To everyone's surprise, Garry, who had been hiding timidly behind Aaron, summoned newfound courage and stepped forward. With determination in his voice, he approached the door of the medical store and spoke firmly, "Good sir, it might be on the second drawer of the counter!"
"Oh, thank you," the man nodded, disappearing behind the corner. But just as he turned around, the realization hit him like a bolt of lightning, and he hurriedly asked, "Wait... WHO WAS IT?!"
The realization also struck Garry, and panic gripped him. "Oh no!" he thought, quickly retreating.
The man's trembling hands grabbed the nearby axe, his heart pounding with fear and confusion. "I said, who is there!" he shouted again, the axe held firmly in his grip.
His anxiety increased when no response came, and he took a deep breath before slowly opening the door, prepared to strike at whatever awaited him.
As the door swung open, his eyes fell upon a narrow set of stairs leading to an empty basement.
He cautiously scanned the dimly lit room, sweat dripping from his brow, axe at the ready. His eyes then caught sight of Serena, lying on her bed with a piece of cloth on her forehead.
he slowly lowered the axe.
But then A sudden loud "Bang!" echoed through the room.
Aaron, who had been silently standing behind the man, hit the man's head with a quick blow that rendered him unconscious. The axe slipped from his grasp as he slumped to the ground, his fears and worries now silenced in unconsciousness.
"OH, MY GOD! YOU KILLED HIM!" Garry exclaimed, fear reflecting in his wide eyes as he instinctively covered his ears, unable to bear the weight of the situation.
"Don't worry, he's just knocked out," Aaron calmly reassured, kneeling beside the unconscious man.
Clara, hovering over the motionless figure, added, "Yes, it looks like he's bleeding, but he'll be fine."
"Someone call a doctor!" Garry's voice quivered with urgency.
"Garry, you're the doctor," Aaron reminded him with a serious expression.
Garry's face flushed with embarrassment, and he stammered, "Oh, ha... I was just joking."
Clara moved towards Garry, trying to comfort him. "Why did you have to go and tell him our location?" she asked with a hint of frustration.
"I'm sorry," Garry replied, guilt evident in his downcast eyes. "He looked so worried and scared of his superior, so I thought I was helping..."
Clara hovered back to Aaron's shoulder, leaving Garry alone, sulking with regret.
Meanwhile, Aaron closed the basement door, knowing that time was now against them.
"Soon his group will be here, and when they don't find him, they will probably search everywhere and eventually find us," Aaron said.
"We have to hurry," Clara chimed in.
"No, we cannot," Garry responded, his attention turning to Serena, lying on the bed with a feverish expression. "Serena needs rest; she's exhausted. Pushing her further would be bad for her."
Aaron looked down at Serena's pale face, concern filling his eyes
"Aaron, we need to restrain this green-haired human and gather some information about his crew," Clara said while hovering over the man.
Aaron wondered aloud, "But how?"
Clara pointed towards two sturdy steel pipes resting against the wall. "What about those pipes?" she suggested.
Aaron nodded, intrigued. "How can we use them?
Clara's eyes sparkled with an idea. "I've scanned the whole store, and there's no rope, so we can use those pipes to create makeshift handcuffs."
Aaron picked up the steel pipes, considering the plan. "And how do we do that?"
"It's simple," Clara replied confidently. "Bend them around his hands."
Aaron nodded with determination, pulling the guy's hand behind his back and expertly placing the cold steel pipes around his wrists.
Garry's small jaw dropped in astonishment, blurting out, "WOAH! How will you bend steel pipes like that?"
With a calm yet intense look in his eyes, Aaron's artificial hand whirred, glowing with mesmerizing blue lights as he effortlessly bent the pipes around the man's hand.
Garry was utterly shocked by the display of strength and technology before him. "What the..." he muttered, struggling to believe what he had just witnessed.
With the unconscious man now secured by the makeshift handcuffs against the wall, Aaron turned his attention to the next Step. "How do we wake him up?" he asked, seeking Garry's expertise.
Garry hesitated for a moment before slowly moving forward. "Okay, to wake someone up from unconsciousness, you usually have to..."
But before he could finish his explanation, Aaron interrupted with a dozen of slaps across the man's face.
"OIIIIII!!!" Garry exclaimed, taken aback by Aaron's impulsive action.
Clara swiftly flew in front of Aaron's face. "He's awake!" she announced, observing the green-haired man's eyes fluttering open.
As the man groggily regained consciousness, Aaron stopped slapping him. Fear and confusion filled the man's eyes as he instinctively tried to retreat from Aaron's relentless assault. "WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?
And W-why are you beating the shit out of me?" he cried out, his voice a mix of pain, fear, and anger.
"We need information," Aaron said firmly, his face serious "Tell us what you are doing here."
The man hesitated, with a mix of defiance and fear he replied. "I-I can't tell you anything," he stammered, attempting to put on a brave front.
Clara raised an eyebrow, her tiny form emanating a sense of authority. "We have our ways of getting information, you know," she said.
"WHOA! GHOST!" He yelled as he saw hovering little Clara.
Garry took a cautious step forward, attempting to calm the man's nerves. "Sir, we truly don't want any trouble. We're just trying to find a way out of here"
The man's eyes widened with disbelief as he saw the small rabbit, Garry, talking.
"What the hell!! a ghost kid, and a talking rabbit... Are you guys the spirits of the dead people in this city!?" Tears welled up in his eyes as panic consumed him. "Oh my god, I swear I am not with those machines!?" he pleaded, his voice cracking with fear as he cried like a frightened child.
"No, we're not spirits," Aaron said firmly, his face maintaining its serious composure. "She's an AI assistant, and he's a doctor."
"LIKE HELL, I WILL BELIEVE YOU!" the man retorted, still skeptical of their claims. But before anyone could say anything further, a voice echoed from the medical store, shouting with urgency, "Where are you, Max?!"