The Automated King

A Break

Today, my company is on their birthday celebration. As a complementary rewards for their employees, they gave us an extra holiday to savor. It’s a common practice towards business retailers of our city nowadays. In addition, the whole process is automatic to roll up. For this commemoration, they are usually shifted our task with the humanoid robot, then wrap it up back afterwards whenever we fulfilled our needs to take a break.

For me, a vacation is more time to learn and writing down something out of my mind. I chose to be a store manager for this joy of having a stockpile of leisure time. Hmm, anyway, my recent side jobs is vaguely piqued my interest. What do I need to check out? My deposit, perhaps?

It says I have 2000 AoK for my managerial deposit. In the partition, I have a commission of 300 AoK based on my 2 accomplished objectives. It’s pretty hefty to consider, since it is barely a kick-starter mission to have.

Whoa, I can’t believe it. The Pufferfish mission itself has brought me 200 AoK. It might be due to my accomplishment on the first objective or my last-standing position among the rest of combatants in the area.

In this spare time, I better stop by the headquarters to socialize. Goodness knows of how much personal data I could input to my desk to stock up.

---

Ah, I don’t realize that she is under leisure time, as well. Marion is a night-shift worker, as far as she told me. In this particular fraction of time, she tuned herself to be the street-sweeper, mind-bender, and foul-speaker Marion as regular days to behold. To think of it, I haven’t eat anything, too, maybe I’ll go to find some beforehand.

“Hey, Marion!! wanna join me? Don’t be a slouch, let’s go to the base!”

“What base, you headbanger?”

Huh? Did she deny her position as the member? How could she.... oww, oww, don’t push my head down that way...

“Do not speak about this out loud, Regi! You know it’s a secret, right?”

“Hoo, yeah, I am a little out of air today, sorry.Wanna have a meal on the street?”

 “Is it on your treat, or did I have to pay the bill by myself? If it’s the latter, I’m out.”

Ah, I might be regretting this decision later... I don’t know how much food she would grab with my own money.

 “Alright, Ma’am. We have to go soon, though.”

“Yeay, thanks for the meal, Mr. Generous!”

The street vendors are a jump to our blocks, so it doesn’t take much time to venture down there. It has variety of delicacy, ranged from a conventional meal to the top-of the list type of gourmet. It’s crowded as ever, although not much cramped with visitors like the evening’s time for dinner.

“Hey, take this table and secure it for me, Regi. I’m going to roam down first.”

“Is it better for us to stay in pair for food-hunting? There’s plenty of room for the two of us in this hour, we don’t need to tag a spot.”

“Hmmm.... I guess so. After all, you are the one who pay my food, right? You deserved the right to escort me.”

“With pleasure, princess.”

“Quit the jest. Let’s go!!”

Hehehe, she hold my hands. If I don’t know her much, I might be flustered and bent down with embarrassment. Luckily, this female right here is my long-time friend, so nothing like this would be an impediment for us to do. However, do everyone around us pondering the same thing like I am?

“Hey, This is might be out of the blue, but I think we should not holding hands like this again, Marion.”

“Why? Do you have feelings for me, somehow? It’s a motion of friend, Regi, don’t worry about it.”

“Haha, yeah. I think it is.”

 “There you go, Mr. lonely. Don’t be troubled with this again, m’kay?”

“Shut up.”

Yeah, go to hell with the crowds. Let me enjoy the trip with her in peace, as a friend, of course.

---

Gosh, she is a pig. She took so much of the food out here without any tolerance of the heavy loads. Two plates of sirloin steak, three scoops of ice cream, and two glass of avocado juice, all in a single order.

“Hehehe, it’s a cheat day for me, Regi. Is it okay?”

“You can finish all of these?”

“Are you challenging me? I am an athlete, Regi. A bunch of calories like this is regular for me.”

“Bla-bla-bla, you told me of being an actress few days ago, Miss slink.”

“ Ahem, my side job, then. Here, the bill is for you.”

I’m demoted to be her slave, that’s for certain. Hmmm, 50 AoK? It’s a truck payload of consumption. For 3 meals of diet for the day, I am totally satisfied with half of the price that she got to buy all of this.

Ah well, better jump the gun and paid all of this before she put another plate on my tabs, then.

---

 Ah, by the time I get by, she was already finished a quarter of the plate on her own. A monster, indeed.

“That steak is for you, Regi. It’s kind of a cashback, hehe.”

Marion is intentionally disposed the small sirloin steak for me, huh. I wonder what’s on the beef for her to shove it away like this.

“By the way, Marion, how long did you participate on this ‘charity’ thing?”

Hmm, It’s actually delicious for me. The meat is medium-rare, my most favorite way to eat the steak. A little chewy, but crunchy on the crust.

“Charity? Nice pass-code, Regi. Umm, around 4 years, maybe, It’s quite a journey.”

If she’s been there for that many, I wonder of how long the organization blossomed under the shadow of our city.

 “What’s your reason? Is it for the incentive, or something else? Like revenge, for example.”

Oww, it hurts!! The fork is pinching my tongue.

“Hey, are you okay, Regi?”

“I’m fine. Answer me, please.”

“The money is helpful for an extra, but there’s more that might not be best to tell you this time.”

“I am in thirst for knowledge, my dear Marion. You know this much, right? I’m gonna pry on this forever.”

“...Sadly, this one is private. It’s not the right time to say all of this, even if you are a close friend to me.”

I am willing to dig this up, yet I don’t wanna enforce her rage by the impulse. Calm down, Regi, this mystery would be solved eventually.

---

The headquarters is crowded and lively. Its unit, the crew of saviors, are ongoing various training to heighten the synergy with their ability to spend their own leisure day. The heat of clashing superhuman power weaving their activity, emanating aura of vigorous ambitions to improve.

“Good day, Ellen. Working out?”

The two partner-in-crime visiting the base in amplified curiosity. Reginald were yearning for answers, in company of Marion as his friend for detective action, with a purpose to enlighten the dark patch of their acknowledgement. As they barging into the base, The general is leaning down by the couch of the lobby. She is sitting up rigorously, bulking up the robust muscles down the torso of her body.

“Yo, Maria, Regi. How’s your day? demanding a small training, I see. ”

“Not good at all to my sight, and she is the cause.”

“what happened? Are you getting hurt, Regi?”

“Have compassion, Ellen. My wallet is fallen.”

“...ummm, yes? Deep condolences, if it matters. How about a small chat? I’ve got something to tell you about the last emergency task.”

In a face full of astonishment, they abide to Ellen’s request and following her order to take a seat on the couch.

“Hmm, what is it, Ellen? I am not involved to the quest.”

“Yeah, she’s off topic, right?”

“Not really, Regi. She has to listen on this one too.”

Ellen is swapping some file to both of their bracelet. As they access the file, it revealed four horrendous creatures lying soul-less on the ground.

“Umm, who is this person, Ellen?”

“Ah, I know this monster. It’s Pufferfish and the band.”

“To correct the answer, He is Emile, one of our assigned scout to the Fishman empire.”

“This man, and the fish? How is that feasible?”

“I reckon this past the moment of the odd assault. They are a huge civilization, yet they are simply delivering us a mini cause of disruption. It’s probably a gentle warning to us, but I do wish to have some recon on their tail as well.”

“And you expected us to go there and be the spy? Regi is a trainee, this objective is not suitable for him.”

“Please be all ears to me ‘til the finale, and no, it’s not about recruitment to the recon mission for him, too.”

She shifted the slides to another set of photos from the document that she passed on to them.

“This is the result of our surveillance. Our pathfinders were spotted a group of mercenaries in a camp not so far away off the disruption site a few days ago.”

“Humans? Are they connected to us, anyway?”

“It’s our primary inspection. Unfortunately, they are not listed in the Mr. LORD’s database. Well, it’s some kind of blurry image, so we can’t divulge their identity somehow.”

“This is the objective, I presume? To handle the rebels?”

“Partially correct, Maria. This is the order for Reginald, depending of what power’s awakened out of his body. If it’s compatible, you have to overview their maneuver, locate their encampments, and report it to the HQ. You will be there with a group, which will be assembled right here in two hours.”

Ellen is moving towards the cupboard of the lobby, piling up several documents up to her clutch, and giving all of them to Maria afterwards.

“Humph... here is your written dossier for the recon, Maria. Have a safe trip, Brody is waiting by the borderline.”

“Okay, I’ll prepare the essential equipment beforehand. Bye, Regi.”

Maria is leaving Ellen and Reginald, that still need to lie in wait for the promised party to come over.

“To ensure I would be well-advised to the objective, Ellen, may I ask you questions?”

“Sure, just relax yourself with it, Regi. They are all experts in this particular task.”

“It’s about my last mission. I found revelation over my goals at the time.”

“What is it, then, Regi?”

“All of us is the only hope, that’s the one clause I’ve find hard to tell by. Why were we obliged to be the sacrifice, the one standing as the vanguard? That’s the riddle to me, Ellen.“

Ellen is searching for something on her devices, tick-tacking the virtual button to dig up on information under her inventory under Reginald’s supervision.

“Ellen? Did you copy?”

“Yes, I am. Wait a second, I want to give you one interesting book to read. Here.”

“Hmm? Ultimatum of the Oppressed? sounds fishy to me.”

“In addition, he likes to reel in some for his meal. Give it a shot, you’ll understand our stature when you capture his experiences within the chronicles.”