Something was definitely wrong.
By all rights, having fulfilled her wish and found a rider to accompany her, the girl should have been smiling, happy. So why? Why did she wear that look?
Eyes clouded with gloom, despair, and darkness, just like the first time he had met her.
That question gnawed relentlessly at Jawed's mind. By the time he snapped back to his senses, the girl's figure had already vanished into the van, while the guy had departed on his motorcycle.
A rider, yet leaving his Mecha human behind.
At that instant, Jawed's pupils contracted, his breathing turning sharp and uneven.
"Wait...." he muttered. His steps moved forward unconsciously, quickening, until at some point they turned into a full sprint, launching straight after the van that had already started moving.
Amid the streets, his figure kept running on, hurried, relentless.
But clearly, a normal human's legs could never catch up to a vehicle. In the end, Jawed's legs finally gave out, and he collapsed.
"Huff.... huff...." He gasped heavily, each breath ragged, his throat feeling as though it had been slashed by countless razor blades.
He stood frozen in place, staring helplessly as the van slowly disappeared at the end of the road.
"No...." A choked sound slipped from his lips. Jawed's heart felt tightly clenched, his chest twisting in pain.
His vision darkened, his fists clenched tightly, then fell limp at his sides.
That girl, was she unable to escape despair after all? Would she forever bear those darkened eyes, forever sinking into sorrow?
In the end, was he unable to help her at all?
"Damn it!" Jawed cursed bitterly. A wave of helplessness surged up, swallowing him whole.
Dragging him down, deeper and deeper, with no end in sight....
"Hey, you need a ride?"
Suddenly, in the midst of his despair, a clear voice rang out unexpectedly.
"H-Haa....?" Startled by the sudden voice, Jawed lifted his gaze in a daze. Standing there was a man in a neatly tied tie, clad in a jet-black suit, casually leaning against a sports car.
His entire presence radiated a wild, unruly, and unmatched aura. At the same time, it gave Jawed a strange sense of alienation.
As if the man didn't belong to this world at all.
Jawed rubbed his eyes lightly, his mind filled with question marks. Someone this striking, how had he not noticed him at all just moments ago?
It was as if the man had never been there, only now stepping forth from nothingness itself.
Before Jawed could say anything, the man spoke again:
"Hey, I mean, you're trying to save a girl, right? Then don't ask anything, and hop on!"
***
Though his thoughts were in turmoil, the urgency of the situation left Jawed no choice but to set them aside and climb into the man's car.
Amid the congested streets, the vehicle sped forward at an astonishing pace.
Before long, the silhouette of the van thought to have vanished completely reappeared before his eyes.
The moment he saw it, Jawed's heart trembled uncontrollably.
The man slowed the car, tailing closely behind the van. It continued on, gradually heading toward a less bustling area of the city.
Eventually, the van came to a stop in front of a large factory. From the outside, the building looked run-down and dilapidated, surrounded by scattered heaps of scrap and trash.
It seemed to be an abandoned plant.
The sports car following behind also stopped at a concealed corner some distance away.
"This is as far as I can take you. I don't know what lies ahead, but good luck," the man said.
"Thank you," Jawed replied sincerely to the unknown man. Though he was eager to know who the man was, something more pressing lay before him, so he set his curiosity aside for now.
He got out of the car, cautiously made his way toward the factory.
Once the young man's figure disappeared from view, a figure suddenly appeared in the back seat of the car.
A girl sat there, perfectly naturally, as if she had been there all along.
The rearview mirror swayed slightly, reflecting her exquisitely beautiful face, along with the deep dark circles etched beneath her eyes.
"Why coming here? I thought you still had several stacks of paperwork left to deal with?" the man's voice rang out, utterly devoid of surprise.
In response, the girl calmly gulped down the cup of coffee in her hand, her tone indifferent:
"17,090,805 files remain to be processed, and I'll handle them all tonight, thank you. Putting that aside, more importantly, boss, you do realize that what you just did will affect the story, right? You understand the risks and consequences involved, don't you?"
Faced with her words, the man merely cast his gaze into the distance, his voice arrogant and unrestrained:
"Yeah, I know. But that's exactly the style of us, standing tall, fearing neither heaven nor earth, right? Also, how could I possibly stand by and watch my couple get into danger? That's just not my style."
"Haizzz.... they're not even a couple." Hearing that, the girl could only sigh.
"Not yet. Besides, we're not coming back to this place anyway. In that case, we won't have any further impact later on, right"
"Yeah, yeah, fine. Worst case, I'll just make you handle five percent of my workload."
"Huh?! No, please don't!!!"
***
Jawed sneakily approached the factory, his gaze fixed on the van.
From the vehicle, it was not only the girl who stepped down, but a whole group of five or six people. Most striking among them were two men wearing masks, dressed head to toe in black. On the backs of their clothes was printed a strange symbol.
Symbol of a gemstone?
Jawed's fist clenched tightly, but he didn't act just yet. He forced himself to stay calm, silently observing the situation.
The two men in black dragged the group toward the factory entrance. They stood there for a while, fiddling with something. Then, the massive door suddenly opened.
The entire group was led inside. Soon after, the door closed once more, locking shut, without a single gap left.
Seeing that, Jawed frowned slightly. It seemed that entering through the main entrance was impossible.
He swept his gaze around, trying to find another way in.
After all, places like this usually had things like..... ventilation ducts!
Bingo! A vent on the side of the factory, just large enough for a person.
Having found an entry point, Jawed slipped inside with ease.
After all, after so many years of crawling through corners like these just to scavenge for food, he had become more than proficient at it.
He quietly crawled through the ventilation ducts, peering through the narrow slits to observe the scene below.
A shocking sight unfolded before his disbelieving eyes.
Inside the factory that appeared abandoned from the outside lay a vast area, seemingly a laboratory, filled with all kinds of advanced machinery.
Among them, there were even containment pods like those seen in sci-fi movies.
Beside them were people wearing masks that fully concealed their faces, clad in white lab coats, jotting down notes and running calculations.
On the backs of their coats, was the same gemstone symbol.
Inside those containment pods, there were people. They were submerged in a bizarre green liquid, countless tubes and cables entwined around their bodies.
It was a horrifying sight. And, what even more terrifying was, when Jawed looked closely, each and every one of them bore an engraved mark on some part of their body.
They were Mecha humans!!!
As this staggering truth dawned on him, Jawed's pupils contracted. A freezing cold and overwhelming unease surged through his chest.
He scanned the area again, and at last spotted the group with the girl, heading toward the door of one particular room.
Jawed moved along the ducts, following them closely.
***
Inside the dark room.
The young girl stood dazed, her eyes submerged in darkness.
Throughout the entire journey, she had offered no resistance at all, merely accepting everything in silence.
She had thought she would find a partner, a trace of warmth. Yet what she received in return was only coldness.
The coldness felt familiar, as though she had lived through such a situation before.
She cast her gaze toward those around her, people who shared the same fate.
A faint sigh slipped from her lips, as if she were ready to let everything go.
At the very moment despair took hold of her, suddenly
Clank.... Clank.... Clank....
A clattering of metal rang out above, drawing the attention not only of the girl, but of everyone in the room.
And then—
BANG—!!!
A violent crash thundered through the room, shaking it to its core.
Dust and smoke billowed up, obscuring all sight.
"Tch, that was a terrible landing." A calm, familiar voice suddenly rang out.
".....H-Huh....?" Hearing that voice, the girl's once-cold heart trembled slightly. She strained her eyes through the haze of dust, looking toward the source of the sound.
Before her, at this very instant, was a familiar figure. He stood there, casually brushing the dust from his tousled white hair.
It was, a guy she had thought she would never see again.
In that moment, the girl's eyes widened, the darkness in her gaze giving way to a sudden spark of light.
As if sensing her gaze, Jawed looked over as well.
Two people, their eyes met once more.
Once more, they met again.
....