"Are you getting somewhere?" Kayla asked Ray.

"Not really, no."

"I thought you were a genius."

"I am but this thing is like a century old."

"So?"

"So, I need more time."

"Can't you just pack it up and take it home?"

"I don't know. Besides, where would I keep it at home?"

"In your garage I guess."

"Oh fantastic. What a luxury it'll be to stash a mechwarrior in my own garage!"

"I'm just saying, ya know."

"I don't think moving these away from here would be a good idea."

The floating flare has died out completely by now. Ray takes out his gun and fires it again. This time around the flare is emitting light with a hint of red color.

"Why's the color so different now?"

"I used a different casing. That's why."

Ray went back to working on the mech.

"Did you pack lunch?" Kayla asked

"Me?"

"Yes of course, you."

"I don't need to worry about that."

"Why not? Your body produces food from sunlight?"

"No that's not what I mean."

"What do you mean then?"

"I mean that I'm always carrying food in case I go hungry."

"Where? I don't see any deliciousness on you."

"Hang on. I'll show you."

"Don't tell me...."

Ray climbs down and produces a small box from his pocket.

"Don't tell me you've got shrinked food as well?!?!"

"Exactly. What do you wanna eat?"

"You wouldn't happen to have any chicken nuggets on you?"

"As a matter of fact, I do"

"Sweet!"

Ray takes out a small nugget and throws it away. The tiny nugget as it impacts the ground, is replaced by a magnitude of nuggets atop a cloth..

"Woah! This is so cool!"

"Enjoy yourself." Ray grabs the ladder and begins to climb it again.

"Don't you want some?"

"Nope. I don't." Ray says whilst going up the ladder.

"I wasn't gonna share anyway." says Kayla as she stuffs 4 chicken nuggets in her mouth.

"Ehhhh"

"I'm really selfish when it comes to food ya know."

"Yeah just don't eat them too fast else you might choke."

"What time is it?"

"It's 1 PM."

"I see. What have you found out about those mechwarriors so far?"

"Not a lot but there are some interesting things about it."

"Like what?"

"This model was produced 10 years ago and I don't think it had been used in battle before yesterday."

"You mean we used it for the first time yesterday?"

"Yes. Exactly. The armor is very durable as well."

"I saw it take a lot of damage yesterday."

"It's like a flying tank."

"Did you find any hints about it's origin?"

"None. It is wiped clean of anything that could identify it."

"What does it run on?"

"That's the tricky part."

"What's so tricky about it?"

"I can't trace what the fuel is composed of."

"Why not?"

"It's nothing I've ever seen."

"That's weird. Did you run any tests on the computer on board?"

"The tests reveal that the equipment on board is 10 years old too."

"So nothing has been changed?"

"Nope. Nothing."

"Man, these chicken nuggets were tasty!" Kayla says.

"Wait you ate all 30 nuggets?!

"All off them!"

"You sure eat a lot."

"I do actually. Thanks for the food!"

"You're welcome."

Kayla's phone rings vigorously and she reaches for it. It is Zandra.

"Hey Kayla. Did you see the news?"

"No I haven't yet. What's up?"

"Well we got the whole next week off."

"For real?!"

"Yep. For real."

"That is interesting."

"Anyways, where are you?"

"I'm just in the city."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah. Anything wrong?"

"Nah. Everything's fine."

"Okay. Anything else?"

"Yeah, your mother called. She wanted to talk to you so I just said that you were in the bathroom."

"Oh"

"She's coming over to pick you up so you better get down here real fast."

"Oh my. How long has it been?"

"She called a few seconds ago."

"Okay I'm coming back. Keep your backdoor open."

"Sure. Just hurry up."

Kayla looked towards Ray and notifies him about the situation.

"I don't think we're gonna be able to reach in time." Kayla says.

"I've got a plan." Ray answers.

He quickly packs up everything belonging to him and throws out a shrinked module. It enlarges to reveal a levitating type of motorbike.

"Get on!"

"What is this thing?"

"It'll get you to your location in time!"

"Okay."

Kayla gets on the motorbike and puts on a helmet given by Ray.

"What about our bikes?"

"I'll come back for them later."

"I don't wanna lose my bike you know."

"You won't."

Ray lets go of the clutch and the bike moves ahead with an enormous quantity of speed.

"This thing is crazy. I'm gonna die today!" Kayla thinks to herself.

The road is getting closer and closer to the city. In a short amount of time, the gate of the city is in sight.

"Hold on! This is gonna get bumpy!" Ray adjusts his bike and it's height increases as a result. They pass over the long line of people evacuating with little problem.

"This was really neat!" Kayla tells Ray.

"I know."

Ray speeds up even more once inside the city and they are literally flying past everything.

"Is that your parents' car?"

"Oh my! You're right. Take a right here."

Ray turns to the right and they move parallel to their car.

"Zandra's house is just up the street. We've got to reach there before them!"

Ray takes another turn and they end up behind Zandra's house. Kayla jumps off and races in through the backdoor.

"Kayla! Are you okay?" Zandra inquires

"Yep. I saw them. They're coming."

"You better get ready then. Where are you coming from though?"

Just then, the doorbell rings. It's her parents. Zandra opens the door and sees Natlia. She lets her in.

"Oh hi there. Kayla's just coming down in a moment. What can I get you in the meantime?"

"That's fine. We're just here for Kayla." Natlia answers.

"Hey mom, I'm here. Let's go home now." she turns towards her friend, "Thanks for having me Zandra, it was a lot of fun.".

"Yeah. I'll see you later. Bye."

"Bye."

Kayla steps out the door and joins her mother, they both walk to their car. They get in the car and Aaron drives away.

"So how was your day?"

"It was pretty good actually."

"Really? That's a good thing."

"So why're you guys coming to get me today? I could've come by myself."

"Oh there's no special reason for this." Aaron replies.

"Oh no, we forgot to bring your bike along." Natlia says.

"That's alright. I walked to her home. I didn't use it." Kayla replied nervously.

Kayla gazed outside her car window, silently counting all the lamp posts on the way home. Even though the people weren't in the best of spirits at the time, the animals were carefree. A murder of crows, a pack of dogs or a clowder of cats. They did not pay much heed to the business of humans, not that it mattered anyway. The journey was soon over and Kayla was at her home again. However, there was a slight modification to it.

Her bike which she was sure she left behind at the shrine, was just parked there by the front door.

"That's weird. It wasn't there when we first came home." Natlia says upon looking at her bike.

"I don't recall it being there either." Aaron replies.

"Is there someone in our home, Aaron?"

"I don't know. We better check."

"You guys are sweating over nothing. I'm sure there's a rational explanation to this."

"Like what?"

"I don't know. Something."

"Right. I'm gonna go check."

Aaron exits the vehicle and makes his way towards the house. He thoroughly searches through every nook and cranny of the house. There's nothing wrong, everything is in it's place.

Kayla and Natlia come inside soon enough.

"Well, nothing seems to be wrong here." Aaron says "But that bike...."

"Must've been the wind." Kayla replies and goes upstairs to her room.