Destinies: The Origin

Chapter 17: The Mechanic

Adzima POV

When I woke up in the morning, it was such a beautiful and comfortable day. The birds were singing, the gentle breeze was blowing from the windows, and everything was so peaceful—at least for a moment. Then, Qori started shouting at the Troublemakers. 
Qori:"Fian!!! Aditya!!! Riski!!!" 
We started calling them the Troublemakers because they were always causing trouble. They had almost pranked everyone on the team except Falco, and it seemed like this time, Qori was their latest victim. I sighed in disappointment, feeling like my morning had been ruined. 
Adzima:"What did they do this time?"

I followed the sound of Qori's voice and found her with her face covered in white powder, while the Troublemakers were lying on the floor with bumps on their heads. 
Ina:"You three don't have anything better to do than mess with people?" 
The Troublemakers tried to get up, rubbing their heads where they had bumped them, while Qori went to wash her face. 
Fian:"We're bored, guys. When are we leaving to find the next person?" 
Adzima:"Why not go play in the garden if you are bored?" 
They all stared at me in surprise. 
Everyone:"This place has a garden?"

This time, it was my turn to be shocked by their question. 
Adzima:"Have none of you ever looked out the windows?" 
They all shook their heads. I took a deep breath and led them to the garden. The moment they stepped outside, they were all mesmerized by the stunning view. 
Fian:"Wow, what a beautiful garden!" 
Elsa:"Yeah! I didn’t expect this place to have such a lovely garden" 
Artha:"How could Falco have organized and maintained a garden like this all by himself?"

Adzima:"Why do you think he did all this by himself?" 
Artha:"I don't know. He seems like the type of person who would do that" 
Adzima:"Now that you mention it, I have never seen anyone else here besides us since we first arrived. Falco said this mansion was the safest place in the world, and the demons never attacked here" 
Adzima:"Maybe he does like to do everything himself" 
Adzima:"But not anymore. I won’t let him be alone again" 
With that declaration, everyone suddenly smiled widely at me, but I ignored their reactions and walked toward the flower bed.

The others were relaxing in the garden, doing their favorite activities. Aditya was drawing the view of the garden while Fian and Riski mischievously bothered him. The girls joined me in the flower bed before going to their respective partners to tease them. Artha and Dwiyan were absorbed in playing chess, while the others enjoyed their own activities. About an hour later, Falco contacted us through the intercom, which we now called the Miphon, short for Mini-telephone. This time, only I and the Troublemakers accompanied Falco to Neo City, the city of machines and robots.

Neo City was a place with highly advanced technology, but it had been destroyed because its inhabitants were taken over by Soul Devourers. The streets were filled with broken robots, a testament to the chaos. We arrived at a building that seemed to be a workshop. The door was locked with an advanced security system, but Falco easily unlocked it. Once we entered, the security system was activated again, and the defense devices inside the building immediately pointed at us—more precisely, at Falco.

The Troublemakers and I quickly activated our abilities to protect Falco. However, Falco remained calm and quickly hacked into the system again, deactivating all the building’s defenses. As we stayed alert, we heard applause and saw a large silhouette approaching us. As the figure got closer, we realized it was a robot with an armored body, the same one that was clapping in our direction. 
Robot:"So, you managed to disable my defense system, interesting. But what about this?"

The robot immediately deployed rocket launchers from its body, all aimed at Falco. Despite the imminent danger, Falco remained calm and threw a coin-sized device at the robot. The device neutralized the robot with an electric current, causing its body to dismantle, leaving only its core. As the robot's parts were cleared away, we saw Ryan inside it. He clapped his hands in appreciation of Falco and then took the coin-sized device from the robot's wreckage, tossing it back to Falco. 
Ryan:"You have an amazing gadgets"

Ryan then greeted the Troublemakers, and they hugged each other, since he was one of them. 
Ryan:"Hey, guys, good to see you're all okay" 
Fian:"Good to see you’re okay too, Gimbul" 
Adzima:"Hah? Gimbul?" 
Ryan:"Yeah, only my best friends call me that" 
Ryan:"How have you been, Adzima?" 
Adzima:"Not bad" 
Ryan smiled at me and then turned to Falco. 
Ryan:"Sorry for the inconvenience. I got excited when I met someone who could successfully hack my system. I want to see more of your hacking skills" 
Falco:"No problem, no harm done"

Falco and Ryan then shook hands while introducing themselves. 
Ryan:"I’m Ryan" 
Falco:"My name is Falco" 
Ryan:"So, why did you come here?" 
Adzima:"We are forming a team of extraordinary people to save the world from Zalgo and the Soul Devourers. Will you join us?" 
Ryan:"I can join? I’d be happy to" 
Riski:"By the way, Gimbul, since when did you become a cyborg?" 
Ryan:"I’m not a cyborg; I’m a technopath" 
Troublemakers:"Cool" 
Falco & Adzima:"That is pretty cool" 
Falco and I said it at the same time, causing us to look at each other and smile.

Then I heard the Troublemakers sigh, as if they were tired for some reason. 
Ryan:"Um, Adzima, Falco, are you two dating?" 
I immediately blushed when I heard Ryan’s question, while the Troublemakers burst into laughter. 
Adzima:"No, Ryan, we are not dating yet" 
The Troublemakers laughed even harder at my answer, though I didn’t understand why. 
Falco:"Yet?" 
Realizing what I had just said, my face turned even redder. I was so embarrassed but chose not to correct myself, because Falco didn’t seem to mind.