Starting Signal

An explosion roared outside, its shockwaves spreading throughout the building.

I stood on a metal catwalk, leading from the door to the servers… the place where everything CLEAR does has been stored, the place I will protect with my life.

The room was large and open. A column at the center brought all electricity and data from the building to the servers, which could be found on a circle in the middle, with just the catwalks leading to it. Below the servers was a backup generator…

I pushed some buttons on the tablet, turning off the power of machinery and computers. The normal lighting turned off, and the red alarm lights barely illuminated this room.

I closed every single door, yet left an obvious path open.

I switched to the camera closest to the explosion.

The attackers were coming in through a hole in the white walls of the building, exiting out of various armored flying cars. I calmly moved my fingers, and switch the camera to infrared vision.

About sixty live forms I could count, and most of them had cybernetic enhancements…

The black expansion suit was nowhere to be seen. But I have faith it will show itself soon enough…

I gave the first command of the battle, sending the first wave of Cybers to attack them.

The group kept sticking to each other, checking each corner to make sure no one could ambush them, but they didn’t bother checking the rooms…

I opened all the rooms in the hallway they were in, and immediately energy blasts spread throughout. The attackers were quick to respond, causing some Cybers to violently explode before they could attack but it wasn’t enough. Various intruders were hit and some even dismembered.

Smoke clouded my vision and before I knew it, someone had shot down the camera, disabling it.

That didn’t matter.

I closed a fortified door behind the attackers and ordered Cybers to stand by…

Three, two… one…

I pressed a button and the door opened up rapidly. The Cybers instantly ran towards the attackers, dashing across the hallways like a pack of bulls.

The attackers got in formation quickly, aimed, and shot at the command of someone in the back. The energy blast filled the hallway, dissipating over the Cybers they hit, causing the first to burst and explode violently.

Through the smoke and broken wreckage of the first one, the second still kept running.

The attackers stopped shooting, and one of them dashed to the Cyber, their hands open and held low, unafraid of the consequences. His hands started sparkling more and more. Touching the Cyber with his open palm, he twisted his body and let it go, running towards the third one.

I started reciting a line of code and when that intruder got close enough the Cyber ruptured in his face, blood splattered on the walls and his body was launched backward.

The other Cyber remained face down on the ground, but before I could take a closer look at it someone blasted the camera, disabling it.

They can disable machinery by touching it…

I switched over to the next camera, a bit further away from the group. This would most likely be the place they would split up, and where my most dangerous trap had been placed…

From there, they could gain access to the elevators by shattering the door. And from there they could go toward the security room.

I saw the group walking ever closer to the invisible trap I had laid out in front of them. Blissfully unaware that they would die within the next few seconds.

I felt nothing for them. They’re mere insects who are about to get crushed.

The group arrived at the spot and stopped for a few seconds. Not everyone was standing where I wanted them to be, but this was a good chance to take out fifteen of them.

I smiled a little before giving my next order.

“Shoot,” was all I said to the person on the other side.

It went silent for a bit. The camera couldn’t quite pick up what they were saying, but that didn’t matter.

The floor started glowing a light blue and a mere second later it brutally shattered into a million pieces, disintegrating everyone standing above, and causing almost everyone else to blast away.

The smoke cleared quickly, rubble was falling down the large yet precise hole where the blast had come from.

A white metal figure slowly rose through that hole, a large sniper rifle in its hands.

“Massacre them Kanaye,” I said, my smile widening more.

Kanaye aimed his sniper rifle as it charged energy into its barrel. Electricity crackled from the barrel of the gun, spreading its arcs into the thin air.

Aiming it at the intruders, Kanaye prepared to shoot, only to forcefully recoil back, his sniper rifle destroyed into tiny pieces.

There, in the cameras, I saw a figure appear from thin air. A black metal Expansion Suit… model name Sillihoute, a large rifle in its hand.

Kanaye recovered quickly and stood to face Sillihoute, gripping his pistol and knife.

“Take that thing outside. Defeat it no matter what!” I said, my smile twisted.

The intruders quickly recovered and shot the camera again. I began feeling tired of this game.

I commanded Cybers to stand outside the elevator door, with their rifles prepared to shoot.

But the elevator felt delayed. They should have arrived by now… yet they didn’t… I looked at the overall map of the building and looked at any other point of interest.

The orphanage, the labs, the surgery rooms, the medical equipment, the chemicals, the research papers, and the workers that were rushing through the hallways.

Pushing through one another, trying to move through each other. They tripped, crawled, ran, and jumped.

I didn’t know where the intruders had gone…

I sent a few Cybers to scout out the lower floors and placed my focus back on this floor. I counted about twenty intruders heading for the server room I stood in.

About twenty of them were missing…

***

The building shook abruptly, and all I could do was sit on a chair or lay down on a bed.

This was the second time and it only made me more infuriated.

I punched the door that kept me in here.

I made a mistake… A genuine mistake… because I shot Akihiro, Erity is now facing the intruders practically alone…

I have to get out of here and help her. But I didn’t have the strength to punch through the walls, nor the intelligence or skill to hack the door.

I don’t want to be a burden… I want to help, I want to be useful, yet sitting here is making me go crazy!

I walked around the room, thinking about what I could do to escape, thinking about how things were going for Erity and what Akihiro could be planning.

I walked around the room so much that I started getting dizzy.

I sat down on the bed, lowered my head, and clutched it within my hands.

The door fizzled and opened up… An intruder dressed in full black gear was standing in the doorway.

They took off their helmet and bandana and revealed their face. Shoulder-length blonde hair that lost its colors at the tips, green eyes, and a round-ish face.

I stood up and walked to the back of the room, preparing myself to fight.

“I have a proposition for you…” the girl said softly. “My name is Shina, and I’m a part of MINX…”

I remained silent. Whoever this person was, whatever they might want I can’t trust them.

“I know Erity. I wouldn’t say I’m a friend of hers, but I do know a lot about her,” she said with a sad expression, “I care about her. With the way, things are going… Erity will break and not be able to rebuild herself. That’s where you come in.”

I felt a strange feeling in my gut. She could be taken advantage of me… But if it is true…

“What do you mean?” I decided to ask slowly.

“Matoya is going overboard. It's unlike him, but then again I haven’t seen him for so long. Be there for Erity, to support her so that she won’t fully break down,” she said, throwing a belt, pistol, and security tablet to me. “You can find Erity in the server room.”

The woman named Shina said.

“Wait a second. What are you planning? Releasing an enemy? Telling them to go somewhere? What makes you think I’ll listen or trust you?” I said, moving slowly to my pistol

“Let me ask you a question. Would you be prepared to sacrifice everything for Rai?”

I glared at her for a little while, remaining as still as I could.

“Of course, I would.”

“Would you sacrifice everything for Erity as well?”

“I would.”

“Then you have no choice but to listen to me. If you don’t trust me, Erity will shatter. You could of course go around defeating us to lighten her burden, but that won’t stop at least one of us…”

Shina stopped talking and just went away. I could hear her footsteps quickly fading away.

I stepped outside and took a look around, but no one was in sight.

If I go around dealing with the intruders, it won’t stop at least one of them… I turned on the tablet and saw a message had popped up.

‘Successfully copied all functions and documents.’

“That Shina…”

I decided to let it go. I checked the cameras in the server room and saw Erity on one of the metal walkways.

Whether I listen to Shina or not, the best course of action is still to regroup with Erity. But before I went, I checked all the cameras on the lower floors until I found the room where all the workers and Isao had evacuated to. Akihiro was in a separate room nearby, sitting on the ground.

I changed cameras and planned my route…

***

Sitting on the ground I stared at the ceiling. I took a look at the camera in the corner of the room…

I have to be patient.

Isao and the other workers are in the room next door. If someone finds them and attacks, it's my job to clear them up from behind…

But that won’t happen… At this point, I’m just waiting for the starting signal…

Footsteps kept coming closer. They must have metal feet because I could hear them from so far away. I opened the tablet and looked at the camera that peered down the hall. An intruder dressed in full black, a pouch in his hand.

He didn’t seem to know Isao and the other workers were there, but it's best to just take people out. It would also lighten Erity’s burden just slightly.

It's the least I can do for her…

When the intruder passed by my room, I opened the door and shot him with my EMP pistol. He quickly fell unconscious, the pouch slid further down.

I walked closer and checked his pulse. He was still breathing…

I stood up and aimed my pistol at him.

“I’m pretty sure my gun is on Complete Shutdown mode…” I said, checking it to be sure.

The display confirmed my thoughts… I aimed at him… I didn’t want to do this… But because of my selfishness, it has to be done. Otherwise, I can’t do what I want…I placed my finger on the trigger and closed my eyes. I pulled it, one, two, three times...

I crouched down and checked his pulse again, trying to avoid looking at his chest. His heart had stopped…

I walked over to grab the pouch he had dropped and looked inside. A memory tack. I grabbed my tablet and inserted it…

Data on VOID and SPEAR but nothing on CLEAR. All of this data was new to me and quite interesting, unfortunately, this gift wasn’t meant for me.

I placed the memory tack inside the pouch and then in my pocket.

I walked back to the body and grabbed its feet. Pulling the body to the room Isao, the workers, and the Cybers Erity entrusted to me, were in. Isao helped me when he saw what I was doing.

When we were inside, I took off the intruder’s helmet, bandana, belts, and any kind of equipment he was wearing, stripping him down until he was just wearing thin black cloth.

I shared the weaponry with everyone, this way, they could defend themselves even if the Cybers were destroyed.

“Isao, I have a present for you.”

“What is it?”

I grabbed the pouch in my pocket and handed it to him. He looked inside and found the data tack, grabbing it between his thumb and index finger.

“That intruder whose corpse we just pillaged had it on him. It has data on VOID and SPEAR. Pretty odd if you ask me. Almost like they’re giving us a present or apology gift.”

“Are you sure it doesn’t contain a virus? That sounds too good to be true.”

“I inserted it in my security tablet and it was fine. No virus detected.”

“Why would they leave it alone with one person?”

“Who knows?” I said a thin smile appearing on my face, “I’m going back to my room.”

Isao placed his hand on his chin, his eyes fixated on the ground.

“...Good job…” Isao said to me, his eyes closed.

I stepped outside and the smile on my face grew wider.

Finally, the main event is starting…

I walked calmly through the hallways, not even bothering to aim my pistol or check the corners for more intruders.

Nothing stands in my way… nothing will stand in my way…

I checked the cameras throughout the building. Mana was almost at the server room… A cyber was chasing her discreetly, a tablet in its hands…

It seems everything is going how I predicted it would…

“I’m sorry Mana… I didn’t want to do this… unfortunately for Erity it is necessary…”

I switched cameras and saw the intruders surrounded by Cybers. A new intruder with her helmet off ran up to the group with a tablet in her hands. She pushed some buttons and the walls near the Cybers opened up, revealing Tesla coils which struck them with a pure bolt of white electricity. They broke and shattered into pieces, sparks flying everywhere…

Will you even be able to react to this Erity?