Chapter 9

Since it would be difficult to safely traverse the woods at night, the three decided to stop and rest. Lynn spent the next couple hours teaching Aoi more English. Eventually a long yawn put the lessons on hold for the remainder of the night. Beside their camp, a small river gently flowed. Swishing down the mountain, the fresh water sounds easily persuaded Aoi to drift to sleep. She would need it for the next day.

Waking-up to a loud splash, Aoi let out a sizable yawn. Annoyingly, swimming was the first thing Lynn decided to do in the morning. As Aoi rubbed her eyes, she walked over to the water's edge.

"Why do you like water so much?"

"No particular reason." Lynn splashed at Aoi, who flinched at the cold drops.

"Does it have to do with your name? Is it like how Rose likes flowers?"

"'You remind me of a lake, and you are always soaked...' that's what one of my sisters told me. So, she named me Lynn. It means lake."

"It suites you well."

"Yah. Actually, I like that we gave each-other names. In the end, it strengthened our bond as sisters. We acknowledged each-other as a person, while the humans called each of us as a number."

"Perhaps, they wanted the clones to discover their own names, their own identity."

"No. No, they only saw us as tools, nothing more."

Being splashed-at again, Aoi covered her eyes with her arm. From behind, she felt someone tacking her. Before Aoi knew what was happening, Lynn jerked her leg, sending a startled Aoi into the river. Briefly all she heard were the sounds of swirling water, as her attacker let go. Upon surfacing, the sounds of Rose' and Lynn's laughter brought clarity to the situation.

Frustratingly Aoi's attempt at being mad, quickly dissolved away from the sight of her clone's uncontrollable laughter.

Rose tried to speak between laughs, "We thought… we th-… you could use… a bath."

"You can just ask next time." Sending a large wave toward her clones, Aoi smiled at the light-hearted atmosphere. Could it last like this forever?

As Aoi had predicted, they managed to ride the hover-bike to the first mountain peak by noon. Admiring the view, Aoi stopped to soak it in.

"Oo-oo! I remember something from the manual." Eagerly Lynn shoved Aoi to the side. "Engage glide mode."

"Engaging glide mode. Warning: 'glide mode' is untested on this model. Please use caution."

Long rods extended on both sides of the hover bike. From them, pointed wings of thin energy formed. Aoi tapped one of the wings with her foot. Even-though it made a disturbing fizzle-sound, the wing seemed to keep its form.

With a concerned tone, Rose voiced her disapproval, "Lynn..."

"Common, Rose. Where is your sense of adventure?"

"Ready?"

"Yah! Let's go!"

Aoi rode the bike closer to the cliff.

"M-Mommy! NO!"

Without a moment's hesitation, Aoi hit the accelerator.

As the screams of a Rose echoed across the valley, the hover-bike soared through the air.

"Why is it going so slow?" Aoi yelled over Rose.

"We are gliding, not flying. It's like falling forward slowly."

"Ooh."

Forcibly a gust of wind tried to send to bike off-course. As Aoi fought with the controls, the wings flickered off and on.

"Detecting abnormalities in power stability. Directing more power to gliding apparatus."

"Let me down! Let me down!"

Stabilizing their descent, Aoi tried to calm Rose. "It's a shorter trip this way. Look. We are already halfway across."

Rose's response consisted of helpless whimpering.

"Don't worry. As long as the battery doesn't die suddenly, we'll make it."

"But Lynn, the battery doesn't have a gauge."

"Oh. Haha. Your right. No battery gauges. Hugh-!"

Rose squeezed Lynn's chest tighter. "If I die, I'll kill you!" she threatened.

"That doesn't make sense! -Rose, you're squeezing me too hard!"

Ignoring Lynn's complaint, Rose held a death-grip, until the bike reached the other side. Automatically its wings retracted.

"See? That wasn't so bad. We saved ourselves a few hours, t-"

Rose covered Lynn's mouth, "Shh!"

Aoi heard a high-pitch hum echoing through the valley. It was getting louder.

"Scouts," Lynn mumbled between Rose' fingers. "They probably heard your scream."

Prematurely the translator's battery died mid-sentence.

Aoi sought clarification, "Danger?"

"Yes."

"Lynn, Rose, hide."

"But-"

"Hide." Aoi shoved her clones off the bike. "Engage battle mood."

"Engaging battle mode. Error: Ignition is required to power projectiles."

Out of the bike's front, twin barrels emerged.

"Aoi, when did you… never-mind." Saving the question for later, Lynn took her weapons from the bike.

Quickly Rose grabbed her rifle, "Mommy, be careful. I'll support you from here."

"I'll protect Rose." Lynn pointed at her left eye, "Use your flame."

As Aoi's left eye ignited, the end of the barrels began glowing blue.

"Ignition detected. Battle mode is active."

Aoi nodded before riding away.

Charging toward the sounds, Aoi followed the edge of the mountain. Subtly a small machine appeared beside her, matching her speed. In the spit-second the prism-shaped drone opened fire, Aoi hit the accelerator. It missed. When the small, purple pellets contacted the mountain's side, the wall crumbed into pebbles. Aoi turned her attention ahead. Weaving in-and-out of the woods, she dodged the scout's fire.

Unfortunately, she could not completely fly out into the open. If she gave Rose a clear shot, the drone would also have a clear shot. More scouts appeared out of the brush. Five-no-seven total. Using the mountain's side as a quarter-pipe, Aoi rode up it sideways and spun the bike around. While returning fire, she hit the decelerator. A shockwave of counter energy stalled the bike mid-air. Several shots found their mark, sending two drones tumbling down the cliff. Immediately re-engaging the accelerator, Aoi flew past the remaining drones. After sharply pulling up, the drones flipped around. In full pursuit, they remained merely a couple meters away from her rear.

Aoi found herself heading straight for a cliff.

"Engage gliding mode. Delay, seven seconds."

"Engaging glide mode in seven…"

At full-speed, the bike soared off the cliff.

"Six..."

Calmly Aoi grabbed her claymore and let go of the bike.

"Five..."

While the bike fell farther away, Aoi spun around. Passing the girl, the drones charged toward the bike. Her claymore sliced through two of the drones as they flew by her.

"Four..."

A blue crown of energy manifested on Aoi's head; as blue spiked-energy emitted from the bottom and back-side of her boots.

"Three..."

Firing her pistol, Aoi destroyed two drones.

"Two..."

The remaining drone spun around and darted toward Aoi, who was holstering her pistol and blade.

"One..."

Catching the drone in her hands, Aoi crushed its weapons.

"Gliding mode engaged."

As the bike drifted away, Aoi's boots gave her a steady decent. With slight curiosity, she stared at the helpless drone for a few seconds. Angrily it chirped and fidgeted. Weak. Losing interest, Aoi squeezed and twisted the metal body until it collapsed under pressure. Sparks flew from the deformed shell. Too weak. Casually tossing it to the side, she watched the bike glide toward Lynn, who was eagerly getting ready to catch it. Why is everything so weak?

Wide-eyed, Lynn stared at Aoi's appearance as she approached them. For once, Lynn was speechless. Although she was physically the same as before, Aoi's demeanor seemed different. Her presence felt like it was emitting in shockwaves, yet nothing tangible was expelling from her. Nearly expressionless, the look in her eyes was one from someone with absolute authority. Without a word Aoi stowed her claymore and mounted the bike.

Rose spoke, "A tattoo."

"What?" The tone in her voice made Rose shutter. Aoi turned the translator on and held it to Rose's mouth, hoping it would have enough battery-power left to translate.

"A tattoo," Rose repeated, pointing at Aoi's back. Luckily the translator could convey the word before dying again.

So, it's a tattoo. Aoi had always wondered what the warm traces on her back were. Since she only felt it when she ignited the crown, Aoi assumed it was an important symbol related to her power. The fact Rose just-now noticed it, also meant the tattoo was only visible with the crown.

Taking a deep breath, Aoi closed her eyes. Slowly the crown dissolved into a mist that dispersed into the wind. The energy from her boots retreated, as her eye's flame faded. Unable to feel the warmth of the tattoo, Aio wanted to make sure it actually disappeared.

"Tattoo?" she asked.

"No." Rose reported placing her hand on Aoi's back.

Opening her eyes, Aoi patted the seat of the bike. Obediently her clones sat down. While the translator charged, Aoi rode further into the mountain range. It was another quiet trip.