City I

"You are getting quite better, Jacob. Against the enemy now it is best to move fast towards them and take them out," Zeph explained.

"And don't forget to focus on seeing where the enemy is hitting from," Ella added.

It had been a few hours since Jacob met with Allen, and the team focused on training with one another inside their living quarters.

'Did not know City B soldiers can also be good teachers' Jacob thought. 

Zeph taught the other two in basic attacking while Ella helped in defending, all the while Jacob followed and continued learning.

In the end, he was tired.

'Man, training in games looked much easier than real life,' Jacob thought, panting heavily.

"Easy for you to say, I need to keep using up my energy trying to heal your injuries!" Rin complained.

"Injuries are a part of training, if you want I can help you train to survive our next deployment, Rin," Zeph replied. Rin took a moment to think about it.

"I guess it won't be so bad," He looked at his staff and the remaining energy he had left on his system, replacing Jacob and Ella in the training as they walked back to their beds.

"That was good, now for a well-earned break," Stretching her arms and yawning, Ella crashed on her bed, pulling out her phone and playing a game.

Jacob felt saddened, remembering the fact he had no phone, and his console and room may have been destroyed in the attack. The thought only brought more anger for City G and their assault on his home.

'Maybe I can buy a phone in this place, they said City I produces a large amount of devices after all,' Jacob thought, recalling that the majority of facilities and staff in this place were far more equipped with electronics compared to his old city.

He snapped his fingers to see his money, still 1000 credits.

'Hope their phones are not overpriced as well here.'

Rin and Zeph both trained together, practicing defense and attacking, while Ella and Jacob rested on their beds with half-opened eyes.

—---

An hour had passed and the two started to finish up their training, the wall was covered in small blotches of red after Rin accidentally fired into it, fortunately not causing much damage. 

Ella kept playing on her phone, not turning away from it even once, deeply focused on whatever she was doing on it.

"Your skill in fighting needs more skill, but we can improve on it," Zeph explained, sighing shortly after.

"I do miss the library in City H, so much knowledge gone," He mumbled.

In a few seconds, metal banging from the door grabbed their attention. It opened, revealing Clara, now with multiple tablets and purple-colored screens hovering all around her, seemingly from her system. 

"So much data to archive," She mumbled. After a moment she looked up at the team with good news.

"We are in the final stages of preparing for your next mission. It will contain many more objectives since researchers want to record Jacob in action more for studies. Apart from this, we allowed you to have limited access to the area around the City I facility," She paused.

"In short, we can let you go to the nearby library, stores, and food areas if you wish." She finished. Everyone's eyes lit up at the prospect, all eyeing the different stores we listed.

She continued tapping on her phone and the screens floating around her, and after a second, enlarged one of them, moving it away so the entire team could see what was on it.

It showed pictures of different areas outside City H, all were camps of different sizes and uses. In the center, a picture of a street in the city itself.

"Due to the potential strength of Jacob, and the wish to see him in combat, we provided more tasks for your team. You have a day before departure so I suggest heading down to the stores below. Our libraries and rooms here are banned though, too much important data." She explained. 

Zeph and Rin both nodded in response while Ella and Jacob barely listened, still focused on the stores she listed.

"Finally I can put these stored credits to good use!" She exclaimed, snapping her fingers and eagerly checking her balance.

[Credits: 5000]

"That much!?" Jacob asked in shock.

"Us defenders get rich fast from our protecting gig you know," She smirked. Clara snapped her fingers, causing all the screens to vanish, and turned to the team again.

"Do not go further than the nearest stores, and do not trespass inside the facility rooms, or things will not be as pleasant as last time," She said the last sentence while eyeing Jacob and Ella.

"Alright, follow me, so I can show the stores down below." 

—---

After countless floors, all filled to the brim with computers, devices, and dimly lit rooms. The elevator reached the bottom, the first floor of City I's center.

Compared to City H, the lower area was extremely quiet. A few researchers were present, with the rest mostly above them in the hundreds of floors of the facility. 

Stepping out of the elevator, the team could see the exit, brightly glowing from the sun. An odd unnerving feeling grew on Jacob as he looked at it.

"The stores will be outside, study and use your credits if you wish, the streets should be quieter than normal at this time since it is not breaktime yet," Clara explained.

—--

The outside felt cold, and despite the sun beaming down on them, Jacob couldn't even feel it as much. In front of them, all he could see were skyscrapers and smaller buildings, all devoid of color, simply holding glowing signs of what they had inside. 

There was no uniqueness, only the same words. Warehouse, quarters, restaurant, and library were only a few of the stores they could see. The streets were cold and colorless, the sight of it brought a worry to Jacob, but he remembered what Clara promised them.

Clara pointed at a street next to them, with stores open, but only a few people were using them. 

"That is the only street you can use, you have a day before the mission begins. Do not go astray, we will know." After speaking, she walked back to the facility, returning to her work.