37 – Their Real Faces

An E.E.S user guard was standing in front of the colony apartment. This time he didn't point his weapon at us. "What's going on this time, Ciara? Your name is Ciara, right?"

The super soldier answered. "I just wanted to stay in touch, Ben. Well, I will also tell you about something important, though. There is a giant egg possibly filled with nasty monsters near our house."

Ben was silent for a moment. "You asked for our help?"

"There is a possibility that those monsters will also attack you guys when they hatch." Ciara continued. "So, we better attack them first. Well, maybe you guys have someone skilled to check the thing first."

Ciara then fell silent, and that prompted Ben to ask again. "Is that all? Any other information?"

"These are serums for the disease that almost killed Bonnie." Ciara handed Ben a small box of ampoules. "Sorry that we were late giving all of this. A lot of things happened."

But when Ben was about to take that thing, Ciara pulled it.

"What does this mean?" Ben hisses in a colder tone.

"As I said earlier, you guys better come with us to check the giant egg." The super soldier continues to convey my words and acts according to my orders. "This is also for your good, guys."

Instead of responding to the super soldier, Ben contacted someone via his communication device. "Did you hear all that, Greg?"

The guard fell silent, apparently listening to someone. And not long after, he said. "Our leader will step down in a moment. Wait a minute."

"Great."

A few moments passed, and the apartment's front door finally opened. I was pretty surprised by the individuals that came out of there. It was a metal-colored robot wearing a full suit.

And I'm very familiar with the shape of the robot's head, which is similar to a human skull.

As soon as I heard Ciara draw her sword, I came out of my hiding place behind the super soldier's cloak.

"No, Ciara. Lower your weapon." I gave an order to the super soldier. "He does look like Rhodes, but I'm sure he's not that psycho robot. Rhodes can't possibly lead a place with many humans like this."

"Rhodes?" Ben, already raising his rifle, asked. "Who's he?"

"It's a rogue robot," I explained. "Oh, I'm Axel. I've been to this place several times, but I've been hiding because I'm afraid you guys will hate robots."

"Well, now you don't have to be afraid. There's no way a robot could lead his haters." The neatly-suited robot chuckled. "Nice to meet you, Axel. I am Ben, a robot humans chose to manage them."

"Interesting." I'm curious about this robot, but this isn't the right time to talk about anything else. "Ciara, show me that."

The super soldier took a tablet from his bag, then showed Ben and Greg photos of the giant egg.

"Send me these photos too for analysis, as well as the coordinates." Greg made a request. "However, even though this is a precarious situation, I would like to discuss it with my people first. Hope you can understand."

"Sure." I linked myself to Greg's remote signal. "But I hope you guys can make a decision soon."

***

Ciara sat some distance from the apartment, near her bike, which was covered with cloth. She stood up as someone approached her.

"It's okay. Please, sit." The person, a woman with two mugs in her right hand and a portable warmer in her left, said. From her face, I guessed she was in her mid-twenties. "I'm Rayne... Have we met? I don't think so…. Here, tea. Too bad we don't have sugar."

"Ah." Ciara accepted one of the mugs filled with transparent brown liquid. "Thank You."

"No problem." Rayne put down the portable warmer, then glanced at the empty can lying on the ground. "Luckily, you already had dinner, it seems. We cannot give you any food. Our supplies are limited. There are quite a number of us, after all."

"Were you a soldier before, Rayne?" I found a dog tag on her neck.

"Ben and I were on the same unit. A long time ago." Rayne tied up her long red hair, held her tag, then sat down. "Once everything is destroyed, then your rank is meaningless." She then looked at us in turn with her green eyes. "How about you guys?"

Ciara also sat back down. "Well, to be honest, I don't remember who I am. Maybe I have amnesia."

It was a lie I had prepared for her.

"And I got activated by Bonnie recently," I added.

"You guys have really helped us a lot." The red-haired woman sipped her tea. "But that doesn't mean I have complete trust in you."

I chuckled to show that we weren't intimidated by her. "So, that's why you came here? To keep an eye on us?"

The woman's lips curved into a faint smile. "Nah, I really wanted to chat with you guys."

Bullshit. She wanted to watch our movements. It's something natural because we are foreigners to them. But she should wear her E.E.S. Even then, she would still be inferior to Ciara's abilities.

She underestimated us.