《Where Does Evil Begin?》 A Broken Worlds Nobody CHAPTER ONE A BROKEN WORLD¡¯S NOBODY The sun settled as the darkness of the night took over the horizon. Black, cold, full of smoke from the thousands of factories poisoning it and no stars can be seen anymore. Instead, millions of artificial lights, neon and LEDs of the city buildings illuminating the once vibrant sky. The city¡ªnot in a much better state. Torn apart by various past human conflicts, destroying the surrounding natural landscape to near total abomination. Tall concrete towers that were once reaching towards the sky are now merely standing on their own reinforced beams. Armoured vehicles and destroyed drones scattered around like pebbles. Even the air smells of absolute reeks. Burned rubber and processed metals from the factories is now the only constant scent that lingers around. In the past world, wild and feral animals could still be seen in the city streets. But now there were none. No cats, dogs, not even birds of any kind seem to fly above the smoke-full city. Even cockroaches, the one and only animals that can thrive in the most hostile environment, didn¡¯t even take residence in the sewers and nook and cranny of the vile city. Human greed ruined everything they touch. Of course, not all humans. The elites lived in the top of their luxurious towers, filled with facilities and commodities no commoners and working class individuals could ever hope to buy. Corporations raced against each other in a battle of who can make the most profit, using every low, inhumane strategy they can think of. Long hours, obligatory overtime, paying workers right at the minimum wage mark the government has set. In this economy, the poor get poorer while the rich get richer. Understandably, no more young people want to get married and have children anymore. No one in their right mind would, when their monthly salary can barely feed them, provide a roof over their head and keep them off the streets ¡ª where prolonged exposure to the toxic fumes, a byproduct of the industrial zones, could kill them within days. Like any other person her age, Viviana Voluntas, a twenty one years old corporate slave, has to continue her routine of working 12 hours a day for seven days a week, at the company she worked at. Only coming home to eat and sleep to keep doing it until her body shuts down completely and death itself takes over. Working for a large chemical processing plant is arguably one of the most high risk jobs on her planet of her time. From the area where her chemical plant was located, the fastest way to get to the lower class residential area where she lived was by taking the metro. Rusty, decayed, worn, clearly not in their prime any more, every single monorail in the city is still a blessing for Viviana and commoners like her. With a top speed of one-sixty kilometres per hour, the ¡°people¡¯s circulation¡± can take workers from where they live to the industrial and commerce zone in around forty minutes. Much slower than what the elites took, which can go for more than four-fifty kilometres per hour, the poor man¡¯s monorail is still viewed as the saints made from metal of the planet¡¯s dying population¡¯s economy. For Viviana and everybody else, the monorail is the only thing other than their job and apartment to be the most important. Walking was not an option for them. The distance between the residential zone and the industrial zone is just simply too far and the air is just too thick of smoke and toxic fumes that could kill a fully grown adult within days if not protected by a gas mask. And even then, a gas mask is not a complete guarantee as different factories produce different goods. Each with their own respective toxic and poisonous chemicals that once in the air, becomes one with the atmosphere. *** When she got home to her flat, she climbed hundreds of flights of stairs. The three lifts sat on the bottom floor. They have been sitting there for the entire seven years she has been living there. Everyday was the same for her. Nineteen minutes down the stairs in the morning. Nineteen minutes up the stairs in the evening. Everyday she had to pass the homeless living on the stairs. They all smell like putrid, piss and faeces. Not one of them wore a gasmask. Nobody has enough money to spare the poor bastards. With each second their skin was exposed to the toxic fumes and deadly concentration of the gases in the air their health began to decline at a rate inconceivable. Everyday someone new would be picked up by the city¡¯s ¡°health¡± department. Their dead and lifeless bodies thrown into the fiery chamber of the body disposal incinerators. As ironic as it may be, their job was crucial to prevent the spread of fatal existing diseases and new ones alike. They may not be honourable in their service but they were just doing what was needed. The more corpses left untreated in the open, the more unhealthy it would be to everyone living nearby. On the upper half of the thirtieth floor, the sight changes from that of poverty to that of small crimes. Residents on the higher levels are all carrying weapons. From the crude but still functional bladed weapons to the fancier laser pistols and even scatterguns. Like every flat in the lower economy part of the residential area, the big players that controlled each building demanded a percentage of the residents for ¡°security¡± reasons. Commoners like her usually don¡¯t have the amount per month to just give away to the big bad. They have their own lives. Some have a child to take care of. Some are dependent on their preferred entertainment as a means of escape from their bleak life. Even the most minimalist of them had to ¡°sacrifice¡± part of them to keep their rights to live and not be targeted by the people in control. But the people in charge were not all money-hungry hyenas. Some live their lives off of others¡¯ suffering. They demanded something that felt much more¡­satisfying. Sex. Many of her generation turned to do such dirty jobs for the guarantee of safety. Some were tempted by the lure of earning more money than they made on their real jobs that they just went along the path of prostitution. Might sound like a bargain, to satisfy those in power and doing sinful things to still feel secure, not worried about having to pay their monthly collectives and still earning more money with way less effort. Occasionally, several young adults like her disappeared. Either sold to the elites as slaves to their worst fetish or trafficked overseas to other, neighbouring nations. Viviana was not going to be one of these. She took the hard way in life to keep her innocence and moral purity. Even if it meant that she had to tank the massive amount of thirty five percent of her monthly wage to keep herself off the world of paid dates. She was hellbent on adhering to her one rule. One should live a life of good even in the darkest world. One should bear the pain of life and die in martyrdom if one were to follow the path of pureness. *** She swiped her card on the electronic lock and stepped into her dimly lit small unit apartment. The electronic door was so rusty and dirty, the sliding mechanism took six full seconds to open and close. Like everyday, she took off her gas mask, hung it on a nail on the wall and just tiredly tossed her bag onto her bed. The apartment was small. Only about five by three metres with exactly one bathroom, enough space for her bed and whatever leftover area she called ¡°kitchen¡±. And like everyone of her generation of fellow slaves, the kitchen was not even a real kitchen. Instead a short, two compartment refrigerator, a single burner mini stove and a slightly dinky table she bought from a street sale were the only things making the leftover space her ¡°kitchen¡±. She opened her refrigerator and sighed at what was left inside. Three one and a half litre water bottles and two bags of MREs that will expire next month. Not like she can buy more and better quality food anyway. ¡°...Food.¡± She grabbed one pack from the opened bag of MRE, pressing the button on top of the small electric kettle. While waiting for the water to boil, she took a quick shower in her barely spacious bathroom to rinse the sweat and dirt she got from work off of her body. The small bottle of three-in-one body and hair product being everybody¡¯s cleaning purposes bestfriends. Small, cheap, and she could swear she smells the faint scent of what she believes is ¡°vanilla¡±. After rinsing and drying herself using her one and only towel, she put her dirty clothes into the washing machine. Provided by the apartment complex, the washing machine was a small single spinner with no dryer nor an option for a warmer. She opened her wardrobe and grabbed one of her pyjamas and wore it. Not like she can have the opportunity to buy more as the major hit the apparel industry has suffered over the last twenty years. But from her and every commoner''s perspective, every industry is basically suffering from the almost completely drained natural resources. The planet that they¡¯re on is no longer suited for living. Soon, when everything is out, the elites are going to move to another planet on their ships. Soon, they will leave the commoners, like her, to die from whatever cause is getting them first. Viviana, and practically anybody of her generation, have developed and believed in a nihilistic mentality. There is no god, singular or plural, that can save them. There is no justice for their rights to live. There is no hope for them to crawl out of their lives of living off debts and wages. The world is not fair. Never has. Never will. After opening the MRE pack with hot water, she sat on the side of her bed, looking at the ¡°news¡± on the television broadcast projected on her walls. Not like there are other programs she could afford an entertainment off anyway. Watching the daily evening news or other freely provided government broadcasts feels like torture at this point. It was either daily reports of which factory exploded, what government facility the rioters are attacking or which representatives are involved in corruption this week. Luckily for her, the MRE pack has boiled and it is time for dinner. She opened the steaming pack and slowly blew air into it. The soup, if anyone can even call it that, is merely broth with bits of mass produced carrots, corn and meat, likely contaminated with pesticide. But who can complain? It¡¯s either MRE or dying of hunger so she slowly eats the soup. She forced herself to enjoy every bite and swallow, knowing well that sooner or later, she too would join the homeless population. Before going to bed, she noticed a single notification popping up on her phone. She read the email sender, the Department of Taxes and Monetary. ¡°...?? Oh, not now, please.¡± Taxes. Every citizen¡¯s worst nightmare, commoners and elites alike. To give a fraction of one¡¯s income to their ruling government that does ambiguous things behind the scenes, both beneficial or not, for simply existing. She had to take a day off to handle her submissions at the department¡¯s building tomorrow, which would be a huge hit for her. As even a single absence completely voided her incentive which was an additional ten percent of her monthly wage. That ten percent is what enables her to save a little bit of money for whatever emergencies she might have in the future. Without that ten percent, she set her savings and entire financial back a full month. But she still had to pay her taxes either way. If even the elites and criminals don¡¯t want to face the department of tax, then no one is dumb enough to try to run away from their ¡°obligations¡± to the state. That¡¯s for tomorrow. Tonight, she just wants to rest and sleep through the night. Her first and only priority is herself. An enough rest is the difference between living in a dinky apartment or dying in the streets. *** On the other side of the city. In the cold air of the night, a fleet of police cruisers rush down the street with their sirens blaring loudly. Not five minutes ago, one of their colleagues reported sounds of multiple gunfire in one of the warehouses in the industrial block. Once they arrived in the warehouse¡¯s parking area, they slammed their brakes and stopped just outside the massive front gate, screeching their tires as their car came to a full stop. One leads the way with his shotgun in hand and flashes his torch in the dark, pitch-black building. He ran his hand on the wall next to the door and looked for the light switch. Finally he found it and flicked the switch up. What they found horrified them. Inside the warehouse, they find mutilated dead bodies scattered everywhere. On the floor in disarray, splattered and stuck to the walls and ceiling, hanging on the many hooks and jammed inside a goods processing conveyor belt. Their conditions weren¡¯t exactly convenient for forensics either. Most of them are barely in shape, almost all of their limbs are separated from their bodies in absolute mess. The smell is what topped it off. ¡°Oh dear god¡­call it in.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t have to tell me twice.¡± One tapped his radio and contacted their dispatch of the situation. The officer looked around the warehouse with two other officers and heard a stammering sound from behind one of the cold storage inside. ¡°Did¡­Did you guys hear that?¡± ¡°Hear what¡ª¡± ¡°I¡­I heard that too.¡± He gulped in panic. ¡°What do you think that was?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s just go in and check it!¡± The three hurdled against the sealed door and slowly opened the door. Inside sat a naked, ungodly terrified woman sitting in the far right corner, clutching her knees. She seems uninjured but her body completely shaken in terror, unable to utter a single word out. One officer quickly takes off his jacket and puts it around the terrified woman. Her face looks blank, almost like a doll as her jaw shakes. ¡°Ma¡¯am¡­It''s alright. We¡¯re the police. You are safe now¡ª¡± As quick as he said it, the woman shouted at his face. ¡°No!¡± She shouted. She shakes again and pulls his jacket tighter. ¡°You¡­You don¡¯t understand! There¡¯s¡­There¡¯s a¡­monster¡­ here!¡± The officer looked back to the other two in confusion and raised his brows, now concerned about the crime scene they were in. The woman got up and shoved the officer away from her. ¡°Get away!¡± Her face was completely terrified and her voice strained. ¡°If you value your lives you should leave¡­now!¡± ¡°Ma¡¯am, calm down¡ª¡± the officer tried to calm her but she kept insisting in panic. ¡°No! Get. Away!¡± Suddenly, the three officers in the cold storage room heard gunfire and screams of their other officers who were in the goods area. Their wailing shocked them in and sent shivers down their spines in an instant. ¡°What the hell?!¡± The woman fell to her knees again and started to pull her hair out, trembling even more than before. ¡°She¡­She¡¯s back¡­Oh no!¡± She shrieked. The three officers looked at her, their faces tensing up. ¡°Who?¡± The woman could only turn her head very slowly at the officers. ¡°The devil.¡± she said. The lights in the cold storage then went out. The officers turned their torches back on and looked around in surprise before they heard the sound of something falling on the floor right at the door. They instinctively reached for their weapons when they saw a girl wearing a trench coat standing in front of them in complete silence. She stood there silently, leaning her back against the cold, metal doorway. ¡°Hands where I can see them!¡± The girl simply pulled out a lighter from her pocket and flicked it sideways, lighting a fire that dimly illuminated the room. Seconds later, blood began to flow into their line of sight, from behind her. ¡°Es ist bekannt, dass der Name des Vollstreckers der G?tter Harina ist. Denn sie wird den Krebs reinigen und sie aus der Existenz l?schen. M?ge ihr Schwert durch den Mantel der B?sewichte schlagen und ihre Worte den Willen ihrer Feinde zerschmettern. Denn sie ist Seine Tochter, Seine rechte und linke Hand, Sein Vollstrecker, Sein Alles. M?gen diejenigen, die sich nicht bewusst sind, sich des Kommens des einzig wahren Vollstreckers bewusst werden.¡± The mysterious girl pulled a short, metal tube from her trench coat¡¯s front pocket. A fresh, uncut cigar. She put it on her mouth and slowly lit it up. The flame lighting the deep red colour her eyes to the officers and the terrified woman. ¡°Hello, Tina~¡± The girl looked at the naked and terrified woman behind the police officers. The woman, Tina, screamed in terror and kicked herself back against the wall. Her face was tearing up. ¡°No no no no! Please!¡± ¡°Time to square up, T. I don¡¯t like repeating myself. But first¡­let¡¯s rid them for privacy.¡± Her eyes darted to the police officers who were equally confused at her. ¡°Lights out¡­¡± She shut her barely lit cigar off. ¡°...Cops.¡± In an unknown and mysterious way, the officers¡¯ torches went out and they started to shoot blindly in front of them. Not a second later, they started screaming in pain accompanied with a sound of blood splattering all over the place until their screaming stopped completely with the sound of bone shattering. The girl flicked her lighter open again and tossed it on the floor, igniting the blood of the officers like oil and setting the room ablaze. The woman looks even more terrified as the girl walks slowly to her. ¡°A deal is a deal, T. I want my intel¡­and I want them now,¡± the girl said in a low, growly voice before letting out a sinister giggle. ¡°Give me the name.¡± ¡°Please, please¡ª¡± ¡°The name!¡± ¡°I¡­I don¡¯t know! All I know is that she worked at the chemical company, Galleon. Please! That¡¯s all I know!¡± The girl laid her palms on the woman¡¯s neck and pulled her up with one hand. ¡°You see, you might not understand something, T. But when you send me a bill of half a million credits for intelligence gathering, I expect the result to be superb. As in their full name, their DOB, SSN, their mother''s maiden name, their dad''s childhood pets, their family''s history, their fucking ancestors and what they do, and maybe even the shape and size of that person¡¯s shit¡­not just she worked at Galleon.¡± ¡°The server''s security was very tight! I¡­I could barely put myself through the firewall! I burned six CPUs from this job alone¡ª ¡± ¡°That''s your problem, not mine. I pay you, you should find a way to do your things professionally, as promised, or find another employment!¡± Her eyes flashing red like a pool of blood staring directly into her soul. ¡°You clearly left out something, T. Say it now or I¡¯ll make your suffering worse than what you have experienced already.¡± The woman swallowed before relenting and saying, ¡°Alright! She will go to the tax building tomorrow!¡± ¡°Is that everything?¡± ¡°I heard words from the street that there would be a crew hitting the building. Four ground men and a suit¡­that¡¯s all I know¡ªNo, wait! I saw her employee ID!¡± ¡°Go on.¡± ¡°Dark hair¡­bob cut¡­her name rhymes like that one witch of the lake from the old, Arthurian shite. Vivi-something something along those lines!¡± Vivianne? The girl released her grip on the woman and let her fall back to the floor hard. ¡°There¡­that wasn¡¯t so hard now wasn¡¯t it?¡± She smirked before kicking the woman in the face and pressed her boots on the side of her neck. ¡°Also, correction! She''s not a witch, she¡¯s an enchantress. Know the difference.¡± The woman struggled to breathe as she pressed harder and harder. Her airway was completely blocked and her skin turned blue. ¡°You¡­You said you wo¡­wouldn¡¯t kill me¡­Why?¡± The girl lowered herself and brought her face closer to the woman. ¡°I said I wouldn¡¯t kill you by drawing out your suffering, T. You ran off before I could finish, you should''ve let me finish. You''re lucky I''m not gutting you like a fish or tossing you into a wood chipper. Consider yourself lucky¡­your men died worse. I mean have you seen the bloke who got stuck in the conveyor belt and blended by the gears? Now¡­¡± She began to press her boot down on her neck while looking at the woman completely unfazed by her plea. ¡°Time to pay for your sins of incompetence, T. Sayonara¡­I hereby conclude your contract.¡± After an excruciatingly long ten seconds, the girl¡¯s boot completely crushed the woman¡¯s neck. Her bones shattered like porcelain and severed her head from her body. ¡°You were always a difficult informant, T¡­Well, not anymore. Oh, dang it! She still owes me ten credits! Ah, what the hell.¡± She kicked her feet a few times to get rid of the blood before letting out a whistle. ¡°Oh, Esther~¡± From behind the girl, a young maid appeared from the darkness dragging an unconscious man with her bloody gauntlets. The man''s head split open revealing his brain. Although the man appeared to be dead, he was still breathing, despite the very slow pace and nearly silent noise. Her dark brown shade of hair gleamed under the broken overhead lighting. Halfway between slender and fit, she stood shorter than the girl but still above average. The bulky, gunmetal grey gauntlet fingers gripped his head tightly. Like a bear gripping an unconscious human with hunger, her cruelty hidden beneath her sweet face. ¡°Yes, my liege?¡± She greeted her very respectfully, bowing her head deeply. ¡°What is your order?¡± ¡°Call our boys in intelligence and have them scour through every employee of Galleon Chemicals. Look for a female, young, early twenties with dark, bob cut hair, most likely an orphan and is poor. I have a feeling her name starts with a V¡­Look out for any female with a European face, Northwestern.¡± The maid dropped the man, bowed her head and lifted her skirt slightly. ¡°It will be done. Anything else?¡± ¡°Yeah¡­¡± The girl turned to the maid and flashes out a grin. ¡°Bring the car around¡­we¡¯re going to the tax building. Time to file my taxes. Sick ¡®im.¡± The maid dropped the man. His head butt against the hard and cold floor of the refrigerator. She pulled her right arm back. Her gauntlet slowly turned to shone with a dim, darker shade of yellow light before she brought it at him. One slam. Her palm obliterated his head like a bat swung at a pinata. His skull shattered into countless small chunks and his brain was completely thrown all over them. The girl smirked at his brutal death. She wiped a drop of blood sticking on her face. So jung und doch so b?se. *** The next day¡­ As per her obligation to the state, Viviana goes to the Department of Taxes building located in the central market district. Being one of the better districts of the city, the district is one of the most important districts to people of all kinds of economy. It has many buildings from every public department, all of which are vital to the people. The streets are still good, according to their standards, with bricks still holding on years after the war ended two centuries ago. The park, being a leftover from the past, collects dust and dirt as the toxic air prevents anyone from enjoying outdoor activities. She walked up the stairs in the front yard, seeing two building security guards violently drag a helpless homeless man down the stairs. ¡°Come on, you lazy bum! This is not a facility for rubbish like you!¡± The homeless man resisted the two guards and tried to break free from their hold. But his old age and weak body basically screamed he can¡¯t. ¡°Please! Please!¡± The two guards dumped the man to the ground right outside the building. One opened his gas mask and spit on his face. Viviana stood there, watching the helpless man getting berated and beaten physically by the guards. ¡°Take that you old fuck!¡± ¡°Yeah! Don¡¯t you dare come back here, old fart!¡± What cruel men! Her feet moved and took one step forward before stopping completely. She wanted to stop them and leave the man alone. But her courage suddenly disappeared. Did she move a foot to defend the man out of sympathy or out of adrenaline? On one hand, their acts need to be stopped. But on the other hand, fighting against members of a public department, like the guards, will end up with her in court. Since the government is super corrupt and has been known by commoners to receive bribes, her trial is guaranteed to be one sided. Finally with a heavy heart, she decided not to intervene and leave the guards and the homeless man alone. She stepped through the main electronic door and stood in a line at the information centre, waiting for her turn. When it was finally her turn, she inserted her legal name, social security number and other legal documents before taking a seat in the waiting area with the rest of the taxpayers. As she and everyone else were waiting, she couldn¡¯t help but notice that the treasury¡¯s own vault was also located in the same building, just right behind the reception tables. Though she couldn¡¯t see the full size of the vault, she guessed that the vault must be massive, spanning several levels down with thick and heavy secure doors protecting it. She knows that no one is dumb enough to evade or worse, take something from the Department of Taxes. But the location of the vault behind the receptionists is basically asking for criminals to come and try their chances of becoming the richest alive. A man sitting beside her noticed her eyes fixed on the vault and decided to converse with her. ¡°An extremely convenient place for a vault, don¡¯t you think?¡± Viviana turned to the man and nodded her head. ¡°Yeah¡­Whoever designed this building needs to get shot, stat.¡± ¡°Exactly! Anyone with military grade tools and equipment could swoop in and take our obligations for themselves. If they do, they¡¯d be richer than those fuckers at the Parliament building.¡± Then from behind them, a girl chimed in. ¡°They won¡¯t,¡± she said. Viviana and the man turn around at the girl. She sat behind them in a completely relaxed expression with her legs crossed and fidgeting a lighter in her hand. Her long dark hair looks incredibly smooth and silky despite the toxic fumes polluting the air of the planet. The light complexity and unfairly buttery smooth skin looked way better than even the richest elites of the planet. Her body was also impossibly well endowed, way better than even the top tier models. All of the girl¡¯s physical attributes brought a little envy to Viviana. Tall, lean, curvaceous, diva-like looks. She is the personification of a perfect woman in Viviana¡¯s eyes. She has never seen anyone looking so flawless, so beautiful, so angelic like the girl a metre away from her. ¡°That vault contains absolutely nothing. It¡¯s just a dummy vault that the department uses to trick and bait foolish criminals out.¡± Her face was completely calm as she continued her explanation with her eyes closed as if she did not care in the slightest. ¡°All of your taxes are turned into digital money and are now stored within the state¡¯s very own safe bank account. The closest thing to a real vault the city has is the one beneath the Immigration Services building one block away from here that they still used to store files in paper form. Even then, that vault is protected by two giant metal doors, each weighing at 45 tonnes made from titanium and solid steel alloy. A regular ¡®military grade tools and equipment¡¯ you assume could, can never cut through.¡± Both the man and Viviana were equally startled and fascinated at the same time at her quip. She didn¡¯t seem to be a government agent type based on the plain black buttoned shirt, black shorts, black boots and the somewhat unusual military style black trench coat that she wears. The man gazed at her in curiosity and so was Viviana. ¡°How would you know that?¡± ¡°It¡¯s hard to explain, but trust me. That thing behind the reception tables¡­ Is not the one everyone¡¯s looking for.¡± She then leaned back against her seat. ¡°If any criminals with a fully functional frontal lobe want easy money, the easiest to hit would be the Department of Education building. They store real money there for educational purposes. Even a single crew of four could be in and out in less than five minutes.¡± When she opened her eyes, both Viviana and the old man were already looking at her weirdly. Though she did not like anyone gazing their eyes on her, her face lit up slightly when she noticed Viviana. Seeing a young girl with a dark, bob cut hair in the building that handles taxes with very minimum clothing and exactly zero accessories seems to bring a wave of intrigue within her. ¡°Oh, I¡¯m sorry. Where are my manners¡­I¡¯m Harina¡± She reached her hand out to Viviana, completely ignoring the man beside her. ¡°Harina Dea¡­or just Har for short.¡± Viviana took her hand and held it tightly in a polite manner. ¡°Viviana¡­Viviana Voluntas.¡± Harina raised one brow, a slight smirk adorning her face. ¡°Viviana? As in Vivianne? The lady of the Lake? That is quite unique.¡± She nodded impressed. ¡°I¡¯ve yet to meet another with a King Arthur reference.¡± Viviana nodded while wondering how she knew the origin of her name, which according to her mom, was already lost in time. ¡°...I¡¯m sorry, how did you know that? I thought no one knew that reference.¡± ¡°It¡¯s harder to NOT know that reference. When one has been alive for quite some time, one is bound to learn about things from the past, whether willingly or not.¡± ¡°What does that supposed to mean?¡± ¡°Knowledge is both a gift and a curse. So¡­Viviana¡­What are you in here for?¡± ¡°Paying my taxes? You?¡± ¡°Oh, I was waiting for something to happen, that¡¯s all.¡± Viviana blinked a few times, trying to process her words. ¡°Are you saying you¡¯re only here because you¡¯re bored?¡± In a deadpan expression, Harina shrugged it off casually. ¡°I¡¯m on vacation¡­I have all day to waste.¡± Viviana quickly suppressed her reaction. She was about to say something she¡¯s not supposed to. Harina brought her face closer to her and sniffed her. Surprised by her weird action, Viviana backed away slightly. ¡°What are you doing?¡± ¡°I smell sulphur and polyphenylene sulphide on you. Do you happen to work on some kind of chemical plant or something?¡± How did she even catch the scent of those chemicals? Both are supposed to be scentless even to dogs. Though strange, Viviana decided to ignore the unorthodox and just respond politely. ¡°Yeah, Galleon''s. On block 34, south side.¡± Harina instantaneously perked her ears up in surprise but a welcomed one. Found her! ¡°Ah, a dangerous job. Your skin¡­It¡¯s remarkably fine. I presume no accident has befallen you yet?¡± ¡°No, not yet.¡± Though not exactly offensive, Viviana felt slightly startled by her overly casual remark. ¡°Oh, no offence, dear. I just heard that so many people die annually around chemical processing facilities. 250 deaths just last year. 18% drop from previous year. That¡¯s a lot of open casket funerals.¡± ¡°I¡¯m careful at what I do. Most of the people on my production floor are not so lucky.¡± ¡°Luck can only get one so far. Maybe today you¡¯d finally get a scar on you.¡± Just as she finished her sentence, a large armoured mechanical suit bursts through the building, sending glass shatters and bricks everywhere. Everyone in the waiting area quickly ducks under their seats and covers their heads. One of the shattered glass flew and cut Viviana¡¯s hand as she took cover under her seat. Harina darted between the breaching mech suit and Viviana. ¡°Wow, apparently it is.¡± The pilot of the mechanical suit then aimed the suit¡¯s left arm cannon at the vault door and blasted it off its hinges. The giant metal door then rolled haphazardly away from the corridor and crashed into a concrete pillar. Then, four men with body armour and assault rifles ran into the building through the hole the mechanical suit bursts from and headed straight to the corridor where the vault was. ¡°This should be fun.¡± Harina smirked, still sitting on her chair with barely any fear in her eyes. After a while, all four men rushed back to the waiting area where everyone was ducking under their seats, cowering in fear. All except Harina. This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. The four seem to argue with each other with heated tones. Viviana looked up from under her seat at Harina, genuinely puzzled at her nonchalant attitude. ¡°Are you crazy?!¡± Viviana whispered slowly to Harina but weirdly, she remained extremely calm. ¡°They¡¯re going to shoot you if you don¡¯t duck here! Come on!¡± But Harina shrugged in a completely relaxed tone. ¡°I¡¯m not afraid. I made those rifles and that suit, I know what they can and can¡¯t do¡­¡± What does she mean by made? What could Harina possibly know about military hardwares that the robbers had? ¡°Made?! What are you talking about?¡± ¡°Give me a minute, I¡¯ll deal with these arseholes first.¡± Harina stood up from the covering crowd and Viviana and walked towards the armed men. Wait, what? What is she doing?! Harina shouted at the men. ¡°Hey! Pick on someone your own size, nigger.¡± She clasped her hand, getting all of the robber¡¯s attention in an instant. One of the armed men points his rifle at her and exclaims in an offended tone. ¡°Shut the fuck up, bitch! Get down on the floor like the rest of these bitches or we¡¯ll smoke you!¡± ¡°I¡¯m not scared, chocolate. Do me a favour and pull your triggers.¡± The armed men quickly pull their triggers and empty their entire cells on her. But instead of riddled with charred holes like one does when shot with a hundred kilowatt laser rifle, Harina just stood there. Completely unfazed and completely without any scratches. The barrage of short laser beams does hit her but they didn¡¯t even injure her in the slightest. Like they hit a solid rock. The four armed men looked at each other and their partner in the suit in confusion. ¡°What the fuck?!¡± Harina looked down to the floor, biting her lower lips, her face looking disappointed. ¡°Well, that was disappointing.¡± They turned their guns back to Harina and in a fraction of a second, all four men fell to the floor with holes on their chests. Viviana looked at Harina¡¯s hand and saw four still beating hearts on her hand with blood still dripping from them. She puts her hand on her mouth and tries not to vomit from the scene. She and the rest in the waiting area didn¡¯t even see Harina move at all and somehow she¡¯s standing behind the armed men in front of the reception tables with four hearts in her hand. The one in the mechanical suit then walked up and raised his suit¡¯s large sword over his head before slamming it down at Harina and Viviana as hard as he could. Viviana closed her eyes and covered her head with her arms. But for a moment, she didn¡¯t seem to hear any crushing sound and the fact that she can still breathe confused her even more. When she opened her eyes, Harina was standing in front of her holding the sword with only her left hand. Viviana was shocked beyond anything, completely wordless. How could a hundred seventy something centimetre tall, sixty something kilogram woman could hold a sword weighing several tonnes carried by a twelve metre tall combat mechanical suits with only one hand? ¡°How¡­How?!¡± Viviana exclaimed, completely flabbergasted. Harina cackled like a mad man. ¡°This isn¡¯t even a percent of me!¡± Harina shouted, her tone mad. She tightened her grip and the sword cracked. The pilot tries to pull the sword back but Harina simply pulls the sword harder and smacks the end of the handle against the suit¡¯s chest, sending it back several metres. Harina twirled the sword and changed grip before slamming it repeatedly against the suit¡¯s chest area. She kept slamming the flat side of the sword, handling it like tenderising a meat. The suit and its pilot getting slowly crushed and flattened, let out a scream that came out of its outer loudspeakers. After the suit stopped moving completely, Viviana saw blood dripping from the gaps of the suit. ¡°Wha¡­What¡­¡± Unable to comprehend anything, Viviana slowly lost her consciousness and fell head first to the ground. The last thing she heard was the sound of sirens coming in her direction and Harina whispering in her ears. Harina picked Viviana up onto her shoulder, jokingly tapping her butt. ¡°Du hast so viel auf deinen jungen Schultern, Kleiner,¡± she said, her tone low. ¡°Es ist Zeit, dass der Teufel ein W?rtchen mit dir spricht.¡± *** Hours after the event in the Department of Taxes building, Viviana woke up in panic and found herself laying on her small bed in her own apartment. She looked around in confusion trying to make sense of what happened earlier in the morning. When she looked up, she saw the worn ceiling which she had the day she picked the unit. But when she looked to the left, Harina was sitting on the small plastic chair, looking at her. ¡°Why are you here?!¡± Viviana pulled her blanket up and covered half her face as she waited for Harina¡¯s reply. ¡°You passed out¡­I thought it¡¯d be rude for me to just leave you there on the cold, stone floor of the department building where toxic fumes slowly filled the interior after the suit burst through the wall.¡± ¡°How did you know where I live?¡± ¡°I took your wallet out of your pocket. Don¡¯t worry, I don¡¯t take anything from you. I just wanna know your address.¡± Though worrying Viviana, she nodded in appreciation and simply hid behind her blanket. ¡°I got to say¡­this is a small unit you got. Must be a pain in the ass for such a young and lonely, most likely depressed single girl like you to live in this dirty, disgusting apartment complex.¡± Even though what she said is completely true, Viviana couldn¡¯t help but feel a little offended at her remark. Judging by the way Harina carried herself, Viviana could only make an educated guess that she must¡¯ve come from a rich, possibly extremely wealthy family as lack of sympathy and total unfiltered honesty is their shared trait. Harina, noticing Viviana¡¯s change in facial expression, rubbed her head awkwardly. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I didn¡¯t mean to offend you.¡± ¡°That¡¯s okay.¡± Viviana slumped back. ¡°It¡¯s not like you¡¯re wrong in any kind or anything. I¡¯m used to living here.¡± ¡°How long have you been here?¡± ¡°Seven years. I moved here with my mom when I was 14. She died a week later from epidural hematoma. I looked for and got a job the day after. Been working there ever since.¡± ¡°Your dad?¡± Viviana looked down and exhaled. ¡°Dead¡­When I was two, some gangs were having a territory dispute. One stray shot killed him.¡± ¡°So you¡¯re twenty one, huh?¡± Viviana nodded her head. ¡°Twenty two in four months.¡± ¡°As bad as this apartment of yours is, isn''t it a little pricey for your single mom to acquire? What''s her job back then?¡± Viviana noticeably recoiled a bit and looked down. ¡°She''s uh¡­She¡¯s a¡­a night worker.¡± Harina looked at her in surprise. ¡°Oh¡­you mean a prostitute?¡± ¡°How did you know?¡± ¡°You said a night worker. I was going to guess either a drug courier or a pole dancer but considering you were only fourteen when she died, she had to pick a job that makes the most credits without taking the longest time not the risk. A prostitute is a common work for women of her age who I would assume is between early thirties, since one only needs to split their legs and hope that everything would be done as soon as possible. No offence.¡± ¡°And how did you know those facts? You don¡¯t look the type.¡± ¡°And I don¡¯t look like a fighter either and guess who killed the robbers and saved your arse and brought you back to your apartment?¡± ¡°I¡­I guess you¡¯re right.¡± ¡°Now back to my question, how did your mom even get the credits to apply for this crib?¡± ¡°She took a thousand credits from her¡­handler.¡± ¡°I see¡­her pimp.¡± ¡°She never told me that one of her clients abused her which soon caused her head and cerebral trauma.¡± ¡°Your dad¡­was he a¡ª¡± ¡°Yes, he was once a client too. I know that I''m that kind of child. I''m lucky that my mother is the kind of night worker who actually takes care of their¡­offspring¡­others are not so lucky.¡± ¡°You have someone else? Relatives? Lover? Anyone?¡± ¡°No one is marrying these days. The economy is just not suitable for any kind of relationship. Besides, let¡¯s be honest, how are people supposed to raise children with toxic fumes permeating the air?¡± ¡°I suppose that makes sense.¡± ¡°What about you? How old are you? Where do you live? What¡¯s your job?¡± ¡°I¡¯m quite old¡­older than my youthful, twenties appearance. I lived in Verdun, a planet in the system called Cincinaly about six hundred light years away from this planet of yours. As for what I do¡­I¡¯m a criminal.¡± Her response intrigued Viviana. But from how straight and relaxed her expression was, Viviana simply thought that Harina was merely joking. ¡°Nice joke.¡± Hoping for Harina to simply chuck it off, she only continued to fix her eyes at her. Her face was dead serious. ¡°No, really. I founded and led a criminal enterprise. A quite powerful one at that. We¡¯re actually a Universe-class wanted.¡± Universe-class. A wanted level classification given to those who are deemed extremely dangerous and pose a major galactical threat to any hospitable planet and/or space colony. Reserved to only the worst of the worst. And the woman in front of her casually told her that she¡¯s one of them. ¡°That¡¯s funny.¡± Viviana continued to chuckle at her explanation. But looking at Harina¡¯s stoic face, she quickly realised that she was not joking. ¡°No way! You¡¯re kidding, right? Right?!¡± Harina giggled at how long it took for Viviana to connect the dots together. ¡°Look up my name. You¡¯ll see what I mean.¡± Viviana fearfully kept her eyes on Harina, tapping her hands on her bedside counter to grab her phone. She opened the web and looked up ¡°Harina Dea¡± and the result instantly shocked her. Harina Dea¡ªFormer Supreme Enforcer of Regnum Dei, founder of several special forces of Regnum Dei. Such as the Black Sky Division, Holy Knights Division, Seventy Two Enforcers Elite Division, while also founded Regnum Dei¡¯s very own Special Intelligence Service and first daughter of Regnum Dei¡¯s Primordial God of Life and Death, Gro?. Redacted, redacted, redacted. What is up with all of these redacted parts?! Founder and leader of an interstellar criminal syndicate, Quindecim Umbra. Wanted for mass murder, genocide, countless first, second and third degree murder, conspiracy, coup d¡¯etat, blasphemy, treason, multiple accounts of complete planetary destruction, systematic purge, and many more. Threat assessment, top universal priority. Wanted level, Universe¡¯s most wanted #1. Total bounty, 150 decillion credits dead, 150 undecillion credits alive. Viviana¡¯s face changed dramatically the more she read the record. Just how worse can she get? Then her brain clicked. Wait a minute! Hundred, thousand, million, billion, trillion, quadrillion, quintillion, sextillion, septillion, octillion, nonillion, decillion, undecillion. That¡¯s 36 zeros! Taking a deep breath, she darted back to Harina. ¡°Uh¡­wow. That is quite the rap sheet you have.¡± Harina smirked with arrogance and a twisted pride. ¡°I take it that you believe me now? I do think that the conspiracy part is a little exaggerated, though. It¡¯s not exactly conspiracy and coup if you¡¯re trying to demolish genuinely fucked up rulers.¡± ¡°How¡­How did you even end up like this¡ªNo! Here¡¯s a better question¡­Why are you here, on my planet specifically!?¡± ¡°Why does that matter?¡± ¡°Because you¡¯re in my apartment!¡± Her tone rose and her breath became heaving. ¡°I¡¯m hiding basically a universal super terrorist in my place! That already made me an accomplice or an accessory!¡± Viviana pulled her hair out in panic. ¡°I don¡¯t want to see the Galactic Peace Federation¡¯s warships descending from the sky and raining down massive metal slugs at several times the speed of sound at me!¡± Harina chuckled and scoffed off her worries. ¡°Oh, would you relax? Those fuckers won¡¯t find me here.¡± Her immediate and curt response only worried her even more. ¡°How are you so sure?!¡± ¡°I¡¯m rich¡­I have the entirety of my enterprise at my disposal. I told my subordinates to intercept their hunting fleet as soon as they exit FTL jump.¡± Viviana wanted to scream and lash out at her but Harina¡¯s calmness seemed genuine to her. ¡°They''re as dead as George Michael and deader than Elvis in the bathroom.¡± Viviana blinked repeatedly, trying to process her snide remark. ¡°Who?!!¡± ¡°My point is they won¡¯t be a problem. Not now, not tomorrow. Definitely not ever.¡± ¡°Okay¡­¡± Then her face changed. ¡°NOW TELL ME WHY ARE YOU HERE!?¡± ¡°Like I said in the tax building, I was bored. Even a crime boss like me needs time off too. Your dying planet just so happens to give me the much needed opportunity.¡± ¡°What are you talking about?! This planet is horrible, on the brink of extinction and total societal collapse. There¡¯s exactly zero tourist attraction on this planet!¡± ¡°How about this¡­I long for that feeling of rush of battle, that rush of getting absolutely fucked in the street. You feel me?¡± In a complete deadpan expression, Viviana blinked in confusion. ¡°No¡­Dear God!¡± Harina chuckled uncontrollably at her words before going silent right after that. ¡°God, huh? God is a fucking joke, girl. Mortals shouldn¡¯t put their faith in idiots like them.¡± Viviana was quick to notice Harina¡¯s rapid change in behaviour. Her witty, snarky, smugly smile disappeared as soon as she uttered the word ¡°God¡± at her. ¡°Take it from me, V. Don¡¯t believe in God. He, she or they won¡¯t care. Religion and faith are complete and total bollocks.¡± For a brief second, Viviana could see Harina tried to put up an unserious face. But she could sense that a pain escaped from her sigh. ¡°You¡¯ll only set yourself down a path of absolute disappointment in your darkest time.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry to say this because you won¡¯t understand my predicament but I¡¯m already in my darkest time. I''m a corporate slave like everyone else. I live in a dump. I eat crappy MREs. I don¡¯t know what real meat tastes like. I haven¡¯t even seen one real tree since the day I was born. So yeah¡­my time was always the darkest.¡± Harina perked up from her plastic chair and locked eyes with Viviana. ¡°Would you like to change that?¡± Viviana lifted her head up, intrigued but confused. ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t mean to brag but as a daughter of a god, which is also the head of his pantheon, I am blessed with many things. I have a near-absolutely accurate gut feeling. Looking at you, I can see potential in you. Call it a hunch. I see that you have what it takes.¡± ¡°To?¡± ¡°Be my successor.¡± ¡°Say what?¡± ¡°You heard me¡ª¡± ¡°Yeah I know I heard you but¡­be your successor? What are you talking about?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t always like living a life of luxury and getting chased by galactical law enforcement everytime I want to go out for a cookie, V. I came from a background of struggle, full of beheaded motherfuckers, bloody conflict and all the crimes in the wiki. Me and my pals, the founders, want to enjoy our lives too. Most of them have someone to fight for¡­I don¡¯t. I just want to get out.¡± ¡°That sounds a little contradictory and a bit nonsensical.¡± ¡°The way I see it you have two options.¡± Harina kicked her feet up and lied on her side on Viviana¡¯s already compact bed. ¡°One, you ignore my offer, I leave you alone and you can continue working until you can¡¯t anymore and die. Probably still poor and alone just like what you are right now.¡± Viviana backed away slightly. Pulling her blanket up to her nose. ¡°Or?¡± ¡°Or two, you take my offer, I taught you everything I know and you can, theoretically, let the cycle continue.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know¡­¡± Harina sighed. ¡°You have potential, V. I can see it. You let your fear and morality dictate how you live your life. That''s a pussy move. Believe me, you don¡¯t want to die in this shithole. Die better. Die being remembered for something. Die a legend. Every legend is remembered, no poor asshole ever did.¡± Harina¡¯s words seem to have struck some of Viviana¡¯s nerves as she now lowered her head in silence, perhaps pondering the sentence over and over again. ¡°I¡­I don¡¯t know if I can do that¡­¡± Harina stood up and put on her shoes before walking to the door. She stopped and turned around at Viviana again. ¡°Wait, hold on a minute.¡± Viviana bit her lower lip. Trying to find the right word to express her thoughts. ¡°What¡¯s in it for me?¡± Harina smiled deviously. ¡°Everything I have. Every credit, every ship, every armament, every fucking thing I own¡­they can be yours too.¡± The mention of wealth and financial security intrigued her even more. ¡°What¡¯s the catch?¡± Harina looked up for a bit. She darted back to Viviana. ¡°Every bad thing about me will be yours too. The world of crime is not a world for the weak¡­it¡¯s a kill or be killed world¡­a literal snake¡¯s den.¡± ¡°Kill or be killed¡­huh?¡± ¡°Well, we are predators after all.¡± ¡°What about me? You¡¯re not going to kill me?¡± ¡°Why, I only kill idiots who are dumb enough to rob me in broad daylight or criminals equally bad as me.¡± Harina sighed then let out a whistle. ¡°But realistically speaking, since I¡¯m literally the most wanted individual in the universe, Numero uno, no one is worse than me. I am the worst.¡± Viviana turned to Harina. She looked directly into her eyes. There was no sign of fear nor doubt behind those crimson red eyes of hers. ¡°How can you be so calm and collected knowing the GPF could send a warship or warships to your location and fire hundreds if not thousands of railgun sabot rounds at you?¡± Harina shrugged. ¡°Like animals in general¡­no provocation equals no bite.¡± She turned back to the door. Peering over her shoulders to give Viviana one last smug smirk. ¡°I¡¯ll give you 24 hours to think it over, V. Don¡¯t waste yourself as a slave when you can be a queen.¡± She waved her hand at the electronic lock and walked away. Not wanting to think about her offer more and more, Viviana just laid her back down on her bed and covered herself with her blanket. Harina¡¯s offer intrigued her but the risk of being stamped as a terrorist frightens her unlike anything else. All her life, Viviana always kept herself to the legal side of life. But her words keep ringing in her head over and over again. You let your fear and morality dictate how you live your life. Fear and morality¡­ huh? What if Harina was right? As harsh and cruel her words might be, all of what she was saying was right. Morality is what keeps her cowering in fear and oppressed as slaves. Just like everybody else. I suppose she might be onto something. Out of curiosity, Viviana turned her tv on and opened her browser. She typed in Harina¡¯s name again and read every available article linked to her. From various unsolved murder, political manipulation, to all kinds of space heists involving trading fleets and military units. Her name, and her organisation as a whole, seems to be linked to numerous cases throughout the universe. She swiped pages through pages, reading more and more about her until one section intrigued her the most. Hmm? What is this? Although the super terrorist, Harina Dea, is believed to be a complete and utterly vicious psychopath, some experts in the field such as Dr. Krimsky Zaigolach of the University of Preliboras of Fargo theorised that her evil and crimes are more precise and extremely specific. After hundreds of hours of cross examination examining multiple evidence GPF has openly given them, Dr. Krimsky and many psychologists suggest that the super terrorist acts on a moral compass of her own. One of the most striking patterns in all of the cases linked to her was that the super terrorist never seeks to harm nor kill children. The sole exception to that rule is if a child is proven to be a monster in the making. For example, the murder of Jill Orphs, age seven, who was the prime suspect of many arson. The super terrorist also sends compensation to the children of every ¡°sinner¡± she has killed, further suggesting that her motives are not as direct as investigators might have concluded. Other evidence also suggests that out of all of the bombings and destruction she has caused, every death has been involved in some kind of illegal actions, minor or severe. When an innocent is harmed accidentally, the super terrorist tracks them down and sends compensation for their medical treatment. One such example is the bombing of the Parliament building on the planet Guisler, killing hundreds and injuring many civilians, all of whom are given compensation accordingly by her. After reading enough of her, Viviana turned her tv off, laid her head on her pillow and took the rest of the day to sleep. For tomorrow, she still has to work again. What kind of evil is she exactly?...I hate my life. *** The next day¡­ In the morning after, Viviana continued with her routine. She woke up at five in the morning, took a morning shower, ate a disgusting MRE and got ready for work. As she took her gas mask, Harina¡¯s words rang again in her mind. Believe me, you don¡¯t want to die in this shithole. Die better. Die being remembered for something. Die a legend. Every legend is remembered, no poor asshole ever did. What does she mean by that? What did she see in me that I don¡¯t? Why me? Why not someone better? She finally collected her thoughts again and took the gas mask off the hook and put it on before stepping out of her apartment. Like everyday, today the toxic fumes seem to only worsen. It¡¯s slightly thicker than yesterday¡¯s, darker and also slightly denser. She walked to the monorail stop and hopped on at the first arriving train. On the way there, she kept thinking about Harina over and over again. She knows that her planet won¡¯t have much time before its resources are completely drained and die. And when it does happen, no elites will lend a hand to commoners like her. All she can think over is why is it so cruel and unfair that her only two options are either become a super terrorist¡¯s successor or work as slave until death. Time passes so fast when she keeps thinking about it¡­ At work, when Viviana was so lost with her own thoughts, her coworkers began to shout at her. Trying to get her off her thoughts in the dangerous production floor. ¡°Hey! Hey, stupid!¡± Viviana snapped back to reality and saw the angry faces of her colleague as they waited for her to return from spacing out. ¡°Oh! Uh, sorry!¡± Viviana moves quickly to grab the hanging machinery remote beside her. She can¡¯t believe that she has been losing her focus so often that she¡¯s already in her workplace in a hazmat suit without her awareness Losing concentration in her line of work could spell disaster, either for her or anyone in her work floor. She pressed the button and the overhead pulley arm moved from the end of the line to her position, stopping right above her. She pressed another button and lowered the orange, glowing metal bucket down to her height. Her colleagues moved to insert bars of raw ore into it and she controlled the pulley arm again, moving it to the furnace. After they finished scraping the floor, they proceed to take the casted processed bars out of their mould and put them on a large cart to transport them to the second oven. With the cart placed inside the oven with dozens of other carts, they secured the cart to the floor with heavy-duty chains and prepared to exit the second oven. As they walk away from the oven, one man in the rearmost row looks around. Viviana was nowhere to be seen. Not around them where she usually walks in the third row from the front. ¡°Hey. Where¡¯s V?¡± ¡°Umm¡­¡± The other one turned his head too before seeing Viviana still inside the oven. His facial expression changed to that of oops. ¡°Shit¡­¡± They began to run back to the oven. Some run towards the control tower, shouting as loud as they can. They flail their hands and point at the oven which was already locked tight. ¡°Stop! Stop! Stop the procedure! Chug the emergency power now!¡± Viviana, who was preoccupied securing the cart''s chains, immediately looked up and noticed that she¡¯s still inside the oven with the airtight door completely secured. ¡°No no no no no!¡± In a panic, she quickly ran towards the door and bangs her hands on it, screaming for help. But the door was not only airtight, it was also blocking every sound coming in and out of the oven. ¡°Hey! Get me out of here! Someone! Please!¡± Her screams fell on deaf ears but she could see that they were rushing to open the door for her from the outside. She could see a technician try to override the electronic lock but to her growing despair, the electronic locking unit suddenly burst, sparks coming off of it. ¡°Come on! The solution is about to spray!¡± She tried to scream again, begging for them to open the door but none seemed to be able to hear her from the other side. The chemical solution sprayer lowered from the walls of the oven and red lights flashing inside the oven chamber. Fuck. At that moment she knew her life was gone¡­ The sprayer showered her with excruciating sprays of chemical solution in steam form. Her vision vanished in an instant. The burning sensation quickly overwhelmed her as she succumbed to the floor, gasping for air. She reached her hand up at the wall in the oven trying to pull herself up and find a way to get out. She dragged herself to one of the secured carts and grabbed the metal handle on it. But what she thought was a handle turns out to be the cart¡¯s coupling. Once she fully pulled it off, the cart went unsecure and started to roll forward. The rolling several tonnes cart slammed into her and ran over her legs. She screamed in pain as her legs got completely severed from the knee down. Her hands continue to rummage her surroundings, unknowingly laying her hands onto the cart''s rails. Another cart came rolling down and severed her hands from the middle of her forearms. The pain was too much for her and she began opening her eyes and let out an agonising scream. When she tried to inhale from the hyperventilation and the adrenaline rush, the solution attacked her lungs and she could feel her insides getting burned. The pain felt like an eternity and when she couldn''t handle it anymore, she fell and lost consciousness. *** Somewhere else in the city, Harina laid down on the ground flat with her feet up. Around her were white powder, illegal substances of a gang she raided just minutes ago. The smell of blood still fresh with many recently dead men scattered all over the den, their heads completely blown off. The maid entered the living room where Harina and several corpses were and bowed her head respectfully. Harina looked up at the maid. ¡°This better be something.¡± ¡°My liege, your prediction has come to a reality ¡ª a grim one at that.¡± ¡°Viviana?¡± ¡°There was an accident in her production floor, my liege. She was trapped in one of the ovens. Our intelligence division has hacked into the company''s network and confirmed it from the cameras overlooking that floor.¡± ¡°What''s her status?¡± ¡°Terminal. She has also lost her hands and legs, both.¡± ¡°How?¡± ¡°She pulled a couple of couplings that secured the heavy carts. Two rolled over her. One took her arms, one took her legs.¡± Harina took a pinchful of the powdery substance and dropped it down across her upper lips. ¡°What¡¯s their reaction?¡± ¡°They''re sending in a med-bot. My humble guess is that she will be terminated without treatment nor severance check.¡± Harina tapped her feet while pondering. ¡°What is your order, my liege?¡± ¡°Hmm¡­do we have a ship in this system?¡± ¡°We have eight destroyers, three light cruisers and one heavy cruiser. They''ve been here ever since you arrived. They''re waiting for your order.¡± ¡°They''re armed, yes?¡± ¡°Yes, my liege. Always.¡± ¡°Good. Contact the heavy cruiser, tell them to arm every¡­single¡­fucking¡­weapons onboard and enter the atmosphere. Time to do a little spring cleaning.¡± ¡°Ma''am, it''s winter¡ª¡± ¡°...! To-mae-to, to-mah-to.¡± ¡°Target?¡± ¡°Galleon Chemicals.¡± ¡°Are we not going to conduct our operation according to your regulations, my liege?¡± ¡°Hmm, you¡¯re right.¡± Harina tapped the device mounted on her forearm and swiped through the touch screen. She connected herself to their intelligence division. After the call was connected, the sound of a young female spoke into her earpiece. ¡°Intelligence, codename and password?¡± ¡°What about just my voice? I mean, come on. I own all of you.¡± The intelligence division girl quickly adjusted her posture based on the background noise. She was clearly not expecting Harina to call today. ¡°Lady Harina, ma¡¯am! How¡­How can we help you today?¡± ¡°Pull up everything we have on Galleon Chemicals Limited, planet Oniedai. Tap into their network and tell me about their employee¡¯s records.¡± ¡°They¡¯re clean, ma¡¯am. Most of them are low economy commoners. Nothing out of the ordinary.¡± ¡°Hmm, that makes things more complicated then. What if I say they¡¯re dirty?¡± The girl on the other side was quickly confused by her request. ¡°Ma¡¯am?¡± ¡°Do a little tomfoolery, hack into the planet¡¯s population database and uh¡­do a little editing, will you?¡± ¡°You¡­You want me to edit their records?¡± ¡°I see ten million credits swimming into your bank account¨C¡± Without hesitation, the girl nodded and interrupted her with a firm tone. ¡°Understood, ma¡¯am. These people are now sinners and criminals. I¡¯ll make sure that my edits are inconspicuous.¡± ¡°Aye, good girl.¡± Harina turned the call off and looked back at the maid. ¡°Done.¡± The maid straightened herself and nodded. ¡°I see¡­about the airstrike?¡± Harina flashed a cruel, sadistic smile. ¡°Spare no one. Once Viviana is out, I want you to get her out and back to her apartment. I''ll meet you there myself after I''m done. You have twenty minutes. Now go¡­¡± ¡°Understood, my liege. I will be out then.¡± The maid bowed her head again and left the den. Harina took a pinch of the white powder she laid on and sprinkled them over her nostril. She pressed one finger to her nose, closing the right nostril and whiffed the powder with her left. ¡°Ahh¡­there''s that good stuff.¡± She wiped her nose before chuckling. ¡°Motherfucker was right. A better high really does mean customers will pay more. This is some grade A shite.¡± *** When Viviana opened her eyes, the oven floor was already open with numerous people looking at her from behind a yellow line at the door. A robot then moves into the oven on its metal track and flashes its lights at her. Scan complete. Viviana Voluntas. You have damaged lungs, acute respiratory distress syndrome, severe chemical pneumonitis and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Galleon Chemicals cannot be held legally accountable per your contract employment status and the circumstances of your work-related accident. Would you like to end your employment and receive the available treatment for your terminal diseases? The robot lowered its touch screen at her face and waited. Viviana could barely see the flickering screen and the signature section. She choked out for air as she weakly raised her head but her body couldn¡¯t handle it and her head fell back down to the floor. She raised her arm and put her bloodied stump on the touch screen, using whatever was left inside of her to scribble on the pad. The robot pulled the screen back into its compartment and dropped a plastic canister of pills to her. Thank you for your service, Ms. Voluntas. From this day onward, you are no longer an employee of Galleon Chemicals Ltd. Have a good day. The robot then turned back and rolled away from her. Viviana fainted again on the oven floor before two men in hazmat suits picked her up onto a wheelbarrow and brought her out of the plant. A few minutes later after the men dumped her in front of the plant courtyard, Viviana sees a faint shape of someone walking towards her through her severely impaired eyes. The figure seems to be a woman holding an umbrella with what appears to be a maid-like dress. She could see the maid tapping her left ear. ¡°Yes, m¡¯lady. I found her. Yes. I will bring her home. Understood.¡± Viviana looked up at her to see her better and weakly mutter. ¡°W¡­Who are you?¡± ¡°All in due time, Ms. Voluntas. All in due time.¡± The maid picked her up onto her shoulder and Viviana fainted again. *** Hours later, she regained her consciousness again. She could smell the cheap lemon-scented room fragrance she put in her apartment seeping into her nose as she woke up. But to her, even after opening her eyes, her vision remains pitch black. She realises that she must¡¯ve gone completely blind after the incident a few hours ago. When she tried to sit on her bed, she felt a searing pain on her legs. With her eyes blinded, she tapped her hands on her knees and noticed that she had also lost her legs. The¡­The cart. To her right, she could hear her holographic telly was on, with news broadcasts playing in the background. Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. Breaking news, coming at you live from industrial block 34, south of Diveport. Galleon Chemicals, a producer of chemicals, was subjected to an unknown and mysterious hostile bombardment by an unidentified party an hour ago. The news broadcast then switched to an aerial view from a drone overlooking an obliterated industrial complex. She could hear the sound of firefighters and the tense cries of the people coming off of the tv. The attack lasted for a whole seven minutes, destroying all eight plants, killing more than forty four thousand Galleon workers and hundreds of other companies'' workers. Witness reports said that a heavy cruiser entered the atmosphere and fired hundreds if not thousands of high-explosive incendiary railgun rounds and launched countless other rockets and explosive ordnance. Authorities have already started their investigations but so far no individual has been suspected to be involved or tied to the tragic act of terrorism. We do know however that the attack fits schemes to a known criminal enterprise, Quindecim Umbra, the universe''s most dangerous criminal syndicate. The group is also believed to be responsible for the destruction of two Galactic Peace Federation''s fleets that killed sixty thousand souls just two days ago. Residents are advised to stay inside for the moment until further notice. If you happen to see or hear anything about the group, a hefty price awaits any information that could help brings them to justice and¡ª The maid turned telly off and picked up a bowl of hot water and rubbed the towel on Viviana¡¯s face. She doesn¡¯t speak, yet Viviana could feel that she wanted to say something to her. ¡°Who¡­Who are you?¡± ¡°You can call me Esther.¡± The maid rubbed the warm towel across Vivina¡¯s blistered face. She recoiled back from the pain but held it back. ¡°That is the name my mistress gave me.¡± ¡°Your mistress? Who?¡± ¡°My one and only liege, Goddess Harina.¡± ¡°Harina?¡± ¡°My mistress tasked me to collect you from that chemical processing plant that you worked at. She said that something bad will befall you. And looking at what happened three hours ago, I would say that she was right. Not that I ever doubt her.¡± ¡°The plant¡­was that your doing? Did you really kill all those people?¡± ¡°Does it matter to you? I don¡¯t see a reason for you to get sentimental over their deaths.¡± Viviana bit her lips in seething rage. ¡°You people are monsters! You god damn¨C¡± ¡°Incorrect.¡± Esther, the maid, cut her off. ¡°The real monsters are the corporate directors cutting corners and ignoring the pleas from people like you and your colleagues.¡± ¡°You people still kill all those innocent lives! For what? That makes you all just as bad as them!¡± ¡°We at Quindecim Umbra are closer to demons. We have our own view of the definition of evil. We target our cruelty, brutality and savagery to only those we think and know deserve. We leave innocents out.¡± ¡°Then why does my perception¨C¡± ¡°Perception like yours is the single biggest misconception and the reason we criminals have a bad name.¡± ¡°Fucking¡ªWhy do Harina want me to become her successor?! Why me?! I¡¯m just a nobody! I¡¯m just a weakling in a broken world. She could and should have picked someone better.¡± ¡°Maybe according to you. But from her eyes, she could see the most hidden potential within someone just by looking at their eyes once. She has never been wrong once ever since I served her and her assumptions always hit their marks. If she had such high opinion on you, you should be fucking grateful.¡± Viviana felt Esther¡¯s fingers opening her eyelids and flashed a torch into her eyes. ¡°Yep. All those chemicals have burned your corneas, probably severing your optic nerves too. Can you see my torch?¡± ¡°No. I could feel the heat, though only faintly.¡± ¡°It¡¯s worse than I thought. Well, nothing that our best medical facilities can¡¯t handle. Damn thing could regenerate a new spine with all the disgusting innards for our disabled and combat-injured members. A new set of eyes is nothing but a small increase in the number in the electric bill.¡± A few moments later, Viviana could hear her electronic door slide open and someone walk into her apartment. The footsteps sounded heavy, like someone wearing a combat boot. And that smell, black musk. There¡¯s only one person she knew using that scent. Her mind quickly ran back to her seething rage once more. ¡°HARINA!!! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE, YOU SICK FUCK¡ª¡± Harina just whistled and closed the electronic door. ¡°Nice to see you too, V.¡± ¡°You heartless monster! You killed all those people!. All those innocent souls lost because of you!¡± ¡°Yeah¡­sorry to pop your bubble, sweetie. But the guys in my Intelligence Division would disagree with you big time.¡± ¡°What are you talking about, you sick woman?!¡± ¡°You see, I can¡¯t just kill thousands of fuckers in your company, well¡­former company. No, that would be galactic treaty violations. So I asked my people to look into everyone¡¯s background, their personal lives, their families, basically their entire existence that can give me the slightest justification and reason to send them straight to heaven. What I find is quite amusing.¡± ¡°What?!¡± ¡°Everyone is working a side hustle to make that extra cash, you know. Most of them are low drug movers, some are in the espionage business. The ironic thing is that you¡¯re genuinely the only innocent in Galleon. Everyone else is a sinner. So without further ado, I called one of our heavy cruisers in this system and asked them if they wanted to stretch their cannons a bit. They said yes. PS: This week was supposed to be our scheduled inventory cleaning, specifically our heavy artillery shells. You just happen to give my guys their accelerated date so in a way, thanks, I guess?¡± As Viviana was heaving heavily, Esther walked over to Harina and bowed deeply. ¡°My lady, I have completed my task you have given me.¡± ¡°Good. Your diagnosis?¡± ¡°Damaged lungs, ARDS, Chemical pneumonitis, COPD. Estimated lifespan¡­ less than 40 hours if not shorter.¡± ¡°Oof!¡± Harina turned to Viviana. ¡°You hear that, V? 40 hours! That¡¯s about a couple seasons of Friends.¡± Viviana groaned in anger. She would jump at Harina if it weren¡¯t for her weakened body. ¡°What do you want with me?!¡± ¡°Become my successor, V. I can see souls, I see yours are barely holding on to your body.¡± Harina knocked the side of Viviana¡¯s temple a few times in a mocking gesture. ¡°Do you really want to die on this shit-biscuit planet? Your life could be something much more. You can set these chains of slavery off. Why stay? You have no one here? Be with me. You can have every fucking thing you could¡¯ve wanted in your life but can¡¯t. Better education. Actual meals, clothes, wealth, your own fucking fleet of warships guarding you twenty four seven. I¡¯m giving you a chance at a better life here¡ª¡± ¡°By making me a criminal just like you! You¡¯re asking me to cast my innocence and morality aside and trash them into a bin! Oh, my God¡ª¡± Harina quickly slapped Viviana across her face in reflex. ¡°Don¡¯t you bring God, Goddess or any of them divine motherfuckers into this conversation, V!¡± The slap was way more powerful than she anticipated that Viviana¡¯s face and body was rolled to her side. ¡°I¡¯m sorry¡­but you kinda ask for it.¡± Viviana wiped her cheek and spit out. ¡°Has anybody ever told you that you are the spitting image of the devil himself?!¡± ¡°Quite a few times, actually.¡± ¡°You¡¯re shoving your offer to my face and expect me to just take it without some nasty consequences murking me later down the line!¡± Harina grabbed Viviana on her forehead and shoved her down to the pillow. ¡°I¡¯m honest, okay? Look at you, V. You tried so hard to be a saint all your life and look what happened to you. Society treats you like shit and easily discards you like you¡¯re a cheap prostitute after a night filled with cocaine and five bottles of liquor. Look around you. There is no justice for you in this world. There is no God. There is no tooth fairy. There is no one that will pull you out of your misery EXCEPT ME! Use your brain for once and reconsider my offer before my old man comes and claims your soul.¡± Viviana swat Harina¡¯s hand off of her. ¡°Let me ask you something¡­after death, what comes after? Complete nothingness or fiery hell?¡± ¡°For you? Complete nothingness. You live your life with a nihilistic mindset. Your death will result in your conscience being permanently deleted from existence like before you were born. You will feel nothing. Not fear, not sadness, nor happiness. Do you want to give your lives for that shit?¡± ¡°I¡¯m blind! I¡¯m sick! I¡¯m already dying! I lost both of my fucking hands and legs! Death is a mercy for me. I¡¯m sick of living a shite of a life¡ª¡± ¡°Then change your course, you fucking moron! You¡¯re like a little insolent, stubborn duck swimming in a pond of highly combustible nitroglycerin with your tail on fire while someone on the edge is laying a hand and trying to get you the fuck out.¡± Esther pulled the small refrigerator and dragged it closer to her. Harina then sat on it. ¡°You complain about hating your life but do nothing to improve your life. That¡¯s that weak, slave mentality you have, V. The world is not pretty. It¡¯s dirty, damp, bloody and cull the weak. Try to see things in a more realistic approach. See that nothing will get better and accept it as fact. No one can save you but yourself. So you either die here, on this planet, like a little bitch that you are or shake my hand and fuck everyone else before they can grow a chance to fuck you. What¡¯s it going to be? Defiant until the end? Or be a slave?¡± Vivina bit her lips, forcing herself to ponder for one last time and simulate how her life will turn inside her own head. Finally, after a silenced frustration, she relented to the idea¡­ ¡°Fine! I¡¯ll take your stupid offer.¡± From the edge of her evil over the shoulder peer, a maleficent smile adorned Harina¡¯s face. She pivoted around and shook Viviana¡¯s hand. ¡°Good.¡± Her smile widened even more. Wise choice.¡± Harina placed her hand on Viviana¡¯s head and closed her eyes, taking a deep breath. Once she opened her eyes, they turned red and glowed in her dimly lit room. At that point Viviana knew this would mark her point of no return. Harina began chanting a charm in a language Viviana had never heard before. Hodie animam hanc mea reclamare conor. Ab hac die, anima haec semper mecum connexi. Omnem potestatem quam habeo et eius ipsam esse volo. Quod videt, odorat, audit vel sentit, etiam meum est¡­ Viviana felt a sudden rush of strange feelings seeping into her brain as Harina finished her sentence. Whatever she just did, she felt weak and made her gasp for air. She rolled from her bed and fell to the floor, still gasping for air until she fainted again. Esther picks her up onto her shoulder and puts a gas mask to Viviana¡¯s face. Harina stood up and tilted her head at the door. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± She walked towards the door and tapped her earpiece. ¡°Attention all ships, all hands to battle stations. Commence Ashen Surface right this instance, drop everything you have. I want this planet obliterated within a minute. Set teleportation for three at my location.¡± Harina and Esther stepped out of the apartment with Viviana on her shoulder and a beam came from the sky. Millions of bolts tearing the atmosphere and descending from the sky towards the planet''s surface. Their lights illuminating the sky and shone through the thick smoke covering the air. Burn¡­ Esther rotated and leaned forward slightly. Harina rubbed Viviana on her forehead. ¡°From this day onward¡­this planet, your old life¡­is dead, V. You¡¯ll be reborn as a new you. You will no longer be the weak and oppressed Viviana Voluntas anymore, you will be Viviana¡­ the World-Eater.¡± The second the three of them disappeared from the apartment complex, fire and explosion took the scenery. Complete, unadulterated force tears the surface until it becomes a hellscape. And when the rain of death has finished, ash is what remains of the planet and their inhabitants dead and incinerated to ashes until nothing remains. Viviana Voluntas is no more¡­ END The Devils School Orientation Chapter Two The Devil¡¯s School Orientation Viviana screamed as she fell down an endless void. Everything black and empty around her. Then she landed with a hard thud. Weirdly she felt no pain nor anything as her chest slammed against the black liquid covering the ground. The liquid itself was black, sticky, a bit soft like a gelatin but still liquid enough to flow and ripple around her feet. She looked around scared and confused. ¡°What¡­Where am I?¡± Two shadowy figures suddenly appeared far ahead of her. They seem like females, swinging their swords at each other in graceful dance till one of them comes out victorious and the other dies. One of the shadowy figures slowly takes the form of Harina. Viviana recoiled at the surprising transformation the figure had and rubbed her eyes frantically to make sure what she saw was indeed her. The other figure didn¡¯t take a form and transform but kept swinging its swords at Harina¡¯s identical shadowy figure. With a loud scraping sound of their swords rubbing off one another, the unknown shadowy figure thrusted its sword into Harina and twisted it while letting out a loud pained scream. Harina¡¯s shadowy figure fell to the ink-like substance covering the ground and flashes out a devious grin accompanied with a cackle as she pressed the hole on her chest. Meanwhile, the victorious shadowy figure turned its head and landed its red flashing eyes at Viviana. Its mouth is dripping with saliva and a little bit of blood. ¡°You!¡± it called out in a growly voice. The shadowy figure raised her right arm and pointed her index at Viviana. ¡°This is all your fault! This is not the future we need!¡± ¡°¡ª?! I-I¨C¡± Viviana stuttered in complete confusion. ¡°What are you talking about?! Who¨CWhat are you?¡± ¡°Souls will be lifted up from their worlds and unto heavens,¡± the shadowy figure said. ¡°Countless possibilities¡ªpick the right one when the time comes!¡± Suddenly something wrapped around Viviana by the waist and pulled her up towards the black sky violently. The rush of air brought her up into a blinding light up ahead. Too blinding for her to see, everything around her turned white. *** ¡ª?! Oh¡­ it''s just a bad dream. Viviana opened her eyes but to her surprise, her vision hadn''t returned yet. ¡­Of course. I¡¯m still blind. The total vision impairment caused by the incident at her workplace still remains. Though weirdly, her lungs seem to be okay and she didn¡¯t feel any pain she felt previously. The first thing she tried to move was her arms. The memories of getting her hands severed still haunts her. To her surprise, she found two, very technologically advanced prostheses surgically connected to where her stumps were. She tried to move them before feeling a neural response as the prosthetics fingers began to move around. They move just like her real fingers too, even allowing her to feel the smoothness of her silky blanket. She pulled her blanket. Her legs, originally flesh and bones, are now replaced with advanced prosthetics with the outer layer capable of giving her the sense of feeling like her own skin. How¡­ How much did she spend on these things? These are not standard issue prostheses! Viviana slowly raised her head and sat up. These prostheses¡­ they must be those advanced medical things Harina has at her disposal. She coughed, and then¡­ Suddenly, inside her head, she could see waves beaming out of and going back to her, revealing the interior of the room she woke up in in some sort of 3D mental projection. After going back to her, the wave disappeared and her vision went pitch black again. What¡­ What just happened? Viviana collected her thoughts momentarily, perplexed by what just happened. She coughed again. The waves appeared again and she could see the mental projection again. No, no, no¡ªI must be seeing things. I¡¯m going crazy. She chuckled at her weird transformation and decided to test it out further. She let out a whistle. A slight improvement over the cough, her whistle allows her to send the waves further and see further things. Like the clay pot on the drawer near the door. This must be a bad dream. Wake up, V. It¡¯s time for work! She let out another whistle. This time, it¡¯s a continuous flow. To her surprise, she can keep the mental projection projected for longer inside her head as long as she keeps making a sound and the sound can resonate back to her. No, no, no¡ªthis is not¡ªpossible. No matter how hard she tried to convince herself that her ability to perceive her surroundings using sounds, her very guts told her that everything was real. It must be a dream, right? Right?! She turned to the left, grabbed her IV pole and tapped it lightly against the floor twice. Her mind could still perceive the vibration but not by a lot and the distance is somewhat short, only about two metres. Viviana rubbed her toes on the floor and pressed against it, noticing that the moment she lifted her toes, the material seemed to be returning to its previous shape. Rubber? She tapped the pole again and again as she guided herself to the nearest wall. She tapped the wall using the IV pole and noticed that the vibration resonates better and allows her to see at least five metres around her and about a metre outside the wall. What is this¡ªI can see things¡ªby sounds? This is not good. Oh, right! My eyes¡ª Viviana placed her palms on her head and felt multiple layers of bandage wrapped around her head, specifically, around her eye level. Was Harina actually able to give her a new set of working eyes? Was she really that powerful to be granting her something beyond what she is ever capable of financing in her previous life? The door slid open and her ears automatically sensed the vibrations from whoever just entered the room. The scent, lavender, must be Esther. Viviana turned at the door, her nose twitching as the scent became clearer with every step the person took.. ¡°Esther, is that you?¡± she asked. Esther smiled at her and put a stack of new clothes into the wardrobe beside her bed. ¡°I see that you have started to assimilate to Lady Harina¡¯s powers.¡± She turned to the general direction where Esther¡¯s voice came from, still getting used to her newfound ability. ¡°Assimilate? What do you mean to assimilate?¡± ¡°I heard whistling, tapping, and mumbling from outside the room.¡± Esther continued to mindlessly but gently put the clothes in different compartments of the wardrobe. ¡°Yes or no, have you experienced the difference in how you perceive your surroundings?¡± Feeling stunned by what she asked her, Viviana only nodded her head. ¡°How did you know?¡± Esther simply shrugs her shoulders casually. ¡°It¡¯s just an educated guess. Now that you have awoken, how do you find your new hands and legs?¡± ¡°It''s¡ªokay?¡± Viviana said warily. She moved her fingers a bit more. ¡°I appreciate these prostheses but did she really have to plug the most expensive ones on me?¡± ¡°Welcome to Quindecim Umbra,¡± Esther said, claiming proudly. ¡°We only use the best, no exceptions. Those things are much much much stronger than your human counterparts. You can slap a whole reinforced concrete barricade off with your hands, jump higher, run faster, swim much further, kick stuff much harder, basically making you a superhuman.¡± Soon as Esther finished listing off the newly and unfairly obtained advantages, Viviana rolled her face up. ¡°Actual contrived plot armour,¡± she said with a little distaste in her tone. ¡°Have you tried any of your new powers yet?¡± ¡°Powers?¡± ¡°Yeah. Powers, magic, spiritual essence, whatever you want to call it.¡± Viviana listened to Esther intently. ¡°I have powers now?¡± ¡°Yes, A WHOLE LOT. I¡¯m kinda jealous of you actually.¡± ¡°Jealous? How come?¡± ¡°Because here¡¯s the thing, your contract with Lady Harina¡­that is something very special and powerful. Remember the moment she chanted the Latin speech? Your soul is basically tethered to hers¡­permanently¡­or in her words, until one of you dies and the bond is severed completely.¡± ¡°What does that contract entail?¡± ¡°Well, you are now theoretically able to use any of the power that she has with exactly zero drawback and consequences. Of course, assuming you can trigger them and then use them for another time. The learning curve will be a bitch for you, though.¡± Viviana groaned in exasperation. ¡°Dear lord, that is just lazy writing.¡± ¡°At least you acknowledge it.¡± ¡° Let me ask you something¡­can you do the sonar imagery thingy as well?¡± ¡°I can. But different from you, I have to earn it.¡± ¡°Earn it?¡± ¡°It took me four months just to grasp the idea. Took me another seven to use it effectively.¡± ¡°Who taught you?¡± asked Viviana.. ¡°Lady Harina. She taught me so many things¡­ things that I would have never known alone.¡± Esther lowered her head. Her thoughts trace back to a distant memory. ¡°She took me in, gave me strength, and moulded me into what I am today. Without her, I¡¯m sure as hell going to die in that god forsaken alley or selling my body like every whore there.¡± Viviana turned to her, puzzled. ¡°Then why didn¡¯t she pick you as her successor?¡± ¡°Lady Harina can see even the most well hidden potential within people with just one glance. She sees through me. She didn¡¯t see any potential in leadership.¡± Esther¡¯s tone comes off with a bit of bitterness. ¡°She said that I¡¯m more akin to an operator, an assassin. And looking at my life, she is absolutely right. I am more successful in taking lives than taking charge.¡± ¡°Come on, now. You¡¯re just selling yourself short. Isn¡¯t the point of life to fail again and again until the result changes? A one percent success rate is still a result worth fighting for, no?¡± Esther looked at Viviana and let out a small chuckle. She sees a little bit of change in Viviana¡¯s personality and speech. She felt like seeing her master¡¯s second or a mirage of hers. ¡°That confidence¡­I see that Lady Harina picked the right successor after all.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°The ability to stay optimistic and confident in one¡¯s own capabilities is a quality of a true leader. The fact that you can spit such nonsensical things with a confident tone flat out mirrors her.¡± ¡°Thanks? I guess¡­¡± ¡°Oh, right. I almost forgot about my task. Lady Harina commands me to get you prepped up for today¡¯s breakfast. She wants to properly introduce you to the other lords and ladies.¡± ¡°Other lords and ladies?¡± ¡°The founders of this very organisation, the Umbrae. Why do you think the enterprise is called Quindecim Umbra? The name translates to Fifteen Shadows, hailing from the fifteen individuals who founded it and made it into this infamous. I know, It¡¯s rather too on the nose. I myself almost cackled the first time I heard it.¡± Viviana looked away momentarily. Recalling her basic linguistic lesson before her dropout. ¡°Wait a minute¡­Isn¡¯t Umbrae the plural form? Why do you people refer to the singular form, Umbra? Shouldn¡¯t it be Quindecim Umbrae, not Quindecim Umbra?¡± ¡°Well, yes¡­but actually no. Umbrae does mean the plural form, but that would mean that each founder fought for themselves. We use the singular form, Umbra, as the fifteen founders act as a single organisation, a single crime entity. It¡¯s quite simple but quite a common misconception.¡± ¡°Okay¡­do I need to know anything about these lords and ladies before I eat breakfast?¡± ¡°I¡¯d say just stay calm, smile, let Lady Harina do the talking. Everyone of them is¡­unique in their own ways. Best not to think too hard of them.¡± After dressing Viviana in Harina¡¯s selected clothing, Esther applied the appropriate amount of make up for Viviana. Finally, she spun the makeup chair and turned Viviana facing the mirror. Esther giggled once she let her hands off of her face. ¡°Alright, you are ready and looking cute.¡± Through her bandaged eyes, Viviana shot an annoyed look at Esther. ¡°Really, mate? At least tell me how I look. You know I¡¯m blind,¡± she grumbled. ¡°I am not visually impaired¡­I am blind as a bloody mole rat.¡± Esther shook her head while her mischievous giggle still escaped her mouth. ¡°Black shirt, skirt, coat, that naive innocent look of yours and your silly bob hair¡­could be worse,¡± she said, describing how Viviana looked after their little make up session. ¡°But I can see your natural beauty beneath the foundations.¡± ¡°So you¡¯re saying I look decent?¡± Esther nodded, stifling her laughs. ¡°Yeah¡­decent enough not to laugh at¡ª¡± Viviana¡¯s smile faded as she turned to bite her lip. ¡°You are such an arsehole,¡± she said while scowling. ¡°Jeez, even Lady Harina¡¯s sarcasm is passed on to you. The assimilation is weird.¡± Esther walked off towards the cabinet to store the makeup set but stopped in her tracks. ¡°Oh, and about your new eyes¡ª¡± Viviana quickly opened her ears in excitement. ¡°What?!¡± she asked, her face lighting up nearly instantly. ¡°It will be ready in three days. The surgery experienced some¡­setbacks.¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± Viviana looked at her with curiosity and a little worry. ¡°Did something happen during my surgery?¡± ¡°Well, not exactly. Lady Harina didn¡¯t want you to have just regular, weak, fragile human eyes so she designed and created specialised new eyeballs for you,¡± Esther explained in a way Viviana could understand. ¡°According to her, your new eyes are basically a replica of her actual eyes¡­with all of her ridiculous ocular powers included.¡± ¡°Such as?¡± ¡°Long range vision, night vision, various spectrum sensitivity, heat and others.¡± Viviana pulled her shoulders back, her face slightly overwhelmed. ¡°That sounds like overkill,¡± she said mockingly. ¡°Yeah, she takes quality over quantity very seriously. Though, I want to see whether you would inherit her ten degree blindspot.¡± ¡°Ten degree blindspot?¡± she asked with intrigue. ¡°She has a blindspot?¡± ¡°She can see MANY things around her, except everything within the ten degree blindspot, located right behind her neck. By far, to this day, that is the one of the only two physical weaknesses she couldn¡¯t get rid of.¡± ¡°Okay?¡± Viviana said in strange acknowledgement. ¡°What¡¯s the other one?¡± ¡°Her non-diabetic hypoglycemia.¡± ¡°She has a what?¡± ¡°It¡¯s a blood sugar deficiency disease. It affects her ability to think and command clearly and effectively.¡± ¡°That sounds like a really big, bad bag of foreshadowing.¡± Viviana shook her head and sighed. ¡±Harina better die a glorious death in the future or I''m not reading.¡± ¡°If that day can even come.¡± ¡°Watch what you wish for.¡± She giggled. ¡°So when can I have those eyes?¡± ¡°It¡¯s already in you. She said that it might take a while for it to become active after the surgery.¡± Esther closed the cabinet slowly and turned towards the door. ¡°Besides, your eye transplant surgery is the single most complex medical operation our organisation has ever taken. It took our best medical experts six full days. Half of them passed out after the surgery was done.¡± ¡°Wait,¡± Viviana said, raising her hand to her forehead. ¡°I was out for six days after the oven incident?¡± ¡°Oh, no. You were out for two decades.¡± ¡°I was out for two whole decades?!¡± Viviana asked in surprise, her tone rising dramatically. ¡°Why didn¡¯t anybody tell me that?! How does her contract put me in a coma for two bloody decades?¡± ¡°The toll is stupidly massive, okay? Your mortal body is forcing itself to assimilate to her powers. It¡¯s a natural process that cannot be accelerated. Not by her nor anyone. Even now, your assimilation is not fully completed yet. You¡¯re only three percent there assimilated.¡± ¡°I¡¯m turning into a sleeping beauty for two fucking decades and I feel like I just woke up from a really bad hangover,¡± Viviana remarked exasperatedly, taking a really deep sigh. ¡°Whatever¡­ can we just go now? One more second to ponder this whole thing and I might as well take another ten years and change my species to bears.¡± *** Viviana followed Esther to where Harina and the others were, with Esther holding her hand and guiding her along the way. She walked through corridors to corridors, hearing everything around her and perceived how they looked. Her sonar vision seems to be a major help for her. Even with her eyes still being blind, the mental imagery feels like breathing through the mouth. It¡¯s not difficult but not comfortable either. Finally, she could hear people talking and the imagery shown in her head changed. The room feels spacious with a single large round table in the centre and dozens of chairs around it. Around her, she also heard dings and twinks of silverware around the table. ¡°V!¡± Harina said out loud, standing up from her seat. ¡°Glad you could make it.¡± Viviana turned towards the voice. ¡°Harina? Is that you?¡± Harina scoffed lightly. ¡°Of course, it¡¯s me. I thought you saw me¡­with your ears.¡± ¡°Hey! I¡¯m still getting used to this new sonar thingy, okay!¡± Viviana said in defence. ¡°Also, thank you! I¡¯ve been out for twenty fucking years and not one person bothered to leave a note for me.¡± Harina tried to hold herself from giggling before letting out, ¡°Can you read with those eyes¡ª¡± ¡°It was rhetorical!¡± Viviana shouted, cutting her off. ¡°Damn, calm down, V. You¡¯re not you when you¡¯re hungry.¡± Harina picked up a banana and peeling it. ¡°Sit down, have breakfast. Our finest chefs have done their best to whip something nice for you.¡± Esther guides Viviana to Harina¡¯s side and pulls the seat out for her. She sat down and listened intently. She could feel every eye around the table staring right at her. From the far right side, one of the Umbra, Fortis, glanced at Viviana. He was a tall middle aged man with wide shoulders and a manly goatee and many cuts adorning his face. Wearing what many would call prideful, his knightly coat made from a magnificent grade black wool covered him elegantly. Though the slightly loose size of his coat, his fit muscles break through the linen out, giving him an imposing look. An arming sword stored inside its fabulous red scabbard leaned against his seat. Blood red gemstone placed in the centre of the crossguard on both sides, gleaming under the chamber¡¯s many lights. Fortis gave Viviana a curious look but he kept his expression hidden with his hands, crossed in front of him on the table. His amber eyes seemingly staring deep into her bandaged eyes. ¡°She is a feisty one, boss,¡± he said, turning his head slightly to Harina. Harina glanced slightly, darting between Fortis and Viviana. ¡°Yeah, you can blame that one on me,¡± she said. ¡°Her assimilation is rather unorthodox¡ªwhich will be a running gag in this story.¡± She pulled the shrimp tail with her hand and continued, ¡°I sense that some of my sarcasm and personality are passed down to her.¡± Another Umbra, Sonus, glanced back and forth between Harina and Viviana. He looked at her unimpressed. He was a young-looking man with a thin beard, various body piercings and countless tattoos decorating his body. Wearing a black shirt with a skull on the inside and topped with black leather jacket, his arrogant and prideful smirk flashing at Viviana in a superior mannerism. ¡°It¡¯s a good thing she¡¯s your successor, boss,¡± he said. ¡°If not, I might punch the living shit outta people like her. She looks so, I don¡¯t know, unworthy.¡± ¡°Right?!¡± Fortis added, ¡°I¡¯ve seen weaklings with¡­ more features than her.¡± The two men giggled and shook their heads in amusement while gesturing at Viviana. Viviana who heard the two¡¯s open conversation with Harina turned at them in offence. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, have I offended you two in some way? Any way?¡± she asked the two men, her face frowning from their remarks. ¡°Don¡¯t mind them, V. They¡¯re just showing their dicks off,¡± Harina said dismissively, not bothering to look up from her shrimp. ¡°Worry not, if any of them tries to do anything funny to you, I¡¯ll skin them alive and dip them in hydrochloric acid.¡± Fortis and Sonus turned to Harina from their seats. Their faces changed once Harina began to eye them with hidden contempt. ¡°Boss¡ª¡± ¡°Don¡¯t boss me, Hannibal Lecter.¡± Harina scowled at Fortis. ¡°You eat people, dead and alive alike¡­you don¡¯t get to pull the I¡¯m superior card on her.¡± Fortis recoiled, lowering his head. Harina turned towards Sonus, curving her eyebrows at him. ¡°And you, oh, street musician, don¡¯t get to say whatever you wanted,¡± she scolded him. ¡°You used to sleep on the sidewalk, smell like rubbish and scrap for food¡­you are not so different from her.¡± ¡°No I don¡¯t!¡± he denied. ¡°Yes you are, you punk.¡± She wiped her hands with a nearby handkerchief on the table across from her and stood up. ¡°I need each and everyone of you around this table to know something. She is my successor. And anything you do to her¡­I will do it back to you.¡± The temperature around her suddenly dropped and Viviana could hear a bubbling sound coming off of Harina. Though her sonar vision couldn¡¯t perceive the subtle line or the colour of an object, she could feel a round object materialise above Harina¡¯s head and hover in the air. The object doesn''t seem to possess a physical form as her sonar vision can¡¯t seem to perceive it but she knew very well that the round object was there, floating above her head. She looked down to Harina, seeing every curve and what expression she made. Harina is clearly not amused by their opinions of Viviana, especially for two instigators, Fortis and Sonus. Harina grabbed a fork and stuck it into a cut piece of apple. ¡°Failure to understand my basic command and I¡¯ll make sure the obituary displays your name for an entire year,¡± she continued, her tone low yet menacing. ¡°Capiche?¡± She began to turn her eyes from one to another. Not one person uttered a single word at Harina and only nodded their heads. Viviana could sense fourteen people, presumably the Umbra, gulping nervously. But she also felt another fourteen around the Primae Umbrae, most likely their successors, shaking. As Harina sat down, the temperature returned to normal nearly instantly. ¡°Then we¡¯re good.¡± Harina turned to Viviana and her tone changed back to casual like nothing even happened. ¡°Try those smoky barbeque pork, V. They¡¯re absolutely¡­ delicious. Watch your waistline, though.¡± Viviana felt a little startled and scared that Harina could change her demeanour from casual to menacingly evil and back to casual in seconds like that. The fact that she can keep a straight face through the entire thing worried her more than her powers. Noticing Viviana spacing out, Harina whistled at her and tilted her face. ¡°V,¡± she called. ¡°I¡¯m talking to you.¡± Viviana collected herself and cleared her throat. ¡°Oh, uh¡ªyeah, yeah. Do you have anything sweet?¡± The Umbra sitting across from them, Atome, whistled to Viviana and pointed her finger at a pan of pie sitting a metre away from them. ¡°Try the yams,¡± she said. Harina gasped and quickly pointed her finger at her in approval. ¡°YES! The yam is just¡­ it¡¯s just¡ª¡± She made a kissing gesture with her lips before adding, ¡°They¡¯re fucking heavenly. The apple pie too! Oh, they¡¯re so good.¡± ¡°Harina, Esther said something about you wanting to tell me something,¡± Viviana said, looking at Harina. ¡°What is it?¡± Harina momentarily looked up before dropping her jaw. ¡°Oh, right! About that.¡± She stood up and raised her glass. ¡°Ladies and gentlemen, my fellow Umbra, I hereby announce the beginning of our Proximae Umbrae initiative,¡± she proclaimed firmly, tapping a small fork in her hand against the glass. The fourteen Umbrae all turned their heads at her, listening to her every word intently. ¡°I know that we have wanted that program to take off for the longest time. As you all know, I have scoured through thousands of systems, millions of planets, in search of my true successor. I¡¯m happy to say that after so long, I have finally acquired one.¡± Harina turned and gestured her hand at Viviana who sat beside her. ¡°Everyone, this fine young naive gal beside me is Viviana,¡± she continued. ¡°She¡¯s my successor. Everything that I know and have, I will pass down to her.¡± Feeling flustered and slightly panicked, Viviana bowed slightly a few times and waved her hands at them. ¡°I know that many of you have been asking me for quite some time to step down from your position and enjoy your retirement, I too can relate,¡± she added. ¡°We have finally found our own successors to continue our legacy. Fifteen shadows¡­replaced by another fifteen. From this day onwards, the Proximae Umbrae initiative is initiated.¡± Sound of cheers from the founders erupted. They sound happy that Harina has finally initiated the initiative. ¡°Finally!¡± ¡°Took you long enough.¡± ¡°Ah, finally! My retirement¡ª¡± ¡°About fucking time.¡± Each of the Umbrae began to turn to their respective successors and converse with them. After Harina sat down, Viviana turned to her. ¡°What¡¯s a Proximae Umbrae?¡± she asked. ¡°It means Next Shadows,¡± Harina replied. ¡°You see, I¡¯m not the only one looking for someone to replace me. All of us were. We travelled to many, many, many worlds, searching for someone worthy of our power. As you can see, I was the very last one to finally find my worthy successor¡­you.¡± ¡°What¡¯s going to happen to me and the other successors?¡± ¡°Simple. For the next hundred years, all of you are going to learn from whoever you¡¯re succeeding. We¡¯re gonna make sure the nails are plated really deep and stick to the walls before we take our mantle off.¡± ¡°A hundred years?!¡± Viviana gasped in surprise. ¡°What if I only live until¡ª¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry, when our contract was made, you turned ageless. No matter how many years will pass, your face and body will remain the same as when the contract was made. In your case, you¡¯re forever twenty one¡­or forty one, depending on whether you like to count the time you''re in a coma or not..¡± Viviana looked down. A moment of doubt began to cast down on herself. ¡°I don¡¯t know, Har,¡± she said weakly, her voice unsure. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, V. We¡¯re going to take things slowly. Running a criminal enterprise is stupidly hard but running a criminal enterprise of our size, getting hunted down by countless space enforcement and having to keep the inferior syndicates in their place is like trying to shatter a reinforced concrete barrier with a flaccid penis hard.¡± Viviana recoiled from her casual sexual remark. ¡°Eww!¡± ¡°Calm down. You¡¯re going to learn directly from me¡­the best criminal in the universe. Today, you¡¯re gonna rest. We¡¯ll start tomorrow.¡± This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. She looked up to her, her face now laced with worry. ¡°What¡­What are we going to do?¡± Harina let out a cackle. ¡°There¡¯s laughter in manslaughter after all!¡± she proclaimed boldly. Viviana slapped her hands in annoyance. ¡°Be serious! Look, I know that I said I accepted your offer, Har, but I still don¡¯t think I made the right decision.¡± Viviana¡¯s face showed worries all over. ¡°I mean, I¡¯m not like you. I never killed anyone, directly or indirectly. I only said yes because I don¡¯t know what else to say. I feel like¡­I don¡¯t think I can succeed you.¡± ¡°Nonsense. You¡¯d be fine. Besides, do you really think I¡¯m just going to let you walk away after I tethered your soul to mine? You expect me to just break the contract? It doesn¡¯t work like that, amigo. That contract is a solid deal. Just do as I say and you¡¯ll be fine. You¡¯re going to fully assimilate anyway. Your moral compass is going to get as bad as mine¡­that¡¯s kinda what your story is supposed to be. Drop that overthinking of yours.¡± ¡°No, seriously¡ª¡± Harina groaned in frustration and cut her off. ¡°You¡¯ll be fine! Grr! Stop whatever this conversation is or I¡¯ll hang you upside down by your toes.¡± Viviana only nodded fearfully and ran her hand across the table. She picked up the basket of bread and cracked one in half, savouring the rich taste of butter and garlic. ¡°Good girl,¡± Harina said. ¡°Before we begin, I should tell you about the others.¡± ¡°The others?¡± ¡°Yeah, the other Umbrae. If you''re going to continue after us, you need to at least know the fifteen biggest, baddest motherfuckers to ever live.¡± Harina pointed at a young looking woman at her 10. She has dark hair tied in a ponytail and wears a trenchcoat. She noticed that although every Umbrae is wearing different inner clothing and accessories, they all wear the same trench coat. The trenchcoat themselves are long with their collars raised. ¡°Let¡¯s start from the least to most wanted ones, yeah? That way you can know which is more important.¡± Viviana sighed. ¡°Yeah, sure.¡± ¡°That brunette is Primiera Dominatrix, number fifteen on the most wanted list. She was once one of my two pupils and later a captain of the Seventy Two Enforcers, which is one of the many organisations that I founded. She¡¯s one of our best on-field fighters. Fast, agile, hits incredibly hard, and is no slouch when it comes to improvising strategies on the fly. She¡¯s now in charge of our training facilities. A demon for our new recruits.¡± Viviana looked at the Umbra, Primiera, noting the detail of her face and the way she spoke. She sounded incredibly rude using harsh words with her chin up. She looked at everyone with frowned eyes and wrapped her elbow around her sceptre. Viviana turned her attention to the girl sitting next to Primiera and decided to ask Harina. ¡°Who''s the gal beside her?¡± she asked. ¡°That''s Regina, her successor,¡± Harina said. ¡°Great brawn on battle, horrible brain off battle.¡± ¡°What did she do to earn her respect?¡± ¡°She won an annual youth fighting tournament on her planet. The thing itself has no rules and all games are fair, she won six years back to back. Apparently it was enough to impress Primi.¡± ¡°That sounds suicidal. Throwing fighting tournaments with zero rules and letting teenagers kill each other.¡± ¡°Every planet has a different custom, V. Hers is fighting, yours is enslaving people like you to work corporate jobs until you die. It¡¯s as simple as that.¡± ¡°Dear god,¡± Viviana rubbed her head as the memory flooded back, ¡°I do not need that powerful reminder of my origin.¡± Harina pointed at another young woman. ¡°That blonde chick is Minerva Artemis, number fourteen on the wanted list. Former commander of the Royal Guards Womens Corps Sniper Division and the other one of my two pupils.¡± ¡°Wait¡­those two were your pupils once?¡± ¡°They are¡­well, were¡­past tense. Both Primiera and Minerva are two sides of the same coin. One kills people head on, one kills people the long way. Like Primi, Minie is in charge of training our new recruits but unlike her, she trained them in long range combat, while Primi is more hand-to-hand and CQB oriented. Like I said, two sides of the same coin.¡± ¡°Okay,¡± Viviana turned to look at a teenage boy sitting beside Minerva, ¡°Who¡¯s that guy next to her?¡± ¡°Kendall,¡± Harina said, ¡°Terrific sniper who can do a lot of trickshots but is a little too erratic. He¡¯s easily overwhelmed by unknown elements. What a fucking loser.¡± Minerva¡¯s laugh and giggle sounded nice to Viviana¡¯s ears. The way she kept her rifle on her lap instead of putting it on the ground, like Primiera, ease her. But due to her heightened hearing senses, she can¡¯t help but notice that she does not sound as truthful as her tone. ¡°I hope she¡¯s kind,¡± she said. Harina chuckled. ¡°She likes boys¡­and by boys, I mean the underage kind.¡± ¡°Oh!¡± Viviana quickly revolted. ¡°Disgusting!¡± She shook her head, trying to pretend she never heard that. Harina chuckled again in amusement. ¡°Can¡¯t have a super terrorist group without a child predator, can¡¯t we?¡± She pointed to a half asleep man to her left. ¡°That one is Ernest Kracht and the girl beside him is his successor, Cassidy. He¡¯s number thirteen on the most wanted list.¡± Viviana noticed that the man Harina was gesturing at was trying his hardest to keep his head straight and stay awake. His eyes bagged from the lack of sleep. ¡°What¡¯s his deal?¡± she asked. ¡°Former commander of Regnum Dei¡¯s Armoured Division. He was once a very respected military figure due to his ability to lead multiple fleets and keep them alive despite his young age.¡± ¡°Was?¡± Viviana repeated. ¡°Why was and not is?¡± ¡°He lost his best friend in one conflict, suffered great PTSD and stopped leading completely. He later found comfort in an online military simulation game and quickly got addicted to it. One day, he argued with a fellow hardcore player in the game¡¯s official discussion forum¡­things got ugly really fast.¡± ¡°How?¡± ¡°He argued that the battlecruiser depicted in the game was inaccurate and suggested the developers implement the real world specifications for the next update and patch it up for realism''s sake. Many players began to call him out for his relentless and ridiculous demand, arguing back that the depictions are accurate. Of course, him being a literal commander of the fucking Armoured Division once, denied their silly responds as he have served on different ships of different classes that no gamers have. The argument went on for days until he had enough of people calling him out and decided to just release the actual heavy cruiser specifications on the official online forum, which includes all of its technical details, manuals, cargo, every package and build and version of the class.¡± ¡°What?!¡± Viviana said, flabbergasted. ¡°That¡¯s just dumb!¡± ¡°Hell yeah, it is. The game developers contacted our DoD about the whole ordeal which led to a whole bunch of investigations. He was swiftly charged with the highest count of treason and stamped with a life sentence.¡± ¡°This is the first time I heard of someone getting arrested, military style, for a crime he committed online.¡± ¡°That being said, he¡¯s not washed up. He still retains his military knowledge about armoured crafts, which is why I make him the head of Q.U. Spaceships.¡± ¡°Q.U. Spaceships?¡± Viviana repeated. ¡°What is that?¡± ¡°Quindecim Umbra has MANY ways to produce our wealth influx. We have successfully plugged our hands into many industries, both legal and illegal goods alike. We expanded our operations so fast that there were times that we genuinely forgot what divisions, subdivisions, sub-subdivisions and even subsidiaries we have made. But in short, the ones you should know best are Spaceships, Arms, A.I., Robotics, and Mercenaries.¡± Viviana wrinkled her face. ¡°I don¡¯t get it. Doesn¡¯t that sound a little oxymoron?¡± she said. ¡°Making money legally and illegally. How does one even do that, hypothetically?¡± ¡°Well, one produce illegal, unlicensed and uncontrolled weapons, spaceships that violates multiple star-treaties and are technologically superior compared to those that obeys treaties, advanced artificial intelligence systems, and develop countless types of combat robots, drones and mobile suits that, again, does not comply to the agreed treaties.¡± ¡°Is that how you¡­we do business?¡± ¡°Yes but worse in every way you cannot imagine. Especially with the mobile suits! I loved them and endorsed and advocated their capabilities with all my heart.¡± ¡°Which is?¡± ¡°Big fucking mechanical robotic suits specifically designed for combat or the good stuff¡ªmass murder.¡± ¡°Like the one you destroyed in the Department of Taxes building?¡± ¡°Yes. But that one is only a cheap knock-off compared to ours. Our mobile suits are bigger, much much more powerful and heavily armed. One can eradicate an entire city or space colony in less than an hour. Oh, right, where was I again? Oh, there¡¯s also Mercenaries, which rent our assets for private wars and help cement our names as the single most powerful criminal organisation and then there¡¯s Beasts.¡± Viviana stifled a laugh. ¡°Beasts? What are you guys doing with a Division called Beasts?¡± she asked, giggling. ¡°Breeding exotic and dangerous, possibly illegal creatures?¡± But instead of humouring her, Harina nodded in a completely deadpan expression. ¡°Yes, we are.¡± ¡°Wait. I was joking¡ª¡± ¡°Too late. That is spot on. We indeed have our own breeding facilities.¡± ¡°I have a hard time catching up with the size and scope of the organisation I was supposed to lead in the future.¡± ¡°Aww, don¡¯t get all gloomy. We still have a long way to go.¡± ¡°I was afraid you¡¯re gonna say that.¡± ¡°Would you like to know our legal side of profit making too?¡± Viviana blinked in silence for a moment. With a heavy sigh, she nodded her head. ¡°Sure, fire away.¡± ¡°I talked about our subsidiaries. Well, we have many but the one you should know the most is our Ravenous and ZAF¡ªZapped, Awakened and Fucked. The first is our racing team, the second is our energy drink brand. Of course, both are legal.¡± ¡°Why does a crime syndicate need to have a racing team too?¡± ¡°I was bored. I don¡¯t like seeing other legally run teams on my screen. They all suck.¡± ¡°So you¡¯re telling me that you made a racing team subsidiary just because you¡¯re feeling spiteful?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°And then you made an energy drink subsidiary to sponsor your newly built racing team?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Let me ask, were the two actually made with real goals and intentions or were they just a front and shield for our public perception?¡± ¡°I actually made the two for real without any intention to overly humanise our main crime syndicate. We made the podium in our first season, just not the first place. I told the guys in the RnD to do whatever they wanted with how much funds they needed and voila, we landed first place on our second season and kept winning.¡± Harina pointed at a man with a mohawk and many tattoos. The man was the one of the two men who made fun of Viviana earlier. The mohawk stood on his head, casting a shadow over the teardrop tattoo under his right eye. ¡°That punk over there is Sonus Maxwell, number twelve on the most wanted list.¡± Sonus, who noticed that Harina was introducing him to Viviana, quickly waved his hand at her. Viviana too noticed him waving at her and threw a piece of grape at him. ¡°Har, what¡¯s with him?¡± she said warily. ¡°He¡¯s looking at me like a creep.¡± ¡°He¡¯s a former street musician and 26-times Voice Universe champion. He handles most of our psyop. The guy next to him is his successor, Oliver.¡± Viviana turned to Harina in offence. ¡°How is a street musician the twelfth most wanted person in the universe?!¡± ¡°He has a good voice, sold a record-breaking amount of copies and he¡¯s good with the fangirls. He pulled a lot of people to join our organisation. He¡¯s sneakily efficient at propaganda¡ªhence, our huge number of manpower.¡± ¡°Can I have a restraining order on him?¡± ¡°Sure, whatever you want.¡± ¡°But if his only good is bringing in new members into this organised crime syndicate, why not just get a marketing team? Wouldn¡¯t that be better for you in the long run?¡± ¡°He¡¯s not just a propaganda master, V. He¡¯s also a sound based support mage.¡± ¡°Mage?! As in¡ª¡± ¡°As in magic, yes. He weaponized sound spectrums and can control crowds, helping our forces offensively or defensively. Sound is one of the only things an energy or magic barrier cannot block, thereby making him a worthy asset in my book.¡± ¡°A witchcraft-wielding bard,¡± Viviana said in a dry remark. ¡°Now I¡¯ve seen everything.¡± Harina chuckled at her then pointed at a woman wearing a ripped and worn cloak topped on her trench coat with a large calibre rifle slung behind her. The woman, like Viviana, had a prosthetic right arm. Her dark red hair was topped with a cat-motiffed beanie hat and a pilot goggle sitting on her forehead. ¡°She¡¯s Neith Nyx, number eleven on the most wanted list and head of our Mercenaries Division,¡± Harina said. ¡°She¡¯s the only Hekatonkheire-grade bounty hunter ever since she killed the three previous title holders.¡± ¡°Is that a good thing?¡± ¡°The title is the highest level a galactic bounty hunter can ever achieve. Expert in tracking, marksmanship, CQB, medium range combat, hand-to-hand combat, demolition, spacecraft piloting, etc. She¡¯s a nice gal and a demon with her custom 35-mm rifle. The one next to her is her successor, Bastet.¡± The Umbra, Neith, turned to Viviana. Her dark brown eyes seemingly staring at her. Noticing her intense stare, Viviana turned to Harina. ¡°She looks like a mean lady,¡± she said. ¡°Only on the outside, she¡¯s actually easy to talk to. Give her a chance, you two might bond over bonsais.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think we will.¡± Harina pointed to another woman. ¡°That one is Belial Suberficiei, number ten on the most wanted list.¡± The Umbra was a beautiful young woman with long, light grey hair tied in a ponytail. She has a lean build with a very unassuming amount of muscle underneath her turtleneck sweater and leather jacket. The smile she gave to Viviana was also shockingly warm unlike the others. ¡°She used to be a commander of both the Special Intelligence Service and Black Sky Special Operations Division that I founded. She¡¯s now the head of our Intelligence and Security Division. Any information you wanted, she could get them and other dirt that you might need in the blink of an eye. The gal next to her is her successor, Anne.¡± ¡°Oh, wow. She¡¯s beautiful. Kinda makes me wonder how she uses that face for evil, though.¡± ¡°A rose is only as admirable as their thorns.¡± ¡°I have no idea what you mean by that.¡± Harina pointed at another woman. ¡°That one is Lyudmilla Vladivostok, number nine on the most wanted list,¡± she said. The woman was quite young with long dark brown hair topped with a fedora. Unlike the previous Umbrae, Belial, this one doesn¡¯t seem to be able to smile. Her face looked annoyed as she glared pridefully at Viviana. ¡°She¡¯s a former sicario of the Carell Mafia Family before their downfall. She later founded her own Vladivostok Mafia.¡± Viviana looked at Lyudmilla warily. ¡°Is everyone around this table an expert killer? Did we not have a better variation than this?¡± ¡°Relax. She¡¯s a terrific killer but her expertise lay in numbers and financial matters so I picked her as our market representative. I haven¡¯t seen the day she disappointed me yet. The bitchy gal next to her is her successor, Olga.¡± Lyudmilla rolled her eyes off of Viviana and began gulping down a bottle of light brown-coloured liquid. ¡°Is she¡­Is she day drinking right now?¡± ¡°Yeah, she¡¯s of Russian descent. That¡¯s kinda their thing.¡± ¡°She either has a massive tolerance to alcohol or alcohol is just water to her.¡± Harina pointed at a young-looking woman. ¡°That one is Isabella Nina Wolfram, formerly Castillo, number eight on the most wanted list.¡± The person Harina was referring to was a young, aristocrat-looking woman. She seemed to give a different aura than the rest. The way she spoke, the way she held her fork and cut her food, the way she covered her mouth when she giggled¨Cthey are akin to how a royal presents themselves in public. Her superb golden blonde hair flowed magnificently behind her back. Adorned with a small golden crown with luxurious gemstones, she was among the most presented in the chamber. ¡°She¡¯s the head of our Beasts Division and my second in command. If you need something when I¡¯m not around, you talk to her.¡± Viviana pulled Harina¡¯s coat lightly. ¡°Why does she look and sound like a royal?¡± she asked. ¡°She was the first princess of the Kingdom of Endemy.¡± Again, Harina referred to her fellow Umbra with was rather than is. ¡°Was?¡± ¡°She eloped with that guy over there,¡± Harina said, her index finger pointing to the Umbra sitting across Isabella. ¡°Don¡¯t be fooled by her sweet face, she¡¯s the master of the beasts. She¡¯s just as cruel as the rest of us. Her bloodthirst is very well controlled and hidden. The one next to her is her successor, Gail.¡± ¡°Oh, bloody hell! I was hoping that she¡¯s the actual kind one around here.¡± Harina pointed at another woman. She was a beautiful and tall, ginger haired woman wearing what appears to be a nun¡¯s habit. Her smile was eerily inhuman and objectively cruel for someone as pretty as her. And for someone weaning a habit, she surprisingly has several tattoos on both of her wrists. ¡°That one is Nero Andreanna Black, number seven on the most wanted list,¡± Harina said. ¡°She used to be a priestess before abandoning her religion and fully committed to her research.¡± ¡°Research?¡± ¡°She¡¯s a fantastic biologist, biochemist and various other biology-related majors.¡± Harina continued to explain before her face changed. ¡°A little heads up, she¡¯s amongst our most evil, downbad and depraved. She cut people and creatures up in the name of scientific progression. The girl beside her is her successor, Leah.¡± ¡°Oh! Yikes!¡± Harina pointed to a tall man with a thick beard. He was a large, muscular middle aged man wearing a military officer uniform. Several burn marks adorned his face right below his jaw and around his neck. ¡°That one is Lewis Enfield, number six on the most wanted list. Former field marshal of Regnum Dei¡¯s army. Superb military knowledge and master strategist. He¡¯s our military operations commander in chief. The bloke on his right is his successor, William.¡± ¡°He¡¯s old,¡± Viviana remarked. ¡°I hope his brain is still in its prime.¡± Harina chuckled, then pointed to a woman, the same woman who suggested her to try the yams. Strangely, unlike the rest who looked human, she has a thin line in the middle, splitting her right and left side. Her right side was human looking, with a slightly tanned skin, light brown hair and brown eyes. Her left side, however, had a pale white skin with traces of icy blue marks all over her hand and a crown of ice vaping on her head. ¡°That one is Atome de Bienveillante le Mont Blanc, number five on the most wanted list,¡± Harina said. ¡°Former particle physicist and molecular researcher.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t get it. How is a scientist the fifth most wanted person?¡± ¡°Her alter ego, Glace. They¡¯re basically two in one. Atome is the brain and the body¡¯s controller. Glace, on the other hand, is the offensive ice witch and the fighter. She can switch places with her other self and still share the same body which in turn grants her many ridiculous ice-based powers. The one next to her is her successor, Madeline.¡± ¡°Sounds like a complete package of an asset.¡± ¡°It would be if she were a fighter but she¡¯s pretty much on the pacifist side of things.¡± ¡°Maybe she had her reasons.¡± Harina pointed to a man. He was a short, small build man with silver hair and blue eyes. Compared to the other men, he has the smallest stature and build and looked the least intimidating. Wearing a turtleneck and a suit jacket, he sat on his seat without exuding arrogance, speaking with a calm, controlled and warm tone. ¡°That one is Faber Wolfram, Isabella¡¯s husband, number four on the most wanted list,¡± Harina said. ¡°Founder and CEO of Apocalypse Arms, now changed to our very own Q.U. Arms. He designed, conceptualised and innovated almost all of the weapons our organisation has. I consider him one of the greatest minds to ever exist. If you need something to destroy a planet and kill trillions, he¡¯s your go to guy. The girl beside him is his successor, Matilda.¡± Harina then pointed at a tall man with a goatee, the same man who insulted Viviana from before. ¡°That one, the one you want to avoid, is Fortis Grendel,¡± she said, chuckling. ¡°Number three on the most wanted list and former Head Knight of Regnum Dei Holy Knights Division. His power set is extensive but the main ones being ferrokinesis and hemokinesis. He leads our Strategic Strike Groups.¡± ¡°Strategic Strike Groups?¡± ¡°Our deep space-transgalactic black ops unit¡ªbasically doing the nastiest, most dangerous, straight up mad operations that any sane person would reject. They dirty their hands so the others don¡¯t have to.¡± ¡°I see a little discrepancy around here, Har. You can¡¯t go nastier than killing can¡¯t you? I mean, what can you realistically do that¡¯s worse than every deed this organisation does?¡± ¡°Say, have you ever cut kids up and dissolve them in¡ª¡± ¡°Eww! That¡¯s repulsive!¡± ¡°You asked.¡± ¡°The insult you hurled at him from before¡­what does it mean?¡± ¡°Oh,¡± Harina smirked. ¡°You mean Hannibal Lecter?¡± ¡°Yeah, that one.¡± Viviana nodded. ¡°What does it mean?¡± ¡°He eats people.¡± ¡°As in¨C¡± ¡°Cannibal, yeah.¡± ¡°That is actually disgusting. If he¡¯s the third most wanted, then who¡¯s the second?¡± Harina pointed at a man wearing square glasses. By far the most unassuming male Umbra. Even compared to all the other previous Umbra, Faber, the man was even more unassuming. Like Faber, he has a thin build just slightly taller and his eyes droopy from the lack of sleep, almost like Ernest. ¡°That¡¯s Sapiens Decimus, the girl to his left is his successor, Adelheid,¡± Harina said. ¡°He¡¯s the second most wanted person in the entire universe¡ªdirectly below me. He¡¯s the head of A.I. and Robotics Division.¡± ¡°Okay, what¡¯s his story?¡± ¡°He used to be the head of Regnum Dei¡¯s cybersecurity division. His childhood friend killed herself and the case was quickly closed shortly after. Investigation stopped on the first day because of some higher up cover-ups. In rage, he leaked the case to the public and got all the higher ups killed from the revolt. He¡¯s untouchable behind the computer and can get anyone anywhere digitally in time hitherto unknown.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t mean to talk smack but how is he the second most infamous criminal? He looks like a dork that could barely lift the roasted turkey in front of him.¡± ¡°He programmed most of our softwares, including the ones used by our spaceships and mobile suits. That includes many variables and functions like multi-target targeting system, guidance, damage control, anti weapons-lock countermeasure, point defence countermeasure, jammers, pilot-to-suit neural link and many more.¡± ¡°Okay, I''ll take everything I said back.¡± ¡°Do you want to know how much his bounty is?¡± ¡°How much?¡± ¡°15 decillion credits.¡± Viviana spit out her drink. ¡°What¡­What?!¡± ¡°Never judge a book by its cover, V. He¡¯s the second most wanted for a reason. But he¡¯s also one of our nicest Umbrae around. He likes shooting pool in his downtime. Maybe you could play 8-ball or 9-ball with him when you¡¯re free¡ªand after you have your vision back of course.¡± ¡°Alright. Is there anything else I should know about this band of misfits?¡± ¡°That¡¯s all for now.¡± ¡°I gotta ask. When you told me about these people¡­ why do several of them come from Regnum Dei? Isn¡¯t that your country? Do you know each of them? I feel you had a connection to them, Har.¡± Harina passed a bowl of mashed potatoes to Viviana and gulped her wine. She seemed to show discomfort from her inquiry, her face still fixed to Viviana but the way her eyes tightened showed her evasiveness. ¡°Enjoy your breakfast and take the next three days off,¡± Harina said, completely avoiding her question. ¡°I want you to have the energy for the first day of class. Es gibt Dinge, die man besser nicht wei?.¡± What did she say? *** After the breakfast with all the other Shadows and their successors, Esther guides Viviana back to her room, where she spends the next two days just laying on her bed and listening to a playlist of classical pieces Harina picked for her. During her rest, she starts to notice a change in her. She could hear much better and further than before, allowing her to perceive things from further distance with her sonar vision. Even things that are dozens of metres away and behind thick insulated walls are not invisible to her. She knows that her vision hasn¡¯t fully returned but she could already see lines of colours through the bandages wrapped around her head. The lines are not abstract, they took the shape of something around her vicinity. Vase, cookie jar, wardrobe and things alike. Though the sonar vision she got from Harina helped her perceive her surroundings, she missed the feeling of seeing things with her own eyes. Luckily, she only needed to wait thirty hours before she regained her vision. She breathed in and out and calmed herself down. She wants to find a way to convince Harina that she¡¯s not fit to be her successor but the many benefits that the organisation can grant her tempted her mind. What am I doing? I¡¯m not cut out for this kind of life! She rolled on her bed and shovelled her head into the pillow, repeatedly trying to snuff herself out. You¡¯re so stupid, me. You should¡¯ve let the sickness kill you. Great. Now you¡¯re gonna have to cut people up too¡­on the daily. But no matter how hard she tried to plunge her increasing desensitisation, everything around her are things that she normally would never have. From the comfortable, silky smooth king sized bed she laid on. To the calming classical music played in the background and the skin-caressing clothes she wears. Everything on and around her are things no commoners like her ever had. The thoughts keep weighing her down and keeping her up. She decided to go out, take a walk and get some fresh air¡ªmaybe in this world that is not hers, the air is actually breathable and not dark with toxic fumes. She walked out of her room with her pyjama and a cane Esther gave her yesterday. She tapped the cane every step she took, not very hard but enough to generate a noticeable sound for the vibrations to bounce back to her. Whoever designed this wing with this fancy stone needs to get a medal. This is incredible for my sonar vision. At the end of the corridor, her cane seems to descend lower than previously before landing on a surface. Stairs? Then from behind her, she could hear two people walking towards her. Their footsteps sounded heavy, like they were wearing thick clothing and boots. She turned around and pointed her cane at them. ¡°Who¡¯s there?!¡± she asked in panic, her heart rate rising. ¡°I can see you.¡± ¡°Lady Viviana? What are you doing at this hour?¡± one of them asked her. His voice sounded masculine and filtered by a mask. ¡°Who are you?¡± ¡°We¡¯re this wing¡¯s perimeter guard,¡± the other replied, bowing his head at her. The sound of his rifle rattling in his hands startled her a bit. ¡°Oh, s¡­sorry.¡± She lowered her cane. ¡°I thought you were a thief.¡± ¡°I assure you my lady, if there is one person that can go through our first layer, everyone here would¡¯ve known.¡± ¡°One can never be too careful.¡± ¡°Anyway, I don¡¯t mean to bother you, but you shouldn¡¯t be out without your PPD. If I may ask you, ma¡¯am, where are your PPDs?¡± ¡°What¡¯s a PPD?¡± ¡°Personal Protection Detail. Lady Harina put this wing on the Maximum Security Protocol ever since you arrived. Shouldn¡¯t you have an elite team with you all the time?¡± ¡°She didn¡¯t give me one. Even Esther told me absolutely nothing when she¡¯s around me. That girl needs to speak more.¡± ¡°Lady Esther didn¡¯t give you a team either?¡± He turned to his partner. ¡°Call it in.¡± ¡°Yep,¡± The other nodded and tapped his comms. ¡°Command, this is Cob 2-9-0, come in.¡± ¡°Come in, what you got?¡± ¡°Sir, we¡¯re with Lady Viviana on the South East corridor by the stairs. She¡¯s out here without her PPD. What¡¯s the status of her team, over?¡± ¡°Bloody hell! Stay where you are. I¡¯ll get a team to your location. Do not leave her unguarded, Cob!¡± ¡°Copy that. Cob, out.¡± He then turned back to Viviana and raised his rifle. ¡°Wait here, ma¡¯am. They¡¯re sending a team to our position.¡± ¡°Oh, come on. This is just ridiculous! I¡¯m just going for a bloody walk.¡± ¡°Sorry, ma¡¯am. Lady Harina¡¯s order.¡± Viviana sat on the top of the stairs, sulking silently with her hands supporting her jaw. After a while, a team of eight all wearing black body armour, identical metal masks with two long guns on their backs approached her and the two patrolling guards. The two straightened their postures and saluted them. ¡°At ease, men,¡± the one in the middle said. ¡°Thank you for calling in. We¡¯ll take it from here.¡± ¡°Sir,¡± one of the guards said before walking away. ¡°My lady,¡± he said, bowing to Viviana. ¡°It is an honour to finally be in your presence.¡± Viviana looked at him then the men behind him in awkward confusion, her eyes twitching a bit. Even the thick and secure bandage wraps couldn¡¯t stop her from twitching her eyes. ¡°I¡¯m sorry¡ªwho are you, again?¡± ¡°My name is Agent 6-0.¡± He lowered his head. ¡°These men and I were tasked by Lady Harina to be your personal protection. We¡¯re very sorry to have missed your night walk, ma¡¯am. It won''t happen again.¡± ¡°Okay. One, you need to tell me your codename, nickname or anything because I¡¯m not calling you numbers.¡± She slapped her own face and slowly pulled her hand down. ¡°Two, can we not with the over formality? I feel like a bloody royal¡­I am not.¡± ¡°But, ma¡¯am¡ª¡± ¡°Please! I do not like that in the slightest. This whole successor thing is new to me.¡± ¡°Forgive me, but we cannot acknowledge that order, ma¡¯am.¡± 6-0 shook his head worryingly. ¡°Why?¡± ¡°Lady Harina has made sure everyone knows your importance. She won¡¯t accept anything less than honorifics. Our heads are on the line.¡± ¡°She actually said that?¡± ¡°Yes, she did¡­and something else.¡± ¡°Tell me.¡± ¡°Anyone who fails is to be subjected to four ranks demotion and two years of probation.¡± ¡°That is actually messed up. But if you guys are that afraid of getting demoted and failing, then why didn¡¯t I hear or know about you?¡± ¡°Lady Harina prohibits anyone from entering your room, not even the cooks. The only people she allowed are medical personnel and Lady Esther herself.¡± ¡°Go on.¡± ¡°But she wanted you to have your own protective team close to you so she placed us in the room next to yours. We were told to hang back until you wanted to go out for a walk. But we didn¡¯t receive any orders from you so we thought everything was still normal. Please don¡¯t tell Lady Haria about this. We¡¯re really sorry for our carelessness.¡± Viviana groaned, annoyed. ¡°Alright, look. I¡¯m not gonna snitch. Thanks for informing me.¡± 6-0 and his men nodded and breathed a sigh of relief. ¡°My pleasure, ma¡¯am. So where to?¡± ¡°I¡¯m just going for a walk around the wing.¡± Viviana shoo them away. ¡°You guys can return, I can¡ª¡± ¡°Absolutely not!¡± 6-0 raised his tone and readied his rifle, the others followed suit. ¡°Where you go, we go.¡± Feeling annoyed and frustrated, Viviana let out an audible groan. ¡°I¡¯m being serious, I¡¯m just night walking. Off you go. Get out of here. I want my privacy.¡± ¡°I¡¯m very sorry, ma¡¯am. But that is very unwise. We can¡¯t allow you to go out in the middle of the night alone without protection. We¡¯re very sorry. Lady Harina¡¯s orders.¡± I feel like talking to a brick wall. Viviana slumped her shoulders as a sigh escaped her mouth. ¡°Fine¡­do your thing.¡± ¡°Understood.¡± Agent 6-0 turned to his men and made a sign with his hand. The other then formed around her back in a triangle shape formation with their rifles on their chest level. Viviana slowly turned her head to 6-0 and said, ¡°Really?¡± ¡°After you, madam.¡± Although she couldn¡¯t see through his mask, she knew very well that he¡¯s smirking underneath it. It¡¯s getting easier for her to hear things now. Fucking hell. *** Viviana continued walking around the wing, slowly mapping the entire area and memorising little details of each corner. Step after step, she started to hear the sound of dripping water followed by the sound of leaves falling. The closer she goes down the corridor, the stronger the voice becomes. She stopped in front of a water fountain. The constant noise created by the falling water coming out from the recirculator disoriented her as the imagery became a constant projection in her head. 6-0 was quick to notice her discomfort and ready to catch her from behind. Viviana began to stumble bit by bit before stepping away from the fountain. ¡°Lady Viviana, are you okay? Do you need medical assistance? Emergency care?¡± Viviana shook her head and straightened herself. ¡°No, it''s just the noise. I guess I found one weakness to my sonar vision.¡± ¡°Ma¡¯am, maybe we should retreat back to your room. You¡¯re still not used to your sonar¡ª¡± Viviana cuts him off. ¡°I¡¯m fine. It¡¯s just a little fuzzy feeling. I experienced worse.¡± ¡°Very well, if you need anything¡ª¡± ¡°Yeah, yeah. I got it.¡± Jeez, I thought being rich would feel nice. ¡°Anyway, do you happen to know where she is?¡± ¡°She?¡± ¡°Harina. Where is she?¡± ¡°Oh, Lady Harina and Lady Esther are preoccupied at this moment. She has something to do.¡± ¡°Take me to her.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry, ma¡¯am. But I don¡¯t think you want to¡ª¡± ¡°Listen, six or whatever your name is, I need to talk to her¡­right now. This is a direct order. Either you take me to her right now, or I¡¯ll find her myself and you can kiss your employment goodbye.¡± 6-0 hesitated momentarily before turning around and leading her to the elevator. ¡°Very well¡­right this way, ma¡¯am.¡± As the elevator descended, Viviana could feel that she might have said things too harshly. She noticed that what she just said doesn¡¯t sound like her. She has never felt that dominating in her life. The assimilation¡­must be her personality. When the door opened, 6-0 guided Viviana down a tight corridor to a door in the end. There were four heavily armed and armoured men standing by the entrance, seemingly non anticipating her arrival. ¡°Good evening, lads,¡± 6-0 said. ¡°Lady Viviana wished to see Lady Harina.¡± ¡°We¡¯re very sorry, but Lady Harina didn¡¯t tell us that she would be having company,¡± one of the four men said, looking at Viviana. ¡°This is more of a¡­spontaneous visit. She wants to talk to her privately. I¡¯m sure you understand.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry but I¡¯m gonna have to¡ª¡± Viviana cut him off. ¡°My face is my warrant. You idiots stay here. This is a private talk.¡± She quickly notices her sudden change in demeanour again. Silently reflecting on her speech to the man. What the hell? ¡°Of course, ma¡¯am. We apologise,¡± said the man. He turned and opened the electric lock. ¡°This way¡­¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± 6-0 and the rest of her detail stood outside the room with the four guards, waiting for her. Viviana kept walking until she ran into another door. She must be in there¡­ When she opened the door and stepped inside, the first thing she heard was the sound of a man screaming in pain, choking out. Her sonar imagery tells her that Harina was holding a laser cutter in her hands while Esther was holding the rope securing the man. Her jaw dropped. ¡°What¡­What are you guys doing?!¡± Viviana exclaimed. ¡°Oh, hey, V,¡± Harina said with a casual and relaxed tone. ¡°I thought you were sleeping?¡± The tortured men looked up at Harina weakly. ¡°Please, please¡ª¡± Harina quickly turned and punched the man on his face. His head yanked to the other side violently as blood splat out from his face. ¡°Shut up!¡± Viviana looked at her in disgust, holding her vomit. ¡°Who is this man?¡± ¡°Oh, just a stiff our boys caught trying to sneak into one of our robotics factories,¡± Harina replied, her tone changing to casual again. ¡°Our boys showed me the security footage and he was caught red-handed. Gotta love security cameras.¡± ¡°P¡­Please,¡± the man muttered weakly from his bloody mouth. ¡°I¡­I won¡¯t say¡ª¡± Harina swiftly pulled his hair back and brought her face close to his. ¡°I want to make something clear, you lowly weasel,¡± she said, frowning. ¡°I don¡¯t care how many skinny dogs you GPF or Regnum Dei assholes send out. I will always get every last one of you and make an example out of you every¡­single¡­goddamn¡­time.¡± Viviana dropped to her knees while keeping her hands covering her mouth. She could feel it going up her throat but kept holding it from going out her mouth. Harina rolled eyes and sighed at Viviana, noticing her disgusted expression. She looked at Esther and tilted her head. ¡°Get the bowl.¡± Esther let go of the rope and walked to a table, picking up the bowl and giving it to Viviana. Viviana quickly grabbed the bowl and vomited into the bowl, her eyes tearing up slightly. Esther chuckled slightly and rubbed Viviana¡¯s back, calming her down. ¡°Why?¡± Viviana asked. ¡°Why did you do this?¡± ¡°What kind of dumbass question is that?¡± Harina scoffed. ¡°I¡¯m a criminal, V. This is what I do.¡± ¡°Why do you have to keep torturing the powerless man? Look at him. He can¡¯t even breathe properly, Har. Just let him¡ª¡± ¡°You are going to succeed me. You should be learning how to do things like me or better than me, V. Not every fight is about raw power. Sometimes, psychological warfare also matters. I¡¯m doing that right now.¡± ¡°You are a monster.¡± ¡°You already called me that. Try something else.¡± Viviana tossed the bowl with her vomit to the walls. ¡°I know I shouldn¡¯t have agreed!¡± she shouted. Harina let go of the man¡¯s hair and let him fall to the floor head first. She walked to Viviana slowly and menacingly. Viviana could feel that she stopped right in front of her. She looked up at her and felt the rage she held. ¡°Say that one more time, V.¡± Viviana backed away slightly. ¡°I¡­I¡¯m sorry¡ª¡± Before Viviana could finish it, Harina snapped her fingers and caused her to fly backwards violently and crashed against the wall. Her brain starts to feel weird and painful at the same time. Suddenly her lungs felt a burning sensation and she fell to the floor, gasping for air as her sonar vision disappeared. The pain was exactly the same as it was the day she was steamed in the oven. She choked out but not a single letter came out. ¡°Tell me something, V,¡± Harina said as she knelt down at Viviana. ¡°Do you wish to be freed from your moral dilemma? Do you wish to be your past self once more? Because if you want to, I can remind you of what you were two decades ago¡­¡± Viviana kept gasping for air as she felt the very feeling of her lungs collapsing. Her face turned red and all her veins showed off from her skin. ¡°Let me ask you something. Back at breakfast, you keep saying that you¡¯re not a good fit to succeed me¡­did you say that out of doubt or are you being serious in your wording?¡± With her eyes going blind again, Viviana rolled over to her belly and dragged herself away from Harina. But the pain in her lungs made her unable to continue. ¡°The first time I looked into your eyes, I knew I saw something in you, V. Call me crazy but the way peering into your soul works similarly to seeing the best of what that person can be in the future. It¡¯s basically a massive spoiler of the ending without actually having to read or watch the entire story. When I saw you, I saw you standing on top of a burning world. Your eyes are devoid of emotion. Your expression is cold. Your hands are dripping with blood. Death is all around you¡­including my corpse. When I saw that, I thought it was the most beautiful thing I have ever seen in someone with a face so innocent.¡± Harina snapped her finger again and Viviana could feel her chest pain subsiding slightly, allowing her to breathe and make out words weakly. ¡°Now, I¡¯ve never been wrong before but if you insist on telling me that I was wrong in choosing you as my successor, I could just ¡®release¡¯ you and scrap our bonding.¡± Harina pulled Viviana¡¯s head up to her eyes. ¡°If you say yes, I¡¯ll fucking do it and you¡¯ll be off with your rest¡ªoh, I¡¯m sorry¡ªthe rest of your life. I remember specifically that you have four terminal diseases before our contract was made. Say yes, V. I¡¯ll release you and you can enjoy the death you wished for. It won¡¯t take long for those diseases to kill you, probably in less than a minute after I release you. So what¡¯s it going to be, V?¡± Viviana looked up, her eyes tearing up as she started crying. ¡°I said what¡¯s it going to be?!¡± ¡°No, please,¡± Viviana choked out. ¡°Let me live.¡± ¡°Wise choice. Remember this, V. I never want us to have this conversation ever again.¡± Harina dropped Viviana, turned the laser cutter back on and quickly swung her hand backwards. The cutter beam goes through the man¡¯s neck and severing his head clean off. His head goes in the air momentarily before landing on Viviana¡¯s lap. She felt disgusted but her mouth couldn¡¯t move from fear. She tried her best to ignore the head bleeding down her thighs as she waited for Harina to say anything. Harina tossed the laser cutter to Esther and walked to the door. Without looking back at her. ¡°Sleep, V. Meet me in my office tomorrow morning. I want to talk to you, eye to eye. Es ist Zeit, dir mal so richtig den Kopf zurechtzur¨¹cken." Esther followed Harina out of the room without saying anything to Viviana, leaving her in the room. Viviana kept sitting there on the floor for minutes before her sonar vision returned. She gently picked the severed head up and put it down on the floor. She stood up and wiped her bloodied hands on her pyjamas before going out of the room and returning to her bedroom. The walk there was silent. Her mind was blank. Her fear was at the peak. Her moral compass¡ªshredded. END Baby Steps Chapter Three Baby Steps Viviana, along with 6-0 and his team, walked down the headquarter underground eleventh floor towards Harina¡¯s office. Though her sonar vision has returned, Viviana couldn¡¯t help but feel a little powerless. What happened last night with Harina and the conversation they had made her feel how truly weak she is. Everything she has now is given by Harina¡ªthe clothes she had, the bed she sleeps on, the sonar vision she sees with, even her very life¡ªall is controlled by Harina. When she arrived outside of Harina¡¯s office, she held her arm momentarily, pondering the choice she had made leading up to this point. 6-0 noticed Viviana¡¯s silence, he wanted to ask her but Viviana collected herself and knocked on the door. ¡°Harina,¡± Viviana called out. From inside her office, Harina said back. ¡°Come in¡­¡± Viviana stood still, just outside Harina¡¯s office door, the weight of everything pressing down on her. Her pulse quickened, and her fingers clenched into fists at her sides. She took a breath, but the air felt thick, suffocating even beneath the cool, sterile lighting of the hallway. She glanced toward 6-0, his impassive eyes watching her every movement from the two tiny eye holes on his mask. For a moment, she thought of turning back. The thought of what Harina might say, of what she might expect of her now. It made Viviana¡¯s stomach turn. Viviana turned around at 6-0 and he cocked his head attentively. ¡°I¡­I don¡¯t think I can do this, Six,¡± Viviana murmured, her voice barely above a whisper as her eyes lowered away from the door. ¡°Are you ill, ma¡¯am?¡± he asked in concern, noticing her shaky hands hovering right in front of the door¡¯s electronic lock. ¡°It¡¯s not that I¡¯m ill. It¡¯s just¡ª¡± She hesitated, trying to find a way to voice her mind. ¡°I¡ªI just think that she might not like my rejection.¡± Is this¡­ is this fear I¡¯m feeling? 6-0 walk one step closer to Viviana and look her directly in her eyes. Though her eyes are still as pale as a corpse, her expression told him everything about her. ¡°Ma¡¯am,¡± he said cautiously. ¡°What are you feeling right now? You seem to be overthinking something.¡± Viviana tried to piece her words together but they still won¡¯t come out or form as one clear sentence. She pulled her hair back in one slow sweep and turned around at him. ¡°Listen, Six. I¡­I need to ask you a favour.¡± Her voice almost cracked but she kept her composure until the words flew out of her mouth 6-0 nodded his head and straightened himself. ¡°Of course, my lady. What can I do for you?¡± She cleared her throat in worry and swallowed, her throat dry. ¡°What if¡­What if I don¡¯t like what she says in there?¡± Her voice cracked, and she looked up at 6-0, eyes wide, searching. ¡°What if¡ª¡± She hesitated, then continued, voice quieter. ¡°What if I don¡¯t like what I become?¡± The silence between them grew, 6-0¡¯s eyes gleaming with a cold glow. Viviana could almost hear her own heartbeat in the stillness. Her chest tightened, and suddenly, she slapped her own cheeks to their surprise. ¡°If I did¡­I want you to kill me. That applies to all eight of you¡­please?¡± Both 6-0 and his men gasped in surprise and horror. ¡°Ma¡¯am? What are you¡ª¡± Viviana let out an audible sigh. ¡°I¡¯m not like you guys.¡± Her face turned sad with shame. ¡°I live my life by complying to rules¡ª¡± Her jaw clenched. ¡°I¡­I¡¯m not cut out for this. I should¡¯ve just die back then, not accepting her offer¡ª¡± This is all your fault, me! This wouldn¡¯t happen if you just let those bloody chemicals kill you¡ª 6-0 turned to each of his men. All of them shook their heads, refusing her favour. He lowered his head in thoughts, pondering in silence for a moment before turning his head to Viviana. ¡°I¡­I don¡¯t think we¡­we don''t think that we could.¡± ¡°Why?¡± She asked bitterly, biting her lips. ¡°Shouldn¡¯t you elite guards have the courage to commit a simple murder? What¡¯s one more kill going to affect your resume?¡± As hurtful as her words sounded, 6-0 and his men kept their composure perfectly. ¡°Seriously, why won¡¯t you take someone useless like me?¡± She provoked them further in contempt. ¡°I¡¯m your easiest kill yet.¡± 6-0 respond in a calm and collected manner, ¡°Ma¡¯am, please¡­let go of this thought of yours. It¡¯s not good for you in the long run.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t want to keep doing sinful things for the long run, Six!¡± She sneered through her gritted teeth. ¡°Don¡¯t you get it¡ªI don¡¯t want to become someone as bad as her! I hate that uncertain future¡ª¡± 6-0 raised both hands, trying to calm her. ¡°With all due respect, ma¡¯am. I can¡¯t.¡± ¡°Just do it, will you?!¡± Viviana finally cracked as she broke down in tears. 6-0 pulls out a handkerchief out from one of his vest pockets and hands it to her. Viviana moved her trembling hands and took the handkerchief out of his hand, blowing her nose into it. But she kept on insisting on him, saying, ¡°I don¡¯t want to continue down this dark path she had for me. When the day comes, I want you to shoot me in the head. You understood?¡± ¡°My lady¡ª¡± ¡°Just say yes or no, Six!¡± She clenched her fist tighter. 6-0 was visibly startled at her but quickly nodded his head reluctantly and stepped back. ¡°I will. But only if I¡¯m sure that you are.¡± ¡°That¡¯s¡ª¡± She wiped her tears and nodded in acceptance to his terms. ¡°That¡¯s good enough for me.¡± Finally after pulling herself together, she pressed her palm against the door¡¯s biometric scanner. The door whizzed and slid open to both sides, gliding smoothly on its rail. Here goes nothing. *** Viviana entered the office and the first thing her sonar vision picked up was Harina, sitting behind her desk with her feet up and Esther, on the corner of the room dipping and pulling a bag of tea into a cup of hot, steaming water. Harina looked at her with a blank, stoic face. Viviana lowered her head further before Harina pulled her feet down and gestured at a seat across her. ¡°Sit down, V,¡± Harina said in a serious, low voice. ¡°Let¡¯s talk.¡± Viviana sat on the fancy leather seat and put her cane down on her lap. Esther walked over to Harina¡¯s desk and put two cups of tea down then stood in front of the door. Viviana gulped in nervousness. ¡°Harina, listen. I just want to say¡ª¡± Harina quickly stopped Viviana with a raise of her finger. ¡°Don¡¯t¡­I do not want to remember last night. It is really¡­¡± She unbuttoned the top button of her coat. ¡°...uncomfortable for me.¡± Viviana lowered her head, unable to muster the courage to talk to her directly. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m just really¡­overwhelmed with all the criminal things. I was hoping I could change your perspective on the whole succeeding thing.¡± Harina scoffed and looked at Viviana with her eyebrow raised. ¡°I¡¯m afraid you can¡¯t¡­What¡¯s done is done, V. You can¡¯t turn back time.¡± She picked up a small throwing knife from the pen holder on her desk and fiddled around her fingers silently, keeping her eyes to Viviana. ¡°You will fully assimilate. You will succeed me.¡± Her confident tone worried Viviana further and further, knowing that she will soon lose what remains of her personality and morality. She tossed the knife up. It landed on the edge of her desk with a clank before she flicked the blade back into the pen holder. ¡°Let me tell you something, V,¡± Harina continued, leaning her back against her seat. ¡°I know that you think of me as some kind of all-powerful, bloodthirsty warlord, which of course I am, but I can still feel pain.¡± She tapped her fingers on the armrest of her seat and sighed. ¡°I have high hopes for you, V. I thought that after so long I had finally acquired myself a successor. One that is worthy to learn from me directly and will one day replace me. I thought I could rely on you, V. I thought that I could trust you. I guess it¡¯s true that words cut deeper than actual swords because what you said last night is probably the most hurtful thing that I have ever heard, aside from my old man¡¯s usual ramblings.¡± Viviana gripped her knees with both hands tightly. She knows that she might have worsened her relationship with Harina¡ªthe person who saved her kept her alive and well until today. ¡°But as harsh, sadistic as I may be¡­I¡¯m willing to let the matter go and pretend it never happened.¡± Viviana perked up slightly from her seat. But her face quickly turned warry. What makes Harina different from most criminals she reads from history articles and news broadcasts is that Harina seems to have another reason to justify her immoral actions. Like the time she obliterated her workplace. ¡°Why do I feel like you¡¯re thinking of something else to sideline things?¡± Viviana said in complete doubt. Harina smirked and pulled a small dagger from one of her desk drawers. ¡°Before I begin, I want you to know something. The favour you ask your protective detail to do¡­will never work. Not as long as I¡¯m still around.¡± Viviana widened her eyes in silence. Sweat starts to drip from her forehead down her cheeks. How¡­How did she know?! ¡°How did I know, you asked?¡± Harina said out loud which surprised Viviana even more. Wait! The soul tethering! My mind¡­She can read¡ª Harina chuckled at Viviana¡¯s stumped and nervous expression. ¡°Yes, V, you are very correct!¡± Her smirk puts Viviana in a more and more uncomfortable position than she already is. It seems that every time Harina talks, Viviana feels her way out is getting slimmer and slimmer. Harina grabbed Viviana¡¯s left hand and pulled it to her, laying it on the desk. Viviana jumped in surprise and terror as Harina twirls the dagger menacingly. The blade grows closer and closer to her skin. Viviana exerted all her strength into her feet, trying to push herself away from Harina but no matter how hard she kicked the desk, Harina didn¡¯t seem to budge nor move at all. Viviana screamed fearfully as Harina held the dagger right above her exposed elbow. ¡°Harina! What are you doing?! Please! Stop!¡± She begged but Harina just kept giggling like a mad woman. Harina flashes a devious grin before pressing the razor sharp tip against Viviana¡¯s elbow. ?!! AAAA¡ª Viviana lets out an agonising scream as Harina drags the dagger very slowly across her arm until she stops at her upper tricep as the dagger gets stuck at her shoulder joint. The incision made her arm look like a blooming flower. Blood begins to flow out from the open wound and pool around the desk. Viviana cried from the excruciating pain. Her heart raced rapidly as she began to hyperventilate. She could feel her consciousness fading from the pain but finding herself unable to pass out due to her adrenaline keeping her awake. She looked up at Harina slowly with tears rolling down her cheeks. ¡°Why?! Why did you do¡ª¡± ¡°Because I can? Because I like to drive my point home?¡± Harina lifted Viviana¡¯s face up and poked her forehead playfully. ¡°Maybe it¡¯s because I feel like you don¡¯t appreciate me enough, V. I don¡¯t know, let¡¯s do a little recap, shall we? I saved you from a perpetual life of poverty, I heal your four terminal diseases, I give you a new set of eyes, I give you two prosthetic arms and legs, each of costing me eighty five billion credits, I fed you good food and actual meals instead of MREs, I put clothes over your body, I give you a second chance in life and the response I get is oh, I don¡¯t want to be a criminal like you. Oh, I like being lawful and saint-like and high and mighty. Wake the fuck up, V! Your disillusion is starting to annoy me.¡± She pulled the dagger from Viviana¡¯s arm and watched her falling to the floor and rolling around. Her face contorts with all kinds of pain. Rather than finding her wound to stretch wider, Viviana was surprised to find her arm healing in less than two seconds. The long incision closed on its own and the pain she felt reducing dramatically. What¡­What the hell? How?! ¡°Extreme regeneration, stultus,¡± Harina sneered. ¡°No matter how badly or fatally injured you are, the contract will keep you alive. You get your head blown off by a stray tank shell and you¡¯d walk again in ten seconds.¡± Harina sipped from her cup and closed her eyes, savouring the sweetness of the sugar along with the delicious taste from the leaves. Harina finished her cup of tea and handed the empty cup to Esther. ¡°I¡¯m not even gonna sugar coat it, V. I have taken many lives with these hands of mine, and I will not stop for the love of me. Not now. Not tomorrow. Not ever. I will not stop until the heavens, and my father, are nothing but ashes.¡± Viviana rolled on the floor in pain, gritting her teeth. ¡°Then where do I play in this crazy world of yours?!¡± ¡°There will be a time when I will no longer be leading this organisation. There will be a time where everyone else tied to this organisation and me dies. I want to make sure our legacy, will and fight continues after our demise. Yes, I''m a killer, murderer, monster, freak, menace but the one thing my old man didn''t raise me to be is a liar.¡± ¡°Why not? You would be complete if you can also lie,¡± Viviana sneered. ¡°I don''t know why but to make up a lie is not something I couldn¡¯t do¡­then again, it''s probably the only trait I share with my mother. When I said I saw something¡­monstrous inside you, I¡¯m not fucking with you. Call it fate, call it premonition, I know you would never escape that possibility. Try as hard as you can be to a saint, evil is what you will do best.¡± ¡°I¡ª¡± Viviana gritted her teeth tighter. ¡°I will never fall to that level of yours! I¡­My moral will keep me walking the path of righteousness.¡± ¡°Correct, remembering what happened last night. I know you wouldn¡¯t be like me. Not that you couldn''t, you wouldn¡¯t¡­not with that mentality. So today¡­I am going to discipline you, V, through first hand experience.¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°You are not leading this organisation with that mindset of yours. I don¡¯t want no one with your kind of morality to do our things. So you will be joining us on a little field trip I¡¯ve been planning for a while.¡± ¡°Where?¡± ¡°You¡¯ll see¡­eh, metaphorically. Eat your breakfast. We¡¯re going out in an hour. When you¡¯re done, meet me on the underground third floor, north wing hangar, bay three. Pack some snacks, we might be back by dark.¡± ¡°Where are we going?¡± ¡°Turner Estri.¡± Harina turned her computer on and typed into her holographic keyboard. ¡°I¡¯m gonna teach you a few basic criminal enterprise management skills. Now off you go.¡± *** After finishing her first meal of the day, Viviana goes to the spaceship hangar on the third floor, 6-0 and his team follows behind her. ¡°Six, do you happen to know anything about Turner Estri?¡± she asked, turning to him. ¡°The space market hub?¡± he said. ¡°I heard a couple of things about it. Are we going there?¡± ¡°Harina said she wants me to learn some management skills on the field.¡± She bit her lower lip in annoyance. ¡°Somehow I know she meant something else entirely.¡± 6-0 shrugged his shoulders and giggled at her remark. ¡°I don¡¯t think so, ma¡¯am. Lady Harina is many things but a liar. She always says things as they were and doesn''t even bother to bend the facts. Maybe she just wants to learn things on the fly.¡± This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. ¡°Knowing the brutality last night, I severely doubt this would be a leisurely trip. So¡­what can you tell me about that place?¡± ¡°Hmm¡­ I know that it¡¯s a coin well¡ª¡± ¡°What the hail is a coin well?¡± ¡°It¡¯s basically a doers, keepers kind of place where criminals can take one-time contract jobs or even partake in various illegal activities. Most coin well locations mainly consisted of recruiters, vendors, a bunch of service providers and occasionally, a crime syndicate on the top floor holding the ring together.¡± ¡°Dear god, sounds like a job fair for nefarious people.¡± ¡°Eh, kind of. I would call it an employment hunting ground but others just referred to it as a black market. It always depends on who said it¡­¡± When they came out of the corner, they bumped into Lyudmila, one of the Umbrae Harina introduced to her days ago, with her successor, Olga, and a team dressed just like 6-0 and his team. She noticeably perked her ears when she ran into Viviana, stopping immediately on her tracks. Both 6-0, his team and the other team stopped as well straightened their postures. ¡°Well well well, if it isn¡¯t the power doubter,¡± Lyudmila said, flashing a smug grin. ¡°I was wondering when do I get the chance to talk to you¡­¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry, do I know you?¡± Viviana said in a completely deadpan expression. 6-0 cleared his throat and leaned into her ears. ¡°That¡¯s Lady Lyudmila, ma¡¯am,¡± he whispered to her. ¡°She¡¯s one of the fifteen Umbrae, remember?¡± Her eyes traced around before her mind remembering the breakfast conversation. ¡°Oh, right! You¡¯re the day drinker lady, right?¡± She turned to Lyudmila and let out a whistle. ¡°How can I help you, miss drunkard?¡± ¡°My master is not a drunkard!¡± Olga shouted angrily. ¡°I can smell the alcohol off of her. If she''s not a drunkard, then I don''t know what she is.¡± ¡°You bitc¡ª¡± Olga sneered but Lyudmila quickly pulled her shoulder back. ¡°Patience, Olga,¡± Lyudmila said, shaking her head. ¡°You will have your time. ¡°Sorry.¡± Olga said and backed away. ¡°Yeah, Olga. Run along,¡± Viviana muttered sarcastically. ¡°Thanaks, madam vodka, I feel safer already.¡± ¡°So, little Harina, where are you going?¡± Little Harina? She spat internally. I¡¯m not going to be anything like her. ¡°Field trip.¡± ¡°Hmm?¡± Lyudmila raised her brows in surprise and paused for a bit to take another gulp. ¡°Let me guess¡­shopping spree?¡± I don¡¯t even like shopping¡­ ¡°No.¡± Viviana rubbed her temples. ¡°Harina wanted me to experience a basic criminal management skill or something along those lines.¡± ¡°Skills.¡± Lyudmila corrected. ¡°Skill-s?¡± ¡°Plural. To manage a criminal syndicate¡­especially of our size, you need to know different skills and master them like the back of your neck.¡± ¡°Doesn¡¯t matter.¡± She clenched. ¡°I¡¯m not going to stick around much longer.¡± ¡°Oh yeah? What makes you so sure of that?¡± ¡°She is a monster¡­mental.¡± She said, her tone rich in disdain. ¡°I am not going to live my life according to the agenda she has set for me.¡± Lyudmila giggled in thought. Seemingly entertained by her bold proclamation. ¡°Harina is not going to take it lightly.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t care what she thinks.¡± ¡°A word of advice¡­o¡¯future World-Eater, you shouldn¡¯t disagree with her.¡± Lyudmila warned. ¡°There are only three answers to her word. Yes, I will. Yes, we will. Yes, they will. Heed my words. At least one of us has tried to go around her back. We all failed. We all got fucked afterwards.¡± ¡°Sorry.¡± Viviana smiled. ¡°I am not going to fail like you people.¡± ¡°Oh? Bold words from someone on a tight leash. What makes you think that you¡¯re better than us who have tried?¡± ¡°You lack the will to do things your way¡­that¡¯s why you¡¯re all her bitch¡ª¡± Lyudmila grabbed Viviana by her neck and lifted her against the corridor wall. 6-0 and the other elite guards stepped back in startle. She tried to push Lyudmila away but her grip was too strong for her hands to break as she suffocated from her choke. ¡°§®§ß§Ö §ß§Ö §ß§â§Ñ§Ó§Ú§ä§ã§ñ §ä§Ó§à§Ö §à§ä§ß§à§ê§Ö§ß§Ú§Ö, §ä§í §Þ§Ñ§Ý§ñ§Ó§Ü.¡± ¡°S¡­Say¡­w¡­what?¡± "§³§ß§à§Ó§Ñ §â§Ñ§Ù§Ô§à§Ó§Ñ§â§Ú§Ó§Ñ§Û §ã§à §Þ§ß§à§Û §ä§Ñ§Ü§Ú§Þ §ä§à§ß§à§Þ, §Ú §ñ §ã§ß§Ú§Þ§å §ã §ä§Ö§Ò§ñ §Ü§à§Ø§å §Ø§Ú§Ó§î§Ö§Þ §ä§å§á§í§Þ §Ü§Ñ§â§Þ§Ñ§ß§ß§í§Þ §ß§à§Ø§à§Þ¡­" Lyudmila¡¯s face scowling as she held the glass bottle in her hand by the neck. ¡°What¡­¡± ¡°Hands off the kid, Katyusha.¡± Harina¡¯s voice entered the corridor. ¡°She''s mine.¡± From the other end of the corridor, Harina and Esther stepped out. Lyudmila turned her head slowly at her, their eyes meeting with a cold gaze. She released her grip and let Viviana drop to the floor on her hips. Viviana¡¯s face turned to agony as she winced in pain. Lyudmila was visibly shaken a bit as she began to back away from Viviana. ¡°Didn¡¯t I tell everyone to not touch my successor without my permission? I distinctly remember that I have warned you about what would happen if it was to happen for real.¡± Lyudmila took several steps back. ¡°We were just talking.¡± ¡°Were you, though?¡± Harina¡¯s eyes turned red. ¡°Let me have a little talk with you then.¡± Harina walked over to Lyudmila slowly before swiftly pulling her fist back and punching her in the belly. The speed of her punch was so fast that Viviana, even with her sonar vision, couldn¡¯t see her hands moving at all. Her hand went through Lyudmila and out through the back. Viviana could hear the sound of multiple bones shattering and a crunching sound before Lyudmila started to gasp for air. ¡°H¡­Haa¡ª¡± ¡°Didn''t I say anything you did to her, I''ll make your lives worse in breakfast days ago?¡± Harina said and flicked Lyudmila on her forehead. ¡°§¯§Ñ §ã§Ñ§Þ§à§Þ §Õ§Ö§Ý§Ö, §á§à§Ù§Ó§à§Ý§î§ä§Ö §Þ§ß§Ö §ã§Ü§Ñ§Ù§Ñ§ä§î §Ó§Ñ§Þ §ï§ä§à §á§à-§â§å§ã§ã§Ü§Ú, §é§ä§à§Ò§í §Ó§í §á§à§ß§ñ§Ý§Ú.¡± Harina brought her face right in front of Lyudmila with a menacing cold glare. "§³§ß§à§Ó§Ñ §á§â§Ú§Ü§à§ã§ß§Ú§ã§î §Ü §ß§Ö§Û, §Ú §ä§í §Ò§å§Õ§Ö§ê§î §ã§á§Ñ§ä§î §ã §â§í§Ò§Ñ§Þ§Ú §ï§ä§à§Û §ß§à§é§î§ð, §­§ð§Õ§Þ§Ú§Ý§Ñ." She slowly pushed her hand through her until she stopped at her elbow. "§³§å§Ü§Ñ, §ä§í §Õ§å§Þ§Ñ§Ö§ê§î, §é§ä§à §ñ §Ò§Ý§Ö§æ§å§ð? §¥§Ñ§Ó§Ñ§Û, §á§à§á§â§à§Ò§å§Û, §å§Ò§Ý§ð§Õ§à§Ü." ¡°H¡­Hari¡ª¡± She pulled her hand swiftly, pulling part of her spine out deliberately and violently tossing Lyudmila off against the wall. She turned towards her protective details and Olga. ¡°Get her to a sick bay and have the docs to patch her upper half.¡± As Lyudmila¡¯s personal guards and Olga picked her up and carried her towards the nearest medical quarter, Esther helped Viviana up and checked her for injuries. ¡°If you have anything broken, just say the word,¡± Harina said with a steely gaze. ¡°I¡¯ll chop her legs off and cook them sweet and sour and feed them to our resident cannibal, Fortis.¡± ¡°No, that won¡¯t be necessary,¡± Viviana said as she brushed herself. ¡°If I¡¯m going to be a leader, I have to toughen myself up a bit more.¡± Harina perked up from her out-of-character confidence in surprise. She was hoping to lecture Viviana more but after hearing that, it won¡¯t be necessary. ¡°Wise words.¡± Harina nodded her head in approval. ¡°If you keep this up, I might write your name on my will.¡± ¡°Haha¡­Funny.¡± *** The three, followed by 6-0 and his team, head to the hangar. The second Viviana stepped her foot past the end of the corridor, her sonar vision went overdrive. The sound of thousands of spacecraft of all sizes and shapes whizzed and whooshed around her, filling her ears with loud noise from their engines. She had never seen so many space vehicles in one place at the same time. Small unmanned drones to slightly bigger patrol crafts. Corvettes¡­ Frigates¡­ Destroyers¡­ Cruisers of different sizes from the light, heavy, and large¡­ Battleships and battlecarriers¡­ All were stationed in one excessively vast hangar. ¡°Oh my god.¡± Viviana gasped in astonishment. Her jaw completely dropped from the sight of the sheer amount. ¡°See these beautiful metal bitches? All of them are for you to control,¡± Harina said, stretching her arms out and spinning around. ¡°No matter how many or what size you need, all you need is to drop a finger and our men will make it happen for you.¡± This is actually ridiculous¡ª Her mind scrambles to grapple with her intent to keep herself living a life of purity and living a fulfilling life of crime. Insecurity and doubt slowly creeped into her thoughts. One side telling her to abandon her righteousness while the other screaming at her to not fall into Harina¡¯s devilish temptation. ¡°Just how rich am I really?¡± ¡°It¡¯d be better for you to stop pondering. I stopped counting after our first quintillion.¡± Viviana looked up and looked around as the loudspeaker in the hangar began an announcement. ¡ªAttention to all crews, Lady Harina¡¯s ship, QFS-01 Terminator is docking. Bay three level seventeen. All crews prepare for boarding procedure. We repeat, Lady Harina¡¯s ship, the QFS-01, codename Terminator, will dock in bay three level seventeen. All crews of that ship prepare for boarding. Thank you¡ª Moments later, a massive ship begins to back into the bay and slowly positions itself by the bay. Viviana looked up at the ship in amazement. The ship was decked out with all sorts of weaponries from all types and sizes. Railguns, plasma, lasers, rocket launchers, missile pods, torpedo bays, bomb dispensers. No space was left unarmed and unarmoured with thick plating. The swept superstructure is what really sold the superior look. Viviana collected herself and turned to Harina. ¡°Is this our ship?¡± she asked in astonishment. ¡°Oh, no. This is my ship, you¡¯ll have your own when you¡¯re fit to lead,¡± Harina replied smugly. ¡°The 01 designation is mine. I am the founder and leader after all. QFS-series ships are specifically for the Umbrae.¡± ¡°Wait¡ª¡± Viviana pondered momentarily. ¡°There¡¯s more than one? Hold on¡­there¡¯s fifteen of this?!¡± ¡°You should¡¯ve seen your face.¡± Harina laughed. ¡°Come on, you¡¯ll love it inside.¡± Harina, Esther and Viviana climbed onboard the ship and stepped into the ship¡¯s lower deck. The interior is surprisingly humble for a ship belonging to Harina. Very minimalistic with no non-functional decoration and a plain light black paint. The ship feels more militaristic than luxurious. ¡°I know what you¡¯re going to say,¡± Harina muttered before slowly imitating how Viviana moved. ¡°Har, why is there no decoration in here?¡± she said, imitating how Viviana spoke. ¡°I don¡¯t speak like that!¡± Viviana said in embarrassment. ¡°I¡¯m not even contralto.¡± ¡°Fuck it, we¡¯re not here for games. Follow me.¡± They took the elevator up towards the upper level in the superstructure. When the door opened, Viviana could see the corridor leading to two different places. To the right she could see dozens of busy ship officers in what appears to be the bridge while to the left she could only see a single metallic door with an electronic lock beside it. Viviana followed Harina and Esther walked towards the end with the single door. Harina leaned in and showed her eyes at the retinal scanner and the door slid open. Although the room looks simplistic and minimalistic, it gives off the feeling of luxurious vibe from the inside. After the door closed, Harina took a seat on one of the sofas placed inside while Esther went straight to the kitchen area and started boiling water. Viviana took a seat on the sofa across Harina and started looking around her surroundings. ¡°This is¡­ cosy,¡± Viviana remarked. ¡°Is this our own private room? ¡°Technically the entire level is,¡± Harina replied, tossing candies up into the air and eating them. ¡°But answering your question, no. This room is mine. Yours is the one on the lower level.¡± ¡°I have my own room?¡± ¡°Well you¡¯re bloody sure not sleeping here,¡± Harina scoffed. ¡°I¡¯m a big girl. I have my needs for¡­personal space.¡± ¡°I¡¯m gonna pretend I didn¡¯t hear that,¡± Viviana muttered, recoiling at the thought. ¡°Before I go, can you at least tell me something?¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°What are we going to do on this¡­field trip you¡¯re taking me? What are we going to do at this Turner Estri place you talk about? You said something about teaching me some management skills but you didn¡¯t specify the details.¡± ¡°Simply put, we¡¯re going to collect debts,¡± Harina replied. ¡°We have two really obnoxious wankers evading our calls. I was going there myself but I thought you could see and experience the whole thing yourself.¡± ¡°Since when did we start giving out loans? I thought we live with survival of the fittest mentality?¡± ¡°We are. It¡¯s not just an act of kindness for other less powerful, less capable syndicates, we¡¯re basically ensnaring them for our future purposes.¡± ??? ¡°I don¡¯t follow¡ª¡± ¡°Okay. The simplest way to put it is trapping them in an inescapable debt. Basically just saying yes to whatever amount they need and hand them the bill with our terms and conditions, including the interest. And yes, before you ask, yes the interest we set has been systematically calculated to best benefit us.¡± ¡°How exactly?¡± ¡°Slavery, duh,¡± Harina replied casually without batting an eye. ¡°One needs to be able to pay back whoever they borrow something from and if one cannot recuperate, they need to be able to sacrifice their own free time to repay their debt in servitude.¡± ¡°You sound like a really evil banker.¡± ¡°Read Machiavelli, V,¡± Harina responded in annoyance. ¡°You''ll see what I mean. I''m a fair leader. I give people a chance to prove themselves before I even ask. It¡¯s just that their stupidity always gets the best of them.¡± ¡°So how much do these guys owe us?¡± ¡°The first bloke owed us four million credits, the second owed twenty trillion credits.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t get it. I thought we¡¯re rolling in whatever unit comes after a decillion. Why do we need to collect pocket changes? Wouldn¡¯t their debt be abysmal compared to our total assets?¡± ¡°You¡¯d be right. But it¡¯s not about the value, V. It¡¯s about the principle. If you owe something out of someone, you better pay back or have a damn good reason to not repay. Personally I don¡¯t care how much they¡¯re trying to take, I just like seeing their idiocy cloud their judgement.¡± ¡°What¡¯s that supposed to mean?¡± ¡°Hear me out. The first guy takes four millions to secure his capital and start his business,¡± Harina begins. ¡°His first mistake was thinking four millions will get him anywhere in the illegal side of business. Even a small narcotics syndicate would need at least fifty millions to even have a chance at making any kind of profits. His second mistake was thinking he can pay us back in three years. I doubt I need to tell you just how stupid it is to generate enough money to pay your five and a half million credits debt, interest included, in only three years.¡± ¡°Okay, so what¡¯s the second guy¡¯s mistake?¡± ¡°He only asked twenty trillions¡­to start his heist business. Let me explain to you just how dumb he is,¡± Harina continued. ¡°He thought a squadron of mech suits worth twenty billion each and a single cruiser were enough to hijack a fleet of GPF merchant traders, which obviously they don''t but it''s not like they want to listen to my advice anyway. Twenty billions in a suit will only get you a standard issue gauss rifle and two four-rocket shoulder launchers. That is nowhere enough to even graze their paint job, he made it worse by taking a year time payment. I''ve seen crocs with higher brain function.¡± ¡°And you deal with those kinds of idiots daily?¡± ¡°If I have trashed paper for each of them, I''d be a bloody landfill. It''s good in a way, though. One, we get to enslave dumb borrowers for our cause without doing much advertising or psyops. Two, we keep the streets clean from these disappointing bellends. The dark underworld of criminals is not for the weak and/or stupid. If you''re both, you''re not a comedian, you''re the entire comedy venue.¡± ¡°I suppose that¡¯s one way to look at it positively.¡± Esther finally comes out of the kitchen area back to the table and puts two cups of light brown tea and a large glass of milk on the table. She leaned closer into Harina. ¡°My liege, all the crew and officers have boarded,¡± she whispered. ¡°Reports have come from all sections of the ship. All drones, munitions and supplies have been loaded¡ªpresent and accounted for.¡± ¡°Good,¡± Harina said, sipping her tea. ¡°I thought you said we''re only going to collect debts,¡± Viviana said. ¡°Why bring weapons as well?¡± ¡°In case our debt collection turned into a standoff.¡± ¡°Has that happened a lot?¡± ¡°You''d be surprised. This ship can tank whatever whoever throws at us, of course, but I''m not keen on them escaping. You know how it is. Either they pay us, work for us or highway to hell.¡± ¡°You said that various galactic law enforcement are hunting you even if you''re going out for a cookie, right? What''s the chance of us getting ambushed?¡± ¡°Like¡­I''d say around ninety something percent? I don''t know. I got jumped so often that I stopped caring. Yet even after all those ambushes, not one managed to render one escort ship immobilised. Fucking dumbasses¡­¡± ¡°If you''re so untouchable, then why worry about getting arrested by GPF or anyone from Regnum Dei?¡± ¡°I never worried, I just found their attempt annoying. Fail once, okay I get it, twice, like come on, thrice, really? But millions of times? That''s just insulting! I don''t like wasting my precious time dealing with idiots like them. Even watching gay porn or femboys jerking each other off is still way less tortuous than this.¡± ¡°Seriously, eww!¡± ¡°I''m just making a point!¡± Harina snapped her fingers twice at Esther. ¡°Essy, can you show Viviana her room a level down? I want to sleep. Alone. Without disturbance.¡± ¡°Of course, my liege,¡± Esther replied, bowing her head before stepping out of the room with Viviana. After they step out of the elevator and into the level right below the uppermost where Harina¡¯s room was, Esther guides her towards a room at the end of the corridor. The door has a dark metallic red paint with three eye shaped insignia painted on it. Viviana placed her hand on the biometric scanner and the door slid open, revealing a mostly simplistic interior just like Harina¡¯s, but with a white contrast to Harina¡¯s black. ¡°This will be your private quarter,¡± Esther said, gesturing inside of the room. ¡°The biometric lock outside can only be opened using your fingerprints or retina, so worry not about intruders. 6-0 and his men will be stationed in the room next to yours as usual.¡± She then guides Viviana into the bedroom. ¡°This is your bed. 240 by 170 cm king size. The bed sheet, pillow sheets and blanket are made from silk, imported from our very own garment manufacturing facility.¡± ¡°This is actually ridiculous!¡± Viviana said in astonishment. ¡°But don¡¯t you think this is a little over the top? I mean let¡¯s be serious here, this is just for me.¡± ¡°No, considering your rank within the organisation. I¡¯d say this is fitting for someone of your class.¡± ¡°Class? Really? That¡¯s what we¡¯re going with?¡± ¡°It might not be obvious to you but I¡¯m obligated to refer to you as Lady now. That¡¯s how important you are right now. Everyone on this ship and everyone not on this ship is willing to lay down their lives for you. Getting complimented by Lady Harina is one of the biggest honours anyone can ever achieve. Getting selected to be her successor is a thing unheard of.¡± Esther, noticing Viviana stressing out, slowly puts the stack of clothes into the bedside wardrobe and closes the door. ¡°When the news broke out that she had found someone worthy of her time, wisdom and knowledge, people freaked out. They know based on Lady Harina¡¯s pickiness, they expect that person to be on par if not better than her. They expect you to lead them to a level never seen before, past uncharted territories and set a new standard.¡± ¡°I know, but I still feel¡­inferior to her,¡± Viviana said, her face saddening. ¡°I don¡¯t know how she¡¯s capable of wielding so much power with ease and grace. She¡¯s natural. I don¡¯t feel like I am.¡± ¡°A word of advice which I¡¯m only going to say once. You should try believing in yourself first before coming to a conclusion. If she saw you standing on a burning world with her dead body near you in her vision, then you¡¯re destined to be something much more powerful than she is.¡± Esther bites her lips and sits next to Viviana on the side of the bed. ¡°Listen, if she¡¯s really dead in the future, then I¡¯m probably going to die much sooner than she is,¡± she continued. ¡°When I first heard about her vision about you, I freaked out, I hyperventilated. But I know that fate is a bitch. It is inevitable in nature, as it should be. The fact that both me and her are dead and you¡¯re the one doing the killing speaks something about you. Future you, that is.¡± ¡°Her mission¡­taking down heavens. Did she really mean it?¡± ¡°Think of it like this. Not every pantheon in the universe is good. Some are bad. Some are beyond fucked. Mortals like us shouldn¡¯t put our faith in any of them because their minds are perpetually clouded with their immense power. They don¡¯t care what happens to their creations, they just want to be revered and worshipped. That¡¯s a toxic relationship. Bad actions can be justified so long as the intentions were pure and good¡ª¡± ¡°You mean extremist actions? That¡¯s the word you¡¯re looking for, Es.¡± ¡°Hmph. Try to think like her. Kill one god¡­and maybe¡­a thousand mortals can be saved.¡± Esther stood up and walked to the exit, stopping for a moment to look back at Viviana. ¡°The trip is going to take us two hours in FTL, catch yourself a rest. I¡¯ll wake you up when we get there.¡± After Esther left her room, Viviana continued to ponder deeply. She could see the lines in her vision better and better. Have my vision returned? She took off the bandage wrapped around her head and opened her eyes. Although she¡¯s able to see things a little bit, the blur was still way too much for her to actually interpret the images she sees. I guess not. Guess I¡¯d stick to this sonar vision a little longer. Then the small loudspeaker placed throughout the interior of the ship blared again. Attention, this is Captain Grunder speaking. Lady Harina has given us the green light. We will depart in three minutes. I repeat, three minutes. Thank you. We¡¯re leaving¡ª Viviana breathed in and out slowly, bracing herself for her future. This is it, me¡­We¡¯re evil now. From the deepest part of her mind, something chuckled sinisterly. This¡­is¡­our¡­time¡­ Turner Estri, Black Market of the Amateurs Chapter Four Turner Estri, Black Market of The Amateurs Taking Esther¡¯s advice, Viviana laid down and fell asleep before the ship departed from the hangar. She was transported back to her realm of dream. Expecting a different, calmer, happier dream, she was shocked to find herself waking up in the same dream she saw two days ago. Everything around her was the same black, gelatinous liquid but with a more acrid smell this time around. She walked around the creepy, desolate, rubble of a city. The sounds of screaming and mad cackles begin to get louder and louder the more steps she takes. Before long, the shadowy figure she saw in the first dream returns. It jumped from atop of a destroyed skyscraper and landed on the pile of metal ahead of her. Debris and shattered pieces of metal flew everywhere but not harmed her in the slightest. The sight terrified Viviana once more, her heart racing as the shadowy figure flashes its red eyes at her. Viviana swallowed before growing enough courage to approach it. ¡°Hey,¡± she said. ¡°What¡­What are you?¡± The shadowy figure growled in response and Viviana recoiled back slightly. But something snapped inside her and she spit aside and continued forward. ¡°Come on, I just want an answer¡­or answers.¡± ¡°You were not supposed to be here.¡± The shadowy figure begins to speak to Viviana. ¡°This is not a path you¡¯re supposed to take.¡± Viviana grows confused at its cryptic response. ¡°What¡­What are you talking about?¡± ¡°You made a really grave mistake by allowing your soul to be tethered to her.¡± The shadowy figure lets out a disgusted growl. ¡°Her? Who are you talking about?¡± ¡°Who else?¡± ¡°Harina?¡± The shadowy figure chuckled slightly. ¡°Bingo.¡± ¡°What about her? Tell me.¡± ¡°She¡¯s playing with you. She is not making you a successor, she¡¯s making you a weapon of retribution.¡± ¡°What? How?¡± ¡°Your powers.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not powerful in the slightest.¡± ¡°No¡­Not now, at least.¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°She told you about her foresight ability, yes?¡± Viviana was confused momentarily but nodded her head as she recalled her memories. ¡°She knows that you will become even stronger than she is in the future. She capitalised on that very opportunity to groom you into a living weapon. An anti-god, anti-goddess type of living weapon. She can¡¯t even topple her own pantheon¡­that¡¯s why you¡¯re her biggest project yet. You are her WMD. A living tool to exterminate the old gods!¡± ¡°That¡¯s preposterous!¡± ¡°Is it? That soul tethering contract you made grants you access to all of her powers¡­what it didn¡¯t say is that you can still grow beyond what you will receive from hers. The current you are still constrained by your fear despite her already growing influence on your morality and humanity. Soon all of that will be shed. Soon the feeling of first blood will make you crave for another, and another, until you change from killing humans to killing gods.¡± ¡°No no no. Esther said that Harina is incapable of lying. There must be a mistake¡ª¡± ¡°Mistake? There is none. You believe that whore, Esther? Big mistake on your part. Not like it matters, though. She¡¯ll be dead the next volume. And it¡¯s gonna be really really grotesque.¡± ¡°But she can¡¯t lie, can¡¯t she? Harina¡ª¡± ¡°She can¡¯t. That doesn¡¯t mean she can¡¯t manipulate people through other means. Did you really think lying is the only way to control via subterfuge? No. Technically, and I¡¯m being really generous here, she¡¯s not lying¡­she just doesn''t tell the whole thing.¡± ¡°How¡­How are you so sure about that?¡± ¡°Wouldn¡¯t be a really good story to read if I straight up told you the ending now, wouldn¡¯t it?¡± ¡°Stop fucking around! This is my life we¡¯re talking about! This is my future¡ª¡± ¡°Future?!¡± The shadowy figure cackled uncontrollably at her naivety. ¡°Our¡­I mean, your future, oh Viviana the World-Eater, consists of travelling to different worlds, picking a fight with whatever pantheons inhabiting that world, killing them, syphoning their powers and further corrupting your already corrupted soul. You want spoilers, there¡­I said it. Your fate is sealed, your future is inevitably bleak! Reek of absolute shite! Painted by divine blood, deaths and destruction! You''re nothing but a slab of metal being heated and hammered until you start to take shape and have defined edges. When two worlds collide, you are the sharp edge that will cut and Harina is the wielder. Today you will make your first kill, tomorrow you will have collected a hundred.¡± Viviana pulled her hair in frustrated anger and groaned. ¡°What does that even mean?!¡± ¡°You¡¯ll see what I mean, you will always be what you are always destined to be. A killer¡­A conqueror.¡± ¡°No!¡± she rejected out loud. ¡°I may take over her but I would never stoop into that kind of monster level.¡± ¡°I¡¯m going to enjoy your suffering.¡± The shadowy figure let out a whispered chuckle. It walked away from Viviana while holding its head, seemingly in pain. Viviana could hear a faint mechanical whirring coming off of its shadowy arms and legs. Somehow, something doesn¡¯t feel right to her. ¡°Are you alright?¡± Why does she feel the whirring sound sounded incredibly familiar to her. They sound almost identical to her own prostheses. ¡°It¡¯s just these accursed things,¡± the shadowy figure replied as it shrugged off its own annoyance to its arms and legs. ¡°I should¡¯ve cut them a long time ago.¡± ¡°Those whirring sounds¡­Why do they sound familiar to me? Do you wear prostheses too?¡± The shadowy figure only nodded in silence, lowering its head. ¡°I do. I lost my arms and legs. These prostheses give me many pros¡­but they come with their own cons. I could¡¯ve gotten rid of them a long time ago, but I don¡¯t know why I couldn¡¯t. They just felt like, I don¡¯t know, a memento for me.¡± ¡°A memento? Was the person who gave those to you important to you? Do you care or love them?¡± ¡°Yes, yes, and yes. I resented that person for many years but when she lost her soul, I felt empty. I never figured out how important that person is until she is gone forever.¡± ¡°Well, it is hard to differentiate between love and hate on the surface.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t say.¡± ¡°Tell me, shadow. Do we know each other?¡± The shadowy figure turned to her and looked down, like someone feeling guilty. Its flashing red eyes are now downtrodden. ¡°I know you the best¡­Viviana.¡± *** Before she could ponder further, suddenly she woke up again in the real world, where Esther was already standing beside her bed and tapping her cheeks lightly. What just happened? ¡°Lady Viviana, please be awakened. We are arriving,¡± Esther said, waking her up. She slowly sat up on her bed and tried to calm her breath as she returned from her dream realm. Esther poured hot cocoa from a steaming pot into a cup and handed it to Viviana. She could notice her unease as she huffed and puffed her chest. ¡°Are you ill? Do you need medical attention?¡± ¡°No.¡± Viviana rubbed her eyes. ¡°It¡¯s just a silly dream, that¡¯s all.¡± ¡°Oh, yeah? What were you dreaming?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know. I was standing around a destroyed city, the ground was covered with this sticky, black, gelatinous goo, and there¡¯s a shadowy figure talking to me.¡± Esther¡¯s face changed nearly instantly, her smile turned flat completely. She put the pot down on the table and cleared her throat. ¡°What¡­What else did you see in this silly dream of yours?¡± Viviana got up from the bed and opened her wardrobe. She grabbed one of the plain black dresses inside and put it on. ¡°I don¡¯t know, the thing was kind of rambling nonsensically. Something something world eating, something something anti-god weapon.¡± Weirdly, Viviana¡¯s sonar vision suddenly enhances and allows her to feel Esther¡¯s fastening heartbeat. Why is her heart pacing faster? ¡°Uh, Esther,¡± she called. ¡°Are you alright? You seem tense.¡± Esther collected herself and nodded in response. ¡°Yes¡­ I was thinking of something. Don¡¯t worry, it¡¯s not that important.¡± ¡°Okay?¡± Somehow Viviana doesn¡¯t believe her in the slightest. ¡°Where¡¯s Harina?¡± ¡°My liege is down in the lower deck. She¡¯s waiting for you. I suggest we hurry and meet her there. She is not the kind who likes to wait around doing absolutely nothing.¡± *** After finishing with helping Viviana dress, Esther guided her to the main lobby located on the lower deck where Harina was waiting for them. Harina was sitting on one of the sofas there with her feet up on the table in front of her while munching candies from a cocktail glass with a smug smile. ¡°My liege,¡± Esther said, bowing respectfully at Harina. ¡°Lady Viviana is dressed and ready.¡± ¡°Good.¡± Harina put the glass down and gestured at Viviana to sit down. Viviana took the sofa right across from her and sat down cautiously. Esther leaned into Harina and whispered into her ears. ¡°My liege, lady Viviana¡­her dream has occurred. Your predictions are correct once again, as expected of you.¡± ¡°Wait, what? It¡¯s way ahead of schedule. Something is terribly off, Essy. Someone else is behind the scene.¡± ¡°What do you mean, my liege?¡± ¡°This shouldn¡¯t happen, not for another year. This is not right!¡± Esther recoiled in Harina¡¯s distress and bowed her head lower. ¡°I¡¯m very sorry, my liege, but her description is just as what you told me. Desolate and rubbly city and gelatinous black liquid covering the ground.¡± ¡°Did she say anything else?!¡± ¡°She mentioned something about a shadowy figure talking to her in her dream. I haven¡¯t inquire further but¨C¡± ¡°You idiot! You should¡¯ve told me sooner!¡± ¡°My apologies, my liege!¡± ¡°You fail me, Esther. I will remember this.¡± Harina bit her tongue, her mind racing to come up with a theory of but none seem to come up. This is wrong. Viviana shouldn¡¯t be dreaming about that for another year! Something is fucking with me! I have to find the reason why and who. She put the thought aside and dismissed Esther with a wave of her hand. She then turned to Viviana. ¡°Why the glum face?¡± Harina said, her tone mocking. ¡°Restless sleep? Bad dream? Unable to do the deed?¡± ¡°Eww, you¡¯re actually disgusting,¡± Viviana scoffed. ¡°No! What the hell is the matter with you?¡± ¡°You¡¯re a big girl, V. I just thought that, you know¡­you might want to release your pent up feelings but can¡¯t. I¡¯m not judging you.¡± ¡°There¡¯s so many things wrong with your brain, Har. Not everything needs to be sexualised.¡± ¡°That¡¯s what a closet perv always said.¡± ¡°How am I a perv when I¡¯m¡ª¡± ¡°A virgin?¡± Harina chuckled. ¡°Let me tell you something real quick. I have travelled to many worlds, okay. I have seen literally millions of dirty minded virgins, closet or not.¡± ¡°Can we just drop this¡­whatever we¡¯re talking about and please, for the love of God, fill me in on this debt collecting field trip you plan for me.¡± ¡°Hold on a second.¡± Harina turned her tablet on and tapped into it. A short while later, a bird whistle sound could be heard as she turned it off and tossed her tablet off to Esther who quickly caught it with her hands. ¡°You still have your electronic implants in your head right? The one everyone got when they were little?¡± Viviana nodded. ¡°Yeah? What about it?¡± ¡°I just transferred some walking around money to your account. Turner Estri is quite a sizable hub. Your stomach might rumble after we¡¯re done doing our debt collection. You can explore around, grab a bite, buy new things that you might be interested in while I talk with the head of the syndicate that oversees that hub.¡± ¡°Who?¡± ¡°Some guy named Edon. His syndicate is a joke compared to ours but he has his uses so I¡¯ve been allowing him to live.¡± ¡°That¡¯s not really a fair comparison don¡¯t you think? You¡¯re comparing QU, the literal biggest and most dangerous in the universe, to a small-time, fifth rate organisation.¡± ¡°Sounds like his problem, not mine.¡± ¡°That aside, how much did you give me?¡± ¡°Four and a half quintillion credits¡ª¡± Viviana quickly jumped in surprise. ¡°Say what?!¡± ¡°What? It¡¯s just a pocket change, V. Stop being surprised already.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think you know how batshite insane it is to give a young girl FOUR AND A HALF QUINTILLION CREDITS! I mean, for God¡¯s sake, Har, I come from a background of poverty! My bank account never even reached a hundred thousand let alone one quintillion. Do you know how many zeros there are in a quintillion?¡± ¡°Eighteen.¡± ¡°Correct!¡± Viviana exclaimed in frustration. ¡°Look, it¡¯s just a¡­ consider those your monthly allowance, okay. I understand that you might be expecting a little more¡ª¡± ¡°A little more?!¡± Viviana twitched, trying to process whether Harina is genuinely joking or was being serious. ¡°If you give me fifty thousand¡­ I wouldn¡¯t even be sure I could spend it all in a single day. Like, come on! How much is it for street food?!¡± ¡°Shut the fuck up, V. Sheesh, calm the hell down. It¡¯s just an allowance. Use it, don''t use it, that¡¯s your call. I¡¯m just giving you money. You might not get it because your slut of a mother could even barely feed you but I have money to waste. Try to live a little, would you?¡± ¡°What did you just say?¡± ¡°I said that you¡¯re poor and I¡¯m not. What are you going to do about it?¡± ¡°You motherfucker¡ª¡± Viviana quickly stood up in anger, trying to reach Harina but she casually kicked the table forward, knocking Viviana by her feet. The moment Viviana landed on the table, Harina picked up a bread knife and stabbed Viviana on her left shoulder. Viviana let out an agonising scream as the dull, slightly serrated knife penetrated deep into her shoulder and shattered her clavicle on the first insertion. The extreme regeneration quickly closed her entry wound and regrow her shattered clavicle in two seconds but due to the knife still sticking inside and acting as a plug, the regeneration caused her pain to escalate. ¡°Sooo¡­ weak,¡± sneered Harina. ¡°At this rate, you¡¯ll never be a worthy leader to Quindecim Umbra.¡± ¡°You monster,¡± Viviana growled through her gritted teeth, wincing in pain. ¡°You are beyond weak. You¡¯re an embarrassment. Your parents are rolling in their graves if they could see you.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t you dare bring them up! I swear to God I¡¯ll fucking¡ª¡± Harina lifted her feet up and stomped on the handle of the knife, thrusting it deeper and penetrated both Viviana and the table, going through it so easily. Viviana screamed even louder as blood continued to flow out of her wound. ¡°What? I know that you wish to be a hero of somekind, what a fucking joke. You wish to save the world, yet you can¡¯t even save your mother from selling herself out. You wish that you could kill yourself, well too bad! You ain¡¯t dying any time soon!¡± In rage, Viviana punched the table with her fist. The prosthetic arm Harina gave her proved to be much more powerful than she expected, exerting enough energy to tear the table in two. She stood up angrily and pulled the bread knife stuck in her shoulder. Harina chuckled slightly and whistled as Viviana walked over to her. ¡°Eat this¡ª¡± Viviana thrusted the knife forward but Harina simply slapped her hand aside, grabbed the flower vase behind her and slammed it at Viviana¡¯s head. Viviana falls again as her head begins to bleed profusely with a wide cut on her left side. She rolled her body in pain as Harina shook her head in disappointment. ¡°Don¡¯t get over yourself, V. You threw one punch¡­that¡¯s it.¡± Viviana dragged herself away from Harina, her hand reaching for a broken piece of the vase on the floor. Harina walked to Viviana and kicked her hand away. She proceeds to lift Viviana up above her shoulder and slam her back first into her knee. The bone cracking sound was so audible that the main lobby staff recoiled in horror behind their counter. Once Viviana fell to the ground, she found herself unable to move any part of her or even utter a word out. ¡°W-Wha¡ª¡± Viviana tried to speak but she could only muster enough strength to stutter with air escaping her as she spoke. ¡°I just broke your back,¡± Harina replied in a completely casual tone. ¡°I would say thoracic vertebrae five to eight, I remember that distinct ugh ugh sound of pneumothorax very, very well. In fact, I got it on speed dial.¡± ¡°Y-You¡ª¡± Harina snapped her finger, gesturing at Esther who was watching them from the corner of the lobby. She stood up and pulled her sleeves before opening her palms flatly and struck them on Viviana¡¯s back. Her spine returned to its previous shape and allowed her to breathe again. But the pain from Esther¡¯s lightning fast punches still lingers and stung her. ¡°You like it?¡± Harina smirked smugly. ¡°That¡¯s an ancient martial art I learned from one of the worlds I visited a long time ago. The country it originates from used it for self defence purposes but some big brained monks found some niche medical uses. They rely more on swift, open palm movements than exerting their energies with the usual knuckle punches.¡± ¡°Oh my God¡ª¡± Viviana felt her arms and legs moving again. She stood up and brushed the glass shards off of her, still clutching her shoulder. ¡°Look, V,¡± Harina sighed, rubbing her nose. ¡°I don¡¯t like to toss you around like a ragdoll, okay. Just do me one favour¡­ stop fucking around like a five years old and do what I told you, when I told you, okay? Are we cool?¡± Viviana didn¡¯t immediately respond and instead walked over to the counter in the bar area. The two girls behind the counter quickly ducked behind their station as Viviana grabbed the marble stone slab laid on top and ripped it off using her prosthetic arms enhanced strength. ¡°I paid good money for that marble slab¡­¡± She sighed again and lowered her head in exasperation as Viviana walked back towards her with the slab raised above her head, her face stoic but full of rage. ¡°I wouldn''t do it if I were you.¡± Viviana pulled her arms back and prepared to slam the slab as hard as she could at Harina. A red glow suddenly appeared above Harina, forming into a reddish black halo, completely made of metal with nineteen spikes facing out. The halo expands outward and lights up brighter before a red sword materialises from the centre and falls into Harina¡¯s hand. She sliced the slab into three and delivered a powerful spin kick at Viviana, launching her back against the wall. Harina spun the red sword with her hand before throwing it at Viviana, penetrating her chest and into the wall behind her, nailing Viviana on the wall like a painting. ¡°Should¡¯ve listened, V.¡± As she began to bleed from the stabbing wound, she began to notice something¡ªsomething that brought fears back into her. ¡°W-What? How?¡± She seems to keep bleeding out as the sword glows redder and brighter. Her bleeding not only didn¡¯t stop, her wounds didn¡¯t close at all. ¡°W-What is this?¡± ¡°That¡¯s one of my swords, Corpus. The sword of Body Extermination,¡± Harina said with a smirk. ¡°It only damages the physical body and nullifies any native regenerative capabilities, essentially preventing its target to heal. Any stab, cut, hack or slash is basically turning into haemophilia.¡± Viviana was getting used to the feel of getting stabbed or cut by Harina from her previous injuries as Harina¡¯s gift of extreme regeneration gives her the consolation of constant healing. But in this instance, where her extreme regeneration turned off completely and didn''t heal her, she felt fear once more. She winced and groaned in pain, breathing heavily from the agonising pain but tried to slow her breath down to lessen the gushing blood as adrenaline began to take effect to keep her awake. Harina approached her closer and pushed the handle inward, pushing the sword deeper into the wall. Viviana used her hands to grip the sword, unable to resist Harina¡¯s more powerful physical strength and cutting her fingers on the edge. She poked Viviana¡¯s forehead and lightly slapped her cheeks in sadistic amusement. Her smile was completely out of remorse nor disgust and instead lit up in cruel enjoyment. ¡°I want to make something VERY clear to you, V,¡± she said, giggling slightly. ¡°I do not like to hurt people, at least not when I don¡¯t have to, especially you, the person I trusted to succeed me. BUT¡­You seem to enjoy provoking me worse and worse. How fucking hard is it to get the line please, don¡¯t anger me, o¡¯succeesor into your frontal lobe, V? You seem to have a habit of fucking around and finding out for the past 24 hours. The first two irked me, but the third straight up annoyed me. DO NOT TEST ME, YOU LOWLY DAUGHTER OF A BITCH! YOU DO NOT BITE THE HAND THAT FEEDS!¡± Harina took a deep breath and calmed herself down before putting her hand around the handle again. ¡°Come on, V. Let¡¯s just forget all of these never happened, yeah? Let¡¯s just shake hands, collect the debts and grab a bite later. What do you say?¡± When she tried to pull the sword out of the wall¡ªand her mentee¡ªViviana gripped the sharp edge tightly and instead tried to pull the sword back into her. ¡°I¡¯m being REALLY generous, V. Enough is enough, let the fucking shiv go.¡± Viviana didn¡¯t say anything back to Harina, only letting out a pained groan as the sword moved back to her millimetre at a time. ¡°I-If I die here¡­the contract will be broken¡­ Hehe¡­¡± she said between her breaths. ¡°There won¡¯t be anyone t-to succeed you if I just killed m-myself, right?¡± ¡°Very funny,¡± Harina smirked before pulling her right arm back and punching Viviana in the face with force, knocking her out. ¡°Too bad it doesn¡¯t work like that, dumb bitch.¡± With Viviana unconscious, Harina shook her head in disappointment and pulled the sword out of her completely. Once the sword was no longer through her chest and she fell to the floor, the extreme regeneration began to take effect once more, gradually closing her wound until it closed entirely. *** Viviana falls right back to her dream realm, landing on the black liquid and bounces up and down momentarily before coming to a full stop. When she looked around, the shadowy figure was still waiting there, sitting on top of a rubble of a collapsed building. ¡°I take it that you got your arse kicked?¡± Viviana shook her head, stood up and threw a small pebble at it, only for the pebble to go through it like it wasn¡¯t even there. ¡°Rude.¡± ¡°Oh, piss off, shade,¡± snark Viviana. ¡°You can¡¯t fight her one on one right now. She killed more people before you finished your breakfast. What chance did you think you had with that marble slab at her?¡± ¡°I DON¡¯T KNOW!¡± shout Viviana in frustration. ¡°I¡¯m just so angry, I grabbed the first thing I saw and the goddamn thing just ripped off the¡ª¡± Viviana stopped for a second, thinking about what the shadowy figure just said. She turned her head slowly at it confused. ¡°Hang on for a bloody sec!¡± Her brows are rising in perplexity. ¡°How did you know that? I mean the counter¡¯s marble slab? I haven¡¯t said anything about that.¡± The shadowy figure scoffed in response. Its eyes moving in a way that looks like it¡¯s rolling them. ¡°I just did¡­ nothing more, nothing less.¡± ¡°That¡¯s something that just happened minutes ago, in the real world. How did you even know that when you¡¯re here in this dank realm?¡± The shadowy figure seemed to shift around uncomfortably as Viviana kept gazing at it. ¡°I don¡¯t want to talk about it.¡± ¡°No no no no, shade. You don¡¯t get to use the I don''t want to card on me, shade.¡± Viviana walked up the rubble and approached the shadowy figure but it slid down and walked away from her. ¡°I said I don¡¯t want to talk about it.¡± Viviana persists to follow her and inquire further. ¡°No no, let¡¯s talk, shade. I¡¯m already curious.¡± ¡°Curiosity kills the cat.¡± ¡°I''d rather take death than ruling the universe¡¯s criminal underworld with an iron fist like her!¡± Viviana continued to follow it as it sped up its pace. ¡°You are not going to die. Harina will.¡± ¡°See, that¡¯s what I¡¯m talking about you knowing my future. Why and how did you even know about that?¡± ¡°Leave me alone.¡± ¡°We¡¯re not done talking.¡± ¡°I have.¡± ¡°Shade, you seem to know something¡­a lot of things about my future. What is it?¡± ¡°The future is uncertain. No future is as certain as people might think.¡± ¡°What the bloody hell does that even mean?!¡± ¡°It means give it up and stop, return to the real world. Harina is going to suspect something if you fall unconscious for too long.¡± ¡°Nah, bruv. I¡¯m sticking around until you give me an explanation¡ªactual. fucking. explanation.¡± The shadowy figure suddenly stopped in its tracks and turned around at Viviana. It raises its index finger up and points at her, scowling its eyes. ¡°Listen here, you little shite. Do as I say and wake up. This conversation we have is taking too long. Don¡¯t risk the future with your stubbornness.¡± Viviana walked up to its shadowy face and stood her ground. ¡°Make me.¡± It turned around again, pulling its hair in exasperation and let out a very audible groan. While it stresses out, its shadowy prosthetic arms whir and a small blip flash from the elbow. Viviana looked down and noticed that her prosthetic arms were also blipping in a similar white flash just like it. Her mind races, completely bewildered by the identical, nearly instantaneous timing. ¡°We can¡¯t talk about this anymore. Sorry. I¡¯m gonna have to end our session.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°Bye-bye.¡± Suddenly, the same invisible arms grabbed around her waist and pulled her up into the blinding sky again. *** She woke up in the real world with her face splashed and wet, still on the ground in the lower deck¡¯s main lobby. Harina sat on the same sofa and Esther stood up with an empty glass in her hand. Harina shook her glass of candy and leaned back. ¡°Welcome back, I was waiting to see whether you¡¯re going to wake up again after having your chest penetrated and your regeneration deactivated for a short period of time.¡± Viviana turned around in confusion. ¡°What just happened?¡± Her vision behaves differently between her dream realm and the real world. In her own realm, she could see normally but when she returned to the real world, her vision still hadn''t returned and she had to rely on her sonar vision again. Harina watched how Viviana blinked her eyes repeatedly, seemingly confused and lost. Her suspicion begins to deepen. Esther¡¯s report on Viviana¡¯s dream puts her in unease. She¡¯s hiding something. I fucking know for a fact that her vision hadn¡¯t returned. She saw something while she was out. Something¡¯s not right. Something¡¯s fucking with me right now. Whoever, whatever it is, I will find it and fuck it up! ¡°You pass out¡­ for two minutes and sixteen seconds,¡± said Harina, her eyes never leaving Viviana, who was still blinking. ¡°I asked Esther to pour water on your face, but you only woke up after the ninth glass¡­ that¡¯s quite unusual. Another weird dream, V?¡± Viviana stood back up and looked down to her chest, already healed with her blood still marked on her dress. ¡°Something like that,¡± she replied, not bothering to say anything more. Harina¡¯s suspicion grew even more. She decided to put her glass of candy down and activated one of her ocular powers. Her vision changed, now showing her fine astral lines around every person she sees. Everyone in the lobby; Esther, the two girls behind the counter, 6-0 and his team still showed only one outline around them. Viviana on the other hand showed two different outlines, one of her and one much more powerful, much darker than hers but still hers regardless. This is not right. It¡¯s like there¡¯s two Viviana here. Hold on¡ª She closed her eyes and tapped into her foresight. She saw the present Viviana who stood before her and the future Viviana she saw in the vision of her inevitable death. But no matter how hard she tried to access the foreshadowed fate, something was actively blocking her from seeing them. Her foresight could only see black. Even weirder, the line of time seems to give off an indescribable vibration, like a computation machine hanging from performing a complex computation beyond their intended capabilities. Oh ho ho¡ªwhat do we have here? A temporal ripple¡­looks like someone is trying to alter this timeline. Harina continued to snoop around a little bit more, turning her foresight back on and sees her own future death¡ªsomeway, somehow¡ªsomething even blocked her from viewing her own future. Very interesting¡­very interesting indeed. Viviana looked at Harina who seemed to be preoccupied with her own mind in silence, smirking smugly the whole time. ¡°You okay?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t mind me, I¡¯m having the best time of my life¡­so to speak,¡± Harina responded, grinning entertainingly. Esther walked to her back and leaned into her ears, whispering, ¡°My liege, we¡¯re approaching the docking sequence. Mr. Edon is awaiting your arrival at his office.¡± ¡°Good, tell him to stick around¡­ I have a lot to say to him,¡± Harina said, flashing a sadistic grin. She turned back to Viviana and continued, ¡°We are docking. Once we disembark, this ship is going back out into firing range. Stick close to me or Esther during our walk. People here don¡¯t know that you¡¯re with me yet, they might try to do anything funny to you. If one does, I want you to snap your finger. 6-0 and his team will do the shooting. Intimidation is a criminal¡¯s first layer of defence, after all.¡± ¡°That¡¯s a little too over the top, no?¡± Viviana argued but Harina casually shrugged her shoulders. Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. ¡°Everyone here is a criminal, V. Even the small-time, poor, least armed ones would still try their chance. Especially when they see a young, 150-something cm tall girl surrounded by eight highly armed and armoured personal details following her every step. No one is an exception here. Everyone can get mugged, molested, assaulted, raped or even mutilated and have their organs harvested.¡± The warning sent shivers down Viviana¡¯s spine and put her at unease and extremely uncomfortable. ¡°You mean everyone except you,¡± she snarked out loud, knowing very well that everyone there most definitely already knew Harina and what she¡¯s capable of. ¡°Well, duhh¡­ that¡¯s like common sense around here. I am the current most wanted list record holder, after all.¡± ¡°Whatever. So what about the two people we came here for?¡± ¡°My insider already sent me her intel. The four million borrower barred himself inside his crack den in one of the slum districts, the twenty trillion borrower already prepared to leave, he¡¯s loading up his ships to leave.¡± ¡°Are we going to let him just disappear? I thought you said we collect debt not because of the amount, but the principle?¡± ¡°Correct¡­ I had people stalling him from leaving.¡± ¡°You do?¡± Harina chuckled in her seat. ¡°Crazy how many things and permutations of things you can do with A LOT of money right?¡± ¡°Okay, so how are we going to collect their debt?¡± ¡°Let¡¯s make a bet,¡± Harina giggled. ¡°I would dare guess the first borrower to start shooting us the second we¡ªI knock at his door and the second would just straight up try to jump into light speed the moment he saw me approaching.¡± ¡°Alright, so what are we talking about here?¡± VIviana asked, interested in the outcomes. Harina smirked deviously. ¡°How does five sextillion credits sound to your ears?¡± Viviana was quick to scoff at her attempt at bribery. ¡°I don¡¯t want your money. I want something more lucrative for me in the long run.¡± Harina whistled in intrigue and nodded her head. ¡°What do you have in mind?¡± ¡°I want to ask you ten questions, no holds barred, any topic.¡± ¡°Nice. Let¡¯s do a little bargain. Five questions, unfiltered, any topics you wanted.¡± Viviana shook her head rejecting her bargaining and pressed further. ¡°Seven questions, every little detail, super personal questions.¡± ¡°Four questions, micro details and I¡¯ll throw in an order to our shipyard for your personal ship.¡± Viviana shook again, this time getting bolder than before. ¡°Three questions, anything I want, no one around, not even Esther.¡± ¡°One question, incriminating evidence and I¡¯ll let you choose your own ship¡¯s specifications, no limit.¡± ¡°Two questions, right to your deepest, darkest, smallest secret you haven¡¯t told anybody!¡± ¡°Does that include my sexual fantasies?¡± Harina asked, her tone half serious, half joking. ¡°Eww, no! You can keep it.¡± ¡°Final offer¡­two questions. One past, one present. Face to face and I¡¯ll ask Esther to step out.¡± ¡°Two questions. One past, one present. Esther can stick around but I want a full, actual thorough explanation. No matter how long, winded or crazy they are.¡± Harina sighed audibly, nodding in relent. ¡°Fine, two questions, past and present, with explanation. What¡¯s your guess?¡± Suddenly, the shadowy figure from her dream realm speaks to Viviana inside her head. ¡°You tell her exactly what I told you.¡± How are you¡ª ¡°I¡¯ll explain later! Just do it!¡± Okay, okay! What is it? ¡°The first borrower will shoot at you through the door with a shotgun¡ªtwo of the bolts will injure two of Six¡¯s men. The second borrower will have a catastrophic engine failure while trying to jump into light speed. He and his entire crew will die from the explosion and you and Harina will lose the twenty trillion credits he borrowed.¡± That is extremely specific. ¡°Just tell her! Stop fucking around, cunt!¡± You¡¯re in a bad mood today! Viviana pretended to cup her chin in thought while Harina waited for her. From Harina¡¯s perspective, she left her astral sight activated and could see the faint second outline around Viviana, seemingly vibrating weirdly and fade into her for a moment. Yep¡­ a second Viviana. That is not a split personality¡­ that¡¯s another existing Viviana. What are you doing, o¡¯future World-Eater? Why are you actively trying to block my foresight? What have you done in the future? Viviana turned back to Harina and said, ¡°I would say¡­ the first will shoot us through his door, I would guess that some of his shots will injure us. But since I¡¯m protected, I would say that unfortunately either him or his men might get shot. Non fatal, of course.¡± Harina only raised her brows at her extremely detailed and specific guess, her suspicions slowly turning into confirmation. Knowledge from the future, V¡­ you¡¯re gonna cause causality or worse¡­ a fucking paradox. Fucking bitch-arse moron. ¡°That¡¯s quite specific, V¡­Coming off of you,¡± Harina said. ¡°What about the second borrower?¡± ¡°Hmm¡­ I¡¯m guessing he would immediately escape by jumping into light speed, but his ship might have a malfunction as he frantically tries to save his skin. The engine might fail completely and explode, killing him and the twenty trillion credits he owed us.¡± What an actual retard¡­ you¡¯re quoting the other you word for word, aren¡¯t you? I know that our soul tethering hasn''t reached a point where my intelligence is passed on to you yet. This is either a really good bait¡ªor you are actually that stupid, V. ¡°Impressive,¡± she nodded, pretending to be impressed by the detail she¡¯s giving her. ¡°I¡¯m not even going to ask how you can be that accurate but whatever.¡± Viviana¡¯s smile faded into a slight confusion. ¡°Sarcasm?¡± Harina scoffed lightly. ¡°I don¡¯t know¡ªyou tell me.¡± *** The ship slowly approached the docking bay of Turner Estri, releasing multiple gigantic magnetic modules that connected to the bay, allowing the ship to extend its gangway into the station. Once the ship¡¯s gangway¡¯s airtight door opened, 6-0 and his team was the first to disembark, completely pointing their weapons forward at the ready before securing the way for Harina, Esther and Viviana. As Viviana stepped off, her sonar vision went overdrive again, completely overwhelmed by the incredibly noisy and busy station. She stumbled a few times before adjusting herself with her cane. ¡°You okay?¡± Harina asked, her tone slightly worried but still suspicious. ¡°Yeah,¡± Viviana brushes off. ¡°Slight inconvenience, that¡¯s all.¡± Though worried, Harina returned to her usual condescending self. ¡°Are you sure? You look like a drunkard who just got out of a bar.¡± Viviana chuckled in annoyance. ¡°Always quick with your quips.¡± ¡°You¡¯d be surprised how many comebacks I have written in my diaries.¡± They proceed to walk through the bustling market section of the hub. Viviana held a part of Esther¡¯s dress to prevent her from getting lost, but even with 6-0 and his entire team creating a barrier between Viviana and everyone in the crowded street, it proved more difficult than she had anticipated. Her sonar vision worked by sensing the vibration and sounds that reflected back to her hearing. It worked incredibly well in dark, isolated space, not crowded open space like the market street where every sound coming to her constantly overpower her hearing to a point it became a cacophony of noise. When they were cruising through the crowd, a hooded female bumped into Harina and handed her an envelope that she quickly caught in her hand. Rather than stopping, Harina continued without batting an eye and only pulled a pocket knife to cut the top of the envelope. Viviana too continued but looking back at the hooded female who went on like nothing even happened before disappearing into the crowd, indistinguishable from the others. She turned to Harina and asked, ¡°Who¡ªWhat was that?¡± Harina rips the adhesive tape sealing the envelope and pulls out a small piece of paper, folded multiple times. ¡°That¡¯s my insider,¡± she replied. ¡°Well, one of the many, anyway.¡± ¡°What intel did she give you?¡± ¡°The address of the first borrower, the pier number of the second borrower and his ship¡¯s name, type, identification number and specs¡­ and also a little something you don¡¯t need to know.¡± ¡°Is it sensitive?¡± ¡°Well, not really but I don¡¯t like people snooping around my nose, even if they are my own successor.¡± Viviana audibly sighed. ¡°I thought I¡¯m special to you,¡± she said in mock disappointment. ¡°Technically you are¡­ I just have certain rules that no one is omitted as an exception.¡± ¡°I thought that you¡­ we as a whole already know that the first borrower is barricading himself inside his apartment and the second is preparing to escape our debt collection visitation?¡± ¡°I did¡­ I never said anything about where the first lived and where the second docked the ship. You need to learn how to read between the lines and not make an immediate assumption.¡± ¡°What does that even¡ª¡± ¡°Since we¡¯re already here, I¡¯m just going to start our class.¡± ¡°Class?¡± ¡°Three lessons for now, I¡¯ll tell you the rest when we have the time. Lesson one in Crime Management 101: Behind every successful criminal organisation, there is a strong information provider. To know one¡¯s enemies, one needs to be able to know oneself with perfect accuracy and detail,¡± she began to ramble. ¡°V, information is the backbone of every successful job¡­ it means the difference between succeeding or failing miserably.¡± ¡°Okay¡­ so why separate the information?¡± Viviana asked. ¡°Why not just ask your insider to send you the information as one rather than differently? Isn¡¯t that wasting time and resources?¡± ¡°A very good question and argument. You see, in the world of crime, everything and everyone is open season. There is literally no treaty nor unwritten law that governs or guides how one can commit their acts and separate which is right and which is wrong. Everything is subjective. Everything is ambiguously available.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t understand¡­¡± Of course you won¡¯t, even your future self doesn¡¯t know the oversight you made. Retard¡ª ¡°It means that every act of crime can be done to anyone however possible or plausible¡­ which may or may not include communication interception. Which can really make one syndicate rise while the other fall.¡± ¡°Oh! Is that the reason why? Sounds exhausting.¡± ¡°Safety is premium around here. You don¡¯t want your valuable intel to fall in the wrong hands, especially your rival syndicate or even worse, law enforcement bodies. By separating the information that you need and have acquired, you leave tighter windows and bigger gaps, reducing or outright eliminating the chance of anyone outsmarting or outmanoeuvring you and your syndicate. As the old saying goes, you can¡¯t fight what you can¡¯t see. It¡¯s no difference.¡± ¡°But doesn''t that mean that we have to pay more and exert more resources to be able to afford and acquire that information? Isn¡¯t that a little contradictory and resource-depleting?¡± ¡°Absolutely correct. Lesson two: Behind every successful organisation, there is a strong financial and risk assessment manager. To combat one¡¯s expenses, one needs to know the scope of their maximum theoretical spending and be able to manage how much they can allocate for each specific task.¡± ¡°Okay, wait¡­ I think I can picture that lesson.¡± ¡°Go ahead, my dear pupil,¡± Harina said in intrigue. ¡°Explain.¡± ¡°You¡¯re saying that every syndicate needs to know their exact financial capabilities and note what they can and can¡¯t buy, right? I think that¡¯s how it goes.¡± ¡°In short, yes, that is very close¡­ Essentially, everyone needs to have a list of everything they own, both in tangible and intangible assets, what they have in their current inventory and what they can do with what they have in order to earn more profits to grow. Every upcoming or planned operation needs to set a realistic standard based on their financial and maximum potential capabilities, set aside unused assets to act as failsafe in case of any failure in operation management. I¡¯m not even going to list every possible factor and formula because there¡¯s just too many to spit out in a single sentence but the ones you should know the best are liability, liquidity and debt-to-equity ratio. They¡¯re going to be your best friend while also your business nightmare in the later micromanagement level.¡± Viviana shakes her head in confusion from the amount of info dumped into her brain. ¡°Wait, wait¡­slow down. That¡¯s-That¡¯s too much!¡± ¡°Now you know how stressful my job and task is,¡± Harina scoffed mockingly. ¡°Okay¡­ so what¡¯s the third lesson?¡± ¡°Lesson three: Behind every successful organisation, there is a strong daily business operation handler. To have a guaranteed quality that every customer can attest to, one needs to be able to find the right talent for each specific operation and train them until they meet the industry standard, if not better.¡± ¡°I feel like I¡¯ve heard that from one of the conversations my old plant¡¯s upper directors had. I don¡¯t know about whatever it is, though. I didn¡¯t finish school.¡± ¡°The shortest way to explain it is to know how to read, judge, measure and estimate a person¡¯s value and worth, usually in only one instance as business very rarely have second chances.¡± ¡°Okay¡­ so what¡¯s the longer way?¡± ¡°This one is actually difficult to pull off accurately and consistently even for the most seasoned human resources. One, this lesson leans more on the psychological side of things, meaning that you need to know a person¡¯s origins, background, their academic background, their past experiences and how they carry themselves. Two, the lesson also somewhat objectively leans into the more neuroscience side of things, but also neuropsychology and biopsychology.¡± ¡°I have zero idea what you just said.¡± ¡°It means that you don¡¯t just judge a person from the outside, you need to be able to understand how they think, what micro expressions they made during your interaction with them and how their bodies move and react to certain questions you throw at them, each escalate in difficulty, personality and ambiguity. Every person is different so you need to do all that in a single interaction, remember everything about them, do it all over again with the next person, and so on and on before making your conclusion on who¡¯s the best talent for you. It can get really speculative and extremely theoretical and you will experience what¡¯s called a recruitment bias. When I said that even the most seasoned human resources can fail to make an accurate and consistent prediction is because even counting every variable based on those interactions doesn¡¯t always guarantee the result you wanted or you thought you knew.¡± ¡°That is actually insane. How are you able to do that to me¡ªor even your entire organisation.¡± ¡°I am a daughter of a primordial god, V¡­firstborn of the second divine generation. You¡¯d think that I would be blessed with many ridiculous and definitely overpowered abilities.¡± ¡°And are you?¡± ¡°Of course, I can do it much better than regular humans but it¡¯s not always fallible. The future is never certain and very very VERY malleable like clay. The best you can do is make predictions, not confirmation.¡± ¡°Alright, but hang on a sec. How are we going to collect the debt the first borrower took?¡± See? That¡¯s what I¡¯m talking about you quoting the other you word for word. You don¡¯t even care about telling the present you about how we actually collect debts in the future. You are such a disappointment, World-Eater. Such a small oversight made by such an overpowered being. Harina cleared her throat. ¡°I have a little¡­device that can persuade even the most stubborn to talk.¡± Viviana quickly recoiled at the thought. ¡°It¡¯s another torture thingy, isn¡¯t it? Just how many ways of cutting people up do you have?!¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know, how many MREs have you eaten in your entire life?¡± *** They finally reached the end of the market street and descended down the access stairs into the slum district. The place was absolutely horrible, with rubbish thrown around as far as the eyes could see. The stench too was unbearable, every step they took felt like a dive into a bin. Although in a way the noise was so much less than the market street and allowed her to see much clearer, the sight didn¡¯t appeal to her in the slightest. Homeless people, beggars and those too sick to afford housing laid on the incredibly filthy street. Their eyes lit up as they saw her and the others walking down the slum¡¯s street. Their hands raised at them in response, begging for whatever they could spare. Spare credits madam?! Spare bread, ma¡¯am?! Madam! Madam! Please, good lady¡ª Everyone was quick to start begging as Harina got closer to them, their faces full of desperation and hunger. Esther swiftly walked past Harina and pulled a tube strapped on her right thighs. The tube extended out into a baton, which she used to smack their hands trying to touch Harina. One even persisted and Esther responded with a swift and harsh backhand swing at his face with the baton. ¡°Back off!¡± she hissed. ¡°You peasants will not touch my liege with your dirty hands. Back away.¡± Another homeless woman tried to touch Viviana¡¯s dress and 6-0 reacted quickly. He butted his rifle¡¯s stock against her face, knocking her back and out cold. Viviana was startled by the violence. She slapped his rifle with her cane and got into his face. ¡°Six! What the bloody hell are you doing?¡± He only turned to the homeless again and pointed his rifle at the rest. ¡°Protecting you, my lady,¡± he said. ¡°I didn¡¯t ask you to smack a helpless homeless woman!¡± ¡°I¡¯m very sorry, lady Viviana, but securing your perimeter and ensuring enough space between you and the unknown is within our job description,¡± he added, showing almost no remorse. ¡°Let¡¯s just go, V,¡± Harina said. ¡°I don¡¯t want to spend another second here. This place reeks.¡± Though she disagreed with her method of ensuring her security, Viviana only nodded and continued, 6-0 signed to his men with his hand and they began to tighten their formation around Viviana once again. Fifteen minutes after walking through the disgusting street, they finally arrived at the first borrower¡¯s ¡°den.¡± The place was a rundown shack with overhead cables and scrap metal and plastic rubbish scattered everywhere within the vicinity. ¡°Oh my god, this place is absolutely disgusting,¡± Viviana said in disgust, covering her nose. ¡°Yeah, not every criminal can afford the Ritz, can¡¯t they?¡± Harina scoffed. She turned to 6-0 and his men and tilted her head, gesturing at the rusty front door. 6-0 and two others stack up on each side of the door, switching their safeties off. He gave the signal and one in the right side of the door knocked twice. Out of a sudden, multiple bolts go through the door, surprising them. The men not near the door quickly opened fire at the shack. Esther stepped forward in front of Viviana and activated her energy shield. As the laser fire subsided, Harina walked nonchalantly towards the door. She knocked again with a smirk on her face. From behind the door, the borrower shouted, ¡°Who¡­Who the fuck are you?!¡± ¡°This is your financing agency speaking,¡± Harina replied, her tone unserious and giggling. ¡°You know we don¡¯t like our calls turned down. Rules are rules, you agreed to our terms and conditions. Why don¡¯t you open the door nicely, have our money ready and shake hands¡­ you can continue watching telly again when we¡¯re done.¡± ¡°Look, man! I don¡¯t have the fucking money right now!¡± ¡°That is not an excuse. As written under section three, paragraph two of borrower¡¯s responsibility and liability, every and all borrowers are required to submit an agreed report if they are unable to pay their monthly payment in time. If a borrower fails to submit their report and their reasons without any explanation after three days, the lender will give three calls to remind them of their responsibilities. Failure to comply will result in forced repossession as per financing contract and may or may not include hostile takeover and full submission to slavery.¡± ¡°I said I don¡¯t have the fucking money, bitch!¡± he continued to shout through the door. ¡°Now why don¡¯t you shut the fuck up and get out of here before I blast your face off!¡± Harina stifled her laughs and let out a small chuckle. ¡°Now now, there¡¯s no need to get bloody here. And by bloody, I mean you and yourself, not us.¡± ¡°Back the fuck off! I have a gun!¡± ¡°And so are we. That¡¯s like saying your cereal is wet because you pour the milk after,¡± Harina scoffed nonchalantly. ¡°Please! I really don¡¯t have the money right now! I-I¡¯ll pay you tomorrow!¡± ¡°Really? You don¡¯t have the money? Yet you have just enough to buy one or two power cells for your shotgun? I begin to doubt a little here.¡± ¡°I¡ªI bought them way before I took the loan!¡± ¡°You don¡¯t sound very convincing. Come on, now, just open the door and I¡¯ll forget our little standoff ever happened. You know how this goes, you can surrender yourself and our money, or we can keep shouting nonsense and lies until you dried your throat completely, fainted, and we burst through your door and tied your hands with cuffs.¡± ¡°Is there any other way? I¡ªI really don¡¯t have the money! I swear! The job was a bust! GPF raided our ops before the deal was done! There was no money coming in, I swear to God!¡± ¡°Sounds like a ¡°you¡± problem, chief. Why do you think I put up the entire rule, eh stupid? You have three days. Three fucking chances to submit your payment inability report and you miss all three. You are either dyslexic or just an idiot. Now pay up, either with credits that you took or your servitude. Either way, Quindecim Umbra never walks out empty handed¡ªnever has, never will.¡± The pressurised borrower screamed from behind the door and opened fire again. As predicted, one of the stray bolts hit one of 6-0¡¯s men while one bounced off Esther¡¯s energy shield and struck another in the leg. The two men instantly fall to the ground bleeding, 6-0 and the rest swiftly return fire at the borrower¡¯s door. Harina casually turned around to look at the injured men and whistled. Wow¡­they really did get shot. Two men. Impressive. ¡°Alright, I say we call it a day,¡± Harina sighed then whistled at Esther. Esther bowed her head and approached the door. She pulled out a small, circular metal object and put it on the door, pressing the button. The object began to beep rapidly as Harina and Esther stepped back. ¡°Is-Is that a bomb?!¡± Viviana asked in shock. ¡°Eh, close¡­it¡¯s a breaching charge¡ªessentially just a bomb for doors and vaults,¡± Harina replied, shrugging her shoulders. The object then blew off, sending broken pieces of metal and dust everywhere. Harina and Esther walked back into the den nonchalantly, gesturing at Viviana to come with them. Inside, Esther tapped her bracelet. The bracelet suddenly materialised a combat gauntlet nearly instantly on her hand. She approached the downed borrower. He was laying on the floor bloodied, his legs blown off completely from the charge. ¡°Please¡ª¡± Esther quickly punched the man in the face with her gauntlet so hard that three of his teeth flew out of his mouth and dislocated his jaw. ¡°Shut up!¡± She hissed then punched him again in the chest, causing him to struggle to breathe. Harina and Viviana stepped into the den, each with completely different expressions. Harina didn¡¯t utter a single word and continued towards the man while Viviana visibly held herself from vomiting. ¡°We wouldn¡¯t have this problem if you just opened the bloody door,¡± Harina said. She pulls out a machete from her trench coat and twirls it around. Viviana, even though she can only see with her sonar vision, could see the razor sharp edge of the machete, the light it reflected gave her chills. ¡°Look, mate. I already killed twenty six blokes just before breakfast alone, I do not want to round my kill count to a hundred before sundown. Help a sister out and pay your debt back, what do you say?¡± Viviana turned to Harina, confused. ¡°Didn¡¯t we meet in the morning? How did you kill twenty six before ten in the morning?!¡± ¡°The beauty of multitasking¡­ fried rice on the left hand and a chainsaw on the right,¡± Harina quipped. ¡°Hear, hear. I can torture people all day long, okay? Do I enjoy it? Kind of, but I don¡¯t like wasting my precious time. I had an empire to run and it is very, very, VERY time consuming.¡± ¡°Look¡ªLook, I¡ªI don¡¯t have them on me right now!¡± The borrower cried out. Harina swung the machete downward, piercing his right thigh and pinning him to the floor. Her eyes turned to suppressed anger. ¡°That is just simply not true,¡± she said. ¡°Did you really think I didn¡¯t have a strong network of information to track every borrower¡¯s moves?¡± ¡°What are you talking about¡ª¡± ¡°Let¡¯s start with the Station 810 job. You said the job was a bust and yet my source told me that one of your hackers got into the station¡¯s main network, syphoning four hundred million credits in thirty seven seconds. I know that you wankers party hard after the supposedly bust job. So let me ask you again¡­where is my money?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t have¡ª¡± ¡°Bollocks¡­ Do you think I would believe that you stole four hundred million credits and still can¡¯t pay your meagre four million credits debt? Actual retard.¡± ¡°Please! I don¡¯t¡ª¡± ¡°Alright, fine. You make me do this.¡± Harina stood up and handed the machete to Viviana. Viviana looked up at Harina, puzzled. ¡°What¡ªWhat are you doing?¡± she asked, confused and scared. ¡°I want you¡­ to cut his throat. Let¡¯s do a quick, little biology lesson.¡± ¡°Eww! No way!¡± ¡°Take the fucking machete, V. This is not a request¡­ It''s an order. I¡¯m asking you nicely, I will not ask you again.¡± ¡°A-Are you expecting me to kill this man?!¡± ¡°No, I want you to cut his throat and pull his pipe out. If he dies, I wouldn¡¯t mind either.¡± Viviana grabbed the machete and tossed it away, completely disgusted. ¡°I am not going to kill him! Are you out of your mind?!¡± Harina stretched her left hand out in the direction the machete was tossed and it suddenly flew back into her hand. Viviana¡¯s hand then moved on its own and took the machete off of Harina. What¡­What just happened? ¡°You might not like it¡­ but I own you, V. I can make you do anything, even the most depraved, the most disgusting thing without you being able to fight it off or do anything about it.¡± Viviana tried to move her body but it didn¡¯t move at all, like an immovable statue. Harina giggled before flashing a sadistic grin. ¡°Do as I say¡­ or I¡¯ll turn the extreme regeneration off of you and carve you up with a blunt and rusty cardboard cutter for an entire afternoon and then showered you with lemon and salted water.¡± She can feel her body moving again at her own volition. Shaken and afraid, she hesitated for a second while holding the machete in her hand, slowly walking towards the downed and injured borrower. The man looked up at her, noticing her pale eyes, like she couldn''t see him with those eyes. ¡°Have¡­ Have mercy¨C¡± Esther grabbed the man¡¯s hair and pulled his head back, exposing his neck for Viviana. Viviana pulled a deep breath, her heart racing wildly. ¡°Sorry¡­¡± she said, closing her eyes. She began to slice the man on his neck, her hands shaking intensely from the repulsive and sickening action she did. Blood gushes out profusely as the man gurgles and choked on his own blood. His blood flowed around them, VIviana could feel her sandals and feet getting wet and warm from his blood. She dropped the machete and looked at her bloodied hands. She slowly let out a cry. Harina grabbed her shoulder and gestured at the dying man. ¡°Don¡¯t do halfsies. If you can harm, you need to be able to end their suffering too.¡± Viviana, shaken by fear, looked at Harina. ¡°What¡­What do you expect me to do?¡± Harina took Viviana¡¯s hands and guided them back to the man¡¯s slit neck, inserting her fingers into the opening. ¡°Pull it quickly and spontaneously. One crack and he will cease to suffer,¡± Harina said slowly. ¡°If you do it slowly, he will suffer more.¡± Viviana inserts her fingers deeper into his neck, feeling the squishy and still bleeding trachea. The moment she held his trachea, her fear began to overpower her again. She sniffed, still crying. ¡°I¡ªI can¡¯t,¡± she murmured. ¡°Yes, you can,¡± Harina cheered. ¡°Just do it quickly, he has suffered enough.¡± Viviana mustered the courage and tried to pull it out to break but her fear and disgust weakened her trembling hands. She pulled again and again but it just won¡¯t break. She groaned between her cries and rising frustration at her inability to end the man¡¯s life. She pulled her hand out and stepped back. Esther was about to drop the man¡¯s head but Harina stopped her as Viviana reached to grab the machete. Her face now indistinguishable from her previous innocence, now wielding the machete with the struggling breathing. Viviana raised the machete above her head with both hands and hacked his neck multiple times. She keeps hitting the bone from holding the machete incorrectly and swinging it uncontrollably. It took seven swings until his head completely separated from his body. Viviana roared and threw the machete from her, crying harder and louder. Harina took his head from Esther and placed it on the table next to Viviana. She kicked the head off of the table in anger with enough force that the severed head flew across the room and stuck to the wall. From Viviana¡¯s perspective, the second she successfully ended his life, her left eye flashes a short blip of red. Gradually, she could begin to see with her left eye while her right still showed her only black. For the first time since she lost her vision, she could see things again. She looked down and looked at her bloodied hands, completely red from his almost dried blood. Inside her heart, she could hear a single faint click sound. Her fear subsided and was replaced with a weird tingly feeling of dissatisfaction. Like she wanted to do it again. What is this? Is¡ªIs this bloodlust? What have I become? She turned to Esther. Her newly awakened vision allowed her to see Esther inside and out, through her skin and see her internal organs incredibly clearly. She blinked and the vision changed, now showing Esther¡¯s blood flow and heart race. She blinked again, now seeing a blue flame circulation inside Esther. She blinked again, now seeing multiple fading silhouettes of Esther, like she could predict what her next movement is, where and when. Harina¡¯s eyes¡­ so this is what she¡¯s capable of. Harina looked at Viviana¡¯s newly activated left eye and chuckled internally. ¡°Aww,¡± she said mockingly. ¡°My successor just had her first kill ever. I am speechless¡­ beyond words.¡± Viviana looked up in contempt. Her face scowled at Harina. ¡°Fuck you, you literal monster.¡± ¡°Aww, don¡¯t be too moody, killa¡¯.¡± Harina chuckled, her tone more sarcastic. ¡°Come, let¡¯s get something to eat. I¡¯m sure swinging that machete drained your belly.¡± Harina walked over to the corner of the room, picking up the bloody machete. Viviana wiped her bloodied hands on her coat. ¡°I¡¯m not hungry, bugger.¡± Harina bent her elbow with the machete positioned between her forearm and bicep. With a single, slow pull she cleaned the blood off of the machete. ¡°You ate like ten hours ago. It¡¯s almost eight¡­ you are fucking lying if you said you¡¯re not hungry.¡± She pressed Viviana. But she still won¡¯t budge. ¡°I am not!¡± ¡°Alright, alright. Still not done moping your innocence, I see.¡± Esther approached Harina, leaning into her ears. ¡°My liege,¡± she began. ¡°A Jane Doe wants to see you¡­ the subject matter seems to be rather urgent.¡± Harina raised a brow in not so delighted intrigue. ¡°I smell the wind of bad news,¡± she responded. Slinging the machete back into her trench coat, she took Viviana by the hand and pulled her up to her feet. ¡°I said I¡¯m not¡ª¡± ¡°I don¡¯t care what you feel, Savannah Six!¡± Harina cut her off immediately. ¡°We¡¯re going. Now move your arse and follow me.¡± *** After her first very disturbing and surreal murder experience, Viviana followed Harina and Esther to another location in the space station. Their next destination, to say the least, surprised her in a good way. Harina took her to what seems to be a very fancy restaurant where a choir and orchestral band played in the far front while diners in lavish suits and dresses enjoyed their meals. With the ability to see everything again, Viviana felt a strange enjoyment in seeing an actual restaurant with her own eyes and not like watching it on her telly. Though, in another twist, because she has gotten used to seeing and sensing her surroundings using sound, the musical piece played by the restaurant¡¯s very own musicians somewhat overwhelmed her. They approached the front desk where an aged gentleman stood behind wearing a luxurious three piece suit and perpetually smiling. He smiled at Harina and opened the gilded book in front of him. ¡°Good evening, madam. Welcome to Maleficent Roads. I am but your humble host, Lothe.¡± Harina stepped forward elegantly. Her sudden change to a more refined, upper class lady from her blunt, rude, snarky, sadistic criminal persona surprised Viviana. She put a very uncharacteristic polite smile. But Viviana still didn¡¯t buy her fake personality knowing how she really is underneath. ¡°Good evening, my good man. I would like a table for two for me and my young, impressionable student.¡± What does she mean by student? Did she really see Viviana as someone she wanted to teach or was it just another sweet word to go with the flow? The host nodded and held the pen above the gilded guest book. ¡°May I have your name, please?¡± ¡°Dea¡­¡± Harina¡¯s smile turned to her usual, in-character, sadistic smirk. ¡°Harina¡­ Dea.¡± The host visibly gulped, twitching his brows nervously. He cleared his throat before straightening his composure. ¡°My apologies, I didn¡¯t hear that correctly¡ª¡± ¡°I said¡­¡± Harina swiped a card across the desk at the host. ¡°Harina¡­ Dea.¡± The card was a thin black metal plate engraved with a logo of a skull with four red claw marks horizontally down to the right and a bold, all capital ¡°Quindecim Umbra¡± written on it. The host shifted in response to the card before nodding respectfully. ¡°I see¡­ We have an exclusive table ready at the moment.¡± He gulped again. ¡°Would you like to take that table, madam?¡± Harina pulled the card back into her trench coat. ¡°Yes, that¡¯ll suffice. Have the establishment owner know that I¡¯m here, will you? Tell her to bring me her report.¡± The host bowed deeply. ¡°Of course. It will be done.¡± Viviana darted between Harina and the terrified and nervous host for a moment, wondering who Harina meant by owner and what report she wanted. She followed Harina and Esther to a table near the far right corner of the restaurant. Four servers welcomed them and set their table with incredible professionality and majesty. Once sitting down, Viviana turned her head back to look for 6-0 and his team, they stood right in the restaurant¡¯s lobby and guarding the entrance. She focused her attention back to the table, noticing that Esther only stood a few steps away from the table. ¡°Esther?¡± she called. ¡°Are you not going to eat?¡± ¡°A maid should not dine nor share a table with their lords and ladies,¡± Esther replied with a graceful bow. ¡°It is not permitted as per history taught.¡± ¡°Yeah, but¡ª¡± ¡°Just forget about it,¡± cut Harina. ¡°I tried to convince her a long time ago myself. I¡¯d rather talk to a brick wall. I figure I should just respect her decision and let her do as she wishes. You should too.¡± She flipped the menu book to the next page and slid Viviana another menu. ¡°Do yourself a favour and pick a dish¡­any dish you want to eat. Tonight¡¯s on me.¡± Viviana, feeling a little suspicious of Harina, who suddenly and randomly pulled her into the restaurant, looked at her intently. ¡°What are we doing here?¡± Harina, as usual, only replied in a very short, very crude answer. ¡°Dinner,¡± she said, her eyes still darting from each dish in the menu. The musical choir and orchestra finished their piece and Viviana turned to each corner of the restaurant, noting that most of the staff either stealthily listened to their conversation or outright performed their task while reducing the sounds they made. ¡°No¡­ What are we doing here really?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know what you¡¯re talking about,¡± replied Harina, waving at a waiter. The waiter walked to their table with a tablet in his hands. Harina smiled slyfully and told the waiter, ¡°I will have this one right here¡­crisp tuna paupiettes and a sweet and spicy tofu on the side.¡± ¡°A fine choice, madam,¡± the waiter said, putting her order on his tablet. ¡°What about the drinks?¡± ¡°Hmm, what wine do you people have?¡± ¡°May I know your budget, respectfully, of course.¡± ¡°Unlimited. What is the most expensive one you have?¡± ¡°May I recommend our finest bottle available, the Caine-La Rouche Monterey?¡± ¡°Finest bottle, you said? Elaborate.¡± ¡°It¡¯s a renowned Cabernet Sauvignon in the six neighbouring star system, madam. Made from the best grapes, harvested from the most fertile vineyard of the planet Eustrice at their most ripe time. Processed with extreme precision, care and love by the most passionate winemakers, bottled in their unique, homemade, custom glass bottle. Given how they only produced at max fifteen bottles per year, I would dare wage my employment that that wine is the best we have.¡± ¡°Yeah, I will take one bottle then.¡± She turned to Viviana and asked, ¡°What about you, love?¡± Viviana still looked at Harina in suspicion but then opened the menu and picked the first meat-based dish on the first page. ¡°I will take a fi-filee-filet mignon,¡± Viviana said, finding the dish¡¯s name difficult to say. ¡°And a glass of water.¡± ¡°Very fine choice, madam. What about your water? Spring-clear, sparkling, vitaminised, what is your preference?¡± ¡°Just¡­ Just water. Not whatever the hell you just mentioned.¡± ¡°Nope,¡± Harina interrupted the waiter before he jolted down the order. ¡°I will not have my student drink the common people''s water.¡± ¡°Harina¡ª¡± ¡°Shush. What non-alcoholic beverage would you recommend for a growing young adult like her?¡± The waiter cupped his chin in thought. ¡°What about fruit squash? It¡¯s a concentrated syrup and soda mix. Consumed in small doses, the sugar content will not affect blood sugar in an impactful way.¡± ¡°Hmm, fuck it. Get her a strawberry squash.¡± ¡°I see. Now if you excuse me, I will submit your orders to our kitchen. Please wait and enjoy the freshly baked garlic bread in the meantime.¡± After the waiter left their table, Viviana turned back to Harina. ¡°Come on, Har, you¡¯re not fooling anyone, especially me.¡± ¡°What the fuck are you talking about?¡± ¡°Quit your rubbish! Look at them,¡± Viviana gestured at the various staff throughout the restaurant. ¡°I know damn well they are not here to play the fancy house game.¡± ¡°And what led you to this silly conclusion?¡± ¡°For starters, the choir and the orchestra stopped playing already, the staff are too bloody quiet and the noise level dropped by a whole lot since we sat down!¡± She calmed herself down. ¡°Just tell me what is going on, will you?¡± ¡°Hmm, nice.¡± Harina nodded in approval. ¡°It seems that even one eye has given you enough leverage to know your surroundings with decent precision. I am thoroughly impressed.¡± ¡°I have sonar vision too, damn you!¡± ¡°Yeah, yeah, I know. I¡¯m just messing with you.¡± ¡°So tell me!¡± ¡°I just want to see how far you can inspect your surroundings with one of your eyes activated. The safest way is by testing you in a controlled space, i.e. this restaurant.¡± ¡°What do you mean controlled? Are you saying this is your restaurant?¡± ¡°Well¡ª¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Then came a woman wearing a black dress and a tophat. ¡°By sheer technicality alone, it is,¡± she said as she approached their table. Viviana looked at the woman and went back to Harina. ¡°Who the bloody hell is this?¡± ¡°My name is Vaibea Cillian,¡± the woman said, introducing herself before taking a seat. ¡°I welcome you, Lady Viviana, to my humble establishment, the Maleficent Roads.¡± ¡°How did you know my name?¡± ¡°When the biggest, most dangerous, most wanted person is visiting Turner Estri, I too would know. Word spreads very fast around here. And for elites like me, that means premium case to be onboard,¡± the woman replied with clever wording. Viviana looked at her in blank confusion, blinked a few times before asking, ¡°What?¡± ¡°Sorry,¡± Harina said, tearing the garlic bread in two. ¡°She¡¯s not that initiated yet.¡± ¡°Of course, I would expect the initiation process you have for her must be very strict,¡± Vaibea said, bowing slightly. ¡°V, this is Vaibea, one of the many insiders I have around the station. She is unique compared to rest for one, being the only elites selling information and actively hating the GPF and two, for being one of the most useful and least disappointing informants I have ever known.¡± ¡°Oh, please, my liege. I wouldn¡¯t be here without your interference in the past. Hell, this whole establishment is a testament of my loyalty to you.¡± ¡°Nice try, but you¡¯re not getting additional points for that weak alibi.¡± ¡°What is she talking about, Har?¡± Viviana asked. ¡°Long story short, she was one of the many child labour slaves of this station many years ago. When one of the ruling syndicates tried to rob one of my logistic fleet, I paid a little visit and maybe killed six thousand in the following hour. After liberating this station and giving the control to the last remaining syndicate, we made a deal that the leader of each generation would report to me annually and give me five percent of everything.¡± ¡°Five percent?¡± Viviana repeated. ¡°That¡¯s a little bit short, isn¡¯t it?¡± ¡°Yeah, but five percent times millions is still a very hefty number and a ridiculous passive income.¡± ¡°I suppose so.¡± ¡°Then, one of my lieutenants proposed an adoption and educational facility. I said yes just for the hell of it and realised a little late that the child slaves I saved turned out to be very successful in life years later, both legally and illegally. As you can see, one of them is sitting right across you, still hugging the tree I planted a long time ago.¡± ¡°Okay, I think I get the bigger picture here.¡± Harina closed the garlic bread basket and turned to Vaibea. ¡°Tell me what you got.¡± Vaibea leaned forward at them, her face turning serious. ¡°I¡¯ve been hearing things, my liege. I don¡¯t know how true or serious they are but I thought you might want to know,¡± she began. ¡°A few days ago, twelve ships docked here, all of their identification numbers and star-navigation tags were completely scrubbed clean.¡± ¡°Ghost cargo?¡± Vaibea shook her head. ¡°No, they¡¯re completely different, I think they belong to a different faction entirely, one that we haven¡¯t heard yet.¡± ¡°Okay, so what¡¯s weird about them?¡± ¡°They didn¡¯t disembark entirely for the whole time since they docked¡­ until today, exactly thirty minutes before your ship docked and dropped you and your group.¡± ¡°Stalker alert. I assume you have people following them, yes?¡± ¡°Yes, I have asked my off-work employees to follow them around and see what they are doing, where they are going and with whom they converse.¡± ¡°Nice. A little spying bonus for the working class. I like your way of thinking.¡± ¡°So here¡¯s where things get interesting. Most of them were staying close to pier 119 and eyed one ship, the Dilcan and its owner, Biager. They''re all masked with full robes and report to only one person, the one wearing a red mask.¡± Harina turned to Esther and asked her to come closer. ¡°Isn¡¯t that our second borrower? The one with the broken ship?¡± Esther nodded in confirmation. ¡°Yes, my liege. That is indeed true.¡± ¡°I see¡­ So someone is following me, trailing me. Must be another one of GPF¡¯s failure of a hunting party.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think so,¡± Vaibea added. ¡°For once, they seem to pay, threaten or coerce every ship owner docking in the vicinity of pier 119 to remove themselves. All thirty slots near 119 are completely empty and put up a maintenance warning. I called my guy working at the station¡¯s vehicular department, he said no maintenance work is scheduled for another four months.¡± ¡°Hm, that¡¯s something only special forces or black ops would pull,¡± Harina said. ¡°They want me captured but minimising unnecessary casualties near the engagement zone. Very by-the-book strategy¡­ this is interesting.¡± ¡°How do you know that?¡± Viviana asked. ¡°V, I founded my country¡¯s intelligence agency. You¡¯d think I would know everything written in the handbook.¡± ¡°I¡¯m just asking, no need to be all snarky.¡± Harina¡¯s face turned serious. ¡°But this is the worrying part, though¡­ they would absolutely know that I know what they¡¯re trying to do once we approach the second borrower. The question is, are they just doing the bust according to the handbook or do they know that I know and expect me to anticipate their bust and turns out it wasn¡¯t their plan all along or they might have another strategy to get me, one that is not in the book yet? I like the prospect of this guessing game.¡± ¡°You got me confused again, Har.¡± ¡°This is a trap but they know that I know this is a trap so they¡¯re planning another trap to trap me,¡± Harina continued, turning to Vaibea again. ¡°How many are they in total?¡± ¡°A thousand six hundred and thirty, including the one with the red mask,¡± Vaibea replied. ¡°They¡¯re very spread throughout the station, though most of them are focused in the docking area.¡± ¡°Yep, I knew it.¡± Harina sighed. ¡°Mamba Cross-Pincer. Damn, even my past is chasing me.¡± ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± Viviana asked. ¡°Mamba Cross-Pincer, named after a really infamous and sneaky animal, is an assault-ambush strategy uncommon in the world of unsanctioned transgalactic operations.¡± ¡°Is it bad?¡± ¡°Considering I was the one who coined the idea and suggested its insertion into the handbook¡­ yes, very. It is intended to fully neutralise the targeted individual or group to a complete and total paralysis by cutting their way of escape and access to other area with combat assets spread throughout a certain distance around the main engagement zone and one fire-focused asset fixed in the engagement, functioning as the main combatant, escape-deterrent and ambusher. That strategy is a very difficult strategy to execute due to the countless variables that can affect the operation and the very conditional requirement. Very niche and very difficult but very effective if executed properly.¡± ¡°With that information in your hand, I have to ask,¡± Vaibae said. ¡°What are you going to do?¡± ¡°Going there, of course.¡± ¡°Uh, Har? Getting a little suicidal vibe here,¡± Viviana muttered, looking at her warrily. ¡°Vai, how many fixers do you know that can take a spontaneous job?¡± ¡°I got everyone in my contact list.¡± ¡°Good.¡± Harina nodded. ¡°I want to put up a job.¡± Vaibea looked at her in confusion. ¡°Like¡­ Like right now?¡± ¡°Yes. Now. If they planned an MCP but expect me to do something else entirely, then I¡¯m going to humour them in my own twisted way.¡± ¡°Okay¡­ how much do you need?¡± ¡°All of them.¡± ¡°All of them? What about the pay?¡± ¡°One hundred trillion credits¡­ open contract, anyone can join, no experience required.¡± ¡°Okay, what should I tell the fixers? Who¡¯s the target?¡± ¡°Me.¡± Harina smirked. ¡°You?!¡± Viviana turned her head confused. ¡°That being said, save me the one with the red mask¡­ she¡¯s mine.¡± ¡°She? Do you know her?¡± ¡°I have an idea.¡± ¡°Who?¡± ¡°Who else? The Rose Red Hunter herself, Vakkert Valkyrien.¡± After a while, the waiter came out of the kitchen pushing a cart towards their table. He placed the dishes on the table and lifted the covers, revealing the smoking gourmet meals and began pouring Harina¡¯s wine. Harina shook the wineglass momentarily before eyeing the colour of the liquid. From her seat, Viviana could see Harina¡¯s eyes flashing with the same red of the wine. Slightly darker red, like dried blood, a colour as old as time. Harina chuckled before sipping on the wine, enjoying the rich taste. Viviana whistled at her. ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°Nothing,¡± said Harina, smiling mysteriously. ¡°En annen familiemedlem, en annen krig¡­kona til broren min. Tid for ? kl? hverandre i ansiktet¡± END