In a hospital bed, a certain amnesiac covered in bandages slowly got up.
"Where..?"
He looked around, white soft bed, cabinet... This seemed eerily familiar to him.
"You're awake."
A voice he recognized came from next to him. Turning his head, he saw a familiar woman with white hair and lynx features.
"Miss Farah?"
She nodded before sitting down on the bed next to him, looking at him intently.
"You're recovering well."
William couldn't help but remember how she protected him from... Her. He definitely would've been dead if Miss Farah didn't come to save him, he'll definitely have to make up for this... But how?
Farah's eyes seemed to bore holes into his wounds, or moreso the lack of said wounds. She moved to remove his bandages around his wrist, once she did, she only found scars.
"I see Azumi treated you, with his Conviction, I'm guessing?"
"Huh?"
William didn't even notice her removing his bandages to see his scar. With a slight stare, he remembers...
"Azumi Sei... Safety..."
An unconscious mutter of the words the doctor told him. Meanwhile, that confirmed Miss Farah's guess. She'll have to tell him next time to be more careful with his Conviction...
For now though, she needs to focus on William, her ears twitching slightly as she sighed in relief that he doesn't seem to be affected by Arin.
"Yes, Doctor Azumi is the AC-B's lead doctor, without him, we'd never be able to keep this place running, let alone even keep ourselves alive."
"Oh... So Convictions can do all sorts of things, huh? Is the reason you aren't recovering because of Doctor Azumi too?"
She shook her head, though she didn't elaborate further. He didn't need to know just yet, that she was essentially immortal.
Convictions bring about supernatural abilities based on one's beliefs. This is the reason for Hogaamin Farah's reckless fighting style, not avoiding attacks or injuries.
She could survive all and anything as long as even a smidge of her brain remains, though she'd still need to regenerate anything that she lost.
That is why Doctor Azumi is the lead doctor, because he can speed up her regeneration without any drawbacks from herself.
"Now, get up and follow me, I'm sure you're fully healed. Your first day starts now, do it's be best if you work at 100%."
Miss Farah stood up and walked towards the door, each step soft and silent like a cheetah, her tail curling around her own waist.
Without even any opportunity to question it, William just followed her words. Just as she said, he was fully healed. His ankles didn't hurt and even his shoulder and any muscle pain he gained during the fight was gone, all that was left were scars.
He stood up from bed and followed Miss Farah, thanks to being bedridden for around five days, he was definitely having some trouble standing up, but he could handle it.
"So, Miss Farah, can I ask you a question?"
Miss Farah opened the door and turned towards William. Just beyond the door, there was... An empty office. Well, not empty, there's a few people there, but he could count them all on one hand.
"What is it?"
William was snapped out from gazing at the sheer emptiness of the office by those words, causing him to jolt back slightly and cough to cover up his surprise.
"Um— Well— About that lady who attacked me—"
Farah's ears perked and her eyes twitched slightly as she looked at William, she probably already knew where he was going with this.
"Who was she?"
And she was right on the dot. A sigh came from her as she started walking before gesturing to William to follow her.
"Let's talk while walking."
While walking, the few employees—all with a conviction mark on their bodies—greeted Miss Farah. William took note of this, they seemed to have great respect for her... Well, she did save him from a crazy lady, so it makes sense.
"The name of that woman was Arin Castro, she used to run the most dangerous prison in the world, named The Dome, which was located in Venezuela. Publicly, she was seen as a competent yet lazy Warden, only acting when completely necessary and being mostly laid-back, but from what I've heard, behind closed doors..."
William was quite shocked by the revelation of her reputation. Laid-back? Lazy? She seemed completely deranged, was she some sort of master manipulator you could only find in fiction?
"She punished the inmates in cruel and painful way, usually doing it hands on herself. She never killed a prisoner, but many of them had asked for death."
And that was it, he nodded, understanding why they'd ask for death. If she could already tear through skin with just a whip, he shuddered at the thought of her with even more torture devices.
"She went missing half a decade ago, right after The Dome got taken over by one of the new prisoners. Now, she's back and we believe she's working for said prisoner.
William took note of every word she stated, this was... Fascinating. So many mysteries, so many unknowns, he wanted to know everything. But before he could ask, they reached where they were supposed to go.
"Come in."
Miss Farah opened the door leading to her office. The moment William stepped in, he saw... An average office. It didn't really seem that different from what he thought it'd look aside from just the logo on the wall.
The door behind him closed as Miss Farah walked in, she then sat on her chair behind her desk before going through some papers...
"You're gonna be a journalist, for your first job, it should be pretty easy for someone like you..."
William walked towards the desk and then, two pieces of paper would be slammed by Miss Farah on the desk. Displaying information on two different people.
"These are the Grayson Siblings, part of a circus named 'The Unmatched Big Tops', they're actually going to come to the city soon."
William took the pieces of paper, noting that it even listed Convictions. He'll have to look over this more carefully later, that was definitely a priority.
"You need to at least interview one of them, okay?"
William smiled before looking at her. He put the pieces of paper in his pocket and nodded, completely confident.
"That's what I'm here for, Miss Farah."