Chapter 20: Aura

Raden smiled.

"Yeah, I'm ready."

Michael slid his phone into his right trouser pocket and gestured toward Raden's head. "Press the temple on the right side of your glasses first."

"Oh, hold on," Raden said, tapping the right side of his frames. A sharp *click* of an LED sounded out. Immediately, a pale blue holographic light projected from Raden's eyes, scanning the cityscape in a matter of seconds.

[✓ Area scan complete. Follow the directional arrows to reach the target location.]

A navigation arrow materialized in Raden's mid-right field of vision, pointing toward a location about 700 meters away. Raden turned his head, stopping only when the arrow shifted to the center of his vision, locking onto the road ahead. He began to walk, letting the digital guide lead the way, with Michael trailing silently behind him.

Midway through the trek, an audio visualizer tagged [Mora] popped up in the corner of Raden’s left eye.

[Radio Oxy Mark I - Mora: "Hey, have you secured the location yet?"]

"Yeah, I've got it," Raden replied, keeping his pace. "By the way, where is that voice coming from?"

[Radio Oxy Mark I - Mora: "From the glasses you're wearing—the Oxy Mark I."]

"Oh, is that so? Ah, okay, okay," Raden muttered, taking a sharp left turn.

He scanned his surroundings quickly. Michael was no longer visible nearby. Continuing his walk, Raden glanced to his left, where a handful of figures in black hoodies were huddled together in a hushed discussion. To his right, a group of large, heavily bearded men were hauling three bottles of liquor. One of them cracked a bottle open and guzzled it down with the desperate intensity of a man dying of thirst in the middle of a desert.

Raden refocused his gaze forward, faithfully following the arrow with every step.

Suddenly, a hand clapped onto his shoulder. Raden froze, spun around, and instantly threw a punch at whatever was behind him—only to hit thin air. People nearby turned to stare, brows furrowed in confusion. Raden looked around wildly, but then his eyes locked onto a figure standing right in front of him, shimmering in a translucent dark blue silhouette.

"M-Michael?" Raden whispered.

Michael pressed a finger to his lips. "Quiet," he said, his voice low. "They can't see me. Just hurry up and keep moving."

Raden’s eyes darted left and right.

"Um, alright..." Raden gave a stiff, awkward smile to the onlookers. Satisfied that he wasn't crazy, they eventually went back to their own business.

Raden resumed walking, his eyes fixed on the arrow and the text hovering beneath it: 200 meters remaining.

Minutes later, the arrow locked onto a large, towering house. Even from the door, the faint, rhythmic sounds of a woman moaning and the creaking of wood drifted into Raden's ears. He rubbed the back of his neck uncomfortable.

"This is the place, huh?"

[Radio Oxy Mark I - Mora: "Yeah, no mistake. As soon as he opens the door, introduce yourself immediately. If he hesitates, flash your ID."]

Raden took a deep breath. He stepped up to the apartment door. The woman's moans grew louder, escalating into a scream that made Raden wince. Michael leaned casually against the doorframe, staring at Raden.

"Psst. Focus," Michael whispered.

Raden swallowed hard. He straightened his posture.

"Hello! Is Mr. Kai in?" Raden shouted.

Silence fell instantly.

The night wind howled, sweeping Raden's hair across his face.

Raden banged on the door.

"Hello!" he yelled again. From inside, there was the sound of items crashing and a belt being hastily buckled.

Slowly, the door creaked open. A man standing 180 cm tall appeared, clutching a cigar between his teeth. He blew a cloud of smoke toward the ceiling before glaring down at Raden.

"What is it, brat? You got some nerve interrupting my downtime. If you're trying to sell old cassettes again, go to the junkyard. Not here."

Raden looked Kai in the eye.

"No, sir. This is about your debt. It says... here you still have 473k EC unpaid. It's due today, sir."

Kai set his cigar down on a nearby table. He leaned in, bringing his face uncomfortably close to Raden's.

"How do you know about my debt, huh? What the hell do you know, you little punk?"

Raden’s gaze sharpened. His brow furrowed, eyes narrowing. But he held back his anger. Instead, he pulled his ID card from his pocket and thrust it toward Kai. Kai snatched the card, scrutinizing the details with suspicion.

As Kai looked up from the card to Raden's face, he froze. To Kai's eyes, the right side of Raden's face seemed to peel away, revealing a terrifying demonic visage wrapped in a swirling aura of black and red mist.

Kai gulped, squeezed his eyes shut for a second, and opened them again.

"Okay. I'll pay now. Just don't give me that creepy look again, you Indi(e)go brat." The man turned and stomped toward his bedroom. "Heh, that bastard company... every time they run out of ideas, they bring in some new ferocious pet. Capitalist shits," Kai muttered, his voice muffled by the bedroom walls.

Moments later, Kai reappeared, struggling under the weight of an aluminum hardcase. He handed the briefcase toward Raden, his thumb pressing a small button on the handle. Just as Raden reached for it...

Beep!

Michael lunged, snatched the case, and hurled it far into the distance. The case detonated in mid-air with a deafening boom, obliterating nearby property. Streetlights that had been standing tall crumbled, their glass shattering onto the asphalt and causing a massive commotion.

Michael’s cloak dropped, revealing his full form to both Kai and Raden.

"You... there's two of you?" Kai gasped, sweat pouring down his body. His eyes went wide with terror as Michael seemed to appear from nowhere.

"Trig-" Michael shoved Raden, cutting him off. Raden looked at him, confused. "Why?"

"Not now," Michael snapped. He sprinted after Kai, who had turned to flee back into the house. But Kai barely made it across the threshold before a knife pierced straight through his mouth. Blood gushed out as his body went limp, slumping to the floor, stiff and lifeless.

A stark naked woman emerged from Kai's room. She opened her mouth to scream for help when she saw Kai's corpse, but nobody was coming to save her.

Michael flicked a needle into the woman's stomach. She collapsed instantly, unconscious on the floor. Michael kicked Kai's body fully inside the house and slammed the door shut. He walked back to Raden and patted him on the shoulder.

They began the walk home, casual as could be, despite the blood spatter on their clothes. The wail of ambulance sirens echoed in their ears. The streetlights, now broken and dim, offered them cover as they blended into the shadows of the sidewalk.

"Hey," Raden said, glancing at Michael. "Won't that guy's corpse start to smell? Why did you throw him back inside?"

Michael rubbed his chin. Hearing the ambulance getting louder, he pointed a finger toward the sky, then looked at Raden.

"You hear that?"

Raden nodded. "Yeah. The ambulance, right?"

Michael smiled. "Yeah. Let them deal with the cleanup. Our job is done..."

[Radio Oxy Mark I - Mora: "Toki, are you alright?"]

"Yeah, I'm fine. But... I didn't actually get the money," Raden said.

[Radio Oxy Mark I - Mora: "That's fine. It's your first mission. You did good enough."]

Raden scratched his cheek, smiling awkwardly.

"So, uh, that means... no pocket money for me yet?"

[Radio Oxy Mark I - Mora: "We'll discuss that later."]

"Okay."

---

Minutes later, they arrived at the Indi(e)go headquarters. Michael headed straight for the second floor, while Raden went to the workspace to find Mora.

Raden pushed the door open, peeled off his gloves, and hung them on the wall rack. He took off the glasses and set them on the table, watching Mora work. She was wearing protective goggles, deeply focused.

"How was the field? Fun?" Mora asked, pausing her work for a second before diving back in. A small drone hovered right in front of her. Her hands were busy soldering something.

Raden approached her. He saw Timmy’s robotic body lying face down on the metal table, Mora attaching components to its chassis.

"What are you doing to Timmy?" Raden asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I don't know, just bored I guess," Mora replied, eyes still glued to her task.

A moment later, Mora put down the soldering iron and placed it on a metal stand near her right hand. She pressed a thin switch on the tool, killing the light. Then, she pressed a small button on Timmy's body.

Timmy began to rise slowly. Mora smiled broadly, and even Raden looked impressed.

But as soon as Timmy stood fully upright, he started spinning violently. A spark of electricity arced, followed by a puff of thin smoke as the robot died again.

Mora sighed.

"Goddammit, he turned into an idiot... whatever, I'll fix him later."

She walked over to a massive computer terminal. Raden followed. Mora typed rapidly on the keyboard until the large monitor displayed a list of ten debtors. Number 10, 'Kai', was crossed out by Mora, leaving numbers 9 through 1 remaining.

"These are the targets we have to collect from in the coming nights."

Raden frowned.

"Hmm... still nine left, huh?"

Mora nodded.

"Yeah, you're right. Oh, there is one more thing I wanted to talk to you about."

Mora pulled something from her small drawer. She held out a small object toward Raden. Raden’s eyes went wide.

"This is..."