Last Savior

Aurelia had been staring at the stasis capsule ever since she entered Room #14, as though she'd noticed the little white mouse inside before Lucas did. At his call, she walked over and stood in front of the tall cylinder. After a moment's thought, she said, "My database doesn't have any relevant info on this… but my core software seems to understand how this thing works… that's odd." With that, she gently placed both palms against the outside of the capsule.

The entire stasis tank gave a sudden lurch, like someone had shoved it with massive force. The greenish fluid inside immediately started bubbling fiercely, as though someone had just tossed in a can of pressurized gas.

Lucas hastily jumped back, then rushed to Aurelia's side. "Watch out! If that thing tips over, it might crush you!"

Aurelia didn't answer. Her eyes flickered as though she'd entered some special state. The roiling liquid quickly started to drain, as if being carried away by the air. Within moments, the water level dropped visibly, hinting at some mechanism at the bottom that was siphoning it out.

Following Aurelia's lead, Lucas pressed a hand to the outside surface. It was still cold, just glass to the touch, which reassured him. At least it wasn't actually boiling. Now he only needed to worry whether the mouse inside was alive, not whether it was getting cooked.

As the water level continued falling, a small hatch at the bottom of the tank came into view. Lucas fumbled around to unlock the stasis capsule, fished out the little white mouse from the green fluid, and scooped it gently into his hands. He was so emotional he nearly started crying all over again—this was the gift Old Gadget had left him, a brand-new little life!

Even if Lucas had no clue what this tiny creature could do for him, he was at least no longer alone. To him, that made Old Gadget's gift worth a fortune—solitude was the thing he feared most in this strange new world.

For some reason, Aurelia still stood there with her palms pressed against the capsule, apparently continuing to probe something inside. But Lucas was so busy gazing at the mouse in his hand that he failed to notice anything unusual about her.

Under his expectant stare, the little mouse soon woke up. Round, beady eyes blinked at him, not even slightly shy, stretching casually in his palm to shake off some of the droplets.

Lucas looked at it with anticipation. "Uh… hey, little guy, can you understand what I'm saying?"

"Squeak…"

"…Right. Okay. Can you speak English? Bonjour? Nihao? Moshi moshi?"

"Squeak… squeak-squeak…"

It seemed like nothing more than an ordinary mouse for now.

A bit disappointed, Lucas tucked the mouse into his jacket pocket, dropping a few dried nuts in there, too. Gently stroking its fuzzy back with one finger, he murmured, "Listen, little buddy, I don't know what kinda special powers you might have, or what your connection to the old man might be. But if Old Gadget entrusted you to me, I promise I'll take good care of you. So… let's give you a name. 'Jerry'—yeah, that's pretty famous."

"Squeak-squeak…" The newly christened "Jerry" poked its head out, squeaking once while clutching a pistachio to nibble on.

Right then, a huge boom echoed overhead, like a muffled explosion going off above the shelter. That was followed by violent shaking as the ground seized beneath their feet!

Caught off guard, Lucas toppled flat on his face.

"What the hell was that, a dinosaur stomping around underground?! Did I just release a little mouse, or an Ultraman?" He scrambled upright, glancing around in confusion. The tank still stood strong, and Aurelia seemed almost stuck to the capsule's outer wall without reacting to the quake—so probably this tremor wasn't triggered by the mouse's release.

Lucas scratched his head, talking to himself, "Can't be an earthquake, right? I mean, the Noah folks wouldn't be dumb enough to build a research lab on a fault line, would they? Unless…"

A sharp, furious shout erased his lingering doubts:

"Hey, you big gorilla—get the hell out here! I'm back in full armor, and I want a rematch! I don't care if you're Number Thirteen or whatever you are—I'm gonna beat you to the ground this time!"

And there she was: Captain Alice. Not long after her departure, she'd returned in some impressive-looking armor, clearly geared up for war. 

She stood right where she and Number Four had brawled before, on guard for any ambush. Her battle-cycle was parked nearby, ready to go at any moment.

The recent quakes, it turned out, were simply Alice venting her fury through well-placed blasts of heavy weaponry.

"Oh, come on! Speak of the devil." Lucas scooped up the pack that had fallen to the floor and called to Aurelia, "Come on, Aurelia, snap out of it! Our lady T-Rex is back, and we gotta get outta here. Old man rat just had to show off and beat her until she was coughing up blood—like she'd take that lying down? If she catches us, it'll be my blood next… Man, I hope that so-called emergency exit actually works!"

Aurelia stayed motionless, no reaction at all.

"Yo! Don't glitch out on me at a time like this!" Lucas reached out, hoping to haul her onto his back and make a run for it, only to find she'd become insanely heavy, like she was made of reinforced steel. He pulled with all his might, but couldn't budge her arm even an inch…

Another tremor rocked the shelter, but this time Lucas was prepared and stayed on his feet. Still, seeing Aurelia suddenly turn into a dead weight had him seriously on edge. If Alice returned in a fit of rage, who knew if she'd just smash the robot into scrap metal? Lucas wasn't about to leave Aurelia behind—he couldn't handle that guilt.

Then again… maybe Alice wasn't all that heartless. Setting aside her volcanic temper, her figure was… well, not half bad. Screw it, guess I'll risk it, Lucas thought.

Making up his mind, he slowly walked toward Alice's voice, deciding to surrender. Whatever. As long as he kept his travel secret, maybe the worst he'd face was some low-level prison. Couldn't be worse than rotting in a bomb shelter… And who knew, maybe prisons in this era provided free porn or something.

Silence reigned for a few moments, prompting Alice to snarl again, "Listen up, big guy! Bring out that little weirdo thief and surrender, or I'll torch this rat hole to the ground—"

"Please don't burn it—I'm surrendering!" Lucas yelled, hoping to de-escalate.

That got a reaction at last. Captain Alice sounded a bit less enraged, though still stern. "Oh, it's you! Get out here. And don't try any sneaky crap!"

Lucas emerged from the tunnel, making a show of raising his hands. "I admit you're way stronger than me… All right, I give up."

"Where's that hulking partner of yours? Is he hiding? Planning a cheap shot?"

"Uh… we're not exactly partners. Soon as you left, he ditched me without a word."

"Not partners?" Alice let loose a razor-edged chuckle. "Funny, 'cause you sure liked to cower behind him while we fought."

Lucas swallowed hard. "I wanted to cower behind you, too. Problem is, you two were going at it so hardcore rocks were flying—I didn't dare come close."

Alice snorted. The sight of Lucas appeared to calm her down a bit. She figured chasing after the so-called Number Thirteen alone could still end in a stalemate. Meanwhile, her main target had just fallen into her lap. Best to bag him first and return with backup to investigate the shelter later.

Standing there in uneasy silence, Lucas finally ventured, "Um… you're so lovely, Miss… Since I'm turning myself in, can you do me a favor?"

Alice arched a brow. "What kind of favor?"

Lucas explained, "My robot broke down. I can't lift her by myself. Do you think you could help me carry her out?"