ACT IV – SCARLET SUPERGIANT
Part IV: The Infiltrators’ Journey
Buying Reimei a phone had been the highest priority for everyone once Hikaru’s Drama Club group had met up with Iziya, Graid and the Dance Club trio, so from there all of them had gone inside one of the tech supermarkets in the mall to choose one. Under Ayli’s advice, the members of the now united infiltrator front who hadn’t been carrying any headphones with them had then bought a new pair each, turning out other members of the group had needed to visit a few more stores in the mall to buy stuff.
Only after that had the time come for lunch, which was why in the present Miss Scarlettail was sitting on one of the black chairs around a light green table identical to the many others next to a Leoburger restaurant – Barilia’s own fast food brand – and waiting for her friends on the queue while looking at her newly bought present.
The phone’s back panel was a very deep blue, but the case Miss Scarlettail’s friends had decided on in the end was the same scarlet color as her hair – something Reimei didn’t approve of at first, but the more she was looking at it now, the more its appearance grew on her. Or maybe it was just because of the fact this was the first phone or any piece of technology for that matter owned by her – and as it was a gift from Hikaru and co., no matter what it looked like, how well in functioned or how long it lasted, the scarlet-haired beauty was going to treasure every moment with it.
To make sure it reminded her of the bond she had with the crazy family that was Hikaru’s class and the Summerbolts even more, Reimei came up with an idea, deciding to share it when everyone had returned to the tables and started eating from their dark red food trays.
Coming from an orphanage, she was used to eating scarce amounts of food and due to that she was among the first to finish their meal, giving what was left on her tray to Graid, who welcomed it with joy equal to the one King experienced whenever eating food.
After that, Miss Scarlettail slid over her phone to Hikaru who was sitting opposite her, the mad genius looking at the device and then at its owner with confusion when he himself was done eating.
(Hikaru) ‘Um, Mei … why are you giving me your phone?’
(Reimei) ‘I … well … you’re probably going to think it’s stupid, but … I just thought … maybe you could … since you bought it for me, I thought …’
While she had been expecting for the spiky-haired teenager to get angry at her for not being able to finish a single sentence of her request due to how anxious he made her feel, Hikaru, Iziya and Graid shouting at Reimei simultaneously with equally comical angry faces proved too much for her.
(Hikaru, Iziya, Graid) ‘SPIT IT OUT ALREADY!!!!’
(Reimei) ‘I … I noticed you bought a couple of markers while we were at the stationery store, Hikaru … and so I was wondering … if you could write your name on my phone’s case?’ – not just the young Summerbolt, but everyone around her heard what Reimei said, all of them being equally surprised by it, which immediately made her regret even asking that, but this time around she was able to overcome her anxiety and continue her persuasion plea – ‘What you did for me … is very special. It means more to me than I could possibly put into words. So I’d like to have something tangible and permanent from all of you who helped buy this phone that I can see whenever I look at it.
The best thing I could think of was having all your signatures, names, special marks or something like that written on the case. Is it too much, or …?’
(Hikaru) ‘No, Mei. It’s not that. Just … you’ve got yourself a brand-spanking-new case there and you want to stain it with marker writings of our names? If it were me, I’d never do something like that. I’d try to keep it as clean as possible for …’
Before Hikaru could finish, Feoria had already taken the phone from him, taking out a black permanent marker from the bag the youngsters had filled with stuff from the stationery store on the chair near her and starting to write her name on the case.
(Feoria) ‘Just shut up and write your name on the girl’s phone already, Hikaru. And since I know how ugly and massive your handwriting is, make sure to take up as small a space on the case with your name as possible. A lot of other people need to sign this, too.’
Both the mad genius and the scarlet-haired beauty were shocked by this, but the next emotion the two of them went to was completely different. For him it was comical anger, for her – silent joy.
(Hikaru) ‘That’s exactly what I meant!!! None of this makes sense!!!’ – during his outburst, Yuki had taken the phone and marker from Feoria to follow her example, shocking and angering the young Summerbolt even further – ‘Not you, too, Yu!! What the hell are you doing?!’
The white-haired beauty sitting at the same table as Reimei, Hikaru and Feoria was still smiling, but went on to crush a frozen fist in the spiky-haired teenager’s head before handing him over the phone and marker, both of which she held in the other hand.
(Yuki) ‘You getting angry is making you real stupid again, Hikaru. Mei doesn’t want to have our names written down just to have a special memory from this day.
It’s also to remind her to whom she owes a debt, so she can make sure to pay it back to everyone later. I just wish I’d thought of something like that when I first came here. Now sign it and give it to the others.’
After the mad genius begrudgingly did what Miss Iceflame had told him to, he passed the phone and the marker to the table that had Iziya, Graid, Ayli and some of the stuff everyone had bought around it. While signing as well, Iziya took the conversation in a completely different direction.
(Iziya) ‘If we’re all done eating …’
(Graid) ‘I’m not.’
Hikaru’s aunt glanced at his uncle only for a moment, but within that moment was contained a devastating amount of disgust, after its passing the hairdresser redirecting her attention to her nephew and his friends.
(Iziya) ‘You’re never done eating, so I wasn’t even asking you. Now, I think we should talk about our strategy once we get to Eura Kin. Have you guys thought about how we should play this?’
One of the Dance Club trio members sitting on a separate table along with the rest of the stuff the youngsters had bought joined the conversation then, this one in particular being Reimei’s classmate with very straight dark green hair, bright yellow eyes and fair skin, Kataleya.
(Kataleya) ‘We already decided on us going to the top of Eura Kin and Iziya and Graid going over to the firm where Heen- … sorry, Lahala-sensei works. So the firm will be where we split up.’
(Iziya) ‘I’ll leave to Graid to find whatever evidence there is in there while I bullshit the translators. That shouldn’t be too hard, cuz we’ve pulled the same kind of stunt many times over.’
Graid put away the several trays he was eating from to the side for the moment, swallowing the last batch of food he had consumed to share his opinion as well.
(Graid) ‘That firm won’t be a problem at all.’ – then he eyed all the youngsters on the tables around him and his sister – ‘With a building as high-tech as Eura Kin housing so many multinational companies, security’s gonna be pretty tight and there’s no way they’re just gonna let a bunch of kids, especially deviants, go all the way to the roof.’
Another Dance Club member – Vix, who had very long golden hair with strands sticking out in two places in the shape of fox ears, dark purple eyes hidden behind glasses and an average complexion – had had a devilish smile on her face for the whole duration of Graid’s comment, joining the discussion the moment he was done.
(Vix) ‘How about we use our devas to create a distraction?’
Knowing enough about the third member of the Dance Club three – the black-haired, brown-eyed, dark-skinned and extremely hot-headed Aria – Reimei could already tell she was going to support Vix’s proposal and needed to wait only about 10 seconds to have her suspicions confirmed.
(Aria) ‘Hell yeah! Let’s do that!!’
Hikaru had regained his calm demeanor, looking like he had been in deep thought ever since the discussion about the infiltration mission had started, but after what Aria said, he finally made a comment while having a very stern look in his eyes.
(Hikaru) ‘No. No devas. Deviants from my family and our class and deviants all around Deckstoru are in enough trouble as it is. We cause a scene using our abilities in Eura Kin of all places, things are going to get a lot worse.’
(Yuki) ‘So we’re going to have to sneak up to the roof quietly? Not really our class’s forte, but let’s see what we can do.’
Now the mad genius focused his gaze on Feoria and Ayli, the two of them in turn looking at him and noticing along with Reimei an idea seemed to have come to his mind.
(Hikaru) ‘We’ve got a bunch of great young actors here, don’t we? Why don’t we use that to create a distraction? And while they distract the guards, the rest can move on to the roof. Everyone’ll have their phones and headphones ready just in case, so we’ll be able to decide on a rendezvous point and plan later, depending on how things go.’
The others seemed to agree with this, deciding to discuss their plan in more detail along the way so as to not risk anyone around who could potentially be spying for the enemy to hear all of it.
*
In order to get from the mall to the Tower, the infiltration team would have to cross Deckstoru’s central square.
And though Reimei had seen it on her very first day of arriving in this city, it was now a completely different experience for her. There were two reasons for that: first, she was accompanied by three crazy Summerbolts and plenty of crazy classmates, and second, they were all testing how their headphones were working while crossing the square.
To make sure the memories of this would never be lost to her, the scarlet-haired beauty made a video of it on her phone – the first video she had ever made and perhaps the most important and cherished one she would make for the rest of her life. As Kataleya, Vix and Aria were practicing dance moves, Feoria and Ayli were practicing their acting with the most ridiculous sounds and faces, Iziya was singing along to the music she was listening to and Yuki was trying to stop Hikaru from getting in a fight with Graid after he had tried to buy more food, the full splendor of the square and its surroundings was revealed.
The highlight of the area was the Grobe Statue of Unity in the center of the square, of course, including a stone version of Barilia’s national animal (that was also the inspiration for Leoburger’s logo and overall color scheme) – the grobe. Grobes were animals with the front half of a lion’s body with dark red fur, light green eyes, a black mane, goat-like back half of the body with a black fleece and goat horns, populations of which had been quite common in the country long ago.
Dead ahead beyond the grobe statue stood Deckstoru’s City Hall – one of the oldest buildings in the city that though shorter when compared to the surrounding structures was very wide and sustained by multiple massive pillars that gave it a particularly grandiose appearance.
At the northeast end of the square was located Light’s Heart Cathedral – the biggest and most beautiful in all of West Barilia with its central golden dome and four dark cyan spires. To the east was the Deckstoru Central Hospital – probably the longest building around and the only one painted in grayish-green – and to the west one could see middle-height and more standard looking office buildings. Behind the infiltrator group were the Deckstoru Courthouse that shared some similarities in terms of structure with the City Hall, but was of a very bright shade of beige unlike it and the Kisdeya Rush Hotel with an exterior color matching the one of the river it was named after.
As for the northwest, that was where a complex of towering structures could be partially seen, those skyscrapers acting as the entrance to Deckstoru’s business district.
First among those, right at the edge of the square, stood Eura Kin Tower itself – a building consisting of two symmetrically placed sharp-roofed halves, one of which was a bit taller than the other, connected by multiple bridges that shined like pure silver when lit by the rays of the sun. Only after she fell under its shadow along with the rest of the infiltration group, whose members had now calmed down, did Reimei realize just how tall and imposing the Tower was.
She had never visited a skyscraper before, much less so one as remarkable as this, and as it often happened to her when she was about to enter a new kind of environment, the scarlet-haired beauty suddenly started sweating while becoming completely paralyzed. Next up, her heart started beating fast, her legs felt weaker and weaker and her consciousness – feeling like it could slip away at any minute.
Until Miss Scarlettail felt an arm grabbing her from each side, after being pulled from the horrible headspace she was in realizing Hikaru and Yuki were the ones supporting her now, both having confident smiles on their faces.
Reimei was still listening to music on her phone and hadn’t thought to take off the headphones yet due to how nervous she had become, so she couldn’t hear what either the mad genius, or the white-haired beauty were saying. Just by reading their lips and knowing the type of people they were, though, she got an approximate idea of what the meaning of their words was.
(Yuki) ‘You’re not the only one who hasn’t been in a place like Eura Kin before, Mei. Plus we’ve got no idea what exactly we are going to find in Jill’s firm or on the roof, or how much trouble we’re going to get in this time.
So don’t worry about being scared. It’s the same for us, too.’
(Hikaru) ‘You don’t have to go in there if you don’t want to. But I’d feel a lot safer if you came with us. So let’s at least give it a try before we run away, hm?’
Getting a nod from Miss Scarlettail was all Miss Iceflame and the young Summerbolt needed to move her ahead, joining the rest of the group as they finally entered Deckstoru’s most high-tech building.
The interior of the lobby wasn’t too far off from what Reimei had seen in sci-fi movies: there was a massive light blue holographic projection of Deckstoru’s crest right in the center of the wide rectangular space and multiple projections of the same type, but of a smaller size of Barilia’s flag ‘hanging’ from the walls. In terms of color, the floor was silver, four navy blue sofas and pairs of armchairs surrounding them having been placed on a black carpet around the holographic crest, the non-glass parts of the ceiling being white with the exception of navy blue, silver and black lines painted over them here and there. The only objects of a green color in the lobby were the ornamental plants in lighter blue pots which were set in the four corners of the area around the crest.
Even in the present, the carpets and the floor were being cleaned, but by robot vacuum cleaners instead of humans, at least a dozen of them roaming almost frantically around to collect any piece of dirt they could find. And those things were far from the most advanced piece of technology now revealed to Reimei’s eyes.
Beyond the holographic crest were two reception desks that looked like inverted cones – one that was white with dark blue lines here and there and one that was black with silver lines here and there, after each of these lying three small deva sensors on the floor and three big gate-type detectors for all kinds of other things. There was a pair of security guards from each side of the gate-type detectors and many more stationed around the white irregular hexagon door surrounded by a navy blue angled arch following one of the desks and the black irregular hexagon door surrounded by a silver angled arch following the other.
All of those security staff members were armed with anti-deva gauntlets, batons and weapons the likes of which Reimei had never seen, stopping each visitor before they even went through any of the detector gates to hand search them and having extremely stern and judging looks on their faces while doing so. And lastly – the worst part of it all – one could tell when the guards were searching a deviant just by how thorough and disgusted they were during that.
(Reimei) ‘I … I really don’t like this.’
(Graid) ‘Me neither. I knew they’d have tight security, but this is some next-level shit.’
(Iziya) ‘Yeah. Which is why you’re gonna let me do the talking when we get to the guards.’
(Graid) ‘That’s cool, but how exactly are you planning to get through them?’
(Iziya) ‘I say we use our celebrity status to get in.’
Hikaru’s aunt had said that with such a stone-cold serious and confident expression that under different circumstances one would have said she completely believed her own words. In the present, however, such a notion seemed too ridiculous to even entertain, so Reimei was of the same opinion about the suggestion as the one voiced by Iziya’s nephew moments later.
(Hikaru) ‘This really isn’t the time to be joking around, auntie.’
(Iziya) ‘I’m quite serious. Now all of you shut up and follow my lead.’
Iziya Summerbolt was insane. Of that Miss Scarlettail had no doubt. Yet the confidence oozing from her was so great, that it made the scarlet-haired beauty feel like no matter how stupid a plan Graid’s older sister would propose, she would always follow and try to help her make that plan a reality.
So that was how she found herself right behind her and her younger brother along with the other youngsters, all of whom looked equally worried. In stark contrast to that, when catching a glimpse at Iziya and Graid’s faces from the side, both of them were grinning to an almost unnaturally happy and innocent extent.
While the older Summerbolts were happy and the younger one and the others from his generation were terrified, though, the guards were shocked and then became very annoyed upon seeing the next group of visitors trying to go inside. One of them – the only one wearing a white uniform with navy blue lines instead of a navy blue uniform with white lines – gave a signal to the others, all security staff members in the lobby leaving their posts to surround the infiltrators. As they did that, each guard already had one hand on the retractable baton attached to their trouser leg in full preparedness to attack.
(Security Guard #1) ‘What the hell are you doing here?’
(Security Guard #2) ‘Haven’t you Summerbolts and the rest of these brats done enough damage to Deckstoru already that you wanna wreck Eura Kin now, too?’
To further assure the security staff they had no ill intentions, Iziya and Graid raised their hands while still smiling, throwing a glance at the youngsters that Hikaru seemed to quickly interpret as a sign to do the same, the others following his lead.
(Iziya) ‘Wow, wow, wow, gentlemen. What’s with the overly hostile treatment? Is there like a restraining order or something not allowing us to even set foot in the Tower?’
(Security Guard #3) ‘Well, I think there should be, but …’
The head of security grinded his teeth as his employee before he could finish, redirecting his attention to the infiltrators right after.
(Head of Security) ‘So long as you don’t cause any damage, you can come in, but from the stuff I know about all of you, it’s more likely that you’ll blow the whole place up one way or another.’
(Security Guard #4) ‘So unless you’ve got a really REALLY important reason to go inside Eura Kin, piss off.’
Having barely waited for the security guards to finish their bullying session, Iziya grabbed Hikaru by the shirt’s collar and dragged him next to her, pointing at her nephew while still looking at the security staff.
(Iziya) ‘OK, then. How about this? See this brat right here? He’s my genius nephew Hikaru. And among other things, he’s a screenwriter.
Even you ordinari must know that Sunbird’s Presentation Day is coming up, right?’
(Security Guard #5) ‘What’s that got to do with you coming here?’
(Iziya) ‘The play Hikaru’s writing is based on myths and legends, not all of which have been translated. He needs more reference and since we know the best deviant translation firm in town is in Eura Kin, we came together to see if they can translate the stuff we’ve got. It’s all about winning the Cup on Presentation Day, you know?’
Iziya’s lie made sense in a ridiculous sort of way to Reimei, but judging by the look on the guards’ faces, they didn’t seem convinced enough.
(Security Guard #6) ‘If it’s a deviant firm, you must be talking about Biunion. It’s in Eura Kin’s black half where only deviants are supposed to go, so you could go up, but there’s something I don’t get. So many people came here just to have some stuff translated?’
Now the overly innocent smile left the face of Hikaru’s aunt to be replaced by a very threatening and angry look, even without being able to see it fully, Miss Scarlettail still being scared by it.
(Iziya) ‘Why do you think so many of us came here, huh? Hikaru can barely use his deva after what happened at Nebula and if some hot-headed deviant hater like you tried to attack him, he wouldn’t be able to defend himself.
That’s why the other brats came. Me and Graid came because we were sure you wouldn’t just let a bunch of deviant kids to go up the Tower and from what I’ve seen so far, I’m damn glad we did come along.
You got any more questions for us or are you gonna start searching us? Cuz we haven’t got all day.’
Iziya’s arguments were pretty solid and it took the guards quite a while to shake off the overwhelming effect they had had on them. Once they did, however, the head of security suddenly smirked with a newfound confidence taking him over as he stepped closer to Hikaru’s aunt.
(Head of Security) ‘No. That’s good enough for me.
But considering how dangerous all of you are, I can’t just let you go up together. Only your nephew can go inside the Tower.’
Iziya’s anger quickly started showing after her speech failed to achieve the desired effect, her clenching her fists hinting at Reimei that the possibility of a battle was already looming on the horizon.
(Iziya) ‘Didn’t you hear what I just said?! I won’t leave him with …’
(Head of Security) ‘He won’t be alone, don’t worry. I’ll send six guards up with him. They’ll watch out for the boy all the way and bring him back to you safely.
So the rest of you can just make yourselves comfortable down here and wait for your dear Hikaru to come back.’ – the man’s smirk became straight-up evil right after, angering Miss Scarlettail as well now – ‘Unless he causes some kind of trouble, of course. Because then I’m going to have to detain him.’
Graid had become quite angry himself, both him and Iziya getting ready to say something when the former’s eyes suddenly widened from shock, Reimei being among the first members of the group to track his gaze. It led to a member of the security staff who had just joined the others.
She was the sole female guard, having a mid-length slightly curly hair mixing a light yellow and azure blue color that she was fixing up, bright red eyes and skin a few tones darker than average.
The guards’ attention was redirected to their colleague as well, after noticing Graid the woman becoming plenty surprised herself.
(Kriz) ‘Graid? Is that you?’
(Graid) ‘Oh, shit.’
(Reimei) ‘Who’s she?’
In order to explain, Hikaru’s uncle pulled Iziya closer to him, turning to the youngsters and starting to whisper, which made everyone else talk in a quieter voice as well.
(Graid) ‘The rest of you don’t say a word. This one’s a stalker of mine, Kriz Davara.’
(Hikaru) ‘Wait. A stalker? She must be a deviant, then. We can use that!
Make her convince the guards to let us in, old man! Come on!!’
(Graid) ‘Like hell I will! I’ve barely been able to keep this bitch away! If I end up owing her a favor, there’ll be no getting rid of her!!!’
While Graid had been arguing with his nephew, Kriz had pushed aside her colleagues to reach the group the Summerbolts were a part of, Reimei noticing with her peripheral vision how she had now snuck right next to Hikaru’s uncle with a dreamy smile.
(Kriz) ‘Graiiiid …! It is you! I could never mistake such a fine specimen of a man!! Coming to Eura Kin and not giving me a call? That’s real cold of you, you know!’
The youngest of the Summerbolt siblings from the generation preceding Hikaru now turned to Kriz, putting on a fake happy smile while sweating.
(Graid) ‘What’s up, Kriz? I had no idea you are working here now. Or you know I would’ve called.’
(Kriz) ‘Bullshit. I told you the last time I saw you, remember?’ – only now did she take notice of Graid’s sister and the students behind them – ‘Anyway. You’ve brought quite the crew with you, eh? What do you all need in the Tower?’
Before answering, Hikaru’s uncle turned his angry gaze at the other security staff members.
(Graid) ‘We’ve got to get some stuff translated for my nephew here, but these bastards won’t let all of us go up.’
(Head of Security) ‘There’s no need for a whole troop of deviants to go up just for translating some documents. So of course the rest of you are staying here.’ – now, the head of security eyed Graid in particular with a level of disdain equal to the one in his eyes – ‘Your nephew will have six men with him, Summerbolt, so as I already said, he’ll be more than …’
(Kriz) ‘How about all of them go up, but I go with them instead?’ – Reimei and co. were very shocked by this proposal, but not nearly as much as all the guards, some of which seemed like they were on the verge of fainting from surprise – ‘I know these guys, so it will be much easier for me to contain them than you, no matter where they go in the building. If you try to keep any of them here, though, and something happens with Hikaru, his family and friends are really going to blow up Eura Kin and there’ll be nothing you can do to stop them, even with those high-tech toys you’ve got.’
Some of Kriz’s colleagues were about to reject her proposal right off the bat, but the head of security looked at all of them, putting his hand on one of the angrier guards’ shoulder to help him calm down. Then he focused on the sole deviant security staff member with a threatening level of seriousness on his face.
(Head of Security) ‘If you really think you can deal with the whole lot, take them up. But cause any kind of problems, Davara, and I’ll have you fired.’
The biggest confident smile lit up on Kriz’s face then, caressing her superior’s chin for a moment as her smile became more mocking in nature for a moment.
(Kriz) ‘Thanks a bunch, darling. I’ll keep that in mind.’ – right after, she turned to Reimei and the others, giving them a sign to follow her – ‘Let’s move, everyone! I imagine you’re short on time, so we’ll skip the searches and just go straight up after you leave all those bags here!!’
Walking by the guards who had moved to the side, Miss Scarlettail saw just how shocked and then outraged they became at their colleague’s behavior, meanwhile Graid moving closer to Kriz to whisper something just loud enough for the scarlet-haired beauty to be able to hear as well.
(Graid) ‘You really saved us there, Kriz. Thanks a lot.’
As if having just been waiting to hear Hikaru’s uncle address the matter of the favor she had done him, Kriz turned to Graid with a wink and as charming a grin as ever.
(Kriz) ‘Don’t think it’s for free or that I’m an idiot, Graid. I know so many of you wouldn’t come here for some translations, so in exchange for me helping you get there and then out of the building in one piece, you’ll have to take me on a date later and tell me what’s really going on.’
Graid was left completely terrified by his stalker revealing her true intentions, Iziya patting his shoulder from one side and Hikaru – from the other with sympathetic smiles as everyone moved on.
*
The group’s stop was on the 21st floor of Eura Kin’s black half, after exiting the high-tech cylinder-shaped and fully lit-up elevator, Kriz leading them down a silver hall with glass doors that had different things written on them in black letters until reaching the door right at its end. On it was written the following:
BIUNION TRANSLATIONS
Working for a better understanding for ordinari and deviants alike
Seeing as how they had reached their destination, the youngsters looked at Iziya and Graid, the middle Summerbolt child then looking at her younger brother. Now was the time for Feoria and Ayli to use their acting skills and create a distraction that would allow their friends to move up to the roof.
Only Kriz would have to be distracted, but so far she had done nothing but help the infiltrators and had proved herself to be at least somewhat trustworthy. Which, of course, could be a ruse and she could also be working for the enemy somehow.
So the question was: were they to scrap their original plan and trust her or take no chances and proceed as planned?
As Graid sighed, Reimei couldn’t make out what his decision was exactly, the words he said after the sigh clearing things up. Though they were once again said as a whisper to make sure no one else but Kriz and the infiltrators could hear.
(Graid) ‘You’ve got yourself a deal, Kriz. I’ll go on a date with you wherever you like and tell you all about what we’re doing here now. But first I’m gonna need you to get the brats to the roof.’
(Kriz) ‘Why would they need to go up there from all the places in Eura Kin?’
(Graid) ‘Just … trust me. Me and Iziya will deal with this translation firm, so you go up with the brats. We’ll stay in touch with them to decide where to rendezvous later. Can you stick with them until then?’
(Kriz) ‘This … this sounds like serious stuff.’
(Iziya) ‘It is.’
It was Kriz’s turn to sigh now, giving a confirmative nod to the Summerbolt siblings right after as she moved closer to the youngsters and Iziya and Graid stood right in front of the translation firm’s door.
(Kriz) ‘Fine. You’ll have to pay for everything on the date, though, Graid, cuz I might lose my job after this.’
(Graid) ‘I’m real sorry I put you in a tight spot like this. I didn’t mean to …’
(Kriz) ‘You never were good with apologies, Graid, so save it. Like I said, you’ll pay me back later.’
Hikaru’s uncle returned Kriz’s nod from earlier, he and Iziya knocking on the door to go inside the firm while the students and the security guard doubled back to the elevators. From here, the second stage of the infiltration mission would begin.
