42 Chapter Forty-Two: Controversy (2/2)
”It's bound to backfire with that attitude” Finn says, ”you need to think more positively”.
”No, they're right” Siran says. ”Hope for the best, prepare for the worst”.
After making it to Tylon, the team does find a television station. They convinced the staff to allow them to record privately, using Ruby's authority to do so. The news of Ruby leaving The Mages Guild hasn't spread yet, so the staff didn't know about Ruby. The staff didn't know the recording was for The Six Guns either, because she had the staff leave before bringing the crew inside the building. With this, Siran was able to record his message with ease. It strangely got easier when Holly didn't have to stop any hackers from interfering. No one tried to stop the signal once they pushed the transmission onto every channel in the country. Within a day, Ruby's spot in The Mages Guild was filled with another person. A Mage by the name of Autumn Tyrel. Within that same day, the nation was also thrown into chaos. Ruby was announced a traitor of the state and everyone had already seen the news about who Siran really is. To convince the world that he really is himself, Siran even used his shapeshifting spell while recording to show the world his true form. Within another day, the news had already began spreading to other nations. The world was now focused on The Six Guns and the return of a hero.
Although it was an unexpected result, The Mages Guild also received some backlash from this event. On the same day that Siran told the world who he is, the Guild also told the nation that Ruby is a traitor and is working with Siran. This stirred up a lot of civilians because it raised the possibility that The Six Guns were the good guys and some of the Mages knew that, causing at least one of them to defect to their side. Those arguments then evolved to people asking The Guild why they're fighting The Six Guns to begin with, unaware that The Six Guns actually started this fight against The Ly'Lum and The Mages Guild. These actions also put the military in a restless state. Some soldiers didn't want to fight a hero, some didn't want to fight a criminal that powerful, some didn't know what to do, and some didn't care who they fought as long as they fought for their country.
On the third day, while receiving more backlash from the media and civilians, The Mages Guild decided to hold a conference.
”Why did you allow them to broadcast their message?” Agatha asks James.
”Like I said” James says, ”I like the chaos. They wanted this fight, but I doubt it'll work the way they planned”.
”So you have something in mind then?” Garreth asks.
”I always have something in mind” James replies. ”We just have to wait for the right time. Meanwhile, the tests with our robotic hunter are coming along well. The cybernetic engineers did well to make a human-like frame, and the tests with the endo are showing more stable results. With this, we'll have a better understanding on how much control we have over endo, and how much control it has over us”.
Meanwhile, in Seeira, the entire crew has gathered except for Tanya who is still with her daughter.
”So why were you so hesitant on revealing yourself to us” Alex asks, ”but not hesitant on revealing yourself on camera to the whole world?”.
”It was because you guys are the ones I was afraid of hurting” Siran says. ”Now that you've all already come to accept me, even while knowing that, then I'm no longer worried about who else knows about me”.
”Can we please stop with the touchy feely bullshit?” Alex asks.
”You asked” Siran says, ”and I gave my answer”.
”So what do we do now?” Ruby asks.
”We wait” Siran says.
”Well, don't wait too long” Vivi says as she walks back into the room with a cup of coffee. ”Your idea has backfired in a positive way. It's a backfire, because it means more work for us, but it's positive because it's a job request”.
”A job request?” Siran asks. ”We've never had that before”.
”Well...” Vivi says, ”you haven't. Remember that some of us have jobs?”.
”What's the request?” Siran asks.
”It's a request from China” Vivi says, ”although it's more like a demand. Ever since your exposure to the world, the internet has been blowing up about it. Some people have even taken the liberty of making a forum to discuss and argue whether your existence is a good one. On that same forum, people have also started making requests, as if The Six Guns themselves directly manage the website”.
”How did you find the website?” Satomi asks.
”It popped up in my news feed on my tablet” Vivi answers. ” It's apparently become a pretty big site. One of the top request is that China wishes to end their agreement with The Ly'Lum and no longer wish to be allied with them. For this to go smoothly, they'd want non other than The Six Guns to step in to help”.
”Step in to help how?” Alex asks.
”Dunno” Vivi says, ”it's not worded well, nor did their argument hold many valid points. The actual request says 'We don't need another country trying to pry into our business as a country. Disrespect like this should be punished. Who do they think they are, the old America? I wish The Six Guns would teach them a lesson!' unquote. For some reason a lot of people agree with this issue, so while seeming a lot like simple complaining, it might be a bigger issue than the bloggers on this forum are letting out. I'm not sure if they're just not allowed to talk about the issue in detail or if they're just not very fluent with their words. I know they can speak English, so I'm sure that's not the problem...”.
”Why would we need to help China?” Alex asks.
”Because” Vivi says, ”if we go, we'll likely gain supporters faster. If we refuse, we'll likely lose supporters”.
”Then I guess we have a mission” Siran says.
”Looks like it” Vivi says, drinking from her cup.
”Wow, all the way to China” Ruby says, ”how soon shall we leave?”.
”Are you coming with?” Siran asks.
”The closer to danger; the farther from harm” Ruby says.
”And we're... danger in this context?” Siran asks.
”What else would you be?” Ruby asks.
”Anyways, we should get there quickly” Siran says, ”so I say we leave tomorrow. I hope we have enough money left over for plane tickets”.
”Making guns ain't cheap” Vivi says, ”and because everyone these days wants protection, I have plenty of money”.
”Then we're all set to leave tomorrow” Siran says.
Later that night, everyone began going to sleep early to prepare. Zia was up late and Siran had troubles finding sleep. Zia had went to sit right outside of the front door, and eventually Siran came to join her. Zia was staring at the night sky when Siran came outside to join her.
”You can't sleep either?” Zia asks.
”Not really” Siran says, ”but that's nothing new, really. How about you?”.
”Just thinking about the future” Zia says. ”Like how this is going to go, with the world knowing you're back now”.
”Try not to worry too much” Siran says. ”Oh yeah, before I forget”. Siran then pulls a necklace out of his sleeve and hands it to Zia. ”I know it's a little early, but happy birthday”.
Zia takes the necklace, with a confused look on her face. ”How'd you know?” She asks.
”You mentioned it last year” Siran says, ”that your birthday is December 31st. I know I'm a day early, but still...”.
”How'd you get the money for this?” Zia asks.
”I didn't” Siran says, ”I just kinda... stole it”.
Zia begins laughing, then Siran laughs with her. ”Thanks” Zia says. There was a moment of silence after Zia put on the necklace. After a few minutes of awkward silence, Zia asks ”It's about to get a whole lot harder, isn't it?”.
”You mean this war?” Siran asks.
”Yeah” Zia says, ”with requests and stuff... I mean, we have a good start and everything. The world isn't asking for your corpse immediately”.
”Yeah, I guess so” Siran says. ”Definitely a better reaction than I expected. It should be a good sign, but I can't help but to feel uneasy”.
”Well, whatever the case” Zia says, ”we've just got to do what we've got to do”.
”That's all we can do, really” Siran says. ”But one thing's for sure. I really do think everything is about to get a lot more complicated”.