Chapter 67

67 Rin

But here’s the problem. I have no idea where he is. Since the WAC match, I haven’t seen him since then. I quickly left the conference room and took a brief look around to see if he was there.

It’s like you see someone once, and you never see them again.

Maybe he was in a class or something, after all, it was one of the last hours of being here. I began to move towards the stairs, going to Mr. Robbs’s room.

“Hey, do you know where Rin may be?” I asked, peeking my head through the door. “I need to talk to him real quick.”

“Oh, Rin?” Mr. Robbs asked as he turned around from his desk. “He just left and is probably about to leave. You just missed him.”

“Oh, okay,” I said, as I nodded. “Thanks, Mr. Robbs.”

“No problem,” he said, as he turned back to his desk. I quickly rushed down the stairs, taking them two at a time. I needed to talk to Rin fast before he left the school.

But when I got there, I saw that the parking lot was already empty. There wasn’t a single car in sight.

He must have left already, I thought, as I sighed in disappointment. But then I saw one person that was about two hundred feet from me to my right, and they were walking away.

.....

I began to sprint towards that person and soon enough, I caught up. “Rin!” I yelled as I panted a bit. He turned around to see me and he had a surprised look on his face.

“Connor?” he asked, as he raised an eyebrow. “Where were you?”

“I could ask-you-the-the-the same-the same question,” I panted out, as I put my hands on my knees, trying to catch my breath. “I’ve been-been looking-for you.”

“Oh,” he said, as he scratched the back of his head. “Sorry about that. I was just getting some air.”

“Yeah, well,” I said, as I took a deep breath. “Something happened, it’s quite a long story. Tisiah got kidnapped by someone from the TSA and we don’t know where he is. We were just about to start watching the footage from one of the streetlight cameras, but we realized that we didn’t have you. And I was hoping that you could help us out.”

Rin sighed as he ran his hand through his hair.

“Who’s in your team?” he asked. “Malachi, September, Nikki, and Matt,” I listed off. “Mari’s with us too.”

“Okay, I’m not sure who those people are. But I’ll help,” he said, as he nodded. “I’ll come with you.”

As we walked back to the conference room, I began to fill Rin in on everything that has happened so far. He listened intently and seemed quite surprised by everything.

“That’s quite a lot,” he muttered, as we walked into the room. “I had no idea that any of this was going on.”

“Yeah,” I said, as I nodded. “It’s been a lot to take in for all of us.”

We entered the room and all eyes were set on Rin. “Hey, guys,” he said, as he waved. “What’s up?”

“We were just about to start watching the footage from one of the streetlight cameras,” Mari said, as she hit play. We all watched as the footage began to play.

Rin leaned forward in his seat, his eyes glued to the screen. “Who’s that guy?” he asked, as he pointed to the man in the black suit inside the car.

“We don’t know,” I said, as I shook my head. “But we think that he might be a part of the TSA.”

“The TSA?” Rin asked as he furrowed his brows. “What would they want with Tisiah?”

“Lord only knows,” September said. “But the main guy is about to come out, Rocke.” Then Rocke came out of the car, and Rin shuddered in fear.

“That’s Rocke?” he asked, as he gulped. “He looks even scarier in person.”

“Yeah,” I said, as I nodded. “He’s the one that has the Armonk.”

“The Armonk?” Rin asked, as his eyes widened in surprise. “What’s that?” “It’s something we had to deal with before this,” I said. “It’s a long story.”

“Right,” Rin said, as he nodded. “How are we gonna find Rocke?”

“Well, September, Malachi and I searched, and based on that diamond that he took, we think that’s for some sort of robot that he might want to steal because it’s powered by that same shape,” I said.

“A robot?” Rin asked as he raised an eyebrow. “What does that have to do with anything?”

“Well, by finding the address, we could spy it out and see if Rocke is there by any chance. We’d see his minions if he was, and that’s quite most likely,” September explained.

“So, we’re just gonna go and stake out this place?” Rin asked. “It sounds kinda dangerous.”

“Well these things are dangerous,” Mari said. “Gotta get used to them.”

“I guess so,” Rin said, as he sighed. “But I don’t think I’m cut out for this.” “Why?” I asked. “You’re a good agent, I think...”

“I don’t know, it’s just,” he said, as he shook his head. “This seems like a lot for me, I’m more of a stay behind and watch the cameras guy.”

“Well, we need all the help we can get,” I said. “And besides, you’re a good shot. You got this.”

“Alright, but if anything messes up, it’s on you,” he said with a chuckle.

“Deal,” I said, as I held out my hand to him. He shook it and we all got up from our seats. “Alright, everyone just goes back to your usual things, and we’ll meet tomorrow here, okay?”

As everyone began to leave, I pulled Mari and September back. “What are you guys up to?” Rin asked.

“I’m just telling them something real quick,” I said. “I’ll be right back.”

As soon as we were out of the room, I turned to Mari and September. “Who’s gonna tell Nikki?” I asked. “I don’t think I can do it.”

“I’ll do it,” September said. “You just focus on finding Tisiah, I’ll tell Nikki everything.” “Okay,” I nodded, “It’s soon about to be time to go home, so I’ll just...go ahead and uh-yeah.”

I turned around and walked away from them, my heart heavy with sadness. I had to find Tisiah, no matter what. I went up to Mr. Drails’s office and knocked, indicating that I was leaving. I then walked outside of a building, as a portal opened up in front of me. I stepped inside of it and it whisked me away back to my home.

I knocked on the door immediately, not feeling like being outside. My mom answered the door and I walked in, setting my bag down.

“Hey, Connor,” she said with a smile. “Hi mom,” I said, giving her a quick hug. I then walked upstairs to my room and then sat down on my bed. I sighed, thinking about what I had to do tomorrow.

It was going to be a long day.

***

It was the day, the time to save Tisiah. I felt ready, fired up much more than usual. I knew the others felt the same, we had to save Tisiah at all costs. Even if it meant going up against Rocke and the whole TSA, a life matters, no matter what.

I got up from my bed, at six in the morning, while my mom was asleep. Once I got ready, I was immediately teleported to Mr. Drails’s office. September and Malachi were the only ones there at the time, but I was pretty sure more were coming.

“Good morning, everyone,” Mr. Drails said. “I’m sure you’re all wondering why I’ve called you here.”

“No not really,” Malachi said. “Matt and Mari, nor that Rinny guy are here.”

“Rin, Malachi,” Mr. Drails corrected. “And they’ll be here soon, I promised them this meeting as well.”

“Whatever,” Malachi mumbled. Then the door opened, and the rest came in. Mari and Matt looked excited, but Rin seemed very nervous.

“Now that we’re all here,” Mr. Drails continued. “I’ll get to the point. The reason I’ve called you all is that we’re starting the mission to find Rocke. I’ve scouted out the area and figured out that it’s a museum in construction.”

“A museum. How come this is not popular on the Internet or something like that?” Rin asked.

“That’s a good question,” Mr. Drails said. “Not sure, but it is possible that maybe the TSA’s doing.”

“Makes sense,” I said. “But what’s the plan?”

Preview:

“The plan is simple, really,” Mr. Drails explained. “You all will be going in undercover as construction workers. The second you see Rocke, kidnap him and then quickly tell me.”

“That’s the plan?” Mari asked. “It seems a bit...simple.”

“I know,” Mr. Drails said. “I just said that. Now when you get there, quickly go find a way to get some construction jacket. Nikki isn’t here right now, so we’ll have to do things the hard way.”

“Well that makes things much less simple,” Rin muttered, as Mr. Drails nodded. All of a sudden, he created a portal that led inside some sort of building that didn’t look like a museum in construction.

“Alright, I’ll hope to see you guys soon here and ready,” he said. “And be careful, the TSA will most likely be there.”