Regona City: Tempest (BK3)

Unwanted Reunion

Four figures poured into the room, all dressed in the same white and red clothes the man who had stopped Sahara earlier had been in. She could assume by now that they were some sort of security force, most likely installed by Lithium.

Though they burst into the room, they made no attempt to charge but stepped to the side.

"Fellas," Noah greeted them with a grin. "To what do we owe the sudden intrusion?"

A fifth figure walked between the first four. He came to a standstill and pressed a button on his helmet. The visor before his eyes disappeared to reveal the face of a man in his mid-twenties. His eyes swept over Noah, pausing briefly at his hair, and then landed on Sahara, where they stayed.

Nervousness filled Sahara.

Noah jabbed her in the ribs. "Confidence," he hissed.

Realizing her face was portraying her emotions, Sahara let it go blank at once. She stood up taller, trying to summon a confident self. Act like the most confident person you know...be like...Alegra!

"Sahara?" The man standing before her asked.

Sahara didn't reply right away, instead, she let her eyes travel up and down the guy, as though sizing him up. "Who wants to know?" she said, her voice even as she responded the way she thought Alegra would. She was quite pleased at the way it came out, even Noah looked impressed.

The man nodded. "My name Is Markus. I'm with the LCS. We were dispatched here upon learning your location."

LCS? Sahara thought in confusion. Her eyes landed on the words stitched on the man's uniform. They spelt out Lithium Control Squad. "Obviously," were the words that came out of her mouth.

Noah snorted, his hand flying to his mouth as he disguised the laugh as a cough.

Markus cleared his throat. "We've been looking for you for quite some time."

Sahara was careful to keep her face neutral.

"We can understand why you may have avoided us..."

Sahara's eyes darted to Noah who had composed himself once more.

"But our governor would like to extend his personal greetings and request that you join hands with us on helping Regona achieve its former glory once again. Uniting it under the rule of his majesty in the Royal City of..."

"In short you would like her to attend the glorious institute which provides education and be a role model for all young Regona-lings," Noah was the one to cut him off. "Leave all the icing off the cake. We don't like sweet, and we also know why you're here."

Markus' eyes darted to Noah. "Who're you?" he asked.

"That's a question I ask myself every day," Noah replied as he scratched his hair.

One of the men behind Markus had already pulled up his bracelet and was looking into it. "Noah. Regona citizen. Student at Regona High A. Student standing; good. His is on warning though for..." he paused and glanced up, "Eccentric hair that doesn't fit with the school policy."

"Hey!" Noah looked thoroughly offended. "It's a statement of individuality."

"And you are currently not in class because?" Markus asked.

"Class?" Noah looked innocent. "I thought we were on a free period."

"Classes resumed an hour ago," Markus told him. His expression showed he didn't believe Noah in the least.

"By golly!" Noah smacked his forehead in horror. "I can't believe I'm missing out on History!"

Sahara raised a hand and snapped her finger. "Over here," she said.