17 – A Woman with Different Names

Accompanied by Liz, who was already wearing a tank top and long pants, Bonnie pressed her back against the wall by the door. That armored girl gears up with her machine gun.

I took a peek and found two dark green E.E.S. They walked while raising their respective rifles.

"We can hear you!" One of the powered armor pilots bluffed. "What are you doing here!? If you want to find resources, don't come here! This is our territory!"

I gave Bonnie various instructions through the communication device at her E.E.S.

"Are you part of the occupants of that apartment? Just so you know, we defeated the tentacle monster." Bonnie answered. "Because of us, you guys can look for resources in the warehouse, right? Don't you think we deserve more than crop seeds and cleansing soap, Melissa?"

Melissa? Who is Melissa?

"Who are you calling Melissa!? None of us have that name!"

"You came to this place without introducing yourself first! So, I call you Melissa!" Bonnie continued. "My name is Bonnie, by the way."

I could hear the muffled laughter of the other E.E.S pilot.

"I'm not Melissa!" The first E.E.S pilot, indeed with a female voice, snorted. "Get out of here, Bonnie! We don't want to settle this with violence!"

"Excuse me, didn't you hear me earlier?" Bonnie cleared her throat. "We killed the tentacle monster that you couldn't defeat. In other words, our level is high. Sorry, but the power of two E.E.S is way below that monster, Chloe."

"Stop giving me names like that!" The first E.E.S pilot was even more annoyed. "We are not afraid of your bluff!"

"Come on, Hildegarde." The armored girl didn't give up. "There are still a lot of resources in this area. It's fine for us to take some, right?"

"How dare…."

"Looks like what she said was right, Rayne." Finally, the second pilot, a man, chimed in. "If it's true that they can beat that tentacle monster, we have no chance."

The first pilot snorted again. "Don't show our weakness like that."

"Enough." The second pilot shook his head. "There's no use arguing at a time like this."

"Thank you for helping us, sir." Bonnie uses a softer tone. "Believe me, we also feel a conflict is the last thing we want. We both want to survive in this world, right?"

The two E.E.S pilots fell silent then the woman named Rayne turned around. "Whatever. The important thing is that you don't mess with our house, or you will know the consequences."

"Thank you for your understanding." Bonnie came out of hiding and waved.

The second E.E.S pilot lowered her rifle. "My name is Benedict. You can call me Ben. Nice to meet you, Bonnie."

"Nice to meet you too."

After that, those two left the workshop. I can hear Rayne's complaints as she walks away.

"If only Ciara was here, we could finish this quicker," Bonnie muttered when the two pilots were out of sight. "She can show the light on her sword. They will really believe that we defeat that tentacle monster…. Anyway, the words you gave me were solid, Axel. I already thought this was going to end with violence."

Yes, all of Bonnie's arguments come from me. The ability to negotiate is essential to survive in this world. Not everything has to be solved by fighting. Besides the risk of injury and running out of ammunition, lives can be lost.

"Let's get out of here," I suggested. "It's a shame we can't find instant concrete, but what can we do?"

"Yeah, we can look for that elsewhere." Bonnie then turned her head to Liz. "Are you getting used to your new appearance yet?"

The mechanic was squeezing her breasts again. "I'm still not used to these things."

By saying that without showing any expression, she looked uncanny. Unfortunately, the robot expression set in this place has run out. We'll have to look elsewhere if we want.

As we exited the building, my long-distance communication feature beeped on a call from Ciara.

"Sir, an android came to our house claiming to be a friend of those robot hoarders." The super soldier speaks fast. "He is standing in front of me."

I accessed the security cameras in our house and discovered a cloaked android in the front yard.

"Don't let him know that we destroyed that place." I kept my composure, even though this situation was precarious.

From the body shape and the crossing lightning marks on that android's left forearm, I could tell that he was a combat android. Maybe a former security guard or professional fighter.

Slowly, he looked at the camera.

"Too late, sir." Ciara's tone becomes more serious. "He already received a transmission about us from the robot hoarders before they died."

Suddenly, the cloaked android jumped up to punch Ciara.