Mamoritai 4 - A Llorumi story

15. Racer Seven

Notes: Only three more chapters and this book is done! It's weird how time flies? It also means it's two and a half weeks to my exams... Gosh, I'm such a nervous wreck. But here you go with this chapter, enjoy!

Words: 1525

I looked around for an escape route. The crowd's stands ended! What am I-? "Come!" Lloyd yelled as he jumped on the edge of the stand, slid down over to the race road. "Are you-!" I tried to yell after Lloyd, but the Visors started to shoot. For fuck's sake! I ran after him, sliding down the stands edge and then jumping onto the race road. The Visors shot us to the race road. "Incoming!" Lloyd yelled as an exploded car was being towed out the race road. "Jump!" I yelled to Lloyd. We jumped onto the exploded car and got a free ticket out the racing track. When the car stopped, we quickly jumped off and I looked around for any Visors. "Come on, let's go see the others." Lloyd said and started walking towards our base. I followed him, still holding the helmet of Racer Seven.

Lloyd was clearly planning something, because he was silent the whole way to our base. And I didn't bother him. "Where are we going to get another car in twelve hours?" I heard Jay's voice, as we walked into the base. "I might have an idea." Lloyd said as we walked over to the other guys. Yup, planning. "Whoa! What's up with the fresh looks?" Jay asked, looking at our new avatars. "Disguises. We were at the Speedway Racetrack." I answered Jay. "We saw a driver there, they were good. Like really good." Lloyd continued. "Oh, Racer Seven? Don't bother. They're an NPC. They're a part of the game." Scott interrupted Lloyd. "So?" Nya asked. "So they're programmed to lose. Every race, they wipe out at the fourth mile marker. They're just there to provide a challenge to the other racers. They can't win." Scott explained. "You mean Unagami programmed them to lose?" Jay asked. "As long as I've been here, they've been racing. Every single race, every one, they wipe out. It's part of their programming." Scott said and walked to one of the cars. "That's terrible." I said, glancing at the helmet in my hand. "Yeah. Nobody should be programmed to lose." Jay said.

"But Okino broke his programming." Lloyd said, clearly thinking out loud. " You think they can too?" I asked Lloyd. "It's worth a shot. Do you know where I can find them?" Lloyd asked Scott, who was now fixing one of the cars. "Uh, they eat noodles at a noodle-place in the marketplace after every race. But I'm telling you, you're wasting your time." Scott warned Lloyd the last time. "We've got nothing to lose! Rumi, are ya coming with me?" Lloyd asked, looking at me. I glanced at Nya, who shrugged her shoulders and smiled at me. "I think Imma stay here now. Stay out of trouble, okay?" I answered. "Always." He chuckled and kissed me on the cheek. After that he walked out. I touched the place where he had just placed his lips. God I love that man... "Okay, we got no time to lose! Let's keep working on those other cars. Rumi, you're coming with me." Nya yelled out. I smiled and nodded at her.

They had made great progress. 3/6 vehicles were ready. I was now working on Nya's with Nya. Mine was done. It was a black motorbike with dark green accents. Lloyd was out for only 20 minutes. When he got back, he looked pretty down. "Didn't work?" I asked as I glanced at him. "Give them time. They're in denial right now. So, what needs work?" Lloyd answered and looked around the vehicles. The rest of the night went by in a blur. It was a lot of welding, screwing and hammering. We had finished 5 vehicles ready and it was ten minutes till the race. "I can't believe we rebuilt five vehicles in less than 24 hours." Jay said, yawning. "Not that it matters. We're still one short." Cole commented, with clear annoyance in his voice. "Maybe not." Lloyd said, still hoping for Racer Seven's turn up. "Lloyd, it's ten minutes till the race. I'm afraid they aren't coming." I tried to let Lloyd down as easily and softly as I could. Right after that, a horn was honked outside our base.

"Hello? Hello! It's me! Racer Seven! I'm here! I believe you! Please!" A voice yelled outside. "It's them!" Lloyd said and signaled Scott to open the door. "You came." Lloyd smiled at them, relieved. They had dirty blonde short hair, brown eyes and a green racing suit. "What is this?" They wondered. "There's no time. This is my team. Jay, Cole, Kai, Nya, Scott and Harumi. We need to enter the Speedway and we're one car short. We need a car. And we need a driver. We need you." Lloyd explained to them. "You said I was programmed to lose." Seven answered, raising their eyebrow in wonder. "Not if you want it badly enough. I believe you can win the race. If we work together. What do you say?" Lloyd asked, as he reached out his hand for them to grab. An unpleasant feeling suddenly splashed inside me. A feeling I dreaded in every situation. Jealousy. I brushed it off. C'mon Rumi, focus. "This can't be real. This... This is crazy." They stuttered in disbelief. I grabbed the helmet from inside the garage and walked next to Lloyd.

"Are you in? Or not?" Lloyd asked, grabbing the helmet out of my hands and showing it to them. They clearly thought about it. Then they grabbed the helmet and placed it on their head. "I'm in." They nodded. "But, what is this place?" They continued. "My garage. It's protected by a level 999 stealth barrier. Were you followed?" Scott asked. "Who would be following me?" They asked, confused. "Those Red Visor guys!" Jay clarified. "Unagami's been trying to find this place for years." Scott added. "No, I wasn't followed." Seven responded. Scott glared at her as if trying to see something going on inside her head. "Pull your car inside before anyone sees it." Scott said, finally giving up the glaring contest. Seven nodded and jumped in their car. We all walked inside as well. "I guess we should clarify some things now." Lloyd started, as Seven jumped out of their car.

"Unagami is actually a man named Milton Dyer, a game programmer. He built Prime Empire. He's using it to trap players inside the game." Lloyd explained. "The only way to stop Dyer is to get the three keytana." I continued. "To do that, we need your help. We need to win this race." Jay added. "You said I was programmed to lose, but that I could break my programming. What if you're wrong?" Seven asked, looking at Lloyd. "I'm not. You can win. You just have to believe in yourself." Lloyd cheered. "What do you say? Will you help us?" Nya asked. "I'll do it." They answered confidently. Right after that, an alarm started beeping. I quickly turned my head over to Scott, who was over at the monitor table. "Something tripped the motion sensors. Red Visors!" He yelped as he pressed one of the screens. We walked closer and the screen showed dozens of Red Visors, right outside the garage! "What do we do? It's 5 minutes before the race starts!" Nya asked. "I'll hold them off! You guys get to the race track and win that keytana!" Lloyd said. "Are you crazy! We're not leaving you here alone to face all those Visors!" I argued back. "Yeah, no way!" Cole agreed. "We're out of options! Like Nya said, the Speedway starts in 5 minutes and there are too many to-" "I'll hold them off." Scott said, interrupting Lloyd. I turned to look at him.

"I've been hiding in this garage for 30 years, playing it safe. Time to try that hero thing." He continued, determination shining on his face. "You have only one life left, Scott." Kai reminded. "I know and I want it to count for something. Just promise me you'll beat this game, find Unagami and you make him set this right." Scott answered, taking out his gun. "I promise." Jay promised. Then the garage door started to rumble. The visors had started shooting at us. "Go!" Scott yelled at us. I quickly ran over to my motorbike and jumped in. I started the engine and revved it up. Then Scott opened the garage door. The gunfire had stopped, they were waiting for us. Scott ran out and started shooting at them. Then we heard an explosion. Scott's fighting back. He had lured the Visors out of the garage door and more to the side of the garage. "Let's go!" Seven yelled. I buckled my safety belt and quickly drove out the garage. I didn't dare to look back, I had to focus on the road. On top of the fact that my driving skills are rusty, I couldn't bear to see Scott getting cubed. Then, the others yelled. "No!" They yelled in unison, and I knew. Scott was gone. But not forgotten. We had to win this race for him. In honor of him.