District 42-Chapter 325: MMA’s decision
MMA waited for everyone to settle down and focus on him before starting to say what happened while he was out of the battle.
"Ok, let’s start, then. When the invasion was beginning, I was at the Main Laboratory as per usual. That day I wasn’t at the section I lead, but in the room where project Jomurgand was ongoing. My team was called to check on the system of Jomurgand and its artificial intelligence. We needed to pass the day correcting mistakes and testing over and over again, nothing too different from what we usually made before.
"However, this day there was something off...
...
As MMA entered the room with his research group, he could see that a lot of people were inside Block 5-F. It drew his attention right off the bat and he got cautious once he stepped in.
’I never saw so many people here before. It is some sort of a special day? I don’t think so, otherwise, they would notification us. I will keep an eye on them.’
MMA placed his materials in a corner of that huge circular room. The groups were spread around, and in the center was the body of a huge metallic snake. It was clearly disabled, but dreadful, nevertheless.
As their work went on, MMA noticed some changes in the other groups around. Throughout a deep analysis as well, he could notice strange points in their behavior.
’They aren’t working at all, just conversing and looking around. There are, at most, three groups that are really doing something. However, there are ten groups in total here. Is it possible that they are waiting for something to come, so they can work? It happens all the time, there are so many materials and processes that lack, after all. However, almost seven groups without what it takes to start to work are definitely suspicious.’
MMA realized afterward that Adam and Astrid’s groups were there, which were the ones doing their part on that project.
"Hey, everyone. I don’t want to be slacking by now, but I found something interesting, so I need to give a stroll around here quickly."
His group simply nodded to him, letting him do whatever he wanted. He was the leader, anyway, so he would left even if they didn’t want to. Also, he worked three times as fast as the others, which made him get ahead of everyone by far.
MMA began to walk casually as if he was just having a break. He took out a book and acted like he was reading it. Nonetheless, his eyes weren’t focused on the pages at all, but on the other groups of research that were around.
’Just as I thought, they seem to be planning something. They aren’t just conversing about gossip or whatever. On the contrary, they are serious. Their eyes are following me and the other groups that are working at full speed. But, what’s the reason?’ He pondered on that question for a while. ’The reason probably is because they are waiting for us to do something. Now, what thing?’
To discover that, he would need to walk and reason for a while. He didn’t know how he would find hints of what was going on, but, if there were any, then it should be around that place.
’Now that I think about it, I don’t recognize these guys of the other groups. The most familiar ones are from Adam and Astrid’s. I have a guess, and it’s not good: the Laboratory has infiltrated people. I just hope that I am utterly wrong. Otherwise, things will get hard.’
MMA was passing by Adam’s group. They indeed were doing something there, fixing a specific part of the serpent’s body that seemed to have a motor defect.
He was going to just walk off but got stopped once Adam cast a meaningful look at him.
After that staring, he needed to stop immediately and walk near him.
"Hi, Adam."
"You noticed how the weather is bad today, MMA?" Adam replied, even before he could finish his greeting.
"Yes." The genius scientist narrowed his eyes. "It’s really, really bad." He clenched his fists so tightly that Adam could notice it.
"Should I take an umbrella, Adam?" He asked.
Adam’s expression got grim. He looked to the sides, then to Jomurgand, returning his gaze to MMA afterward. He seemed to be disturbed, even anxious. His face was always sleepy and tired, but that day one could notice the grim expression that he had behind the mask.
"No. It’s too late, MMA."
Adam approached him, muttering in his ear.
"It’s raining already."
MMA turned to the other groups as quickly as possible, seeing that they finally began to type in their laptops and give calls.
All of a sudden, they were in a rush. It was difficult to follow their pace.
The problem was that MMA didn’t have any idea of what was going on.
’What do I do now? What are they planning? Is it related to the last attacks in the Castle and the possible invasion that Brenna told me? If that’s how it is, then...’ He moved his eyes towards Jomurgand.
’I see...’ He stared with serious eyes at that huge metallic body in front of him. ’If that’s how it is, then we can’t beat them. This thing that we created is just too powerful even for me.’
He frowned hard, thinking about what he could do.
Suddenly, he remembered what Brenna told him on the phone a few hours ago.
"I dreamed two things! The first: you tried to solve a problem in a machine and it killed you. The second: you let the machine destroy everything, but reconstructed it afterward! It was funny."
’If I act now, I will die, and the others won’t have a second chance. However, if I hold on, then we can have a second chance of winning in the future...’
MMA let all the coldness of his heart dominate him. He would need it because he was about to make the most difficult decision of his life.
’People will die, but I can’t involve myself now in this problem. However, I can work on getting stronger...’
