Chapter 2: Reverence
Two days ago, immediately following the defeat of the Gamerizer mechaniloid, Rokku, Aimer, and Model M (who was still megamerged with Rokku) retreated to Aimer's advanced trailer in the forest. Even though the trek to her lab was a long one, Rokku learned that he wasn't really tired. Aimer envied this as she knew that the reason was because of the Biometal's power. The perks of being a Mega Man... or at least that type of Mega Man, anyway.
Upon reaching the trailer, Aimer told Rokku to wait outside as she changed clothes. Both of them were drenched from the rain, but Aimer, not wearing any special armor, had it the worse. Surprisingly, Aimer's trailer included a mobile shower, so she decided to use this time to take a quick 5-minute shower, throw on some new clothes and finally allow Rokku inside.
"Come in!" Aimer said after opening the door. She took notice of Rokku's...less-than-pleased face from waiting out in the rain. Sure, he had armor on, but the waiting experience was still unpleasant.
With permission granted, Rokku stepped inside while Aimer closed the door. Suddenly, a brief bright flash filled the room and Model M was now separated from Rokku, floating in the air beside the teen's head. Rokku blinked a couple of times at this and even looked at himself, now wearing his regular clothes again...but what truly made him blink was the loud metallic CLANK! at the ground. Turns out the giant wrench he was going to use as a weapon against those bad guys fell down...
Aimer herself was now wearing totally different clothing, consisting off a red sweater with a black sleeveless shirt underneath, a long white lab coat, long black thigh socks with yellow trims and black shoes.
"Welcome to my laboratory! Well... My temporary one, anyway!" She chuckled following her introduction. "Just to remind you, I'm Aimer. I work in the R&D department at Sentry!" She stated, placing her hand on her chest.
Rokku raised a curious brow. "Uhhh... R&D?"
"Research & Development." Aimer explained. "I research and develop a wide variety of things like new tech, new devices, new equipment, new tools, all that fun stuff. I'm more of a computer gal, I'll admit. I came to this island because there was a Biometal signature here and, as you can see, I found our friend here~"
Aimer sounded so proud to explain all of that as she pointed at Model M with her hand.
"Sentry... Sentry... Why does that sound familiar...?" Rokku thought. He'd then place his hands on his hips and spoke out loud. "Okay, so let's go over everything that just happened in the past hour... You know, to make sure I'm not crazy."
"There's a buncha Biometals," He began, holding out his index finger. As he continued listing off points, he held out another finger and another one, "A buncha people who can hear these Biometals which means they're Chosen Ones or Mega Men. I'm one of those Mega Men because I can hear them, those weird Mavericks wanted the Biometal and were gonna kill us for having a Biometal? Did I miss anything?"
"Nope. Pretty much hit the nail on the head." Aimer confirmed.
"...That's crazy." Rokku said, repeating what he said earlier.
"Yeah, but you wanna know something even crazier?" Aimer asked.
"What can top any of that?" Rokku asked, pouting.
"Weeell, you mentioned those weird Mavericks, after all. Sempronio, Caio, and Tizio are a threat, and they can possibly be on the island... I mean, they deployed a giant turtle mechaniloid that could shoot lasers and spin like a top! All just to kill us!"
"Y-Yeah..." Rokku rubbed his arm. "Did I... make a mistake? They could do something worse than sic a cool looking turtle mech at us..."
Model M hovered close to Rokku's head as he looked a little guilty for intervening. "Your actions saved Aimer and kept me from the hands of those creeps. Don't feel bad about rescuing someone who needed it."
He had a point. If Rokku hadn't made his decision, he wouldn't have been there to help. Aimer might've not been alive now and Model M would've been taken away.
"Like I said, I'm grateful~ I was not giving Model M up to those weirdos." Aimer grinned, folding her arms with a proud nod. Her grin quickly morphed to a frown, however. "But you do have a point, Rokku. And that brings me to one of my reasons for bringing you here."
She walked over to her desk and turned on her computer and all the monitors turned on. "Those guys were talking about taking recon of this entire island. That means they're around and they're a threat to the people."
"So... What do we do?" Rokku asks.
Aimer pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed. "Unfortunately, not much. The best I can do is tell my commanding officer about my findings and alert the Guardians and Hunters that are on the island to...keep an eye out."
"That's all?" Rokku asked in disbelief.
"Well, do you know where those guys ran off to after you beat that Neo Gamerizer FX?...Which is a bit of a weird name, by the way?" Aimer asked, hands on her hips and leaning towards him with a slightly annoyed look. When Rokku said nothing, she continued, "I get it. You wanna find these guys. I do too, but we're just two people; three counting Model M. We can't do a whole lot on our own."
"So, we gotta leave it to the professionals, right?" Rokku asked with a noticeable tone of aggravation. This was sounding all too familiar to him.
"Yep. That's right... For now~" Aimer said. "Sure, the professionals can do their thing, but we're not going to sit on the sidelines either. For the time being, we're going to have to wait until we get some intel that needs us to act... ... ... Wait a sec, why am I even talking like this?"
Rokku tilted his head, placing his hands on his hips. "Whaddya mean?"
"Um, this is kind of embarrassing, but I'm talking as if you're working with me here!" Aimer chuckled, pressing her index fingers together. "Uhhh, are you a Guardian or Hunter or something?"
"Well... No." Rokku rubbed the back of his head with his right hand. "I'm none of those things..."
"So, you're just a regular civilian. That so happens to have become a Mega Man..." Aimer frowned. "Hgn... I don't think I can get you involved since you're not working with any of those organizations..."
Rokku gasped. "W-What? But... If those guys start attacking, I'm NOT going to do nothing! Especially when Model M can help!"
"And I believe you." Aimer told him with a smile. "Since Model M chose you to use his power, I think it's best that Model M stays with you... If Model M is okay with that, of course."
Model M looked at Aimer's direction. "Absolutely. If Rokku is willing to fight any enemies that threaten the peace, then I'll gladly help him!"
Aimer clapped her hands together. "Then it's settled~ But with that said? I need Model M to stay with me for tonight."
"Huh?" The two said collectively.
"Part of my job is analyzing Biometals, remember?" Aimer explained. "Earlier, Model M told me about how he couldn't remember who created him or how he ended up where I found him. I'm hoping I can do some digging around and see if there's anything I can't find. Even the tiniest details can be crucial to our success. Model M, do you mind that?"
"If it'll help, I don't mind." Model M agreed. "J-Just don't delete me from existence or anything like that."
"Ha ha, you don't have to worry~" She then looked to the other boy. "Rokku, for now, I need you to... Well, go home."
"...Just go home?" Rokku pouted at Aimer's flat delivery.
"Well, yeah." Aimer replied. "You do have one, right?"
"Of course I do. My Mom and Dad..." Rokku trailed off as his face tensed up. Aimer and Model M were quick to notice this change...but both of them shrieked when Rokku started shouting, "OH NO! MY PARENTS!"
"W-What's wrong!?" Model M asks in a panic.
"I snuck out earlier!" Rokku explained. "If they find out that I snuck out, they'll totally freak out!"
Model M and Aimer were both silent for a good while, but Aimer broke that silence with a burst of laughter. Rokku seemed to be a little offended by her laughter, but she wiped a tear from her eye, "Ha ha... Aaaah, that makes sense~"
"I gotta go back! Quick!"
Aimer leaned back on her chair and smirked, "Okay, tell you what. I'll let you borrow my motorcycle, and you can use it to go home. I'll even stop by your house and pick it up if you tell me your address and frequency number. Might as well since I'll be giving Model M back to you tomorrow anyway."
"R-Really? You'd do that?" Rokku asked.
"You did save me, so it's the least I can do~" Aimer replied. "Besides, if you and I are going to work together, we need to stay in contact."
"What, like... Friends?"
Aimer blinked a couple of times. The question gave her pause. "Huh... I was thinking more like partners but... Sure~! I wouldn't mind being your friend too~"
"We're friends then..." Rokku blushed, looking away all shy like.
"But hey," Aimer started off. "If you want to keep working with Model M and doing that kind of stuff that you're doing, I really think you should consider joining the Guardians or something."
Rokku's blush disappeared, and he looked back at her direction. She continued, "You may be a Mega Man now, but you're still a civilian. If you join with the Guardians, that gets all that boring legal mumbo jumbo out of the way... Okay, not out of the way, but it makes all that legal junk easier to handle. I don't really care for that kind of stuff, personally. Too complicated."
The teenager remained silent for a bit and even looked away.
"What's the matter?" Model M asked. "You look...uncertain?"
"Nah, it's just..." Rokku began before stopping, trying to find the right words. He looked at Model M before turning to look at Aimer, "Well, you're not the first one to suggest I become a Guardian... I-It's a little...daunting to be honest."
"Daunting?" Aimer repeated.
"Y-Y'know, intimidating?" Rokku explained.
"Yeah, I got that..." Aimer smiled. "If you keep doing what you did earlier, you'll be just fine! In fact, if you do go through with it, I, as an official member of Sentry, can give you a good recommendation on my part~"
"...Thanks, Aimer," Rokku smiled.
With a nod, Aimer got up and directed Rokku to her motorcycle to get him home. After exchanging frequency numbers on their ear plates and Rokku telling her his home address, Rokku took off from the trailer and made his way back home as the rain poured down on him. He didn't tell Aimer but... He doesn't have a license to use it. Probably should've asked her to give him a ride... But he did get taught a little bit by his father... It wasn't too different from a bicycle, really. In fact, this motorcycle was incredibly easy to use.
"...Should I tell my parents that I'm a Mega Man now?" Rokku thought on the ride home. With all this stuff going on, he was considering doing so...
Back in the trailer, Aimer had pulled out numerous lab equipment as she prepared for analysis on Model M. Said Biometal, floating beside her, watched as she pulled out a small container, similar to that of the containers that E-Crystals were generally kept in, and attached it with a cord that was connected to her computer.
"Um... Sooo... you have experience with Biometal?" Model M asked, sounding uneasy.
"Absolutely," Aimer said without delay. "Sentry has a couple of Biometals with them thanks to me. But unlike you, most of them haven't found good people to be with. So we're keeping them until they do. Better that than to give them to the bad ones like those creeps that tried using a giant turtle mech to do us in."
Once she appeared to be finished setting things up, she turned to Model M, "Alrighty, so we'll just place you in here and my computer will do most of the work~"
Model M looked at the container that Aimer had opened, being hesitant. Aimer, noticing this, smiled, "Come onnn, don't be shy now! It's not like you're going to zapped in there! It's just gonna scan your entire... uh... body! Who knows how long you were inside that Raider ship, so you might have some data in there that can help us out."
"I...I understand," Model M replied. Although he was still uneasy, he complied for the benefit of it all. He...still wasn't used to this new 'body' of his.
Once he agreed, he was placed inside the container and the lights beamed on inside of it. The Biometal's entire schematics and body was shown on the computer screen. Model M appeared as a rotating wireframe 3D model on the computer as arrows with text following it popped out one by one. Aimer watched the screen attentively, observing the text.
The screen read, Meta-Encapsulated Granule Awareness SYSTEM ver.3.01. This was curious to the young Sentry girl. When it came to the M.E.G.A. System, the versions she's observed have always been between 1 and 2. This was a version 3. She certainly didn't doubt that there could be a version 4 or higher out there, but this was the first time she's seen this.
However, despite her knowledge on Biometal, she was a little skeptical if the version number had any real significance on performance or quality. The M.E.G.A. system is what allowed Chosen Ones like Rokku to Megamerge. Without that, a Biometal's main function, megamerging, would be impossible. She's also heard of some Biometals that didn't exactly use that system but a very similar sounding one, but that was irrelevant here.
"Alright, you can come out now," Aimer told Model M with a stern thinking face.
Model M, floating out of the container as it opened and looking at the girl, "What's up?"
"Overall, you're perfectly fine," Aimer told him. "No glitches or errors that I could find... At least, not right now... It's going to take me some time to really look into your data and find any irregularities, but you don't need to stay in my Biometal Scanner for me to do that."
"...Your 'Biometal Scanner'?" Model M replied with a bit of joking tone.
Aimer laughed, "Hey, it's straight to the point, isn't it? It doesn't need some fancy name~"
The two shared a laugh. To anyone else, Aimer would probably look crazy laughing with a floating artifact, especially when most people can't even hear said artifact. But as the laughter soon toned down, Model M floated closer to Aimer's desk, almost looking like he was...sitting down.
"Hey, Aimer?" Model M began, earning her attention. "...If I'm going to be Rokku's partner, I think he...really should join the Guardians or whatever other organization that'll make things easier for us."
Aimer blinked. "Well, yeah, that's the plan."
"I know but... He sounded really...reluctant." Model M explained. "I think we need to really convince him tomorrow... I just have a bad feeling with those old-looking robots being around the island. This could be a sign of bigger things. That's...usually how these things go. From my experience, anyway."
Aimer thought over his words. From what little she's seen of him, she thought he was a well-meaning guy. After all, he risked his own life to save hers. It was something she glossed over but... She could have died almost an hour ago. And here she was laughing and joking as if nothing happened. Sure, her job was always going to be dangerous but... She never truly thought about it. But she didn't let Model M know about these thoughts. She did, however, consider Model M's words.
"You're right." She agreed with a nod. "But I think we can trust that guy to make the right decision."
"I trust him too." Model M replied. "...I just think he might need some...encouragement. To know he's not alone."
Aimer gave pause to that. Model M's tone sounded...melancholic at the end. She took his words to mean that Rokku might want some people to have his back to make a big decision but... Why did he say it the way he did? She decided not to ask but... It was something she'd keep in mind for the future.
In present day, the road trip gave Rokku the time he needed to recall the day he became a Mega Man, meeting Biometal Model M and the young Sentry scientist Aimer. His mother was driving him down to Kairos City to get to the local Guardian Ground Base and meet with the Guardian who would be administrating his Certification Test.
He sat in the passenger seat with his mother as she drove. "Kinda stinks that dad had to work." Rokku said.
"You know how your father is," Cassandra laughed. "The city needs strong men just like him to handle construction and stuff~"
"Yeah, I know," Rokku said, frowning a bit. "Just wished he was with us for my certification test..."
"About that..." Although Cassandra's eyes were on the road, she couldn't help but look a little...conflicted. "I know your father and I have been pushing the idea that you should become a Guardian for so long and it makes me happy that you've finally made a decision, I...can't help but feel a little regretful."
Rokku looked at her, confused. "What do you mean?"
"Well... You and I both know I didn't take it well when you suddenly told us that you were a Chosen One." She explained. "We didn't believe it at first, but once we learned you were serious, I..."
Cassandra shook her head briefly as she entered the city and stopped in front of the red signal of a traffic light as a swarm of vehicles zoomed by in front of her. "...I guess I still didn't want to believe it."
Rokku looked at his legs, frowning now. "...Are you mad that I'm a Chosen One?"
"No. Of course not." Cassandra said in an assuring tone. "I'm honestly a little happy you're one but... You have to understand... My dad... Your Grandfather... Hgn..." Once the signal on the traffic light turned green, Cassandra remained stationary for a bit until Rokku nudged her arm to get her to move before the cars behind her started honking. She proceeded to drive on and kept talking, "I guess I'm a little scared, especially with all that I've been hearing around the island. Evil mechaniloids and weird shadow beasts... But like I said before, I'll support you on your wishes. And I think you being a Guardian would help get your feet wet."
"Oh..." Rokku muttered.
"If you don't mind me asking, what changed your mind?" Cassandra asked, earning a look from Rokku. "You were always so uncertain before and just two days after I gave you Dad's diary, you're suddenly so certain."
"Well... Model M and Aimer kind of helped me make my decision a little easier." Rokku explained.
Cassandra nodded as she listened to her son. From her understanding, Model M was a Biometal that was currently in Rokku's pocket while Aimer was a girl from Sentry, about his age. She had yet to meet Aimer, but Rokku seems to think highly of her, she thought.
"Oh yeah?" She said. "That makes sense, actually..."
"Yeah," He said. "I've got great power now. So... I should use it. And I think being a Guardian is going to help me with that. That's why Grandpa did it too." She made some turns as she drove around in the city. She didn't exactly know where the Guardian Ground Base would be located at, so she was utilizing a map system in the car and following the route to the base's location.
"I'm glad to hear that. You're growing up so fast, Rokku... And I kind of hate it~" She jokingly replied. "I'll support you, but... Be careful. Okay?"
"I'll do my best, Mom." Rokku said with a smile and a nod.
At the Guardian Ground Base, Rokku and Cassandra were led to a room where they met Aimer and a man they've never seen before until now. He had both of his legs on the desk and had a toothpick in his mouth.
"Hey, you made it!" Aimer greeted to the both of them.
"Hey-a, Aimer!" Rokku greeted back with a simple wave.
She then turned to Cassandra and extended her hand, "Hello there! You must be Rokku's Mom. I'm Aimer."
"Cassandra," She replied before shaking the young girl's hand. "It's so good to finally meet you~ You're a lot cuter in person!"
"Thank you~ You're very cute too!" Aimer said after retracting her hand.
"Yuh-huh." The man said at his desk, earning the attention of the other three. "Introductions outta the way? Then take a seat, you three. We got some business to attend to."
There were three chairs in front of the desk, two of them looking like they were taken from another location in the building and brought here. The chairs were stationed a good two feet apart from each other. Rokku sat in the middle while Cassandra sat on his left and Aimer sat on his right.
"Name's Dwight. I'll be the one administrating the Certification Test." The man named Dwight introduced. "Aimer is here for a couple of reasons, but most of all, it's because of her history with your son. I'm sure you already know about Guardians and Sentry being very close allies, so I won't bore you with the details."
"Yes, I'm more than aware." Cassandra replied politely with an equally polite smile on her face. "I happen to know someone who works there."
"Good to hear," Dwight said, wiggling the toothpick in his mouth. "I hear you recently became a Mega Man. Is that right?"
"Yeah, that's right." Rokku said, nodding his head.
"Oy vey." Dwight muttered in slight annoyance. A Biometal on this island of all places, he thought. He continued with his respectful if not almost bored sounding tone as his left brow raised behind the visor's lens. "And now you want to be a Guardian, do ya?"
Cassandra, with a nice smile, looked to her son as he responded, "Yes sir. That's why I'm here. To take that test and become a Guardian."
"Sure, sure. But why do you want to be a Guardian?" Dwight asks. "What drove you to come down here at a ground base and meet me here? Aside from you getting a pretty shiny rock?"
Model M shifted uncomfortably in Rokku's pocket. He didn't appreciate being called "a pretty shiny rock" in that somewhat condescending tone.
Rokku was a little intimidated by his tone but continued on. "W-Well, there's a couple of things that... Uh, drove me to come here..."
"Okay. Then what can you contribute that so many others likely more qualified can do and better when you don't have a special rock?" Dwight asked.
Aimer glared at him and shouted, "DWIGHT!" She knew from the day she met him that he didn't have a high opinion of Biometals and Chosen Ones, but she didn't think that it meant much.
"If I didn't know any better, it sounds like you don't want my son to be a Guardian, Mr. Dwight," Cassandra stated with a noticeable tone of irritation, dropping her respectful smile completely.
"...Whazzat now?" Dwight said, raising both his brows behind his visor and his mouth drooping with the toothpick in his mouth following suit. Aimer noticed this and believed that he was...surprised.
"Now, I have my reservations about my son being...a Chosen One." Cassandra admitted, earning a slight sad face on Rokku. But she continued. "Even with the craziness that's happening on the island, him being a Guardian was something I always encouraged. If him being a Chosen One is a problem, then we will be taking our leave."
"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Hold on there!" Dwight shouted, leaning up from his chair and waving his hands frantically. "I-I didn't mean no disrespect, ma'am! Honest! I just thought since your son is a Mega Man and all, I could, uh, challenge him!
Aimer, looking skeptical, interjected, "Challenge him how?"
Dwight swallowed. Maybe it wasn't the best idea to be a tough guy in front of the boy's mother, he thought. "Y'know... Give him some of that... Uh... Tough army... talk...?"
The toothpick dropped from his mouth, lightly grazing the small stubble on his chin before hitting the ground. His body slouched as if all the energy in his body just left him as he quietly muttered, "...Please don't tell my superiors about this."
Cassandra couldn't help but give a smug smile, a rarity for Rokku to see on his mother's face. It honestly scared him.
"We'll forget all about it, Mr. Dwight," Cassandra replied. She then turned to look at her son, placing her hand on his shoulder, "In fact, why don't you tell him why exactly you wanted to be a Guardian, Rokku?"
Before Rokku spoke, Dwight interrupted, "By the way, crazy late asking this but is "Rokku" his actual name or a nickname or even his preferred name? Because the documents you sent us say his name was... "Rocky Akihiro"?"
Aimer glared, Cassandra rubbed her temples, and Rokku also glared...but not at Dwight, but towards his pocket where Model M was chuckling. "Sssh!"
"Sorry, ha ha," Model M apologized. "It's just my name is "Rock". I'll explain it later."
Because only two people in the room could hear him and given that this was a briefing on Rokku's test, Model M opted to remain silent...until now. He didn't wish to be rude by talking too much now.
Dwight, not hearing Model M, assumed Rokku's "Sssh!" was directed to him and Aimer's brief chuckle only added onto this... Even though her chuckle wasn't directed to him. "Right, right, sorry. Go on."
Rokku frowned as he held his hands together, looking at them resting between his legs as he began twiddling his thumbs. "...Well. You can say it's because of my Grandfather..."
Aimer looked at Rokku in surprise. She knew he had parents, but he had a Grandfather too? She hadn't been in his house, only to it to get her bike the morning after they met. Not to mention how most Chosen Ones are even...chosen.
"He was a Ruin Hunter at first, but he then became a Guardian." Rokku continued, sounding as serious as could be given the subject matter. "He used to tell me stories about his adventures around the world, meeting new people, finding new relics, going through new experiences. And he always helped people and taught me that you shouldn't need a reason to want to help people who need it. So... I-I guess he was like my idol."
His eyes shifted to his mother briefly. "My parents, mainly Mom, told me that I should be a Guardian, but I wasn't really sure until I found out I was a Chosen One. Now, I want to be one so I can help people and use my new powers to make a world a better place. If I have the ability to do that, then why wait?"
Aimer frowned. "Your Grandfather... He's not around anymore. Is he?"
Rokku also frowned and shook his head.
"Sorry for your loss," Dwight apologized. He lifted up his visor, revealing he had small navy-blue eyes and small bags under them. He regretted his jokester attitude earlier towards the young Chosen One. "The documents informed me that your son was adopted, so... Was he your father, Mrs. Akihiro?"
Cassandra nodded. "Yes, sir, that's correct. Thaddeus was my father."
Dwight's eyes widen immensely. He looked like all the color on his face completely washed away. "...I-I'm sorry, did you say, Thaddeus? As in Thaddeus Payne?"
"Um, yes. That would be him." Cassandra confirmed, blinking in confusion. "Unless we're talking about a different one..."
Dwight started sweating bullets, placing his held hands on the table. "Great!" Dwight thought to himself. "This kid is the grandson of THE Thaddeus!? And if he's the father on the wife here then... ... ...Oh crap, I'm screwed if they tell my superiors for real!"
"Uh, Dwight?" Aimer asked. "You okay? You look a little pale."
Dwight coughed into his fist. "Yeah, yeah, I'm fine!" He lied before wiping that fist he coughed into with a napkin, balling it up and tossing it to a nearby bin. His frantic actions made Rokku raise a curious brow. "But I think we've doddle on long enough! Let's talk about that test of yours, eh?"
Dwight kicked his legs back on the table and grinned as he slid his visor back over his eyes. His...somewhat unprofessional behavior did not sit right with Cassandra. "You've done pretty well on our small written quiz, you got a pretty good motive for being here, and our Sentry comrade, Aimer, has vouched for your Mega Man heroics against that turtle mechanoid in the fields a few days ago and that weird "shadow beast" at the bank just last night."
Cassandra slooowly turned to her son. Although she wore a kind smile, her eyes had revealed that she had a disapproving and silently upset aura. Such a scary aura made Rokku nervously grimace as he shrugged innocently. He...never told her that he fought last night, just mere moments before his curfew ran out. And she hadn't checked out the news to get the reports of the bank robbery that happened either.
"Honestly, with all of this weird stuff going on, I'm surprised the Mayor is letting the parade continue," Dwight said. "It's definitely gotten the Guardians and Sentry on edge because of Aimer's reports. But it also makes you wanting to be a Guardian pretty ideal, even if you've been hesitating on your decision. Better late than never, I suppose."
Rokku nods firmly. "If we got some bad guys threatening Selena Isle, I'll do everything I can to help."
"Like your enthusiasm. But despite all that, you still got a Certification Test to take before we make you a bona fide Guardian, kiddo." Dwight pulled out a folder with some papers inside and he looked through the contents. "Normally, the test we'd have you would be scavenger hunting or something, but I took the liberty of spicing things up."
A blob of sweat slid down Aimer's unamused face. This guy was the one who was training Candice? Aimer had only met him a few days ago but he had not left a good impression from this strange meeting.
"...Spice it up, how?" Rokku asked, almost in the same tone as Aimer earlier.
"You're gonna find five Guardians, Rokku," Dwight explained. "The Guardians will be here in Kairos City, specifically in the commercial district. Y'know, the one with the mall and where the parade's at. They aren't allowed in K2 City and they're to not be inside ANY buildings either. Rooftops are fair game though."
Already this was weird to Aimer. Normally in this kind of a test, the test taker would be finding four Guardians, not five. And usually, a Guardian could very well be found in a building like a store. Just not anywhere they or the test taker wouldn't be allowed in.
"But not only that, you have to find them in order starting with 1," Dwight continued with a smug grin. "Their helmets we have big, numbered stickers so you'll know who to find."
Aimer's brows furrowed but not out of annoyance but confusion and curiosity. "But... Dwight? Your helmet has the number "1" on it."
"Very astute, Techie Girl Aimer," Dwight grinned.
"I don't like that title..." Aimer muttered with a dejected slouch.
"Then... You're the first Guardian?" Rokku asked.
"Yup!"
"But he still has to go out and find four Guardians..." Aimer muttered before shouting, "That doesn't sound that much different than the normal test!"
"Still though... It sounds really fun~" Cassandra stated. "I always did like scavenger hunts. JoJo even did one for our anniversary~"
"Who's...JoJo?" Aimer asked.
"Oh, that's my nickname for my husband," She explained. "If you like, I can bring you over for dinner after Rokku's test~"
"If I'm not busy, I'd love to, Mrs. Akihiro~" Aimer replied with a smile.
"Aaanyway," Rokku interrupted, sounding a little impatient. Only a little. "The test doesn't sound so bad... ... ...Except for the fact that there's a PARADE going on right now!"
"Yeah, so?" Dwight spat with a grin.
"It'll be crowded!" Rokku complained.
"Relaaax, you'll do fine, Mega Man," Dwight waves him off. "Oh yeah, almost forgot. You also have to give and receive an item from each Guardian you meet."
"...What?" Rokku flatly responded.
"Yup!" Dwight replied again. "Hold out your hand."
Rokku did as he was told, and Dwight proceeded to drop... a small black pebble. It was big enough to find easily if he were to lose it...
"Eh?" Rokku croaked with a look of disbelief.
"Yup!" Dwight repeated...again.
"So... This is a scavenger hunt... plus bartering?" Cassandra asks.
Dwight shrugged. "I kept calling it a relay scavenger hunt but bartering sounds better."
"...I don't know what bartering is." Rokku said with that look of disbelief still plastered on his face.
"Don't feel too intimidated, kid. On the plus side, Aimer will be going with you."
"Say what?" Both Rokku and Aimer replied simultaneously.
"You already vouched for him," Dwight explained. "Might as well keep an eye on him and watch how he does. Not only that, but there IS a parade going on so you can keep track of him in case you two separate. However, you cannot under ANY circumstances help him find the remaining four Guardians. No giving him hints, no giving him lifts, none of that... You can hold stuff for him if you want though."
Aimer scratched her left cheek. "W-Well... I wouldn't have any hints to give... It's not like I know where your Guardian buddies are at..."
Dwight grinned and pointed to the door, "Since I gave you my pebble, your test has official begun. So go out there and search throughout the city already."
"Wait, hold on! Is there a time limit or something?" Rokku asked frantically.
"...Personally, I'd like you to get done before the pizza I'm about to order gets here. But technically no, there's no time limit." Dwight explained. "Just get out there already! My crewmates are waiting on you to find them!" Rokku shrieked and ran out the door. Aimer was quick to follow him but not before saying goodbye to Cassandra, "It was nice meeting you, Mrs. Akihiro!"
"See you later, you two! Good luck Rocky~!" Cassandra cried out.