The thrusters' flames had already dimmed by more than half, and the mech's posture had shifted from combat mode into some kind of guilty mode.
Its head lowered slightly, and the frequency of its flickering lights became short and rapid, like a child who had done something wrong sneaking glances at an adult's expression.
Then, an exceedingly manly, magnetic electronic voice came from the loudspeaker.
"...Perhaps we can talk this over."
"Cough, cough... Ma'am, it was her." Sampo pointed at Sam overhead.
"It was all because of her that we fell down here! You can't falsely accuse good people." He wiped the water from his face, his expression full of innocence and grievance.
"Hm?" The older woman followed the direction of Sampo's finger and narrowed her eyes at the silver-white mech hovering in midair.
Drops of pool water slid down the straps of her fluorescent pink swimsuit, gathering in a small hollow at her collarbone.
She frowned, the fine lines at the corners of her eyes becoming more pronounced as she squinted. "This person... why does she look so much like a wanted criminal?"
"?!" Firefly immediately became alert. The mech's head lifted slightly, while the green glow on its face began flashing much faster.
She had gotten too worked up and forgotten that Sam was still wanted.
"I'm not a wanted criminal, ma'am." Sam's magnetic voice came through the loudspeaker, low and steady as she tried to maintain her last shred of composure.
"Not one?"
The young man with silver-rimmed glasses beside her sat up from his lounge chair, water droplets running down his soaked shirt collar and into his collarbone.
He reached into a waterproof bag for his phone, its blue screen reflecting against his lenses.
He looked at the wanted notice on the screen, then looked up