They stared at each other then back to where Louige was sitting. And they saw the man who savagely slaughtered the scorpions on top of the table pointing a ballpoint pen on Louige's neck.
"Yeah, I'm here to discuss this year's Convention." Louige said casually as if nothing happened brushing the kid off the table. He followed Louige and stood next to him silently observing the scene.
The Circa stared at him with blank expressionless eyes, exhausted from the battle they experienced.
"If that's the case I have---" Jayson said but stopped when Louige continued what he was saying.
"...But this time, there is a special mission that will be given to you." Louige added. "I have sent the module to your emails and the list of participants for the convention. Kindly check it out."
The Circa opened their emails and found the specifics of the plan/mission of the year. They sat on their seats to take a rest.
"Hey, is this for real, Mr. Louige? But, there must be some kind of a mistake." Tori mentioned, still grasping her breath.
"No, Tori, I and Reiko-sama planned on that thing thoroughly. We considered the best way possible to make this plan happen. Even this exam on who will be sent to the convention was evaluated." Louige answered.
"But, why is this? What's the goal?" Jayson asked. He took a seat to ease his exhaustion and took a sip on his tea. "Why so sudden, we don't even have the time to think about it."
"It's okay. We'll secure your safety as much as we can. I have prepared the requirements to excuse you from classes and the waiver for your parents to sign. The GS Tech is not afraid to take full responsibility just to acquire our goals." Louige sat firm with confidence saying it. "Then, I will explain the plan so better listen up." Louige said. "The Convention is hosted by Scorpio this year."
"Is that the reason why we just battled with a scorpion?" Andi muttered.
"You have a point. It is to warn you about the danger of this mission. The convention will happen at the Long Island, named Luna, 3 hours from Tokyo via ship across the ocean. It is the tech-island where the Scorpio is located surrounding a modernized city filled with people like us cultivated and committed to and by GS Tech. It was the most High-Tech city or shall we say the most modernized city around the world. And you will go there as participants from GSSTI, it's a great opportunity to be part of it. Besides, the ORION will honor your participation on this mission, granting that you will succeed. Other non-GS schools will participate in the convention as invited by the hosting buddy. We have the list of the participants as you can see here..." he flashed the list on screen. "But, we have to set our guards up. We plan to corner the hacker..."
"Are you talking about the one who hijacked the flight Loki? Isn't he in jail?" Alex stood from his seat and exclaimed.
"Yeah. But I am referring to a different hacker. We're pursuing the mastermind of the attack in the City a year and 4 months ago." Louige replied.
"Is he the one called Markus?" Andra asked.
Hearing the name Markus gave Sandra goose bumps. She doesn't know what to say in a situation where all of her companions were against the hacker who created havoc in this past year. She doesn't know where to start defending her friend, who was standing in front of her, from their misunderstanding. She felt pity on herself for being a big coward. As she was about to speak her mind out, Louige replied to the question that broke the ice in her midst.
"No, we're talking about the mastermind of the Numbres incident, Markus the hacker is the one who challenged ORION a few years back. Though he's a bit involve in that incident, he's not a big deal..." Louige replied "We, the ORION, had an unfinished business with the mastermind. The one Kirk called the Patron."
"I heard the hacker died in the explosion." Paul said.
"Kirk the hacker did, as far as we know. But, not the harbinger of that incident. The one who works in the shadows is still lurking freely in the internet." Louige added.
Sandra kept silent and held her head down, listening to the conversation.
"As I was saying, we're sending 8 of you there to corner the hacker because we are sure that he will show himself up at the Convention. He sent a code saying he'll try to reach the Convention thus, we have to keep our guards up. We are counting on you. That's why the Circa was allowed to exist for these past few years. To help the GS Tech to maintain the peace in the Gateway." Louige said.
"So, what do we have to do? Do we have to fight?" Jayson asked.
"Fight is inevitable. That is why we're sending the elite to that Convention and we have faith in you. We'll back you up ofcourse. We'll give you these.." Louige flashed something on the screen. "These are chips you'll need if the AR will be activated. This one.." he pointed on one of the chips in the screen. "...this will be used as an additional weapon depending on your situation. It will only activate if you insert it on this watch." He changed the screen to project the latest watch the ORION is working with. "This, though, is still a prototype but it will be useful in the AR. I have sent the manual on this tech on your emails as well." He changed the screen again to browse everything on the Weapons slides. "We have a prediction that he'll made the AR as the avenue to cause destruction. That's why we're posting you there."
"What's the AR, Mr. Louige?" Koen asked.
"Haven't you read about it? It means Augmented Reality." Paul replied.
"Augmented Reality?" Kean asked.
"It's when the VR comes to Real. It is quite popular in Japan. The Scorpio launched it last month and I guess they will launch it at the convention having the participants as its primary testers." Paul added.
"So, they will use the AR to play the game?" Michiyo asked. "Interesting." she added.
"Most probably. But they will launch a new game using the AR. That's what makes it exciting, I mean about the convention. I wonder what kind of game they will launch there." Paul muttered.
"Paul is right." Louige said. "The Augmented reality, as what you have experienced a while ago, will be launched by The Scorpio, one of the Gold Star Inc. companies that serves as the terminal gateway connector of the internet highway in the east, during the Convention." He added. "And, they are the first who will launch a game using the AR because they have the resources available in their area and the participants will be the first to try it in a mass number. There have been quite a lot of tests to ensure the safety of the AR but it is still in the experimental process. Though, maybe that's the case, they're still want to release it."
"But, how does it work?" Jayson asked.
"We use this devise to activate the AR. As per what you experienced a while ago, I have set the device before I entered this room just outside the door. I activated it using my keys and you have been transported in to another world."
"That's kinda cool..." Koen giggled.
"Thanks.., that's how the ORION devised it but the Scorpion had a different way of doing it. We still don't now because they wanted to show it on the day of the convention. In our version, I included the data in ROA-RPG in the system that is why you were able to use your weapons in your artillery."
"So that was it... if Jayson didn't think of it we might have not lasted until he came in." Alex muttered. "I thought he was a good fighter though, but I saw him using a cheat.." he glared at him who stands at Louige's back near the LCD on the wall. They haven't had a clear pisture of him due to the fast pace incident they just got themselves into.
"Yeah,, he did. I saw it as well." Andra added.
"I'm sorry... it wasn't stated in the rules, so why not use some.." he replied "Besides,, that saved your ass from being a dead meat..."
"You're a one cocky brat, huh.." Alex glared at him again, now with a show of his fist forming. "Just who the hell are you?"
"Ore wa, Ginsei Hachiro desu. Yoroshiku onegaishimasu!"