[Surai's Car – Outside the City]
Surai was lying on the hood of his car, the doors wide open, and soft music was playing from the car's speakers.
Not far away, Zeus was dashing quickly through the shrubs after engraving energy runes on his body again.
As he reached the location, he caught a few lyrics from the song playing:
🎶 Hit, hit, the speed hero… Hit, hit with an iron hand… 🎶
Surai quickly turned the music off and approached Zeus.
He asked, puzzled:
"Was that a theme song for a children's cartoon?"
Zeus replied with a deadpan expression:
"No."
"Anyway, I like those kinds of songs. Turn it back on."
"! Really… I didn't know you liked those songs too. It's rare to meet someone with my taste in music."
"Dude, stop. I was lying just to get you to admit it."
"!! … You're a first-class jerk."
Surai's car flashed an alert, prompting him to glance at the radar display and ask urgently:
"Is someone chasing you!?"
"Yeah, a whole army of guards… and maybe a squad of combat robots."
"!! Damn it!! And you think now is a good time to chat about dumb music?! Get in, fast!!"
Surai's car sped off at a ridiculous pace. As Zeus sat beside the visibly tense Surai, he remarked with mild surprise:
"Actually… that song wasn't too bad."
"!!"
Surai turned the music off and struggled to hold in his anger, mumbling one phrase to himself repeatedly:
"This is not professional… not professional at all… You're the worst infiltrator I've ever seen!"
Zeus replied, laughing:
"I disagree… I think I did pretty well back there… for my first time, at least."
"!! …" [Surai shot Zeus a glare, eyes burning with barely contained rage.]
"Zeus. Shut. Up."
Zeus bit his tongue, but his stifled laughter and the grin on his face made it clear he was still amused.
---
[One of the abandoned coastal areas – 8 km outside the city]
There was a high cliff, about 300 meters above sea level.
Surai's car was parked right at the edge, overlooking the sea.
"Surai, do you have any food in the car?"
"No."
"Camping gear?"
"Yes."
"You going to hunt something, or should I?"
"I'll go. Set up the camp and start a fire while I'm gone."
"Alright, deal."
Surai headed into the forest after activating the stealth and scanning systems on his suit. Meanwhile, Zeus pitched a tent and pulled out supplies from the car's trunk: grilling tools and a collection of spices Surai always kept on hand for occasions like this.
It was an impromptu camping trip, but Surai was a wilderness lover who always kept his gear neatly packed in a spatially compressed trunk powered by energy lines.
Once the camp was mostly set, Zeus activated his bracelet, transforming it into a sharp-edged black spinning shield. He used it to cut down a thick tree nearby.
Knives then flew out to trim the branches and clean it up.
Zeus cut portions of the large trunk into seats.
Finally, he pierced both ends of the trunk with several knives to lift and place it properly near the fire site.
He then went out into the forest to gather dry, fallen branches scattered around.
It didn't take long before he had enough firewood to keep a fire going till morning.
It was around 2:30 AM at this point.
Ten minutes later, Surai returned to find the fire already burning. Zeus had also pulled out a drink from the glass bottle crate inside the compressed trunk.
It wasn't alcoholic – it was a healthy energy drink with mild energy restoration properties and a pleasant flavor.
"Why did you bring these herbs?"
"Cooking them with wild rabbit meat gives it a unique flavor."
"Seems like you're an expert at this... Teach me every step. I don't even know how to clean these rabbits."
"Then watch, and if something's unclear, just ask."
Surai hung the fat rabbit carcass a short distance away after cutting certain parts of its neck to speed up the blood draining.
He started preparing spices and ingredients, then proceeded to skin, chop, and wash the meat. After that, he flash-froze it using an energy-powered freezer, which made the meat more tender when grilled.
---
[One hour later]
Surai was grilling the meat while Zeus used his digital ring to browse for some calm music to play on the car's audio system.
Once he found something suitable, he turned to Surai and asked:
"Do you have a family?"
"Why do you ask?"
"No specific reason… just remembered my deceased brother."
"You mean Sebastian… Was that incident related to your father and grandfather disappearing?"
"I don't think so. My brother was assassinated. But my father and grandfather's team encountered a mysterious being… or maybe some kind of strange environmental phenomenon during their mission. Plus, the incidents happened years apart."
"What about you? You vanished without warning, and next thing we knew, you were in a hospital with amnesia."
"Speaking of that… did you notice anything odd about me during that time?"
Surai remained silent, setting aside the now-grilled meat. Then he suddenly froze and spoke with confusion:
"Actually, there were several strange things… The first was that you kept disappearing during the final month before your disappearance – for several days at a time."
"How exactly did I disappear?"
"You stopped going out with us completely and would leave right after missions, like you were busy with something else… Also, two days before you vanished, you asked me a weird question – jokingly – about how to make an expert infiltrator reveal themselves… or at least confirm if they were watching you."
"Do you think I got into a fight with someone?"
"No. I suspect more that there was an assassination attempt on you… And I'm sure your family leaders know something about it. What I'm trying to tell you is that coincidences… often aren't coincidences at all."
"So you think what happened to me, my brother, my father, and grandfather is all connected?"
"Not exactly the same reason… but wild guessing won't get us anywhere except further from the truth. Still, my gut tells me something is wrong… and I think all these incidents are linked somehow."