'What's that?' She was confused as she saw a large number of moons in the night sky other than their broken-down moon.
[Get going. I'll fill you in about the situation of the world later on.] Alex hurried her away as he saw even more armored robots approaching.
Laura came out of her reverie within an instant and instinctively dodged a flurry of tiny missile darts that had been shot at her.
She kept running while either dodging the attacking robots or slicing through the ones that confronted her. Alex guided her to the exit area.
He'd utilized a few hours back when he was breaking through the mental defenses of the guard to map the outer perimeter of the facility and decide on a good escape route. He guided Laura through that escape route that he'd planned.
Following Alex's directions flawlessly, Laura made her way to the one place where Alex thought that there was a chance to escape easily. It wasn't surprising that she could handle herself very well in a fight. She'd practically mowed through the facility, and that too without Alex's enhancements. It just goes to show that raw strength is only a basic threshold for fighting.
He didn't doubt that Laura could easily beat down his Gwen-65 in a one-to-one fight without even using her claws. Even if he enhanced Gwen, the result wouldn't change. Unless the difference in physical strength is astronomical, the person with the better technique will generally be the victor factor in such situations where the physical ability of both parties is similar.
Laura had even trained her sixth sense to a certain extent which allowed her to perceive fatal danger slightly in advance. Though it didn't compare to the Spider-Sense of any version of Spider-Man, it was a significant thing regardless. Laura's sixth sense was completely self-developed. Spider-Sense is a power that the spider people are given.
Laura ran through the facility while dodging what she could and tanking what she couldn't.
[How much longer?] She asked mentally.
[Just a bit more, turn right there.] He kept guiding her through the facility. They couldn't just have jumped over the walls since there were automatic sentries mounted on those walls and Laura would get shredded by them if she exposes herself to those sentries. There were limits to her healing factor.
They kept running as a gate finally became visible to them both.
[There it is. Cut through the wires with your claws.] Alex told Laura to cut through the wire gate that seemed to be a transit spot for regular supplies.
[Those barbed wires are electric, Alex. I need another way.] Laura said.
[I'll take care of the shock, just cut through the gate, then we can blend in with the crowd.] Alex hurried her since he knew that they would soon be overwhelmed by the incoming robots.
Laura hesitated for just a moment before following Alex's words and dodging the attacks that were sent toward her and trying to take advantage of her momentary lapse.
Deciding to trust this unknown being, Laura cut a perfectly rectangular hole in the gate within seconds. Alex made sure to absorb the electricity that would've stunned Laura. Not wasting any more time in hesitation, Laura runs out of the facility while trying her best to dodge the sentries that were shooting energy beams at her.
Alex already had the major parts of the city mapped out after reading the Barista girl's memories. He guided Laura to a central 24-hour marketplace that had a large crowd. The Bastion had more than a hundred million people living in it and was always bustling. So it wasn't difficult to find a place with a large crowd at all times.
[Where are we going?] Laura asked Alex. They were still being pursued but they had shaken off the pursuing robots for a moment.
[Marketplace.] Alex told her.
[Nice.] Laura understood Alex's plan.
As they made their way, the robots kept pursuing them but the stray shots had stopped, they didn't want to alarm or harm the populous so they were only shooting when the shots were perfectly aligned. Though this actually made things more difficult for Laura as she couldn't dodge the attacks that were sent her way and had to tank them.
[Hey, how bulletproof are you?] Laura asked something that was on her mind for a while.
[What's that supposed to mean? Very much so. I can easily tank high-caliber bullets. Armor piercing rounds are also doable but they're not perfectly blocked.] He agreed.
[I see… So that's why I wasn't feeling the attacks as much as I would've…] Laura's words almost conveyed some sort of disappointment.
[What? Are you sad that you can't feel the bullets penetrating you all over?] Alex's amusement was easily understood by Laura.
[What?! No!] She denied.
[Masochist.] Alex only said one word with a flat tone and that made Laura blush imperceptibly. Alex was connected to her so he was able to notice every little reaction that she had, like the tiny spike in her heart rate. Laura didn't say anything after that.
Alex didn't continue messing with her and guided her to the location where they could blend in with the crowd and Alex could camouflage Laura without being detected by the sensors.
Soon, they reached the entrance of the square of the market. It reminded Alex of Times Square in New York, just that it was ten times more expansive and had far more people right now. Although it was almost midnight, the place didn't seem any less crowded. If anything, he felt like there were lesser people here when he saw this place in the barista girl's memory.
[Go into the crowd, reduce your presence.] Alex informed her as he changed her clothes from Natasha's combat suit to a subtle black dress.
[This is so cool…] Laura wanted to admire her new dress for a few seconds but didn't have the time as she had to keep moving. Alex's ability to change clothes instantly into any outfit was a godsend for any girl. No matter how tomboyish a girl may be, she would want to look pretty, even if it's in her own aesthetic. And Alex could let her do it without spending a dime on expensive clothes.
As they went into the crowd, Alex started working his magic. He camouflaged Laura completely and extended a few mental probes to the people in the surroundings, using subtle mental suggestions to use them as the perfect cover for her.
[Let's stay in this crowd for 5 minutes, then we'll try to move to some safe place where we wouldn't be detected. Then we can think of what to do next.] Alex told her.
[Don't order me around.] She almost growled. It seemed that she had some bad experiences with authority figures. Alex wasn't surprised by her reaction.
[You got a better plan?] Alex asked.
[…No.] She almost seemed like she was sulking.
[Then my plan it is.] He told her and she clicked her tongue.
Laura begrudgingly agreed and followed his directions. They kept moving around the crowd as Alex made sure to keep changing through the people that he was influencing. He made the perfect path through the crowd for them while also making sure that Laura was hidden at all times.
Soon, Alex felt like they had lost the robots and covered Laura's face.
[Hey!] She complained.
[I'm covering your face to change it. Stop complaining.] Alex completely covered her face like a mask and formed a different random face. Within an instant, Laura stopped feeling that there was anything on her face and felt like nothing had changed. But Alex had already completely changed her face.
[Your abilities are weird…] Laura commented.
[I'm a slime-like being. I'm doing everything that a sentient slime can do.] He informed her.
[How long have you been on this planet?] Laura was curious about him. She realized that he knew a lot about human culture to be someone unfamiliar with the planet.
[I've been here from before the Kree invasion. It was a fun time before that. All of you superheroes got fucked over. And then you all fucked the world over.] Alex was amused about the situation of this world.
[You're damn right we did...] Laura said with self-deprecating amusement and a hint of pride.
[How old are you?] She wanted to know about him.
[What's with all the questions?] He asked.
[I'm curious about you.] She said nonchalantly.
[Or, you're trying to get information from me to see if what I'm telling you is a lie.] Alex called her out.
[Busted.] Laura didn't mind. She wasn't exactly being subtle about her information probes.
[Well, I know quite a bit about you already, it's only fair that I share about myself too. Ask away.] He wanted to get her to trust him. The best way was to talk to her and tell her about himself. It would make her less resistant to deepening the bond with him.
[How about we start with those seventeen moons that I see in the sky? I want to know more about you but I can't just ignore the elephant in the room.] Laura had been dying to know what happened in the world after she'd been kidnapped to be used as a medicine generator.
[Understandable. What was the situation when you got caught? I'll start from there.]
[It was a little while after the Kree invasion.]
[I see… Well…] Alex started telling her about the events that happened after she was captured. Granted they were from the memories of a civilian. It was enough to give Laura a rough picture.
***
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