Assad stepped out of Vonessia's office, gently closing the door behind him with a soft click.
He figured he might as well take another look at the jacket. It didn't disappoint; it was seriously cool. The stitching, the Chinatown-inspired patterns, and the bold Sweepers lettering across the back all of it felt official, like he had finally stepped into something much bigger than himself.
"So why don't the others wear this…?" he wondered aloud, tilting his head to examine the sleeve logo of a flying broom leaving a trail of smoke.
To him, it was fire. It was a real mystery why they didn't sport it.
'Maybe they just didn't get it.'
With a sigh, Assad continued down the hallway until he reached the elevator. He pressed the open button, and the doors slid apart. As he stepped inside, he paused.
"Wait, which button was it? I didn't catch which one they pressed," he muttered to himself.
He glanced at the buttons, but there was only one. Oddly enough, it didn't indicate whether it was going up or down.
"Guess I'll have to take a chance."
He pressed the button, and the doors closed, starting the descent. He let out a breath of relief. As the elevator descended to the lower floor, he caught a glimpse of his reflection in the door and smirked.
Yeah, it was official he was really part of the Sweepers now.
The elevator finally reached the bottom floor where the others are hanging out at.The doors opens and he walks out of it, then he starts walking to Shuren's office even if he is happy he still needs more information about this world and somehow a way to get back home.
Even though within the few days that he has been in this world and the small memories that he has shared with the sweepers. This is not where he lives or where he is from, he truly misses his parents from earth.
"I wonder how they are doing right now, are they worried or crying for my return." he whispered to himself.
He starts walking, around the hallway until he passes by the medical bay. Assad remembers that Mya is inside, maybe he should visit her. Ever since she went on that sudden awakening of being a True Failure, just like how Shuren specified. It still did raise some interesting questions.
Why did Vonessia share some small information about the concept of being a True Failure?
The fact that she said it couldn't be answered brought more suspicions to the table. But there was no need for it now. Right now he must at least check up on Mya's health condition.
So he resumed walking again to the medical bay, as he arrived next to the door he heard talking, wondering who it might be so he takes a peek only to see Shuren and Taura in the room. Shuren is seated on a chair, legs crossed while Sévon is on the wall, arms crossed and they are both talking while looking at Mya.
If the both of them are having a conversation, there might be a small chance that they are talking about Mya and her sudden awakening. So he gives up the easy dropping and decides to knock on the door, as soon as he does that both Shuren and Taura gaze in his direction.
As he entered he looked at the sleeping Mya who lay motionless on the hospital bed. A steady beep… beep… echoed from the monitor next to the bed, each sound spaced just enough to make his heart race. Her breathing was shallow, supported by a mask gently strapped around her face. With every rise and fall of her chest, the mask would fog up slightly, then clear again, like a delicate promise that she was still with him.
Assad removed his eyes for the moment at least she is still okay and breathing.
"Oh hey Assad you doin' good." Taura asked.
"Yea, still alive and kicking." Assad replied.
Shuren wanted to talk until she saw the jacket that Assad was wearing and did nothing. She takes out the cigarette that she was smoking and throws it away as it was her last puff.
"So let me guess the boss gave you that right?" Shuren asked.
"Yeah, she did, doesn't look cool." Assad replied
Taura also saw that and nodded with a thumbs up.
"Damn right it looks cool.Most of us don't really wear ours, but on you? Yeah, it totally fits." Taura said with a grin
Shuren didn't say a word; she just kept staring at the jacket, her face giving nothing away.
"Actually, that's what I wanted to ask, why don't you guys wear yours? Ms. Vonessia just told me that you guys don't prefer the jackets." Assad chimed in.
Taura turned to the window, a smile creeping onto her face.
"No particular reason, at least for me. I can't speak for the others, though."
Assad tilted his head in confusion.
"What kind of answer is that?" Assad asked.
Taura stuck her tongue out and left the room, not giving Assad a clear answer.
Shuren clicked her tongue and fished out another cigarette from her jacket. Even though the pack was already empty, she seemed to realize it, tossed it aside, and leaned against the table instead.
She also stepped out of the medical bay, leaving Assad alone with Mya.
Assad sat at Shuren's chair next to the sleeping Mya who is still recovering from the bullet shot that disabled her awakening for a while by Shuren.
Assad then stood up from the chair before leaving. He wished Mya a speedy recovery and then he walked out the room as well.
Assad took the long trip in the hallway back to his room. There are still many things that he wants to figure out, especially with the intense information that he has received and he wants to process them all with a gentle quiet mind, meaning he wants to be alone in his room.
He finally arrives and opens the door, he takes off the jacket and puts it on a hanger then jumps on his bed the mattress sagged a bit under his weight, feeling just a touch too firm, while the sheets carried a faint scent of disinfectant mixed with metal. He lay there, staring up at the ceiling, his eyes tracing the delicate cracks that crisscrossed its surface.
One of those cracks sparked a memory, a shape that danced just out of reach in his mind. It opened a door to his childhood, back to the days of his bedroom. Suddenly, a wave of nostalgia washed over him as his mother's voice floated in, soft yet authoritative, calling his name from the kitchen.
The warm, inviting aroma of oil and spices soon followed, wrapping around him like a comforting blanket, tightening his chest with familiarity. He could almost hear his father humming off-key in the background, trying to mask the sound of whatever he was burning. Assad's fingers gripped the sheets, and he felt a lump form in his throat.
His jaw tightened as he continued to gaze at the ceiling; the room was quiet, which suited him just fine. He lifted an arm, resting it over his eyes.
'They're probably worried.'
Assad removed his arm still gazing at the ceiling.
'I'll come back for you guys. Just wait for me. I promise for my return, don't die until I do.'
He then goes back on topic. Everything that he has learned so far .
'Okay now with all the info that I have received. I think it's time for me to try to solve this puzzle. First, this world is so far from what I have seen and heard. It resembles a murim world from the webtoons that I used to read back on earth, then you mix it with a fantasy setting straight out of a manga. Then there is the concept of the walls which do sound familiar but I can't get my mind on to it.'
The many things he has heard just from the setting of this world do not make sense to him. If this is a murim type of world he should have at least heard something about the sects, the problem is that both Shuren and Vonessia never told him about them. Maybe they just don't exist.
The next thing is the empire before becoming this type of murim fantasy type setting just from thought, it would have resembled 19th Century Europe. Then there is the founding emperor, the way he built this empire himself, must lead to one thing.
'Was the founding emperor a transmigrator like me?'
The thought was in Assad's mind but instead of shrugging it off he decided to keep it in mind. Who knows they might actually meet somewhere, and they could have a chat about how he brought ideas from earth to this world.
The more he pondered it, the clearer it became the peculiar layout of the empire and the mix of ideas that seemed oddly out of place in this world. Different concepts that echoed Earth just a bit too closely.
It couldn't just be a fluke.
If the founding emperor truly was a transmigrator, then perhaps there are clues hidden within the empire that could help Assad find his way back home; he just needs to uncover them.
"I need to dig deeper into this," he whispered to himself.