Solo Cultivation in The Apocalypse

Reon gulped– Hitori could hear her swallowing the saliva. He looked at them and shook his head– she had not said anything yet.

The silence continued since the robots were not bothered about awkward silences at all. All Reon could say were the stutters and um, and ah, and uh.

"What do I do?" she muttered under her breath– the robot did not hear her, but Hitori did.

And to his surprise, he even replied her, "Tell it to…" It was not a walkie-talkie or Bluetooh. The enchantment was one-sided. It did not work on radio frequency or radio signals.

Hitori curled his lip and held it under his teeth. He was staring at the hallway in front of him, but his mind was focused on Reon– so much so that he even imagined Reon standing in the hallway. Then appeared the front desk and the robot behind.

Reon had the two guns on her both sides but then appeared the CCTV cameras around the corners and above the metal skeleton. He saw her gulp, then rub the sweat around her forehead.

Only if the image in front of him was real, he would have told her what to do. But the only thing between him and Reon was the one-sided enchantment.

The robot seemed to wait forever, not uncomfortable by the silence at all. And even though it was a robot, Reon was uncomfortable standing in silence.

Looking at her, Hitori said, "Just say something, Reon. Make any excuse and get away from that aluminum skeleton." A skeleton with two blue glowing eyes in the place of the eyes.

She put a stop to her hesitation and said, "You may check the CCTV footage. I have to meet my brother– I have waited so long for this… please. J-just check the CCTV and I will be back in a flash."

Kakashi banged his hand on the wall. "She just axed herself," he muttered.

Hitori ignored him but remembered Kyoryu's words. He glanced at Kyoryu, he seemed to be in some deep thinking.

"Is she serious? W-Why  would—"

"Do you have any better idea, Akira?" Hitori interrupted him. But, of course, he did not. So he just shook his head.

"It is alright, guys. She did the best she could. E-Even I can not think of a better response."

Kyoryu sighed. Hitori curiously turned his eyes to Kyoryu. "She is right…" he said. "The lady did the best she could. She did not have many options."

Others' opinions of you or your loved ones should not matter to you, but Kyoryu's (positive) opinion of Reon prompted Hitori to smile.

He heard the robot, and his smile grew wider than before. "Sorry, but our CCTV system had a problem last night. We do not have any footage since the last night."

That had two sides– she gets away, or she stays and finds another excuse. But Hitori considered the first (the positive) option and grinned.

"Why are you grinning?" Eya caught him grinning alone– so he told them.

And of course, Kyoryu and Kakashi's reactions were negative. They rolled their eyes, Kakashi groaned, and Kyoryu face-palmed. Eya was optimistic, though.

Hitori saw Reon sign in relief when he heard her breath. The image was clearer than ever. He thought her attempts at hiding the relieved smile were adorable.

"T-Then I will get going and you can—"

"Sorry, madame. You will need to show your identity proof."

Hitori banged his hand on the wall he was leaning against. The image of the robot started turning into a hairy being with big claws and brown hair all over the body. As if it was a monster from a sci-fi movie.

"What happened?" Akira asked.

Hitori did not want to snap out of the imagination, so he maintained eye contact and replied, "The robot's persistence. It wants an identity proof from her."

He heard a 'god damn', and if he could not recognize the voice, he would have not bothered to take a look. He was waiting to hear Reon's reply.

"What will you do, ma'am?"

As expected, she was speechless. "I, uh, I will—"

Suddenly, the intercoms in the hospital made the static screeching. Hitori jumped forward and Kakashi jumped away from the wall. Their hearts skipped a beat because this system did not exist on the other side.

"I request the attention of the surveillance team. I have an announcement for the surveillance team," said the voice on the intercom.

"You should shout in their ears, not ours," Akira groaned.

"The CCTV system is back online. We had a problem with it for the last twelve hours, but now we have an announcement to tell the patients and guards that the CCTV Surveillance is back online. I repeat…"

Hitori's eyes widened at the announcement. "Can anything get better?" he muttered.

Eya and Akira exchanged surprised glances, and Kakashi's mouth dropped open. Nothing better for this to be called rather than luck.

Reon cheered a 'yay' under her breath, but Hitori caught that. "Good?" she said. "You can check the footage while I check my brother."

The robot took its time but then agreed. "Okay, ma'am. If we encounter something suspicious, you will be contacted. But can you tell me your name so I can check for the instant?"

"No, do not tell him your name!" Kakashi turned and threw his hands.

"Reon," she said.

Hitori gulped and repeated the same to everyone. "They already knew her name, though," he said, "by her brother's name."

Hitori heard her footsteps as she receded. "Hitori, I hope you hear me. I am heading to the room, please hurry up. Take the stairs, since I am taking the elevator."

Hitori nodded to himself, then looked at them. "To room 273– we do not have much time, it would not long before the robot finds Reon is missing from the footage."

"Alright, but where are the stairs?" Eya asked.

Kyoryu pointed at the bright hallway on the right. "We ought to take a right turn then—"

"And Hitori." He heard Reon– she was not done yet.

Hitori raised his hand. "Wait for a second," he said. Kyoryu glanced, confused. But stayed quiet.

"Get the face masks around the corner. They have them near each staircase. But till then, cover your faces somehow. I am waiting!"

"Face masks, near the stairs," he said. "We do not want our faces on their cloud database, so cover them up."

He remembered he had interrupted Kyoryu and now he was looking at Eya to ask for a face mask– which she rejected to save her mana.

"Kyo-san, you know the way, so we will follow you," Hitori said with a slight smile.

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