Year 2033, February
01:00 A.M
Kista, Sweden
. . .
. . .
It was only me and Eugene in one of the narrow alleys that night. Our eyes peeled for any suspicious activities around the area.
By suspicious activities, I meant soldiers doing what soldiers were not supposed to do.
Maltyie decided for the three of us to split up and survey the area. From the information that she gathered, that place was a hot spot for the emergence of soldiers practicing their regular abuse on innocent civilians.
She was very complacent about what had happened two days before at Eugene's Orphanage and concluded that she, as The General of The Army, had to step up. The abuse of authority by her lower ranking soldiers made her furious.
Eugene glanced at me. "You know, Ava, she's very strict when it comes to what a soldier should do and shouldn't do. She had her experience as a trainer at one of the military schools here. You could say the cadets were afraid of her, specifically the rules that she laid out and her approach for anyone who broke them."
I adjusted the hood of my grey jacket to cover my head. "She always does this?" I asked Eugene.
"Eh, pretty much. And more often than not, a lot of those soldiers she managed to catch red-handed were fired from the military," replied Eugene unenthusiastically.
"Oh."
I called Aegis under my breath and it responded with a static voice.
"Ava," said Aegis.
"Do you see anyone?"
"Actually, there's a few 'soldiers' up ahead. That dark alley in front."
"I see."
My left hand tugged at Eugene's blue bomber jacket and he raised his eyebrow at me.
"Why didn't she call for help? She's basically doing this by herself," I said.
"Oh. As I said, she prefers to do anything that she felt strongly about, on the get-go. And there's also the reason where she couldn't trust anyone under her right now. You never know who's your enemy or friend at this point," said Eugene.
"Hmm."
When I thought about it back, it was strange that I helped them both, to begin with. Since Eugene was the only one with me, I could practically escape from his grasp.
But I wanted to catch the one responsible for doing all those things. Kidnapping, pillaging, and harsh treatment towards regular civilians was unforgivable.
And I was sure my pent-up rage and hatred would ease a bit if I managed to hurt one of the soldiers myself.
"I don't think you should come with us, Ava. I mean, you're still a kid," stated Eugene.
"I shouldn't stay up late, is what you meant."
"Er, yes."
I was not certain whether Eugene knew about the fact that I was an Aegis User. Maltyie obviously knew because she was the highest ranking soldier, and Eugene, on the other hand, was only a regular civilian.
I decided to keep my mouth shut after that. Eugene felt awkward that I refused to answer any more of his questions and so, he kept walking.
We came out of the alley to the main road. As expected, there was no one in sight.
"I have a feeling that alley up front might have something," I suggested.
"You think? Well, it's worth a try. We still have time before the meet up with Sis," said Eugene.
He took the lead and I followed behind.
Since I could not access my Aegis crystals due to the Aegis suppressor drug, I had to make do with typical enhancements from Aegis itself when the time came.
"Hey!" shouted Eugene.
He was pointing at three soldiers in black that were dragging a young girl, presuming the age of sixteen or so, along the alley.
She looked at us with wide eyes. "H-Help me!"
One of the soldiers walked to us indignantly and pushed Eugene with one hand. "Kid, get lost! You're not supposed to be here."
Eugene was about to pick up his phone when the soldier in front swiftly grabbed it from him and threw it away.
"I guess we have to do this the hard way then," said the stern soldier.
"Indeed," I scoffed.
He tilted his head at me when a kick sent him stumbling to the ground. Eugene then followed up his attack with another kick to his head and he groaned from the pain.
The other two soldiers let go of the girl and proceeded to help his comrade when I stood in their path.
"Hey, kid! Get outta here! Or we'll--"
"I know, I know. This happened before in Yellowknife," I muttered.
"Huh?"
My Aegis disabled my physical limiters and I stepped in to grab myself a metal pipe behind one of the trash cans lying around.
"What the... she's so fast."
In a moment, the pipe struck the head one of the soldiers and he fell to the ground.
"Kid!"
I held the pipe with two hands and jumped. The soldier made a mistake of being distracted and I hit him on the head too. He fell but I did not stop there. My hands clenched the pipe as hard as it could and swung it several times at his limbs. Then, I took the liberty of making his face prettier by smashing it with the pipe far too much.
Actually, there was no such thing as 'too much' when it came to punishing scums like them.
"A-Ava!" called Eugene.
I struck the soldier a few more times before throwing the pipe away.
"How's it, Aegis?" I whispered.
"It's great. Nothing seems off so far physically. Looks like being fed made a huge difference, huh?"
"Indeed. I need to eat more after this."
The girl was shivering in fear from what I just did.
"Y-You're like Sis all of a sudden," said Eugene as he approached me, dragging the unconscious soldier he fought before.
"I never knew you're a good fighter," I said to him.
"Yeah. Sis taught me a lot when it comes to self-defense," said Eugene. "And, I've called Sis. She should be here any second now."
Sure enough, Maltyie ran towards us with her close-fitted military uniform after a while.
"M-Maltyie!" cried the girl from before.
"Helen." Maltyie hugged her friend and shook her hard. "Why are you around here? You know those soldiers are prowling, searching for their next prey."
Helen nodded. "I k-know. It's just that, I played truth or dare with my friends before I came here. So..."
"You're almost kidnapped, do you understand that, Helen?" said Maltyie.
"I'm sorry, okay!" Helen cried her eyes out and Maltyie comforted her.
In that situation, anyone would be afraid. Whether the chance of getting rescued was there or not.
"Maltyie, I k-know who ordered them," said Helen as she wiped away her tears.
'Who?" prompted Maltyie.
"They said his name is... Sir Relly."
"Relly?!"
I too was shocked by what she revealed to the three of us.
"Relly Fernandez?" repeated Maltyie.
"I'm not sure. They referred to him as Sir Relly the whole time," said Helen.
Maltyie narrowed her eyes and sighed. She seemed to try denying what she had just heard from Helen. "Eugene, help me carry those soldiers."
"Uh, no. Don't wanna."
"Did you say something?" asked Maltyie.
"Er, that you're beautiful today, Sis. Under the descending light of the moon, you shine ever brighter."
I coughed at Eugene's weird way of averting his punishment and he winced.
"Good. I'll get Helen some help," said Maltyie.
. . .
"I don't wanna go there, Sis."
Maltyie glared at him.
"Alright, alright, whatever," muttered Eugene.
We were at a bar somewhere in Kista a few hours later. Maltyie confirmed that there was an underground prison inside it after she interrogated those three soldiers.
Good thing that I was not with her to witness what atrocity she had dealt upon them.
"Are you sure she should come too, Sis?" Eugene's expression made me thought he still saw me as a kid who should be in bed right then.
Which I should if I wanted to keep my body in top shape.
"Yeah, I'm worried if she stayed at home, she would run. Remember that time with Aya?" said Maltyie.
"Oh, yeah. I forgot," Eugene continued, "But you're the one bringing in those two yourself. Even if you're 'borrowing' them from an orphanage with your authority..."
So that was why Eugene was so calm when he first met me a few days back. 'Maltyie decided to go with that story, huh?' I thought.
"Anyway, let's just get inside. You're next to me, Ava," sounded Maltyie.
Eugene pushed the door open and the people at the bar gazed at us. There were little to no one there except for a waiter, a bartender, and three scruffy-looking men with their drinks.
I did not know why but seeing those men made me wanted to kill them. They reminded me a lot of the thugs that I have met throughout my life.
I brushed the idea away and followed Maltyie as she walked to the bartender.
The bartender was an old man in a tuxedo, wiping a clear glass with a cloth. He looked up when Maltyie slammed her fist at the table.
"I'm--"
"Maltyie Holm. I know, I know. Daughter of His Supremacy. The only General of The Army, the highest ranking soldier in the military. Exceptional strategist, unparalleled close combat expert, and very popular among men," said the bartender smoothly.
Even Eugene's jaw dropped at that, whereas I tried to step away from Maltyie a bit.
Maltyie's face reddened until she resembled an apple. Quite frankly, her red jacket made that image of her looked more like one.
She took a deep breath and raised her head high. "Then, you know why I came here--"
"The underground prison is at the back," pointed the bartender as he gestured with his hand. "There's someone who came here before you. Also searching for it. I suggest you hurry since it's almost time for my shop to close."
Eugene pulled me towards him and crouched so that his words were not heard by Maltyie. "If we run right now, we could still escape with our lives," suggested Eugene.
"But I want to see the culprit," I said to him.
From the corner of my eye, Maltyie was shaking the bartender with everything she got, until the glass that he held in his hands fell and shattered into pieces. She let go of him after that.
"I-I'll remember this." Maltyie looked at Eugene and me, and without any question, we followed behind her as fast as we could.
"This must be it," said Maltyie. She kicked a small wooden door next to the restroom open and the hinge broke loose.
Eugene gulped and I could not help but compare her to Gheele. I was sure if she ever met him, her demeanor would change almost instantly.
Maltyie took the lead as the three of us gasped at the sight of the underground prison.
There were metal cages upon cages stacked on top of each other, with each occupied with females of different ages, from young to old.
The prison in itself was large enough to be called an underground factory if it ever took that route. Numerous fluorescent lamps lit up the place.
"Why're you here?"
A man in military uniform turned to face us when he realized he had us as his unexpected guests.
"Alexander?!" cried Maltyie.
I knew it was him when we entered the prison. It was just that, for him to be there did not make any sense. The soldiers mentioned Relly's name and no indication whatsoever about Alexander's involvement.
"General of The Army." Alexander saluted her, but Maltyie was confused.
"Are you the one behind all this?" said Maltyie as her hand pointed at all the cages.
"N-No, I'm not," denied Alexander.
"You're lying. You ARE the one abusing your power all along. Being an Aegis User, your rank is second only to my father." Maltyie took her combat stance and glared at Alexander.
"But the soldiers mentioned--"
Before I could finish my sentence, Maltyie lunged at Alexander.
"You got it wrong! I was just--" He dodged a swift kick from Maltyie and shielded his face from another kick.
"I'm not a part of all this!" pressed Alexander.
"You can say that again!"
With a quick spin, Maltyie's leg managed to land hard at Alexander's shoulder and he winced. Before he could defend against the next attack, Maltyie struck at his chest with her palm.
"Wha--" Blood spluttered from his mouth as he immediately took a few steps back.
Alexander glanced up only to be kneed in the face and his body plummeted to the floor with a thud. With both hands, Maltyie twisted Alexander's head 180 degrees.
Eugene grimaced from the sight.
She was so fast, swift, and relentless in her attacks. Making it hard for Alexander to form his Aegis crystals.
Since his Aegis was still a standard A.I weapon, the automatic defense was not in his arsenal of techniques. My Aegis could do it only because it was conscious, and by being so, it could manipulate the crystals even without my consent.
Maltyie pinned Alexander's body immobile while his neck quickly regenerated, reforming back into its original position.
"Maltyie, please, listen to me!" begged Alexander. "I don't want to hurt you!"
"Oh, really? Tell me then. What's your reason?"
"I was investigating the kidnapping too, you see! I knew you're doing the same, and so, I did my own investigation into this matter!" said Alexander.
Maltyie drew her eyebrows together. "Then?"
"The ones behind all this is Relly! He's the one that controls the soldiers in the shadows. I can't do anything to him since, in terms of ranking, he's just above the Aegis Users! Surely, you knew that?!"
"The soldiers did mention the same thing, Sis. They said Relly's name, wasn't it?" supported Eugene.
Maltyie lowered her head. "You're doing all this by yourself? You're not with Relly?"
"Yes! Since the other Aegis Users are pretty much loyal to Relly," said Alexander.
He was telling the truth. I had witnessed how obedient the others were, especially Lily, who ceased any activity immediately after Relly called upon her.
"Well, well, looks like my net caught a bunch of rats sneaking around."
All of us turned towards the voice.
Relly Fernandez was standing at a metal bridge that connected the two walls of the underground prison. His malicious grin stirred up the rage and hatred inside me.
He was the scum of the Great Corporate United.
Even among all the scums, he was up there for sure. Controlling his subordinates behind Melker's back into doing his bidding.
"I hate you!" I shouted.