Kain’s bar, called Midnight’s delight, was not far away from where Max had been a moment ago. He had visited it a number of times before, sole reason being that the he knew the owner of the bar from a long time ago.
When the apocalypse started, Max was left all alone to fend for himself, only surviving because his teacher had found him, teaching him all the ways to survive. Max wasn’t alone during that time though. His teacher would grab any orphans that had been left to fend for themselves. Many of whom were now close friends that Max kept close contact with, with some being people he knew he could trust his life with.
They were all brothers and sisters to each other. Kain was one of them. As such, if Max had ever needed to go to a bar, he would always choose the Midnight’s delight.
Max considered whether he should remove his disguise or not. If things went south and he kept it, then Kain’s would be questioned. If he didn’t, then Kain would be fine, but Alphas would be questioned.
In the end he ended up removing it. Even, if Alphas came into question about where Max was, he would have an alibi of being with Kain.
He folded the scarf as much as he could, stuffing it into the inner pockets of his overcoat. The headband was removed too, as he tied his hair back up into his customary ponytail. Max, with the help of Prime, confirmed that he looked presentable.
He headed towards Kain’s bar once he was satisfied with his attire. The bar did not appear to be special, apart from its wooden furnishings and relatively new and well-maintained construction. A bunch of bottles were displayed behind the front window, myriad kinds of alcohol inside them, reflecting light like a rainbow of liquids. A neon sign, ‘Midnight’s delight’ written on it, shone with a green and red light above the entrance.
The bell attached to the door rang lightly as soon as Max entered. The bar wasn’t large. Aside from the long bar counter, there was long table attached to the wall with a number of stools. There were only 2 patrons inside, sitting in the far corner, drinking, and talking to each other.
“Welcome- Oh? Well, isn’t this a surprise.” The bartender, Kain himself, spoke out while cleaning a wine glass behind the bar counter.
He was the same height as Max, standing at about 6 feet tall. His body was well-toned and with a darker skin tone, complimented by a white shirt under his apron. Kain was bald, although he kept a small beard.
“It’s been a while, Kain.” Max raised his hand in greeting as he walked in and sat in front of Kain.
“Before you say anything else, let me ask first. Are you actually here for a drink, or are you here to meet a friend who will turn out to be a client you’re meeting in secret?”
Max smiled. “You know me so well.”
Kain sighed, disappointed, as he placed down the clean glass and continued speaking.
“You know, for once I’d like you to come here to just relax for a bit. Just take it easy. Maybe catch up on some old times.”
“Sorry, been busy taking care of the Omegas.”
“And when are you not? Anyway, can I get you anything?”
“Nothing for now. I’ll get something, but only once my friend is here.”
Kain nodded as he grabbed another glass to clean. Max stared at Kain cleaning the glass like he was made for it. It was a boring action, but in the hands of Kain, it felt like glass was transforming into a diamond.
“Want to catch up until my friend comes?”
Max’s sudden question surprised Kain before a grin formed on his face. They both wasted time like this. Mila wasn’t going to get here for 15 to 30 minutes, so Max decided to spend some of his time.
And just like that, nearly half an hour had passed by.
All of Kain’s patrons had left by now, the bar consisting only of Max and Kain. Max didn’t show it much, but he was having fun just chatting with an old friend, Prime choosing to let the two reminisce in peace.
“You know.” Kain placed down the glass he had been fiddling with. “I always felt that, compared to you who’s basically trying to save the world, I chose the wrong route trying to open and work on a bar.
“Nonsense.” Max took a sip from the glass of water that Kain gave him. “I’m doing my work so that there is a world worth living in, in the future. You’re doing your best so that the world is worth living in, right now. I think that’s admirable.”
“Thanks Max, it really means a lot to me.” Kain smiled. Max did too, knowing what he would say.
“How about you give me a drink free of charge, to show your admiration.”
Kain burst out laughing. “You wish!”
Just then, the bell rang again and Kain returned to his professional behavior.
“Welcome!” His eyes suddenly narrowed as his glee went away.
Judging from Kain’s reaction, Max knew who had just entered the bar, turning around to look at the new patron. Sure enough, it was Mila.
She was around 20 years in age, although her face looked younger, with red eyes and black hair tied in a ponytail. She was wearing an elegant red dress while carrying a black handbag, as her bare knees were covered by black leggings and heels. The only thing odd was a large black bracelet on her left hand.
These bracelets had two primary uses. One was to identify its wearer as an Esper, and the other, as a tracking device for the military. It transmitted their position, and some basic vital information, like the wearer’s heartbeat.
Max raised his hand and called Mila over.
Kain suddenly bent down towards Max as he started talking quietly with desperation evident in his voice.
“You didn’t tell me that your friend is an Esper!?”
Max just winked at kain as he made a terrified face while Mila sat down right beside Max.
Mila was panting, almost as if she ran all the way here. “Sorry for taking so long! I didn’t make you wait, long did I?”
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“No, I just came here a little while ago.”
“Whew. And here I thought I was late,”
Kain started sweating as he stood there, trying to find something to do, until he just grabbed a clean glass and started wiping it up to appear busy.
On the other hand, Mila was nervous. She had served the military from the very beginning of her childhood, even before the Apocalypse began. All she knew were how to fight and how to serve. It wasn’t that she didn’t know how to talk to another person, she had just never thought she’d be able act like a normal civilian and go on dates.
Max noticed, so he started the conversation.
“You look beautiful, the red and black really suits you.”
Mila blushed, not knowing how to respond, as she checked out Max’s appearance. His clothes were a bit shabby, not bad in any sense, but looking more like work clothes than anything casual or formal.
Noticing Mila’s looks, Max quickly responded, “Sorry about my attire. I just finished a mission nearby, so I just came straight here.”
Mila panicked as she waved both her hands.
“Oh, no, I’m not bothered by it at all!”
Max smiled, ordering two non-alcoholic drinks for the two of them. He had to complete a mission right after this so he didn’t want to get drunk and Mila didn’t ask any questions as she thought it was a normal thing to do.
Max then used his sweet-talking skill and made sure that Mila had fun. He had to make sure that she wouldn’t be too mad about his true intentions for asking her out, so he had to play around for a bit.
Some time passed by and then Max decided to ask her for help.
“Mila, I need a favor.”
Mila knew what that meant, so she narrowed her eyes at Max. A favor from him meant that he needed her help with something without letting the military find out about it.
“Hmm, I’ll think about it if you do something for me.” Mila paused for a second as she stared at Max with a playful smile. “You know what I’m talking about right?”
To a stranger, it would appear like she was asking for his body, but Max knew what she really wanted, “You’re not talking about me being the operator for you people, are you?”
Mila smiled devilishly. “Of course, I’m talking about that.”
Being an operator meant that Max would have to find missions for the group he was assigned to, along with their training, and just in general indirect support. It was something the higher-ups in the Military wanted so they could keep a close eye on him, and something Mila and her comrades wanted because they knew the extent of his ability.
Max had been asked of this a number of times, sometimes by Mila and sometimes by some other Espers, he knew of as well.
While it was annoying and something Max didn’t want to do because he was busy finding a way to stop the Omegas, he no longer hesitated right now.
“One month." He said as he raised a finger, "I can agree to it for a month if you can help me with the favor I’m about to ask of you.”
Mila’s face first beamed up in excitement, before a doubtful look took over.
“I expected you to resist or outright refuse my help, what made you accept it?”
Max thought for a second, before telling Kain to leave them alone for a moment.
The bar was still open, but Kain knew he wasn’t going to get any patrons with an Esper sitting right in front of the window door. Esper were not liked by the common folk. Over time, simply seeing them had become a bad omen, as the military would only deploy them where they were necessary. Wherever somebody saw an esper walking around, more often than not, that place would become a battlefield within minutes.
Kain knew, this so he normally wanted to stay away from them, but he trusted Max. Which was why he didn’t leave them alone, even though every instinct inside him was telling him to run far away.
Kain nodded and calmly went to the back of his bar. Now that the place was empty besides Max and Mila. Max looked around to make sure there were no cameras near them before speaking.
“I’ve got a lead on something pretty big. If it's correct, then it may very well be the first step to getting rid of all Omegas altogether.”
Mila’s eyes narrowed as she looked at Max with uncertainty. “You, of all people, should know that there’s no way to get rid of them. No matter how many you kill, more will always come back.”
Max expected her reaction and smiled smugly. “What if I told you that, I may have found a way to make sure they can’t do that?”
Mila went completely silent, unable to even fathom the idea of being able to completely annihilate the Omegas. She started whispering almost as if she didn’t even want any ghosts to hear their conversation.
“H-How is that possible?”
Max also lowered his voice as well, copying Mila, “We discovered the location of an intel file, should it exist, it may or may not contain the exact ways on how an Omegas reproduce. If it is correct, then we would have a lead on how to prevent them from doing it. If we can do that, then it’s only a matter of time before the threat of the Omega is completely gone.”
Mila thought about it for a moment, before she sighed with disappointment.
“So, this is the real reason you called me out here, huh.”
“…Sorry about lying, but I had to do that to trick anyone tracking the call.”
Mila shook her head as she frowned. “It’s alright, I understand why you had to do that, but I really got my hopes up for this date you know? Do you know just how little time we get off from our work? The only way we can experience civilian or normal life is through what we’ve read from digital comics from the olden times. Did you know how excited all my friends were for me? Many of my comrades helped me sneak out of my barracks, you know. The staff over there are probably still looking for me.”
Mila kept on complaining until Max finally had enough and told her what she wanted.
“I’ll bring you to a real date after this, okay? I’ll break you out of your barracks if I have to.”
Mila finally smiled, having gotten what she was originally after.
“Alright! So~ What do you need from me?”
Max told her about the street Eric’s house was in, and that she needed to cut the power in the whole area. He further explained that she needed to be discreet, and that there was a high chance of back-up generators being present, along with jammers and E.M.P shields.
Mila thought about it for a moment until she explained her plan.
“Short-circuiting multiple generators is hard for me to do, and I won’t be able to take out the back-up generators that way either. But I can cause a complete power outage on the east sector of Bertha, and it just so happens that the house you’re going for is right in the middle of that. I’ll also be able to blame my actions on my powers going haywire, with you getting the thing you want. We’ll have a win-win situation.”
Max nodded. “I’ll be relying on you then.”
They then talked about the details, like the timings of what each of them would be doing, how and at what location. They had to plan right then and there since they won’t be able to call each other lest they want their call to be tracked or make suspicious activity. Max then called on Kain, paid for their drinks, and headed out to his position. Max walked towards General Eric’s house, while Mila went in another direction.
Prime, who had been quiet all this time, finally started speaking. “I’m surprised we didn’t die, Max.”
“I did tell you to trust me.”
“You did not tell me to trust you. I believe your exact words were, we’ll cross that bridge when we get there.”
Max ignored Prime as he walked back to where he had been previously, and saw no one nearby. He wasn’t foolish enough to start the attack from the same spot again, so he went to a different street and pulled out his disguise again. He couldn’t risk calling Mila again, if it was tracked, it would still appear highly suspicious, even without the imminent power outage.
He had to rely on what they discussed earlier. Max asked Prime for the amount of time left before Mila would cause an outage, which she promptly told him would be in 15 minutes and 19 seconds.
Max frowned, getting into position later than he had planned. He quickly donned his disguise, and waited in the alleyway where he knew no-one would come. All he had to do now, was to close his eyes so they would adjust to the dark, and wait. He did not want to have to use a flashlight, that would give him away in but a moment.
Max would have wanted at least 20 minutes to get used to the darkness, but he could not rewind time, even if he wanted to.
He had to hope this would be the smallest problem with his plan.
Once the lights go out, all the hidden soldiers or operators will jump out to fix the problem. In the confusion, I have to get inside, and either talk to Eric while the soldiers are disorganized, or grab the file that Asra talked about. Once I’m done with either, I have to run.
Max breathed deeply, eyes still closed, looking as if he was meditating as time passed by.
“1 minute before the power outage.”
Prime notified Max, starting her countdown.
Max nodded as he ensured everything was on point before he had to go.
“10 seconds left. Max, get ready.”
An explosion in the distance pushed some of the dust up into the air, Max’s ears ringing for a moment.
Let’s do this.
Max thought to himself, as the people that once appeared to be civilians bolted out of their houses, guns in their hands.