“L—Lukas don’t touch that!”

His mother’s shouts came too late. That was the first time Lukas had ever felt the pain of electrocution by an exposed capacitor. And it was also the first time he had ever been admitted to the hospital of Kitzkirchen.

“Seriously Lukas. Spending the day before we’re supposed to go to the Science and Engineering Conference at a hospital… was not something your father and I planned for.” His mother pinched the bridge of her nose—a habit she developed when things catch her off guard.

“I know! I know! I’m sorry, okay?”

“Sorry? You could’ve seriously hurt yourself! What were you doing in our lab anyways? Snooping around and tossing wires everywhere!”

“I was just curious! You guys never once told me anything about that ‘insane project’ dad boasted about!”

“That’s because—!” She paused. “That’s because…”

“What huh? You two are always keeping secrets from me… And I just want to learn more about what you guys do!”

It wasn’t the first time he had tried to learn more. Dozens of times as a child he sneaked into their studio to tinker with sharp tools and scraps of metal that could easily cut him. And dozens of times did he get chastised for his curiosity.

“It’ll be pitiful of me to lay the blame on our contract work that discourages us from sharing project details…” She knelt down to the bed, caressing her son’s hand. “But we never once did home experiments in our free time, did we?”

“Experiments? Like what?”

“Hmm… Let’s see.” She looked around the room. Her eyes landed on a bud of the potted hibiscus next to the hospital bed. She smiled as she walked up to it and picked up the pot. “Flowers blossom in order to spread their love to others. In a way they are a portal to their inner lives, a hand they are reaching out.”

Lukas felt a pressure emanating from his mother. It was a strange sensation he would feel occasionally from their lab, but never to the extent that he was feeling now.

“But the reverse can be true. Curious bees swarm to these flowers in search of nectar.”

That was when the flower blossomed. Its petals curled out, revealing a brilliant shade of lavender purple. Such a feat would’ve already filled him with amazement, but then the flower’s central stem emitted a faint white light, steadily growing in luminosity.

“Maybe it's not so different from you, Lukas.”

A light show. Shades of hues dispersed from the flower, filling the room with flickering orbs that swayed across the room. “Wha… Wow…” The once white walls were suddenly adorned with color casted by the sea of lights. It was a sight that Lukas had never seen before.

Seeing the awe in his eyes, Lukas’s mother patted his head. “But I guess that means we have a curious kid.” She blinked then opened her mouth as if a sudden thought occurred to her. “Hey… How about we all go to SEC tomorrow?”

That light show was the first and last time his mother had finally shown him another world.

・・・・・

Kitzkirchen’s roads were packed. The once quiet and peaceful town square Lukas knew and loved has been transformed into a bustling metropolis of innovation.

The Science and Engineering Conference, at least in his eyes, was more so a convention, hosting new products and technologies that the best minds had developed all across the region. Stalls with glowing banners advertised their latest research or products that fought for people’s attention in the hopes of getting more funding. The crowds bumping shoulders with him as they rushed to the next breakthrough technology were a testament to that. The constant ‘excuse me’ and ‘pardon me’ didn’t bother Lukas. He was also utterly mesmerized by what he had seen thus far.

Looking around, he spotted the SALL.AR banner above a booth where his parents were to showcase their own research. As always, they were rummaging through boxes of gadgets a bit later than they were recommended to. Their panel wouldn’t start until an hour later, but the staff didn’t want last minute issues that might come up. The staff, unfortunately, had no way of knowing their poor time management skills. While his parents were busy scrambling to get their panel ready, Lukas had all the time to take in the technological sights.

“Hurry up already, dang it.”

Lukas rubbed his arm. Even though he was having the time of his life, there was an invisible knot in his stomach that tightened every time he laid eyes on some gadget. He remembered it well. It was that same pressure that had poured from his mother yesterday which pricked his skin. Was he sick? Was it the barrage of information coming at him? No, the feeling wouldn’t have appeared and disappeared every time he stepped near some robot arm or hologram showcasing.

The heck did my mom do? He shook his head and turned around. Screw it. Not that it matters. I gotta check more stuff out!

Just before Lukas could wander back into the unknown, a voice emanated from behind.

“Hey Lukas catch!”

He looked over his shoulder and was immediately met with abject shock. The shadow hurtling towards him came from the same direction of the shout.

“Woah—!”

Just before whatever projectile could collide with its head, the shadow’s momentum instantly dropped. It stopped mere inches away from his face. Lukas opened his eyes to a spherical robot with glowing blue eyes staring back.

Huh. Guess I shouldn’t be surprised to see a floating robot here—

“A pleasure to meet your acquaintance.”

“Wah!” His rear end collided with the hard cement. “It—It talks!?”

“Indeed. I can also maintain flight, conjure items, and other tasks that you see fit.”

For a while he sat there, not saying a word. Then Lukas blinked twice and cleared his throat. “‘Scuse me for a second.”

“By all means.”

He got up, patted his pants from dust, then shouted. “Dad what the heeeeeck?!” He stormed to his parents’ panel, ignoring the fact that the machine was floating along with him. Some onlookers curiously glanced but shifted their attention back to the show once they saw a rowdy kid.

“And there's your boy.” A tall, buff man in uniform patted his father’s back as Lukas brought his hands to his knees, catching his breath.

“Hey son, how are you liking our contribution to SEC?”

“You…You’re telling me you had a talking robot in your lab this entire time?!”

“I’m not just a talking robot. I am a robot companion made to serve—”

“This is… freaking cool!”

“No swearing swearing on my watch. Not even a partial one.” it said, wagging one of its three-prong fingers.

“He’s got a lot of spunk doesn’t he?” The uniform man said. “Maybe he would have benefited from the knowledge of Aoi after all? Sall.AR seems to be treating him very nicely.”

“General Armstrong…” His father said. “Sall.AR will not operate unless a steady stream of Aoi is constantly supplying it. Even then, it’s a prototype. Who knows how much service it’ll need throughout the show, let alone Lukas keeping it.”

“And? How should that detract him from your work? You got a fine young man to be interested in this type of stuff.” Armstrong pointed behind him. “Well… the Chordian navy has a showcasing of our own. I can take all three of you to a VIP tour of a new Yorktown class carrier in the works?”

“Are the navy so eager to demonstrate their technology that they would reveal military secrets? Don’t lead us to a pub with Lukas not even close to the drinking age.”

“Thwarted yet again.”

Having given out that rebuttal, Lukas’s father flashed Armstrong a smirk. They couldn’t have gone one day without throwing banter at each other, or tricking the other into drinking. The two were childhood friends and abided by that fact.

“Dear, this box isn't going to unpack itself. Give me a hand!” A shout from Lukas’s mother behind the curtain backstage.

“Dear, this box isn't going to unpack itself. Give me a hand!” A shout from Lukas’s mother behind the curtain backstage.

“That’s gotta be the shells.”

As he watched his father and the general disappear behind the curtain, a breeze brought goosebumps on Lukas’s arms.

Should’ve brought a jacket.

“Don’t suppose you got a hand warmer function… um…”

“Sall.AR.”

“Sal… what?”

“Sall.AR. The name given to me by your parents. A name that rolls off the tongue if I do say so myself. Or speaker should I say?”

“Whatever, you got a built-in heater?”

“Perhaps in my next iteration.”

It was nighttime after all and he only brought a simple button-up shirt and slacks to the convention. But to his credit, his light attire was due to the forecast predicting warm, humid weather throughout the night.

Maybe they can learn a thing or two by going to SEC.

Before he could dwell on the forecaster’s shortcomings, Lukas felt a pat on his head.

“A token of my appreciation.” Lukas looked up to see his mother’s beaming smile. “This probably isn’t enough to make up for all of the times I kicked you out of our lab, but I hope you’re having fun.”

“I’m having a blast.”

“Honestly son—” His father walked up, patting his hands off the dust. “—this may be sudden, but do you want to attend engineering school?”

“Huh? Err…” That question made Lukas’s gaze fall to the floor. He never put much thought into the distant future. Quite honestly, his grades weren’t up to par as he’d like, but he did put in enough effort to pass subjects. School felt hollow compared to learning through the outside.

“That was rather sudden, dear.” His mother said. “We’re supposed to be having fun here. And plus, Lukas only just reached secondary school.”

“It’s like mom said. Working for a corporation that tells you what to do doesn’t sound fun.”

“Well that’s a bad way of thinking about it.” His father’s eyes drifted around the multitude of attractions in the floor space. “The way I had in mind… is to see the type of world that we see.”

That was the first time his father shed a new light on his education. If this convention was just a slice of that world, then Lukas had every reason to care. Maybe this line of work wasn’t so bad.

“Haha! What a bright future you three have!” General Armstrong crossed his arms and flashed a grin. “Can’t wait to see Lukas all grown up. The day I see him with a wife and kids of his own is the day I can end my service and become that cool grandpa.”

His father returned the smile. “Thanks, Armstrong—”

A scream rang out from behind, causing all four to jump. Then another. The next moment, a flurry of people rushed away from the center of the square. Some pushed down onlookers while others got caught in the scramble, but the flurry all originated from the town square’s center. That was when a siren blared.

“A—Armstrong, what is happening?” Lukas’s father asked, visibly shaken.

“Eduard, Amalia, get your kid and run! There should be an evacuation train west of here! Get to it and don’t look back!” The general shouted at a moment's notice. He noticeably bit his lip, a glint of red sprouted at the corner of his mouth. “They have the balls to attack a public event? Tch.”

“B—But what about the convention?” Lukas asked, but was immediately shut down by Armstrong’s glare.

“The show is canceled. And there won’t be a make-up one for the foreseeable future.”

The cold grew exponentially worse. Looking around the stalls, protrusions of ice began manifesting underneath overhangs. A sizzling cold pressed onto his nose as white particles of snow fell from the sky. His father took his arm, but Lukas stayed his ground. He didn’t understand. The sights… the people… the innovation…

The things I haven’t seen yet.

“What are you three doing?! I’m telling you to go!”

That pressure that he felt all night, shot abruptly from Armstrong. Pounding waves sent as many chills into his skin as the cold had. The general faced the direction where the people ran from—where the coldness proliferated.

“We have to go, Lukas!” Lukas’s father pulled him out of his spell. “C’mon!”

And then they ran into the depths of the crowd. Armstrong pulling out his pistol was the last thing Lukas ever saw of him.

“Run—! Run faster son!”

More screams, more running, more cold. It was that point where he took notice of the smell of blood. That haunting sensation in his nose stung like the shock from that capacitor.

“M—Mom?! What’s going on?! Why… is snow falling?”

She pinched the bridge of her nose, but brought her hand down and took Lukas’s. “You’ve nothing to worry about. Everything will be okay.”

They finally spotted the evacuation train above the grassy hilltop. Though the grass has been trampled by the horde of people shoving their way into the train, Lukas’s family felt crunches of solidified moisture of the dirt as they climbed up the hill. From there, they saw that the conditions were far worse than they imagined.

The windows of the train were visibly being pressed by clothes and bags of people. All the while the flow of people entering the door slowed down considerably by the second. Engineers, Scientists, journalists, photographers, locals, kids, wives, husbands. They all fought for their lives.

“Mommy, I’m scared!”

“Don’t worry dear!”

“My processors… my work…”

“Forget about your work! We have to get on!”

“Outta my way!”

“Give me some damn space!”

“Can we at least fit the children?!”

“Lukas, grab onto Sall.AR! In here!”

Before he knew it, Lukas felt himself being shoved through the train’s cabin doors and into the backs of strangers. His foot was one inch away from the outside, and Sall.AR, with its spherical body, barely snuck behind the caution line. That was when he noticed the robot had ceased operation, unmoving or speaking. It hadn’t said a single word so he didn’t realize it had been following them, but now in his hands was a cold hunk of metal. He looked up to see his parents merely standing outside the train.

A moment of derealization skipped time to where he stood. One moment he was staring at the mob of people fighting to enter the narrow entryways, and the next moment, he was in it and looking at the resigned faces of his mother and father.

“Wha—!” Lukas clenched Sall.AR harder. “What are you guys doing?! Get in!”

But they didn’t move. Instead, they both looked at each other, then back to their son. They both took a step forward, their arms crossing the door to cup Lukas’s cheeks. The sheer frigidness immediately melted away as the warmth of their palms took over.

“We’ve always loved you son. Don’t let anything tell you otherwise.”

“Dad—”

The engine roared. The train noticeably vibrated.

“Please keep that curiosity free and ever-exploring. Don’t let people chain you up. You are free to explore what this world offers.”

“Mom—”

As fast as their pleas reached him, the doors slid shut and the whistle blared for takeoff.

・・・・・

Oh… I guess keeping things a secret from Mira makes me a hypocrite…

"You idiot."

“Yeouch!”

Sall.AR’s bonk to Lukas’s head signaled to him that it didn’t support the ore/shell secret that he kept nor the plan to retake his emblem. “Kazeru will NOT be pleased with this.”

And that also applies to them.

As he rubbed the spot that his bot struck him, the man who had offered him assistance in finding his ‘lost’ emblem looked back curiously. “The new shell seems to be treating you well. How are you liking it? Does it suit your tastes?”

“Never mind that. You sure my emblem is in this mountain area?” Lukas asked, dodging both his question and another bonk.

“Kid, you got trust issues or something?”

Drowze, of course, had said he heard a metallic chime near earlier that morning and offered to excavate it, somehow concluding that it was Lukas’s emblem. The two hiked through the rocky terrain with this hole-filled story in mind.

“I’m asking if my emblem is here or not.”

“A pesky one, aren’t ya? Hey, we’re business partners, right?” Drowze said without so much of a glance. “I saw something green but I didn’t bother picking it up when I passed through.”

Lukas gritted his teeth. He knew that wasn’t the case. The path that they were walking towards led to a cliffside that surrounded a small valley from all sides except from the entrance—a dead end in every way. No matter how you put it, ‘Passing through’ was impossible. Thanks to the grueling training under Master Kazeru, he knew this area like the back of his hand.

Going up to ask the man who repeatedly ripped him off for another request already made Lukas want to bite his tongue off. But hearing his exuberant confidence throughout the path just about sealed his ability to speak.

“How long have you been doing business with Lukas here, Mr. Drowze?” Sall.AR asked, breaking the tension between them.

“Ever since we first met, of course. I thought you would know that already, Mr. Flying Bot? You were there when I handed you a new shell.”

“And that event is still in my memory banks. But I had imagined that was the last time you two conversed.”

“Ever wondered how you were getting new shells every month?”

“A trivial matter.” Sall.AR drew close. “I trust in Lukas no matter the evidence against him.”

Those words brought back memories of that cold night. He stared at the ground.

Meanwhile, Drowze grinned. “He is a valued shareholder after all.”

And as expected, not too long later they reached the aforementioned cliff walls that quickly overshadowed the three. It was exactly as Lukas remembered the last time he and Kazeru sparred, sparse rocks and little footprints—meaning there hasn’t been a trickle of activity since then.

Drowze gazed up at the edges and let out a deep sigh. “Sorry kiddo. Seems we reached a dead end.” He ran through his hair. “Must’ve made a wrong turn.”

“No kidding. I don’t remember passing by a freakin’ cliff.” Lukas muttered nonchalantly.

“...Man, did I pick a hell of a turn back there. Sorry kiddo. Your lost emblem? Definitely not here.” A chuckle. “This world ain’t so nice as to hand you everything you want on a silver platter.” Drowze reached into his shirtpocket, but before he could pull anything out, Lukas spoke.

“Yeah, kinda figured. So you would lie about this type of thing too.” He put a hand on his bokuto’s grip, narrowing his eyes in scrutiny. “You pulled a fast one on us, didn’t you?”

“—Hey. Hey. That’s bona fide reality we’re talking about.”

“Obfuscating the truth doesn’t bring merit in your words.” Sall.AR intervened.

Drowze sneered at the bot. A bold proclamation. But in response, he brought out a green circular object that shined against the overhead sun—Lukas’s emblem.

“...Hah, so you knew. So what if I did?”

“Then I’ll use force.” With one hand, Lukas brought his wooden sword center and pointed it at him. “Sall.AR. Activate Ki Mode.”

“Accessing SALLAR records. Complete. Transferring protocols. Success. Commencing Niten Ichi-ryū.”

Sall.AR held out its cylindrical arm, and within its three-pronged hand conjured a bokuto of its own. The two-handed sword technique Master Kazeru developed was out of his skill-level, but halving that difficulty allowed Lukas to lay a finger on the pedestal the former Samurai stood upon.

At the sight of the two aiming their wooden swords at him, Drowze quickly returned the emblem back into his pocket. “Nice magic trick, but what are some puny sticks gonna do?” He, on the other hand, reached behind his back and drew out his own concealed weapon: a metal bat. “If we’re gonna play that game then you better expect some losses.”

Lukas gripped his bokuto tighter. The time to put his relentless training into practice was now. In order to take back the emblem Kazeru had given him—no, to free the chains holding his past captive, he required the use of his technique.

Niten Ichi-ryū

“Let’s do this, Sall.AR!”

“Ki!”

The sound of wind howled forward. Lukas sprinted low while the bot flew high, rearing back their bokutos. Seeing this, Drowze aimed for the bot which he deemed to be the most dangerous. He swung, but—

Sall.AR zoomed upwards out of his bat’s reach. While that move conversely caused Drowze to go out of its bokuto’s range, it didn’t limit Lukas’s approach.

“Tch!”

His bokuto landed right in Drowze’s knee. As the man doubled over, Lukas went for another strike, but this time getting blocked by his bat. Pressing forward had no use; his raw strength paled in comparison to the man in his prime years. Lukas couldn’t move his bokuto, but that also worked both ways. A stalemate was what he wanted in order to distract Drowze long enough for a sucker punch. Sall.AR struck Drowze’s shoulder.

“Ghh!”

An autonomous support unit to assist the impaired. That was the purpose in mind when Lukas’s parents developed Sall.AR, but Armstrong saw other potentials in its applications. Boasting impressive learning capabilities allowed for adaptive decision making—an ability paramount to warfare. Learning the optimal route to assist personnel by performing reconnaissance, retrieving items, but most importantly, doing battle.

“Two can play that game, kid.”

Drowze jumped back, and immediately sweeped the air. Sall.AR’s optical sensor swayed. The incoming rock enforced evasive maneuvers, rolling out of the way. However—

“Watch out!”

Drowze’s downward swing barely scraped Sall.AR’s outer shell. Gliding back to Lukas’s shoulder, he let out a huge breath.

“Ki…!”

Its fuselage was weak. That was Sall.AR’s only weakness and the visible scratch from Drowze’s strike made him remember that. He had initially wanted to end the battle without sustaining injuries, but this battle proved to start on awkward footing.

It seemed Drowze’s recovery from that swing lasted longer than he wanted. His feet juggling between the rocks beneath them until they finally reached a stable position. The awkward footing also applied to him as well. It was why Lukas quickly agreed to ‘search’ this valley when Drowze had suggested it. The overwhelming advantage of training on said rocky footing allowed a trickle of confidence to fuel his Aoi.

Lukas and Sall.AR rushed forward again, and Drowze readied his bat, seemingly unphased and learned of their attack pattern. Coordinate with Sall.AR! Not only Kazeru’s drilling of that notion meant coordinating their movements, but also coordinating the Aoi within himself and to Sall.AR. The steady stream allowed for even greater movement—as if the wind carried their bodies. They split. Drowze’s eyes widened as he watched the two arc towards both his sides. An incoming pincer attack.

He quickly crouched and grabbed a handful of rocks, sent them upwards, then batted. The shower of pebbles rained down all 180 degrees, encapsulating him in a barrier that also served as a wide attack. There was no way to dodge. It should easily break their formation for him to finish the deal. And yet.

“The hell are these movements?!”

Refined technique can overcome even the most brute strengths. Those were the principles of swordsmanship that Kazeru instilled in him. Lukas and Sall.AR eyed each individual rock, and knocked the right ones away, leaving them unscathed.

Drowze scraped the ground again, then batted. But it was no use. Lukas either bent his body out of the way or returned the pitches, and Sall.AR copied his movements using its propeller system. Ducking, weaving, attacking. The simple process that allowed Lukas to use his low height and Sall.AR’s high altitude to overcome the barrages of stones. The next moment, Drowze felt weightless.

“—Urk!”

The stinging of the two’s strikes stopped him from seeing the crevasse that his foot dug into, and Drowze subsequently fell on the rocky footing. He sluggishly moved to a sitting position, but not before seeing the two tips of their bokutos aimed at his face.

“You’ve lost. Now hand it back.”

“Ki.”

Is it… Is it really over? Can we finally send this dude and his shitty business back to Chordia? The bokuto swayed in his hands. Can we finally get these chains off of us?

Kazeru would be furious. And the nights without food would be hell, but at least he could get this man out of his hair and find better means of maintaining Sall.AR’s components.

“I know how to knock people unconscious. Samurais are the real deal.”

With Lukas and Sall.AR now towering over him in opposite directions, he watched as Drowze closed his eyes and raised both hands. “Alright alright, I admit defeat. You can have it back.”

The man reached into his shirtpocket—then proceeded to fling its contents upwards into the sky. Caught off guard, the two silhouettes by the sun prompted Lukas to scramble and catch the one trajecting towards his head. The moment he did, however, he immediately noticed its texture which felt too coarse to be a polished emblem. Lukas looked down. A nondescript rock rested neatly in his palm.

“The heck is this—”

“What? Did you think it was gonna be that easy?”

Having caught the other object, Lukas recognized the object in Drowze's hand—a flip phone. He cracked it open, and pressed its central button.

“Ki! Kiiii!”

After caring for the bot for years, Lukas slowly came to understand Sall.AR’s signals in Ki Mode. At least that was what he’d like to think, but this moment would add credibility to that belief. Though, at the worst possible time.

“I’m picking up fluctuations in the surrounding space! 9 o'clock, 3 o'clock, 12 o’clock…”

“This reading…” Lukas gulped. “Hostiles… in all directions?”

Immediately the sound of a ring above the cliff walls made Lukas pale, and the next moment, countless shadows poured over the walls. Men of varying ages—all unkempt in their ragged clothing and overgrown hair—approached the two. Most if not all carried weapons, some weapons considered far more dangerous than a metal bat.

“—Urk! That hurt kid, that really hurt.” Drowze lifted himself up holding his head. He hacked a spit to the ground, cracking his neck. “But hey, it’s exactly like I said. Two can play that game. Did you think you were the one with tech in this rustic place?”

“Really shoulda gave us the signal earlier, bossman. You got beat up by a kid.” One of the lackeys said as he strided his way next to Drowze’s shoulder.

“Yeah? Well here’s the signal. Have at him.”

At that moment, Mira’s warning flashed in Lukas’s mind as the men’s bloodlust-seeped gazes froze his core.

“I trust it goes without saying, but don’t get into trouble.”

Really, all he wanted was to make the best possible iteration of Sall.AR. Whether that be installing the best armaments he could get his hands on or instilling the martial art of a former Samurai’s swordsmanship in its protocols, he wanted to raise that bar as far as possible. But sometimes getting carried away with that goal has led Lukas into some… unfavorable situations. “Is it too late to talk this out?”

Drowze grinned. “They say it’s never too late in the slums.”