Chương 154: B3. 9.1 - The Most Suspicious Person

Reo Hinode (Oberon)"What's up, girls?" Reo said, opening the passenger's seat window and draping his arm outside. Deen and Erind were waiting in the shadowy part of Greensworth Park, shaded by trees, and far from any establishments with CCTVs.

"I can't believe I'm picking up girls as beautiful as you two."

"Hey!" Everett bopped the back of Reo's headrest.

"Be respectful, man."

"What? You're thinking about the other meaning of pick up," Reo said, laughing.

"You dirty-minded scoundrel. Don't have those thoughts in this van of morality."

"You're one to talk."

"Johann picked me up from Phoenix Wings—that's the sort of 'pick up' we're talking about."

"Don't be noisy, you idiots." Myra pulled open the door. Deen and Erind jumped in, arranging themselves behind Everett and Myra. Johann floored the pedal. The van groaned for a second before speeding away down the empty street. Next stop was to pick up Dario. It was half past midnight, and the outer sections of the city, far from the blazing lights of downtown, were asleep.

"I hope you girls didn't wait too long," Reo said, looking over his shoulder. Deen and Erind were fixing their masks and bonnets to hide their hair, looking like robbers readying for a burglary. The rest of the team was already dressed for the job. Excavation. Not burglary.

"We got delayed at Reo's place," said Everett.

"Don't blame me. My supervisor chewed me out at the end of the shift. Lectured me for ten minutes straight about how I should care more for my job. How the fuck could I care about working at Phoenix Wings?"

"You should care about money," Myra said.

"Money makes the world go round." Reo snorted.

"Says Ms. Provided-With-Money-By-Her-Aunt. You don't work even part-time. People like me wish they got it easy like—" He stopped himself, remembering Myra's past. The cult thing definitely trumped whatever qualms he had with his life.

"What were you going to say?" Myra icily asked.

"That's enough, guys," Johann said in a louder voice than usual.

"Don't fight right before a mission. Do it afterwards, when we're out in one piece." Deen cleared her throat.

"Returning to Reo's question, we didn't wait long. Erind and I were having fun taking a midnight stroll through the park, having a best friends' date this Valentine's Day. It's so much better than dating a guy at a fancy restaurant. Restaurants are packed today anyway."

"You should've called this splendid man that I know. Goes by the name Everett," Reo said, laughing.

"Certified lover boy. Home-cooked meals while having a midnight picnic at the park. Now, that's romantic."

"Have you pulled that move on someone before?" Everett asked.

"Brought a bucket of chicken wings to the park?"

"Not yet. But I might try it for Valentine's Day next year. That is, if I'm still… if I managed to find a date." Reo was about to say 'if I'm still alive', but he didn't want to kill the mood. He yapped his mouth off to bury the fear in his heart, busying his mind to think of comebacks instead of… other things. Their nonsense banters filled the van with noise, making the atmosphere uncharacteristically lively. It didn't sound like they were about to enter tunnels that might have BID agents and Adumbrae inside.

Reo bet that Myra knew what he was doing and was just playing along with it. He was scared! What of it? Who wouldn't be in this situation? He'd wager his life savings, which amounted to almost nothing, that even Myra, despite acting all gung-ho, badass, boss lady, was also fucking afraid. There had to be a shard of sanity in her crazy brain. But he also understood that Myra was focused on finding her sister. Everyone was focused on their own shit, ignoring that Pino and other Adumbrae knew about Reo's place twice.

And they were going to serve a dish of betrayal to those same Adumbrae! The Adumbrae were going to complain to him, the poor employee at the counter. They'd probably do more than complain. What about biting his head off for a start? No one really thought of Reo's plight. During the meeting, the others planned for the mission, not the aftermath. It seemed like they forgot that Reo would get fucked by the Adumbrae once their double-crossing jig was up. Dario offhandedly said that the Professor will help.

Everett and the others chimed in, too. It would be fine. He shouldn't worry too much. He was overthinking things. Yada, yada, yada. But when pressed for what actual 'help' they'd give him, these fuckers simply said that they'd have to wait and see what the Adumbrae would do. React afterward. What kind of insanity were they cooking?

"How can you react when I'm already dead?" Reo asked while they were at Mama Maria's earlier. Pizza joints were apparently Dario's go-to for gathering in public.

"If anyone has the ability to resurrect people, they'd better speak up now. I might be in need of your services."

"Red Hood won't immediately act knowing that we have the PCM's anti-Adumbrae weapon plans," Dario had said.

"It might even be the case that they'll withdraw from the city, following the 2Ms' footsteps."

"We don't know how Adumbrae's brains work," Reo then countered.

"They can kill me out of spite for betraying them before leaving La Esperanza."

"Relax, man," Everett had added.

"We're not going to abandon you to the Adumbrae." Reo kept asking for more assurance but got none. Tough luck. No one really cared about him, not even Everett. Maybe Reo overestimated his friendship with Everett. In the end, Reo relented—he was outvoted in the land of democracy. Insert sounds of a screeching eagle. Even if Deen and Erind weren't absent, they also would've voted for the mission. Reo knew that he was the least important member of the group. Would they even spare a single teardrop if he died?

But another part of Reo was fine with this. Maybe this was the signal he was waiting for to leave. Leave the city. Leave his sorry ass of a life behind. Leave everything. You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. Would Dario look for him? Hunt for him, more likely. Reo had a precious artificial Core in his chest after all. Maybe then, he'd get the feeling of being wanted. Not the good way of being wanted, though.

The banter in the van continued, with Everett teasing Johann and Myra.

"So, where did you two go today?" Everett asked.

"Nowhere," Johann shortly said.

"Why would we go anywhere? This is my first time meeting Myra today." Reo chuckled.

"Maybe you're keeping a little Valentine's Day date secret from us."

"Why would we go out on a date?" Myra asked.

"We're not a couple or anything."

"Deen and Erind went on a date," said Reo.

"A friendly date. You and Johann are friends, right?" Myra shrugged.

"Yeah, we are."

"Friends strolling through a park can count as a date."

"If going with friends counts as a Valentine's Day date," said Myra, "then our excavation mission is also a date."

"It sure is," said Reo, laughing.

"We'll all be in the dark together. So romantic." The others probably thought he was messing around for the sake of it, and annoying Myra was his hobby. Maybe it was time to talk with Myra. Out of all of them, only she could sympathize with his situation. Myra might have been waiting to find Kelsey before going off-grid to escape Dario and the Professor. If they all left at the same time, Dario might focus more on Myra and Kelsey instead of tracking Reo.

Reo remembered his conversation with Dario after their lunchtime meeting. Dario made it appear that he left early, but it turned out that he hung around, approaching Reo after the others had left.

"What's with all the secrecy, oh, great leader?" Reo had asked, standing next to his motorcycle and straining not to grimace. Anything that had to do with Dario was bad news. If Reo had known this way back, he wouldn't have joined his group with the promise of powers. His imagined superhero life was very different from what happened in reality.

"Has Myra talked with you? Just the two of you?"

"Uh, no… Talk about what?" Dario surveyed their surroundings for several seconds, making sure that no one else was in the parking area, before continuing.

"I believe that Myra's interests might not be aligned with the group."

"What do you mean?" Reo had actually thought of the same thing, but his instincts told him to play dumb. The joker of the group, that was his role. Keep his head down and be unthreatening.

"Myra wants to save her sister no matter what. But what she may be saving, if Kelsey is truly underground, is not her sister. More than likely, the Adumbrae had taken full control of Kelsey, explaining her disappearance." Reo had always been uncomfortable with Dario's way of talking. It sounded inhuman.

"Yeah, I guess that makes sense. So… what'll we do if Kelsey's really down there?"

"We'll have to take her out, of course. It's for our own safety. I believe we'll have to let Myra see first that it is the only course of action."

"You mean we'll let them fight it out and step in once Myra's in danger? Yeah, I see that working. It'll be six-on-one. Kelsey won't win. Uh, why are you telling me this?" Reo's guts may be unhealthy, but he still relied on them to tell him something wasn't right.

"Shouldn't you talk to Myra before this? It won't be a pretty conversation, but she might need to get her head screwed right before meeting Kelsey." Dario leaned forward.

"I suspect that one of us is in contact with Red Hood."

"Really?" Reo faked his jerk of surprise.

"Think about it. Red Hood appeared at the 2Ms warehouses, where we rescued Deen and Erind. She was also at the docks. And do you truly believe Pino's story on how she found out about you?"

"Yo-you mean that someone's feeding Red Hood info about us? Are you telling me that you suspect Myra?" Reo wouldn't be surprised if it were true. If he were in Myra's shoes, if he had loved ones he desperately wanted saved from seeding, he'd also do anything for them. Thankfully, Reo didn't particularly have loved ones right now; he was tired of caring about anyone. It was also the dumbest idea to ask for help from Adumbrae. But you could never tell what people would try when driven by desperation.

"It's possibly Myra," Dario replied.

"We'd know if there's any indication that our plans have been leaked to Red Hood and Pino. This is my true plan." He patted Reo's shoulder.

"If the Adumbrae already knows of our betrayal, they won't go after you for revenge."

"I… I still don't think this is a good idea." Reo almost laughed out loud. Dario thought this was going to lessen his concerns for him? Reo thought that Dario was using him as bait, and he actually was! Dario was pushing through to suss out any traitors.

"Why are we continuing this mission even though you suspect we'll get ratted out? It's dangerous as fuck."

"We have Deen on a booster for security. Plus, I have a few more tricks up my sleeve."

"They'd better be pretty good tricks. Deen's power is great, no doubt. But how are you so sure she won't betray us? She seems to think that Red Hood is her savior."

"That's why I trust her… To some extent. If Deen were on Red Hood's side, she wouldn't have broadcast her thoughts. Deen is quite simple to read, and that's why she's easy to trust. She likes to stand on a moral high ground. She won't support betrayal, is my assessment. Moreover, she wouldn't abandon her best friend, Erind Hartwell."

"How sure are you that Erind won't go Red Hood? Ah, saying it out loud sounds dumb. Yeah, I guess Erind's not siding with any Adumbrae—she seems to be the sanest of us all."

"From our background check of Erind, the chance is low that she'd be open to working with Adumbrae. For one, she doesn't appear to have a feeling of gratitude toward Red Hood. Not to the same degree as Deen. And Erind's father was a researcher on Adumbrae. She'd know to fear and hate them at a young age."" Was a researcher?"

"Her father died about a decade ago in a car accident."

"I see… So, why are you telling me all of this?"

"Because I trust you, Reo," Dario said.

"Do inform me if you notice something suspicious." Maybe Dario thinks that I'm the suspicious one, Reo thought. Why did Pino go to him instead of anyone else? Did the others also think that he was leading them to a trap? That could be why they didn't care for his well-being. It made him think more of just running away. Far away.

"Okay, that's enough about dating," Myra said, snapping Reo's mind back to the present.

"Did you guys hear about the Adumbrae attacks? Plural. I thought it was only that one time yesterday, but there's supposedly another one on the news a couple of hours ago."

"Really?" Erind asked.

"Different from that bar getting attacked?"

"Seems like it."

"We haven't watched the news because we were with Erind's mom," said Deen.

"Should we be worried about this? Are these actual Adumbrae or monsters left behind by the 2Ms?"

"2Ms, PCM, Red Hood," Reo sang.

"Every group got their monsters. This whole city is fucked."

"It might be real," Johann said.

"The police are on heightened alert. And the BID has deputized the digi-techs. That could only mean one thing—scrubbing the internet. Something bad is happening, and the government wants to hide it."

"Funny, it all comes crashing down in one go," said Reo, throwing his hands up while looking at the empty road.

"Seven years of La Esperanza being Adumbrae free. Now, we have Adumbrae attacks on the regular. I wouldn't be surprised if martial law would be declared. Dario probably knows about what's going on."

"I have a theory," Erind said. Reo turned to look at her. Erind rarely spoke, but when she did, it was always of substance. She continued, "It's because all of the main characters are in this city. That's why all the important stuff happens here. It's like how the US is always attacked by aliens in movies."

"Erind, this isn't a movie," Deen said. Everyone laughed. Reo genuinely chuckled. Maybe not everything Erind says is of substance.