Chapter 14:

To The Final Confrontation

As The Sun Rises


The way the light casts a long shadow on the floor tells Hugo he’s woken slightly later that same afternoon. He’s back in his room at Maria’s farmhouse. Several lush green plants hang from pots and line the walls. His first concrete thought is a question: how does someone as busy as her look after them?

But the whirr of a drone catches his attention, flying in through the window and answering him – it sprinkles the plants, one after another, with a healthy amount of water.

“Hugo, I’m so glad you’re okay.” A voice catches his attention.

He turns his head to face Lily, sitting on a chair by the end of his bed. As he does so, he becomes aware of a dull headache. At least the sharp pain has stopped.

“What happened?” Hugo asks.

Then he remembers. He jolts upright in bed, the memories of the crash playing on fast forward in his mind.

“Did the Capital–?”

Lily hangs her head. The movement inadvertently prompts Hugo to look at Lily’s phone, held tightly in her lap. She’s working, even now.

“Another attack,” she hangs her head. “And we have no idea how.”

When the defense systems were taken down, other forms of military tech were too – like the ornithopters. But something’s not quite right.

“How are you here?” Hugo asks. “I thought the Council’s meant to stay in the Capital.”

“I, uh, made some arrangements a while ago.” Lily chooses her words carefully.

Hugo clenches the bed sheets in his fists. Does this mean she’s been following him the whole time?

“Luckily, the other members are unharmed,” Lily continues. “But it’s much worse this time, Hugo. Much, much worse…”

Hugo pictures the explosions he saw after ejecting from the ornithopter. His mind then drifts those of the first attack – the ones he saw firsthand. And Eugene, dead. There must be many more with that same fate.

“Why didn’t you stop it?” Hugo stares vacantly at his legs underneath the covers, refusing to look at Lily.

She doesn’t respond, so he looks up to stare at her.

“How could you let it happen again?” Hugo demands. “I thought the Council was meant to protect us.”

“Hugo, unless we find out how they’re doing it, we can’t do anything.”

He drops his stare, and there’s a moment of silence.

She’s right – there really is nothing they can do. Even contacting other societies for help is impossible, since connection to the outside world is still blocked.

“The Council is close to granting martial law to the military,” Lily continues. “I’ve voiced my opinions against it, of course, but I think it’s only a matter of time before they do it.”

Hugo knows the military commanders are just the same as tech corporation directors – power-hungry, like Simon. After all, these kinds of people in New Kansai tend to gravitate to the only roles where any degree of power is left. There’s no way of knowing what could happen if martial law is enacted.

“What about the military operation?” Hugo asks.

“Several aircraft flew past twenty minutes ago. Emily’s gone to help them,” Lily replies. “I’ve got no idea about what’s happening up there. The military never lets us in on things like this.”

Hugo exhales in irritation. “Is it…?”

But he trails off – Lily wouldn’t know if it was Noah’s hovercraft that made the signal, after all. She does, however, pick up on this train of thought.

“It is.”

Hugo locks eyes with her, determination in his eyes.

Lily immediately realizes her mistake, raising a hand to her mouth. As if trying to take back what she just said. “Hugo, you mustn’t,” she tells him firmly. “It’ll be over by now. He’ll be okay.”

“How do you know?” he says, refusing to believe it.

“Because Emily’s stepping in as commander for Casey’s squadron.”

Hugo takes a moment to digest this information.

“What about Casey? Where is he?”

“I suppose he’s dealing with the… situation in the Capital.”

All of a sudden, Lily’s phone buzzes continuously in her hand, and she stands abruptly. “I need to take this.”

She leaves the room, closing the door, and leaving Hugo by himself. It’s a mistake on her part, though, as he stares at the open window – large enough for a person to fit through.

He doesn’t blame her for her lapse in judgment; she must be under the pump right now. But he does blame her for following him out to Maria’s farm. Just to keep tabs on him.

In fact, it really annoys him.

* * *

Hugo sneaks around the back of the house, careful not to let anyone see him. Only Lily and Maria should be on the farm, and it should be relatively easy to avoid them. He turns a corner of the house, ready to sprint to the shed, but he’s startled as he bumps into someone.

In front of him, Maria’s robot peers down on Hugo. As if judging his character.

Hugo ignores it, walking around it in a huff and leaving it standing beside the house. He looks at the shed across the field, the metal reflecting the afternoon light.

But something in the corner of his vision catches his attention – an aircraft looking a bit like an ornithopter sits several meters from the back door of the house. Of course, they had to have landed closeby to get him inside the house.

Hugo approaches the cockpit. They’re technically flyable by one person – it’s just harder to control all the logistics when you’re flying as well. He’s about to climb in when he hears the farmhouse’s back door swing open.

“Hugo.” It’s a demand for him to stay.

But he rolls his eyes, opening the cockpit and swinging a leg inside.

He’s grabbed by the arm and pulled down to the grass. He shoots an angry look at Lily, who holds him with a tight grip.

“What do you want?” Hugo demands.

Lily goes to speak, but Hugo interrupts: “I’m an adult. You can’t control me anymore, so stop trying.”

“Hugo, you don’t understand–”

What don’t I understand?” Hugo cuts her off. “That you’ve been following me around like I’m a child? I don’t need supervision from you! Not you, the Council, the military, or anyone!”

But Lily doesn’t let him go. “You shouldn’t go by yourself,” she pleads. “You saw how dangerous those robots are.”

“What would you know?” he retorts. “You haven’t even seen them! You were in hiding every time they’ve been here.”

Lily pulls her hand back, but Hugo doesn’t get in the ornithopter just yet; he wants to hear her reply.

“I don’t want to lose another son. Don’t you understand?”

Suddenly realizing her intentions, Hugo stomach twists in guilt. But it doesn’t make him want to give in to her. “I’ll be back soon,” he says, swinging his leg into the cockpit again.

Once more, he’s yanked back down.

“No.” Lily looks him dead in the eyes. It’s the fire Hugo’s seen only once – the time that she totalled the assassin drone. “I won’t let you.”

She pulls him a few steps away from the ornithopter, before he digs his heels into the ground and yanks his wrist away. He stands in a defensive position, hands raised close to his face. As if he’s about to get into a street fight. His mother’s trained in the same martial art as him, after all.

The first strike comes in from the left, and Hugo blocks it with his arm. The next comes as an uppercut, but he flicks his head backwards to avoid the blow.

He dodges Lily’s advances, specifically designed to knock him out or make him unable to walk for a brief period of time. He doesn’t want to hurt his mother, but he begins throwing blows of his own; she’s skilled enough to force him to make time between her attacks to recuperate.

As they trade blows, it becomes clear she’s even better than Noah. And holding back – it’s only a matter of time before Hugo’s lost. So he changes his tune, retreating as far away from the ornithopter as possible. Lily falls for it, and they’re fighting on the back porch within seconds.

Hugo gains an opportunity, knocking her off balance before turning and running at full sprint towards the cockpit. He underestimates Lily’s speed, however, and she wraps both arms around Hugo’s waist, forcing him to stop. He struggles, but Lily doesn’t let go.

After several seconds, he gives up. There’s no way he can escape from her – an oppressive force in both authority and ability.

“You’re right,” Lily says, her voice muffled in Hugo’s back. “I have been overprotective.” She lets go, and Hugo turns to face her. “But at least let me come with you.”

* * *

The controls are different in this early prototype ornithopter. Even still, Hugo’s easily able to figure it out – ornithopters are designed to not be entirely difficult to fly in the first place.

As Lily isn’t a trained pilot, Hugo sits in the front cockpit. As soon as the hatch is closed, he turns on the engine.

The ornithopter’s wings begin rotating in their iconic fashion, though perhaps slightly differently than the military ones. They lift off the ground, and Hugo notices the buzz of both the engine and wings is significantly louder.

It attracts Maria’s attention – she runs out of the shed where Hugo originally thought this ornithopter would be, waving her arms wildly.

Hugo flies the ornithopter slowly over to her, then lowers it onto the ground. He turns off the engine and opens the cockpit to hear her.

When the wings slow with a decrease in volume, Maria shouts out to them. “You’ll need something to defend yourself if the defense systems come down again.”

Hugo nods, a big enough movement for her to see him do so.

Hugo and Lily follow her into the shed, turning immediately and facing a long workbench against the wall. An assortment of scrap metal litters the bench.

“What do you think of my prototype-prototype ornithopter?” Maria asks, a grin on her face. “It’s painfully slow, but it’s sturdy.”

She ruffles through the table, finds something and holds it up for them to see – a bulky, dark green gun. “It’s my prototype of a laser dazzler rifle. I’m sure you remember from the training program, Hugo, but this one only has one shot in it.”

“How does this help if we’re up against robots?” Lily asks.

During the course, Maria had taught Hugo and the other recruits how to use them and what they’re capable of.

“It also scrambles certain types of tech for a moment,” Maria replies with what Hugo's thinking. “And I’m sure I don’t need to warn you about using it with your eyes open and no hololens, Hugo. Keep tabs on your mother.”

“Do you have any?” Hugo asks.

“Hololenses?” Maria sighs. “Unfortunately, they’re not mine. They’re that traitor tech company.”

It’s clear she has a grudge against them. Perhaps not so much because of their involvement in the attacks on the Capital, but for more personal reasons – they’re tech competitors, after all.

“Thanks, Maria.” Lily accepts the rifle from Maria. “This’ll be really helpful.”

“You’ve also got the weapons on the ornithopter. We’re lucky I made prototypes of those too!”

They all share a laugh, except for Hugo. Seeing Lily and Maria interact together like this makes him suspicious – as far as he knew, they didn’t have any form of relationship until now.

“Hugo?” Lily senses something’s wrong.

Maria might say she went on the training program just to help out the military but, as a member of the Council, Lily’s an influential person. Lily knows it’s Maria, after all, who helped Hugo out all those years ago.

Hugo turns to face Lily. “You set this all up, right from the training program, didn’t you?” he says with a flat tone.

Lily, flustered, struggles to find an answer – it’s true.

“Your mother reached out to me, asking for a favor,” Maria replies, helping her out. “She really cares about you, you know.”

“Pff, a tiny favor.” Hugo sneers. “What’d she offer you?”

Someone as impressive and valuable as Maria doesn’t just do people favors.

“Hugo,” Lily takes a step forward. “I thought that – if something were to go wrong – she’d be the best person for you to be around.”

But Hugo’s already stomping back to the ornithopter. He can’t stand being here any longer. “Whatever, let’s go already.”

* * *

The sun starts to set, orange light spewing onto the valley from behind the peaks of the Japanese Alps. In some part, Hugo’s thankful for the loud noise of the ornithopter and their lack of hololens – he doesn’t want to speak to Lily anyway.

They pass over the ecovillage, but Hugo doesn’t look over to see who turns their head to watch them fly past. He’s sure they’re anxious, certain they’ve already had multiple military aircraft fly over today.

This prototype ornithopter doesn’t have stealth mode – that’s an invention even newer than this type of aircraft. Even with stealth mode, they’d still be visible on the radars of other New Kansai military aircraft.

“Two aircraft approaching from behind,” Lily yells forward at him, confirming his suspicions.

He tenses up.

“Military?”

“Yes. I think they’re heading to the others.”

At least they’re not enemy aircraft. They show up on Hugo's radar, their dots splitting up and flanking his ornithopter on both sides.

Hugo observes both of them out the window – they’re reconnaissance helicopters, with the purpose of supporting ground troops. Painted in light gray, they boast two large laser guns below their cockpit window.

He gives the pilots a smile and a wave, hoping that being friendly will make them realize they’re not a threat. The pilot in the left helicopter gives Hugo a hand gesture, asking for him to connect to the military communication channel via his hololens.

“Tch.” Hugo points to his ear and shrugs, clearly showing he doesn’t have a hololens.

Hopefully, they’ll speed up to support the troops ahead. Just them being here tells Hugo one thing – the battle’s still happening. It relieves him, even if only a bit.

After a moment of tension, the helicopters speed up, leaving their ornithopter behind. Hugo breathes a sigh of relief, relaxing into his chair. Thank goodness.

“Hugo!” Lily shouts, making him jolt upright.

The helicopters swing around to the side, almost directly facing each other. Their laser guns are pointed right in the middle of where Hugo’s about to fly.

He jerks the joystick right back towards him, sailing clear above the helicopters. He sees them break their formation and begin to tail him, rising to his altitude.

There’s no point in trying to outrun them; even Maria admitted this prototype ornithopter is painfully slow. There is, however, something even this incomplete aircraft can do better than military-grade helicopters – maneuver like crazy.

“On the lasers!” Hugo yells at Lily.

There’s a moment as she thinks it over. “No, we can’t!”

“Why not?!” He suspects the controls might be broken. Or she doesn’t know how to use them.

“We’ll get in trouble!” Lily replies, prompting Hugo to exclaim in confusion. “We should land!”

“They’ll shoot us down!”

“No, they won’t!”

Clearly, she won’t do as Hugo says. And he won’t have that.

He throws the ornithopter into a spin, his seatbelt preventing him from slamming full-force into the side of the cockpit. The ornithopter faces the helicopters – they’re almost at the right altitude to shoot Hugo down.

“Hugo, don’t do it!”

But there’s one thing Lily’s forgetting: this is Maria’s personal prototype.

Hugo lowers a hand to his own set of weapon controls – a function that doesn’t exist in the military-grade ornithopters – and prepares to use the laser gun. He doesn’t have a hololens, so he won’t be able to get accurate aiming visuals. But Maria didn’t either, so she must’ve designed this prototype with that also in mind.

On the press of a button, a thin beam of light shoots out of the side of the ornithopter. The helicopters scramble to avoid it, but it cuts cleanly through a fraction of one helicopter’s tail fin. Out of control, the helicopter slowly spins away towards the ground.

Hugo smirks – one down, one to go. He moves a finger to another control, aiming as best as he can at such short range. But just as he’s about to press it, the helicopter instantly turns invisible.

They have stealth mode too.

But it won’t help them much, because Hugo can still see – albeit only barely – a shimmer where the helicopter flies. Still, it’s not enough for him to get a clean shot at this distance.

He presses the button, and a large dot of bright light soars towards the helicopter. The aim assist function makes it curve slightly.

Hugo hears Maria gasp, but the helicopter does what he’s expecting – from the side of the aircraft, small spots of light rain towards Hugo’s missile.

One of the spots collides with the missile, making it blow up before it reaches its target. The helicopter flies straight through its smoke cloud, giving away their exact location.

In the next instant, Hugo’s laser slices through the smoke. It cuts off the helicopter’s tail boom, a bit closer to the cockpit than he’s comfortable with. But he’s managed to pull it off.

Turning around in his seat, he shoots Lily a look of ‘I told you so’. She glares at him in return, clearly regretting her decision to let him pilot.

Hugo turns the ornithopter back to the front, continuing to fly towards the signal. It should be less than a minute away.

After a moment, he hears Lily: “Is this what you’ll do to Noah, too?”

Hugo grips the joystick tighter, digging into it with his fingernails. He doesn’t know – if Noah refuses to come back with him, will he let such a traitor escape unharmed?