Light and Night: Across Two Worlds

Chapter 25: The Forest Battle (1)

At Pullau Villa, Aya and White had finished their dinner with Eva. They planned to have a match in the forest. The rules were simple. In the dark, Aya and White had to collect flags that had been spread in various places. Aya needed to collect the Red flag, and White needed to collect the Blue flag. Each flag consists of 10 pieces. It made from glow in the dark material. Flags were put in a hidden place. There were a number of robots and drones that patrol around in the forest. They would irradiate with beam light. Aya and White should not be capture by light from robots and drones. If the player was captured by a robot or drone beams of light, the game ends.

Aya and White could attack the X marks in the Robot and Drone bodies to deactivate their activities. There were no weapons provided for Aya and White besides magnetic shuriken that were used to target X marks on robots or drones to turn off the light beam. As per Alex's orders, Aya kept petrifying shuriken to make enemy petrified and lost consciousness.

On the floating screen showed how many flags were still left in the hiding place. If all the flags have been taken away, then Aya and White needed to reach the finish line in the shortest possible time. The winner of the game should collect all 10 flags in the shortest time. Eva has set up a forest area to become a training area with a digital system.

As equipment, White was equipped with special night goggles to be able to see in the dark. Aya and White dressed all dark from head to toe like a ninja. It’s called Ninja Suit. The ninja suit was thin, light and elastic, and covered the entire body except for the eye area. The suit was designed to make it easier for users to move flexibly such as climbing and maximizing spring power like jumping. Digital technology on this ninja suit reduced gravity, so users could move faster and lighter. This suit could also absorb shock. If the user of the ninja suit collides or falls, the impact on the body can be minimized.

The training mission this time was to infiltrate the enemy's territory and came out alive by bringing the desired target. In each person, there were earbuds that allowed Aya, White, and Eva to hear and communicate with each other. Aya received night goggles from Eva, but she did not activate its function. Instead, the goggles only covered the true color of her eyes. Secretly, Aya removed her contact lens, put it in the box, and save it in her pocket. After that, she put on the goggles Eva gave. With her eyes capabilities, Aya could see the darkness as bright as daylight.

"Are you ready?" Eva asked Aya and White.

Both of them nodded. The game started. Aya and White entered the forest and chose a different path. The entrance and exit ways of the forest were determined the same from the start. Eva stood in front of the entrance waiting for the two to finish carrying out the mission. In her hand, there was a tablet that showed the position of Aya and White on the forest digital map. She could see the red icon represent Aya and blue icon represented White on the map. The position of the flag was reflected in red flag and blue flag vector on the map.

Aya ran and she sneaked between the trees. She tried to move silently. Several times Aya hid behind a tree or lied down behind bushes to avoid the beam light from the drones and robots. There was a robot that didn’t notice Aya's presence, behind a tree. This opportunity was used by Aya to throw the magnetic shuriken to the robot X mark. The robot's lights turn off as soon as the X mark was attacked. Easily, Aya stepped over the robot and took the first flag located on the tree branch.

White still hasn't managed to get a single flag. He had difficulty avoiding the beam light of robots and drones. Many times he was almost get captured. White continued to hide and seek. He waited for an opportunity to get the flag. White tried to take a stone and throw it in the far direction. The tactic worked. The robot that guarded the flag moving away to catch the stone. White used this opportunity. He picked up the flag, that already not guarded by the robot. After that, as soon as possible, White disappeared into the darkness of the night.

The floating scoreboard showed the acquisition of the flag number obtained by Aya and White. The numbers were very close to each other. One by one the flags symbol disappeared from the radar. Eva saw it on her digital map. There were only a few flags left for Aya and White to collect. Soon, they should compete to rush out of the forest. The floating scoreboard also calculated the game time that has already taken place. So far the game has lasted almost an hour. Unlike the labyrinth game that required speed, jungle games required patience and precision.

A warning appeared on Eva's digital bracelet. There were people who entered the Villa Island area from the outside using Melati access. But the system detects there were several moving objects that have human body temperature. Did Melati come home with friends? But why were the friends who followed her quite a lot? There were at least 10 people. There were no signs of Matias or Alex's access to the Pullau Villa area. Eva felt something was wrong. Eva looked at the digital map of the forest. Aya and White have collected 60% of the flags inside the forest.

"Aya, White. I have to check something at the gate of the island area. Excuse me for a moment. Please continue the game," Eva said.

"Okay, noted," said Aya.

"Okay," said White.

Eva took a skate wing and glided flying towards the entrance of the island. A skate wing was an electric skateboard that flew without touching the ground. From a distance, Eva saw a bunch of men entering the island area. Melati was not there with them. This was not right. Eva became alert.

"Hey, stop! Who are you? "Eva exclaimed as she approached.

When one of the men from the gang saw Eva's arrival, he fired a shotgun to her. Eva somersaulted in the air avoiding the attack. The other man took his weapon and shooting at Eva. Following her instincts, Eva threw her skate wing towards the enemy, then jumped away and ran to save herself into the forest.