"Cipher, you can come in now."
The boss' dirty blonde hair was still visible from the couch as she poked her head out of the metal door. Just a few minutes ago, she had finally returned with a factory sealed cafe employee uniform, basic but functional, the smallest black polo shirt in stock a size too big for Kanashima's narrow frame. Even with all of the buttons done up, the top was just barely too narrow for it to fall off one of her shoulders. Regardless, along with a correctly sized skirt, the outfit played the part well enough, covering her up again.
"Sorry for… y'know, Kanashima. I promise I didn't mean to look."
"It's not a big deal."
"Wow, thanks, You're surprisingly understanding. My sisters when I was young… yikes."
To play up the sentence, locks of periwinkle swung from side to side, following the quick movements of his head. Receiving blank stares from his audience, he let out a soft sigh before taking a seat down on the opposite side of the couch, his long legs crossing at the knees. Serafin soon followed, finding her place in a matching lounge chair. Pulling the blanket back and on top of her, she couldn't help but feel cramped in between the two larger bodies.
"Yes, well anyway. More important matters. What's the status with the healers?"
"Well, Mahkai is still visiting family, so he's going to be out of commission for the next week."
"I knew he was on vacation, but family? Ah… that's unfortunate."
What are these guys on about?
Prefacing his next statement, Cipher let out an audible breath, letting his right foot fall down and hit the tile floor. Leaning forward, his elbows both found comfortable resting spots against his denim covered knees, dainty gloved fingers entwining in front of his face. Speaking through the oval shape the small hands made, baby blue eyes switched over to glance at Kanashima for just a moment before reconnecting with the amber gaze of the taller woman.
"Mirren is… well… she herself doesn't want to call it in, but essentially, code yellow."
"Fuck, for real?"
"I'm afraid so. You know how she is. I kinda get it though. Y'know, bug."
"Ah… damnit. I swear, she needs to learn some patience."
It was the boss' turn to give a glance to the third party listener of the private conversation, a nod coming her way for just a moment. Moving a hand to grasp her forehead, she let a few moments pass in silence before inquiring about her subordinate once more.
"What does she need?"
"A combat intrinsic."
"You're kidding. What happened to Eyja?"
"Dunno. Just… she wasn't happy about it."
"Cipher, that could mean literally anything."
Too ashamed to dignify the harmful statement with a response, Cipher leaned back into the couch, gloved fingertips pushing into his closed eyes with an audible groan. The boss was visibly annoyed in her own way, her fingers now busy scrolling and tapping away at a phone screen as she gritted her teeth. Her speed on the phone picked up before she eventually slung the rectangular device across the room, leaving a dent in the wall and the projectile several feet from it.
"I can't even go. Inspectors come at five."
"Today? And we're harboring a wanted felon? Ah… fuck"
The conversation between boss and employee stopped abruptly, both of their heads turning to stare at the sole girl in between them. Kanashima switched her attention rapidly between the two, panic creeping in on her face. Not counting the manhunt through Vanity, this was the most attention she had on her since her brother and mother were living at the same time. She would've liked to keep it that way too, her track record with huge crowds was definitely not the greatest. In fact, the needle probably fell further into the negatives after the entourage of police.
Having her gaze settle down on her boss, she could barely hold eye contact with the burning amber irides bearing down on her. Searching her face, Kanashima couldn't find any hints of the normally calm and stalwart personality. If she was any closer, the hair on her scalp could've burnt off with how hot the gaze was.
"That's me, isn't it?"
"Kanashima, what's your intrinsic?"
"Erm, I can shoot bolts of plasma?"
"Oh what the hell, the name of it."
A blank stare and a tilted head was all the two cafe workers needed to see to have their answer, or at least, some replacement for one. An exasperated chuckle came from her acquaintance behind her, enticing another angry glare from the woman in charge. She was just glad the boss' ire found a new target, she was quickly toasting under the heat.
"Cipher, go help up front. I'll fill you in later."
"Damnit, this didn't last long. See ya, Kanashima."
Waving goodbye with his left hand, her couchmate gave a quick smile to her, his own silent way of wishing her luck with their boss. Taking his leave, he gave a quick bow to the both of them before closing the metallic door behind him.
No, Cipher, don't leave me alone.
"Fucking Mirren…"
"What exactly is going on?"
"Don't worry about it. Have you opened your menu?"
"Like for armaments?
Cursing under her breath, Serafin put a large palm to her face. A spark of disappointment rested in her pupil, staring through fingers at the cause.
"You know that but… Okay nevermind. Just… focus on your core. And try to learn about it. You've opened your storage, so it's kinda just that, but with your core."
"Right, I think I understand."
I absolutely did not understand that in the slightest.
Her armament display was something she just got used to by happenstance, not really something she could piece apart and understand the workings of. After being prompted for it the first time, it became second nature to replicate it. Although, the same worked for her experience with her plasma bolt, and that started from the core. Maybe there was more correlation between the processes than she originally thought.
Could I combine the two?
There wasn't much to go off of with the explanation, but she was hopeful when she began to circulate a tiny amount of her energy, not that there was much more where it came from, in her coils. Drawing information from it like she had requested so many times from her storage, streaks of scarlet radiance flooded from all sides into her eyes.
[Name: Kanashima Belladonna]
[Harmony Tier: 5]
[Intrinsic: Daughter of the Void(2)]
[Intrinsic Rank: 5]
[Synergy Tier: 5]
[Bug: Miss Fortune]
[Properties: Voidspawn, Voices from the Void, Inverse Pressure]
[Armaments: Bountiful Basket, Pompous Portrait, Lover's Lullaby]
"Woah, what? This is… is this me?"
There were only a few words on the entire panel, unlike the simulation termination sequence. Also unlike her simulacrum experience, the language was somewhat understandable to a lesser educated person such as herself. Tiers and ranks made sense enough to her, just the level of things, and she already received the bug explanation before getting sucked into the grey box. Everybody knew what an intrinsic perk was, and the armaments were something she figured out on her own, and they were also relatively simplistic. The actual name of her bug, intrinsic name, and this running list of properties were interesting, but made absolutely no sense to the newbie.
"Sounds like you did it? Good job, that was not the best explanation. I usually don't have to tell newbies how to do it."
"It's there but also… weird? I don't even know what some of these are… like Voidspawn?"
Stopping completely dead in her tracks, Serafin's signature amber eyes widened in shock, as if she had just seen a ghost. Clasping her large hands over Kanashima's smaller right hand, she held it up between their faces, leaning closer towards the couch.
"Finally… after so long. We needed somebody like you, or rather, needed you."
"We? What's so special about me?"
"Kanashima, what do you know about your dad?"
Shuffling her position across the couch cushion and back again, her palms began to get damp with sweat. Gunmetal grey eyes threw their gaze all over the room, everywhere but the older woman. Furrowing her eyebrows, she left her mouth hanging, unable to come up with a proper response for a few moments.
My father now? What is going on…
"Nothing much at all. He died before I was born. Just normal stories, I guess."
"Okay, okay, that's going to be a lot to explain. There's so much to explain to you, and I wish there was more time. Any questions you have, I promise I'll answer most of them, just not now."
Her eyes scrolled across the simplistic informative panel a few more times in silence, taking in all of the stimuli. Serafin was absolutely correct, she had so many questions, not a single lick of an answer to any of them, and she wanted to blurt twenty out and receive thirty answers. Controlling herself once again, she decided to answer her boss' previous question first.
This is what the voice called me in that hell.
"My Intrinsic's name is Daughter of the Void."
"Leave it to the virus to give an esoteric name to anything… although I get it. Can you view your description, abilities? What's the number?"
The dull throb of a headache intensified, melting at the influx of inquiries. Her brain could only handle and process so many requests, and despite the amount of time spent unconscious, fatigue was still in full force. Clutching her forehead in her fingers, she rested her corresponding elbow onto her knee, leaning forward. A larger hand found a place in the middle of her small back, rubbing it up and down.
"Hey, it's okay, take your time. Sorry, it must be so overwhelming after everything."
Expanding her system's information panel, she focused on her Daughter of the Void perk. The strings of scarlet bent to her curiosity, dropping down more and more information. She ran her eyes over it a few times, attempting to make sense of it before reading it out loud for her one woman audience.
[Intrinsic: Daughter of the Void(2)]
[The Void has claimed you as one of their own.]
[Mark of the Void: A single shot concentration of energy, leaving a mark on the target.]
[Embrace of the Void: A coating of energy wraps around the user, universally concealing.]
I don't understand half of this… One of their own?
Tilting her gaze back to her caretaker, she definitely understood way more of it than herself. A small smile creeped onto her face, matching her odd smiling eyes, unnerving as ever. Rubbing her back for a few more silent moments, she intentionally softened up her normally rugged voice for Kanashima.
"That's definitely a combat intrinsic alright."
"One designated for combat?"
"Correct. Good news for you too. With that… we would appreciate it if you joined us."
"Join you guys? I'm already working for you."
"Yes, but also no. What we really do here is different. We're a group of rebels."
She wished she was more surprised at the statement, but if that were true, it partially answered a large amount of questions. The hidden conversation between Cipher and Serafin under that guise now made sense to her too. Watching her face change through various phases of thought, her boss spoke up once more.
"You can't seriously believe that these corporations have your best interest in mind."
"I know. I just wanted a normal life is all. Why rebels? Why me?"
"Didn't we all? This is our best bet, Kanashima. At least for my people."
"I don't even think I could… I'm still weak, I'm new to the virus, new to my Intrinsic. If anything, I'd be more help leaving at this moment."
"You know, we could fix up your body completely. Those injuries? All gone. We can get you good food, a change of clothes. I don't need to remind you that you have nothing to your name besides a few thousand yuan and a box of cigarettes."
"That's if I join you?"
Adjusting their sitting positions, the older woman leaned down to her employee's level to hold eye contact, holding up one finger with her hand. A smile curled up from her lips once more, one of a victory.
"One mission, that's all I'm going to ask for. If you want to leave after, that's fine."
"Just one? No weird catch or anything?"
"Just the one. Cipher will join you. No special contracts, no bullshit. You have my word."
Damnit, when am I going to catch a break?
"Okay. The one mission. Then I'm done."
Reaching over the gap of furniture, her boss' larger hand clapped against her injured back, stinging the still healing cut across it. A hiss of pain emitted from her mouth as she fell forward from the force.
"Welcome to The Wild Eyes, Kanashima Belladonna."
Don't get too ahead of yourself. It's just one mission.