In the pitch blackness, eX-0281 turned on the [Night Vision] of his visor. The surroundings became tinged in green, the darkened buildings of Grandesia rushing them by.

His attention shifted downward to where eX-0704 flung out his claw. While he clambered up, eX-0281 helped him.

"There you go," he said kindly.

The two of them knelt on the top of a speeding train with their claws biting into the metal. Both their chins tilted upward, and eX-0281 dropped his jaw in awe.

There was no sky but steel support beams and rafters crisscrossing the cavernous ceiling. A giant, circular lamp hung over the Central Sector, but it had gone dark.

Brighter during the day and dimmed for the night, the lamp was their sun. Directly below was Reactor Central from which smoke drifted up to meet the massive fixture. The explosion that they had heard before…. It had taken out Reactor Central. And then the sun went out.

The other lamps, supplied by their respective power plants, shone brightly in all directions: ordinal and cardinal. The heart of Grandesia, however, had been cast into darkness.

"Was this what the diversion was for?" eX-0281 mused out of shock.

"They wiped the power off the grid." eX-0704 said in a similar awestruck tone.

"We need to get to an elevator terminal."

His friend nodded firmly. "We fly to the west." A singular claw pointed out to where the many blinking lights of the West Elevator Terminal could be seen halfway across the city.

"Let's go!" The light hope returned to his heart as the air filled his wings. eX-0281 leaped from the train as they were approaching the tunnel of another station.

He did not even need to glance behind him to know that eX-0704 was right behind him. Both of their coordinates were updated in real-time on the radar at the top right of their screen. They would need to ditch their gear later—and thus the GPS—but for now, eX-0281 enjoyed his first exhilarating sense of freedom.

"Woohoo!" he hollered through the air.

A second whoop echoed in his earpiece as eX-0704 celebrated along with him.

So long as they were not faced with danger in the present moment, they were happy. Not even an hour ago, the idea had spawned in their heads to run away, and they had followed through with it on a whim. eX-0281 felt a sense of insurmountable joy—a lizard brain's delight.

Powerful as their wings might be, a sub-dragon could not truly fly. eX-0281 and eX-0704 glided across the Central Sector, slowly drifting to the ground. Their surroundings were illuminated once more when they strolled into West Sector.

eX-0281 lifted a talon to tap his [Night Vision] off. "Act like we are on patrol, 704."

They started walking one after another in orderly fashion, just as they always did when guarding company facilities. Calm and collected, their talons clicked against concrete.

Civilians on the streets moved aside out of fear. After the destruction of the Central Reactor, everyone wanted to steer clear of the private soldiers with the Grandesia Power Company logo emblazoned on their chestplate.

"We have a company facility coming up ahead," eX-0704 remarked.

Expanding the minimap of their location, eX-0281 saw that was indeed the case. "Hold course. Remember, we look exactly the same as when we were on duty."

"Copy that."

They carried on, approaching the block that was the pride and joy of Grandesia Power Company: the research and development tower. Armored trucks had parked haphazardly outside the main gates, emptied of any soldiers inside.

"Is a situation going on here too?" eX-0281 asked.

Neither of them had an answer to that, so they continued walking as calmly as they could. His hackles were raised however; the hair-like spines over the crown of his head all stood on end.

Gunshots could be heard prattling in the distance. High above them, a squad was firing on the upper floors of the tower.

"You know," eX-0704 chided, "they're probably just conducting research."

"Hmph." Too on-edge to laugh, eX-0281 settled for a snort.

They had almost passed the building without crisis when a flurry of bullets shot through the window. Shards of glass exploded outward while two figures leaped onto the roof. The faint glimmer of rainbow lights reflected off one of the figures.

"It's the Disco Menace!" eX-0281 said with a gasp. At once, he used the [Zoom In] feature to get a better view of them through his visor.

While the disco girl carried a bundle in her arms, her long legs strode across the ledge. A smaller figure stumbled after her, looking desperate to keep up. The second girl had a less glamorous ski mask and goggles strapped around her face.

Out of curiosity, eX-0281 threw up a [Scan]; it was always a good habit to [Scan] everything.

The first box closed in around the enemy from earlier, most of her mana depleted. She had already received a name in the system. In fact, the audio feedback must have picked up what he had just said about her.

Target: "Disco Menace" [Human]

Vitality: 72%

Discrete Parts: None

Mana Reserves: 520 Mu

Element: Thunder

The second target was a lot less exciting compared to her.

Target: ??? [Human]

Vitality: 85%

Discrete Parts: None

Mana Reserves: 0 Mu

Element: None

Much to his surprise, a third box focused on the awkwardly shaped bundle in the disco menace's arms.

Target: ??? [Human]

Vitality: 17%

Discrete Parts: None

Mana Reserves: 2 Mu

Element: Thunder

His heart nearly stopped right there. Based on their size, the kid could not have been more than seven or eight years old. For whatever reason, the Disco Menace was running with an almost-dead child in her arms.

Both were headed in this direction as they ran along the platform, but they would soon run out of space.

That did not make the Disco Menace falter. Rather, she dove headlong off the side of the building. Long strands of hair whipped behind her on the outside of her mask. The discotech mask angled downwards, her chin jutted out, while she clutched the child closer to her chest.

In contrast, the other girl collapsed at the top of the ledge. Her fingers curled around the metallic edge, staring down at the Disco Menace in her descent.

One of her arms wrestled around the kid so that a free hand could point towards the ground. Before she went splat, she snapped her fingers. Blue lightning arced at the ground, forming a shaky [Electrostatic Net] beneath her.

The thunder magic caught her, sparing her a face-full of concrete.

Like that, the Disco Menace hovered in mid-air, her fingers and toes wriggling as she waited for her electricity to dissipate. After a few seconds, she landed on her feet and took a few dainty steps away from the building.

eX-0281 stared on with wide eyes, as he had just witnessed a thunder mage defy gravity with electrostatic repulsion. He just had to do another [Scan] to check her mana levels after that.

Target: "Disco Menace" [Human]

Vitality: 72%

Mana Reserves: 20 Mu

"That [Net] wiped 500 mana units off her reserves," eX-0281 murmured.

"She's vulnerable right now," eX-0704 whispered right back. "But we should go—shouldn't waste our time with a frivolous fight."

The Disco Menace screamed up to her comrade at the top of the building. "Lottie, I told you to jump!"

The other girl quivered on her hands and knees, shouting down, "I'm sorry! I was scared. Help!"

Hesitant, the Disco Menace glanced between the mysterious child and her friend Lottie. "I'm sorry, but I can't."

Meanwhile, soldiers appeared through the window and stalked forward with their guns at the ready. They opened fire at the girl, inspiring her to swing down beneath the metal platform.

"Ah!" Lottie was screaming but luckily from fright, not pain. Her health status had stayed the same as before.

Target: "Lottie" [Human]

Vitality: 85%

"Help!" She shrieked more desperately as she dangled with her fingers wrapped around the metal grate.

Frozen in place, eX-0281 looked frantically between Lottie and the Disco Menace. If he wanted to do something given this encounter, he would need to act now.

The newfound freedom made him jittery. This was his first chance to be the hero for a change!

"I said we need to go," eX-0704 snapped whilst tugging at the top of his wing.

"We have no idea what we're doing," eX-0281 started to say hesitantly. A million questions raced through his head.

How do we escape the city?

Where are we going to go?

On top of all that, the environment was polluted outside of Grandesia's controlled air system. According to nature documentaries, the mere air was poisonous—never mind the slew of mutants that would pick them off like easy prey.

Can we even survive out there without refuge?

It was quite the fortuitous meeting to happen across the Disco Menace again. As such, eX-0281 quickly gained confidence in his bright idea. "They know what they're doing—how to do illegal stuff, how to stick it to the company. They'll help us if we help them!"

"You've got to be kidding me," eX-0704 said, exasperated. Before he could express his contempt for the plan, the Disco Menace had turned around.

She took notice of them, clutching the child protectively to her chest. "You two—how long have you just been standing there?"

eX-0281 stuck out his hands innocently first, and eX-0704 followed his lead. "We're here to help," he tried saying.

"I don't have time for this," the Disco Menace snapped. "Consider yourselves lucky that I'm not killing you!" Her last units of mana flowed into a [Charged Dash] as she tried to put as much distance between herself and them as possible.

"Follow her, 704." eX-0281 charged forward and performed a [Double Jump] with help of his wings. From there, he latched his claws onto the side of the research and development tower.

Even as eX-0704 dashed away, they could keep talking through the communication channel.

"Capture her for now," eX-0281 continued to say. "I'll meet up with you later once I have her friend." His intense eyes were focused upwards. Like that, he began to climb.

His blood pumped with adrenaline as he looked up to the stranger who he was trying to save. Other soldiers like himself readied their guns to fire at Lottie again.