Chương 53

A midnight black with perfect contoured curves, the bike's paint glimmered in the overhead lighting. A matching helmet hung from a handlebar. In a daze of awe, Oliver approached the vehicle. He ran a finger down the seat and up to the ignition where the key hung loosely. At first, the motorcycle's presence made no sense to Oliver. A nerdy teenage girl, an infant, an overbearing mother, a somewhat absent father.

Then Oliver recalled those magazines he'd pushed aside inside the father's nightstand drawers and everything clicked into place. The father was one of those, shoot guns and ride motorcycle types. Oliver couldn't help but relate to the man. He suspected that the primal urge to straddle the bike and gun it forward on sight existed in far more men than simply himself.

"Now, I just need to figure out how to drive this thing," he said to himself. He'd ridden his dirtbike hundreds of times over his childhood, but since he was abducted as a twelve-year-old, he didn't exactly have fresh memories or experience to draw on. Thankfully, it seemed the teenage daughter was learning to drive. He found a slightly crumpled driver's manual in the glove box of the family's minivan. Most of the manual was centered on four wheeled vehicles but Oliver found a chapter about motorcycles as well.

He was reading through it, reclined in the minivan's passenger seat with his boots on the dashboard, when Kiki found him, plated sizzling steak in hand. She opened the driver's side door and plopped the plate into his lap. The cut of meat was a wonderful brown caramelized exterior with a pinkish center. It smelled delicious. Sitting up and closing the manual, Oliver raised an eyebrow at her as she settled into the driver's seat.

The swords strapped to her back made sitting in the seat awkward, but, after some jerky adjustments, she made it work.

"Found a massive stash of meat in the freezer. Shame to let it go to waste. I can only eat so much, so figured I'd offer you a cut as well." She passed him a fork and steak knife.

"Thanks." Oliver grinned. Meat and motorcycles. What a life. Once again, he inwardly cursed his fellow experimentees trapped in this paradise. He took a bite and froze.

"Is it... fine?" Kiki nervously glanced over her shoulder, as if worried someone would jump them from the minivan's back seat. Oliver blinked, quickly chewed, and swallowed. It was absolute bliss.

"How?" Oliver paused and reworded his question.

"Didn't you say you lived in a biome with synthetic foods for the last five years?"

"My father was a chef," Kiki replied.

"Specialized in wagyu beef. Obviously, we don't have that here, but I thought I'd make due. Took me a while, but you've been in here for some time now. Find anything good?"

"Searched through the place's resources. Just that toolbox over there alone is a goldmine, far better than the one we found in the server room. Once I have access to my Summon Sanctuary skill again, I should be able to store a ton of equipment." Kiki leaned over to get a better look at the toolbox he'd gestured at.

"Can you use the stuff in there?" Oliver shrugged.

"Doesn't take a genius to figure out a screwdriver," he said through a mouthful of food.

"I suppose not."

"What about you? Anything other than meat?"

"I have a pile of junk to hand over to [Technomancer]. And the hoard has only just begun. I have a lot more to collect. Unfortunately, I'll need to find some way of transporting it." She paused and frowned at the car's dashboard.

"I don't suppose you—""I'm not driving the minivan," Oliver cut her off.

"You're welcome to figure it out, but I just spent half a decade in a biome where horse drawn carriages were the luxury transport. Put me behind the wheel of a car and we're both likely to end up roadkill."

"Fine, fine." Kiki swung her legs out of the car and hopped out.

"I'm going to search the next house. You coming?"

"No. I've got more to do here still."

"Suit yourself. Meet back at the gas station in an hour?" He considered warning Kiki away from the elementary school and the community center, but deemed it better to omit the information. Knowing the [Neon Samurai], she'd likely make a beeline for anywhere that hinted at a fight. Best to wait until she was equipped with armor again before broaching the subject. Soon after her departure, Oliver tore his mournful gaze away from his empty plate and tossed it to the side.

The ceramic material shattered on impact with the garage's concrete floor. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it. He'd read enough of the manual to get the gist of the motorcycle. A bit different from dirt biking as a kid, but he felt confident in himself. What was the point of having Dexterity as high as he did if he didn't put it to use? With his Resilience, a motorcycle helmet's purpose was rendered obsolete.

He tossed it to the side to join the shattered plate. Then he lifted the garage door open and pushed the bike out to the short driveway. It took ten minutes of trial and error, but Oliver managed to get the bike under his control. From there, he drove it around the block in a loop back over to the gas station. The motorcycle conveniently had a nice slot in the seat for him to tuck his pistol and a strap on the other side for his shovel.

It took him a bit of extra time to get comfortable drawing the weapons while driving, but he deemed that preparation worth it in case he encountered anyone or anything hostile in the empty streets. As he drove, Oliver noted the uncanny way every house seemed a clone of the next. Occasionally, one would break away from the standard mold and have a different shade of color or a front deck extension or lawn ornamentation, but that somehow made the vibes even worse.

He could fully comprehend how this environment was a breeding ground for underground cults. Those who embraced a collective mindset were always going to be more susceptible to manipulation. He'd seen the same thing in the cults who'd worshipped the vampires back in the Nightmare Biome. He'd once questioned a cultist and their response was that it was simply an easier way to live life. Trust someone else to manage all the difficult portions.

"How can somewhere so different create the same type of idiots?" Oliver asked himself.

"Does stupid and lazy really transcend borders so easily?" He rounded the corner and pulled up into the gas station. Knocking the kickstand down with his boot, Oliver re-entered the shop. The cashier threw up his magazine, as if to hide his face from Oliver. Rather than address the teenager, Oliver went over to the maintenance section of the gas station. He pulled out a few things he hadn't been able to find in the garage and tossed them in a basket.

He probably could scavenge everything from nearby homes, but Oliver decided it wasn't worth the effort. Especially when he had so much money on hand to use freely. He also found a half-decent pair of black fingerless gloves he switched over to. His wolf transformations back in the Nightmare Biome had done a number on his old pair. He'd been able to get a fair bit of his clothes replaced while looting the home, but the leather gloves he'd found were all yellow.

And the last thing he wanted were piss shaded yellow gloves marring his image. Kiki arrived a bit later, dragging a wobbly red wagon with random electrical devices. Oliver spotted a few desktops, game consoles, televisions, and even an electric blender resting in the pile of wires and hard drives.

"For Ben?" Oliver asked, stepping back into the parking lot. He glanced over at the motionless drones parked in the empty parking spots.

"He asked for hardware to fix my suit's damage."" After some consideration, I've deemed it regretfully prudent to set aside time to rest,"Ben said." Not only does Kiki require maintenance on her armor, she also has not slept since the Deep Sea Biome."

"You haven't?" Oliver turned from the drone to face Kiki. He took her in with that knowledge and immediately saw the signs of fatigue. Her body language was slumped, her head bobbing as she stood in place. Rather than directly respond to his inquiry, Kiki scowled and turned away.

"I'm fine. We should go to the next biome." As he thought about it, it made perfect sense to Oliver. He'd slept after his first infiltration of the castle, but she'd been left to create a disturbance. Not only that, but he suspected that the [Neon Samurai] normally relied on her armor to assist her in tasks. The extra energy needed in everyday tasks would be negligible on its own, but over the course of an entire day it would add up.

Even still, of course Kiki would push herself to the limit and not mention it to them. That only made sense with what he knew of her.

"I could use some rest as well," Oliver said. It wasn't a lie, he certainly would like a break, but he felt energetic enough to get by for the day.

"I also want my Summon Sanctuary and Fairy Ring to recharge. Having those on hand will help with whatever is to come next."

"We shouldn't waste the time," Kiki said.

"Not when [Technomancer] is actively being attacked back in Neo Nova City."" I am fine,"Ben responded." James's strikes against the city borders are minimal and completely dedicated to irritating the peace officers. He's made no mention of my existence whilst in the view of public cameras." Oliver examined Kiki's armor. It was dinged up and bent. There was more than hardware that needed to be replaced.

"Wouldn't it be easier to just replace the entirety of the armor rather than fix bits of interior hardware?" he asked." To put it plainly, no. There are vital and unique materials involved in that armor's creation that took years of questing to gather. However, I see your point. I'll send over a welding bot. It's a light package so I should be capable of getting it to you in approximately two hours. Add in the hours of maintenance required, and you'll have plenty of time to rejuvenate your bodies."

Oliver frowned and looked over his shoulder at the empty streets. If this was truly a result of James, then Oliver suspected that Ben was downplaying the danger the [Flesh Weaver] posed. But he was right that Kiki did need to rest. Plus, the additional time meant that Oliver could store that toolbox and spare fuel canisters in his sanctuary. It spoke volumes that Kiki simply nodded her head at the dismissal and walked off in the direction of the nearest house."

Oliver, I have an important request," Ben said, breaking Oliver's thoughts as he wondered about what level of danger gas fumes posed.

"Hm?"" Once my bot arrives, Kiki's armor will be entirely inaccessible to her while it works on repairs. I feel it prudent to stress this, without her armor, Kiki is extremely weak. She's as frail as a normal human. I need you to watch over her these next few hours."

"Sure, of course I'll keep an eye on her. But this biome seems pretty safe," Oliver replied." It certainly seems that way."