Wheels skid, echoing the city, stopped right in front of the boutique where Markus and his friends hid from the Androids who're approaching them.
"Are you alright, Marky?" Charlotte asked. She immediately hopped out of the driver's seat and went inside the boutique, walking straight towards her son.
"Mom!?" Markus reluctantly replied. His tears went back went his mom threw him a big hug and brought him on her chest. "...Why are you here?" he said with the thought of guilt.
All these days he was in Orion, Louige told him his mom knew nothing about their current situation. Though, he was happy that his mom was there with him, just seeing his mom hugging him made him think that he's in grave danger.
"What are you talking about?" she asked, all worried. "Of course! We're here to help." she let go of her son and saw bloodstains on him. "Are you hurt? Are you wounded? Did you hit your head or something?" she exclaimed. She patted and searched for her son's wound.
"Calm down, mom. I'm Fine." Markus brushed her off, hiding his grin. The weight on his shoulder is lifting and the cloud on his face was slowly vanishing. "Anyway, please help Brent. He was grazed in the leg."
"What?! Why did that happen to Brent?" Charlotte demanded. "Where's the medkit?!"
"I'll go get it on the car," Edson replied and ran to get it.
"Why didn't you ask for help?! After all the things that happened around the city, you don't know how much worried I've become." She was flustered. She saw the devastated looks on the kids' faces and the situation they're in. "When I've heard that the school has blown up, I immediately searched for you at school but you're nowhere to be found. Where did you go?" Charlotte tended Brent's wounds as her son sat beside her silently, watching his friends.
"You guys stay in there, we'll manage to stall those guys if they wound die.." the Captain said.
"Hai, please do!" Charlotte replied without looking.
Edson and the Captain went outside hiding in their car to shot a counterfire against the Androids.
Charlotte, on the other hand, after patching Brent's wound went to hug her son. She sat on the floor and went straight to her son.
"I've been sick worried about you, you idiot..." she got teary-eyed as she poked her son's head "why didn't you call?" she caressed his head and brought it on her face chest.
The thought of Markus being helpless remained in her mind. She was worried that the thing that happened last time would happen again when her son will be placed in a pinch once again. She can't help but worry.
"I, too, am worried, you know..." Markus answered. He sniffed and looked away to hide his tears. "...but, we need to defeat those guys to make all these things stop, Mom.." he added "The city is in chaos just because of that petty fight that escalated into this. You'll get mad if I'll call you about this, anyway.." he whispered.
"Ahh... That's not it. I'm your mom, right? I know you're up to something... You should've just asked for help! " She placed her palms on her son's cheeks and brought his face to touch her nose.
"How did... don't tell me,..." Markus warmed up for a second, felt like his Adrenalin hit him hard. He saw her mom straight to the eye and he knew he can't lie at that moment.
"Ahh... Louige called the Bureau for help." Charlotte replied. She let go of her son's face and they sat on the floor, facing each other.
"But how? The city's connection is blocked!" Markus exclaimed.
"It was before lunch. So, I guess, the connections are still running normally."
"Then?" Markus looked straight to her mom. She was wearing her office uniform, a navy suit with a white polo undershirt, with a swat vest on top. Her black hills are quite dirty but her ponytail is still neatly done.
"We investigated first from our end. The Bureau moved according to data. Of course, I also called your dad."
"He's not yet here." Having his mom near him, Markus felt a sense of security.
"I know. But, I'm sure he'll come." Charlotte said.
The firing guns outside the boutique are still cracking like fireworks.
"Anyway, when the thing that happened in your school started, the three of us moved and went to the field," she explained. "We took the car and went outside the office while the rest are working there. I tried to find you at school. Where have you been?" she exclaimed.
Ken and Brent moved a distance from them because they felt a weird aura around the mother and her child.
"I, Dave and Cassy, went straight to the cafe at the mall when our wounds were treated," Markus replied. He touched his left arm that was throbbing. "So, why aren't you unconscious?"
"The car was protected with foreign signals from unknown servers." Charlotte turned to look outside. "Were lucky we didn't fall like the ones we passed by. All we know is that they're still alive but we don't know how to turn them back to normal."
"I shouldn't have compromised you with all of this. You don't know how to deal with this matter." Markus looked sternly at his mom.
"We solve this kind of problem. It's what we do, idiot! You could've trusted me as your MOM."
"I'm sorry" Markus looked down. "So... do I get a "grounded" stuff?"
"We'll talk about it later, for now, I will let it pass."
He told her the rest of the story. Where Cassy and Dave are and how come the 5 of them are the only ones conscious in the city. He also told him that he needs to enter the alley to get to the hacker's base.
"Why do you have to go there?! Let the Bureau take care of this. This is not a child's game anymore!" she madly exclaimed. Markus flinched and curled his back down.
"But mom!" he raised his voice. "What we're dealing is a virus, that hacker who's in the Sunny made, made by an Old Earther!"
"What are you saying?!" his mom raised an eyebrow.
"You people are the experts in the new Earth's technologies. Those codes and programs that the virus has can't even be defeated by the Numbers. Do. You think you can defeat it if the Numbers can't?" Markus argued
"And you think YOU can?!" Charlotte exclaimed.
Edson and the Captain looked inside when they heard her voice rising.
"Yes, because I know how!" he didn't waver and reasoned out to his mom. "That is why Louige-Nii called me to help. The codes that appeared as a clue can only be cracked using the old earth's methods and I figured it out. That is why we're here to get the hacker at the Sunny. It's not Orion's problem alone anymore." He stood and continued, "My friends were caught up with this so I have to stop him myself!"
"Markus!" His mom exclaimed as she stood up to face her son.
They stared at each other for a minute but Charlotte saw the unwavering courage and spirit of her son. His eyes glimmered with hope and power.
She sighed. Since when did you grow up to be a good guy, son? She asked herself and admitted defeat against the staring contest.
"So, you saying," She said as she sat back on the floor, now crossing her arms. "We need to get you to the Sunny so you could fight the hacker with the old earth's methods and we buy you time from the outside, is that it?" his mom said without batting an eye.
"If possible." Markus slowly replied. He was quite amazed that his mom agreed with him. He just can't help but smile.
"You heard that Cap?!" she shouted outside for them to hear.
"Loud and clear!" the cap replied.
"With your voice echoing that place," Edson ticked his tongue. "... Of course we heard that!"
"Shut it up, Edson!" Charlotte exclaimed. She turned back to her son and looked at him saying, "Ja, Let's just settle on how we can defeat those...."
"Androids." Ken continued.
"Dave named those people Androids. They were the ones who're affected by the dissonance sent thru waves from a tower."
"Androids..." Charlotte repeated and nodded accordingly.
"Ahh... they were controlled by the dissonance that was sent from the Sunny Go café and transmitted by the Apollo tower through the sunglasses they were wearing." Markus continued
"That is why!" she stood up and put down her gun. "... we just have to get rid of the sunglasses they're wearing to make them come back to their senses, am I right?" Charlotte said
"Ahh... That's right. " Markus tilted his head "...those glasses were produced by the Orion and there were a hundred pieces disseminated on last Orion TechnoFest." He went to get his laptop and showed something to his mom "There.." he points to the dissonance that appears on the graph on his computer "That was the one that controls the rest of the Androids."
"Really, how did you---, I guess I don't have to ask how. So, how many enemies do we have?" Charlotte asked
"About a hundred, but we've taken out around 46 or half of them on our way here, and the 4 were the ones you've knocked out."
"Ahh, and the rest will be coming here for us to get you? And that's when we take action and prevent them from going to the Sunny?"
"That's correct."
"So, the last boss was inside the Sunny Go café." his mom clinched her fist and stretched herself.
"Ahh... I guess so. No, I'm sure of it. And I know who was the culprit." Markus stood and take his computer inside his bag. He took a few more steps and picked his bat, ready to rumble outside. "...and my friends were on their way here, they have my last resort."
"Then, we don't have a choice but to bring you inside...and stop anyone who comes in." Charlotte stood up and readied her gun.
"Ahh."
"Then, you two stay here inside and give us cover" she gave Ken and Brent a caliber 45 pistol, fully loaded, and an extra magazine "...you know how to use it, right? It works pretty much like the ones in the arcade," she asked them. She saw the blank look on their faces and said "... I might get court marshaled for giving minors a gun." she rolled her eyes. "But, what else can I do, right??? We're on a pinch and we need an extra hand."
The two can't believe that they held a real gun at their age, but they made up their minds and said in unison, "...We'll do our best!" with a sparkle in their eyes. Nothing surprised them anymore after they drove a train just this afternoon.
"Just be careful of the recoil.."
"What recoil?" the two said.
Charlotte and Markus went outside and took cover on the cars that the Bureau arranged for their convenience.
"Ja, what to do?" the Captain asked, loading his pistol.
"Get rid of their glasses and we win," Charlotte said boastfully as she sat beside the guy.
"Then, let's do what Charlotte said, let's do this, bastards!" The Captain yelled and ran towards the Androids, aiming for the glasses.
The commotion burst and everything went to rumble. The Bureau acted as Markus' cover as he ran to the alley going to Sunny's entrance. He slipped through the commotion and went to the alley, avoiding the gun fires that the Bureau and the Androids were exchanging. He held his bat firmly, ready to strike any Android that might attack him surprisingly upfront.
He stopped on everything he might get cover and observed the vicinity before going a step closer to the entrance, but he had a bad feeling about his situation.
"This is weird,,, somethings going fishy around here... I guess it's a trap." He whispered to himself.
Knowing that the situation is a trap, he still moved forward and reached the entrance door of the café.
"In here, huh?" he slowly opened the glass door.
A cold wind slapped his face and a nostalgic feeling came to him as he opened the door of the café he used to play games.
The Sunny Go Café. It was owned by an old man and was holding a 3-on-3 RPG game monthly. He was a retiree from one of Orion's sub tower's Programming Division who specializes in program maintenance. He set up his shop in accordance with the prescribed specs of the Internet world that is why, everything here is upgraded, and by using his connections with Orion, his shop became high-end. Though it was quite run-down, it was famous to online players like Markus and the others around the city. It was found in an alley behind the shopping district near the river.
It was pitch black inside the café, he didn't see anything at the moment he stepped inside. He gripped his bat and raised it as if a ball will be pitched to him. He blinked his eyes a few times more, still aiming to bat someone who might come his way. He realized that his vision has adopted on the dim light of the café after a few minutes of stalling his way in.
He realized that the café was lighted, but dim. It used the light of the monitors to illuminate the whole café. As far as he can remember, there were 50 computer units in this café, but still, the monitors' lights were not enough to see things clearly. Some of the monitors were damaged from the explosion that happened during the afternoon that caused it to blink, making it harder to see in the dim room. Wire and cables hang on the ceiling in a disorderly fashion. Electricity flickers from time to time.
He walked a few more steps forward and reached the counter.
"Do you like the game we are playing, Markus?" a voice came from nowhere.
He searched for the voice but because of the dim light, he was not able to see where it's from.
"I guess you're not yet satisfied, so we're going to the next level." Said the voice who suddenly came near him. He realized that it was said directly on his left ear and when he was about to turn, he felt numb as electricity stun his body then he lost his consciousness.
"We'll gonna have a good game, Markus."