MEMMORIA | ONC 2020

007: Another Planet Earth

Going out of Gairu only led them through more dark alleys since it was late at night. They had taken off the red soldier suits as an attempt to avoid the prying eyes of the security system of the city.

Agatha's head was drifting through the memories of what she had just lived from Ryuji's past. It was so real she could start to panic at the feeling of being locked inside a lab. She felt fear of fire too and her heart wouldn't stop beating erratically at the thought of his father being alive. That glimpse of hope she had been hurrying all along these years was now coming out to her skin, reborn as his father's now doubtful dead had happened yesterday.

She didn't notice when Aris stopped all of a sudden in a dark spot under a dying bridge.

"Agatha, that camera should do." She heard the voice of Pippo slowly entering her ears.

"Uh?"

"Hurry up before the guard comes back."

The girl blinked as if she was hearing his voice but the words were spoken in a foreign language.

"Where are you now, girl? Please stop thinking about what Ryuji said. There's no way you can do anything about it now."

Agatha sighed and looked at Pippo's back from under her dark slim eyebrows, wondering if he really wanted this to happen. Ryuji showing her that and telling her what he told her.

"Come on, put that stuff in there and let's keep moving."

The girl climbed down of the bike and adjusted her jacket, robbed her nose like something in the air smelled terrible, and walked towards the spot under the bridge where a glowing red circle was, beating in the dark with a patterned frequency. She searched her pocket, remembering where she had kept the device, and once her fingers touched the tiny object, she examined it closer in her hand, not really able to distinguish its shape under the long shadows, and reached the bridge surface with a jump. Pippo could've done that himself with no effort since he was taller, but he probably didn't know exactly what to do with it. He didn't even know what that was, the device.

But Agatha did. She wasn't an expert in technology, but she had a certain amount of knowledge in the field, probably after so many years working with her father back in her childhood. Some things you never let go and make a habit of them instead.

The item was a nano-robot specifically made to infect a network with viruses. She had never really used one before, but it was easy to do it. Only one touch of its surface with an intelligent device and it would adhere to it like a leech. Those things were only used when a network wasn't available for no means to be cracked virtually. It was more like a real virus attacking a human body and getting into the nervous system, going straight to the brain.

As expected the little robot emitted a blue faint light and then turned off, becoming almost invisible. The work was done and they could now go on their ride.

That part of the city was supposed to be plagued with red guards, but curiously there were not many. They passed by a tall blonde in his combat suit, just like the one Ryuji had given them, who was talking short and low words and a look of concern in his face.

His monologue didn't distract him from averting Pippo and Agatha as they rolled down the street, but he didn't say a thing or tried to stop them. Pippo sighed in relief, getting ready to activate the camouflage shield of Aris when they'd approach the exit.

Finally, a tall transparent gate framed in red appeared. A small cabin showing up beside it. Another two guards were talking nonchalantly in the inside, probably playing some game on the surveillance screens.

Actually, that gate was a mere formality, since few miles away there were located tall towers that served as defensive spots. The whole trail would be wrapped in intelligent weapons that would activate at the approach of unauthorised motion.