The Greatest Mecha-Chapter 51: One Good Eye

Alto blinked repeatedly to make sure he wasn’t seeing things— but he was. He could see her bare back and naked form in full. What shocked him even more was that she wasn’t the only one unclothed— everyone was. For some reason, he could see the light hitting their intangible clothes, which appeared to be invisible. He looked down at his own form to find that he too was naked.

"What the hell is going on here? Have I gone mad from reading too much? Did those books really rot my brain?" Alto was beginning to question his sanity when he noticed the Professor stopping and glaring at him. It was clear she was annoyed by his slothfulness whereas he had another thing on his mind.

Alto found it hard to focus with everything happening around him. As he ran to meet her not wanting to anger her any further, he bumped into people at random moments, catching glimpses of their naked forms and things he was not prepared for— images that burned into his memory. By the time he reached the Professor’s side, he looked bewildered, his heart racing. The Professor took this to mean something entirely different.

"I never took you to be the type who feared public spaces, I always saw you as the clown figure" she said as she entered the mall, not giving him a moment to respond. Alto followed, though not with full attention— his brain felt split into pieces. One part focused on avoiding glancing at the woman he considered a mentor, another struggled not to be distracted by the features of others, and the last tried to figure out what the hell was wrong with him. He wasn’t a pervert, so why was this happening? Clearly, no one else saw what he did which meant that he was indeed the problem.

Alto tried to adapt so he would not seem awkward, but with thousands of people in every direction, it was impossible to concentrate. Before he knew it, they were in a gaming center. The Professor stood before a tabletop with a game display on it.

"Here’s why we’re here," she said enthusiastically. "Right here is the Flash Web game. It was one of my favorites back in the day."

Alberta was slightly annoyed that he didn’t show the same enthusiasm that she had pictured in her mind. She also noticed he’d been distracted for a while now. She stepped in front of him and waved her hand in his face.

Alto was trying to think of a reason— or solution— for his condition when the Professor suddenly moved into view, causing him to see her upper naked half again. He jumped back in shock and stumbled into a young woman who had just returned from outside the gaming centre with a bundle of tickets in hand. He tried to apologize— but did so poorly because of the earnest distraction she offered. The young woman noticed his eyes drift to her chest, which prompted her to lash out and slap him across the face.

Alto swallowed the pain and said nothing as she stormed off. The incident drew only a few curious glances, and those quickly returned to their games.

"Focus, Al. Whatever’s wrong with you can be explained somehow. People don’t just gain superpowers and start seeing everyone naked. Besides in what world is that even considered a super power?"

Alberta squeezed his shoulder. "What’s wrong, measel? You’ve been acting all types of wrong lately."

Alto was surprised by her concern. He took a deep breath, trying to find the root of his problem. "Think, Al. You’re "unseeing" human wear— so either your eyes are bad, or your brain’s melting. Though, yeah, those books did a number on me. But I can’t have bad eyes now... can I?"

In fact, he had two perfectly clear eyes— or did he?

Then he remembered what he had received from the mech designer protocol the day before— the designer’s eye. It wasn’t a stretch to suspect it. He shut his right eye, the one implanted with the designer’s eye— and suddenly, everything returned to normal. Everyone’s clothes were visible again.

Alto laughed slightly nervously at the ludicrosity, which only made Alberta more concerned— not just for his physical safety, but his mental safety.

To confirm his theory, he opened his right eye again— clothes vanished. He decided to keep it shut for now and ask the mech designer protocol for a remedy later, in private.

"I can’t believe the mech designer’s eye is a perverted tool. I thought everything about it catered to mechs. I’ll have to investigate this when I return to the mech division," he thought. At the moment he knew it would be suicide to reveal such advance tech before anyone and most certainly not the professor herself.

The Professor grabbed his shoulders and shook him violently. "Hey, measel, if you can hear me— blink once."

Alto was deeply moved by the Professor’s concern. It didn’t seem fake. He smiled and looked at her with his one good eye— in the literal sense. "Yeah, I’m fine. It’s just that I’ve been having this headache. I haven’t slept much. And... something got into my eye."

She wasn’t foolish enough to fall for such an obvious lie, but she took his words into consideration and looked around. They had caused a stir, and a moment longer might have gotten them thrown out.

"Something got in his eye? How is that possible? The air is supposed to be filtered... I don’t know why, but something’s seriously wrong with this boy," she thought.

Alberta observed him a bit more closely. He did look fine, for the most part. She let him go and shot him a stern look.

"I don’t like it when you lie to me, measel. Others can lie— I don’t care. But it’s different with you. If you’re anxious in public or have a phobia, just tell me. I might be able to help."

Alto was lost for words. A part of him wanted to believe her— but another part suspected she was trying to make him lower his guard. He liked the Professor, but they had never truly shared a teacher-student bond. There were times when a spark showed, but they were rare. And Alto wasn’t about to let feelings cloud his judgment. He knew she was far smarter than she let on, which only made him more self-conscious about anything connected to the mech designer protocol.

"I’m fine now. I don’t really want to talk about it. So why are we here anyway?" He purposely changed the direction of the conversation. She didn’t argue.

Alberta placed her hands on her hips and gave him one last long look before deciding to drop the matter. "We’re here to play a game— like I said earlier. It’s a game I used to play when I was much younger. I’m surprised they still have it."

Alto cleared his throat. "With all due respect, ma’am, I don’t think I should be playing games right now. I still have studies to catch up on."

Alberta smiled at his sudden maturity. "Take it easy, Einstein. It’s not all about books."

"Einstein? And what do you mean?" Alto was indeed perplexed, and didn’t bother hiding it.

To that, Alberta simply said, "Why talk when we can be practical? Let’s play the game and see what we can pick up. And don’t call me ma’am. I’m not married or obligated to anyone."

With that, she left to purchase tickets at a small booth just outside the gaming center.

Alto kept his designer eye shut and tried to figure out why she hated the title ma’am so much. He felt a strange sensation in his right eye— something he couldn’t describe. He was tempted to open it just slightly. When he did, to his surprise, its vision was normal. His gaze shifted to the wrist comm device on his arm, and he thought toward it, hoping it would respond telepathically.

"What the hell are you doing to me? I just hope this thing doesn’t go crazy again."

But the device remained as it had always been— just an accessory. Silent. Ordinary.

While all of this transpired inside the mall, a massive transport vehicle pulled up outside. It was rectangular with curved edges and titanium-alloy reinforced walls. Its massive door lowered, and out stepped over twenty men dressed in matching black leather jackets and red berets. At their sides were weapons, gleaming under the midday sun.

"Keep your eyes peeled, boys. The boss got word the Professor arrived here recently— and she sent us an invitation by showing up without her escorts."

The one who spoke was surprisingly handsome— too handsome for this line of work. He looked more like a political spokesman than a thug.

"The moment she steps out that door... the Red Blood Mercenary Company is going to become a lot more known."

Author’s Note: I would like to use this medium to apologise for failing to release any Chapters yesterday. I had an important exam I needed attending to, I tried to release one Chapter if I had the chance to but I was drained. So here is the first Chapter I worked on today, the second will be dropping much later. Thank you for your understanding.