The giant robot, Progression Series Mark Three, kept shooting at the monster, keeping it at bay while we ran towards what looked like an armored car. From my vantage point, which was admittedly not that good, the shots didn’t actually seem to do any major damage to the creature.

“Jacob.” whispered Mr Chris as we sat in the backseat alongside Henry, the two soldiers having taken the front positions. “Text your friends. Say goodbye. For now.”

“But I don’t understand why?”

Henry sighed. “Do you understand how the Progression Series works Jacob?”

“Two pilots in perfect synchronization must use it. Controlling a machine like that is very hard, but they are so powerful it ends up being beneficial. They are our greatest weapons.” I said to the man, looking back at the battlefield that used to be my home.

Mark Three stopped firing at the beast, the guns disconnecting and dropping from its shoulders. My jaw dropped as I saw it raise its arms and strike at the creature with so much power I could almost physically feel it even though I was getting further and further away from the scene.

The machine kept on pounding at the monster non-stop. In spite of its impressive physique and multiple appendages, the beast seemed unable to fight back against the barrage of attacks from Mark Three. It just kept on hitting its enemy while said enemy wasn't doing anything. I felt a chill run down my spine as I watched the brutal scene, and it wasn’t because of the cold. Well, not just because of the cold.

Although as I thought about it, I unconsciously began shivering a little. As the tension subsided, I began to feel the weather’s effects. I was wearing nothing but my pajamas and the weather was so cold that fog was gathering around my mouth whenever I breathed.

Mr Chris put his coat around me. I hadn’t even noticed the fact that he was wearing one in the rush of the day.

“Heraklion will always be your home. And I will always be here, as will your friends.” said the blonde man reassuringly. I tried to protest and insist that he take his coat back but he beat me to it, “I will not accept your taking this off. It’s too cold for you to be in your bloody pajamas.”

“So Jacob,” said Henry, still clutching his left arm. “What do you think about ‘our greatest weapon’?”

A few minutes ago I'd be gushing. But just something about that fight felt wrong. I'd never seen any Progression Series models up close before and I always assumed it'd be great when I did. Piloting one of those things, alongside some stranger was going to be the reason I gave up my life?

Sure, I wasn’t exactly living the high life here. I lived far away which meant that even now my interactions with my friends, all two of them, were rather limited and Mr Chris, really the only other person that would miss me, was telling me to go, albeit reluctantly.

Plus, I’d get to see my father again. Granted, ‘again’ didn’t exactly fit here. I didn’t remember ever meeting the man. What if he turned out to not be worth my giving up everything in order to meet him and asnwer his call? After all this was the man that had all but abandoned me.

“I-my father.” I said, unsure of my words. “What’s he like?”

Henry smiled. “Brilliant. He truly is brilliant, if a bit paranoid. He developed the Synchronization Tests and the neural interface, a delicate system that turned fiction into reality.”

I frowned at the man’s explanations. I didn’t want to know about that. I couldn’t care less. The nerdy side of me was excited to see how everything behind the Progression Series worked but even that was greatly diminished. I couldn’t care less about my dad’s accomplishments.

“But what is he like?” I insisted, looking in Henry’s eyes.

“You’ll meet him soon enough.” responded the blond haired man with a frown on his face. “Anything I say now will make you biased towards him. For better or for worse.”

Once again our conversation was interrupted, this time by a phone call that Henry hurried to pick up. “Commander.” He spoke in perfect English, a language I thankfully understood. As he started going over what happened in meticulous detail, I found myself beginning to lose interest. Eavesdropping wasn’t something I liked doing anyway.

I sighed and rested my head on the back of the seat. After a few moments I began to fall asleep in the vehicle.

A few seconds later I heard Mr Chris’s voice awaken me. The first thing I noticed was that it was significantly colder now, and that Henry was no longer inside the car. As we left the vehicle I saw the Venetian for in front of me. “Koules?” I questioned. How long was I asleep for? And why did we stop here of all places? We were practically on the sea and the cold was unbearable even if it had stopped snowing.

“We stopped because Henry had to meet up with someone.” the older man’s expression slowly turned into one of sadness. “And because this is where I leave you.”

No. But I was supposed to go and say goodbye to people, to the city, to just-just have a moment. Wasn’t that how these things went?

“But what about George and Michael? What about-”

“Jacob. Au revoir. Do you remember what it means?” said Mr Chris as he looked at me.

“I wasn’t the best at French, but this is an easy one.” I laughed, bitterly. “It means ‘until we meet again’.”

“Well then, au revoir Jacob. You don’t have the time now, so I’ll make sure you get the chance to talk to your friends. I’m sure your father will let you do so. What kind of a man would he be if he didn’t?” smiled Mr Chris as he began leaving towards the city.

“Mr Chris!” I shouted at him. As he looked back at me, I tried to figure out what to say. “Au revoir.” I said, in probably terrible, French.

“Αυτό ήμ-ουν χαλιά.” I heard a distinctly feminine voice speak next to me. It was clearly trying to sound Greek, but it just sounded awful. Turning to the sound of the voice I saw a light brown haired, pale girl around my age accompanying Henry. Her deep blue eyes shining with curiosity as she stared me up and down. She was also clearly very cold, as she was wearing a heavy green coat, gloves, and even a scarf, yet she still shivered.

Not that I blamed her, it was a pretty terrible day.

“Benehmen Sie sich, Kind und sich entschuldigen.” said the man, sounding exasperated with the girl next to him. Granted I understood only about twenty percent of the sentence he spoke, but his general demeanor seemed to be enough of an indicator.

“Henry. What’s-who is she?” I said timidly to the man in Greek. With Mr Chris gone Henry was the only familiar face I had even if I’d just met him not even an hour ago and he was the man that was taking me out of my home.

“Can you speak English Jacob?” asked Henry as he pinched the bridge of his nose. At my nod he seemed to relax a little, smiling as he switched to the language. “Introduce yourselves you two. Use English for now.”

“Hi.” I said lamely, switching to the language. Truth be told, I wasn’t in the mood to talk to anyone. My whole world got turned on its head, and I was about to move to God-knows-where. This sucked. “I’m Jacob. Jacob Lekkas. Nice to meet you.”

I swore I heard the girl actually ‘pfft’ at me as she placed her hands on her hips, smirking at me. “You’re looking at Louisa Annelie Beckenbauer. Future pilot of the Prog-progress-” she mumbled something in German as she struggled with the word, “-Progression Series: Mark Nine. Nice entrance, huh?” she said as she tried to

At the mention of the robot I felt the hairs on the entirety of my body stand to attention-even more so than they were before. Mark Three’s battle flashed through my head. I had seen videos of such battles before, be they against monsters or enemy mechs. But seeing it up close was terrifying.

And this was to be my co-pilot. This theatrical person of my age was the one I’d share that struggle with.

At least it wasn’t snowing anymore.