Chapter 10

Had she intimidated them? Both Lynn and Rose were being unusually quiet. Even without the translator, they normally would chat between themselves. Also, Rose was sitting in the middle for the first time. Decreasing their speed, Aoi switched the translator back-on.

"Are you okay?"

Lynn tried to reply quickly, yet the hesitation in her voice was clear.

"O-of course. We are fine."

Aoi decided to be direct, "Did I scare you?"

Before Lynn could answer, Rose replied, "Yes."

What does that kind of fear feel like, to see someone stronger than you? The question rolled around Aoi's mind.

When Aoi did not voice a respond, Lynn shifted uneasily in her seat. "B-but it's okay. They called you 'Beast' for a reason, right?"

"Who is they?"

"Well, um. Everyone. I think, the military gave you the name."

"Is that so?"

Lynn stumbled over a few phrases, before forcing a change of subject. "...It's unusual for scout drones to be operating alone."

"What do you mean?"

"Scout drones are designed to operate for short periods of time. They are not capable of long-term patrolling."

"Someone set it on patrol-mode recently?"

Lynn nodded, "No doubt. With-in the past couple days."

"Maybe one of your sisters set it up."

Shaking her head, Lynn explained, "By default, these drones identify us as friendlies. Unless someone changed their program, they wouldn't have attacked us."

Aoi tilted her head, "Green-eyes?"

"Unlikely. It's not a very effective strategy."

"Yellow-?"

Lynn cut Aoi off, "No."

"Then, someone else is alive?"

"And whoever it is, does not like us."

"..."

Rose poked Aoi, "Mommy?"

"Yes?"

"How did you know the hover-bike had a battle mode?"

"I guessed."

"What?"

"If it had a gliding mode, then it probably had a battle mode."

Still confused, Rose looked back at Lynn, who simply shrugged.

"Hey, Lynn."

"Yah?"

"This translator is not reliable."

Lynn smiled, "Want me to teach you more English?"

"Yes."

Although riding slower added time to their journey, Aoi's English vastly improved from the extra tutoring during the ride. The trip would have taken even longer if it were not for the gliding mode. At the expense of Rose's comfort, Lynn's chest, and Aoi's ears, they continued to use the gliding mode over valleys. Following another couple days, the trio found themselves on top the last mountain, overlooking a once lively metropolis. Since this was a perfect spot to survey the city, they chose to rest and recharge the bike, before continuing.

Stretching miles in each direction, the vast city boasted with its remaining towers. Over the buildings and around the skyscrapers, numerous rails wove. An elaborate magnetic-train system connected each of the city's major sections. In what seemed to be the city's heart, a dark crater stretched about four miles in diameter. Rubble was all that remained inside.

"So that's where it hit."

"What?"

"There was an experimental, orbital weapon that the witch gained control over. It only had one shell left, when she took it… Unfortunately, we lost planetary communication shortly after that. So, I never found-out where she launched it."

"Where you?"

"Um… I was in Mexico, I think... or was it E-Nine..."

"How place name?"

"How did we name places? Let's see..." Grabbing a stick, Lynn drew a large, crude map of the world. "We are here. The Nation controlled nearly the entire world before the witch… Well. Anyways, before the Nation existed, the world was split into numerous 'nations,' each with its own government. One was called the United States of America, or 'USA.' When the USA decided to conquer the world, they categorized themselves as a 'providence.' Any nation who surrendered and abide by their demands, became a providence of the Nation and kept their original name." Lynn pointed at another location on the map. "When Mexico surrendered, they became a providence of the Nation and kept their name, Mexico." She mashed the end of the stick into another part of the map. "When Japan refused to surrender, the Nation forcefully conquered them. Thus, Japan became a 'territory' and was renamed J-One. Make sense?"

"A little… Maybe..."

Sighing, Lynn threw the stick towards the city. "It only gets more complicated. People in providence were citizens of the Nation; yet people of the USA providence and a select-few were 'elevated citizens'… But none of that matters anymore."

"Cit-zen?"

"Um…" Lynn shook her head, "L-like I said. It's complicated."

"Oh."

"Lazy Lynn," Rose teased.

Sticking her tongue out, Lynn kicked at the dirt-map, erasing the lines.

Tomorrow, they would explore the ruins.

Reaching the city's outer-rim, Lynn directed Aoi to make a stop, before going further in.

"We should stop at that gas-station first."

Aoi brought the bike to a halt and dismounted. "Why station building?"

"Gas-stations usually have sealed food packets. It's a good place to look for supplies."

Aoi glanced at a neighboring building. Inside the broken window, she saw posters of familiar characters from the story chips. Perhaps that building had more story chips.

"I explore building," Aoi stated pointing at the more interesting option.

"Ok. We'll be in here. Be careful."

"You too."

While the clones continued scavenging the old gas station, Aoi wondered alone into the neighboring building. Before she took five steps inside, Aoi noticed a man – buff, rugged, and armed – standing in the room. With his back facing Aoi, he appeared to be scanning the shelves for anything useful. Startled by his appearance, Aoi bumped into a shelf holding assorted glass cups. They tumbled one-by-one to the floor, shattering into thousands of pieces on contact.

"That's what your kind did to us all," said the man slowly turning around. His voice was deep and rough. "But don't worry, I smell revenge in the air."