A Carbonated Heist and an Urgent Call
The inconvenience of losing my Firepower Support Card was starting to hit me hard. For instance, when I got thirsty and wanted to grab a Coke from the vending machine in the hallway, I couldn't.
I pressed the vending machine buttons repeatedly, my face crumpled in despair. Click, click. There was no way a can would roll out, but I couldn't let go of that lingering, foolish hope.
"Do you want one that badly?"
"Yeah..."
Shine's voice drifted from behind me. She liked Coke too, but she didn't drink it nearly as much as I did.
I thought to myself: If only all the water in the world turned into Coke, I wouldn't have to feel this kind of sorrow.
"Maybe someone bought one and forgot to take it?"
I bent down to peer into the dispensing slot. But of course, there was nothing. My hand swept through empty air.
"Rain..."
I whimpered, turning my tearful eyes toward her. Standing behind me, Rain flinched and quickly covered her pockets with both hands.
That's right. She had a card. As an adult, Rain always carried a debit card issued in her own name. With that card, buying me a single can of ice-cold Coke would be a breeze.
"Amy said no!" Rain shut her eyes tight and shook her head.
Indeed. Before leaving, Amy had confiscated my card and Shine's, extracting a solemn promise from Rain. Under no circumstances—absolutely none—was she to buy us any candy or Coke today.
Rain would keep that promise no matter what. If she didn't, a massive bump would surely sprout on her head.
"Rain..."
But still, I had a feeling that if I just kept pestering her, she might eventually give in. With that thought in mind, I grabbed her arm and began to cling to her.
Since I was slightly taller, the sight of me hanging onto her tiny frame probably looked ridiculous, but I didn't care. I wanted Coke too much to worry about appearances.
"Just one... Can't you buy me just one?"
"N-No!" Rain was resolute. She firmly snapped her head away.
I slumped onto the floor with a pout. The tiles were cold against my backside, but I had no desire to get up. I want Coke so bad...
"Jeff. You can just use your ability."
"But if I do that... wait, huh?"
I blinked, looking up blankly at Shine's suggestion.
My abilities had improved significantly of late. With delicate control, I was now capable of manipulating machinery without breaking it.
"Of course!"
I sprang to my feet and reached out. I didn't even need to sweep the entire vending machine. My target was the coin slot. A thin thread of electric current shot from my fingertip and slipped inside.
Keeping the current as weak as possible, I gently stimulated the sensor where the coins passed through. With a soft click, the vending machine's display lit up.
"Gasp!"
I rapidly spammed the Coke button. Click-click, clunk-clunk. Every time a can dropped, the machine registered a coin—or rather, my power tricked it into thinking a coin had been inserted. I kept going, fully intending to empty the entire machine.
"J-Jeff... If you take that many, you're going to get caught."
There was absolutely no way. I had already checked beforehand and confirmed there were no security cameras in this hallway. As long as no one talked, this would be the perfect crime.
I scooped up an armful of Coke cans spilling out of the slot. But they just kept coming. In a panic, I scrambled up, ran back to the office, and grabbed my dinosaur backpack.
Realizing one bag wouldn't be enough, I also snatched Shine's bag and Rain's chick backpack. Dumping them on the floor, I began stuffing the cans inside.
"H-Hurry! Help me!"
I pleaded with Shine and Rain. Watching me, the two exchanged a look, then reluctantly knelt beside me and started packing the cans. We had to gather every single rolling can before anyone showed up.
"Where are you going to hide all of this? Amy will definitely find out when she gets back."
"I'm going to hide them inside Big Baxi."
"That giant teddy bear?"
"Yep."
I answered Shine, picturing our massive teddy bear, Big Baxi. It was a gift from Grandpa Ferman, boasting an incredibly colossal frame. If you unzipped its back, there was a huge hollow space inside—roomy enough for me to fit comfortably. It was the perfect hiding spot for our stash.
With our bulging backpacks strapped to our shoulders, Shine, Rain, and I stood up. I quickly scanned the hallway. Fortunately, no other teams had stepped out of their offices. No witnesses. The vending machine looked perfectly normal and undamaged.
Laden with our heavy cargo, the three of us made our way back to our quarters. The moment I opened the door and stepped inside, I rushed over to the giant teddy bear and shoved it onto the floor. I flipped the face-up bear onto its stomach, pulled the zipper down its neck, and—whoosh—a mountain of trash came tumbling out.
"Gasp..."
I clamped a hand over my mouth in shock.
"What is this..."
Rain stared, equally stunned by the sudden avalanche of garbage.
How long had we been stuffing wrappers from snacks we'd secretly eaten behind Amy's back in there? We had been away on missions for so long recently that I had completely forgotten about our makeshift trash bin.
I hurriedly dragged the trash out. It scattered all over the floor, but hiding the Coke took priority. Once the cavity was clear, I unzipped the backpacks and dumped the cans into Big Baxi's belly. I made sure to set aside five cans for myself, plus one each for Shine and Rain.
Our hard labor finished, we slumped onto the floor and popped open our Cokes. All around us, the scattered wrappers gleamed in the light.
"What are we going to do about this?"
"We have to clean it up. Since Amy isn't here, we can throw it away secretly."
I answered Shine's question while looking at Rain. She avoided my gaze, quietly sipping her Coke.
"You'll help too, right, Rain?"
"U-Uh-huh..." Rain nodded reluctantly.
After draining my can, I walked over to the shelf where Amy kept the trash bags and stood on my tiptoes. I was still a bit too short, so I had to stretch with all my might just to reach.
"Ngggh..."
My fingertips barely hooked onto the drawer handle. I gave it a tug, but I must have misjudged my strength. With a sudden slip, the entire drawer slid completely out of its tracks, dumping its contents in a chaotic cascade.
"Ah!"
Trash bags, rolls of tape, and various odds and ends scattered everywhere, mixing with the wrappers already littering the floor. Rain squeezed her eyes shut as if wishing she could escape this nightmare. Shine stared at the floor with a deeply troubled expression.
"It's fine!"
I shouted, as much to reassure myself as them. It really was fine. For now, at least. I checked the clock on the wall. We still had plenty of time before Amy's scheduled return. If we worked hard, we could easily clean this up.
I grabbed a fallen trash bag and shook it open. And so, the cleanup began. It was a simple task: pick up the trash and put it in the bag. There was no way the three of us couldn't handle this.
By the time sweat began to bead on our foreheads, the room was finally clean. Big Baxi had been holding an unbelievable amount of garbage; we ended up completely filling two of the large trash bags Amy usually used.
"If Amy saw this, she wouldn't have stopped at a simple noogie."
"Yeah..."
I agreed with Rain as I dragged one of the massive trash bags out into the hallway. Now we had to move them. I could lift it if I used both hands, but carrying a bag as tall as myself meant I wouldn't be able to see where I was going. Dragging was our only option.
Shine and I grabbed a bag each and dragged them along, while Rain pushed from behind. Scritch-scratch. The sound of plastic scraping against the floor echoed down the corridor.
We had been dragging them for a while when Rain suddenly shrieked.
"Jeff!"
"What is it?"
Shine and I stopped in our tracks. We turned around to see Rain pointing a trembling finger at the floor. Following her gaze, I saw a long, continuous trail of trash stretching down the hallway.
"Ahhh!"
The friction of being dragged across the floor had ripped the bottom of the bag open. It was vomiting its contents, and the tear was only getting wider by the second.
"What do we do..."
I let go of the bag and slumped onto the floor. Fortunately, because Rain had noticed it early, not too much had spilled out yet.
As we sat there in despair, my phone suddenly buzzed with a text message. Shine and Rain's phones went off at the exact same time, and the three of us pulled them out in unison. The sender was Jin, and the message was incredibly brief.
[Firepower Support Request]
[URGENT]
The word "URGENT" printed right below the request made my heart skip a beat.
Wondering what was going on, I looked at Rain, only to find her face pale and rigid with gravity.
"Um, Rain? What does 'urgent' mean in this context?"
Without even taking the time to explain, Rain grabbed Shine and me by the hands and bolted. She dragged us all the way to Jin's Office.
The moment we burst in, Jin sprang up from his seat as if he had been waiting for us. He wasn't alone; several other team members were already standing inside the office. It seemed the text had been broadcast to everyone currently at headquarters.
"Alright, now that the last team has arrived, I'll explain. Listen closely. Do you see this?"
Jin pointed to the large screen behind him, which displayed a massive map.
"The vanguard team we sent out first is currently pinned down here."
Listening to Jin's explanation, I tugged on Rain's sleeve.
"Hey, what's actually happening?"
"Shh, Jeff. Focus and listen. Jin is about to explain."
I nodded and turned my attention back to Jin. He explained that the initial support team had fallen into a trap. While they weren't in immediate danger, they were completely pinned down, making it impossible for them to seize the target cargo.
Hearing his words, I immediately thought of Amy and Victor. Since those two incredibly powerful people were together—and they weren't the only ones sent—they would probably be fine, but I couldn't help but worry.
The objectives for the remaining members were set: secure the cargo train, and support the pinned-down vanguard. Naturally, I wanted to join the rescue team, but Jin assigned the cargo seizure to us. Before I could even protest, Jin spoke.
"With Rain and Jeff's abilities, you should be able to stop the train with minimal damage."
I shut my mouth, my cheeks puffing out in a silent pout.
"Keep this in mind, everyone. Under no circumstances must the cargo hold be destroyed. Understood?"
What on earth was inside that cargo hold to warrant such a warning? I wanted to ask, but the atmosphere in the room was far too heavy to speak up.
Jin began outlining the train's projected route. Having departed from District 5, it was currently passing through District 16. Judging by the trajectory, it seemed poised to turn at either District 20 or District 19 to merge back onto the tracks heading toward the Upper District.
Rain, Shine, and I were assigned to the junction where all the tracks merged.
"We're out of time. Everyone, move out immediately."
Without a word, everyone filed out of the office. We left as well to prepare. Rain grabbed her suit and umbrella. I stuffed my pockets with throwing coins and grabbed the steel rod Victor used to train me. Since our custom suits weren't ready yet, Shine and I didn't have much to prepare.
Were the three of us really going out like this? Amy had told us to wait quietly at headquarters. As I hesitated in front of the massive portal, Rain squeezed my hand tightly.
My hesitation didn't last long. After all, the whole reason I had endured those grueling training sessions was to be of help to Amy. I was more than capable of pulling my own weight now.
The team members around us threw themselves into their respective portals. They would all do their best to stop the train at their assigned locations. Since there were multiple possible routes, if they all failed, the train would head toward our final junction, where we would have to unleash everything we had.