Red and Yellow
So, as they finally got their hands on this machine, Chad spent every precious second figuring out how it worked.
He circles the machine several times, pausing occasionally to take a closer, more thorough look inside the water tank that houses the forcefield mechanism in the center.
"Blue light from the machine seems like Cherenkov Radiation... but no sign of radioactivity."
Moreover, he is taking notes and writing down estimates of what he sees.
"Temperature uhh... about 120°F (50°C)"
According to what he discovered, this machine is 90% not human-made.
Prior to the development of technology and our current understanding of physics, neither the physics theory nor the materials needed to make this machine work existed.
So his guesses are:
1. The terrorists got their hands on this machine through an alien spaceship that crashlanded on their territory.
2. The alien, in collaboration with the terrorists to help them colonize humanity, gave them the weapons and machines needed to do the job.
3. An alien disguised as a scientist created this machine.
In all hypotheses, Chad sincerely believes that aliens are real and that they are responsible for this
Although Chad is thrilled about his own theories, those are still only guesses because he has a part of him that doesn't want any of them to be true.
Because the possibility of war between the two most powerful human nations on Earth is still far less terrifying than knowing that a civilization far more developed, powerful, and advanced than them exists.
Chad continues to examine the machine as ordered while these ideas cross his mind.
Then, he noticed something as soon as he moved to a different area of the machine that he had not before seen.
Something really terrible that confirms and solidifies their worst fear.
"Ho...ly... shit... Saiko, I think you should see this."
Saiko followed Chad, approached him, and stood by him to see what he was pointing to. He was speechless.
That thing, that reddish thing they are seeing, is fluttering straight in the night wind.
The red background color combined with the emblem of a yellow sickle overlapping with a hammer in the same color, both positioned on the upper left side of the big red cloth about a hundred inches in size.
And they immediately know what it is.
Placed right on a pole situated far from their reach, is the flag of Communism, specifically the flag of the Soviet Union, waving on top of the Empire State in the capitalistic New York City.
"So it's true, they really want to start a war."
"So what do you think we should do?"
"Since it's currently midnight, the flag isn't that visible, but once the sun rises, this flag will be seen from all over the city, and the entire world will be shaken by this. At that point, a war is just one step away."
"What's the final step?"
"It's us. The one who knows what's really happening and who is behind all of this is us. We know that the terrorists are just psychopaths who want to destroy the US by causing a war in which the Soviets are the culprit.
We have to let the government and the world know the truth, that is, if we get out here safe."
Clap clap, Saiko did.
"I gotta admit, you're really a smart guy, Chad."
Chad humbly grinned in response to Saiko's praise.
"No, I'm not."
"No really, you are just being humble.
You know, I used to be jealous of you, I thought that I was the smartest one in terms of intelligence and you are just a nerd who doesn't know what you are doing.
You even failed and made more mistakes than I was."
"Wow..." Chad's jaw dropped.
"I didn't know you thought of me like that."
"Yeah but I guess I was wrong, I thought you were someone who wanted to get attention from the teachers and Selena by trying to be smart, but turns out you are just simply enthusiastic about what you love, Science."
"Okay..."
"But guess what Chad? Smart and enthusiastic people are different from normal people, they have obsessions and dreams, and ways of thinking that others found to be eccentric.
Like you and me."
"?"
"For example, when we are being chased by the terrorists and others are engulfed in fear, all you think of was how amazing the new rifle you just got was. Or me, I am someone who has fantasies of... brutal stuff."
"That's... weird."
Turning away from Chad, Saiko muttered to himself.
"Don't worry, you will soon understand what I meant Chad, sooner or later, and you will realize that you were too naive, knows nothing, and are not even aware of the consequences of your own actions."
He may not have heard what Saiko said, but Chad still let Saiko speak to himself for a while, after he finished, they both remained silent...
...
"OK, this is awkward."
"Yeah, me too."
"Bout the flag?"
"Uhh since it's too far from our reach, I think we should speed up our operation, we should be destroying this machine this night, the explosion will burn the flag to dust."
"Good idea."
--------------------------------------
While all was going on, Ben and Roy were searching for a bomb, ideally a timed one, in a dark shed beneath the Empire State.
Ben will keep an eye out for terrorists while Roy conducts the search so that they are not interrupted.
"Hurry up, Roy! We don't have time! And why are you writing your diary now?!"
"I'm not writing the diary! I'm counting and listing the weapons they have!"
As he mentioned, he is recording the terrorists' arsenal of weaponry, specifically the number of rifles, guns of all calibers, unusable drones, and even timed bombs.
Yes, Roy has found the devices they needed and he is confident of it because they resemble the C4 from CS:GO.
"But we are here to find a timed bomb!"
Despite the fact that he had already found what they were looking for, Roy chose not to take it and leave just yet.
He believed that the intel he was recording could be useful for Neil or Chad.
Ben, on the other hand, constantly bothered him and insisted that they finish their job as soon as possible.
"Ugh! Fine! Just give me the backpack!"
He had to give in.
Ben picks up the yellow backpack and slides it on the floor in Roy's direction. He then went to get a C4 and put it inside the backpack.
'I will never want to do this again.' Ben told himself.
Suddenly, Roy halted. He should be walking, but for some reason, he stopped and looked back at Ben.
"Umm hey, Ben. Can I ask you a favor?"
"?"
"I am going to put my diary inside the backpack, and you'll keep it."
"Ok... How's that a favor?"
"I'm not done yet. I want you to remember, if something bad ever happens to me, I want you to give Chad my diary, and make sure that he reads it, can you do that?"
...
Ben froze for an instant after hearing Roy's perplexing request; his face indicated that he was quite confused.
"What the FUCK are you saying?! Why the hell are you saying that?! It's cringe as fuck!"
"UGH! Can't you be serious and professional FOR AT LEAST A SECOND?!"
And they started arguing.
"This is stupid! What's so important about that diary that you have to die for it?!!"
"All I was asking was that if I die, can you give MY GODDAMN DIARY TO CHAD?! CAN'T YOU DO SOMETHING THAT SIMPLE?!"
"IF YOU WANT ME TO GIVE CHAD YOUR DIARY, WHY DON'T YOU SURVIVE OUT OF HERE AND GIVE HIM YOURSELF?!! I'M ALREADY PANIC AS FUCK WHEN I STEPPED IN HERE AND YOU WANT ME TO DIE OF A HEART ATTACK?!!!"
Before Ben and Roy could both settle down, the argument went on for a few more minutes.
It was clear that Roy was feeling anxious and wanted to make sure that his diary was in safe hands. While Ben was just frustrated and panicked with the request due to the situation they were in.
"Look, Roy, I understand that you want to make sure that your diary is in safe hands, but we have to focus on getting out of here alive and completing our tasks.
Let's put the diary in the backpack for now and we'll figure out what to do with it later."
"Fine, I guess you're right."
Now that everything has been settled, Roy returns to fulfill his job while Ben waits for him.
"Please hurry."
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On the roof of a small, nearby building, Nick is observing the terrorists with a pair of binoculars and providing support for the operation from the outside.
"It's been 10 minutes since Neil's last contact, we have confirmed that they're inside, but I still have a bad feeling about this. Hey kid, what are you doing-"
Brent, the boy who decided to stay with him, is... playing with rocks.
He moved to a corner and began to play alone with rocks of various sizes because he had nothing else to play with.
He has no idea why this building has so many rocks on it.
"Just hiding in a corner eh? I guess that's acceptable."
Nick made the decision to ignore Brent and keep observing for a bit longer.
...
THUD!!
All of a sudden, Nick felt dizzy and extreme pain in his head, just a second ago he felt a strong impact of something very hard and heavy with his skull.
And it was obvious to him that someone had hit him with a rock, but who else could it be other than the one who had been with him the entire time?
"Kid... What the hell are you thinking?!"
It's true, Brent was the one who hit him with the rock, turns out that all this time he was not playing around with rocks but finding the best one to commit his crime.
"This plan will fail and I'm not here to die for your dumb shits!" He said while holding the big rock with blood stains on the edge.
"But if you do this, you are going to die too..."
Nick answered weakly as the rock hit his head so hard that his whole body seemed to be paralyzed and stunned by the shock.
Brent, who was previously weaker than him in every aspect, now stands before him with a smile as he is unable to fight back.
"No, only you."
"FUCK."
Brent struck Nick with the rock one more time, this time with more power and strength that is enough to knock him unconscious.
After that, he searched Nick's body for something. He eventually found what he was looking for - a walkie-talkie.
Brent turned on the device; pressed a few buttons to establish a connection. When he heard the signal, he positioned the walkie-talkie near his mouth.
"Hello, to anyone on the other side listening, I have something for you..."