Lyra is laughing when she hears Linden talks about what happened last night.
"So, you didn't know it was a challenge menu?" asked Lyra. Her mouth is still curled upwards in a grin, trying to suppress her laugh.
"Yes, I was surprised when they told me not to pay. Turn out, I get the noodle for free if I can finish that spicy noodle in less than an hour," continued Linden.
Lyra let out a few stifles of laughs. "That is interesting. Then, did you run back to your home?"
"Yes," said Linden.
Lyra laughs when she hears this. She imagines how Linden ran through the desolate and dark street to get back home last night.
Linden, on the other hand, didn't understand why his senior was laughing.
"Anyway, senior, what should we do today?" asked Linden, trying to change the topic. There is still time before his —and Lyra's— tasks start.
"Hah~ That was funny…," said Lyra. "What should we do? Well, first, we will get a gun for you.
"After that, hmm… Do you want to check your body again? It is only a day, but the doctor should be here today."
"Doctor?" asked Linden. He doesn't expect there to be a doctor in this place. Before this, Linden thought the medical room was manned only by the robot.
"Yes, doctor. Well, let's go there after we get your gun."
…
The process of getting a gun is not complicated. Linden only needs to go to the weapon storage area. There a robot will do an ID check on Linden. After that, Linden only needs to pick up a gun from the storage.
The gun is similar to what Lyra lent him yesterday. It looks very high-tech and not something that Linden has ever seen. Well, maybe he has seen some in sci-fi movies.
"Oh right, there is a shooting range inside the office to practice. It is located near the gym," explained Lyra.
"There is a gym inside the office?"
"Of course, there is one," Lyra paused. She looked at Linden while grinning.
"Our body has been enhanced, and normal training will not be enough. The gym is to accommodate that. So that you don't need to run a full marathon three times."
Linden now understands why Lyra was laughing at him. Running to exercise is just a waste of time.
Lyra continued, "The gym and the shooting range are located in the same corridor as the medical room. They are just further inside the building."
***
Inside the medical room.
A man with dark blue hair is sitting at a desk. He is wearing a white coat with no trace of stain on it.
His long hair is tied in a low ponytail style. On his desk are a lot of documents that he has finished working on.
That man tilts his head to look toward the door as he hears footsteps and some chatter.
True to his intuition, someone come inside the medical room.
"Good morning, Aphe!" greeted Lyra.
"It is Ave!" rebutted the man called Ave.
Ave also noticed another person standing behind Lyra. "Ah, you must be the new guy. What is your name again?"
"Good morning, senior. It is Linden," said Linden.
Ave moves from his desk toward where the pair are standing. He then observes Linden's face in detail. As he is doing that, his mouth is making a weird gesture.
"Senior, is there something on my face?"
Ave shooks his head. He pulls his right arm from his coat and sticks it out toward Linden. "Langarve, call me Ave".
"Ah, okay…"
Linden can only accept the hand and nod, not knowing what he should do.
"So, what do you want to do here?" asked Ave.
"I want to get a body check. Yesterday I got injected with the… Uhm—"
"Nanomachine," said Lyra.
"Yes, nanomachine. Senior Lyra said that I can get my body checked again."
Ave looked at the silver-haired girl before nodding and said, "Sure.
"Also, I have read your report. Based on the body check data yesterday and your statement, there should be no problem in your body.
"But it is okay. Let's check your body. Come here."
Ave then guides Linden to the machine that does the body examination. His hand moves swiftly around the operation panel of the device. It makes a beeping sound when it is ready.
"Take your things out and lay down," said Ave pointing to the protruded part of the machine.
Linden is once again inside the cylinder-shaped machine. From inside, Linden can faintly hear the conversation between Lyra and Ave. But he can't pick up any detail of the conversation.
Like yesterday, the body examination lasted for a few minutes.
…
A few minutes after.
"Yup, there is nothing wrong with your body," said Ave. In his hand is the data from Linden's body check.
"Only one thing stood out. Your body accepted the nanomachine at a much faster rate than the other.
"Usually, nanomachines need around three days to a week to gel with the body. But your body has accepted it in less than a day."
Linden is confused. He didn't know what that indicates. Linden asked, "Is that a good thing or a bad thing?"
Ave tilts his head. His droopy eyes looked straight into Linden's eyes.
"In this case, good," said Ave. He then continued, "Tomorrow, come into the medical room at this hour. We will inject more nanomachine into your body."
"Okay," said Linden while nodding. "Thank you very much, senior Ave."
Ave waved his hand, signaling them to go away. "Go, go."
"Then, we will go first. See you again, Afe!" said Lyra.
Ave, that is still standing near the pair, moves his leg. He swings it at Lyra's stomach. But Lyra jumps just as the kick almost hits her.
That action occurred in a very small amount of time, and Linden could barely see it.
Only after it ends that Linden thinks, 'So this is people with nanomachine…'
"Huft! Safe~"
"Tch- It is Ave, not Afe," said Ave. He then sits back on his desk. Once again, Ave waved his hand, ordering the pair to go out.
"Should we go now?" asked Lyra to Linden.