Chapter Eighteen: History In Motion

  Benjie picks a spot on the floor in the living room to sit down, then sits in awkward silence for several long minutes. After a while of everyone silently writing things down from documents, the crew decided to take a break and continue preparing for their travel to Ireland. After a while, the crew began to talk about their plan, regardless of Benjie's presence. "I haven't found anything else in the documents so far" Siran says, "but we should still keep digging trough, just in case".

"I'm running out of patience for this library of yours, Siran" Alex says. "Spending all of that time, writing down the information into the format of a novel for clues... isn't that a bit...".

"Unlike us?" Rose asks.

"I mean... that's not what I was going to say..." Alex says, "but... yeah. We did more leg work than paperwork".

"I thought you guys wanted to be here for the kids..." Siran replies.

"Right, and this is one way to be here" Alex says, "but not a way to spend time here with the kids".

"If we're going to focus on your children..." Ying adds, "wouldn't it be recommended to take what's best for the long run?".

"Yeah... like... taking down those guys in an active way?" Blake asks. "I mean... those guys are-". Blake suddenly stops mid-sentence, and looks at Benjie. Blake looks away, then says "Well... you know... those things. Do you really think this is the type of thing we can fight in a war of Intel?".

"In my personal experience" Holly says, "every war can be fought with Intel Wars...".

"Gaining intelligence on the enemy is a sure way to know how and when to strike" Haru adds.

"Yeah, I can piece together that much" Finn says. "But... those things? How do we plan around that?".

"Very carefully" Siran says.

"Do you need help with writing things from those documents?" Benjie asks.

"Hm?" Siran replies as he turns to look at Benjie.

"I can help" Benjie says. "I'm not cut out for a... war... but I can at least do that much".

"Really now?" Vivi asks.

"Sure" Benjie replies. "I can stay behind and help keep recording whatever that is".

"These are secret documents stolen from across the world, documenting what happened during The Naris Catastrophe" Vivi adds. "Think you can take good enough care to handle it?".

"W-well, it sounds really important" Benjie says. "Maybe putting on a bit too much pressure here... but I'm sure I can handle it just fine".

Siran hands his document over with a silk ribbon set halfway through the book, serving as a bookmark. "If you learn about anything that seems at all weird or important, you'll let us know, right?" He asks.

"Yeah, of course" Benjie says.

"Thanks a lot, Benjie" Siran says. "I'm counting on you".

"Mhm!" Benjie replies with a nod.

After a few hours, Benjie was still sitting in Vivi's home with Alex and Vivi. Everyone else besides Siran, Zia and Silas had gone to their homes. Alex, Zia and Siran were talking amongst each other, Silas and Carl were talking in a separate room, Benjie was working on writing and Vivi was still working on a device to contain overflows of endo. Every now and then, Benjie became fixated on whatever Vivi was trying to build. Every time Vivi looked over at Benjie, Benjie would look away nervously and go back to writing. Eventually, Vivi started working on which type of charm to use for the device. After choosing a charm, Benjie said to her "That's not the right charm".

"Excuse me?" Vivi asks.

"That's not the charm you'd want to use" Benjie says.

"How do you know that?" Vivi asks.

"Well, it looks like you're trying to use a charm to suck in large amounts of endo" Benjie says. "But if you're designing one with such a large capacity mod, then I think it's safe to assume that this isn't a device meant to withhold the endo from a human?".

"Correct" Vivi says, somewhat surprised. "This is to help restrain the endo from those Endo-Streans popping up all over the world".

"Wouldn't it be easier to use a containment charm?" Benjie asks. "As well as a resistor mod, with a transfer device?". Vivi's eyes opened wide in surprise, as Benjie continues to say "Sucking the endo out of landmass is one thing, but if you contain large amounts at a time and transfer it to somewhere else, you can transfer it to a power plant to be recycled as energy, rather than just get rid of it. As well as, you'd be able to contain more endo at a time that way, and not have to keep exchanging the old device for a new one every so often when it's capacity is reached".

"How do you know... so much about Magi-Tech?" Vivi asks.

"Well, I've always kinda known a lot of about that sort of thing" Benjie says.

"Why didn't you say do earlier?" Vivi asks.

"I tried to, but you wouldn't... let me... speak" Benjie says shyly. "I-I also redesigned the device that removes endo from humans".

"You did?" Vivi asks.

"Similar design" Benjie says, "but more obtainable parts, making it cheaper to mass produce".

"That's pretty impressive" Vivi says. "Where'd you learn so much? I got my skills from my dad when I was little".

"Ah... I got mine... from my uncle... kind of" Benjie says.

"Kind of?" Vivi asks.

"Who's your uncle?" Siran asks, as he, Zia and Alex approach Vivi's desk.

"Well... you guys are The Six Guns" Benjie says, "so I'm sure you're familiar with the Endo Syphons... right?".

"Endo Syphons?" Alex asks.

"About 20 years ago" Benjie says, "a top secret development was put in place by what is know an infamous military faction. The Ly'Lum. Specifically, the Magi-tech Tactical Recon Unit... or MTRU for short".

"Wait... your uncle worked for The Ly'Lum?" Siran asks.

"Well... yes and no" Benjie says. "He was forced to work on the project for them... he was an engineer. The project was first tested on humans, but... with the capacity mod they wanted him to design... I assume there was another goal they wanted to Syphon with that device".

"Naris's corpse..." Siran says.

"What!?" Benjie panics.

"You're referring to those mechanical backpacks that the MTRU had, right?" Siran asks. "They used that to harvest Naris's corpse. Naris ended up coming back, and we had to fight him in Omnium Guild. That's why that city vanished, and turned into another deep crater".

"I had no idea..." Benjie says.

"Start talking" Vivi says as she impatiently taps her fingers on her desk. "Who was your uncle, and why'd he develop that device for The Ly'Lum?".

"Well..." Benjie says as he recalls this story his family has held onto. "Omnia used to... own the Philippines. We weren't allied with them... rather, if we did anything they didn't want us to do, they'd pull the plug on us... so to speak. My uncle was a well known engineer who excelled in his field as an engineer and inventor of Magi-tech devices. One day, The Ly'Lum kinda... drafted him. He wasn't allowed to refuse, because they would've just as easily killed off our family. Threatening things like if we can't use your tech, then no one will. Well, he developed the device they wanted him to. Although, it took him a while to do it. During his time working for them, our family was being funded in return for his work. Our family was very poor, you see. The money wasn't really for his hard work, or for our consideration though. They were paying us to keep quiet about it. My parents didn't really have a choice. It was either that, or risk being homeless".

"I'm assuming this was before you were born?" Alex asks.

"No, this was right after I was born" Benjie says. "My parents were struggling to take care of me, when I was a baby. Our uncle supported our family most of the time. So when they took him away, it kinda seemed like it was game over for us. However, when my uncle finished the device, The Ly'Lum wouldn't let him go. So he defected. He snuck out of doing his duty, and ran back home".

"Where can we meet this man?" Siran asks.

"Unfortunately... you can't" Benjie says. "He made it home, but that's as far as he got. He was still found upon coming back home, as if they knew where he was going and simply waited for him. They gunned him down in front of my parents".

"Then, how'd you learn engineering from your uncle?" Vivi asks.

"My father..." Benjie says, "my uncle's brother held onto most of my uncle's unfinished blueprints, or finished blueprints of unpublished devices. However, my father could never make sense of it. I, however, took a particular interest in the engineering work of my uncle. I studied that stuff in school, almost as much as I studied my uncle's blueprints. By the time I graduated senior high, I was able to finish my uncle's blueprints".

"That's some impressive work" Vivi says. "You just... had a talent for that stuff?".

"Talent?... no, I don't think that's the right word" Benjie says. "I never understood a single thing from those blueprints at first. I spent a lot of time learning about it. It's more like a skill, rather than a talent".

"Then, with your help..." Vivi says, "we'll have an engineer, a cyberneticist, and a weapon smith".

"You, Benjie and Demetri would make a great team!" Zia adds.

"Then this works out perfectly" Siran says. "Benjie, how would you like to be an official member of The Six Guns?".

"M-me!?" Benjie asks. "I'm not cut out for war!".

"You don't have to be" Siran replies. "That's not what The Six Guns are all about. We're all about giving humanity as a whole a fighting chance in this world. Not war...".

"Are you sure about this?" Benjie asks.

"You seem fit to me" Siran says. "Besides, most people would probably be more worried about the downside of being a Six Gun. Like, being officially known as an enemy to the state in most countries of the world... being put on the list of those Hunters... constantly being blamed for things...".

"How do we become a Six Gun!?" Benjie asks, as if ignoring what Siran was telling him.

Siran smiles and says "You just agree to be one, and be a part of this family".

"Deal!" Benjie says excitedly.

"I feel like he made this deal a little too hastily" Alex says.

"Well, it was his choice..." Siran says. "Welcome to the crew, Benjie".

"I won't let you down!" Benjie adds.

"Speaking of which" Vivi says, "aren't you supposed to be working on those documents right about now?".

"Oh, that's right!" Benjie says as he sits back down.

Meanwhile, Loki and his brothers were traveling through Kesariani Vyronas Forest, in Athens. The trees here have grown to a massive size, and many of the treetops were thick enough to block out most of the sun. While it was still daytime, there wasn't much light in this forest. "The Endoindustria concentration here is high" Yngvi says. "I'm sure there's another portal that was made here".

"But something about this place feels a little different" Meili adds. "The energy feels more... subtle than the other streams".

"Don't let your guard down" Loki says. "Zeus could be anywhere near. Let's tracks him down, and permanently remove him from power".

"Right" Thor says. Suddenly, a violent flapping was heard. The team paused for a second, waiting to hear the noise again. The forest fell into silence as the brothers waited, until they decided to continue their journey. "Strange..." Thor says. "Sounded like a large bird".

"In this thick forest?" Meili asks. "They'd not have any room for flight! Their best bet would be to fly above the trees".

Suddenly, a loud flapping is heard again as a creature swoops in over their heads. The brothers duck, in order to dodge this creature. The creature, a bird lands on a thick branch directly above Loki. "Is that... an owl?" Loki asks.

"A very large one, yes" Thor says with a confused look".

Suddenly, a loud feminine voice cries out from behind the team. "Don't you dare touch my father!" It yells.

As Loki begins to turn around, he's suddenly bashed on the side of the head and sent flying into the ground with an impact from a shield. "Brother!" Thor yells.

"You four!" The woman with the shield shouts. "You're after Zeus, aren't you?".

"Another Olympian?" Meili asks.

"Wait... Athena?" Thor asks.

"Dammit, Thor!" Athena yells. "You know Zeus is my father!".

"I thought you hated your father!" Thor says as Loki stands up, lightly pressing his right hand against the bottom of his nose, as if to check for a nosebleed.

"That's why you can't go after him!" Athena protests. "He's my father! He's mine to kill! I have dibs!".

"You're going to do it alone?" Yngvi asks.

"I'm not alone!" Athena says as she holds out her right arm. The large owl swoops down again and perches on Athena's wrist. "I have Wise!".

"The bird's name... is Wise?" Loki asks.

"The name be not the problem, you simpleton" Athena protests. "The problem is that you're in my way".

"Are you trying to pick a fight?" Loki asks. "You... and a bird, against the four of us?".

Athena simply replies by getting into a fighting stance, without any words. "Wait a second" Thor speaks up, "Where is your spear, Athena?".

"Using a shield and a weapon to fight the four of you wouldn't be a fight" Athena says. "That would be an execution".

"Kitty has claws..." Loki says in an impressed tone".

"I'll make this quick" Athena says as she raises her sheild, and holds the owl still on her right wrist.

"Wait, we don't have to do this!" Thor says.

"It's too late for that" Athena says. "Whether or not you're on Zeus's side, you're still on Earth, which is against the agreement. Prepare for judgement".