Kanashima stirred in her electrical-induced slumber, turning in place under heavy blankets. Mumbling something to her half-asleep self, she gripped the satin pillow under her head along with the top hem of the soft blanket and tried to lull herself back into the sweet embrace of sleep. She would've succeeded in her attempt to the dream realm too if her brain didn't recoil in surprise. What was she touching? She didn't own anything like this in the slightest. Everything was too luxurious, too comfortable, and most importantly, way too expensive for a slum rat. Was she in danger then?
So tired… gotta get up.
The normally pleasant soft warm light blinded her, charcoal eyes fluttering as they tried to adapt. They begged for relief, her hands to rub them, shield them from the assault of the lightbulb. Acclimated enough to receive light again, she analyzed the state of her body more, flexing all of her muscles one by one. Whatever that intrinsic ability was did a number to her senses and physical abilities, leaving her fatigued beyond any reason. Sensory inputs of everything were slow, she could barely hear anything, smell her environment, and her sight was delayed and blurry.
Letting out a groan allowed her lips to crack and bleed, begging for a sip of anything resembling a liquid to soothe her throat. Through her muted senses, she was able to hear some sort of activity come from above her, but her unwillingness to move her worn body prevailed. Relying on her subpar hearing, her fatigue mind managed to make out a deep female voice calling her name.
"Kanashima… Kanashima, You're awake."
Doesn't sound like my assailants.
Despite the different voice, her uneasy feelings weren't absolved just yet. A different person, or it could've been another esoteric and terrifying intrinsic. Even if Kanashima wanted to be on guard and defend herself, it's not likely her body will be able to cooperate. The fatigue was too settled in, her body too tired and frail to do anything. She could really only plead for mercy, maybe strike up a bargain. Not that she had anything of worth.
Two calloused hands clasped each side of her cheeks, turning her head directly upwards. Her eyesight followed half a second later, taking that same time to focus on the visage now above her. She wanted to scream, but nothing would come out. Recognizing the person, she barely let out a breath, her lips blistering even more under the moisture from her breath. The snake head located on the forearm stared into her own gunmetal grey.
"Wait, drink this first. It's okay."
Legs now sprawled out to the side of her, she sat up on the comfortable dark brown sofa done up as her temporary bed. Much more comfortable than the old mattress she had back at her crude apartment. Using her left hand to stabilize herself, she took the metal bottle into her other hand and took small sips at first. Sips turned into swigs, into gulps, and eventually, she finished off the refreshing beverage. Her caretaker took the bottle back and took a seat diagonally across from her. She had a complicated expression on her face, aloof and guarded. Kanashima had no clue what to make of it, taking the silence as a prompt.
"Is everything okay, Boss?"
"Is everything okay? Kanashima, are you alright? What the hell happened out there?"
She flinched at the raised voice, her body closing in on itself. Staring at her boss with widened eyes, Kanashima waited a couple moments more before responding, allowing herself to just barely calm down from the shock.
"I… They cornered me. I wanted to run… but I couldn't! They wouldn't let me. It was… some sort of paralysis… I'm sorry."
Her boss nodded along, the notes already constructing a net of connections. She gripped the sides of her chair, scooting herself forward on the cushions and leaned towards Kanashima. She shook her head at the timid girl.
"It's okay, you're safe now. I ran them off. We'll find them later. Are you feeling okay?"
Kanashima took a little more time after the question. Her initial diagnoses of her body didn't return stellar results, but it wasn't the worst she's ever been off. Granted, she still didn't have the best response time, her body still felt inhibited by a foreign element, but she wrote it off initially. Stage two self-ran diagnostics screamed at her, something was absolutely, definitely wrong. In no way, as the brain understands its body, should a human be feeling this way. There was so much inhibited and battered, it made her feel out of place in her own body.
"I feel… lame."
Holy understatement of the century, good going Kanashima.
Despite her unintentional downplay, the boss nodded in understanding. She took a thin device from the side table and tapped away on it. A few seconds later, the tablet returned a pleasant upbeat tone.
"Understood, I'll have somebody come check you. In the meantime, are you hungry?"
"Check on me? Like a doctor?"
"No, not a doctor. A… subordinate, a colleague of yours, of sorts."
The response came as a surprise to Kanashima, but she refrained from asking the several new questions on her mind. Evaluating the state of her body once more, now under the guise of hunger, her stomach groaned in agreement. Her head itself nodded, her cheeks dusted with a light pink.
"I could eat."
"I figured as much. Wait here, I'll be back shortly."
Once again, Kanashima was left alone again. The room was much larger than her entire apartment, and yet, still warm and cozy. The faux wood panels on the wall were very pretty, fitting the aesthetic of the furniture and several plants. She herself was on a three cushion padded sofa, a dark green blanket covering her lower half of the body. The seat her boss sat on was a lounge chair of similar tone, showing its age in the corners of the back.
The coffee table and matching side table was real wood, a luxury, especially for a location like this. Importing the black oak from North America could not have come at a reasonable price. Studying the intricate grooves of the border once more, Kanashima saw multitudes of symbols and inscriptions she didn't recognize, and really had no business of knowing. Moments later, a plate replaced the carvings on the table. Steam rose from the top, warm and enticing.
"Here, eat up. Cipher should be here in a few minutes."
Directing her attention upwards, Kanashima performed a common thank you gesture as she took the spoon from her hand. The meal was simple, but incredible on her taste buds. A soy butter rice with three over easy eggs, not the cheap synthesized stuff either, and green onion. The meal was more opulent than what she usually ate, and had eaten in about eight years. Spending no time for savoring, she devoured two thirds of it before putting the spoon down for the first time, turning her attention to the door.
Her boss led a new individual inside the living room, one Kanashima had never seen before. Her icy blue eyes matched the long periwinkle strands, framing her small and rather cute face. She messed around with her white gloves as she approached the sofa, pulling them off when she finally stood in front of Kanashima. Her hands were dainty and thin, adorned with the same light blue color on the fingertips.
"Hey hey! Sera told me all about you, kinda. Sister of Morgan, right? You look the part!"
She… knew Morgan too?
She outstretched her right arm towards the fatigued girl, offering a handshake. Noting how soft her palm was, she managed to return a small smile back.
"I'm Cipher, by the way. Nice to meet ya!"
Oh god, she's so cute!
"He's the colleague I mentioned earlier. He should be able to get a better understanding of what we're dealing with here."
The boss—Sera—took her previous seat on the lounge chair, watching the interaction take place. She leaned forward, propping up her head with her arm on the side of the chair.
"Wait- he?"
"Let's get started then! Miss Kanashima, please give me your hand."
She outstretched her left hand, holding it out for Cipher to take hold of. Just as he was about to, Kanashima recoiled, waving both hands in front of her face.
"Wait, you're a man?"
But he's so pretty… Much prettier than me.
"Yes? Ah… yes, that's my bug. I almost forgot, haha!"
"It's been two months since your trial, I would hope you have gotten used to living with it at least a little bit, Cipher."
The same effeminate hand scratched the back of Cipher's head, leaning back on his right foot. An awkward chuckle left his thin lips.
"Well, it's not too much to deal with! Only you guys know about it anyway! I could care less about anybody and everybody else!"
Kanashima was left as a spectator in this exchange, question after question joining the queue in her mind. Eventually, the small back and forth came to a close, and she was able to sneak in the first inquiry searing her brain.
"Your… bug? Like an insect?"
"Gimmie your hand and let me get to work. Good ol' Serafin will teach ya all about it!"
Cipher didn't wait for a confirmation this time, reaching down and taking hold of the confused girl's hand once more. Pulling a cable out of the previously flawless skin on his wrist, the pretty boy let the wire connect into Kanashima's blemish-filled wrist. A small smile spread across his face, his eyes beginning to glow with the same icy blue hue, matching his iris'. Following his eyes, she became aware of the foreign blue energy now invading her body, matching the movements of her observer's pupils.
"Kanashima, what do you know about the virus?"
"Just what I heard from my brother. You have to overcome it after being infected, and it gives you special abilities."
The older woman leaned back into her chair, a soft sigh broadcasting her thoughts.
"You're not entirely wrong. The virus is less of a biological trojan, and more of a string of multiplying code that can infect humans. The problem? With any sort of program, there are destined to be bugs in it that prevent it from running as intended. What do you think happens when there's a program that merges and becomes one in the same with a human body?"
Turning her attention away from the calculating look of the luminescent eyes and now analyzing his entire body. Coming to a conclusion, her dark grey eyes turned to her boss.
"...The entire system has a bug?"
"You're a smart kid. Some bugs are more pronounced than others. Take Cipher's, for example. Some bug occurred when the virus merged with him, and turned him to the beauty you see here."
"And sometimes it takes forever to get used to! I'll forever get called a woman now, like, buddy I got a dick."
Serafin raised her tattooed arm, making a gesture as if she was showcasing the latest phone model. A light chuckle prefaced her next statement.
"Case and point. Couldn't have said it better myself."
Her face dropped back into that same serious expression Kanashima was used to. It was mildly amusing, seeing her usually aloof and calculating visage exploring far more emotions than she believed was capable of the stalwart woman.
She didn't know the most about the virus, her limited time in primary education wasn't of much help in that department, but a whole facet went unknown to her. Her thin fingers clasped the side of her head, letting the information sink into her memory.
"I think… There are trace signatures from your attackers. It's why you're moving so slow. Also, I detect signs of the virus. It's spreading rapidly, you're going to have to stabilize soon."
Seeing Cipher drop his easy going persona and adopt this serious, matter-of-fact attitude threw Kanashima for a loop. Gone were his small smiles and cutesy effeminate expressions she was already getting comfy with. She met his cool blue eyes again, contemplating her position.
"I've removed and saved the signature of the guy who paralyzed you; however, I can't help stabilize you. You have to do that the old fashioned way."
She could've sworn she heard the only other person in the room swear under her breath, but before she could question it, the first, and objectively more pressing matter came out first. Recalling one of the only other things her brother taught her before he left for it himself, she managed to come to a conclusion.
"The simulacrum?"
This time, Cipher didn't answer. Instead, her boss spoke up. On her surface, she had the same aloof, uncaring expression, but something was shining from her eyes. Was it, fear? Fear of what? This wasn't her battle, nor her problem, so why was she feeling like it was, making it about her?
"Yes. There's an AFLA terminal in New Bangkok. Cipher, how long do you think we have?"
"Six hours at most. I can't really tell better than that, it seems whoever that guy was really sped it along after the paralysis.
Just my great luck, huh. I did want to be like him.
"That's it? I'm going to die just like Morgan?"
The living room went silent in the matter of a couple seconds, nobody too keen on breaking the conversational stalemate they found themselves at. Cipher's face scrunched and morphed in empathetic pain. Sure, he didn't have the same feelings when he first contracted the virus, but he understood.
Serafin's gaze softened, a rare frown spreading across her cheeks. Her eyelids curled upward, as if her eyes themselves were also frowning. A soft exhale broke her frown for a moment. There were so many things on the tip of her tongue, but she abstained from them all.
"I'm sorry to you too. It's just happening all the same again… Like Morgan."
The normally composed and stalwart woman buried her collapsing face into her hands, leaning over her knees. Her head shook in place in time with her grumbles, groans, and cries for some deity to come and take mercy on her soul.
"There's not much time to waste. As you get closer to expiration, you'll get weaker and weaker. Serafin, your car?"
The large hands fall down to her sides, then pushing herself up off of the armrests. She pulls the worn dark brown jacket from the side of the couch and tossed it at Kanashima. Then pulling off her keys on the rack near the foyer, she turned back to her two employees.
"Alright, time we left."
Cipher followed quickly behind their boss, putting on the same white gloves he walked in with. Throwing on her own jacket. Kanashima followed not far behind, and soon, they were all packed into the black compact vehicle. The interior was silent, the sound system muted just like the three inhabitants. As Serafin steered the vehicle off of the highway, she finally breaks the silence plaguing the group.
"This terminal is a tier five, passing this trial will let you stabilize your electronics. Keep in mind that inside the simulacrum, nothing is real and tangible. They are all creations of the artificial intelligence. Don't be afraid to do anything you need to do to survive. Play your life."
From the backseat, the shaken up girl stared at the back of the driver's head. Nodding along, she makes a sound of acknowledgement. Mulling over her thoughts, feelings, and general state of her body, she can't help but writhe in fear of what's to come. The next minutes passed in a blur, the same deep voice bringing her out of her stupor again. With as much vigor as she could muster, she popped her head up to look at her superior.
How did Morgan fair? Did he get the same talk?
"We're here. Good luck, Kanashima."
Her attention swayed between her newfound coworker and boss, nodding to the both of them as silent thanks. Stepping out of the car door, she felt the pressure of conversation, but couldn't come up with anything else to say. Simply giving an awkward smile to the both, she continued forward into the concrete jungle.
"Please come back alive."