Children of the Virus

14: Moonlit Awakening

Toshiro gasped for air, his breath fogging in front of him as he walked through the cold night. A half-lit moon illuminated the path ahead as his legs moved mechanically on their own. He was autowalking, and although disoriented, he noticed Ren's silhouette advancing ahead of him.

"Ren!" he called out, struggling to regain control of his body. "What did you do to me?"

She glanced back with a mischievous smile, her eyes twinkling like stars in the darkness. "Oh, hi Toshiro. You're awake."

Toshiro found it difficult to breathe again because of the autowalk. "Did you hack me? You put me into autowalk, didn't you?"

"Relax," she teased, walking back towards him. "You have legs; I used them. No different from drone teasing." She laughed.

"Drone teasing?" he exclaimed indignantly, rubbing his prosthetic arm. "I'm not a drone, Ren! You can't just tease me like that!"

Ren chuckled. "Does someone here enjoy getting teased? How about your ass? Can I tease you about that?" she taunted, poking him playfully in the chest.

"Stop it!" he snapped, swatting her hand away. "That's getting old."

"What, your ass? Is it a fine wine? Aged forty years?"

Toshiro rolled his eyes. "Are you suggesting I'm over forty?"

"You must be. You're a legend. That makes you an old man," she said, grinning widely.

"Old?!" Toshiro's nostrils flared. "I'm not that much older than you, Ren!"

"Ooh, you're sexy when you're mad, Mister Hayato."

Toshiro surrendered to her relentless flirting. He saw he was getting nowhere with her. "Just forget it."

"Okay, fine," Ren said. "I'll tell you why I put you into autowalk. We need to visit Thaxter to remove your prison wristband, and I couldn't risk waiting for you to get out of the Fortress by yourself."

"Thaxter?" Toshiro considered this new information. "And what about Alex? He's still in danger."

"Once Thaxter takes care of your wristband, we'll go rescue Alex together," Ren assured him. "But first things first."

Toshiro hesitated, a knot forming in his stomach. "Ren, you're committing treason against the Rebellion. What about Kenji? Do you really think he'd approve of all this?"

"I thought you'd be happy. Isn't this what you wanted?"

"What? You?"

Ren blushed. "No...I mean...I meant Alex." She cleared her throat. "To rescue Alex. That's what you wanted."

"Oh, right." Toshiro scratched his head. "Yeah, I guess so, but at what cost? I didn't want you to give up everything just to help me."

"Look, Toshiro," she replied forcefully, her eyes flashing with determination. "I'm not doing this just to help you. Believe it or not, I care for the boy too. Sometimes you have to break a few rules to do what's right."

Toshiro was silent for a while. "Okay, who is this Thaxter guy?"

Ren smiled. "He's a master of gadgets. He keeps to himself a few kilometers from the Fortress." She paused before adding, "We're less than ten minutes away from him now."

As they made their way through the dark landscape towards Thaxter's workshop, Toshiro and Ren resumed their playful banter. Though Toshiro's concerns still weighed heavily on his mind, he found it difficult to resist Ren's infectious energy.

"Did you see the look on Baz's face when Kenji first acknowledged who I am?" Toshiro smirked.

Ren couldn't help but laugh. "You mean when Kenji whispered 'Hayato' as if he had just discovered a new planet?"