Finally Over

"K4, are you back?" A teenage boy calls out to her.

"Yes, I am." Her voice was drowsy and full of fatigue, yet she seemed somewhat relieved it was finally time to awaken, slowly moving each body part, trying to make sure that no contraption was broken or limited with success after a couple moments.

Pandemonium doesn't give time to rest. 'Do you want me to stay as your system, or do you mind letting me keep my originality?'

'Stay as yourself; it would be weird for you to go back to a lifeless system.'

K4 took a good look at the black-haired teenager in front of her; his hair had become very bushy, and he wore a cape and a military uniform – not something she was expecting. His eyes remained the same, and that voice was slightly deeper, to her surprise.

"Hino, it's been a while." Her mouth opens widely with a wide smile, and her upbeat words send a motivating atmosphere around the room.

Hino smiles back widely with a stern face. "The mechanics worked hard on you for the last four months; we also cleared out all of Shilo's problems. I even got promoted while you were sleeping."

"Promoted to what? chief or something... Doubt it..." K4 gives a sarcastic remark to him.

He looks down, giving a scoff. "You didn't lose your snappiness; at least that's reassuring. I'm actually the new minister for now; Lucy is in detainment."

"That's interesting. What about these clothes? You look like an edgy teenager with that military outfit... Is that a cape?" her lens stared past his back.

She gives a slight laugh. Hino feels the embarrassment but doesn't press her for it. "Like a true commander, I suppose. Things changed while you were gone."

"I don't care about this place anymore. We're moving out as soon as possible towards our last destination. You aren't getting attached to Shilo, are you?"

Hino turns his expression grim. "Yes, I have grown attached, but not enough to stay here. We promised to end your torture together after all."

K4 starts moving herself into a sitting position, the metal bed finally lifting her body up a bit. She stares down, looking at her bare metallic form. "Titanium – not the strongest compared to my custom alloy before, but it will do its job for the last month and a half."

Hino gives a glance at K4: "We spent weeks gathering that; be grateful..." His voice was sarcastic, but it did sting him a bit that K4 wasn't the most satisfied.

K4's voice lightens. "Thank you as well to you three for working on this wrecked war machine." Her lens looks towards the right at the three mechanics who are bathing in their success.

Without seeing any more need to sit, K4 stands up. Her movement was a bit flunky, as getting used to walking again in a new frame was something she had never experienced before. She takes a couple of steps and gets used to the walking of the new frame after a couple of seconds; despite the awkwardness, it was still easy to adapt with her mindset.

"So when do we set out...?" Hino was a bit shy about leaving so soon.

K4 gives him a glare. "Let me guess, paperwork? Some ties you need to close? You can do it for the rest of the day; I will get us prepared equipment and vehicle-wise."

"You move fast for someone who just woke up after four months... Not that it wasn't expected. Hino gives out a sigh.

She gives a shrug. "Not interested in a place doomed for destruction." The harshness reminded Hino of what is to come once more; over these months, he has been living a somewhat peaceful life, meeting many people and also taking care of everyone who remained.

"You're right. This place is destined for destruction, which is why I was going to ask you one final thing."

"Say it." K4 was half expecting the question already.

Gathering all his courage, Hino finally speaks up after a moment of hesitation, "Can we stay here for the time left that we do have?"

Pandemonium speaks, 'This kid sure won't stop, it seems. Either drop him here by himself and leave without him or tell him to stop whining; it's rather annoying...' There was definitely a hint of agitation.

"Shut up already," she accidentally spoke out loud, leaving Hino to raise his brows.

"I didn't say anything." He immediately starts to think about his theory from before K4's awakening.

"I'm sorry, Hino, its just,… not sure how to word it—" she was at a loss for words at this point.

Hino gives a firm and serious expression towards K4. "Pandemonium became a part of you, didn't it?"

'This kid is pretty smart; I think it's half-assed luck anyway that he guessed this. Tell him whatever you wish.'

K4 takes a calm approach to this. "Yes, she has. The meatball died due to her help, and she also helped me prevent Lucy's metal bat attack by powering me temporality."

"That yellow eye of yours gives it away," he points towards her left lens.

Taking a look at the glass pane in front of her, K4 sees that yellow eye lighting up with her other lens, same as before.

"It's fine; I'm still in control, so it's fine. Matter of fact, we bonded over the couple of months, actually."

"Bonded with a monster is quite the goal, I'm assuming you still want to leave since you didn't answer." Hino starts to walk over to the entrance of the room; he hangs his body outside of it, letting his black cape stay inside. He wasn't happy about K4 teaming up with their apparent enemy.

"Will explain it to you later, so don't worry, and ya, leaving is still my goal." K4 gives a slight wink before Hino leaves the room with a sigh.

Taking a last look at the mechanics who are beginning to clean up all the equipment lying round, K4 also leaves the room, getting greeted by the huge room and their backpack waiting in the same spot Hino left all that time ago. All that rich food and luxury housing must have left him without a need to touch it, and since the traffic here was diminished after clearing all the corrupted

'That boy seems even duller than before; it must have been rough for him the last couple of months. Especially with his only trustworthy companion basically dead!' Pandemonium's sympathy wasn't expected.

"You've grown emotional with your time with me, it seems. I need to find some clothing already." K4 scans the room, looking at the backpack. Lifting it up shows her trenchcoat; it was rather torn but seems cleaned.

'Is that more of a... scarf, trenchcoat mix... a cloak!'

The trench coat remained its brown colour, but it was certainly torn at the middle parts, giving an illusion of a scarf due to its folded tops, but K4 really seemed to enjoy this change of clothing.

"It's different; we both are changed people now, so maybe it was good for a change as well."

She starts patting the backpack and unzipping it, seeing that everything still seems to be in its place.

"Other than food and drinks for Hino, we should be set; this equipment is very hard after all." Quickly feeling, taking out and putting back in everything that was in the backpack made her sure that the preparations on her side were easier; it was just a matter of securing more resources.

Hours later, Hino, on the other hand, is in his control room telling everyone about his resignation: "I'm leaving Shilo; a promise must be kept." Without saying any more, he also presents Lucy back in charge; the control room gives out a sigh that she was back, but it was inevitable anyway.

He leaves the control room and heads down where the receptionist gives him car keys to an SUV for their own journey. He walks down the stairs of HQ, taking in the busy streets of Shilo; the place was filled with many people alike going about their daily business. It was a sight he got to witness and protect for the last couple of months, which gave him a sense of accomplishment.

A bright girl in a creamy dress runs over to Hino, meeting him at the bottom of the staircase. "Are you serious?"