CHAPTER 51: LI - THE RURAL SAFEHOUSE (PART 1)

Nairobi stood in front of a crude wooden sign and frowned.

The poorly painted sign read, "Deville Family Farm."

Nairobi scratched her head and thought to herself, "This is where Isatou said the safe house is, but...why? I mean, if they have safe houses in Portland and Seaside, why do they need one in the sticks?"

Nairobi thought about it for a few more moments before she shrugged her shoulders and walked past the fence.

"H-hey! Slow down for a second!" A weary voice hollered out.

Nairobi spun around and spotted Shota sprinting down the dirt road leading to the farm. After a few laborious seconds, Shota stopped in front of her and placed his hands on his knees.

"D-do you run to every assignment? At full speed?" Shota gasped while catching his breath.

Nairobi smiled and put her arms behind her back, "Nope, not every assignment. Just most of them. Maybe you need to run a little more and put the books down, Shota."

She walked over and put a hand on his back, before asking, "What made you want to join me? I thought the Gamers were handling all the crimes while we investigate?"

Shota slowly stood up straight, putting his hands on his hips, "I hate agreeing with Keita and Mina when they get arrogant and condescending, but they were right. Outside of this Black Company thing, Oregon is weak. There are virtually no crimes for us to handle. Keita is handling it by himself, so I thought I’d help you out."

Nairobi made her way onto the farm, walking toward a small, simple white house.

"What about Mina?" Nairobi called back.

Shota ducked his head slightly and spoke in a hushed tone, "S-she’s helping Isatou and trying to find the exact location of the last two warehouses. Shouldn’t you keep your voice down? We don’t know who’s listening..."

Nairobi stepped onto the porch of the farmhouse and smiled back at him, "Please, Shota. We’re walking up to the front door; if they’re here and watching, they’ve already seen us."

Nairobi slowly walked up to the front door and reached into her pocket, grabbing a handful of screws.

She looked back at Shota briefly before softly knocking on the door.

Nairobi called out, "Is anybody home?"

On the fourth knock, she pushed the door open inadvertently. She looked back at Shota, whose eyes were wide with fear, before opening the door fully.

She stalked inside the derelict farmhouse and looked around. Everything was burnt to a crisp. There were deep, dark scorch marks along the walls, floor and ceiling. All of the furniture was strewn around and flipped over, like a storm passed through.

"The Black Company was here. I know that witch Ms. Friendly’s work anywhere. Can you...I don’t know, look at the scorch marks and see how old they are or something? She may still be here for all we know."

Shota shook his head vigorously, "You know I don’t read those kinds of books, Nairo. I don’t know anything about that. I’m an engineer, not an investigator."

Nairobi groaned and trudged into the kitchen, spotting mostly the same scene.

"After we leave this mission...maybe you should come back to California with us," Shota stated meekly.

Nairobi let out a soft chuckle, "Is that your way of asking me to rejoin the Gamers, Shota?"

Shota rubbed the back of his neck, "That wouldn’t be such a bad thing, would it? We miss you a-and...I think I speak for the team when I say we would love to have you back..."

Nairobi crept into the living room, "I don’t want—"

Shota shook his head, "I know Nairobi. I get it. You don’t want the pressure of being a ranked hero, right? Of having that spotlight?"

Nairobi glared at him, "Not the pressure, Shota. I could handle that. I don’t want the responsibility. I love helping people, but when they treat me like a legend and call me ’SoCal’s Savior,’ it feels like I’m also to blame when people get hurt or killed..."

Shota frowned, "Did anybody ever say that to you, Nairo?"

Nairobi stopped in her tracks and turned to him, "What’d you say?"

Shota stood his ground and scowled at her, "Did anybody ever say they blamed you when they got hurt? Or did they blame you for their family or friend getting killed?"

Nairobi bit her lip, "No, but..."

Shota sighed, "Look, I’m not going to pretend like it’s not a real concern. As ranked heroes, it’s our responsibility to make sure people stay safe. It can be overwhelming, and no, we don’t save everybody. But think about all the good you did, all the people you saved, the kids you inspired."

Nairobi walked toward the stairs, "I don’t know why you want me back so bad. You have the fifth-ranked hero on your team. Brian the Brain, the Cyber Hero. What more do you need?"

Shota pinched his forehead, "Do you see him with us now, Nairo? Ever since he became the fifth-ranked hero last year, the INHO put him on a leash and started making him do assignments exclusively for them. The stupid cyber universes. Even though he’s back from his last assignment, we haven’t seen him yet."

Reaching the top of the stairs, Nairobi crossed her arms and turned to Shota, her voice becoming more exasperated, "Ugh! Well, even without Brian, you still have three top 100 heroes, right? You and Keita are in the top 50, some of the strongest heroes in the world! And forty or fifty other members on top of that? I’d love to come back, but I’m needed here!"

Shota ran his hands through his hair, his own voice becoming more irritated, "Forty or fifty? It’s not like that anymore, Nairo. Everybody you saw at that meeting, plus Brian, is all that’s left of the Gamers. We let all of the other members go. Or...I guess I should say Keita did."

Nairobi moved to one of the upstairs bedrooms and pushed it open, "He did? What happened?"

Shota followed closely behind her, "After Brian shot from rank sixty to rank five, our group jumped right up from number eleven to number three. Our clout was at an all-time high. And some of the members decided to...abuse that. They used it to improve their social status or to get favors from people, even though they didn’t do anything to help earn that status. And you know how Keita is; he didn’t stand for it."

Nairobi remained silent as she examined the scorch marks on the bedroom walls and floors.

Shota chuckled to himself, "Three top 100 heroes, huh? Most days, it doesn’t feel like that. It feels like we’re acquaintances clocking into the same dead-end job. Without Brian around, we barely even have a leader. Keita is too hotheaded, I am too...cautious. And Mina? She’s...apathetic about being a hero. She refuses to take more than the bare minimum of responsibility or do even slightly more than what is required. She’s only with us at Brian’s request, nothing more."

Nairobi exited the bedroom and moves down the steps, "It sounds like the Gamers are in a terrible state. Now I’m wondering why I’d even want to join back."

"We need you, Nairobi. You were our glue; you kept the extremes of everyone’s personality in line. Without you, everything is spiraling out of control. We—"

"There’s nothing here, Shota. Let’s check the barn and then report back to Isatou."

Shota rolled his eyes and followed her out the back door.

They walked down a dirt path for a minute or two before reaching the large red barn.

"Tell me about this Ninjaman you’re in a group with. I’ve at least heard of Mechaboy, but Ninjaman is a mystery to me. All I know is Keita hates him."

Nairobi smirked and entered the barn, "He strong. And he’s always grumpy; he and Keita would be good friends if they got to know each other. But there is something else. His mind always seems to be somewhere else, like being a hero is an afterthought to him..."

Nairobi’s voice trailed off as they moved deeper into the barn. Large wooden pillars, bales of hay and dilapidated farming equipment flanked them on all sides. As they walked, Shota froze like a statue and fixed his eyes on a large hay bale to their left.

Shota leaned in and whispered, "I-I think I just saw something move on that hay bale. We’re not alone."

Nairobi reached into her back pocket and grabbed a nail and a metal nut. She threw the metal nut in the air and watched as it floated above her like a halo and grew in size. She gripped the nail in her right hand as it expanded as well.

A figure sat up on the hay bale slowly and shook hay out of its hair.

Nairobi pointed her nail at the figure, her eyes darkening.

"That’s her. That’s Ms. Friendly."