Chapter 30: The Secret Resistance

Shortly after, Selma emerged from the kitchen fully dressed in her clothes and apron, carrying a tray with five glasses of water. She approached a table deep inside the restaurant, where Clyde had laid Mary down with her head resting on Casca’s lap while Corie sat across from her, right next to Clyde. Selma set the tray on the table and pulled a chair into the middle facing them, then asked Casca to move so she could sit where Casca was sitting and take turns cradling Mary’s head; Casca complied and moved to the middle chair,

"Okay... now tell me, what happened and why is Mary unconscious?" Selma said with a serious look on her face.

Clyde, Casca, and Corie glanced at one another, and then Clyde spoke up, telling her how he met Mary after escaping the farm, how Mary brought him into the city, and how it all led to them wanting to escape the city with Mary because she had uncovered everything the military was planning. As Selma listened to Clyde’s story, her expression grew darker and darker; she turned to look at Mary, whose head rested on her lap, reaching out her hand to stroke her forehead and hair,

"This foolish girl. I told her from the very beginning not to join the military, but she got mad at me and insisted on joining anyway," Selma muttered in an annoyed yet solemn voice.

"Um... if I may ask, have you known Mary for a long time?" Clyde asked. ℯℯ𝑙.

"Yeah... we were rescued from the same farm... and as it turns out, inside the simulation, we had been friends since childhood... even though all of that was fake and we actually didn’t know where we came from or know each other in the real world," Selma answered while continuing to gaze at Mary.

The atmosphere inside the now-deserted restaurant grew even quieter, as no one spoke; Clyde, Corie, and Casca turned to look at Mary’s face resting on Selma’s lap, before turning their eyes toward Selma,

"So... Mary and Selma... were also at a farm before... inside the simulation?" Casca asked.

"Yeah... we were freed from the farm about five years ago, back when Mary and I were only 14 years old; we were both terrified because we didn’t know anyone and felt completely alone," Selma answered, gently caressing Mary’s forehead.

"Just... like me," Casca said, lowering her head in silence.

"I understand your situation, but I don’t agree with you taking Mary away; leave her here with me, and I’ll protect her," Selma said.

"We understand, Selma, and we actually wanted that too; we just have to get out of the city," Clyde replied with a small smile.

Before the conversation could continue any further, "wooo-oooo-oooo," the city alarm blared loudly as if an enemy were attacking or had breached the perimeter, followed by,

"Notice to all residents. Due to an escaped military asset, all access in and out of the city is temporarily closed. Residents are requested to remain calm and allow officers to inspect your residential buildings. We will be carrying search warrants, and those concealing government assets will face sanctions. Thank you for your cooperation."

After that, everything fell deathly silent; Selma turned to look at Clyde, Casca, and Corie, who looked furious and conflicted standing there. "Sigh," she let out a breath, then gently lifted Mary’s head and shifted over, carefully placing Mary’s head onto the booth seat.

"The ones mentioned in that announcement... are you guys?" Selma asked, staring at the three of them as she stood up.

Clyde, Casca, and Corie did not answer, but from their faces, Selma already knew the answer to her question.

"Alright, pick her up and follow me," Selma said.

Hearing Selma’s words to the three of them, Clyde, Casca, and Corie immediately raised their heads and stared at Selma with puzzled expressions,

"Um... where are we going?" Clyde asked.

"Just... follow me, you’ll see," Selma answered.

Selma turned around and walked toward her counter; Clyde, Casca, and Corie looked at one another, realizing they had no other choice but to follow Selma. Finally, they stood up; Clyde picked Mary up and slung her over his shoulder once more, and then they walked toward where Selma was waiting. Selma then opened the counter door and gestured for them to step behind the counter.

Next, they entered the kitchen and walked out through the back door. As they stepped outside, the eyes of Clyde, Casca, and Corie widened; it turned out there was a back alley right outside the door that connected all the buildings. That path was invisible from the outside because the buildings were built tightly together without any open alleys, making it look like a secret passage. Selma walked in the direction Clyde, Casca, and Corie had been heading earlier.

"Wow... is this a secret passage?" Corie asked.

"Yeah... for the rebel forces," Selma answered.

"Huh... rebel forces?" Casca asked.

"People who despise the military controlling the city and ruling it for their own self-interests," Selma answered firmly.

"I see... I had no idea there was something like this in the city," Clyde said.

"Huh... you haven’t seen anything yet," Selma replied with a smirk.

They kept walking, and ahead of them, they saw numerous troops dressed in civilian clothes but carrying weapons on guard; as Selma passed them, nearly all of them bowed in respect, raising a massive question in the minds of Clyde, Casca, and Corie. Then, when they reached the end of the alley, they saw a patch of open ground heavily guarded by several soldiers.

"Um... what are they?" Corie whispered to Clyde.

"I don’t know... rebels, apparently; I don’t really get it myself," Clyde answered.

"Don’t worry, if anything happens, the three of us are more than enough to wipe them all out," Casca added.

"Yep... true, I was just curious why there are so many fierce and mysterious-looking people here," Corie replied.

Selma then walked toward a boxy concrete hut ahead that looked like a small storage shed, but the door of the hut was guarded by several heavily armed soldiers in civilian clothes who even carried swords at their waists, standing guard over the hut as if it were more precious than their own lives.

"Hey... I need to use the teleportation pad," Selma said.

"Right away, Boss," one of the guards said.

The guard opened the door, and Selma turned around to look at Clyde, Casca, and Corie, who were standing there stunned.

"Come on, hurry inside," Selma urged.

"Oh... right," Clyde replied.

They all stepped inside, and it turned out the interior was merely a room measuring three by three meters, but all the walls were made of glass, and glowing magic circles were visible on both the floor and the ceiling. Beside the door sat a panel featuring only an image of a palm glowing with a red light; naturally, Clyde, who was carrying Mary, Casca, and Corie were confused,

"Um... what is this place?" Casca asked.

"Hold your breath and don’t think about anything," Selma answered with a smile as she turned to look at the three of them.

She raised her hand, "brrt," crackles of lightning flowed across her palm, and she pressed her palm against the panel, which instantly turned its light to green. Beams of light burst from the magic circles above and below, merging in the middle like a cylinder.

"Huh,"

Clyde, Casca, and Corie watched their hands begin to dissolve, their faces turning anxious,

"Hey... what is this..."

Before Clyde could finish speaking, they vanished, and then reappeared in an identical room, though this one had thick glass walls that made them realize they had changed locations,

"Huh... what... happened?" Casca asked.

"We used teleportation magic to move locations; welcome to the station, the only back way to the surface," Selma answered.

Clyde, Casca, and Corie looked at their surroundings from behind the glass walls; they were indeed inside a subway or underground train station left behind from an ancient era, but what shocked them was that the station looked like a militant base, filled with many civilians who had built homes out of tents and lived as families.

"What kind of... base is this?" Casca asked.

"The rebels. Come on, let’s head out," Selma answered.

The door opened and they stepped out; "Boss," two guards immediately greeted Selma, who responded with a raise of her hand. Once they were a bit further away from the guards,

"Boss?" Clyde, Casca, and Corie asked in unison.

"Ah... that’s right; I’m the rebel leader and the owner of the ramen shop. Nice to meet you," Selma said.

"Huh,"

Clyde, Casca, and Corie stared at Selma in complete bewilderment; who could have guessed that the woman who, just moments ago, wore nothing but an apron and engaged in intimacy in plain view was the head of the rebels? But before the three could process their shock, a static holographic screen appeared,

["Craig... will... arrive... train... please... stop him... I... can’t reach him... he’s... raging... everyone... in danger... you... know... when you all... need to act... Clyde... please, Craig... stop him."]

"Huh," the faces of Clyde, still carrying the unconscious Mary, Casca, and Corie turned deathly pale. They looked around; there were so many civilian families inside the station who had clearly lived there for a long time, despite the presence of numerous heavily armed militants. Then they remembered their dream of how Craig transformed, and all three of them immediately stared at one another, their expressions pale and grim.