... it takes Chouko some time to recover.

  Her eyes flared up again. The power overwhelms her once again. The pain claims her eyes once again, at a crucial moment.

  When she was pulling away from the motel, everything seemed like a haze, a complete and utter haze that bewildered her.

  Chouko, regaining her senses as she rubs the side of her head, is... in sheer disbelief, a crazed smile on her face after that. Slumping back into the driver's seat, listlessly staring forward, taking over once again as she drives.

  "That... that was close! W-What was that?!" Shortcake shouts from the back, looking between Chouko and the back window of the Mercedes-Benz.

  What was that, indeed? Chouko thought, at first. Most people would not know what to make of that, how to "take" an entire group of bikers breaking into the motel room they stay in.

  However, Chouko is not most people... and it didn't take her long to come up with an explanation: Kuroiwa.

  Chouko thought to herself: she knew those men had to be on Kuroiwa's payroll. That entire group of bikers needed to be men that Kuroiwa sent, specifically, to pursue Chouko. She's a threat that took out his mercenaries, after all. It makes sense that he would decide to unleash his men on her. That's the only explanation there could be, Chouko thought.

  And this explanation makes her smile with pure delight. Pure fury and catharsis burning in her eyes, a life reinvigorated. The False-Kuroiwa mask she donned did what it was meant to: to gain attention from him and make him pursue her. This culmination of nine years continues as intended.

  That's what life is, Chouko thought. Her life is nothing more than work to better this goal, Chouko thought. No matter what happens and no matter how lost she gets, she'll always be moving towards the desperate drive to kill Kuroiwa, Chouko thought.

  ... vengeance at all costs, Chouko thought...

  Foot on the gas, Chouko stares forward with a tense breath, a crazed smile on her face. Adrenaline courses through her veins as she feels the urge to laugh, pure joy and elation in her . The light in her red eyes is back, as she drives.

  "C... Chouko, you're... you're smiling...!" Shortcake exclaims, her pink eyes lighting up upon seeing this.

  "Absolutely!" shouts Chouko...

  ... no. Nonono. It's not Chouko right now. Not yet. Not until then. The flash in her eyes isn't Chouko. It's "Kuroiwa". The cold persona that is reminiscent of Chouko's worst enemy. The name she holds, the face she wears, the identity she takes when she's ready to combat the mercenaries, to fight their deplorable selves with their deplorable means. The False-Kuroiwa mask is back on her face.

  Kuroiwa.

  "... absolutely!" shouts Kuroiwa, looking over her shoulder at Shortcake. "I'm exhilarated that we're alive...!" The survival instinct just leaves her frantic and prompts her to smile with glee.

  In return, the android is filled with joy and excitement of her own. Shortcake brightly smiles, registering (Chouko)'s excitement and elation. Sharing in this joy and elation, just... smiling in response to (Chouko)'s smile, no matter how crazed it is. "R... Right! We... we did!"

  In that car, both of them were happy to be alive. Both of them were very joyous that they got away.

  Then, promptly, this joy of getting away is interrupted by the sound of bullets. Bullets fired from guns, hitting the side of the car.

  The bikers are in pursuit. Nine of them remain, with the new impromptu leader driving up to the side of the car. For the sake of their old leader, for the sake of cold and hard cash to leave them set for life... "whatever we have to" filled their veins, as well. All of them shared a fire in their eyes, burning for Ashford.

  This fire is especially present in the new leader, as he cracks a wide smile and locks his eyes on Ashford. His finger slides over his throat with a gun in hand, threatening her with the old and classic throat slice gesture, before he takes aim and fires more shots at the Mercedes-Benz from the side.

  Each bullet echoes out, dinging and denting into the car. The pitter-patter of metal and lead echoes throughout the interior, Kuroiwa tensing up with each sound. The car's armored and bulletproof, but...

  "A... Ah! They've caught up!" Shortcake calls out, staring at the bikers behind them. Watching as the leader's gun fires into the windows, bouncing off of the bulletproof glass. "A-Are we sure that this car can withstand those shots?!"

  "Not at all!" Kuroiwa calls out, looking into the rearview mirror, eyes counting the motorcycles that were in pursuit. Even bulletproof cars had their limits, contrary to popular belief. The weak spots are the windows, as enough shots would be enough to...

  ... perish the thought. Not important right now. "Tch. We need to take them out..."

  Ordinarily, shooting them dead would be the call, Kuroiwa thought. However, she's deemed pistols are a last resort. To shoot at these bikers, they need to roll a window down, which leaves them vulnerable to the bikers' guns for a small payoff. After all, these bikers are the mercenaries hired by the best of the best, they are probably wearing bulletproof vests.

  So, other plans, other plans...

  ... phone. "S... Shortcake! Take my phone out and point the front at the bikers!" Kuroiwa shouts to Shortcake, keeping her eyes on the road. "We need to employ a hack!"

  "A... A hack?! Like with the motel cameras?!" Shortcake asks, quickly taking the flip phone out of the knapsack.

  "Yes!" Kuroiwa exclaims, side-eying one of her mirrors and staring at the cycle. Recalling the name of the one in particular, her eyes mentally rummaging through several file names. Should be simple. "It's... it's tagged as '203X_BrickToTheCar'! Find it!"

  "Okay! Okay, okay..." Shortcake holds the phone and rummages through the list, idly tapping the arrow buttons and scrolling past the various hacks and... ah! 203X_BrickToTheCar! Shortcake presses the OK button on the flip phone, watching a loading screen flare up. "O-Okay! It's loading!"

  The loading screen proceeds as the roar of motorcycle engines echoes out, with the bikers regrouping in this time. Lined up one by one behind the Mercedes-Benz.

  Kuroiwa keeps her eyes, looking between the mirror and the front of the car, still speeding forward. There's no car in front yet. "Right! When it's loaded, press the six button on the phone!"

  "6! The six key, got it," Shortcake responds, eyes gazing at the keypad as she presses the 6 button.

  The button is pressed.

  ...

  And nothing happens.

  The motorcycles are still working and actively in pursuit. There are no signs of stalling or breaking—they're still at 100%. In tip-top shape, not affected in the slightest.

  Kuroiwa sees this in the mirror, tensely... gritting her teeth. "... Shortcake—" the girl calls out, still seeing the bikers close in on them. "Press the key already..."

  "I... I did press it!" Shortcake calls out, pressing the 6 key again. Nothing. "... it's not working!"

  Kuroiwa's eyes widen at this. "What?! What do you mean it's not working?! That hack should have..."

  Kuroiwa remembers the key presses vividly, that is the process of activating that hack. It's a simple key press, she thought, just press the key. Then, the motorcycles shut down. Kuroiwa is very much concerned that the hack isn't working. Her eyes narrow and glare, absolutely seething that the motorcycles are still following, that they're not spontaneously malfunctioning.

  Which can only mean... "D... damn it!" Kuroiwa shouts. "Charon's cut me off... the phone's USELESS now!"

  "O-Oh no!" Shortcake exclaims.

  Promptly, the side of the car is slammed into. The new biker leader swings hard at the passenger-side window, his bat smacking into the glass with full might. Putting all his weight into it, as well as the weight of the motorcycle.

  Kuroiwa winces upon this happening, hearing the slightest... crack.

  "Damn it...!" Quickly, Kuroiwa forcibly turns the wheel right to drive the car into the other lane. The car effectively sped into the opposing lane, merging to try and hit the leader off of his bike.

  Quickly, the new leader brakes and slows, completely avoiding the Mercedes-Benz. His hand points forward as five other motorcycles speed up, their guns drawn, surrounding the car's left side.

  Right now, the bikers' plan is: "drive after the Mercedes-Benz, shoot aggressively at it, and create a weak spot." Kuroiwa's plan is: "drive forward and figure out how to take these bikers out."

  "Plan...?! Plan?!" Shortcake shouts, shaking in fear as she's not privy to any plan. Looking out the windows, Shortcake stares at the bikers to the left, and then to the right, collecting as much visual data as she can to try and help. "W-What can I do, Chouko?!"

  Kuroiwa is hyperventilating, and... immediately comes up with another plan, seeing the overpass ahead. She was in the rightmost lane to begin with, so she saw she was about to take an "entrance" to the freeway.

  Kuroiwa's most recent experience driving on these is not... positive, but it's the most optimal road for escape. Plenty of cars driving at high speeds, no pedestrians allowed to walk and obstruct traffic on that street... it's as simple as that.

  "... I have a plan. I'm turning!" Kuroiwa shouts, merging into the lane and taking the curved road onto the freeway. Foot firmly on the gas, turning the wheel as far as she could, making the car speed forward.

  This gave a moment, a small window of time where the bikers couldn't surround the Mercedes-Benz. Either they sped past the exit, or they were forced to tail the back of the car.

  So, merging onto the traffic of late morning... Kuroiwa hits the jackpot of diversions, as she merges left and drives along. The meter reads 75 miles an hour, 120 kilometers approximately... foot on the gas as she speeds. Five whole lanes, not including the lane she has to merge out of.

  "Okay... okay, okay okay okay," Kuroiwa mumbles, staring forward. Face to face with a casual American driver's worst nightmare: speeding over 20 miles an hour in freeway traffic, increasing more and more. "Shortcake, I need your eyes, I can't afford to look anywhere but straight right now..."

  If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

  Shortcake nods. "O... Okay, what am I looking for?!" Shortcake asks, looking through the back window.

  "Bikers. Lanes," Kuroiwa begins speaking, merging left to go around a white minivan and cutting off a blue pickup truck. "We need to cause them to crash."

  "C-Crash?! L-Like, crash into the other cars?" Shortcake asks, speaking over the car horns sounding out.

  "Unfortunately," Kuroiwa remarks. "If you have a problem with it, I want you to think to yourself... 'I am not involved, Chouko has to do this in self-defense.' Keep that thought in your android head."

  "O... Okay..." Shortcake nervously responds, taking a deep breath. She's just pinpointing where the bikers are... "U-Uhm, one in the lane behind us, and... and two of them coming up from the back left..."

  Back left... AKA, the car's right.

  Kuroiwa quickly notes this response from Shortcake, speeding ahead and merging left. She stares forward and sees a delivery truck up ahead, speeding up to catch up to it. If the bikers merge lanes, then...

  "Uhm! Uh, they... they merged!" Shortcake exclaims. "T-Three behind us... and, uhm, two more in the back left lane...!"

  ... perfect. "Mm." Kuroiwa's plan is simple: maintain high speed as she goes adjacent to that truck.

  So, Kuroiwa passes the truck, speeding far past it. And then. she slams her foot on the brakes, suddenly slowing down to a halt for just a short, short three seconds.

  At this moment, the bikers—with the pressure of 80+ miles an hour on them—end up falling into Kuroiwa's plan. The bikers are presented with three options: crash into the back of the Mercedes-Benz, drive left and hit the truck, or merge right into the empty lane.

  Following this, knowing that the only option is to merge right, Kuroiwa swiftly slams her foot on the gas and turns her car right to merge. She ends up hitting straight into one of the bikers, making him fall off his bike and tumble against the freeway road, his life left at the mercy of the ruthless traffic behind him. After this, a different biker merges and swerves into the furthest lane and drives straight into an SUV.

  A brutal sight. One that holds up traffic, as Kuroiwa stares forward in the lane she merged into. "That was two of them... there's going to be seven more..." Kuroiwa mumbles to herself.

  Shortcake tenses up as she sees this, shaking. Her eyes are processing the sight with concern and fear, watching the evident pileup forming as they're driving away. "C-Chouko—!"

  "Shortcake, again, it's me doing it!" Kuroiwa calls out, trying to calm the android and shift all accountability to herself. The android doesn't work if she's stressed and conscious about this. "Self-defense. It's my self-defense, just keep thinking—!"

  "N... no, it's not that!" Shortcake speaks up. "A-All seven of the motorcyclists are closing in! Four of them are right behind us... three in the adjacent lane, back right!"

  Kuroiwa lets out an understanding "ah" as she continues to drive, as she plans out her next move. "Right... right, if we just keep going, then..."

  ... tensing up as she starts to see more cars up ahead, a long crowd of traffic. Before this, the traffic was moderate. This is fundamentally now heavy traffic with the volume of vehicles.

  There's absolutely no way forward.

  "Hang on to something and hold on, Shortcake..." Leaning forward, pushing the brake pedal down, and coming to a halt. Best to stop and wait at the back, to just join the traffic and be patient. Kuroiwa didn't have the luxury of pushing forward.

  The seconds to come after are crucial.

  Kuroiwa's hands grip the wheel tightly. "... status."

  "All of them, back... uh, three behind, two back-left, two back-right..." Shortcake responds.

  Meaning she can't just run over all of them with a reverse...

  "... okay. Okay," Kuroiwa mutters. Traffic isn't moving. Cars are surrounding them. Neither she nor the bikers can advance. It's a complete standstill.

  So, Kuroiwa takes the initiative. She puts the car in park for just a moment. "Shortcake. Take the wheel."

  "Take the... are you sure?" Shortcake asks. "What if we need to e-escape?! I can't... uhm..."

  "Just drive safely," Kuroiwa tells her, immediately climbing into the back seat to take and hold the gun that she snatched from one of the bikers. Kuroiwa is just breathing slowly, calming her nerves. "As long as you drive forward, stop for anyone whose... red or orange lights flash, you will be fine."

  "O... Okay..."

  Kuroiwa then... takes a calm breath as she looks out the back window, staring at the bikers, calmly staring them down.

  "... also. Keep your head down..." Kuroiwa instructs, promptly opening the passenger-side back door.

  "H-Huh— C-Chouko!" Shortcake exclaims.

  "It's fine." Let's go, Kuroiwa thought...

  Car door narrowly open, Kuroiwa begins opening fire on the bikers. Shooting the pistol at the bikers and drawing their focus to her gun.

  The surrounding cars are made aware of this, alert to gunfire on the freeway. Loud, beeping horns are heard as the surrounding drivers are desperate to flee and drive away.

  Kuroiwa then closes the door for cover, tensely taking several breaths as she clenches her shoulder. "Okay. Okay." Moving to the other door now, opening it up slightly... then closing it immediately.

  A feint. The bikers collectively shoot past the car and end up hitting an adjacent car, cracking the window of its car door.

  That's her two options. Open the car door, and shoot. Kuroiwa checks the bullets and confirms this biker has a half-empty magazine. More than sufficient to hold out for... three to four minutes of this.

  Kuroiwa alternates between the doors, strategically timing her movements to about 20 seconds per. Right door, she opens it for a while, opens fire. Left door, opens it... fires. Rinse and repeat, with some slight alterations.

  Dealing with 7 gunmen meant that it didn't matter if she aimed high or low, only that she did not aim from the same place. Kuroiwa holds the gun up and down in different places, watching as the bullet spreads out up and down with the bikers aiming differently. It also means Kuroiwa should not fire at the same time. The bikers are, evidently, also conserving their bullets, taking the time to wait for her to open fire before going for shots.

  Back and forth. Kuroiwa fires a single bullet, and then the bikers shoot.

  Kuroiwa is utterly tense, as Shortcake begins to speed up. The cars are now moving and driving further ahead. "Right... right, this should—"

  Promptly, as she's closing the driver-side back door, a bat shoves itself into the opening. Preventing Kuroiwa from closing the door, as it forces the door wide open.

  Kuroiwa's guard was down at that moment, so she didn't notice the incoming person. Six bikers were maintaining the rhythm of shooting, and their leader had closed in on the car.

  The bat, as it forces the door open, takes a swing at Kuroiwa, and she falls back to dodge it. The bat goes right over her body and hits into the seats, her eyes staring forward at the man.

  "Tch!" the leader noises, right hand holding his bat as his left takes aim at Kuroiwa with a gun, a... a bigger gun...

  Kuroiwa's eyes widen, as she realizes the gun wasn't a pistol. It's a sawed-off shotgun, something that fires multiple bullets at once. A rarity, one she's never had to deal with being shot at her.

  Quickly, Kuroiwa aims at the leader—

  Only to have the bat striking her wrist and making her drop the gun, her hand wincing in pain.

  "Back up, BACK UP!" the leader shouts, pulling the bat back to his side. His left hand moves forward, gripping the shotgun and pointing it right at Kuroiwa's hand. Finger on the trigger, threatening her. "Nice and slow, now. Try anything funny, I BLOW your goddamn brains out, bitch!"

  Kuroiwa... takes... a deep breath as she backs up, backing into the door on the other side.

  "Good... good," the leader remarks, climbing into the car after her. One knee on the seat with the other foot planted on the car floor. A ragged breath escapes his lips, glaring at Kuroiwa with pure rage.

  And he's a quarter of the way to pulling the trigger. It didn't matter if Ashford was alive or not, she just had to be brought.

  Kuroiwa notices this, tensing up. The biker is going to shoot her anyway, even as she complies. "Tch. You said—!" Kuroiwa exclaims, sweat trailing down her forehead.

  "With the crap you pulled, you're just REALLY GODDAMN FUNNY!" the leader shouts, pulling the trigger and—

  Quickly, Shortcake lunges at the biker, clinging to his arm. The android throwing her body at his arm makes the shotgun forcibly aim away from Kuroiwa, firing loudly into the car seat.

  The echo of this sound is accompanied by the Mercedes-Benz bumping into the car ahead, Shortcake having left the car in drive.

  Seeing this, Kuroiwa... then swings her foot quickly to kick into the biker leader's jaw. Slamming her toes right into his head, kicking his body back and out of the car.

  "G-Ghhk!" the leader shouts, forcibly swinging the side of the shotgun into Shortcake's face on his way out.

  Shortcake feels the hard weapon hit her face, her body falling back against the dashboard. Registering the pain with immense stress, she begins to cry.

  Kuroiwa... lunges quickly to slam the car door shut, locking it and staring at the leader through the window. Her breath is ragged. "Shortcake... are you okay?!"

  "I... I'm alright!" Shortcake calls out, rubbing her face with an active whimper. "I... I..."

  There's no one behind the wheel. The surrounding cars are starting to move, with the panic of the gunfight having cars speeding around. So the car is... swerving ever so slightly, about to get into a busy lane...

  "On the ropes..." the biker leader remarks, grinning widely as he runs back to his motorcycle and hops back on.

  Kuroiwa urgently and quickly gets into the driver's seat again, reclaiming the wheel and getting the car back in its lane. "Passenger's seat, now!" Kuroiwa instructs, foot on the gas and driving. Reclaiming the wheel and tensely, ever so tensely anticipating the next few minutes.

  Shortcake does so, shaking and rubbing her eyes. "I- I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to—"

  "Enough of that, you're okay!" Kuroiwa calls out, her breath ragged as she drives. "Time and time again, you saved my life, you're doing good. How's your face?!"

  "It's fine... I just... need to..." Shortcake mumbles, hugging her knees as she puts her seatbelt on.

  Kuroiwa looks at Shortcake for the briefest of moments, before looking back forward. "Take it easy, you did good..." Kuroiwa praises the android, before focusing on pressing the gas and starting to move. Going with the flow of traffic once more.

  For a while, Kuroiwa just muttered to herself, taking note of the entire scenario. Counting, in her head, the bullet marks on the doors and seats. "Okay, Kuroiwa, new plan... new plan. You're not winning one on one in this case, let alone seven. You're at a disadvantage."

  So the car tactic remains the main condition. She needs to stay in the car, she needs to use and do all her actions in the car. The hacks from her phone are no longer available, and the guns are likely inefficient and risky. So that leaves...

  ... butterflies.

  Butterflies.

  Kuroiwa's butterflies, the supernatural insects. If she employs the tactics that she utilized at the office and the motel, she...

  ... no, that won't work. The butterfly, conceptually, works with dust. It spreads illusory dust to trick the senses. In both cases, Kuroiwa wasn't in a moving vehicle, so the fact the dust would be spread around the lane makes it too weak to work. Too ineffective.

  Even so, what would she even be able to do with the dust? Make them see things, distract them with mere illusions and hallucinations? Their motorcycles will still work even if she does anything regarding that, and excessive illusions will cause Kuroiwa to suffer from pain again.

  If only the phone's hacks still worked. Kuroiwa would be able to interfere with those motorcycles, to shut those things down. Have their machinery fall and stall for long enough to gain some distance. Something done with the same effectiveness of concealing herself from cameras, from hijacking the cameras and gaining access to...

  ...

  Wait...

  Hold on...

  That sounds... similar, the more Kuroiwa thinks about it, and...

  ... Kuroiwa's eyes widen for a moment. The revelation crossed her mind... how roughly similar the two abilities were.

  The prime example is Shortcake. Kuroiwa looks to Shortcake. Looking at the android for a while, connecting the two ideas together. Kuroiwa, with this humanoid technology, was able to look through Shortcake's eyes and hear through Shortcake's ears. It didn't cross her mind at first, how that was just... accessing Shortcake's cameras and microphones. Shortcake works the same way, conceptually with both butterfly and phone.

  So... are these the same?

  "... Shortcake," Kuroiwa begins to ask, her voice slightly drowned out by the surrounding panic of traffic. "I need to run my thoughts with you for a moment. May I ask you something?"

  "O... Okay..." Shortcake responds, letting out heavy breathing. "W-What is it?"

  "See... I'm realizing. What exactly is Charon doing to stop me from using the phone's hacks?" Kuroiwa asks, keeping her eyes forward. "I'm wondering why he's, specifically, cutting off my hacks. We still have access to everything else on the phone, right?"

  Shortcake blinks for a moment. She checks the phone. Apart from the list of hacks, the phone still has all its basic features. Money and contacts included. "I... I think so?"

  "Right. Thus, I think... I have a theory," Kuroiwa remarks. "Hold the phone out... point it behind us at the bikers."

  "Right... okay..." Shortcake responds, taking aim over the—

  "Towards me, towards me," Kuroiwa interrupts, hand held out to her side as she notices Shortcake going the wrong way. Instead of turning clockwise, she wants the android to turn towards her. And thus, has her right hand held out to Shortcake, fingers curled. "Have the phone... in my hand. And aim it."

  "Ah!" Shortcake nods to Kuroiwa and does as instructed. The phone's now against Kuroiwa's fingers and palm.

  The bikers are closing in more and more. The cracking of glass becomes more noticeable, as the Mercedes-Benz is truly reaching its limit. Dents now in the bulletproof car, having had to deal with bullet after bullet...

  "Okay... move my thumb... to the 6 key..." Kuroiwa remarks, slow and methodical, eyes still on the road. Taking a deep breath as she keeps her cool. In theory, if this works, if this does anything...

  Suddenly, the cracking of glass rings out with the Leader firing his shotgun into the window. The glass shatters completely, bullets spread all about.

  Shortcake is shaking as she keeps securing the phone, having seen some of the bullets just flying past Kuroiwa's hand. "W-What now?! He's preparing his next shot...!"

  "... just... prepare yourself for the signal. Block it out..." Kuroiwa says, still slow and calm. "Turn off all signal reception..."

  Shortcake... nods, and actively nods as she does so. Blocking out the signals, keeping Kuroiwa's finger on the 6 key, ready to trigger the hack...

  The bikers are closing in, the leader driving faster and faster, gun aimed right at Shortcake through the broken window. Preparing and winding himself up...

  "..."

  Then... moment of truth.

  Kuroiwa presses the key.