Chương 167: B3. 14.1 - Meeting New People Is Fun

I tried to make sense of the visions that Deen sent my way. All of the times we'd fight Four Arms—that was what I decided to call him instead of Robot Guy because I felt that I'd meet more metal men in the future—would lead to a huge explosion. Did Four Arms have a bomb inside him? If the explosion was due to a malfunction, it shouldn't be able to obliterate our superhuman bodies. Just sort of barbecue us, which we could regenerate. But it'd end up in our deaths, according to Deen's Guardian Angel.

This meant that Four Arms knew that he'd find Adumbrae, or superhumans at the least. Why else would he bring a powerful explosive along? Kind of weird that Four Arms dove into these tunnels, ready to commit suicide if he'd die. Such a sore loser. (Okay, cancel the fight plan,) I told Deen, Myra, and Kelsey. I was stepping into the role of the 4Bs' leader, rising to the occasion from my timid self. This was character development. Cue inspirational music.

I sent Deen's vision to the Fletcher sisters so they'd know what would happen. Too bad. I really wanted to kill a BID agent for the street cred. I was a gang leader, after all. What did happen to Overdrive and the others? I should check up on him. (Who sent him?) I relayed Kelsey's question to Deen, knowing that she also didn't know the answer. (Gabe isn't giving any more clues,) said Deen (But he seems to be an enemy of the BID. I saw one vision where he killed the BID agent.) Cheeky of Dario to have a BID agent as backup. We now know the extent of the Professor's influence, and it was worrying. He might send a BID agent or two our way when we'd rebel. But the problem now was Four Arms. Was it an Adumbrae? Quite rare, but there were non-organic Adumbrae, or whatever the term was for those with a body like mine instead of flesh and bones. Or… more worryingly… was Four Arms a Corebring? Did it come here because of our Cores?

(Whoever or whatever this robot is,) I said to the other Bs, (it's currently fighting the BID agent sent by the Professor. (The guy Dario called,) Myra said. (Yes, Myra. It's the guy that Dario called.) I repeated the replies so it'd be like we were in a discussion instead of separate conversations. (The agent's not going to win, based on Deen's vision.) Kelsey theorized that the agent would probably run away after a bit since his job was only to delay the robot. I would meet him because I'd stay behind, unless he had a secret exit that we weren't aware of. As always, Deen was worried about the consequences if my Pino body was destroyed. And while the 4Bs were talking, I also had a conversation with the boys." Hey, Pino," Reo said." This isn't one of your monster pals, is it?"" Nope," I said." I'm the only metal person that I know of." How would I mess with Reo? Since I was in a different body that didn't have a sense of touch, my anti-physical contact instincts didn't act up. However, I still didn't like that he was carrying me. And he touched my real body earlier! I'd make him pay for this eventually, as per Rule #4." What if Red Hood sent this guy?" he wondered." She found out that you're going to betray her."" There's no way she'd know because… it was a lie. Or… is it?" I let out a mocking laugh. Keep them guessing." Your leader already said that the BID is coming. Why are you now saying this is an Adumbrae? Don't you believe your leader?"" Ah, playing mind games with me, huh? You're not going to get me with that. Blank was just guessing. But I don't think it's the BID. How can they know that we're here?"" I'll add that the BID is busy with the Adumbrae attack," said Everett." Or maybe Blank's right that this is a BID agent," said Reo." And the agent followed your Adumbrae ass here."" You know that's not what happened," I said." An agent wouldn't let me out of his sight. What if this metal man came because your dear leader called him here?" I wondered." He claims it's the BID. Isn't this the perfect setup? We're running away while Dario is all alone in the PCM hole—this is his plan all along."" Fucking crazy talk," Reo said." Ambriel said—" He caught himself almost giving away Deen's powers." Blank's not going to put himself in danger by calling the BID."" So, what's up with you?" I pointed at Deen while hanging over Reo's shoulder. Everett slowed down his pace to be near Deen." Is there a problem?"" Nothing," I said." I'm just curious why you're all listening to her. What's her ability? Some kind of clairvoyance? How can she say that we're all going to die?"" That's none of your business, Adumbrae." Everett moved in front of Deen, blocking my view of her." I have a name, you know… It's Pino. A bit disrespectful calling me an Adumbrae. What if I called you all humans?"" Fine with me," said Reo." I'm a human, and you're an Adumbrae." He was piling on this topic so I'd supposedly forget about Deen's power. Time to mess with him a bit." Are you sure of that?" I asked." A human that can regrow a severed limb? A human with powers? Doesn't sound so human to me. The moment you meld with your Cores, you cease to be human."" We know what we signed up for," said Everett." Yeah, don't try to fuck with our minds," Reo added with a harsh chuckle." We're not humans. So what? I'll count ourselves as discount Corebrings. That's something."" Oho, you consider yourselves as part Corebrings?" I asked with mocking wonder." Hilarious. You're closer to me than a Corebring." Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more." The fuck?" Reo almost stumbled and threw me away." What do you mean? That artificial Cores aren't actually made from parts of the Mother Core?"" She's just lying, man," said Everett." How can she know how it's made?"" I have my own ways of knowing… I can sense it." Planting a little seed of doubt in their hearts that the Cores were related to Adumbrae. Reo should've noticed Dario's odd reaction when we talked about them. Dario wasn't the most trustworthy of people, so Reo, ever-suspicious of everything, would suspect that something was wrong with the Cores. And Reo would probably be right. We could use this someday to convince Reo and Everett to join our cause. Just our cause, not the 4Bs. We were an all-girls group. It was better for all the hero wannabes to rebel, knowing that the Professor could field BID agents against us. The most difficult hero wannabe to convert would be Everett because he had a family he wouldn't abandon to flee. (Erind, we're nearing the second intersection,) Kelsey said while I talked to Everett and Reo. She must've noticed a mark or feature of a tunnel that I hadn't noticed earlier. I messaged the other Fletcher. (Time to do your thing, Myra.)"I don't care about what the Core is made of!" Myra's outburst put an end to Everett and Reo defending Dario's sketchiness." I just want to cure my sister."" You can't buy what Pino—" Reo began to say." And save my sister from the metal bastard that's chasing us," finished Myra." I can't hear any more noise. I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing. Ambriel?"" A bad thing," Deen said." Danger's still present."" Future-sight. So handy," I commented." That's why you're all so comfortable working with an Adumbrae."" Shut it, you!" Reo shook my body." Ambriel, what do we do?" I-I… The metal man's target is Adumbrae," Deen lied. She couldn't say this for sure." I don't know if he's BID, but that's what I can see happening. The best chance is… I don't want to say it."" My sister and I have to separate," Myra said in a somber tone." That's it, isn't it? I understand. I'll take Kelsey. All of you go to our planned exit."" I want to say, 'Thank you for your sacrifice.' But I won't agree to this," said Reo." I don't have a drop of chivalrous blood in my body, but I also can't sleep at night if you and your sister die while I live."" I'm with Oberon on this one," said Everett." We'll stick together as a group. We can lose the metal guy once we reach the surface."" No, it'll continue to track us," Deen said." It'll kill innocent people as it hunts us. I can't allow that to happen. I'll go with Merge, so we'll be able to navigate the tunnels and find an exit. You two—""I'm not going to escape while you're still in danger!" Everett almost shouted." I'm with my boy, Emcee," said Reo, slowing down. We had reached the intersection with three paths in front of us." We stick together. Who cares if the robot attacks other—""Reo!" Deen sharply said. Reo flinched upon Deen's use of his real name, as if a kid getting berated by his mother." Trust my power. I have to be with Merge. We'll lose the metal man further ahead." She pointed down one of the tunnels." You and Emcee go this way. This is how we'll survive without any innocent people dying because of us." Reo placed me on the floor before waving his arms in frustration." They won't die because of us! They'll die because of this psycho murder bot!" I raised my hand." If I may… I'll volunteer to delay the robot." All of them expressed shock at my suggestion. Good job on the timing and acting, Deen and Myra." I won't be able to affect a machine with my power," I continued." But it also can't destroy me. I'm very tough, you see. Very. That's also why I didn't hesitate to meet you all. I'll delay this robot you speak of, and I'll exit on my own."" Exit? How?" Reo asked." You'll disassemble yourself and roll the fuck away?"" Exactly." I pulled off my left hand with my right and waved it at him." I can break myself into even smaller pieces and pretend I'm dead."" I didn't have to carry you!"" Well, you already did. And as thanks, I'll help you. Now, scurry away, fellow nonhumans, as I stand here to wait for a fellow metal man. It's been nice meeting you, and this won't be our last."" Just draw the robot away from us then!" Reo half-shouted." I don't want to put myself at more risk than necessary," I said." My powers have limits."" Why are you helping us?" Deen asked. I was about to tell her to ask me this. Friendship telepathy working?" Because we're not enemies. I also feel a sense of kinship with you." I reached out to touch her core, but Everett parried my hand away." If I ever find out that the metal man is with you…" Everett shook his head. He turned to Deen." Go with us. Since Pino will delay the—""No." Deen shook her head." I see the robot man tracking us. Merge's sister may be giving off signals as an Adumbrae. We'll stick with splitting up. Pino delaying the robot man will give us more time to gain distance."" Time that we're fucking wasting by talking!" Myra rushed into the tunnel that Everett had earlier explored on his own." I'm getting my sister out of here!" Her voice echoed back to us." Go!" Deen pushed Everett into the other tunnel." Escape already. We can handle this on our own. The smaller our group, the easier we can move." Reo grabbed the arm of my original body." I'll take Erind with—" I shot a link to my original body and ordered it to yank back my arm. Reo was shocked that my original body moved. I made it mumble." With… Deen…" This was the extent of my control over speech. With more practice, I might make my original body talk. But practicing with my powers also meant strengthening Spooky Erind." Erind's with me," said Deen." Go now."" Bring this with you." Everett gave Deen the electroshock grenades he had stowed in his pocket." Thank you!" Deen followed Myra, dragging my original body with her. Reo and Everett looked at each other, hesitantly shuffling into the other tunnel." Are you worried about me?" I didn't want them to think too much of the situation. A rational person would've found a dozen flaws with what just happened. For once, the universe was on my side. A distant explosion followed by continuous rumbling. The tunnels shook. Dust fell from the ceiling. I pointed at nothing down the tunnel." The robot is coming! I can detect it with my sensors."" Holy shit!" Reo turned tail and ran. However, Everett remained. He balled his fists. Was this idiot actually thinking of chasing Deen? As Pino, I didn't have any reason to stop him. Should I use my power on him? Before I could shoot him with my link, he thankfully followed Reo. (Erind, did you feel that?) It was Deen, giving off tons of worried vibes. (Is the robot already there?) (Yes and no. Are you still there? The boys are gone.) Deen emerged from the tunnel. I handed Auron's USB drive to her." Don't move too far away. I want to talk to whoever this is." My plan to delay Four Arms would only partially work because I couldn't maintain my Pino body if my original was more than a few blocks away. Still, that would be a respectable head start." Take care of yourself," said Deen. And she left. All alone, I turned around and waited for our enemy, thinking of the cool lines I'd use. If I could kill him, even better. Not Four Arms. I was referring to the BID agent who collapsed part of the tunnel to stop Four Arms. He was coming now.