Motorcycles and Sunset

"Well, now that Mo Bai and Rover are officially students, we can go pick up your bikes!"

Whenever the conversation turned to motorcycles, Lynae grew especially excited.

But Mo Bai remembered her riding from earlier—she had driven like a street racer—and couldn't help feeling nervous...

"Come on, come on! As your senior, I'll take you to get your bikes, and then we can all go for a proper ride!"

Lynae could hardly wait. She hurried ahead to lead Mo Bai and Rover there.

Mo Bai had no choice but to put the Divine Dogs away and follow her.

"Looks like you're not very good at dealing with Lynae."

Rover teased Mo Bai as they walked.

Mo Bai didn't mind the teasing from his new friend. He merely sighed.

"Earlier, I rode on her bike while I was injured. I learned firsthand what it means to make an injury worse. And..."

Mo Bai trailed off.

"It's not that I don't want to deal with Lynae. I just never had many friends, so I'm not sure how to respond to her enthusiasm." Mo Bai scratched his head.

Before this, he had been a twenty-year-old homebody. When had he ever met such a warm, welcoming senior?

"Is that so? Well, at least you don't dislike her. You might become close friends someday."

Rover gave Mo Bai a faint smile.

"You make it sound like you know me better than I know myself."

With Rover looking at him like that, Mo Bai wasn't sure what expression to make.

For a moment, he thought Rover seemed like an old fox who could see into people's hearts.

With that thought, Mo Bai took another look at Rover's face.

No. Rather than an old fox, Rover looked more like a quick-witted cat with a hint of mischief in its expression.

"Rover! Mo Bai! Hurry up! I can't wait to take you racing around the Academy!"

Seeing them strolling along, Lynae turned and urged them to pick up the pace.

Mo Bai and Rover could only shake their heads at her impatience before following her.

"Let me introduce you. This is Mr. S.I.G.M.A., who manages vehicles for our Academy."

Lynae led Rover and Mo Bai to a safety officer whose head, astonishingly, looked like a traffic light.

This time, though, Mo Bai wasn't particularly surprised.

After meeting Ms. N.A.N.A. and seeing the Academy's advanced technology, he was getting used to how things worked here.

"Zero compromise on order! Zero risk to life! [Fusion Signal Controller] S.I.G.M.A. is here to keep you safe!"

After delivering the message in an electronic voice, the traffic-officer-like Mr. S.I.G.M.A. turned to Lynae.

"Student Lynae! Your vehicle shows signs of repeated unauthorized modifications! Your dashcam also records numerous instances of speeding! You have even entered unmapped areas on multiple occasions!"

Neither Rover nor Mo Bai was surprised to hear any of that.

It all sounded exactly like something Lynae would do.

"Ahem! Mr. S.I.G.M.A., I'm here to help the new students collect their vehicles. We still have to pick up their Tacet Discs afterward, so there's no time for this."

Lynae waved a hand and quickly redirected the conversation to Mo Bai and Rover.

Following his programmed priorities, S.I.G.M.A. promptly assigned motorcycles to the two new students.

Once Mo Bai and Rover had finished the paperwork, Lynae immediately led them out of Mr. S.I.G.M.A.'s jurisdiction.

If she stayed any longer, who knew how long he would lecture her?

Vroom, vroom!

Lynae took the lead on her motorcycle, guiding Mo Bai and Rover along the dedicated vehicle road that circled the Academy.

"Woohoo! Let's go! As your senior, I'll take you for a proper ride and show you around the Academy!"

Lynae shouted into the wind rushing toward her.

Rover and Mo Bai, riding behind her, could clearly sense how excited she was and how much she was enjoying herself.

Mo Bai noticed that whenever Lynae was speeding along on her motorcycle, a smile never left her face.

She looked so free, as though nothing could ever hold her back.

"Ahem. First, let me tell you something important." Lynae pointed to Star Torch Academy on the left side of the road.

From his bike, Mo Bai could make out a faint green barrier surrounding the Academy.

"That barrier protects the Academy from Voidmatter Magnetic Storms. It's usually only partially active. If it ever activates fully, we're in serious trouble."

Lynae had explained Voidmatter Magnetic Storms to him and Rover on the way to collect their bikes.

They were disasters caused by the Threnodian of Lahai Luo and usually had the following effects.

One: Living creatures in the affected area lost control and went berserk.

Two: All electronic communications equipment within the disaster zone stopped working.

Three: Ordinary people and creatures directly exposed to a high-concentration Voidmatter Magnetic Storm could vanish from existence altogether.

Vroom, vroom—

After they had ridden a while, Lynae pointed somewhere else.

A perfectly vertical roadway stretched straight up into the sky.

"That's the transport elevator to the surface, the Transit Spine. It was built alongside the Greatsword left behind by the Tunneler and is one of Lahai Luo's most important structures. You'll go up there to register your Tacet Discs later."

Mo Bai stared at the towering roadway in shock.

Something that enormous was merely the size of the Tunneler's Greatsword? How immense was the Tunneler itself?

And how terrifying must the Threnodian, the Tunneler's enemy, be?

But what Mo Bai most wanted to ask right now was...

"The surface? You mean we're underground?" Mo Bai called out to Lynae.

Yet when he looked up, he saw blue sky and white clouds overhead, both slowly darkening...

Wait. Something about them was different.

"Mo Bai, you don't even know that? Oh, right. I forgot you have amnesia." Lynae only remembered at the end of her sentence.

Mo Bai found it impossible to reconcile her expression with the words "perfect marks in every subject."

"The sky above the Academy is simulated. It's thanks to Professor Mornye that we can see a sky underground. You'll probably meet her when you go to pick up your Tacet Discs."

Leaving it at that, Lynae pointed toward several things flying in the distance that resembled mechanical manta rays.

"All of Lahai Luo's mechanical animals are called the Rover Swarm. They're actually parts that fell from the Tunneler, and Lahai Luo couldn't function without them."

Vroom, vroom!

With her explanation finished, Lynae suddenly accelerated. Mo Bai and Rover had no choice but to speed up with her.

As they raced along, Mo Bai and Rover both felt something strange.

For better or worse, accelerating made them feel at ease.

At dusk, they finally pulled over together.

From there, they had a clear view of the slowly setting sun.