Chapter 3:

A gift for my future

B.U.T.H.O / ブットホ


"WAKE UP! It's time to go to school!"

Yet another afternoon, or rather yet another morning began for Ano, always in the same way. The automaton alarm clock would go off just as the sun began to set over the buildings of the metropolis.

"WAKE UP! It is 6:00 P.M. you will be late for school!"

"Yes, PM-O-Mo, I heard you." I didn't sleep well at all today... It must be because of what Hana told me.

“MARRY ME!!”

*GRRRRRRRRRRRR*

His tummy rumbled as if he hadn't eaten in a week.

Damn!! That chicken and rice better get those brats to school instead of standing outside the hostel door all day.

"Good morning, honey." Said the automaton in the other room as soon as he saw the little inventor coming out of his room.

"Good morning M.O.M." Nice! It looks like I managed to delete his meal-making subroutine successfully.

"Say hello to your father for me." Said the automaton.

Gosh... Removing one subroutine has caused another to overlap, and now it thinks we are a family or something. Another night that I'll have to work to fix it.

"I'm leaving!"

The boy left his apartment, as he did every day, and headed for his master's workshop.

****

Master Akira greeted his young apprentice with energy and a great expression of joy on his face when the little inventor arrived.

"Mi-kun, guess what! Hana and her two friends have started coming to class again! They say they want to graduate as soon as possible so they can get to work helping people. What could have happened to them? Do you have anything to do with that?"

"No. I just told them the usual."

Ano blushed so much that to hide it, he buried his head in the papers he had been writing yesterday.

The day passed as usual. The master was interested in having him learn something related to the mechanical subject of automatons today. So far, Ano's creations have been essentially static and almost motionless. Although they could move, they did not move as smoothly as they could.

"Listen, Ano. There is a major science fair being held in District B the upcoming week. Everyone can go and present an invention or project they've done by themselves."

"Eeeeh? Master, I never go to those things. I'm too smart to make toys."

"Yeah, yeah..." The teacher sighed and started again. "Listen, Ano. That science fair is an important step towards fulfilling your dream. Every month, the winner of the fair gets a temporary contract to work in the metropolis. Asu's own scientists come to look for young talents like you who will help in producing the new technologies of the future."

"Yuck. Asu! Who would want to work for those thieves of ideas? I'll build my suit by myself and then I’ll set up my own technology development company here in this district, just like you did."

That company, along with Yu Asu, will be destroyed by me!! I’ll never forgive the fact that they stole my life’s project!! I swear to God himself!!

Ano was confident. But he was too naive. He would never get his suit developed by himself. Not because it was too much work or because it was difficult for him, but because he lacked the resources to do so. Akira was well aware of this, and as a mentor, he was responsible for guiding Ano in the right direction.

"Ano, come with me."

Both of them left the workshop through the back door. Master Akira took his disciple to the garage behind the building. He walked over to a black tarp covering something and began to speak.

"I know your birthday is next month. But life is too short to wait."

With a single movement, Akira lifted the tarp, and from it appeared a Z-910 motorcycle. You could tell from the parts that it had been custom modified and rebuilt. Its color was a sunset red, almost orange. It had perfect pearlescence all over his metal body. It almost looked like the motorcycle was about to start moving on its own. Custom rims, modified sheet metal, adjustable rear view mirrors, black vision screen like the water in the suburban creek, and off-road wheels.

"I was waiting for you to turn 16, so it wouldn't be illegal for you to drive it. But I don't think anyone in the metropolis cares in the least; they won't waste resources on someone who's almost 16. Hahahaha." The teacher said, smiling.

"Master Akira!!! This is unbelievable!!!” No way, Master Akira has bought a Z-910? No, he has modified it, it's obvious. The chassis is 100% original, but the rest is handmade for sure!

"It's an old Z-910 that I had when I was 16, from before I went into the military. It's a very old model and it was completely trashed, so I've had to refurbish it little by little at night when you went home. I hope you like it."

The master took the keys out of his pocket and offered them to his young apprentice.

"I love it, master!!! Don't tell me all these ledges are secret compartments for modifications!" He said as he pointed to the various panels the motorcycle had.

In its original form, the Z-910 was a 1-piece motorcycle. Its design was sleek, compact, and stylish. However, Master Akira had to completely revamp it with metal parts he found on the market. This therefore took months of work. His intention was to build a proper motorcycle so that the young boy could, over time, improve it with various custom additions.

"That's right, every panel is customizable. You can install almost anything you need on them. Maybe you can install the wave disruptor you built a few days ago. That way, you can disable the road cameras if you need to." Said the teacher, smiling.

The boy was glued to his new bike like a limpet. His eyes were shining like the stars he saw every night from his apartment.

"By the way, Mi-kun, you should reconsider taking part at the science fair. I've taken the trouble to reserve a place for you. I think it's the best thing for your future."

Ano was surprised. He thought he had already made it clear that he would never work for those unpresentable Asu millionaires. His joy soon began to mix with a feeling of hatred that made the young boy explode.

"NO!!! I will never work for them!!"

In an instant, the young kid pounced on his master, taking the keys from his hand, jumped on the motorcycle, put it in gear, and clumsily but surely left the garage where they were.

"Mi-kun... How can I make you understand..." Mumbled the teacher hesitantly.

****

Ano drove out of the garage so fast that he didn't knew where he wanted to go. He wandered around for a while until he unconsciously arrived at his friends' hostel. There they were, as usual, The Northern Stars gang.

"EEEEEHH?? Ano-kun??" His friends were surprised.

"How's the patrol going, guys? Master Akira told me you guys went to school today."

Ano was happy that his friends started going to school like he told them to. He was sure that Hana had convinced them to go. The Northern Stars leader was certainly someone to be reckoned with.

"Hana, what do you say you come up and we go do a little patrol around the neighborhood?"

Hana nodded and hopped on the motorcycle without hesitation. She held tightly to Ano's waist as she blushed and buried her head in her friend's back. Without a second thought, they set off, and after making several laps in which they watched people get home without any problems, Ano decided to leave the residential area and set off up the hill outside the C district.

****

Thanks to the all-terrain wheels of his new iron steed, they reached the top of the hill without any problems. Both young friends got off the motorcycle and sat down between two trees that had already lost their leaves. From this hill, you could see all of Neo Shibuya. The suburbs were connected to the isolated metropolis by direct access bridges, built over a deep and wide river that surrounded the Neo Shibuya metropolis.

Hana watched Ano for a short while in silence. This was enough to realize that something was wrong with her friend.

"Ano-kun... Is something bothering you?" The young girl asked, cocking her head slightly.

"Why do you say that, Hana?" The young boy looked away in embarrassment.

The girl smiled. "I've known you for as long as I can remember, I know when you're worried." She said, with confidence in her words.

Ano, after hesitating for a moment, decided to tell his childhood friend what was wrong with him.

"Master Akira wants me to work for the corrupt Asu. He wants me to make an invention for the science fair. I can't let those corporate rats take advantage of my ingenuity to make money and exploit people." Said confidently.

Hana remained silent. What her friend was saying was logical. There was no flaw in his reasoning. Except for one.

"You know, Ano-kun, the brave do not fear fate."

She repeated the words she had heard at school today.

"What do you mean?"

The girl didn't knew what she wanted to say either, so she improvised.

"You can't just sit back and watch things happen! Get up and fight! Get inside Asu and finish them off! I mean... Finish the bad things they do from the inside. You're smart, you should know that. You're not smarter than me, though! After all, I have to explain everything to you." She said presumptuously.

The boy was perplexed. Hana was right. From the outside, it would be more complicated to accomplish his goals, but from the inside, everything would be easier.

Come to think of it... Master Akira said something similar to me in different words. Maybe in the end, I'm not as smart as I thought I was. I'm just good at making inventions.

"You're right, Hana. Just this time, I admit that you've outsmarted me. I promise I'll try my best to end all the problems we have in our city."

"And then we'll get married!" Replied Hana, as she looked tenderly at her friend.

Ano blushed and averted his gaze.

"Only if you graduate." Damn, I had forgotten.

They spent several minutes contemplating the light show provided by the city and the stars in the sky from that lonely hill.

"Hey Ano-kun, how about if I help you set up your science project? I'm sure you need the help of someone as talented as me."

"What? No way. I don't need the help of someone who doesn't even know what a week is."

"How dare you, Ano!" Hana said angrily.

The girl threw herself on her friend in anger. They spent the next 30 minutes wrestling. When they were done fighting, they both broke apart and lay down on the withered grass with their arms outstretched facing the sky.

"Okay, fine." Ano said panting. "You can come to the workshop after school."

"Sure I can!" Said the girl tiredly. "You need my help to fulfill your dream!"

The two youngsters laughed until they cried from laughter.

****

The two friends got on the motorcycle. It got so late that the night fumes from the sewers had already begun to rise when Ano dropped Hana off at the hostel. He bought his dinner at Tom's store, and parked his new Z-910 in the brothel’s garage. The young boy entered his small apartment after a short but stressful day.

"Welcome, son. You're a little late today."

He was greeted by his robot automaton.

"How is your father doing?"

"You know what, M.O.M, I think I like this new personality of yours. I'll leave it for the time being."

The young boy started thinking about the project he was going to present at the science fair. He would later realize that he was going to need his teacher's help to develop his idea. That night became extremely long.

I have to apologize to master Akira tomorrow.