Sapient Hotspot

Aria, Benson, and Halt walked through the dark corridors of the back end of the building.

"Ugh, unsanitary much?" Aria had her arms crossed as she walked, looking around the dusty old place.

"It's not your place to judge the habits of someone else within their home." Benson looked back and forth, making sure nothing seemed out of the ordinary. "Now I must ask, what was with you on the flight here? You were far angrier than usual.."

"If you listened to a word I said, you would know." Looking the other way, Aria tightened her grip on her arms.

"Yes.. I heard what you said. But do you not have faith in Human Hunter? He's always kept us safe, and I don't see that changing anytime soon."

"I-.." She whimpered a bit, "I know he has.. but Human Hunter has only had to kill people, same as me and you. These alien creatures are a lot stronger. Who knows if he can keep us safe from them."

Benson placed his hand on her shoulder. They both stopped, and Benson smiled. "He can. I promise you, and if not," He slammed his fist against his chest twice, "Then I will! I'm not a push over myself you know!"

Staring into his eyes, Aria blushed. She then realized how she was reacting, and quickly resumed walking. "Y-Yeah.. whatever moron. I'm stronger than you are so like I'd ever need your help."

Benson also resumed walking. "There may be a time in the future, you never know. And I'll be there for you when there is. Same goes for Human Hunter." Halt barked. Chuckling, Benson patted his head. "See! Even our trusty wolf buddy agrees!"

"I'm sure that's why he barked." She rolled her eyes, "Anyway, let's just finish looking around this place so we can see what that old creep had to say."

"You don't even know him Aria!"

"I don't need to, all old people are secretly creepy pedophiles now don't go starting another damn argument Benson!"

"That logic makes no-.. grr fine! I won't even try then!"

The trio finished searching the entire location, surprisingly finding nothing of note. They returned to where Human Hunter and Aurora had been talking.

Holding a suitcase in one hand, Aurora greeted them. "Ah, hello children. Find anything of note back there?" I assure you I have nothing to hide."

"Not much, just a dusty disgusting hallway that's all." Aria messed with her fingernails.

"Err-.. um.. I see. Well you know, I am a busy man and sometimes dusting isn't a top priority. Hahah, either way I'm hoping that you are able to trust me soon enough. In fact, I believe that we have the potential to become great allies!"

Benson stepped up. "Yes sir, I humbly agree. Any friend of Human Hunter is a friend of mine!"

Looking disgusted, Aria walked to the other end of the room with Halt. "C'mon boy, let's not stand next to the suck up."

It was then, that Human Hunter re entered the room. He was almost completely decked out in new gear. While his armor was identical, he had an abundance of newly acquired weapons, gadgets, and tools at his disposal. "Do you have everything you need?" He asked.

Aurora turned around. "Of course I do, there were only a few things of note that I needed to grab, such as my trusty crystal ball for example. Heh heh heh." He smiled cheerfully.

"Really?" Human Hunter responded, walking towards the middle of the room. "And what does that thing do? Tell the future?"

"No you dimwit! Real crystal balls are for watching movies and playing games! An old man gets bored just sitting around in an airplane you know!"

"It's not a plane." Human Hunter stopped next to Aurora, adjusting his gauntlets. "And I don't see any reason to bring a non practical item like that. Leave it. I'll need your help with locating this place anyway."

Aurora ended up sneaking his crystal ball anyway.

"Uhh, hold on." Aria said. "Just where exactly are we going? I thought you said we were staying here for a while?"

"Yeah. We are." Human Hunter finally reached the door, and opened it slightly. "But for now, Aurora is going to help us locate one of the stronger soldiers from that group of aliens."

"Ahem, they're called Sapients." Aurora added.

"Right.. anyway, we think we've found a possible location of interest. One that could be a hot spot for the uhh.. Sapients. It's in the middle of nowhere though, which is why Aurora is coming. Plus, unlike us, he knows a lot about them. That information should come in handy."

Benson lifted his hand in a thoughtful manner. "If I may ask, what exactly is this 'Location of interest'?"

Going outside, and with a fading voice as he left, Human Hunter said, "Aurora is the one who suggested it, ask him."

Both teens turned to Aurora, and he began to explain.

(Aurora's explanation is narrated as the group flies to their destination)

"Basically, there's this large city sized crater in the middle of a vast desert. The thing glows blue, and can be seen from space at the right angle. It's usually used by humans such as ourselves to permanently slow the aging process. A real life fountain of youth you could call it. Problem is, that as of late, more and more people have been discovering it's existence. It's in a rather remote area, and the government's done their best to hide it so far, but the cracks are beginning to show, and soon enough people will start killing each other over this thing. That's a good thing for us, but bad for the Sapients. They want to prevent worldwide wars. Plus, if everyone started to live close to forever, overpopulation would become a problem. It's my guess that the Sapients may take a pit stop in order to destroy it. If they do though, security will be tighter than it usually already is. Getting in won't be easy."

After a flight that lasted multiple days, the group of five finally passed by the glowing crater.

"Okay, now can you tell us your plan already?? I've been asking all trip and I'm getting tired of it!" Aria rudely asked.

"Simple." Human Hunter used binoculars to observe the security from afar. "Our goal is to analyze how strong a 'strong' soldier from this group is. That doesn't mean we need to engage. Though whatever theories we come up with I'd like to test." Putting his binoculars down, Human Hunter looked at Aria. "So we're going to observe, come up with a strategy for how we can kill one of the soldiers, and walk in."

"That.. may be the dumbest plan I've ever heard.." She said, now looking slightly nervous.

Benson yelled in a defensive tone, "Unless you can suggest something better, that is what we are doing! Don't insult H.H. like that he is perfectly capable of assessing a-.."

"Shut up, I do have a better plan actually. It just depends on if you're all willing to hear it." Aria confidentially leaned back, and played with her hair.

After a few seconds of silence, Human Hunter responded. "I'm listening."