Crownless: The Fallen World - Chapter 47

The smaller male was dumbfounded while looking at Aires’ back as he disappeared inside the dense forest. 

Sylvia appeared, as if snooping around, then asked, “What’s wrong with the guy?” 

“Dunno…” Hale’s answer sounded uncertain. He shook his head and sighed. “Let’s set everything up. Aires won’t be back before seven pm.” 

“How can you be so sure?” 

“Trust me, I knew him since he was five years old. Though we separated when I was ten and we just reunited when I was fifteen. Five years is enough to know more about him,” Hale said in a melancholic tone. 

Sylvia couldn’t say anything any more and excused, “We should go before the soup grows cold.” 

In the middle of the forest, Aires used a bit of energy and removed every dirt on him. He retrieved a pair of clothes from his Holowrist and wore them neatly. 

His eyes trailed towards the dark part of the forest. There was a sudden vibration in his Holowrist that he only knew of. He retrieved a small disk and Garnwyn’s figure came into view. 

“There were some wavelength reactions northeast of where you are currently standing. I believe it was one of the science facilities for illegal acts of experimentation,” Garnwyn didn’t waste any time as his fingers coursed fast on his holographic keyboards. 

Aires nodded then ran as quietly as he could towards this so-called experimentation facility. 

“You don’t have to be so quiet about it. It was already an abandoned structure since I couldn’t access the cameras,” Garnwyn said as he sipped his chocolate milk and slurped a bit of his favorite instant Alfredo pasta. A weird combination, yeah…

“Old man, no matter how many pastas you eat, you won’t grow a third of your hair,” Aires snickered as he arrived in front of the rusted facility deep in the forest. 

“Too bad for you, young man. I won’t be teased by that since I already lost a third of my hair decades ago. It’s fine, really, it’s fine…” Garnwyn started to pat his balding head with his mouth set in a hard line. 

The old scientist was in the middle of his self-comfort when he heard a loud metal creak from the other line. 

Aires was disassembling the structure itself. 

“Hey… hey… kid? Wha… what are you doing?” 

“Disassembling. What else am I doing?” The younger male replied without stopping the work of his hands. 

“I know! But why?! Why are you destroying this piece of work?!” Garnwyn yanked his remaining hair. Thankfully, they still held on quite strongly. 

“You said it’s abandoned and no one will care anyway-” 

“I care!” 

“Besides you,” Aires interjected, “Since no one will really come and live here. This baby will surely be useful in my hands, wouldn’t you think?” 

“Well, yeah. I was really impressed, I still am, when you can duplicate the microchip to its tiny details. My supercomputer couldn’t even recognize it as a foreign track,” the elder paused for a moment, leaning on his swivel chair then continued with a sigh, “I guess you are right. This facility will just be covered with rust in the course of time. You can get all of-“

“Done with the front. I’m entering now,” Aires stood up and left the rusted scraps behind. The usually indestructible front of the facility was now like a metal skeleton. 

When Aires opened the second metal door, darkness welcomed them. However, the younger male could see anything without using any source of light.

“Kid… at least use a flashlight. I can’t see anything.”

“I can. Perks of having a huge ass energy.”

“I don’t care. Just light it or I’ll do it!” Without further ado, Garnwyn typed and a flash of light came out of the round disk. The light enveloped the whole room; it was large enough to accomodate 4 people bustling to and fro. However, the scientist was shocked in a small detail. “Since when did my microchip can do this… ?”

“Correction: my microchip,” the younger male strided through every corner, sorting things then shoving them into his Holowrist storage system.

“Kid, you know what? I’ll definitely stick you with me. You’re a tech genius! You can’t dispose of me now! Hahaha-! Huh?” Before he knew it, the disk was set on top of a drawer and a single trace of Aires was gone. 

“Did he just seriously leave me here?! Kid! YOUNG MAN!” Garnwyn stopped for a moment, waiting for the younger’s reply or any signs of the sort. However, there was none. 

“And… he’s really gone. That brat… leaving an old man behind this lonely place where darkness envelopes my entire mind and body. Aah… I can remember the times where I was under the influence of peers back in the olden days… I was quite a loner back in my youth… there’s no helping it. I am quite depressed back then! Now, don’t misunderstand me-” 

“Shut up, old man, or I’ll break this microchip,” Aires threatened, bringing the disk with him into another room. 

A small room for human accomodation. There were books and journals covered in thick dust. The space of the drawers were big and there were items that made Aires’ eyes widened in exhilaration. 

“Uh… kid,” Garnwyn called almost in a hush voice. “Can you not read the journals? Our records are considered as classified and I don’t know why these… are here.” 

“Finders keepers, they say. I’ll do whatever I want to do with it. For now, I’ll keep this.”

“Hmm… okay,” the elder, albeit reluctant, agreed.

Aires entered every room and swept them all clean. When he saw that there were no more valuable things inside, he started to truly disassemble the whole structure down to its frame. 

Garnwyn could only watch with a creased forehead and pale face. If only I could materialize and stop his madness…

“Alright. Let’s get going,” the younger dusted off his dirtied clothes then took his way deeper into the forest. 

“To where, exactly?” 

“You saw a change of wavelength, but I sensed a disturbance farther from where we are. I just have to check it if it’s a threat or not. Then after that, I’ll introduce you to one of my babies. You’ll definitely be surprised by it. It was one of the things that I modified down to its limits. I still haven’t used any upgraded functions but it will be pretty lit.”

“I’ll see it myself whether it is ‘lit’, young man,” he smugly said but his eyes betrayed him, showing as much enthusiasm like a little kid he was.