Photograph (5)

"Fine... it's better than not helping you at all." Aeron crossed his arm in front of his chest, "But you'll have tell me when you're about to disappear so that I can provide you some help."

"You got it!" Zaen ruffled Aeron's hair once again before heading to shower, "Oh, I almost forgot! I want you to look at something for me."

He then took out the weird-looking machine he had found earlier in the alleyway from his inventory. The machine fell to the ground with a heavy thud. The machine was already in a poor condition and Zaen, unintentionally made it even worse. Numerous parts fell off their places and now the cuboidal machine looked like something not even the weirdest of collectors would buy. It was dark when Zaen had picked it up, so it was his first time seeing the machine properly.

The first thing apart from the rust covering the machine, that caught Zaen's attention was the insignia engraved at the top of the machine. It was an insignia he had seen a lot of times before, it was the insignia of the Special Force. It looked as if someone had tried to remove the insignia as there were scratch marks all over the insignia. At first, Zaen thought the ghoul must have done it while thrashing the machine, but the claw marks of the ghoul were different from the ones he was seeing now.

'Why would Special force have something like this with them?' Zaen got lost in his thoughts, 'More importantly, the security around the headquarters and other branches of Special Force is set to be top-notch. So I don't think anyone would be foolish enough to try and steal from them."

"Dudeeeee! Be careful with these things will ya?" Aeron squatted next to the machine and began caressing it as if it was his long lost child, "How do you expect me to look at something if you keep breaking them!"

"Sorry! It was an honest mistake. I swear!" Zaen did not expect such a reaction from Aeron but given Aeron's love for machinery and science, it should have been obvious.

Aeron didn't say anything and just waved his hand, telling Zaen to leave. He then got up and left for his room along with the thrashed machine while Zaen just stood there scratching his head.

"This kid... hehe." He mumbled before heading back to take a shower.

***

Taking a shower after working out was not less than bliss for Zaen. Especially ever since he started fighting these weird monsters. Also, showering made his mind focused, helping him to come up with his next move. Previously he used this time to come up with strategies to improve his gameplay but now it was being used by him to focus on ghouls and Special Force.

"I can't take my physique for granted anymore..." He mumbled, "I better start training seriously once again. Who knows what kind of creature this artifact would make me fight next time. Then there's also the special force I need to beware of. At this point, they are more troublesome than the ghouls."

He turned the knob and warm water rushed out of the triangular shower head to hug his body, momentarily taking his worries away from him. After spending a good time inside the shower, he finally stepped out as the water droplets gently flowed down through his hairs, tracing his muscles.

After drying himself and wearing a fresh set of clothes, he headed towards Aeron's room to check if he made any progress yet. But even before he could knock on the door, Aeron shouted from inside.

"Don't bother disturbing me. It takes time to assemble a device as sophisticated as this with basic tools. Especially if someone keeps thrashing them!" Aeron yelled, "If only I had tools that we use in the Institute, this would've been a piece of cake. A poopy cake, but a cake indeed."

"If you want, we could buy the tools for you!" Zaen suggested before quietly opening the door.

But as he did something whizzed past his head. He turned around to see a dart buried in the painting behind him. If his instincts hadn't kicked in at the last moment, the dart would've ended up inside his head.

"The hell was that!?" Zaen yelled at Aeron as his adrenaline levels shot up.

"Let's say... it was a defence mechanism. Made from the scratch from yours truly." Aeron stuck his tongue out briefly before returning to work, "After all, who knows when someone might find about your secret humanity saving hobby, and come looking for you. So I made some household traps to help you!"

"Your 'help' almost got me killed!"

"Don't be a baby now. What's the point of fighting monsters if a dart scared you that much. If I hadn't seen the artifact from my eyes, I'd think you were making up tales to gain clout." Aeron shrugged his shoulders, "It was just a poisonless, poison dart. At worst you might have lost an eye, but it can get replaced easily with the help of today's science and technology. But I think I should disable the traps while we're inside so that you can live and move peacefully."

"How many traps did you set, by the way?" Zaen asked as Aeron went ahead and pressed a button in his smartphone to disable the traps.

"IoT is such a beautiful thing, don't you think so?" Aeron tried to change the topic, ignoring Zaen's question.

"How many traps?" Zaen wasn't going to give up so easily either.

Aeron knew he couldn't hide it anymore. But how was he going to explain that he had made well over a hundred traps and placed them all over the house while Zaen was out hunting ghouls? Or the fact that he stayed up late, despite promising Zaen that he'll take a rest?

"Ugh... too many that I forgot... hehe..." Aeron gave his brother an awkward smile while scratching his cheeks.

Zaen shook his head before smiling, "Just give me a list of the tools you require. I'll see what I can do."

"Aye aye, captain!" Aeron saluted him, "Now, with all due respect, get out. I have work to do."