The Next Goal

“Give me your nanobots for a sec.”

“What for?” A doubtful tone came from the young man in question.

“I just need to confirm something. Don’t worry, I won’t break it.”

Leaving Bitleo in the hands of someone he had just met didn’t sit well with Zain, even if that someone had proven himself to be at least somewhat capable, and he was a relative of an acquaintance. But after a moment of consideration, he followed through nonetheless, trusting that he would take control again if there was anything wrong, just to be sure.

“Here,” taking out the pendant, Zain answered.

Meanwhile, Mike had already taken out a pair of glasses and put them on. “Thanks.”

“You’re short-sighted?”

“Oh, no, these aren’t regular glasses,” Mike answered, pushing the small button on the glasses’ right rim. On the command, the lenses changed from a normal, clear state to a pitch-black color and green lines, akin to a scanner of sorts.

While Zain was still unsure of the action, Mike formed a smile.

“I knew it,” the boy concluded, giving both the pendant and the glasses to Zain. “Here, see it for yourself.”

Only after the latter had put on the device did he understand what his new partner was talking about. The glasses acted as a portable super microscope, able to zoom in big enough for Zain to even see the individual bots themselves.

Each bot was shaped in an insectoid form, with their 6 “limbs” linking to one another – it was also the main reason for their superb connection, and depending on the formation the bots formed, they could morph into any shape that they wanted. But the main thing that caught Zain’s attention was the strange symbols on their backs – the initials “S.T.”

“I’ve had my doubts before,” Mike continued. “But I did wonder why it was so easy to break your bots’ connection. And it’s as I expected; I was already used to the design.”

“Used to them? But these are classified tech from…”

“I know,” nodded Mike. “And didn’t I tell you about World President Ryuuhan?”

Only at this point did Zain realize this small, but key detail.

That’s right, Mike was actually Mitch’s nephew. But if that’s the case… then how did he know about Ryuuhan?

“Well, for one, he’s been elected World President since a long time ago, even before he became Commander of the Infinite Prison, so his information… or at least, the kind of information he’s showing to people, is more or less common knowledge,” on the other side, the boy continued to explain. “But the second, and more important reason, is because of my mentor.”

“Right, you did mention helping on the teleporter,” Zain nodded in response. “But that doesn’t explain his involvement in things.”

“He’s… no, sorry, was Ryuuhan’s best friend and right-hand man, and the inventor of those regenerative nanobots that you made. In fact, he’s the inventor of everything you’ve seen so far: the VR helmets, the robot officers, and even the global server! Look!”

As the boy finished his words, Mike quickly shoved his VR helmet back to Zain, but this time turning its back forward. And it didn’t take long for Zain to notice the same initials “S.T.” written on it.

“S.T.… Who is he?”

“… I agreed to not reveal his name to others, and he has purposely hidden himself from the public.” Mike shook his head. “Sorry.”

“Then how am I supposed to meet this guy?”

Upon being faced with the question, Mike sat there in silence. Not the kind of awkward silence that he couldn’t explain, however, but more so the kind that he didn’t know where to start.

“There are two things you must do to get to my mentor,” In the end, Mike raised two of his fingers. “First, get a good sum of money. That thing I told Uncle earlier about entering a tournament is partially true; I do want to help him with his business, but we’re not gonna just aim for the top 4. We’re gonna win the whole thing.”

“Do we really need that much money?”

“Trust me, we do,” Mike nodded, turning to his monitor once more. “As for the second thing… Take a look at this.”

The folder Mike opened this time was a compilation of news articles. However, all of them only covered a single topic, and of people that Zain had seen before, yet didn’t know at all. The likes of Messeo, Roland, Enjou, … all gathered in the various news, but surprisingly, none of them had the familiar black-and-white ball with them.

“What’s this?” Unable to contain his curiosity, Zain asked. “Aren’t these all footballers?”

“They are not soccer players,” Mike answered. “None of them are. You were stuck in jail so you didn’t know, but that VR helmet you wore just now? That thing gave birth to the most popular sport on Earth at the moment: Neural Link Sports. In fact, those games you played back in jail were based on this, I’m sure.”

“Not really, those are training regimens for combating space-time travel. But do continue.”

“… Those two things might not be mutually exclusive,” feigning a cough to hide his embarrassment, Mike continued. “But anyway, they are similar, and this is what I want you to focus on for now.”

“Why?”

“There is one way to contact my mentor,” Mike answered. “And it’s through Neural Link Sports.”

“What, does he work with one of these guys now or something?”

“No, but he is the NLS Club Advisor in a certain high school – you know, as a cover for his real work.”

“Ah, I get it,” nodded Zain. “You’re saying that I need to go to this school to meet him, then?”

“That’s correct,” Mike nodded in return, but soon changed to a shake of the head. “But not enough. ‘Getting to the school’ is easy, but its security is also top-notch. I dare say it’s as good as, or even better than that jail you were in.”

The comparison sent a snicker to from on Zain. “I doubt it.”

“Don’t underestimate it,” Mike shook his head once more. “This is the school for training elites. You wouldn’t believe how much they’d do to protect their so-called crown jewels. And naturally, this means that the entrance fee is ridiculously high – which explains the money problem I told you about earlier.”

“Okay, so what is this school we’re talking about?”

“The most prestigious high school on the planet,” Mike opened another window on his monitor and directed the cursor towards a small island nation far to the east. “Where talents flourish and geniuses gather… Aoba Academy.”