masashi said, stepping back.

“They measure pressure and impact forces applied on people and also scan for any officially registered weapons. Don’t worry, just show them the badge you got from your recruiter, and it’ll stop,” said an unknown man passing by, dressed in all black and hiding his face with a hat.

“R-right… Where did I put it? I swear Rin gave it to us before she left.”

“Isn’t it kind of sad she can’t come with us?”

“Recruiters aren’t allowed in these kinds of meetings,” said the strange man, adjusting his hat.

“Why not? I don’t see the problem,” I said, suspicious.

“To prevent bias toward their own recruits. The state wants to see how you perform individually. It’s going to be an interesting show.”

“Huh, thankfully it works. The robot says I’m an army official, so it allows more newtons of force before it’s considered brutality,” said Masashi, wiping his forehead.

“So we’re technically allowed to fight on the street more than regular citizens? That’s awesome!” said Riko, clapping her hands in enthusiasm. “Huh, where did that man go, Ryo?”

“What are you talking about—”

I couldn’t believe her words. I looked around, shocked to see the man had disappeared right before my eyes while I was watching Masashi explaining the robot's feature.

“I swear he was here just a second ago,” I said, pointing to the spot.

“Maybe he’s part of the police and had to leave,” she said, resting her hands on a police robot.

“This is the first time I’ve lost track of someone this badly… Just who is this guy?” I muttered to myself.

“Hey, guys! Let’s visit the special memorial zones. I read about them in a book back in the village,” said Riko, waving as she moved away from us.

“What zones? I’ve never heard of them,” said Masashi, looking at me like I’d know.

“They’re places where you can see stuff from the previous Earth on holograms! We have to watch it,” she shouted, still waving.

“We don’t have time for that. We came here for other things,” I said, gazing coldly at the building we were supposed to enter.

“Boring. I guess we’ll do it another time… together,” she said, lowering her head and clasping her hands behind her back.

“Hey, Ryo, listen here—”

“Welcome to Vital Light. You guys must be the new soldiers, am I right?” a lady interrupted, cutting Masashi off before he could say more.

“How do you know who we are?”

“Ryo, right? You guys must be familiar with these glasses. I scanned your faces and sent them to the database,” she said, tapping her zolt glasses.

“Database? But we barely joined. I doubt we’re important enough to be registered already,” I said, challenging her.

“Oh, not at all. You’re extremely popular for saving the village. A lot of people are talking about how you motivated them to start a rebellion and recapture the city.”

“Does that mean I’m a star? I always knew I’d be famous,” said Riko, showing off.

“Yeah, more like an asteroid or something,” Masashi teased.

“Aw, why’d you hit me so hard!? Where’s that police robot when you need it?”

“Please let me guide you to the meeting room,” said the lady, opening the building’s door for us.

“Woah, this place is huge. What’s even happening here?” asked Riko as we entered. The facility was an atrium-style building and had numerous floors. On the first floor, we could see a few stalls and lines of people.

“Vital Light mainly provides medical goods such as anti-radiation syringes, prosthetic limbs, enhancing pills, and other treatments for everyone,” the lady explained.

“Why is there even a meeting here? I feel out of place,” said Masashi after bumping into an assistant service drone.

“That’s because your supervisor from the Cuprite village mission is part of the company. Please step onto these plates and don’t move. We’ll be going up to the top floor to meet him,” she said, pointing at some odd floating plates nearby.

“Are you sure we’re not going to fall?” Masashi asked nervously, trying to keep his balance.

“You don’t need to worry. The plates have sensors for your shoes that keep them glued to the surface.”

“W-what about crashing? What if someone flies into us?”

“No worries. We follow a specific air traffic path in the open space area of the building.”

“Masashi, stop whining so much. These have an insane speed, we'll be there soon,” said Riko, unbothered, watching all the floors we were passing by.

“This is insane. Have they never heard of stairs?” 

“We can’t help it. The facility has 50 floors, and the room is on the top floor. All the other floors are occupied by robots producing medical devices and medications.”

We've finally reached the top floor. The plates stopped in front of the edge of the floor, and we got off by stepping on some translucent barriers.

“Is this the room?” I asked, noticing the only door that stood out. Its wooden design gave a sense of isolation, as though it didn’t belong to the rest of the high-tech facility—or rather it was the only special and important room in the whole facility, far away from everything else.

“You’re right. They’ve been waiting for you. Now, if you’ll excuse me,” she said, leaving us alone

I glanced at the others, nodding before opening the door.

“What took you so long? Do you think we have all day to—”

“That’s enough, Naoya. Everyone, take a seat,” said a man, cutting off the person who’d been waiting at the door to confront us. The room featured a round table where several officials were seated, but this man stood alone on a small podium-like platform.

“Riko, Masashi, Ryo—all 17 years old and all refugees from the countryside part of the nation. You are officially accepted into the Amethystian Army. You’ll be provided with an account, monthly funds, and access to various technologies and services anywhere,” he said, looking down at us from the platform.

“Kouji, is this the team that defended our copper deposits? I’d like to congratulate them too,” said one of the officials.

“They are indeed. Thanks to them, our copper pipes and mines are safe, and production can continue,” said Kouji, who seemed to be the chief here.

“Then, should we consider expanding the area and deploying more drilling systems?” asked another official.

“That’s too risky. What if they attack again? Our ores would be destroyed,” another official cautioned.

“Don’t worry. If that happens, we’ll at least transport the resources first,” said the youngest official, Naoya.

“Tch, I can’t stand this already. These guys are the worst scum I’ve ever met. It makes me sick,” Masashi muttered, barely restraining himself from slamming the table.

“Why are you saying that, Masashi?” I asked quietly, leaning toward him.

“These guys… All they care about is that damn copper. Do they even think about the people in that area at all?” he said through gritted teeth.

“I’d guess they profit from it, which is why it’s more important to them than the people,” I replied, glancing at Kouji. His uniform, full of medals and badges, inspired a patriotic feeling to anyone who looked at it , and his attitude gave him an image of stability and confidence

“That’s bullshit! You’ve seen how much those villagers valued just being alive and keeping their homes… It’s like these guys are mocking our achievement.”

“Let’s return to the recruits. Is there anything you need from the military?” Kouji asked, clapping his hands to silence the room.

“I wish for better communication through our devices next time—unless someone cut them off by accident,” said Riko, arms crossed and feet propped on the table.

“How dare you speak like that to General Kouji?!” Naoya snapped, slamming his hand on the table.

“I can have you jailed for life, you know,” said Kouji, motioning for Naoya to calm down.

“A life sentence for speaking her mind? That’s absurd and ironic for a general who’s supposed to protect people, not make them disappear,” I added, sitting firmly in my seat.

“I was about to ask you specifically—about your father. Did you think I wouldn’t find out—”

“W-what was that? Is this some kind of emergency?” an official exclaimed, panicking as a sudden explosion shattered the room’s glass.

“Sir, we’re under attack! I’ve been shot—they’ve broken through our defenses!” shouted a bodyguard as he opened the door, only to collapse lifelessly moments later.

This was the worst-case scenario—being on the top floor without our equipment and, worst of all, sharing our last moments with these people. We had to escape, no matter what.