21 – A Particular Traveler

We've searched everywhere for hours but can't find that thing. Ciara also wanted to join us, but I asked her to rest instead. She didn't argue because she was a soldier who had to obey orders.

"It's getting late, Bonnie." I looked up at the cloudy night sky. "We better stop this. It's useless. Looks like that thing has gone too far."

Bonnie kicked some rubble in frustration. "Damn it. This means we didn't actually beat him. He could come back again to attack us."

"I doubt he'll ever use a special metal body like that again." I made a guess. "He will be an ordinary robot if he meets us again. We will easily defeat him."

"That may be true, but…." Bonnie gasped. "Argh!!! I still feel pissed off."

We returned home in silence and immediately rushed to the room on the ground floor to see Ciara. This time, the girl was lying on the bed, covered with a blanket. Her eyes were tightly shut, and she didn't react to our arrival.

"She fell asleep after I gave her some painkillers." Liz, sitting on the chair, explained. "I'm not an expert in human anatomy, but I think she's okay."

"If she wasn't superhuman, I'm sure she would die." Bonnie sat on the edge of the bed. "That punch from Rhodes was brutal."

Yeah, luckily, she's a super soldier.

"By the way, I have stored Rhodes' body parts in the basement." The mechanic continued. "And I have absolutely confirmed that those things are really dead. Rhodes also won't be able to use that body anymore since it's been dismembered."

"I see…. Thanks, Liz. I appreciate it." I landed close to Ciara's face. She didn't look in pain, but that didn't change the fact that the wound in her stomach was real.

With her being seriously injured like this, does that mean I failed to protect her?

"I hope you don't blame yourself, Axel." Bonnie's voice grew a little hoarse. "You have tried your best. Without your strategy, Ciara's fate might be worse."

I remained silent and continued to look at Ciara's face.

***

"I didn't expect you to be fiddling with the hoverbike, Liz." I accompanied the mechanic who was removing some thruster from Rhodes' bike. Since we didn't need rest, Liz decided to do the job now. "I thought your focus would be on robotics and electronics."

That can be seen from the orange gear logo on her left arm before she has human skin.

"My former master has bikes like this, and I sometimes help him with his collection," Liz explained, finally able to release one of the thrusters. "Well, I still have a lot to learn, though."

"Can you attach the thruster to E.E.S?" I asked. "With that, Bonnie will have a big advantage in combat."

"I could try that." Liz shrugged, starting to release the second thruster. The bike has five thrusters, even though it only needs one. "But maybe it will take a while. Many countries ban thruster E.E.S because it is considered too dangerous. The stability is very difficult to adjust."

"It's okay." I know it's possible because I've done it in Project Axiom many times. "Trust me, the thruster at E.E.S isn't that bad. Scientists from the government could not find the right setting. But with your abilities, I'm sure you can pull it off."

"You're so confident, Axel." She looked at me with her signature blank expression. "I'm not even sure I can do it yet."

"You can do it, Liz." I give an affirmation.

Our conversation was interrupted by the sound of footsteps from a distance. At first, I thought it was E.E.S because it sounded like metal against the ground. However, after observing it for a while, I found it was just a robot carrying a large refrigerator on its back.

He wasn't a threat, so I ventured out of the backyard. In this world, there are robots called traveling merchants. They liked doing it, and for no other reason.

Yes, it sounds strange, but that's how it is.

"Nice to meet you guys!" He greeted us with an enthusiastic wave. "I'm Jack, the traveling merchant! Please have a look at the things I sell! Since money is useless now, you have to barter with me to get what you want from me!"

The robot put the refrigerator on the asphalt, then opened it. I could see all kinds of stuff in that container, but most of it was useless to us.

"We have a vehicle thruster that we don't use." I started rummaging through those things. We only need two thrusters for the E.E.S. and that hoverbike. For backups, I think two is sufficient. "I hope that's enough to buy these ammo boxes and cameras."

"Oh, that's more than enough, sir." The merchant clasped his palms together. "You can even get more from me because of that."

"Then, give me some important information." I looked at the merchant.

Jack folded his arms across his chest. "About 25 miles to the south, you can find a collection of abandoned military vehicles. However, humans rarely come there because the place is inhabited by a monster that can affect humans' minds."

"Like controlling them?" I've never heard of such a monster. Things like that don't exist in Project Axiom yet.

"I don't know much. Sorry." He scratched his head. "Some reports say the monster actually looks fragile. But humans can never get close to it."

"Regarding those military vehicles, do you know anything?" I changed the topic.

Jack resumed. "The robots have rummaged those vehicles, but they can't bypass military systems to revive them, or simply remove parts…. Well, except for the battery. They found a way to take those things' batteries."

"If you can bypass those vehicles and retrieve the parts, I think I can use them to make a turret, Axel." Liz chimed in. "Or are you taking those vehicles home? I don't mind that either."

"I'll think about that later." I'm hovering over where Liz is fiddling with the hoverbike. "We better get our thruster first."