17. What Are You?

Hearing Sean cough, Victoria immediately turned to the man.

"Are you okay?" asked the girl.

Sean looked at the girl and answered hesitantly.

"Y-yes, I'm fine," he answered nervously.

"But your face is red," said Victoria.

Sean raised his hand to touch his hot cheek.

"Ah, it's so hot in here," said Sean trying to avoid He even got up from his seat and joined Nathan in another room.

Victoria was surprised by Sean's strange attitude but tried not to care.

After a few moments of silence, and getting ready, Victoria prepared to come out of hiding and guard with Maria outside. Even though they are women, don't underestimate them. Even though they are not soldiers, women have a mysterious power as the centre of their courage, namely from the heart.

With the small light from the watch and the small flashlight they brought, Victoria looked around with Maria, even staying with the girl wherever she went.

The sound of flowing water was heard rushing, the wind blew softly. There was nothing around them, only darkness and trees.

Maria suddenly gestured with her hand to stop moving, and Victoria automatically obeyed.

"Follow me, and stay close to me, do you understand?" Maria asked.

Victoria answered softly.

Maria led the way, walking through the forest. Who knows what she saw that made her act cautiously? Victoria herself was still following Maria, and they arrived in a dark forest. Something covered Victoria's mouth and pulled the girl's body. In an instant, Victoria disappeared but Maria had not realized it.

What happened? A pair of blue eyes were seen for a moment, then disappeared again along with Victoria who could not call anyone.

Strange. Victoria could still see Maria walking in front of her, but her mouth could not make a sound, even Victoria's hands could not reach Maria. The girl seemed to be inside a transparent shield.

"Victoria?" Maria finally realized that Victoria was no longer behind her. "Hey, don't joke around. Where are you, Vic?" Maria called out in panic.

There was no answer. Victoria herself seemed to struggle because her mouth was still covered, and something was holding her body tightly.

"Damn it!" Maria hissed and turned around after looking for Victoria in the forest area.

"Wait!" Victoria wanted to call Maria but couldn't.

Maria herself left there, while Victoria was trapped in a dark forest with a strange transparent barrier. Victoria wanted to know what was wrong with her and realized something was weighing on her body.

With the martial arts technique that Victoria had mastered, she pulled the hand that was covering her mouth and slammed the foreign object behind her until fell, and there was a loud bang but unfortunately, Maria had gone far.

"Who are you?" Victoria asked and quickly pointed the gun at the strange face that was slowly visible.

Victoria's brow furrowed seeing something unusual.

Someone, whatever his name was but in human form, it was just very strange. The person raised his hands while lying on the ground.

"What are you?" Victoria asked, surprised by the changes she witnessed.

"I won't hurt you. I want to talk to you," said the stranger.

But Victoria didn't believe it, still pointing her gun. The person stood up while raising both hands.

"You want to go to the plane, right? I can help you. So, put down your gun, and come with me," said the stranger.

Victoria was silent, considering, and observing the person whose body seemed to glow in the darkness of the forest. Victoria's eyes narrowed sharply, not easily believing it.

"You are not human," Victoria said.

"Yes, indeed not," the person replied.

"Then what are you?" Victoria asked, still wary.


There was no answer, their gazes met, and Victoria realized the pair of blue eyes.

"Are you an alien?"

Still no answer, but the change occurred again on the person's face. Both of his eyes glowed blue, the other face slowly began to become clear, and Victoria was shocked and speechless.

"I can explain it, but not here. So come with me," the stranger coaxed.

Victoria hesitated, she couldn't just trust a stranger who was even stranger than the creatures that preyed on humans.

While Victoria remained silent, a voice called her name from a distance, making Victoria off guard.

"If you want to stop those creatures, come with me. I can't talk if other people are watching besides you, Victoria Della."

"How do you know my name?" Victoria asked in surprise.

"I know everything about you. So, can you come with me? You'll find out later," the stranger said again.

"What are you?" Victoria asked again. "Answer me, and I'll come with you," said the girl.

“My name is Robert Ken, and I am a robot,” the man replied.

“A robot?”

“Yes. Hurry up. You don’t have much time, or the Earth will be destroyed,” Robert said.

“But…”

“I’ll leave a message for them if you’re worried. So hurry up and come with me or the sun will rise soon,” Robert urged Victoria to make a decision.

In the end, Victoria agreed to go with Robert and leave a message for Sean who was looking for her.

[I’ll be back soon. Please take care of yourselves. From Victoria.]

The short message was on a tree that mysteriously appeared just as Sean came to the place where Victoria disappeared again.

Where did Victoria go with Robert?

Sean froze in place as he read the short message. Maria and Nathan approached Sean later and also fell silent.

“Victoria will be fine,” Maria said but the girl was the one sitting on the ground.

Nathan glanced around the forest, turning his body to make sure Victoria was still there. Sean remained silent, only his eagle gaze sweeping across the entire forest area that was slowly starting to brighten because the sun was almost rising.

"We have to go now," Nathan said as he saw movement in the corner of the forest. "They're coming," he continued.

Sean sighed, his face pale because he lost Victoria who should have been his responsibility.

"Hey, Se, come on. Let's talk inside. You can see your watch," Nathan said again while helping Maria to stand up.

What Nathan said was better than forcing himself and ending up being prey to the creatures and hindering Victoria's search. The three of them finally chose to go back and make a plan where they hid while struggling to survive the attacks of the frog-legged creatures, with ball-like bodies, slimy, and fast movements and containing deadly poison.

After struggling to survive the creatures, the three of them finally arrived at the hiding place panting. Daniel who was waiting there greeted them tensely.

"How?" Daniel asked.

"They appeared, but we didn't find Victoria," Nathan replied.

Maria sat down listlessly, catching her breath. Nathan gave her a bottle of mineral water and she accepted it. While Sean stood still at the entrance, Daniel approached him. What happened to Victoria? Who is Robert?