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nWhile Sam was having his meeting with the commander the three Valkyries departed for their usual patrol. Today they were aiming to go beyond the city they found the day before expanding their range further to make sure no Calamities were lurking in the vicinity.

n“Hey, how about we stop by the city for a bit?” Zero Three asked, her eyes sparkling with excitement.

nYou know we can’t do that, Three. Nine’s voice came from the communication device sounding somewhat tired.

nWe should focus on our mission. Zero Five added. Also, there isn’t much to do in the city since it’s painted in red. We can’t take anything back with us.

nToday the young Valkyrie was the one responsible for scouting and recon. Nine was a sniper so she always stays at the back, that meant Zero Five and Zero Three had to take turns leading the advance.

n“I mean, we dont really have to bring anything back.” Three said, her cheeks puffed. “We can just check things then leave them there.”

nWell, there is no problem with that, but… Nine was hesitant to give her approval.

nThe Valkyries had an invisible force field that, when active, prevented outside components from sticking to their bodies, which meant they don’t have to worry about carrying the virus back with them to the base.

nThe same can’t be said for anything else though. Unless a Valkyrie with the power to purify comes and cleanse everything it would be really dangerous to bring anything from the red areas back to the base.

n“This is no fun.” The young Valkyrie began to sulk. “We can’t go to the city now and we can’t after the humans come to live in it. Why do they get to do the fun stuff when we are the ones doing all the work?”

nNow now. You know it’s not up to us to decide such things. Nine said.

nMaybe we should search the city once more. Zero five spoke.

n,m Five?

nWe only did a quick check last time. I believe a more thorough investigation is in order to avoid any surprises.

n“As expected from Five!” Three exclaimed, having regained her excitement instantly. “We will be passing by every day so it would be for the better to make sure nothing is hiding there!”

nWell, if you say so… seeing the logic in their arguments, Nine decided to give up. She is the one staying at the back after all. If they miss something and it sneaks on them from behind she would be the one forced to deal it.

nThe three weapons hastened their pace so that they would have enough time to investigate the city properly.

nThree. Stay put till we get there. Zero Five instructed.

nOnce they reached the destination the young Valkyrie landed near the center. According to the old maps the city was called Pretoria, apparently one of the three capitals of the nation that was once called South Africa.

nOvertaken by curiosity Zero three did some research of her own when they returned to the base the day before and learned a lot of things about the city, like how it was known for being an academic city housing multiple universities and research centers. It also hosted a certain important sports event at some point before the Calamities appeared.

n“To think two million people used to live here…”

nThe place was empty. Abandoned. It was the exact definition of a ghost city. Seeing it like this made it difficult to believe so many humans used to live there.

n“I wonder how they managed to evacuate all of them in time.” Nine said as she landed a small distance behind.

n“It is indeed strange…” Zero Five said, her feet touching the paved road. “Such a mass exodus should’ve left more… chaos…”

nIt’s been nearly a decade since the Calamities wrecked havoc on the planet, even so the streets of this city were strangely clean and organized. There are signs of neglect and lack of maintenance, however for a place that was abandoned in a panic it looked strangely in order.

n“Rather than being evacuated.” Five said, her eyes scanning the surroundings. “It feels like everyone just disappeared into thin air…”

n“Now now, if that was the case then we would’ve known already.” Nine said, leisurely walking ahead. “Don’t tell me you’re starting to believe in those occult stuff humans keep inventing despite scientific advancements?”

n“We are fighting unknown enemies with powers beyond our imagination. We can’t say for sure whether such Calamities exist or not.”

n“Their size and shape might differ but at most they all use the same beam attack.” Nine said. “Besides, what would a calamity gain from keeping a city intact while massacring humans?”

nThe ponytailed Valkyrie offered no response. Nine only smiled at her and added.

n“If a Calamity really did something here then we should be able to find some signs soon.”

n“… right…”

nSuddenly the two turned their heads to the left having heard a strange noise. Turns out it was just the young Valkyrie opening the shutters of a store on the roadside.

n“Three! What are you doing!?” Nine called, panic hitting right away.

n“Investigating!” Zero Three replied in a cheerful voice.

n“You aren’t supposed to touch anything!”

n“C’mon! What’s the worst that can happen?”

nIgnoring Nine’s protest the young Valkyrie broke the door and went inside. The weapons had no way of knowing whether the owners of the store are alive or not, however since this was inside Calamity territory no one would complain if a few things were touched or destroyed.

n“Ooooaah!!!” A cry came from the inside prompting the other two to follow the young Valkyrie. When they reached her they noticed that she was holding what looks like a shirt staring at it with sparkling eyes.

n“This is so cool!!!” Three exclaimed, holding the piece of clothes yo for the other two to see.

nIt had a strange design of a man holding a microphone, the words “never gonna give you up” where written around him.

n“I wonder if this was some kind of celebrity.” Nine asked, having forgotten all about how startled she was a moment ago after noticing that they were incident a clothing store.

n“Hey! What do you say we try some of these on?” Three asked, her enthusiasm practically spilling out.

n“No.” The other two answered in unison.

n“We would be here the entire day if this goes on any further.” Five said.

n“Besides…” looking down on her own chest, Nine added with a wry smile. “I doubt there is anything that would fit me.”

nZero Three looked at the blond Valkyrie’s giant melons then down at her own flat like a cutting board chest. Suddenly all the excitement she had leaked out and her mood took a turn for the worse.

n“Yeah… let’s get out of here…”

nAs the other two wondered what caused the sudden mood swing, Zero Three tossed the shirt and stepped out of the store heaving a long sigh. She held both hands to the small bumps on her chest and tried to feel their softness for herself.

n“Well, this makes swimming easier but…”

nWhen seeing the exaggerated sizes of her fellow weapons, the young Valkyrie couldn’t help but wonder. As she thought about the reason she was given such a form she noticed something moving in the corner of her eye.

n“… it can’t be…”

nIt was only for a fraction of a second however she was sure her eyes had detected something. And the weirdest part of it all was the way it looked. Whatever it was that thing had a human silhouette.

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