Radioactive: Chapter Nine

Radioactive

Chapter Nine

~Glitch-Ing~

A black and white stripped beanie bounced up and down as it walked through the Tower. Its wearer wandered around aimlessly and stopped momentarily to look over the glass railing to the lobby far below. A child around fourteen years of age looked around. On the child’s left hand was a black glove the length of the forearm. On the other arm was a black fingerless glove that only covered the hand and the wrist. The discoloration on his arm was easily visible. His forearm was metallic grey in color unlike the rest of his normal skin color. The child smiled with a carefree look. His green eyes were wide with childish curiosity.

The child spun around and ran down the hall. His white polo shirt and an unbuttoned black vest stirred in the wind as he ran. He grabbed onto the rail and jumped over the edge. His forearm changed and as he fell his arm broke apart into segments. Between the segments was a faint string of light keeping the segments connected to each other. The boy fell several floors and stopped in midair a few floors down.

“Hey Kaiba!” the kid smiled.

Kaiba sighed, “Go away.”

“Hello, Ing,” Kiri nodded toward Ing.

Ing used his other hand to swing into the balcony. His arm assumed its normal form. He danced and skipped to catch up to Kaiba, “Hey! I hear that you have a big case! Can I help?”

“No,” Kaiba stated.

“Why?” Ing wined.

“Because,” Kaiba said, “Go away.”

“But I want to help! I never get to do anything!” Ing pouted.

Kaiba barely gave him notice, “Go annoy someone else.”

Ing stopped, “Fine!”

Kiri turned and mouthed the words “I’m sorry” as she followed Kaiba. Ing’s shoulders fell in disappointment. He walked slowly to the lower levels where his only friend resided. The room was dark and full of computer screens. Ing looked up and saw an android floating in the air.

His natural form was a glowing nebulous blue. Upon seeing that he had company he descended to the ground and assumed his human appearance. His blond hair was disorganized but somehow it seemed to fit his personality. He walked up to Ing and rubbed the younger boys head.

“Hey, there, squirt! What brings you to my neck of the woods?” the android smiled.

Ing sighed, his shoulders were slumped, “Miwa~~! I’m so bored! Why won’t they let me do anything?”

Miwa just looked at the disappointed little android, “I’m sure you’ll get your chance.”

Ing looked up and scowled, “Don’t lie. It’s because I’m a glitch, isn’t it.”

Miwa sighed. In all honestly it was partly true. The little android was full with little quirks and glitches. Even though one could be programed with the best programing, the hardiest hardware and the sturdiest frame but when it came to downloading it into an android there were bound to be a few glitches. An android’s own personality was a glitch. Their preferences and sometimes their abilities were glitches. In Ing’s case however, he was to childish than originally programed to be. His skin color varied on his arms, giving away that he wasn’t human, a big problem on missions. Also his green colored eyes gave him an almost sickly look against his light colored skin.

Personally, Miwa had a few glitches himself like his slight obsession of causing trouble. Look where he was now: world surveillance. It wasn’t a bad task but he would rather be out on missions of some kind.

Miwa patted Ing on the head, “Hey, Ing, you’ll have your chance. If I see anything on surveillance I’ll let you know. Who knows, maybe you and I could break a big case together or something?”

Ing smiled, “That sounds great!” Ing jumped up into the air before running toward the door. He stopped and ran back and hugged Miwa before running back out of the room, “Thank’s Miwa!”

“Yeah, just don’t go telling everyone about our plan, alright!” Miwa smiled and shook his head.

Ing walked around the Tower. An idea started to form in his head. A smile stretched across his and he ran to Kiri’s location. Androids could always track and contact each other and Ing used this method to locate where she was. They were in the basement labs possible even talking to Jekyll. Ing shivered. He didn’t very much like the doctor.

The elevator opened and Ing walked around with a carefree attitude. No one paid him much mind. They all seemed engrossed in their work. Kiri looked to be in one of the lab rooms. He found their room and he peered around the edge. The doctor sat at one of the tables while Kaiba and Kiri stood nearby.

“So are you sure about this location?” Kaiba asked.

Jekyll glared at Kaiba for several moments before continuing, “There are many ways to tell including bone structure, hair follicles, sometimes even stomach contents. All of that says that the lizard originally came from the States. Where exactly, is up to you to figure out.”

Ing zoomed in his vision and saw the possible locations on the computer screen.

“I think I already have an idea,” Kaiba said, “I searched through all of the reports of our oversee investigation Agents.”

“Basically volunteer Others who report any suspicious activity,” Jekyll nodded, “You read all those reports.”

Kaiba shrugged, “Just the ones originating from the states.”

“That’s about 700 reports if all of then submit one,” Jekyll stated.

“739 to be exact,” Kiri volunteered the actual number.

“I don’t remember asking,” Jekyll muttered to himself.

“I have a location that is on the top of my list. I have notified the agent that we well be on our way. We’ll be leaving in a few hours.”

“We?” Jekyll raised an eyebrow.

“Yes,” Kaiba stated, “You and a few others are joining me to look for this person that is turning relatively normal human beings into mutants.”

“What about the heart surgery on Tuesday?” Jekyll asked.

Kaiba shrugged, “Sorry, hate me if you want but I need you especially.”

Jekyll sighed, “You make me miss everything that makes the mundane life at the hospital remotely interesting.”

Kaiba turned to the door, “Make sure to get your things. We’re going to get to the bottom of this.”

Ing saw Kaiba and Kiri walking toward the door. He looked up for a way to avoid being seen. He raised his hands above his head. His arms extended and he gripped onto a small ledge. He then climbed up the wall so that he was above the doorway and out of sight.

Kaiba walked out of the room and headed down the hallway. Kiri followed after saying goodbye to Jekyll. She followed after him quickly, not wanting to be left behind by the elevator. Thinking it was safe; Ing dropped down and slapped his hands together with victory.

“Oh, hello there,” Jekyll said behind the little android.

Ing turned and smiled sheepishly, “Oh hello!”

“And what might you be doing here?” Jekyll asked.

“I was…I was…looking for…for…for ka-ron…Carroll! You know the engineer…in the labs…” Ing smiled.

“Mmhmm,” Jekyll was understandably unconvinced, “You know, you aren’t very good at lying. In some ways, that’s a good thing. In this occupation, it’s not. Eavesdropping is also more effective if you don’t get caught. But I’m going to walk away without any memory of this conversation therefore, forgetting to report your behavior to Kaiba.”

Ing sighed, “Thanks.”

“Thanks? For what?” Jekyll said with a straight face before walking away.

Exited and ecstatic, Ing ran to the elevator to tell Miwa the great news and his new super-duper plan. Thanks to Jekyll’s ‘forgetful’ memory the plan would work out swimmingly. Sure Jekyll was a bit scary but Ing ended up walking away from the encounter liking the man a lot more than before. This was going to be an exciting first mission!

Iridescent: Chapter Twenty-Nine

Iridescent

Chapter Twenty-Nine

~Match~

After the Fall

Dante kicked open the door of the overturned truck that he had been driving before Shuppet had knocked it over. He crawled out and looked around. Everything seemed to be going according to plan. Dante looked into the truck and helped Ai crawl out.

“You okay. Princess?” Dante asked with a slight smile.

Ai looked as serious as ever, “I’m fine. Let’s go.”

“Right,” Dante nodded, “You get inside. I’ll cover you.”

Ai ran off to the resort building. Hiding behind anything she could to avoid being seen. Dante watched her for a little bit before looking for his own target.  Ren stood in the center of the chaos, a small grin on his face. He watched with interest at the goings on.

“Now I thought you were dead,” Jekyll said behind Ren.

Ren turned and smiled, “Depends on your version of reality.”

Jekyll tugged on his hat and closed his eyes, “I don’t have time for mind games.”

With a simple flick of his wrist, Jekyll drew three surgical knives from his sleeve and threw them at the boy. Ren vanished, as he wasn’t ever really there and multiplied himself several times in a ring around the doctor in a suit. The ring of Rens’ all drew their scimitars and charged at the doctor. A clear shot rang out causing one of the visions to disappear. Jekyll easily took care of the rest. He opened his eyes and looked over at Fang and sighed.

“I was doing fine you know,” Jekyll stated.

Fang looked at him, “I know.”

Ren appeared suddenly. Fang acted quickly and grabbed him by the wrist. He twisted the boy around and placed the gun to Ren’s head.

“I just needed to get to him before you killed him or something,” Fang muttered.

Jekyll crossed his arms, “I don’t kill kids. I probably would have maimed him close to death but I wouldn’t have killed him.”

“Right,” Fang looked down at Ren who struggled against his captor, “Now talk. What are you up to? You know the girl isn’t here, right?”

Ren turned his head and smiled, “I’m not answering. You’ll have to catch the real me first.” He vanished out of Fang’s grasp.

Fang looked to Jekyll, “Find him, don’t kill him.”

Jekyll tipped his hat in acknowledgement. He turned to more Rens’ running around causing trouble. With a sigh, he got to work. Fang grabbed a handheld two-way radio on his belt.

“Crow,” Fang said.

“What?” Crow sounded annoyed as usual.

“Where is Amber?” he waited for a reply but before he could get one there was a commotion that drew his attention.

Dante finally found who he was looking for. He ran forward through the crowd and the chaos. He ran passed Zara as she got to her feet after being blown by an explosion. She turned as Dante passed wondering what the hunter was up to. Fang only vaguely heard the response on the radio.

Ren appeared suddenly beside Chaud, catching the boy off guard. Chaud’s hand crackled with electricity and he tried striking Ren. The evasive boy simply smiled and vanished on impact only to appear again moments later. Chaud was too distracted to notice that Dante was running straight for him. Zara felt her entire body go numb, watching her teammate get attacked and unable to do anything quick enough.

She opened her mouth and shouted at the top of her lungs, “Look out!”

Chaud turned in time to see Dante running for him but he was too late to do anything about it. He couldn’t move fast enough. Dante struck him in the stomach. As Chaud doubled over, Dante grabbed his neck and pushed Chaud back into one of the windows of the resort. Dante threw him through the window before jumping in after him.

Before Chaud could get up, Dante grabbed him by his shirt and threw him into a table and again into a wall. Dante grabbed his sword and pressed the point against Chaud’s neck.

Chaud laughed uneasily as he tried to steer away from the sharp point. His nose was bleeding and there was a gash on his cheek. He backed up closer to the wall as he tried to recover from his blurry vision.

“Look,” Chaud started to say, “I understand you’re upset—”

“Shut up!” Dante shouted, “You could talk the ears off a stone statue! I don’t want to hear a dang thing that comes out of your mouth! Say another word and I’ll slit your throat! Go on, give me a reason!”

“I’ll give you fifteen reasons not to!” Zara entered the room, gun raised. “I swear I’ll empty this gun on you if you so much as sneeze,” she muttered.

Dante looked over at Zara for a moment. He looked back at Chaud, “Who is that? Your girlfriend?”

“What?” Zara asked.

Chaud groaned, “Why does everyone think that she is my girlfriend?”

Dante shrugged, “Just asking, jeez.”

“Well, she’s not,” Chaud said.

“You want her to be?” Dante shook his head.

“I…” for the first time, Chaud was speechless.

Dante smiled, “Well, wont this be interesting.” He shot out his hand throwing a fire ball at Zara.

Zara was blown back because of the impact. With Dante’s attention on Zara, Chaud pushed away the sword. The tip only lightly scratched his neck. He shot up in an attempt to hit Dante but Dante’s reaction was faster. Dante took a step to one side. As Chaud lost balance, Dante struck the back of Chaud’s neck. Chaud fell forward but lunged to one side just before Dante’s sword fell on him. The sword struck the ground and Chaud got to his feet.

A gunshot cut through the air silencing the fighting. Dante looked up to see if the girl had gotten back on her feet. He was slightly surprised to see a man with a gun instead. The girl had indeed stood up but stood off to one side, her gun raised as well.

“And who the hell might you be?” Dante asked the new comer.

“Where is Amber?” Fang asked.

Vicky placed the box upstairs on a table with a collection of some of their supplies. The table was long, like the typical conference tables. She felt the building shake and heard the windows quiver. The fighting had already started and she was on her way to join the battle. She picked up the keys to the conference room and headed out. A water bottle on the table toppled over. Vicky turned back and looked closely.

“Kew?” the little creature on her shoulder looked up with interest.

She pulled one of her axes from her belt and went to take a closer look. Normally she would pass up the fact to a shake in the building. However, she was already suspicious with the missing Blue Gold vial. She walked around the table quietly.

“Ha!” Vicky exclaimed when she viewed the other side of the table.

She heard something and looked under the table. Her query had crawled underneath the table and Vicky had only managed to get a glimpse of where they were as they ran off. Vicky looked up again just in time to see someone’s hand on the sill of the door as they ran away.

“Wait!” Vicky called as she ran after the runaway.

She ran down the hallway. Being a little taller and having longer legs, she quickly caught up with the little runaway. She grabbed the runaway’s arms. The runaway struggled against her grip but Vicky held on firmly.

“Amber!? What are you doing here!?” Vicky exclaimed.

Amber looked up to at her as she tried to twist out of Vicky’s grasp, “Let go!”

“What is she doing here?” a voice stated factually, “She snuck off the bus after her and her brother disagreed. Apparently she was able to sneak out of the back of the bus and sneak in without being spotted by the others. I can only assume that she snuck around until now, wanting to help or something useless like that. She can barely take care of herself.”

Amber stopped moving suddenly and tried to locate the voice. Vicky turned and looked down the hallway. Kew growled at the newcomer.

“Who are you?” Vicky asked.

Ai ignored her and looked at Amber, “What do you say, Amber? Do you want to play a game? Why don’t you just give up? I’m only going to win again.”

“No!” Amber shouted.

Ai raised one of her guns at Vicky, “Don’t be a nuisance.”

She fired the gun and Vicky pushed Amber away and ducked. The bullet struck a window. Vicky injected herself. She pulled wind in from the outside and pulled it in and sent it toward Ai. Ai formed a force field around her and protected herself. While Ai was busy, Vicky grabbed Amber’s hand and ran.

“Who is that!?” Vicky asked as they ran down another hallway.

“An ex-friend,” Amber answered.

“Ex?”

“She tried to kill me.”

Vicky nodded, “Yeah, ‘ex’ is a good way to put it after that.”

They ducked down another hall just as bullets sailed down the hallway and struck the corner as they ran. Vicky pushed Amber into a doorway. She turned and ran back down the previous hall. Kew leaped off of Vicky’s shoulder and started charging at the aggressor.

He ran in an unexpected pattern. Ai tried shooting at him but the path he was running was unpredictable. Kew leaped up and bit Ai on the hand. While she was distracted, Vicky pulled out her shuriken and spun it in her hand. She held it out in front of her, creating a tunnel of wind headed towards Ai. The girl was knocked to the ground. She flung her hand out, tossing Kew into the wall. Ai created a force field around herself. She grabbed her gun and shot at Vicky.

Vicky closed her eyes expecting the worst. The bullet struck a force a few feet in front of her and smashed into pieces. When nothing happened, Vicky opened her eyes again. She looked from Ai to Amber. Amber’s eyes were different colors. Amber had seen Ai use her power enough to duplicate it. Vicky looked at the half empty vial in one of her hands.

The shield dropped and Vicky whistled for Kew to follow. She grabbed Amber and started running. Vicky led them down another hallway and stopped suddenly. It was a dead end except for a single room. They didn’t have enough time to look for another place so Vicky ran to the door, opened it, and let Amber in. She closed the door behind them.

Ai made it to the hallway and saw the door. She shot at the lock and the door slid open. Ai walked into a large dimly lit room. It looked like cubicle office room for the employees of the resort. There were many inlets and hiding places including many places to get jumped.

Ai made her way slowly down one row of cubicles. She would clear each cubicle before continuing on to the next. It was slow work but it was the only way she knew that she could progress safely. Besides, she would snuff them out soon anyways. When that would happen, she would kill the older girl if necessary and take Amber to the meeting place.

Something scurried on the floor just in front of her. Ai shot at it but it was already gone by that time. She stopped and steadied her breathing.

“Come on, Amber,” Ai said, “I’m tired of this game.”

Some on ran across from one cubicle to another. Ai turned and shot at the figure. She missed. Ai looked around carefully.

“We both know you can’t throw those darts,” Ai said, “Your aim is horrible.”

Amber appeared at the end of the isle, “We’ll see!”

Ai turned and raised her gun at Amber. Amber threw one of her darts and it struck Ai in the leg. She pushed the gun away from her and backhanded Ai in the face.

“That was for nearly killing me!” Amber yelled.

Ai reached of her other gun. Amber stepped on her hand and elbowed her in the jaw.

“For nearly killing my brother!” Amber shouted.

Ai pushed Amber to one side. She got to her feet and punched her in the face. She pivoted around Amber and kicked her in the back. Amber stumbled forward and turned quickly. Ai ran at Amber. Amber took a step back in her stance and retracted her fist. One of her eyes turned gold in color.

“And this—” she screamed, “Is for every other reason I can’t think of!”

Ai could stop in time. Amber punched her in the face. And electric surge jumped from Amber to Ai throwing her back. She crashed through a few cubicles. Before she could get up Vicky pinned her to the ground by holding one of her hands against her back.

The door barged open and Amber jumped. Fang came in followed by Zara and a very worried looking Chaud. When his eyes fell on his sister, he walked directly towards her.

“I’m sorry,” Amber started, “I just—”

Chaud scooped her up in to his arms, “We can talk about it later.”

She wrapped her arms around her brother. With the adrenalin starting to wear off she started crying into his shoulder. Chaud held her, not wanting to let her go. Fang looked over at Vicky with the captured Ai and shook his head.

“I’m getting too old for this,” Fang muttered to himself.

“Yeah,” Zara overheard, “At this rate you won’t have any black hair left. You should retire.”

Fang glared at her, “What did you say?”

Zara looked at him, “Just saying we young’uns have everything sorted out. You can have fun at bingo night now, that’s all I’m saying.”

Zara walked towards Vicky to help her with Ai. Fang felt the overwhelming urge to shoot her in the back.

“Kids these days really have no respect,” Fang muttered.

Iridescent: Chapter Nine

Iridescent

Chapter Nine

~Mysterious Friends~

After the Fall

“Ha!” Amber kicked at her brother.

She missed, of course, as he simply stepped to one side. Amber lost her balance and fell forward onto the grass. She punched the ground in frustration and looked up at Chaud. Chaud looked at her with a sages disappointment.

“That was not what I did just two seconds ago!” he said.

Amber narrowed her eyes, “I can copy your form but that doesn’t mean I have the muscle strength or stamina!”

“Fine!” Chaud crossed his arms, “Do some squats.”

“I don’t want to!?” Amber sat crossed legged with her arms crossed.

“I thought you wanted to learn the family business!” Chaud stated.

Amber rolled her eyes, “Since when did the family business include doing squats?”

“Since like, forever!” Chaud responded, “How do you think learning how to fight starts? You aren’t just born with it!”

There was silence between the two siblings. Each glared at the other unwavering. They stayed that way for several minutes.

“I’m going to see if I can hunt anything,” Chaud said, “but don’t think like you’ve won! If I didn’t have a good heart to find food we’d starve staring at each other. Think about that while I’m gone!”

Amber stood up, “You aren’t taking me?”

“Nope,” Chaud said as he walked down the stairs, “not with that attitude. Besides, you could use to learn to walk a little quieter.”

“Chaud!” Amber called but didn’t receive and answer.

She pouted for several minutes but eventually she realized that he was right. Amber had to admit that she wasn’t trying her absolute hardest as Chaud tried to train her. She always seemed to challenge what he said. The more she thought about it the more she felt bad about back talking him. She hoped that Chaud would hurry back so that she could apologize.

Amber got to her feet and got out a pouch of throwing darts from her bag. Chaud found her some in the rubble of the shrine. Amber practiced at throwing her darts at several things. She was decent at her aim. Amber walked downstairs into the field. There was a fallen tree on the other side of the field along the tree line. There was a thin branch with a single leaf on it. That was Amber’s target.

She threw a dart but missed miserably. Amber narrowed her eyes. She threw another one and it was much closer than the first. Amber threw several more until she had only one left. She threw the last dart and struck the leaf off its stem. She jumped with excitement at her new achievement. Now her new goal was to hit the same target every time.

Amber ran up to the log to retrieve her darts. She sat on the log as she picked up the darts. Amber looked into the forest and waiting for her brother. She sighed and grew quickly board. The forest looked more and more inviting. She looked over her shoulder and didn’t see her brother anywhere. Amber got up and walked into the forest. After all, what her brother didn’t know wouldn’t hurt him.

She trapped the pouch to her right leg and rang though the forest. Amber practiced running quietly. She ran and jumped over fallen trees like she had seen her brother do. Her steps and leaps weren’t as strong as her brothers but she felt herself getting better and stronger little by little every day. She stopped and turned back the way she came.

The shrine was hidden behind some trees but could be barely visible. Amber decided that it would be best to remain within the sight of the shrine. She looked around and found another target for target practice. Amber struck a callus on the tree. She was a few paces away. Each time she struck the oval callus where and old branch had been she stepped back. A majority of her throws struck her target. When she ran out she walked over to the tree to retrieve her darts.

She turned around after retrieving them and stopped suddenly. A girl stood a ways behind her in a black knee length dress. Amber looked at her closely. The girl looked around her age. She had long white hair with a black bow tied into the back of her head just above her ears. A black bow was sewn at the base of raised collar on a white surface dipping from one shoulder to the other. She also wore white sock stockings and flat black shoes with bows on the toes. Around her waist was a black belt with two holsters carrying a pair of silver guns.

The girl stared at Amber with emotionless eyes, “Hello.”

Amber watched her closely, “Hi.”

“What is your name?” the girl asked.

Amber placed her hands on her hips, “I don’t think I should be telling you anything.”

“Fine,” the girl turned around, “I’m leaving now.”

“Wait!” Amber started after her, “I’ll tell you my name if you tell me yours. What about that?”

The girl turned and looked at Amber. Her eyes were just as steady and emotionless as before. “Fine,” she said.

“I’m Amber,” Amber introduced herself, “What’s your name?

“Ai,” the girl responded.

“I?” Amber looked at her funny. What kind of parent would name their kid I?

The girl nodded, “Ai.”

Amber shrugged. Beggars couldn’t be choosers, she determined.

“You aren’t out here by yourself are you?” Amber asked, “I’m sure my brother would let you travel with us if you are alone! It’d be nice to have a girl to talk to for a change.”

“I’m traveling with my brother,” Ai answered.

“Oh, you have a brother too?” Amber smiled, “Aren’t they a little annoying?”

Ai shrugged, “I never really thought about it.”

Amber nodded, “Trust me, they are. I’ve got three. Where is your brother anyway? Is he close by?”

Ai looked through the trees, “I don’t know. We came out here to hunt for food.”

Amber smiled, “Come on, let’s play a game!” she pointed to a twig on a tree, “First one to knock that twig off the branch wins!”

Amber threw a dart that grazed the leaf on the twig. She looked a little disappointed as she handed Ai a dart. Ai shook her head and pushed Amber’s hand. The girl pulled a gun from her holster and fired at the twig. The small branch, leave and all; were blasted off their mother branch. Amber ducked down at the loud sound.

“I win,” Ai said.

Amber looked at her, “Hey, that isn’t fair!”

Ai just looked forward, “All you said was that the goal was to shoot off the twig. I did that.”

“And nearly shot out my eardrums too,” Amber muttered.

“I’m sorry,” Ai said.

Amber shrugged it off, “It’s alright I guess. Next time though, you can’t use your gun. It’s not fair. You are a good shot though. Did your brother teach you? Mine’s teaching me how to defend myself too.”

Ai looked at her gun, “I guess he taught me a little. I knew a lot before he took me in.”

“Took you in?” Amber tilted her head, “You mean you aren’t blood siblings?”

“Blood siblings?” Ai thought a moment, “He’s the only brother I have ever known.”

“That’s cool,” Amber smiled, “I’m not blood siblings with my brothers either. I’m adopted! But it feels like I’ve always been part of the family so I don’t think of myself as adopted. That must be like what you feel right?”

“I guess,” Ai answered.

Amber was about to say something else when Chaud ran through the trees. He stopped short at the sight of Ai. His gaze dropped momentarily to the gun in Ai’s hand. Ai looked at him with a blank but observant gaze. Chaud looked at his sister and smiled as relaxed smile as he could muster.

“Hey, sis,” he said, “I heard a gunshot and when I didn’t find you at our spot I got a little worried.”

Amber looked at her brother, “Ai and I were just playing a game. Ai this is my brother.”

“Hello, Chaud,” Ai greeted.

Chaud smiled, “Hello, Ai.” He looked back at his sister, “We should get going.”

“Now?” Amber asked, “Can Ai and her brother travel with us?”

Chaud laughed awkwardly, “No, I don’t think so. Come on, let’s get out things and get going. Say goodbye to your friend.”

Amber waved, “Bye, Ai! Maybe we can play again!”

Ai raised a hand in a motionless goodbye.

Chaud turned his sister around and started walking in a different direction of the shrine. He hurried her on away from the mysterious Ai.

Amber saw they were going away from the shrine, “Chaud, this isn’t—”

“Shh!” he hissed quietly, “Keep walking.”

Amber looked over her shoulder and saw Ai watching them leave. Her eyebrows furrowed in thought. When Ai was lost to their sights Amber turned to her brother.

“Chaud?” Amber asked.

Chaud looked down at her, “What?”

Amber started looking a little nervous, “I never told that girl my brother’s name. How did she know that your name was Chaud?”