Chapter 6 - Leads Towards The Tale

Yeah, there is no doubt. This kid is something else. The main concern is, where are his parents or any legal guardian? Surely he cannot just step outside and wreak havoc. Kids this age should be at school, instead here he is. It is considered an offence for an outsider like this kid to interfere. Also an offence for the parents to leave their child wandering around like this. Otherwise, the blame is on us. One thing for sure is that this kid is serious when he stares at Kyro after asking a question that seems relevant.

"Who the hell are you fighting? I am not repeating myself

"Some Metavoid user who calls himself Nathan. And you kid, this is not an area for your playtime"

"He must be it!"

As clueless as I am currently, as long as I know this kid is the clue to the answer, then it is fine. Still what is it all about? My curiosity prompts me to ask about this kid.

"Umm..boy? As much as you know about all these kinds of things, it is best if you leave it to us. We are expert-"

"Expert??? Expert you say! If you said so then, that rocket should be stopped, but instead it destroyed everything I loved and took everything from me!! All because of a man named Arcadia. HE IS RESPONSIBLE FOR EVERYTHING. Asking from Base Zero is nothing but worthless. I have sent mails after mails to fuck this Arcadia up but not a single good news has appeared since. So I took matters into my own hands. It is best if you stay away from my war."

Arcadia. Rocket. So there is another rocket case happening somewhere but I am not aware of it. But then, something has finally clicked in my mind. My parents have asked me to take down Arcadia. But with my set of skills, I cannot take down Arcadia without assistance. I need this kid to help, although it is an apparent misconduct but then, what choice do I have. This kid is definitely the key to whatever this is. I managed to stop the kid before he walked out.

"I may have an answer, Kid. First of all, your name and age."

The kid stopped and looked back at me. He seems like the type to not trust anyone.

"...."

"You can trust us. We are not intending any harm. We just need to know more about Arcadia. And you perhaps could lend us some assistance."

After such persuasion, he finally opened his mouth to utter something

"The name is Vulcan. I am 12. I am a Metavoid user. My goal is to kill Arcadia, just like he killed my parents and neighbours.

I knew it. He is different. A rare 12 year old indeed. Same fate indeed, losing parents at such an age. He does have a strong will. But him acting alone is not enough to take down Arcadia

"Listen closely, Vulcan. The being we fought was Nathan, a modified Cyborg with Metavoid Vials. He belongs to a lab called ArcaTech. Probably illegally operating. That is all I know until we do further research."

Kyro then interrupts our conversation hoping to disagree with my actions.

"Rilles, we cannot involve an innocent civilian. Plus, he is still a child and underage. We cannot risk it. Not only that, it is total misconduct. And I am not sure where to place my face if General found out about this."

"Don't worry, Kyro. He is a victim of an inevitable tragedy, as well as I am, possibly you as well. So I understand his motive. Why not just fulfil it for the sake of Base Zero."

I could sound dumb and absurd myself. I understood what he went through. The same scenario as mine. Though I am not sure how, surely he will understand it as to why I am willing to help him. After that we manage to form some sort of alliance, but what made me even more worried is that my communication watch suddenly rang. Yeah, you read it right, my communication watch which I destroyed somehow rang.

"Coming in Team C, this is the Destroyer Air Unit (DAU), please make way for our aircraft to land."

At a distance in the sky, I saw an aircraft appearing from its concealed state approaching menacingly. So I could say that the watch has an emergency communication function which the DAU could only contact. I took out the destroyed watch and analyse it. Turns out I am correct and I did not destroy it.

"I guess they found us. We're gonna be so dead."

"Uhhh... Rilles. Take care of this kid and bring him to Base Zero. I will finish this mission."

Well he doesn't want to get killed(scolded) by the general. I should construct my excuse then.

"Under Official Order, Vulcan, you have to come with us and spill everything you know to me and Kyro. Of course, we won't involve others unless the situation is dire."

Vulcan was hesitant at first, but soon he nodded and abided by my instruction. As the aircraft landed, the door opened and a menacing figure made his appearance. Of course the menacing figure is someone I did not expect to see."

"Kyro and Rilles.You thought you were safe after you jammed those watches? Bad news, no. Both of you in my office as we got back. Both of you must have an explanation. And who the hell are you?"

"General. He is with me under Official Order. And General, we have plenty of excuses."

"First day, Rilles! That is a new record. The fastest fuck up ever done by an employee. Get this man the employee of the year award."

We are so dead. Kyro, get out of here now goddamnit. How long are you delivering that package? Seriously. Soon, Kyro got out of the research centre to which he pretends to not know what is going on. Finally everything is wrapped and we are all prepared to go home.

*At Base Zero HQ*

We gathered at General Raz's office to discuss the current situation. The situation is indeed tense. And because of what we have done made this even worse than it already is. Though we did not expect the general to find this out by appearing on the aircraft all of the sudden when he should be here at his office. We then began giving the legit excuse as to why we defy orders.

"General. I shall take responsibility for this. We changed route after we broke our communication device to prevent us from being traced. I made the call. Rilles is to not be blamed."

"Then what made you do so? Surely there is a reason why you would go to such extent."

After what Kyro had done by defending me, I decided to give my explanation about our actions.

"General. We suspected someone was spying on us. Our secret mission somehow is intercepted just like that as if there is a planned attack going on. There is someone sabotaging us from the very start."

Truth be told, the general is shocked that there happens to be a sabotage going on within Base Zero. We even reminded him about Vulcan's attempt by sending letters to Base Zero. He went silent for a moment but spoke when he got a glimpse of what we were trying to say.

"So the annoying letters for the past years is this boy. I am impressed by such determination just to get our attention. Unfortunately, nothing can be done without the previous general's consent. I was still an officer back then."

I wouldn't say it is annoying. It seems to be the only way to get Base Zero's attention. But how he knows Base Zero. My assumption is that his parents knew about Base Zero and told him about it. But still, that is a crime to just spam mails in Base Zero. What has this kid been through?

"Unfortunately, yes. I am the annoying letter."

"From what I heard about Kyro and Rilles, you have some issues with the man named Arcadia that took everything from you."

"Yes. And I want that man dead. And sir, did you not say that you won't involve others?"

Vulcan looked at me with a death stare.

"I, as the general, made the call. These two are to say what they know, boy."

I say this is abuse of authority. I am dying inside from this situation. I feel like submerging myself and getting out of here.

"General. This kid has all the intel we need. Our sabotaged mission has something to do with this kid. Arcadia is onto something."

General then suddenly went silent for a while as if he was thinking of something that seems similar to this. He then breaks the awkward silence by saying what he had thought up.

"Kyro. Remember Case File 401? I don't know if this part of it, but our mission got sabotaged has to be him. He is a tech guy, surely it's him."

"It is a high possibility that Case File 401 is related to this incident. But why Case File 401? That may be Arcadia, but which Arcadia? I swore that we have destroyed one Arcadia but then the next one just appears and we destroyed him, right?"

I am curious about something. So I ask the question to Kyro and Raz.

"How are there two when there is only one? Kyro, Raz. Do you people know something that I don't?"

"There is only one Arcadia, which is mentioned in the file. So far, I can say at this point that Arcadia's target is currently Base Zero."

"But still, what are the chances that Arcadia is linked here? It could be someone else."

Raz remains silent. But what Kyro said is true. Whatever the Case File 401 is about, surely one cannot simply blame the tragedy towards the current situation. Arcadia could be someone else. Still what is Case File 401? Is the target I wanted the current Arcadia, or different? Or is there more variant of Arcadia that I am not aware of?

"Rilles, it is best that we don't involve you in this situation. Today it's only your first day. I am sorry that you have to witness such an incident."

"No. I am here to fulfil my destiny. Fate has brought me to Base Zero. I cannot retreat from here since I am involved already. The same can be said to this kid. I promised this kid to end his suffering at once."

Raz suggested that I shouldn't be involved in this case. I denied Raz's request. He glanced at both me and Vulcan. Judging by the looks of his eyes, he seems to regret something.

"Rilles, it is only your first day, but allow me to introduce you both to what exactly happened to Base Zero, which resulted in stacks of paperwork. Case File 401, the most controversial case file in Base Zero archives."