Steam and Heart.

"Raurania is on the verge of a civil war or wants to make drastic changes in their system," said Alexis, who had read the paper handed to him. 

"Sometimes I don't understand those guys, but maybe it has something to do with those countries near yours, no? After all, it used to be an empire," commented Lisa, who was currently driving the steam carriage. 

"Maybe the separate countries forced Raurania to bear such an atrocity? Maybe they came to different agreements," Jack, who had a cooler head at this point, thought about the situation and spoke. 

"Probably, I mean, Raurania has a king, a guy they always compared to their emperor predecessors, maybe he went crazy and ruined the Gothics to take revenge" Alexis' annoyed tone made the others think about a certain situation concerning their companion.

"Alexis, are you thinking about that girl?" Irina asked in a low voice, and Alexis nodded but didn't speak again, just staring at the blurry scenery passing by through the window. 

"At least we can say that whatever happened there, there won't be any more skirmishes on the front for a long time, not until they resolve the unrest," Laria, who had been silent the whole trip, added, causing the others to nod. 

Probably the morale of Raurania's army is not very good in this world, especially since they saw that they could be sacrificed so easily for their own country and that no matter how outstanding they were, they could be discarded with ease. 

"Let's not talk politics anymore, let's go over the goal of our current mission, shall we? It's less depressing than the political situation of an enemy kingdom," Irina suggested, who couldn't stand the heavy atmosphere that had settled in the steam carriage.

She deftly pulled a thick hardcover book out of a travel bag she carried with her, the title written in gold letters reading 'Record of Anomalies, Oddities, and Contamination Zones', this was the twentieth edition according to the words on the cover. 

The wear on the outside of the book indicated how much it had been used, even though it still had the label that said it was relatively new, such wear signified the many times its interior had been searched. 

"First one to go, Alexis, give us a mission briefing," Laria said, pulling out a notebook and pen, apparently she wasn't much of a writer in a vehicle. 

"Well, our destination is a small town in the Kackland Mountains, it's called Tuskville, and as you can imagine, they live off hunting, ranching, and the timber industry. 

It has a population of 2,000 and adequate steam facilities, so we can expect to be relatively comfortable. The case that brings us there is the suspicion of a Cyber Ghost.

Why would there be a technological anomaly in such a rural area? It's probably due to the influence of an ancient technological ruin. The Federation invested heavily in Kackland because of its discovery, and during the exploration many people settled nearby, creating the city. 

Although there is nothing of great value left, small technological artifacts are sometimes found that serve as extra income, so this spirit was probably attracted by this situation. 

I say this because it was determined that it was a Cyber Ghost mainly because there was a murder caused by an ancient technological object, so the town sheriff activated the alert and reported the situation," after this situation update, Irina, who had already located the Cyber Ghost section in her book, began to read. 

"Cyber Phantom, a creature composed of an energy compound derived from Pneuma called "Ecto-Pneuma". It can change the appearance and manipulate elements of ancient technology. 

It has no direct means of attacking living beings, but its intervention and presence cause the surrounding technology to be affected and deformed, creating subordinate anomalies. 

The most powerful can create bodies out of technology and acquire various physical means, including firing electrical bolts or attacking with metals at elevated temperatures. 

With each life they take, their influence grows until they trigger a prototype of a situation called "Omnic Holocaust", in which their subordinate Rarities break away from the Cyber Phantom and go out to attack humans in search of the coveted ancient technology. 

Be warned that only objects enchanted with the "Seal" pattern are resistant to Cyber Phantom manipulation, any use of technology not enchanted with this pattern is forbidden to operators or any relevant personnel working with this anomaly." 

Irina didn't say how to fight a Cyber Phantom, the team didn't need that information, especially Jack, who had a personal grudge against any anomaly with "Phantom" in its name. 

"It looks like the one we have on our hands is starting, and considering there won't be much dangerous technology in this city, it's relatively easy to solve, though we have to be ready," Laria spoke, with Jack already resting his head on her chest. 

"We're lucky, only Tuskville is a bit far away on the map, isn't it? Three days of traveling in a steam car is a lot," Lisa, who was practicing driving on the first day, couldn't help but complain. 

"You know, our country is big, not all roads are built and the speed of a steam car is a bit slow," Alexis leaned his legs forward, he was on the passenger side, only he could do that now, which caused some envy from his companions. 

"Weren't there any operator teams nearby?" asked Jack, who enjoyed resting his head on his girlfriend's breasts, the smell of Laria appealing to him and making him calm down much faster.

"There are, but they are busy with their respective missions, and ours was already over, which is why we were assigned this task. Headquarters doesn't want the elimination of the Cyber Ghosts to take too long, because the presence of one means the loss of ancient technology, even if it's trinkets," Alexis answered with some reluctance.

He knew how tiring it was for his team to travel for such a long time without proper rest after such a fierce battle as yesterday. 

He was even a little uncomfortable with the fact that his friend Jack was wounded, but instead of resting in a bed next to his girlfriend, he was here, in a steam wagon headed for a small town, with constant mood swings. 

For them, his companions, the fact that Jack was angry was more than obvious, it was just that the boy was a guy who didn't want to cause discomfort to the others and held back enough that, together with Laria's comfort, kept him calm. 

Alexis was already expecting the fuss Jack would make when they had their inevitable contact with the enemy. Jack's hatred for that kind of creature was already so well known that not even Hans would dare to get in his way in similar situations. 

The only good thing was that the three days of traveling would allow Jack to calm down and not do any crazy things, even if such a situation was unlikely to happen, it was always good to prevent it as much as possible. 

"Come to think of it, why is it almost always small towns that are affected? " Irina asked suddenly, making the others think about it. 

"Not always, is it? " Lisa asked with some disbelief. 

"Wait, she's right, it happens too often, it's always small towns that are in trouble," said Jack, remembering some past experiences. 

"Or rural areas," said Laria, a small town that did not include the whole definition of rural area, in that term you could find many places. 

"Farms too," Alexis pointed out. 

"Cemeteries," Irina added, but the others shook their heads.

"There are cemeteries in every settlement, even in big cities, so mentioning them is cheating," replied Jack, who seemed to take the situation as a game.

"What about forests?" asked Lisa, who thought about it when she noticed that there was a small forest next to the road. 

"The woods are a different matter, only if you go in and survive whatever is there, you can report it, if you don't go in or don't survive, who knows what is hiding between the trees," Alexis, who usually had more information on this aspect, explained. 

"Exactly, who knows what is hiding between so many trees and bushes? If it's not wild animals, maybe it's a rarity," Irina said, looking out the window at the forest they were leaving behind. 

If you had much imagination, you could imagine that there might be some creature looking back at the steam car driving away, lamenting that humans didn't enter the bowels of the forest to explore.

"O humans, if you run into a pervert, you're screwed," Jack thought of a certain news story he read a while ago. 

A group of wild men and women lived in a Federation forest and preyed on the unsuspecting who entered the forest, the worst part was that they seemed to have good powers of persuasion and grew their strange community. 

Luckily, they were decent guys and not crazy murderers or abusers, they just wanted to live "connected to nature", or so they said, they were not a cult or sect, they were just strange people who wanted to replicate the human ancestors, or so people who knew about the subject joked. 

"Do you still think about those strange guys who strip in the woods?" asked Irina in a joking tone, making Jack laugh.

"Yes, I can't help thinking about those weird guys, I don't know what things they have to say to convince you to join their weird group," Jack couldn't really think of those words, but he imagined what was always interesting.

"Join us, we have naked girls, with that you can convince a lot of men to join," Lisa joked, and her joke made her companions laugh, and Irina blushed a little as she imagined some things. 

"And how do you convince women?" asked Irina with a hundred percent interest in the answer.

"Simple, tell them we have naked chicks. Those rich girls who have to spend all day in a tight corset would surely be happy to hear that," the punch line of her joke could only be funny to those who understood such things well, at least the three girls had experienced this situation first hand.

"I've never understood why women torture themselves with that thing," Alexis made his incomprehension of the subject known and received three pairs of mocking looks. 

"Bro, don't try to understand these things, just let them flow," Jack, who seemed to have found the right way to overcome these thoughts, advised his partner Alexis. 

"Boys and their incomprehension," Irina showed an annoyed expression, although the smile on her face indicated that she was only joking. 

"No, it's just that we're simpler, or so the old men say," Jack replied, thinking of his family, especially his grandfather, who seemed to handle the affairs of his house with simplicity, despite how 'confused' his grandmother was, according to the old man's words. 

"I guess so~," said Lisa with a certain sing-songy tone in her voice, making the girls laugh again, only Jack and Alexis remained silent, not quite understanding the reason for their companions' laughter.

"Did you get that?" asked Alexis in a whisper, his expression full of confusion. 

"No," Jack replied simply, not wanting to get into that pit and preferring to remain silent at this point, his face comfortably buried in his girlfriend's ample breasts.

As time passed, the group talked only of trivial things to pass the time, and as night fell, the vetro-crystal lamps built into the steam car were activated, allowing for night travel. 

Through the window of the car, the moon was seen in all its glory, its crimson glow illuminating the darkness of the journey and causing the shadows on both sides of the road to lengthen into strange shapes. 

As night fell around 9:00 p.m., the car slowly pulled over to the side of the road, then into the adjacent lot, pulling up to a clump of trees. 

The car finally parked, allowing the group to disembark. They were already hungry, but they had to prepare dinner and set up camp before they even started walking. 

"The red moonlight doesn't help much," Alexis complained as he rummaged through the items in the steam wagon, pulling out a pair of flashlights first. 

These were rather large and crude, what provided the light was a white-colored vetro crystal, and the whole device was powered by a piece of standard electrolyte. 

These types of objects were among the first to use this strange mineral capable of producing electricity, and although expensive, they were very useful in circumstances such as now. 

"At last, light," Jack said as he took one of the lanterns, allowing the area to be at least partially illuminated. 

A campfire was quickly built, and a grill, a pot, and a griddle were placed on the fire. Then they began to cook different kinds of food on each of them. 

Meat, eggs, chopped green plantains, and rice. It was all food that could be prepared in little more than an hour, in large quantities, and tasted good, so while it cooked, the group went about preparing the rest of the camp. 

Jack, despite the pain he felt in his body, dug small trenches around the area where the group was resting, dropping a mixture of materials that would act as a repellent to insects and crawling animals such as snakes.

Dangerous things could happen in the wild if you weren't prepared, so Jack took these kinds of precautions. He didn't want to wake up to find a snake sleeping next to him, so he took this step very seriously when setting up camp. 

"You must be disgusted by snakes if they are so cute," Lisa, holding a small snake in her hands, approached Jack and tried to bring the animal closer to the boy's face. 

"You were just waiting for this moment to do something like that, especially since I don't have my axe in my hand, were you? " Jack said somewhat wearily, pulling his body back to avoid the snake's touch. 

"Of course, honey, who's going to bother you if I don't? "Lisa asked in a tone of feigned drama, even clutching the poor snake to her cheek as it whimpered. 

"Look at this little snake, your Uncle Jack doesn't love you, what are you going to do? You can't solve it with an 'Shh'," The snake's tongue collided with Lisa's cheek, and they felt neither disgust nor repulsion. 

"No wonder you get along so well with Morgana, you're both drama queens, really, just like that," Jack, who had finished his work, went to put the shovel away and pick up his axe, you never know. 

"Stop ignoring me, Jack Araziel! " Lisa shouted, seeing that her partner was not responding to her attempts to make him laugh. 

"Then let the poor snake go," said Jack, sitting on a log they had found nearby and watching Alexis and Irina set up the two tents they would be using tonight. 

"Boring," Lisa threw the snake in the air, knowing it would be fine. 

The night was full of stars and a piece of the galaxy could be seen in the night sky, there weren't many clouds tonight, and the red moon graced the sky as if it was looking down on the earth from high above.

Jack could only sigh as he looked at this beautiful sight and was glad to have the chance to enjoy it again, even if the red moon was strange at times, he never got tired of admiring it.

A shooting star appeared in his vision, and remembering his actions as a child, he closed his eyes and made a wish. Soon after, he felt someone touch his back, and when he turned around, it was Laria who had called out to him. 

"Are you feeling better?" the brunette asked with a look of concern on her face.

Jack stepped aside and touched the space with his hand, giving her a clear sign. Laria sat up with a small smile on her face and their bodies leaned against each other, both enjoying the beautiful view of the sky.

Obviously, his wish was unnecessary, he already had everything he could wish for at his side, and this realization made Jack feel much lighter, even the flame of anger he felt burning inside him all day had faded.

"I feel so much better with you here," Jack murmured, holding and squeezing his partner's hand.

"That's good," was all she replied, remaining so even as their companions approached.

Irina, Lisa, and Alexis didn't make much of a fuss, communicating only through gestures as they prepared tonight's dinner, not wanting to interrupt the two lovebirds' moment of peace.