The master and the apprentice

The next day, the young boy went to visit his teacher for the first time in 22 months. Despite regularly going to the neighborhood shelter to bring food and supplies, the young boy had stopped going to visit his teacher since the day Hana passed away. Today he decided to take advantage of his day off to reconnect with him and, more importantly, to ask him for his help.

As was usual for him, he took his Z-910 and headed for his beloved district. Everything was exactly the same. In the last 22 months, nothing had changed, nothing except that the most important person in Ano's heart was missing.

The young boy arrived at the parking lot next to his master's workshop. Without hesitation, he went upstairs and knocked on the door of his master’s workshop.

*Knock Knock*

"I’m coming!"

A voice answered the knock. As the young boy waited for the door to be opened, a lot of noise started to be heard behind it. Metals falling to the ground, alarms going off... The teacher was having trouble getting to the door. After a short time, finally, the door was opened.

"Sorry I'm late... I have the workshop upside down, hahahaha. What do you wish..."

The teacher looked surprised at the boy standing in front of him. He was just as tall as him, and his face had completely changed along with his appearance. But a master can't be fooled.

"I see you've grown up today too. Right Mi-kun?"

"I'm home already, master."

****

Once inside the workshop, while they picked up the mess caused by their master, Ano, updated Akira on everything he had done in the past few months. Once they finished, the master sat down.

"I like your new look. You look like a real rocker. You could say you've copied my style if it weren't for the fact that you're wearing all black."

"I'm so sorry, master." He bowed. "I would have liked to keep seeing you, but I needed to work hard for my dream!"

Kill the rat that killed Hana!!!

"Come on, come on, Mi-kun. Don't worry about it. The important thing is that you thought about visiting me even if you couldn't."

Both inventors smiled. However, the smile on the boy's face was not honest. The fury in his eyes soon took over his expression again, while the master's remained jovial throughout the day.

"Mi-kun, how about if I help you build something like in the old days? I have some material available that we can make something that will work for you."

"Yes. That's fine with me, master. But let me go get some material from my warehouse instead."

"What do you mean, you have a warehouse around here?"

"I bought it recently. It's the old brothel where I used to live."

"Sure, we have the whole day ahead of us. While you go get the materials, I'll go make some more room here."

As Ano prepared to leave in search of the materials he had been accumulating for the past few months, the master looked tenderly and calmly at his young apprentice.

"I'll be right back, master Akira."

The door closed and the young inventor headed for what he called a warehouse. That building was the old brothel where he used to live.

The young boy bought the brothel where he grew up a little less than a year ago. His intention was to turn it into a shelter and reduce the number of dangerous people at night in his old neighborhood. However, he spent all his money to acquire that property legally.

For the time being, he used the building as a warehouse. There he took all the materials he stole and bought from Asu and the dealers he had been meeting with for the last few months. At the same time, it was his clandestine workshop, where he secretly developed the components of his beloved suit, the B.U.T.H.O.

****

After picking up several components that would help him create a better stabilizer for his retro-thrusters, he headed back to his master's workshop. Once inside, both inventors worked for hours. They chatted about various meaningless things and reminisced about old times. Then, at one point, the young boy got carried away and told his master what was bothering him.

"Master... do you think evil people should disappear from the world?"

"Well, they say there can be no good without evil. But I suppose a world without evil would be good."

"So. Should I rid this world of evil people?"

The master looked worriedly at his young disciple.

"It depends on what you consider evil. In the world, you will find good, evil, and neutral people. But not everyone will think that what you consider good is good. Likewise, you don't consider me evil either, even if someone you trust tells you so directly. Not even if I told you so myself."

"We protect the neighborhood from crooks!!!"

"Ano-kun, don't work for my corrupt brother!!!"

"All I did was give a pink liquid to a girl... I didn't hurt anyone."

The young boy recalled the words spoken to him by several people in the past. Meanwhile, the teacher raised his hands as if he were a ghost and began to joke.

"Booooohh Mi-kun... I'm evil boooo."

"Master, I'm not a child anymore. Please talk to me like an adult."

"You're right. It's been so long since I've seen you that I'm a little nervous. After so many years together with you, I still think you're a child, but I can tell from your expression that you've matured, Mi-kun."

The master was ashamed of what he was doing. His disciple had finally come to visit him after a long time and was seeking his help and guidance. He intended to calm the atmosphere a bit with some jokes, but that was not his specialty. He decided it would be best to be honest with the boy.

"Human beings are evil by nature. It doesn't matter which side he's on, Stay or Neo Human. In the end, everything will remain the same as long as we humans are here. Don't misunderstand me. I wish with all my soul for your dream to come true. But I have a different view of the world than you do. I don't want this to hold you back from accomplishing your goals, but you must understand that everyone has a different view of the world. And not everyone will agree with your opinion. But that doesn't mean they are your enemy either. That thinking is what brought our planet to the brink of extinction."

Akira remembered the days he spent facing his enemies in the war of division. He remembered all the injustices he had seen over the years in pursuit of the greater good.

"What I really want to say is that evil and good are relative. Surely many people think that killing a murderer or punishing him is the right thing to do. However, we often don't know why someone chooses to take the lives of others. For them, it would surely be doing good."

War, famine, selfishness, personalism... Society has changed since the first cyborg was born. However, Akira did not consider that a change, but an intensification of what humanity already was before.

"This society tries to ignore others in pursuit of personal good. As long as humans inhabit the earth, there will never be peace or happiness for all."

The young boy stared at his master without blinking. Akira realized that everything he was saying was depressing. Despite being the truth, his disciple seemed to carry a great sadness on his shoulders since he lost his friend. So, with the intention of cheering the boy up, he decided to conclude with his small talk.

"It always made me happy to see you talk about your dream of world peace and unifying the world. You were so kind."

"That dream was lost the night Hana died. Without her, I will never achieve a happy world." The young boy said nonchalantly.

"I'm sure Hana-chan wanted you to follow your dreams, Mi-kun." Akira said while pointing at the young boy's pendant.

My dreams are different now, master...

After a short pause in which they continued to fine-tune those retro-thrusters, the boy asked a question.

"So... what should I do now?"

"Listen Mi-kun. No one knows how to live life. Everyone lives their lives the best way they can. I, for example, am just an adult doing what I can for my homeland as a teacher. Although sometimes I have to ignore things that go against my moral values. However, I put the happiness of others before mine."

"What do you mean, master?"

"What I mean is that your dream never disappeared, Mi-kun. It simply disappeared what made you happy yourself."

"My dream... no, Hana's dream and mine disappeared the day she died."

"I'm sure Hana-chan would be angry with you if she saw you giving up on your dream like that. She wanted to see you happy as much as I want to see you happy. Mi-kun, you're the only one who will decide where your path and dreams end."

Ano did not seem to understand his teacher's words correctly. All he had seen for months was a straight line to avenge his friend's death. If it was up to him to direct his life, then it was quite clear to him what he should do next.

"I've been trying for months to find the culprit behind Hana's death. Could you help me break through Asu Industries' defenses? I am unable to do so."

The master rested his hand on the boy's shoulder and began to speak.

"I'm sorry Mi-kun. Years ago, I would have helped you with it. But I'm too old to do that infiltration and overthrowing the system stuff anymore. I gave up on healing this world years ago."

That's true. I shouldn't involve the master in this kind of thing. He is an honest person who helps others when he can. I'm stupid for dragging him into something so personal...

"That's why you should look for new people to help you with this. Friends!!! I know, how about we get into the Cyber Deep?"

The Cyber Deep was a virtual space. It followed the same concept as the public virtual meeting points but in an anonymous and secure subnetwork that was not controlled by the government system. It was like the cyberspace Ano created with Hana's video, but many people could connect to it.

"We'll look for someone who has some information or can help you break the security code of Asu's labs."

The master began to make preparations to be able to enter the secret cyberspace. Despite being a secret thing reserved for people in the suburbs, from time to time, people from the government and the authorities would enter the place. But they were detected within minutes and, in the worst case, they sent shocks to the brain that could kill any person or cyborg, regardless of the security of their connections.

"Listen Mi-kun. This place is dangerous. But I'll explain it better when we're inside."

Both inventors put on the glasses and gloves of the two Cyber Huts. A great journey into unknown lands was about to begin.