Chương 148: B3. 6.2 - Hero Wannabes Assemble

"Me, me!" Reo raised his hand.

"Pick me, teach. Obvious-fucking-ly, Red Hood wants information about making a Purple Bloom. She's going to turn herself into one and eat the entire city."

"Reo's crazy most of the time," Everett said, "but I'm with him on this one. Red Hood Purple Bloom. Red Bloom?"

"Purple Hood?" Reo harshly laughed.

"Sounds like something else."

"Red Hood isn't going to do that," Deen said.

"She saved us, remember?" Reo shook his head.

"Nah, nah. Didn't we already establish last meeting that Red Hood wasn't helping us out of the goodness of her heart? Her target was the 2Ms. It just so happened that you were there while she was killing their people."

"Twice?" Deen held up two fingers.

"At the warehouse and at the docks? It couldn't have been happenstance. She intended to save us." Happenstance? It had a posh ring to it. Sounded amusing, too, though incomparable to 'cahoots.' Remember to use that word as Pino.

"Perhaps Red Hood did choose to save you," Dario said.

"So that you'd feel indebted to her. And she's calling the favor now. Don't forget that she's an Adumbrae. Expect schemes from them. Also, don't forget that she attacked me."

"It doesn't matter what Red Hood wants," Myra said.

"We have to go down there and get my sister!"

"Slow down a bit, Myra," Johann said. We hadn't told him about Kelsey. The 4Bs were an all-girls group.

"How sure are we that this Pino character is telling the truth about Kelsey? It could be a ruse to lure you in. Red Hood's group dangles Kelsey in front of you. They pretended to help Reo with his police problem. And Red Hood had saved Deen before."

"Not just me," Deen said.

"She also saved Myra, Reo, and Everett at the docks. If not for Red Hood, we'd be dead by now." Pretty believable for Deen to defend Red Hood. She didn't need to pretend. Even if I hadn't revealed the truth to Deen, she still would've sided with Red Hood. Dario would likely grow suspicious of Deen, but that wouldn't explain Red Hood's appearance at the 2Ms warehouses, before Deen and I joined his group. If I were in Dario's stinky shoes, I'd think that someone in his group was already a spy for Red Hood.

That spy might now be working with Deen.

"Deen's right," Everett said.

"Without Red Hood, I couldn't have gotten rid of the Adumbrae who merged my body."

"Thank you to Red Hood for saving us," Reo said.

"If that was a truly altruistic move, she shouldn't expect anything in return. But none of it matters—we can't trust an Adumbrae."

"What if Red Hood isn't planning on double-crossing us?" Deen asked.

"Her goal is to destroy the PCM. It's believable that other Adumbrae don't want a Purple Bloom in their vicinity. We also don't want a Purple Bloom, right? We'll work together and go our separate ways, just like the docks. You're ascribing evil intentions because she's an Adumbrae."

"Because it's the right thing to do," said Reo.

"This is an actual Adumbrae—an entity from another dimension. They don't think like you and me. This isn't like Kelsey's situation where she's still in control of her mind…" He trailed the end of his sentence while glancing at Myra.

"No!" Myra stood up so quickly her chair would've toppled to the floor if Johann hadn't caught it.

"Kelsey is still herself!" She slammed her hands on the table.

"Careful!" I steadied my and Deen's shaking smoothies. We shouldn't waste sugar. Deen would probably give her smoothie to me, so I also protected it.

"Ah, damn it!" Some of Reo's smoothie spilled onto his shirt.

"What's the deal, Myra? I didn't say anything bad about Kelsey. Don't put words into my mouth."

"But you were thinking—" Myra started to say.

"You some kind of psychic now?" Reo asked with a derisive snort.

"Maybe you should use that power to figure out if the Adumbrae are telling the truth or not."

"Admit it," said Myra, dropping her voice.

"You don't trust Kelsey because she's an Adumbrae. You didn't even want to help look for her."

"Is this about last night? That was almost midnight!"

"Tone it down, you two," Dario sternly whispered.

"Don't draw attention to us."

"Some people inside the restaurant are staring," I said. The teen couple on the other side of the window wall gave us annoyed looks, their lovey-dovey time disturbed by Myra's outburst. They wouldn't have heard our conversations, but the bang from the table getting hit was loud enough to get through the glass. Kudos to Myra for putting on a good show. Even I would've gotten fooled that Kelsey was still missing. Myra was laying the foundation to push for this mission.

Deen and I had told the Fletcher sisters about Auron and the mission he wanted us to do. Myra and Kelsey were up for it because they also didn't want their data to get leaked to the BID. Moreover, this was the opportunity to get more pills from Dario. Swiping an artificial Core from him wasn't possible now—there was no reason for him to bring one along for the mission—but we could build a connection between him and Pino for future shenanigans. Dario had no choice but to approve this mission.

Myra would go no matter what because of the possibility of finding her sister. Deen would go to prove that Red Hood wasn't lying, and to help Myra as well. I'd tag along with Deen. A strong chance that Everett would support Deen. Johann would back Myra. That'd leave Dario and Reo. Dario wouldn't just leave us to fight the BID. With everyone going, Reo would be peer-pressured to come. Not that we particularly needed Reo, but his fairies might be useful.

"Ah… I'm calm, I'm calm." Myra sat down with a convincing annoyed look.

"Let me see that." Johann nudged Myra's hands away. She raised them from the table, revealing a couple of dents on its aluminum surface. Reo whistled.

"Oof, that's going to leave a mark." Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.

"It already did, you, dumbass," Myra said.

"You should learn to control your strength. And… your emotions." Dario nonchalantly turned his head as if he were stretching.

"A security camera in the left corner. Can't we do anything about that dent? Management might check the cam footage to see who caused it."

"Rotate the table over to me," Everett said.

"I'll try to smooth it." He pressed on it from above and below the table. Sandwiched between his palms, the dent got squished back to flat. Sort of. It was still noticeable that the table had been damaged.

"I'm sorry about this, guys," Myra sighed, scratching the back of her head.

"Sorry to you, too, Reo." Nice progression, I thought. Myra probably didn't intend to hit the table that hard, but she turned it around. With her little display, including the apology, the whole group was coaxed into being more forgiving and understanding of her plight. Reo shrugged.

"Don't sweat it, Myra. I'm already used to your craziness—ah, I meant to say special brand of interacting with others." He rubbed the spot that Myra had dented on the table. The dent was gone, but the aluminum was off-color, and there were creases on its surface.

"I worked at a fast-food place. We're not paid enough to notice these things."

"If I may say something…?" I piped up, trembling my voice to make it sound like I was hesitant.

"I'm not sure about my thoughts, but I have an idea why Red Hood wants the PCM data."

"Go ahead, Erind." Dario unwrapped his burger.

"Everyone, eat up. We can't just stare at the food." I took a sip from my smoothie. Intense chocolate flavor and very rich, just like Deen. The milkiness overcame the bitterness of the chocolate. I might order from Cindy's the next time I crave something sweet.

"This had been bugging me since Reo mentioned it—Kelsey's held by the PCM, right?"

"If that chrome-clanking, trespassing Adumbrae wasn't lying," said Reo.

"That means that the PCM has the technology to hold Adumbrae," I continued.

"If the PCM is chaining up Adumbrae, they'd need super-strong metal or something like that. If they're using sedatives, the chemicals have to be something special to combat an Adumbrae's regeneration. Or they might have, like, a special machine we can't even comprehend."

"You make a good point, Erind," Dario said.

"Reo, Pino mentioned that the PCM captured a lot of Adumbrae, didn't she?"

"Yeah, yeah," Reo said.

"Where are you guys going with this?"

"If the PCM had imprisoned that many Adumbrae…" Dario said.

"… then they should have the means of capturing them," I said. Gross that I finished Dario's sentence. But this'd make him think better of me.

"That's the logical thread. I don't think the PCM just ordered knockoff monsters from the 2Ms. Could those fake Adumbrae even turn into a Purple Bloom? No. The PCM were hunting Adumbrae themselves."

"Hunting and capturing," Johann said, looking at Myra.

"It's more difficult compared to hunting to kill."

"Note another thing that Pino said," I went on.

"Red Hood is 'indisposed'—it's the word Pino used, right, Reo?" Reo nodded.

"I see where you're going with this. Red Hood got injured by some kickass, anti-Adumbrae tech of the PCM, and it stopped her from regenerating. Sounds indisposed. Or she got weakened in some way, so she's not confident of taking on the BID agents in the tunnels."

"She could also be worried that the PCM base got some traps of the same type," Everett said before biting into his burger.

"I hope that the PCM didn't use those weapons on Kelsey," Myra said.

"I'm going to rip their heads off for this." Good timing with her comment with the right amount of seething.

"But there's something I don't understand," I said.

"Why does the PCM have this technology while the 2Ms didn't? Did any of you see anything odd when you attacked the docks? You mentioned a couple of ComExos that Red Hood destroyed." I've puzzled over this before I learned the truth that the PCM was just using the 2Ms.

"Besides the ComExos, nothing stood out that I can say is a specialized anti-Adumbrae weapon," Deen said.

"The guards were either monsters or humans with guns."

"Here's the thing." I leaned forward, taking charge of the conversation. I couldn't pinpoint why, but it was very satisfying to tell stories to others. Fake stories. An audiobook narrator of fiction could be an alternative career path.

"The 2Ms know that we're not human. They should've had the weapons that the PCM used against Adumbrae. Maybe we can learn the truth when we get to the PCM main computer."

"That's not our goal," Dario said.

"Our actual target is the plans for these weapons… this anti-Adumbrae technology. This might be the true goal of Red Hood, too." Thank you for biting the bait, dickhead. I had strewn enough breadcrumbs to form a whole bread. I could've spelled it out for the group, but it was so much better that Dario said it himself. Step number something—I didn't keep count—of my plan was done.

"I see it," Reo said.

"The Purple Bloom story is a lie to convince us to go down there. The PCM is probably doing something else entirely, manufacturing anti-Adumbrae tech that worries Red Hood. The PCM might not even have any captured Adumbrae. Who knows what other lies Pino told me?"

"That part about Kelsey might also be a lie," I said.

"That's why Pino went to you instead of Myra."

"I'm still going to check if Kelsey is there," Myra said, pointing an angry finger at Reo.

"And you can't stop—""I'm not going to!" Reo raised his arms in surrender.

"Chill the fuck out. Erind was the one who said it." He sighed.

"It looks like we're really going to do this? Right, fearless leader?"

"We are," Dario said, stroking his chin while staring at the pepperoni pizza.

"But not on Pino's terms."

"I don't trust Pino joining us," said Everett.

"Didn't you say that she controlled you, Reo?"

"For a moment, yeah." Everett shuddered.

"Fucking reminds me of that Adumbrae who merged with my body at the docks. I still get nightmares about losing control of my body."

"Pino wants to be there to make sure that we don't destroy PCM data," I said, drawing inspiration from Auron's threats. Even though the group would think of a plan to avoid Pino, she'd still eventually show up.

"That's my thinking as well, Erind," Dario said.

"Reo. Your job when Pino visits you again is to learn as much as possible about the target location. Pino will set the time for the attack. We'll go before that. Without her."

"We're gonna double-cross Pino?" Reo asked.

"I don't think it's a great idea to have her with us, man," Everett said.

"Would you rather have an Adumbrae beside you? Next thing you know, she's controlling your ass."

"I don't know about that," Reo said.

"But I know one thing—once Pino knows of our betraying ass, she's coming back to my place to merc me! She's going for all of us! Except you, Dario. You're always safe because no one knows where you hole up. The rest of us have normal lives that we don't want to give up. Hell, my life's a shitshow, but I don't want to go into hiding to avoid a vengeful robot."

"I'm going down the tunnels," Myra said, "even if I have to cradle this Pino robot. I'll find Kelsey." The others also voiced their opinions. It took Dario a few minutes to calm everything down, and we couldn't agree on anything. I wasn't even sure of the right answer if I were in Dario's shoes. Of course, it'd be insanely risky to go with Pino. But, on the other hand, Pino and the other Adumbrae could attack in revenge. On the other hand, Pino might actually be sincere with an alliance.

Conversely, the Adumbrae might still attack even if we worked with them. Like, what was the correct call? Thankfully, I wasn't Dario. I was the one who made this mess.

"Here's what we'll do," Dario said.

"We'll decide after Reo meets with Pino again."

"Damn, I won't be able to concentrate on my shift later," Reo said with a groan.

"We trust you, Reo," I said.

"You'll know the right thing to say to Pino."