章節 17: A sudden gift

Next morning, Ray woke up by getting kicked by a sleeping Yuki. He tried to move her and get some more sleep but couldn't as Yuki got back to her earlier position every time. Ray finally gave up, trying to sleep more, and got up.

He went to the restroom and washed his face. He got back, took out some canned beans, and went to the food court to heat it up. When Ray came back, he saw Yuki was already awake and sitting on the bed.

He called Yuki, "Yuki, come on. Breakfast is ready."

Yuki asked in a drowsy voice, "What's for breakfast?"

"Canned baked beans and beef jerky."

Hearing the word, beef, Yuki's sleep disappeared in a second.

She jumped out of the bed and ran to Ray. "Come on. What are we waiting for? Let's eat."

Ray chuckled and turned around to go to the food court. They sat at the same table they had cleaned up the day before and ate the food. After they were done, Ray said, "We should start moving soon."

Yuki replied, "Yes. What's our path?"

Ray takes out a map from his bag and spreads it on the table. Ray pointed to Kabul and said, "We're now here." Then he slid his finger on the Kharkiv region and said, "Our goal is to reach somewhere here."

Yuki said, "Ok. But how will we proceed?"

Ray holds his chin and thinks. After a while, he said, "We could try this route." He slid his finger on the map. As he did, he said, "We could follow these two routes. We could either go through Iran, Azarbaijan then Georgia. Or we could go through Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan."

Yuki said, "Let's follow the first route. It feels like a better route."

He said, "In this route, there's supposed to be three medium-sized nests. We can reach our destination while clearing these nests. It will help us in training while we progress. Yuki was looking a bit sceptical.

She said, "The idea is great, but are you sure just the two of us can clear medium-sized nests? They would have at least 150 entomorphs. While we're just a Jaeger minus an arm and his spirit."

Ray said, "With proper planning and preparation, I believe we can."

A bright smile appeared on Ray's face. Yuki was still not convinced, but she couldn't bring herself to oppose Ray's ambition.

She says, "OK. But don't you dare try to be a hero. We'd go in with a proper plan and preparation, and if it still seems that we might lose, we're not going to attack. OK?"

Ray said, "OK. Agreed. Let's move out then. We've spent more time in here than we should have."

Yuki raised her paw and said, "Let's go."

Just then, suddenly a faint whirring sound is heard, and both Ray and Yuki get on their guard. A drone entered the food court. There was a small box attached to it. It stopped in front of Ray. Suddenly a small hologram of Mrs. Karim appeared in front of him. Ray curiously looked at the hologram. His guard was down. The hologram started talking.

"Ray, I heard that you escaped from the hospital. I don't know where you've gone or what you've taken with you, but I know you'll be safe. You have to be. In this box, I've sent you some things you may need to survive. These things should help you survive in there. And I've also started a case to prove your innocence. I swear I'll do it. Whatever it takes. Stay safe."

The hologram disappears, the box drops to the ground, and the drone explodes after getting a little far. Yuki looked at Ray and saw tears in his eyes. Yuki slowly got close to Ray and started rubbing her body against his legs as a try to comfort him.

Feeling Yuki close to her legs, Ray woke up. He wiped his tears and went ahead. He got close to the box and picked it up. After looking at it for a moment, he went and put it on a table.

Yuki got up and sat next to the box. Ray looked at Yuki and opened the box. The box had some dry food, clothes and a tablet with a solar charger.

But the most important thing—the thing that made both of them smile—was a metallic device. It was a round, cylinder-shaped device with a leather strap. Ray picked the device up and, after inspecting it, put it on his right shoulder.

There was a small syringe in the box. He took it and carefully injected the liquid in his veins.

After waiting a few moments, Ray felt something. He tried, and suddenly the cylindrical device started to transform. In a moment, the device turned into a hand. Ray tried the hand out by grabbing the tablet, moving the hand and doing some other basic movements.

Ray looked towards Yuki and smiled with excitement. He said, "Yuki, I got it. I've got a hand."

Yuki smiled, "Yes, master. We can fight with our full potential again."

Ray picked up the tablet and started looking for news about everything that had been going on in the last week.

"Fourteen young prodigy trainee Jaegers killed by their fellow trainee."

"Killer trainee sentenced to execution; tension rises in the barracks."

"Killer trainee escapes to the wastelands with the help of his spirit."

"He won't be able to stay alive in there for long. So, we decided to stop the search. - Sgt. Sajjad Hossain."

"The only trainee survivor of the Delhi incident was transported to Lost Eden for further treatment."

"Case filed against Jaeger Corps SA Branch by Advocate Mrs. Sayera Karim; claims the killer Jaeger was innocent."

"The Jaeger police ordered to make a 10-man investigation squad by the high court. Ordered to submit final report on Delhi incident within 14 business days."

Yuki said, "Looks like they kept your identity hidden from the public."

Ray replied, "Yes. Sgt. Hossain has kept his word too... Let's leave. I've got something to look forward to now."

Yuki smiled as she thought, "Master, finally I see you genuinely smiling again."