The Safe House — Bunker Level
The silence in the room was heavy. Renji leaned against the console, sipping his coffee, watching Kazuki with the intensity of a scientist observing a lab rat.
"So," Kazuki broke the silence, his voice echoing slightly in the metallic room. "Can someone tell me how to take this off? I have a chemistry test tomorrow."
Renji choked on his coffee. He laughed—a short, sharp bark. "Chemistry test. That's cute."
He set the mug down and walked over to a metal cabinet. He pulled out a dense, foil-wrapped brick that looked like emergency rations. He tossed it at Kazuki.
"Eat."
Kazuki caught it. "I'm not hungry."
"You are," Renji said. "You just don't know it yet. That little sprint you did from the warehouse? You burned about four thousand calories."
Kazuki frowned. "That's impossible."
"The Velocity Core isn't a battery, kid. It's an engine," Renji said, tapping his own chest. "It uses your bio-electricity. It eats the glucose in your blood. If you don't feed it, it starts eating your muscle tissue. Then your organs. Then... well, you stop being biology and start being dust."
Kazuki looked down at the suit fused to his skin. A sudden wave of dizziness hit him. His stomach roared, a deep, painful hunger that felt like a hole opening inside him.
He tore the wrapper open and took a bite. It tasted like chalk and dense chocolate. He devoured the whole thing in three bites.
"Better," Renji said. "Now, stand up. Let's see if the Governor is working."
"The Governor?" Kazuki asked, wiping crumbs from his mouth.
Renji didn't answer. He picked up a heavy steel wrench from the workbench.
Without warning, he swung it at Kazuki's head.
"Hey!" Aeva shouted, stepping forward.
Kazuki flinched. He squeezed his eyes shut and threw his hands up.
CLANG.
The sound rang through the bunker.
Kazuki opened his eyes. He hadn't moved. The wrench was stopped in mid-air, caught in his open palm. The suit's blue veins were glowing bright white.
The impact, which should have shattered his wrist, felt like catching a tennis ball.
Renji grinned. It wasn't a nice grin. "Reflexes are functional. Kinetic dampening is online. Good."
He tossed the wrench onto the table. "You're durable. That's the good news. The bad news is, you have no idea how to drive the car you're sitting in."
Renji walked around Kazuki, circling him like a shark.
"You think speed is about running fast? Wrong. Speed is about perception. When you move, the world stops. Air becomes concrete. Sound becomes silence. If you trip at Mach 2, you don't scrape your knee. You vaporize half the city block."
He stopped in front of Kazuki again.
"Aeva says you took out three Echoes. That was luck. If a specialized unit finds you—like a Nullifier or a Silencer—you're dead in less than a second."
"So teach me," Kazuki said, surprising himself. The fear was fading, replaced by the adrenaline of the suit. "If I'm stuck with this, teach me how to use it."
Renji looked at Aeva. They shared a silent look—a conversation of raised eyebrows and subtle nods that spoke of years of partnership.
Aeva sighed. "He has potential, Renji. His biometrics are syncing faster than... well, faster than anyone I've seen."
Renji looked back at Kazuki. His expression softened, just a fraction. For a moment, he looked almost sad.
"Potential gets people killed," Renji muttered.
Suddenly, the wall of monitors behind them turned red.
[ALERT: SEISMIC ACTIVITY DETECTED. SECTOR 4.]
[ALERT: FRACTURE SIGNATURE IDENTIFIED.]
Aeva spun toward the screens. Her fingers flew across the keyboard. "Renji. It's not a patrol. It's a Breach."
Renji's face hardened. The tired, bored look vanished instantly. He was a soldier now.
"Where?"
"District 9. Near the old subway lines. It's a big one."
Renji grabbed a sleek, black rifle from the rack and checked the chamber.
"Suit up, Aeva. We're moving."
"What about me?" Kazuki asked.
Renji paused at the door. He looked at the teenager in the billion-dollar weapon.
"You want a lesson, kid? This is it. Field trip."
He threw a small earpiece at Kazuki.
"Put that in. Do exactly what I say. If you deviate from my orders by one inch, I will personally break your legs to keep you from running into a trap. Understood?"
Kazuki caught the earpiece. "Understood."
Renji kicked the door open.
"Try to keep up."
[To Be Continued…]