"How did I end up with you, you white-haired traffic cop old man—!!!"
After being robbed, tricked, and sneaked up on by Kevin, Bronya and Bronie, who had been trapped in the Sea of Quanta by his series of tricks, flew past the noodle-slurping old man in a flash and fell into a rainbow-shining World Bubble.
"Young people are so full of energy, slurp—"
"But their vigilance is a bit lacking, slurp—"
"I hope they learn their lesson next time, slurp—"
Kevin, taking a sip between each sentence, watched the two disappear into the World Bubble, picked up the poached egg from his bowl with chopsticks, put it in his mouth, drank the rest of the soup, and then wiped his mouth in satisfaction.
He casually tossed the empty bowl into the Sea of Quanta without any civic-mindedness, letting it drift away with the quantum currents.
"Mhm, those people outside and that other guy should have reacted by now... Time to run, time to run."
Glancing at the time, Old Ancestor Kevin, who had just pulled the two Bronyas into the Sea of Quanta with an American football-style tackle, quickly tidied himself up and immediately made a run for it.
-
"Waaaaaaaah—"
Inside the rainbow-colored World Bubble, Bronya and Bronie fell into a giant city.
"Ow ow ow—why does it have to be that stinky old man!"
Bronie rubbed her sore backside in dissatisfaction and complained.
"Stinky old man? Bronie, are you talking about that gentleman with white hair and a black coat we saw before we fell?"
Bronya looked at her companion in confusion.
"That's right, that's the stinky old man! I don't know where he came from in the last few months, but he's acting like a traffic cop in the Sea of Quanta, punishing people for 'driving violations' or something."
"I've been stopped by him several times. Good thing I floored it with the accelerator, otherwise, he would have confiscated my beloved motorcycle for driving without a license, and maybe even called my parents..."
"Whether it's my adoptive mother or the Captain, if they really came here, Bronie's reputation would be ruined—"
"And if it weren't for that scummy old man and his high-intensity law enforcement every day, Bronie wouldn't have had to run through unstable areas of the Sea of Quanta just to bypass him."
"And then I ended up being swept away by a turbulent current... No matter how I think about it, this is all that stinky old man's fault...!"
Bronie stomped her foot in anger, as if she were stepping on a MANTIS's face.
"But, Bronya thinks... the act of driving without a license... is itself a violation of the law, isn't it?"
Bronya interrupted Bronie's vent and pointed out the error.
"Uh... It seems you completely don't understand, Bronya, the thrill of such lightning-fast speed—"
Bronie made a gesture as if embracing a storm, then looked at Bronya with a sympathetic expression.
"Bronya needs to correct and remind Miss Bronie of one point: non-standard traffic behavior brings tears to your loved ones' eyes."
Ignoring her companion's sympathetic gaze, Bronya expressionlessly warned Bronie.
"So you really, truly don't understand, Bronya... And even if we take it ten thousand steps further... Bronie has nowhere to even take a driving test!"
"Where in the Sea of Quanta are there any driving schools? The Captain's Hyperion doesn't even have a ship's certificate, and the Captain himself doesn't even have a large vessel's license."
"So, Bronya, do you understand the agony of a traffic cop suddenly appearing in the Sea of Quanta? The key point is, I can't even beat him in a fight."
"And we can't exactly ram him into another world with the Hyperion, either..."
"While Miss Bronie has her reasons, driving without a license..."
Bronya nodded in understanding but still intended to educate a certain dangerously-driving girl...
"Whoa, Bronya, why are you just like my adoptive mother? It's obvious you've never experienced the thrill of speeding with my skills!"
"Hmph, get in the car with me!"
Eager to prove the beauty of speeding and her own superb skills, Bronie dragged Bronya toward a blue motorcycle parked by the street.
"Bronya feels that we should first investigate the situation of this World Bubble, and then take further actions."
Regarding Bronie dragging her onto the motorcycle for a ride, Bronya displayed obvious resistance.
"Huh? Why can't my other self suddenly get on my wavelength—"
"Actually, when we fell from above just now, I already took a look at this city."
"In general appearance, it's not much different from the style of Arc City, but it's more militarized and fortified. The area outside the city is basically a vast wasteland, creating a huge contrast with the interior."
"This might be a lonely city in the apocalypse, or something else... Hmm, like humanity's last bastion or something?"
"If we only walk, we can't finish inspecting this city, so we'll have to borrow some necessary transportation."
Bronie patted the seat of the motorcycle beside her, signaling Bronya to hurry up and get on, ready to set off.
"But we probably don't have the... identities of this world. Speeding around recklessly will instead cause more unnecessary trouble, right?"
Bronya was still a bit hesitant.
"Don't worry about that. Although I don't know the reason, it's probably the mechanism of this World Bubble?"
"We probably do have identities in this World Bubble. I even have the keys to this bike."
Bronie pulled out a black key and shook it.
"And who knows, maybe our identities aren't simple after all?"
Bronie pointed to the moth-like paint on the motorcycle.
"This emblem is all over this city, especially on the fortified parts. It seems the identities this world gave us have some special significance."
"Sigh... Alright, Bronya chooses to trust Bronie's judgment..."
Bronya took a deep breath and uneasily sat on the motorcycle driven by Bronie.
"Bronya asks one last time... Bronie, do you really know how to drive?"
"Are you kidding? I've been speeding around the city since I was a kid. Neither the police nor those gangs have ever managed to catch me."
Miss Bronie patted her rather meager chest, telling her companion to put her mind at ease, and immediately floored the accelerator.
"Ah... This isn't bad?"
After the initial tension brought by the extreme speed, Bronya and Bronie both showed identical expressions of excitement. St. Freya Academy's good student, Lady Cocolia's all-around daughter...
On the motorcycle, as Bronie continuously increased her speed, Bronya began to gradually learn some bad habits.
"Yahoo, this feeling of racing like the wind is amazing!"
And Bronie seemed to have been holding back for a long time, stepping on the roaring throttle as she sped through the empty, quiet streets...