Opening Song:

https://youtu.be/yCYCR_MTJuc

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"Is our patient seriously injured?" Sofia asks the nursing staff at the nurse station.

"He lost a couple of units of blood. You may visit the patient ma'am," the nurse answered.

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Sofia glides into the hushed room like a phantom, her presence unseen but sensed. She pays a clandestine visit to Kyrie, finding him ensconced in a charade of unconsciousness, little realizing that his slumber conceals the truth. Undeterred, Sofia places a basket of luscious fruits by his bedside, a silent offering in this clandestine dance of secrets.

"(Kyrie)" Sofia said.

"(Who are you?)" she added while watching Kyrie sleep, signifying that he is still unknown to her. Although they are classmates and Kyrie was her second dance. Little did she know that he was pretending to be asleep. Simultaneously, little did Kyrie know that the person waiting for him to wake up was Sofia.

"Kyrie," Sofia whispered.

While standing there, pondering the identity of the man peacefully sleeping in the bed—a mysterious figure from Ozone Space Country with extraordinary skills—Sofia made a decision. She quietly stepped out of Kyrie's room, gently closing the door behind her. The air in the hallway seemed charged with anticipation as Sofia began to unravel the secrets surrounding this enigmatic visitor.

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Sofia goes out Kyrie's room and approaches an assigned nurse on duty, inquiring.

"He is now stable, but he lost a couple of blood," the nurse said to Sofia and left the nurse station for a short emergency. After a while, a person approached her. Someone walked towards Sofia, and the woman asked her.

"Excuse me, are you the relative of the patient in that room?" Major Briana asked promptly and pointed to Kyrie's room.

Standing tall is a woman wearing an Earth Force military uniform.

"Huh?" Sofia exclaims in surprise. She observes the woman in front of her.

"(Hhhmmm. Looks like an official, and she might be looking for Kyrie)," Sofia says to herself with a bit of nervousness, aware that she is talking to an Earth military superior.

"(They must be looking for Kyrie; I wonder why)" she adds.

"(I am right. These people are definitely looking for Kyrie. Maybe they need something from him)," Sofia thinks and cautiously observes how Major Briana moves around the room. She knows that these people might be searching for answers.

"(He's in trouble; we must get out of here. I think they want something from Kyrie)," Sofia says and plans ahead.

"Is there any problem?" Major Briana asks Sofia again.

"No, nothing. I mean, no, he is my classmate," Sofia answers.

"I just checked if he's alright now," Sofia adds. Sofia doesn't show any signs of tension.

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Chapter 13
More Cybots Appeared Part 2: A Surprising Help
story & illustrations by Eugene Mark Lopez
text by Anna Mae Apalla

Thud!

The door sounded as it opened.

"Huh?" Kyrie exclaimed, noticing the nurse returning to check his vital signs again. Kyrie is confused, as he thought a nurse had already checked his vital signs a couple of minutes ago. Yet, the nurse returned and checked once more. However, Kyrie continued pretending to be asleep.

"Sir, may I check your blood pressure?" the nurse said as she held Kyrie's arm.

"Sorry to interrupt your sleep, sir," the nurse with long, light yellow hair and wicked eyes said. However, Kyrie continued to pretend he was unconscious.

"Hhhhhmmm," Kyrie muttered, observing how the nurse interestingly removed his dextrose.

"You are blessed with that girl! She brought you lots of goods here," the nurse said, biting into the green apple from the basket that Sofia had given to Kyrie.

"She's beautiful too," the nurse continued, savoring the taste of the green apple while sitting beside Kyrie's bed.

"She was here, but you were asleep," she added.

"Huh?" Kyrie said, lying on his bed and pretending to be a sleeping patient.

However, Kyrie recognized the voice. Slowly, he opened his eyes just a little to glance at the nurse's face. Then, Kyrie stopped pretending and stood up from his bed.

"You!" Kyrie exclaimed to Tracie, who had disguised herself as a nurse from Manila Hospital City.

"SSSSsssshhh, I'll help you get out of this hospital," Tracie whispered to Kyrie, who was planning to escape from Manila City Hospital, tightly guarded by Earth Force troops. Tracie nonchalantly continued to bite into the green apple, as if her disguise hadn't been exposed.

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"(So, Sofia was here)," Kyrie murmured from his bed after listening to the words of Tracie who disguised herself as a nurse.

"(She brought me food)," Kyrie noted, deep in thought.

"Listen! You need to cooperate, okay?" Tracie urged Kyrie, guiding him to sit.

"You might fool the nurses and doctors here, but not me. I can tell who you are based on how you move," Kyrie said, sitting beside the wide-open window.

"Your genius," Tracie said, opening the windows as well.

"I'll kill you after I recover from my wounded arm!" Kyrie threatened.

"I said shut up and do what I say to help you escape from here," Tracie replied firmly.

"You're trying to help me. Why?" Kyrie asked Tracie, who then removed her nursing disguise.

"I thought you'd kill me?" he added.

"I'll tell you after we get out of here," Tracie replied.

"The Earth Force is outside this door, guarding everything," Tracie added.

"So just follow me," Tracie instructed.

"The Earth Force—the people who were in the room earlier," Kyrie peered through the window, spying on the Earth Force personnel stationed on the ground floor and a menacing military armored car. Tracie and Kyrie also see Lieutenant Zendaya Brimdart that is seriously observing the perimeters of the Manila Hospital City.

"You cooperate first, okay?" Tracie whispered, a sly smile playing on her lips as she skillfully retrieved a smoke grenade from her belt bag. The dimly lit room became charged with tension, setting the stage for an audacious escape that could redefine the course of Kyrie's fate.

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"I'm quite interested in that student with the strong body and the unique flash drive," Major Briana remarked to Sofia. They engaged in a conversation on a bench in the nurse station.

"Do you know anything about your classmate?" Major Briana asked eagerly, prompting Sofia to be cautious with her response. Aware of Kyrie's perilous situation, she decided to mislead Major Briana.

"Oh? He's just a classmate who fell victim to a mugging at the baywalk," Sofia replied, fabricating a story to conceal Kyrie's true predicament.

"What's your name?" Major Briana inquired.

"I am Sofia, Sofia Angelhope," she answered.

"Hmm, sounds like the exact name of the President's relative, but of course, it's not you. She would have bodyguards and never enter a common hospital like this," Major Briana speculated, unaware that Sofia was the person she was thinking of.

"You have a similar name to the President's daughter," Major Briana added.

"(Ha? She doesn't believe it's me, good thing. He he he he)" Sofia smiled, relieved by the fortunate misunderstanding.

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But all of a sudden!

Fissssssssshhhh!!!

Fissssssssshh!!!

In a surprising twist, a thick plume of smoke engulfed the nurse station, billowing into the hospital's hallways, creating an air of mystery and chaos.

"Ha? What's going on there?" Major Briana exclaimed, surprised by the white smoke that instantly filled up the hallway.

Cough!

Cough!

Cough!

People on the third floor struggled to draw deep breaths.

"Major, the third floor is full of smoke!" said Lieutenant Zendaya, who had just quickly climbed the ladder towards Major Briana's location.

"Hurry! Evacuate the people on this floor!" Major Briana ordered.

A deafening explosion echoed as a smoke grenade detonated in a nearby room, instantly shrouding the entire area in a thick, disorienting veil of smoke!

"(Huh? Kyrie!)" Sofia exclaimed, urgently devising a plan to reach Kyrie's room, where the ominous smoke emanated.

"(Oh no! Kyrie!)" Sofia muttered to herself, hastening to follow Major Briana towards the mysterious source of the smoke, Kyrie's room.

copyright 2003
Allrights Reserved

Up Next!
Chapter 14- More Cybots Appeared Part 3: The Vanishing Act

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Summary:

Sofia visits Kyrie, who is pretending to be asleep in a hospital. Sofia, unaware of Kyrie's true identity and situation, leaves a basket of fruits as an offering. Meanwhile, Tracie, disguised as a nurse, recognizes Kyrie and plans to help him escape. Major Briana, an Earth Force officer, questions Sofia about Kyrie. As tension builds, Tracie and Kyrie prepare for an audacious escape using a smoke grenade. The chapter ends with a thick plume of smoke, creating chaos and prompting Sofia to worry about Kyrie's safety.