LOCATION: AGARA — MOUNTAINS

A few days earlier…

“Alright, let’s roll,” Sid says, stepping out of the garage and shutting the wooden door behind him. He pauses, slowly placing both hands on his hips as he turns to look at Echa.

“You’re coming with me on a hoverbike. You okay with that, Kid?” he asks in his usual cheerful, casual tone.

Echa doesn’t answer right away. She stares at his hands resting on his hips, then mimics his exact posture, flashing a sly little grin.

“Alright, let’s roll,” she repeats playfully, before breaking into a genuine laugh.

Sid lets out a heavy, defeated sigh, shaking his head. As he walks past her, the hoverbike sits quietly on the road while Index finishes running its diagnostics.

“Everything is set. Don’t forget to take your B3-Fiveter PDW,” Index says in its precise mechanical tone, its sensors shifting back toward Sid.

Sid lets out another annoyed sigh, murmuring, “Yeah, yeah...”

Behind him, Echa stands with a curious eyebrow raised, her gaze shifting between the two of them.

“What’s B3-Fighter ~?” she asks, her voice perfectly calm.

Sid settles onto the hoverbike seat, sliding his own glasses down his nose with an amused smile. Reaching into his pocket, he pulls out a second pair and offers them to Echa.

“Put these on, and I'll show you what B3-Fiveter is on the way,” he says in his usual calm, steady tone. Echa nods, watching him curiously as she takes the glasses from his hand.

The moment she slips them over her eyes, her vision goes completely pitch black. A second later, the lenses slowly flicker to life, absorbing the morning light and projecting an augmented overlay of their surroundings. She stands stiffly on the pavement, her lips parting slightly in genuine awe as the data streams calibrate.

Index watches them, looking perfectly serious and collected. Gripping Sid’s shoulder for balance, Echa climbs onto the passenger seat behind him. Sid smiles, thumbing the ignition as the bike's internal mechanisms flare to life with a heavy, vibrant hum.

A few minutes pass.

The early morning exhaustion caught up to her. Echa leans her head heavily against Sid’s shoulder and falls fast asleep with a tiny, soft snore as the hoverbike glides quietly through the wind.

The valley speeds past them, lined on either side by pristine, neatly fenced green fields. Trailing closely behind, Index’s wheels whir rhythmically, the little machine occasionally slowing down to scan the perimeter for threats while keeping a neat pace with Sid’s bike.

Sid glances slowly to his side as he spots three human-shaped figures chasing a single white goat across the far edge of the field. His casual, cheerful expression instantly vanishes, turning grim and serious as he brings the hoverbike to a smooth halt.

The sudden deceleration makes Echa stir, sitting up dazedly from her sleep. She lets out a heavy yawn, her eyes half-lidded as she looks around the empty landscape.

“Are we there yet? What the heck are we doing in an open field?” she asks, rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

The hoverbike idles, floating steadily in mid-air while Sid’s gaze remains locked through his glasses on the panicked goat sprinting across the grass, letting out a sharp, terrified scream.

Echa glares out at the field too, her green eyes narrowing. Her grip on Sid’s shoulder instantly tightens at the sight of the pursuit.

“Sid, why are we stopping? We are late,” Index states, halting a meter behind the hoverbike. Its sensors rotate, locking onto the running animal.

“That was a fast encounter.” Index's tone grows even more serious as its red optical lenses glare at the three hunting human figures.

The hoverbike's engines cut out completely. Sid lets out a quiet sigh and prepares to step off the chassis.

“Wait here,” he instructs simply, before leaping over the wooden fence.

His boots sink into the lush green grass. As he strides forward alone toward the human figures, he slips a hand into his pants pocket and pulls out a small, metallic circular ball.

Left behind on the road, Echa and Index stay exactly where they are, watching Sid march directly into the chaos.