Chapter Four: The Base

**Chapter Four: *The Base*** is the fifth chapter of *CyberWorld*.

## Plot

The next day, Yoona informs Michael that she is bringing him to "meet some allies". They hike through the alley from the previous night, stopping at bakeries along the way to scavenge for food where they face off against a group of mechanical crows. While eating, Yoona asks Michael for his name and shows interest when he reveals he is related to Adrian Leong. Michael points out a crumb resting on Yoona's face and attempts to get her to remove it, to no avail. Exasperated, Michael reaches out and brushes at the crumb, a choice that makes Yoona flustered. They continue to walk in silence until Yoona points at a mountain ahead. Michael and Yoona end up in front of a flat stone wall carved into the rocks' surface. He displays disbelief that there is a hidden base in the mountain, but Yoona requests for permission to enter through a camera on a robotic arm with a speaker. She smirks as the hidden base's entrance slides open, revealing the mountain's interior is hollow as large hovercrafts levitate in the air with several tents planted on the ground. Yoona leads Michael through the base where Suki Hachiyo meets them. She shakes Michael's hand and asks if Yoona is certain he has the "Skill". After Yoona confirms her statement, Suki requests for them to follow her.

Suki brings Michael and Yoona to her ground office where Aiko Tokoshima is wrapped up in reading Junji Ito's *Uzumaki* and listening to music. Suki pulls off Aiko's headphones and demands to know why she hasn't checked the source of the "unknown code". Aiko insists she did, and that the Modders have discovered its relation to explosives. Suki introduces Aiko to Michael, whom asks to see the Skill. When Michael tells her he is unsure how it works, Aiko compares the Special Skill, called Chronocease to a superpower that changes depending on the user. Suki asks Michael to use a mental command to activate the Special Skill while Aiko requests for him to channel his emotion from the Town Square. When Michael does this, blue electricity forms around his hand, a sight that amazes Aiko. Suki then tells Yoona to bring Michael to his quarters and asks her to be his guide. Despite being reluctant at first, Yoona agrees to the task.

As they head for Michael's quarters, he asks Yoona if Aiko and Suki are usually like his first impression of them is, amused by their overt personalities. She tells him they have turned out to be more down-to-earth than she thought. Although Michael showed concern over Hachiyo's cold nature, she assures him that it is how she usually acts. Yoona leads Michael to an elevator leading to the hovercrafts at the top. As they head up, Yoona asks Michael why he didn't start playing CyberWorld sooner, since it has already been five years since its inception. Michael recounts how he broke Issac's headset.

At nightfall, Michael views the Resistance's Headquarters the deck of the *Musashi* where Yoona approaches him. Michael jokes at the lack of water in the base, to which Yoona explains the Resistance is running out off water. Michael asks Yoona why she has been relegated to a shopowner despite knowing more than she lets on. Yoona explains that her family owns a business in New Korea they want her to take over, a role she has no desire to take on. After composing herself, Yoona blames her outburst on her thirst. She gives Michael dark Japanese robes and a training schedule, telling him he needs to be prepared for the upcoming attack.