Today is foggy as the lights of the neon city below struggles to break through. Theres a light drizzle, the thin layer of water aids the pristine floors in reflecting the glowing lights that line the platform as it extrudes out from the cliff.
With Hallow dead I don't really have any one to talk to, Sputnik despite being a full fledged member still has his previous responsibilities, Toko is still in class and I'm still a little weary of Ekstacy.
As for Somnia... yeah.
Guess I'll just wonder the halls.
The campus is split up into four sections, there's the barracks for the reserve Pioneers; not entirely sure where they were during the invasion though. ( -_-)
There's two unlabeled sections, then our training camp; this place is a lot bigger than I first thought.
My wandering is eventually met with a fork in the halls, well, right is always right.
Continuing down the spotless platform that overlooks the cliff, it's desolate, with only the pattering of my footsteps to keep me company. There's a metal door thats been left open a jar.
Looking down at the map I see that it's not listed on the map.
Of course its not, every trope in movie history is telling me I shouldn't go in here because it will be dangerous; then again, every trope has also told me there will be forsaken knowledge.
Despite hating the cost of knowing knowledge, I make my way through.
Suicidal people have no such weakness to rationality!
Walking down the halls, I am only accompanied by the tapping of my shoes on the reflective floors.
It seems odd that this place wouldn't be better protected. Guess that means my initial assumption was wrong and there's nothing valuable here, likely a boiler room or something boring.
On the left side theres a aquarium of blood red water. Leaning in I try and see if there's anything, a secret weapon? A huge mech?
Cupping my hands, the water seems too murky to see through.
Guess I was right, just a boring old power reactor.
The humming and bubbling of the machine are suddenly silenced by a far more terrifying noise...
Hearing heavy breathing next to me, I slowly turn.
A long snouted figure stands beside me; its pupils are constricted as they stare vacantly at me.
Unlike the Strain, it has a human-like appearance; but to call it a human would be objectively wrong.
My body tightens as my breathing hastens.
Theres a moment of silence interrupted by a peeling noise. Barley managing to turn I watch as skin flops to the ground. Despite the entities decomposing body, it doesn't move.
This feeling... fear, uncertainty, my body shakes, its just like the Strain.
But this time, I'm not as weak!
Yanking the pistol out of my holster I jump backwards as I take up aim.
"Bailiff! Death Sentence!"
Before I can fire the shot, I feel a presence behind me. Like a constrictor my body no long feels like my own; they hold me in a choke hold, forcing me to aim my gun down.
They whisper in my ear. "You cannot trust your eyes, only yourself." Their words skeletal, as though spoken by a corpse.
My eyes widen as I attempt to crane my neck back. "Who are you!?"
Before me stands a figure wearing a jet black military outfit. They wear elbow and knee pads, but their face is covered by a veil attached to their skeletal helmet. Various straps and holsters line their belt.
"No one."
My body is released. The moment I'm freed, I whip around. Lifting my arm, I aim the gun at the figure, yet my hands are empty.
Whipping between the snouted figured and the one that put me in a choke hold I cant decide who to direct my fear to.
Taking a closer look at the operator like figure, it becomes pretty obvious that its a female, between her large breast that press against her kevlar vest and the hip cutouts of her pants. Even so, the uncertainty she has instilled within me is not shook by her figure.
"Grab hold of your fear." She commands in a graveyard voice.
The two do not move as I fail to figure out which to direct my petrification towards. The snouted figure remains still as it maintains it slow breathing.
"Uh..." Cautiously I reach out to the figure, yet my hand passes through it.
Upon contact the entity... vanishes.
My confusion is rattled as something slams against the glass beside us.
Whipping my head in the direction of the sound, a fish like creature bashes on the aquarium walls. it continuously beats on the glass between us. using its fin like arms to propels itself forward, yet it too has a human like appearance.
Still breathing heavily, I turn my gaze back towards the women in the military outfit. "You didn't answer me! Who are you?"
"I finally get to meet you, Coffin."
Searching myself, I try to find a weapon I can threaten her with. "How do you know my name?"
She shakes her head as she hands back my pistol. "How could I not? I promised to kill you myself if she spoke your name one more time, and she proceeded to sing a song about you."
"Are you talking about Toko?! What the hell did you do to her?!"
"She claimed to be your...sister. But I have a little brother, and I can say, she loves you a little too much to realistically be considered a sibling."
My expression shifts as I loosen my aim. "You- know her?"
"I suppose I should have started with a hello. Formalities for an assassin are usually a knife to the throat, so they are not my strong suit. Nice to meet you Coffin. My name is Echo, the instructors for the Tear Stalkers."
My eyes widen as I realize I just threatened an instructor!
"I- I didn't mea- I'm sorry!"
"There's no need to apologize. If anything, I'm disappointed you haven't fired your gun yet despite being faced with two supposed advisories."
"wha-?!"
She vanishes from behind me, reappearing before me. She presses down on my core causing the fuse to pop out.
"Hey!" I protest.
"Just- let me see..."
Peeking into the cavity of my chest she slowly nods before slamming the fuse back in.
"Somnia wasn't lying you really did advance your affinity. Then again, she could have also messed up her initial diagnosis. Any idea what could have changed?"
I pause before answering. "No clue."
She doesn't seem to believe me, grabbing a knife from her belt she spins it between her fingers.
Her suspicion is palpable, as the moment of silence between us makes me awkwardly shift.
I decide the best way out of this would be to change the subject. "So, what exactly is this?" Tapping the glass the human like fish has stopped moving as its dilated pupils stare at me, now tracking my every motion.
She finally drops the suspicious look.
"We... have no clue."
"No clue?"
"We call them Pandoras; they are a foreign creature, or so we thought."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"What does it look like to you?"
Recoiling in fear and disgust, I inspect the fish creature. "It looks almost human."
"Our stations on Hueron were the first to encounter them. It was walking around like a wild animal.
It charged the researchers on sight. At first we thought perhaps the human appearance was a coincidence. But after discovering other varients, we found Night cores within a numerous samples."
"Night...cores, does that mean, they are human."
"That appears to be the case. After a DNA test we discovered that it was one a man named Patrick Smith, a low ranking Pioneer stationed at a distant planet."
My eyes widen as I step back. "The Strain can genetically mutate us?"
"As you have imagined, it Initially caused an uproar between the two sides. When confronted, we believed they were feigning ignorance. But shortly after we discovered variants made of Strain flesh as well; making this a completely different threat."
A foreign threat that can change the geneses of multiple species. My body shivers as I can feel the goosebumps form on my arms.
As she taps on the glass, the Pandora does not lose its trained eyes. "We call this one the false siren, with its ability to create mirages."
"So, they can control minds."
"Just this one, no two Pandoras are the same, they each crawl, swim, stumble in their own contorted way."
My expression of sheer fear must have been shining though because she gives an almost reassuring scoff. Turning to me I'm able to see through the mesh veil. Her single glowing red eye dimly flickers, while the other appears to be eye patched. Despite her ghostly appearance she's giving me a warm smile.
"Well, no point dwelling on it, that's our job, just enjoy bootcamp for now."
I slowly nod. "...Right." Attempting to shift the topic for my sanity sake I turn. "So, you're the instructor for Toko's class?"
She tilts her head. "Toko?" Lurching forward she enacts vomiting. "You guys even have nicknames for each other. You really are gross siblings. Regardless, yes, Im Tokyo's teacher, but... that may not be the right word."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Your sisters' quite the wildcard. She's always holding back. Her stance will be perfect, but she will shift it to an incorrect one. Who taught you two how to fight?"
I tilt my head. "...no one? We were always on our own. Why is she really that good?"
The women pauses as her eyes narrow. "No... never mind. Anyway, with a name like Coffin, I had already marked you down for my class. So I was quite surprised when you joined the High Rollers; and seeing you now, you certainly have the tired eyes of a Tear Stalker. I assume you chose a different path to escape your sister?"
I scoff before realizing I may have actually done that subconsciously. "No, the promise of entertainment was too tempting."
"Well, I suppose it doesn't matter, we have the same target anyway."
"Are you talking about the Sundials? I was wondering about that. Somnia said they were our focus; yet, during the invasion, of the four barracks, the Tear Stalkers and High Rollers faced the highest volume of Strain."
"Aren't you the observant one? Well, as you can tell, us assassins are not one for charisma; therefore, you as the High Rollers act as jesters, dancing to gain the attention of the kings, while we impale them on their throne."
So that's what Somnia meant when she said we often work together.
"Anyway, I'm not entirely sure how you got here with the automated security system, so I will make it easy for you and walk you out."
There was a security system? When I walked through there was nothing.
Making it back to the entrance she leans in. "You don't seem like the loose lipped type; but, I assume you know the consequences of letting this intel get out."
Leaning away I nod with a salute. "Yes ma'am!"
"-And convince your sister to stop talking about you, for my sake." With a ominous wave she vanishes.
I'm not entirely sure why she would tell me all that if she didn't want an information leak, or how she expects me to convince Toko of anything.