Chapter 1: The Bridge to Freedom
Time seemed to stand still as I waited out my punishment. All I had were my thoughts and dreams when I was stuck in here. At least in the hangar I was able to have fun by honing my skills with a diverse selection of weaponry and vehicles. It was pretty much the only option me and Kain had every day. Going outside was an incentive to us. And if we would try to go outside on our own, we'd be placed in our room and locked inside for an hour or more.
I couldn't believe Kain was actually lucky enough to slip by this time, and by himself too! Maybe it was one of the reasons we always got caught, we always worked together to break free. Without him, I couldn't really assemble a decent plan. It would be hard to make a successful escape without someone else to help with causing the distractions. But before my thoughts could start cooking up another plot, the door slid open, with Will emerging through. I found it surprising that I was almost starting to grow over the stunted cocoadile's height.
"Well I see someone was up to no good..." Will placed his stubby hands on his hips, keeping a straight face.
"I guess..." I shrugged, not wanting to fight about it.
"...Is this still about Kain?" The cocoadile lead me over to the bed and sat me down.
"Well he hasn't been back for around a month and no one's made an effort to find him!" Will knew how to get me worked up, but it wasn't to poke fun at me this time.
"Hey, hold on there. We've been doing our best, we can only spare so many piñatas at once to search for him." The cocoadile sat next to me, placing a consoling hand on my back.
"They're not doing enough, I at least might have a clue to where he might be!" I whined.
"Hmm... Well, I can't just let ya go out there, your father would kill me twice knowing that both of his kids are out there," Will explained.
"There's gotta be a way!" I begged, turning to fully face the stunted piñata.
"...Alright, but you're gonna do this by my rules," The cocoadile's eye's lit up a bit.
"...R-rules?" I didn't like the sound of that.
"Don't worry, it's not as bad as you think," Will tried to assure me.
"...You sure? What are they?" I braced myself.
"First, I'm giving you twenty-four hours, exactly twenty-four hours, to find Kain. If you can't find him in time, I want your tail back at this base before the time is up," He kept his eyes on me.
"Twenty-four hours is all I get? How am I supposed to find Kain in just that small amount of time?"
"That's not what I'm saying, I'm giving you twenty-four hour sessions for your search... It's just in case your father shows up unexpectedly, I can say you're out for a few hours."
"...And how are you sure I just won't come back?" I snickered.
"Because... Well, your father wanted to save this for when you're older, but I believe you deserve an incentive," The cocoadile stood up and headed for the door, "come on, it's down In the hangar," his offer sounded fishy, but I went with it anyways. I avoided as many glances as possible as I followed Will down into the hangar.
The hangar was busy as always, piñatas were either loading up, fixing up or heading out. It still stumped me that Kain was able to sneak his way out here. We planned together to steal a G-C and drive it out of here, but we've been caught before we could even reach the lift. Missing or stolen vehicles are usually reported as soon as possible, that was the funny thing, there were no reports announced for any missing vehicle since Kain left. So he must have had another plan schemed up that I didn't hear about.
"Here we are," the cocoadile pulled out a small wooden crate.
"What's this?" I poked over his shoulder as he opened it.
" Multipurpose Wrist Modules!" The cocoadile placed the thin cover on the side.
"You mean M-W-M's?" My jaw dropped, I wanted one of my own for quite awhile.
"That too," he nodded as I gawked at all the MWM's in the box. They ranged from different lengths and sizes, it was going to take awhile to find one with the right fit. "Well what are you waiting for?" Will's voice pulled me back to reality.
"Oh, yeah..." I started digging into the pile, lining each MWM I grabbed up to my arm to compare. It took a few tries before I found one that I was completely satisfied with.
"Careful now, the first time you put that on, it's going to give ya a little sting," Will stopped me, giving me a fair warning.
"Alright..." I opened up the MWM, slowly bringing it up to my right arm. I winced as I slowly closed it shut. I felt the tiny jab of a needle before it sicked an electrical shock on me. Shrieking in pain, I fell over backwards, landing on my tail.
"Come on kiddo, you're alive," Will helped me back to my feet as my vision returned to me.
"Nnhh," I shook my headache away. "Why does it have to do that?" I felt the blood rush back into my arm.
"It's just registering you, that way if you take it off, no one else can use it themselves," The cocoadile explained.
"Is it gonna shock me again if I put it back on?" My eyes shown the fear in my mind.
"Haha, no Kayla, once is enough, I think we can both agree on that," he chuckled, patting me on the back.
"Good..." I rubbed the WMW, mistaking it as my arm.
"But if you do take it off, we'll know and be coming after you like flies on dung, got that?" Will advised, not taking his eyes off me.
"Doesn't daddy have a W-M-W?" I asked, wondering if I'd have a chance at finding him through it.
"...Well he did, until he claimed it weight him down a few years ago... He stopped wearing it ever since," the cocoadile shook his head.
"Oh..." My eyes glanced at the floor, feeling awkward for asking. "...You think I could borrow it?" I resumed eye contact with the cocoadile.
"Sure... But would it change your mind if I said it wouldn't work unless Gus was here to turn it on?" Another mental stab in the stomach.
"I guess so..." I winced, wishing I wasn't so stupid for asking.
"Sorry Kayla, I really wish I could find your dad too..." Will put a sympathetic arm around my shoulders, "how about I treat ya to some apple juice? You know your dad loved that stuff..." The cocoadile began to ramble as he led me back to the lounge.