17: 20 (160 minutes till the next explosion)
Miyako Airport, Miyako Island, Japan
Sohel and his team were standing at one end of the runway and were looking up at Artemis as it slowly descended in front of them. They started walking towards the Artemis after it landed, and the back ramp slowly lowered. Sohel got on board Artemis first, followed by everyone else. As he entered the bridge, he suddenly bumped into Mitali.
Both of them took a few steps back. Mitalirubbed her forehead as she looked up and saw Sohel standing in front of her. The moment she saw Sohel, she jumped and hugged him. She said, "Sohel, what's going on here? You left saying that you were going for training, but then you sent prisoners with microchips planted in their necks. Then... then the message. Why would SNA try to hunt you? What did you do?"
Sohel held Mitali's shoulders and tried to free himself from her grasp as he said, "Calm down, Mitali. Take a breather, yeah? I'll answer one by one." Sohel failed to free himself as Mitali was hugging him tightly. Mitali looked at Sohel's face while still hugging him and said, "Ok."
She had a big smile on her face. But that smile soon faded as she saw Naomi looking at her from behind Sohel. Mitali had expected retaliation from Naomi as she was hugging Sohel, but she got anxious as she saw Naomi just standing there, her eyes still blank. She let go of Sohel and asked, "Hey, Captain? Did something happen to LT?"
Sohel sighed and said, "Long story. Let's get to the briefing room; I'll explain there."
Sohel looked at the bridge behind him and saw the Yu sisters sleeping on the pilots chairs with both of their hands tied to the handles with handcuffs. Mitali noticed Sohel looking at them and said, "Don't worry about them; they won't wake up soon. On the off chance they do, the handcuffs will keep them in place."
Sohel smiled and said, "Good job. But we gotta move them. Jacob, Naoki, can you please?"
Jacob started walking towards the bridge as he said, "Let's go, Edge-lord."Naoki followed him behind as he said, "Don't call me that ever again."
Jacob muttered as he picked up Lola, "Yes, Edge-lord." Naoki just clicked his tongue as he picked up Mimi. Sohel said, "Move them to the girl's sleeping room. Tie the handcuffs with the bedframe. ARIA, keep an eye on them."
ARIA replied, "Yes, captain." Jacob and Naoki left with the Yu sisters as Mitali showed them the way.
Sohel and Annabelle entered the bridge. Sohel asked, "Princess, check Kuroshima's location."
"Been doing it. The dot's been stable at Hachijo Island for quite some time now."
"Hachijo Island. Isn't that…"
"Yup. Once a lush green island, now a barren wasteland thanks to getting carpet bombed multiple times during WWIII. It looks like Kuroshima bought it for dirt cheap just after the war ended."
"What's he doing over there?"
"No idea. Guess we gotta go and see for ourselves."
"Yeah. Get us in the air. How long would it take for us to reach there?"
"Thirty minutes."
"Get to it then. Come to the briefing room once we're in the air."
"Will do, Captain."
Sohel got out of the bridge and went to the briefing room. He took off his coat and threw it on top of a chair as he looked at the wall-mounted screen, trying to brainstorm how he should continue.
Suddenly, he felt a small tug in his sleeves. He looked back and saw Naomi pulling on Sohel's sleeves. Sohel turned around and asked, "What happened, Naomi?"
Naomi said, her voice still stuck on the lowest volume, "Sohel, can we talk?"
Sohel looked at her for a moment and then said, "Come on, sit down. ARIA, lock the door of the briefing room."
"Yes, Captain."
Naomi sat down on a chair, and Sohel sat down in front of him.
He said, "What is it, Naomi?"
Naomi hesitated a bit before she started talking. She said, "Sohel, you know, for the longest time, something bothered me very much. I couldn't remember anything about myself before the age of fourteen. I always thought that it was the trauma of seeing my parents get killed in front of me. But… But now everything around me crumbled. My parents, whom I forever mourned, turns out they were never mine. Heck, they're most probably the ones who've taken me away from my real parents. I suddenly started remembering myself in a big white hall. I had friends. Even though it was hard, my friends helped me get through it. But then it happened. They made us kill each other.
They did something to us, and suddenly all of us turned into monsters. We started craving blood… and violence. When everything ended, I was the only one standing. I killed my friends with my own hands, Sohel. When I see that my dad… No. Mr. Kobayashi was behind all of it, it looks like what bro, Naoki did, was right.
My parents aren't mine, my brother, who I hated all these years, was right, the reason of me joining SNA was wrong. It's like everything around me is a lie. What am I supposed to do, Sohel? I… I have no idea what's true anymore."
Sohel listened silently. When Naomi said all this, he remembered what he had read about Project Spectre while sitting in the jail cell. He felt angry.
But he calmed himself down. He said, "Hey, Naomi. Look at me. What are we?"
Naomi was startled by the sudden question. She reluctantly replied, "F… Friends."
Sohel smiled. He again asked, "What are Annabelle, Jacob and Mitali to you?"
Naomi answered, "They're… They're my friends."
Sohel stood up. He said, "Exactly. And that damn sure isn't a lie. Whatever happened in the past, leave it in the past. Your feelings towards me or your other squadmates, they're real. And I'm sure the feeling is mutual for all of us. Now, even after noticing this, if you still think that your life is a lie, you'd be disrespecting us and our feelings. Do you realize that?"
A little smile appeared on Naomi's face. She said, "I'm sorry, Sohel. All of you are precious to me. I had forgotten this feeling. Thanks for reminding me."
Sohel extended his hand towards Naomi and said, "Now, let's go and finish off that dark chapter of your life."
Naomi grabbed Sohel's extended hand and pulled herself up. And before Sohel could realize what was coming, he felt something soft on her left cheek.
Naomi had planted a swift kiss on Sohel's cheek.
Sohel quickly held his left cheek and turned towards Naomi. He asked in a shaky voice, "Naomi, What…?"
A playful smile appeared on Naomi's face as she said, "A present to thank you. Don't tell anyone, okay?"
Sohel just stared at her face, dumbfounded by the incident.