Fate Online: Shadow

"Oh my god! Are we having an MT at Mine Tech. Industries?!"

One of the students suddenly exclaimed in shock and excitement, and the commotion that was already happening when they arrived earlier became even more chaotic, as it made them more enthusiastic at the thought of touring at the mysterious headquarters of Mine Tech. Industries that rarely open its doors to the public, and even when it happens, the footage only shown are those appropriate for the public eye.

The place they were at was, after all, a private dock, only used by the said company, and could also be considered as a tourist spot because it's the only place or property where the public could lay their eyes on.

Most of all, the surroundings of the place are astounding because of its beautiful landscape, with establishments that had already popped out one by one on the surrounding land properties because of the place's that had boomed popularity, a must place to visit especially for couples that met inside Fate Online.

The professor who was with them just smiled and didn't comment on the subject and just said while clapping his hands, "Okay, enough with the chit chat and start boarding the boat one by one"

With that said, the students became unbelievably obedient as they boarded the boat one by one. Even those troublemakers in their class weren't an exception, like all of them suddenly became kids who are going to an amusement park like how their parents had promised them.

But this time, the amusement park is a prestigious tech giant.

'Seriously?!'

Michael couldn't help but tilt his head in wonder if they were really going to tour around the company, but at the same time, he had this feeling inside him that their professor was just tricking them into thinking that they would actually go there.

In the end, he also obediently followed after the rest with the continued chatter happening all around him.

"Oh my god, I can't wait to step foot inside Mine Tech. Industries! It has always been my dream to work there after uni!" Brandon said with excitement while walking along with the girls and Michael.

Lisa also chipped in her thoughts and said, "Me too! Actually, my mom works there, but I've never been there before. She says that non personnel are not allowed to step foot inside the island unless the company allows them to"

"Your mother does?! That's awesome! Did you hear anything from her about our MT today?" Brandon asked with a face full of amazement and excitement, as he finally had a common ground with Lisa to talk about even if it's only for a while.

"I don't know, she never mentioned anything about it when she came home yesterday" Lisa answered as the group stopped at one part of the boat and enjoyed the breeze, as it finally started moving forward.

Michael leaned on the railings as he enjoyed the sea breeze while listening to the conservation taking place near him.

"Just the thought of us going to Mine Tech. Industries are making me fidgety" Maine said, as the smile on her face had never once disappeared ever since they arrived at the dock.

Then she suddenly turned to Michael and said, "What about you Mike? Are you also planning to work at Mine Tech.Industries? After all, most of us who enrolled in the VR Department aspires to work at their company"

Michael looked at those eager eyes looking at him, before smiling bitterly and with a dry laugh, he said, "Not…really, I never really had plans after this"

"What? That's so boring" Lisa couldn't help but give a laugh while covering her mouth with her hand.

"Well, that's understandable. After all, you're…I mean, yeah, I think that it isn't such a bad idea to not think about things before graduation for the time being" Brandon was about to say something, but when he saw the look that Michael was giving him. He swore inside that  he almost shat his pants and quickly changed what he wanted to say with his back soaked in sweat after!

'Bastard was just about to reveal my name in the game out of excitement' Michael laughed inside, as the cold look on his face quickly returned to normal with no one noticing except for Brandon.

Other than the fact that there was one more person who had seen it and had been watching him the whole time and saw what transpired.

"That look on his face…those eyes…were like those back then too" Chad suddenly mumbled to himself, with his eyes slightly widened in shock.

"Did you say something man?" asked one of his friends with a confused look on his face.

"Nothing" Chad replied, before slowly walking away under the confused looks on their faces.

"Where are you going, man?" said one of them.

"Alone," Chad curtly replied.

His friends look at each other in confusion before one of them says, "What's up with him suddenly?"

"Mood swings?" said one of them with a look full of uncertainty.

On the other hand, Char slowly made his way towards the direction of the ship's bow.

"Those cold emotionless eyes…it was very similar to that time" Chad mumbled with slightly trembling hands, and he was so deep into his own thoughts that he's even ignoring the people who greeted him along the way.

The reason behind why he was so disturbed by those eyes of Michael was because of what he had witnessed and experienced before, and it brought up some very unpleasant memories that he never wanted to remember again.

'I wonder how Michael has those kinds of eyes? Don't tell me… had he killed before?' When his thoughts reached that point, he couldn't help but shudder in horror, before slapping himself for being delusional for thinking that Michael was similar to those emotionless cold blooded killers he had witnessed that night.

Slap! Slap!

"What am I even thinking? F*ck, I suddenly feel stupid for thinking something along those lines" Chad mumbled with a dry smile on his face.

A long time ago, under the dark skies, there were people in the middle of a road in the middle of nowhere, along with a crashed car beside them emitting smoke into the air.

"U-uncle! Noooo! Wake up please! Wake up!"

With a tear stained face, a young Chad was screaming in despair and horror while trying to shake a bloodied man awake who's lying on the bloodied paved road.

While on the other hand, there's also another man wearing a suit standing in front of them, watching them with those cold emotionless eyes while holding a handgun with a silencer on it.

"Pity, but you're in the wrong place, at the wrong time kid"

While the unknown man was saying those words, he slowly raised his handgun and pointed it towards Chad whose eyes were filled with fear, but also deep hatred.

"Don't look at me with those kind of eyes kid, who told your uncle to offend someone he couldn't afford to go against with"

Bang!

The sound of a gunshot rang out throughout the stillness of the night, and Chad couldn't help but flinch as he subconsciously shut his eyes and waited for the inevitable pain and numbness to occur.

But seconds passed by and he didn't feel anything, and so he warily opened his eyes and was shocked to witness the man in the suit slowly falling dead on the ground before his eyes.

Thud!

"W-what happened?" Chad said in a stutter.

Then the sound of a rhythmic footsteps getting close echoed from somewhere around his surroundings, with a voice that quickly followed, "I just saved your sorry a*s kid"

Chad immediately turned his head around and saw a man in a coat, and he quickly tensed up when he noticed the handgun in the man's hands.

The person who appeared before Chad resembled someone very familiar to Michael, and it was Robin during his younger years.

Young Robin looked at the man lying at Chad's arms and said, "In the end, I was still a step too late to save him"

Then he took out a phone from his pocket and started fiddling around it, before looking at Chad who was curiously and warily watching him and said, "Stay here kid, authorities will come pick you up"

Then he turned around and started walking towards the darkness.

Chad remembered something and quickly called out, "W-wait, who are you?!"

"No one kiddo!"

His reply stumped him, before Chad quickly yelled back, "Thank you!"

Robin didn't turn around as he just raised his hand in acknowledgement, before he disappeared into the darkness.

Before long, the sirens of police cars and ambulances sounded in the distance, followed by the sound of a helicopter with lights flying along the road while flashing its lights on the ground looking for something.

The authorities arrived at the scene along with Chad's parents who quickly ran up to him with worried and tear stained faces as they tightly hugged him while trembling.

And feeling the warmth from his parents, only then did Chad feel at ease as he immediately burst out into tears as the bottled up feelings inside him finally burst out like a dam!

"Uwaaa~!"

Chad and his parents were in the back of an ambulance with a medical personnel talking to the former, but Chad's mind was elsewhere as his eyes were glued to the officers who were talking to each other while looking at something they found with solemn expressions, and would glance at his direction from time to time.

"It's really just weird, I can't get rid of the feeling that something is wrong with Michael" Chad said with a voice full of suspicion as he gazed at the towering building in the distance that's getting clearer the the second, with his thoughts drowned out by the screams of excitement behind him.

"We're here!"

"Oh my god, let's make sure to take a lot of photos once we're there! Everyone's gonna be so jealous of us!"