The Phantom: Code Breaker

Chapter 27: What he Need is

"ORION? Why?" Cassandra asked. She felt nervous about what his friend just said. The last time she remembered that word caused his distress and pain. But, with his eyes filled with conviction, she hesitantly replied, "Are you sure about that, Markus? Do you really have to go back there? You've just said about something that kept you up for nights."

"Ahh..." Markus answered "I'm serious, Cass. If I don't talk to Louige-nii to stop this mess on its bud, things might get uncontrollable and many will suffer from the backlash."

"But, what can you do to stop this mess, huh?!" Cassandra raised her voice. She's trying to convince her friend to bail. Her eyes were filled with worry and doubt.

"I told you..." Markus closed the book and softly slammed his hand on it. "What I need is inside here and now I've figured it out. All I need is Orion's help so they can finish things up."

"Then let's get ready to go to Orion!" Dave said as he stood from his seat.

"You..." Markus said

"Don't dare say we don't have to... we have talked about it a while ago, haven't we?" Dave insisted. He pointed his finger to Markus' forehead. "This is not an exemption, my dude."

"I know, but this will get really dangerous. That exploding building is just a piece of what can happen. I don't want you to get hurt even more." Markus looked down and stared at his book. "You two should just go home and keep yourselves safe."

"If you won't let us come with you..." Cassandra gripped his wrist tight that Markus flinched. "I won't let you go."

"We'll kidnap you if you'll insist on going alone. Maybe, we can hide you somewhere and lock you up for a month." Dave's eyes were dressed with a sinister look.

"Kidnapping is a Crime, you know!" Markus exclaimed.

"And leaving us behind makes it the same." Cassandra replied.

Markus stared at his friends. They were all imposing and determined. He can't deny the fact that he wanted to come with him. Deep inside him, that is what he felt.

"Now that I thought of it, it's better if you come with me. I can protect you better if you're nearby my side." Markus said to them.

"We aren't stray kids, sweetcakes." Cassandra loosened her grip. "Just rely on us sometimes."

Markus smiled and took a deep breath. "Then, let's take the nearest route." He realized what he just said and he can't take his words back now.

"Saa, let's get going!" Dave and Cassy shouted with their hands in the air.

They went inside the mall to take a shortcut for them to reach the entrance hallway of the building. The entrance was facing the subway Station where the trains circumnavigate the whole city. From the mall, it will take them to cross 3 Zones to reach ORION.

While walking fast,

Markus took out the brochure from the cafe and used the blank back part to solve the given matrix using the formula from the book he just read.

"Find its determinant, then the minor, then the co-factor, then the adjoint and divide it with the determinant to find the inverse..." he repeatedly said to himself, breathing heavily for running their way. His wounds are weighing him down.

"Ne, Marky, what's all of that? Why are you repeating those words for some time now?" Cassandra asked catching her breath as well. "I'm glad I took PE class seriously. How 'bout you, Dave?" she looked at her friend, slowing down behind them.

"I need to remember this stuff. I left the book at the cafe so at least we'll make our pace faster. That book was heavy. This way, I'll still be able to solve this puzzle with the memory I have from reading the book." Markus replied, spinning his pen between his fingers.