Log III: The Departure

"Oh, Abel. You came back early this time."

The old mechanic smiled as he noticed Abel entering the shop. He wiped his dirty hand on his clothes before approaching the walker.

"I need a few upgrades to the bike."

"Are you talking about the upgrade from the Axis church?"

The old man asked while glancing at the battered bike beside Abel. His eyes fell on the impromptu cooling system installed on the engine.

"That and some others. I need you to change the engine and replace the armour plates. Swap them with titanium."

"Hoh, you earned a lot of credits, huh? Alright, let me see what I can do."

The mechanic's eyes shined as he took the bike inside.

Abel sat down on a nearby tool before looking at his terminal.

The location of the sacred object had been transmitted to the device. It wouldn't be impossible for him to reach it within a day or two.

"Just what is in that cargo... No, I don't need to think about that."

He sighed while leaning back against the wall. The Church had made it clear that whatever he did, he wasn't supposed to look into the cargo.

"By the way, do you need a gun?"

A shout came from inside the shop. Abel closed his terminal and thought for a few moments before replying.

"Do you have any good prototypes?"

"I do! Though those are costly."

"Show me some."

"Alright. I'll fix this bike up first though."

"Sure."

After a more few hours of waiting, the old mechanic finally came out of his inner sanctum. He pushed the bike towards Abel who quickly grabbed the handle. He then looked at the large sidecar attached to the left side of the bike. It had an oval-shaped gap in the middle, probably for the object.

"Looks good. What about the weapons?"

"Let me go get it... Here you go."

The mechanic returned with a new object in his hand, this time it was an odd-looking gun.

"This looks like a taser."

He wasn't wrong. The gun looked exactly like a taser with a small orange orb attached to it.

"It is a taser."

"... Are you joking right now?"

"No, of course not."

The mechanic frowned before turning away and aiming at the nearby wall with the gun. Then without hesitation, he fired.

An extremely bright blue flash emerged from the muzzle of the gun and hit the wall. A large portion of it immediately turned black.

"It is a taser... But it can deliver up to a million amps. Sure, it might not be enough to kill Void Walkers, but anything below that will be cooked to a crisp with this."

"Oh..."

Abel received the gun with a bit of surprise. Once that passed away, though, his poker face returned.

"What's the catch?"

"It can only shoot one round per ten minutes. The core inside needs time to generate that power back. And the internals also need to cool down a bit before reusing it again. It's made of Thermonium, sure, but the area is small and can break with enough pressure."

"Thermonium... Did you perhaps go near one of the gates? I don't think there's enough of that in circulation after the Church bought them all up."

Abel carefully asked as he pocketed the gun. He then brought out his terminal and waited for the mechanic to state the price.

"Axis God forbid, no! One of the... [traders]... You know, those guys... had it and I bought it for a hefty sum. Still, that's the only prototype I have, so handle it with care. Also, it'll be 150,000 credits. Including the repair fees."

By those guys... He probably meant the black market traders. Nodding, Abel transferred the credits to the mechanic's terminal.

The Walker didn't bargain for it. He quietly paid the man and took the bike.

"Will you go out right now?"

"... No. I'll buy some armour, probably. And some more food."

"You might want to check out Rad's shop, heard he's got some new armour."

"Will do."

Abel murmured as he pushed the bike out of the shop.

"Well, see ya. Be careful out there."

The old man said with a gentle tone as he saw the young Walker leave.

A walker's life was full of threats and dangers... One couldn't be sure that they would survive their next mission.

So... Many tried to not get close to them or associate with them. The mechanic was no exception.

Still, wasn't it hard to not grow attached after years of working together?

...

"Be safe out there. May the Axis God protect you."

The guard bid Abel farewell as the latter pushed the bike through the gate of the town.

The morning sun was slowly rising from the east before him. The desert wind was still cold enough to make him shudder. Even so, this was the perfect time to head out.

Most of the Walkers were still having their breakfasts or sleeping. For them, the day would start from 10 A.M. or later.

However... Abel was different. He decided to skip breakfast as his stomach was filled with the synthetic food he had eaten in the inn the night before. Compared to other Hunters, he had less of an appetite and needed less sleep to function. As a result, he would often start his missions at an optimal time, making his success rate close to 100%.

That was also one of the reasons why the Hunters disliked him.

"The Abyss should be gone by now. Let's hurry."

Once far enough from the settlement, he got up on his bike and started the engine.

The nuclear-powered engine came to life with a low hum. He then touched the device placed on his temple gently.

A transparent screen appeared before him, covering his eyes like a visor.

"Abel Walker, Logging today's journey. Time: 5:45 A.M., Sunday. Year: 200 AA. Destination Co-ordinates..."

He described his destination in short detail before closing the AR vision.

This was almost sort of a ritual for all Walker. Connected to a central server in one of the major cities, Laham, this AR Vision recorded their journeys when they wanted it to.

Of course, a hefty sum of credits per year was needed... But the central server could testify in case of a framing, which happened quite often when taking jobs as Walkers. Not to mention... If they die on the journey, the server would keep their records for hundreds of years.

A memorial of sorts, a small sense of reassurance that their traces would still be left after their deaths.

None wanted to be forgotten and Abel was no exception to that.

Taking a deep breath, the young man checked the bike for the final time.

"Engine, check. Navi, check. Rad scale, check. Cargo... Check."

Once he made sure everything was okay, he moved the bike forward while slowly picking up speed. Soon, the bike was rushing through the sand hills of the desert, leaving behind a trail of dust.

...

"Honourable Bishop, are you sure we can trust that man?"

One of the Templars asked with worry as Lebeth watched the Walker leave with the cargo container. They stood on the roof of one of the watchtowers, giving themselves a clear view of the surrounding area.

"Do we have any choice?"

Lebeth's voice was devoid of all expressions as he questioned back.

"That..."

"We don't. If we send a system user there... They'll probably resonate with [Her]. Once that happens, the church will lose control of the continent."

"That's true, but..."

"We already checked it with everyone, right? The only Walker without a system. It's not really common knowledge or anything, but almost every higher-up of the Walker Guild knows about his peculiar state. He doesn't have a system... So you don't need to worry about him."

Lebeth's voice was clear.

"Back off." was what he meant.

"... Understood, Honourable Bishop. Even so, I must ask a question."

"Tsk... Go on."

The priest, despite being extremely annoyed, let the Templar continue with his question.

"Why did you ask him to take [Her] to the holy capital? Couldn't we have moved her here instead?"

"Well, then this settlement would be destroyed by the Abyss, wouldn't it?"

Lebeth chuckled as he turned around and faced the Templar. The latter stiffened as he posed another question.

"If their sacrifice means that we can save humanity... Then shouldn't we proceed with the plan?"

"Well, you are right that their sacrifices would let us get away with [Her]... But remember. This town... Corra, is an important strategic point for humanity. Losing this will push humanity back by a lot of steps."

"... I didn't think about that."

"Well, do think about it. The Church won't exist without humanity, after all."

The old priest laughed and left the watchtower, leaving the two Templars behind. After a few moments, the two hurried behind their leader and disappeared from the rooftop.