The crew continued their journey and forget about the fight just now. They came across multiple virus lifeforms which all stayed away from the crew, some alphas even bit its own pack member and dragged them away and not let them attack the crew, all of the virus lifeforms only hissed and backed away. The crew did not let their guard down, they protected the moon hut carefully while Covie drags the trolley carrying the hut.
Eventually, the crew met an obstacle, a giant tumor on the ground. It is grown on a mall building, the parts of the tumor blocked the path to go around it, the crew had to go through it.
Inside the building, walls were covered with purple fibrous substances. Floors are filled with bones and skeletons of virus lifeforms.
The crew walked around in the super market and tried to find the exit to the other side as soon as possible without needing to break the walls.
"Man, I wish we could grab some food and water here."
"They are not safe to use, you wanna turn into a virus lifeform?"
"No, that transformation process is horrible. "
Rhea is starting to get a little irritated.
"Do you guys talk that much in the infection?"
"Why can't we talk? Plain walking is boring."
"I had participated numerous missions, none of my teammates are talkative like y'all."
Albur rolled his eyes. Johnson smirked and looked away. Mysty slowly walked nearer to Rhea.
"You don't have any friends?"
Rhea's footsteps became slower, she thought for a second and scoffed.
"What do friends do? Are they very useful in any way?"
"What."
"They are just a group of people that laughs with you and hang out. End of story. They don't do anything significant. "
"Well they can be the goal you are chasing after. Or they motivate you, comfort you when you have a bad mood....."
"I can overcome all of that myself...friends are just unnecessary individuals to me."
"....what have you been through?"
"I'm strong enough to overcome problems in my life, I don't need friends."
"You don't need teammates?"
"Well I understand the term teamwork makes the dream work, but I prefer being alone. Injured? I help myself with my first aid knowledge. Sad? I could easily overcome it. Alone? Good. I like that."
Mysty looked at Johnson in a weird way. Albur did as well.
"Its Johnson but female and stronger." Albur thought to himself.
"What are you looking at?" Asked Johnson.
Rhea looked askance at Johnson, and smirked.
"Why? This cyborg is alone and sad?"
Johnson looked away and wrapped his arms around his body. Albur signaled Rhea to stop, she rolled her eyes and turned away.
"What happened to you and your family? You literally separated yourself to the point you don't have a surname."
"You know, old folks are so annoying, they kept telling you what to do and what you can't. I got tired of that. "
Mysty then looked at the robot body of Rhea and her real human left arm.
"Then...what made you a cyborg?"
Albur leaned closer, trying to know the reason behind that question too.
"Enhancements of course, or I should say I..."
Rhea then realized she spilled too much. She immediately stopped talking.
"You what?"
"Nothing." Rhea crossed her arms.
Mysty sighed and backed away until she is walking next to Albur.
"She is like Johnson, but female and stronger."
"Probably she have a past that can't be mentioned too."
"They say you are like square head! But female and stronger!"
Havoc suddenly yelled. Albur quickly shut the mouth of the Artificial Intelligence. Rhea clicked her tongue as she turned around.
"You think I didn't hear what they say? I'm a cyborg ok? I hear them loud and clear."
Albur finger flicked Havoc, and made him stop talking.
"So, square head is also alone but he can't recover from mental problems?"
Johnson stomped on the ground under his feet, cracking it.
"Its John...John Hamilton!"
"Isn't his name Johns....."
Albur flicked Havoc again, he silenced himself.
"Rhea, I said. He have mental problems, don't worsen it." Said Albur.
"Whatever you say, kid."
Albur scoffed. He looked at the surroundings of the mall. They are in a place which seems like a movie theater. But then, he saw something. Its a scarecrow, with a red nose, blue bowtie and hair, yellow party hat, dotted boots and bodies made out of hay. It have a big red grin, too red to be paint. It peeks from a corner.
Albur's fear of analog horrors shivered him. He quickly turned to Johnson and tapped his shoulder.
"What is it, bucko?"
"Look over there.....there's a scarecrow!"
Johnson looked at the direction Albur is pointing at,
"There is nothing."
Albur turned to that direction, strangely, the scarecrow disappeared.
"Wait...what? Wha- huh? But...."
"Its probably just a movie poster."
Albur gulped as he looked at the spot the scarecrow used to be.
"I hope that is a poster...."
A shiver ran down his spine.
Johnson looked at Covie, who is still dragging the trolley while humming a tune.
"Tired?"
"Huh? No, not really. Its a bit boring though. "
"Need me to help you relax your hands for a while?"
"I'm alright, I got this."
"You sure?"
"Mmmmm.....maybe a little while, thanks master."
Covie gave the handle to Johnson. She flew beside Johnson as he drags the trolley.
"Is that mean auntie mocking you again?"
"Heh, yeah. If I had a RNP black list she will definitely be the top 3."
"I can hear you, I ain't deaf."
Rhea turned around and stared at Johnson.
Covie blew a raspberry at Rhea. Rhea grunted and poked Covie's head very hard. Covie whined and pulled off Rhea's scarf.
"Wha- hey!"
Covie giggled as she played with the scarf.
"Your team is not that bad as it seems at first glance, the atmosphere is pretty good."
Havoc glowed again.
"What? We are a bad team to you?"
"Meh."
Albur is started to get tired of Havoc. Mysty stared at Havoc for a while.
"Hey Havoc,"
"What's up."
"You are able to generate lots of texts in a short time right?"
"Those are jobs of generative AIs but yeah, I could. But I don't make text, I speak."
"Ok.....I heard about AIs could give ideas and think about advices and solutions very quickly."
"Every human in this 8167 year world is asking me this same stupid question."
"Then, could you generate a solution for someone that have issues getting along with the team"
"If someone has difficulty getting along with their team, the solution should address both communication and collaboration rather than assuming the problem lies entirely with one person. A balanced approach could look like this:
Solution: Improving Team Compatibility
To help resolve conflicts and strengthen teamwork, the individual should first..."
A rocket was fired beneath Albur's feet, making him flinch, Havoc's speech was also interrupted. It was Rhea, she lowered her hand then glared at Covie, who got afraid and returned her her scarf.
"Hey! What's the big idea?"
"Shut up."
Albur clicked his tongue, Mysty looked at Albur, they both sighed.