(POV – Emily Parker)
Ever since she could rember, Emily had been fascinated by anomalies—beings or objects that appeared out of nowhere and had the power to turn the world upside down. There was never an explanation, never a reason. The anomalies simply appeared.
For now, anomalies were under control, but would they stay that way forever? That constant "what if" bothered Emily. That was why she dedicated herself to gathering as much information as possible about them. If sothing truly happened, a global contingency plan would need to be ready before it was too late.
Currently, all of Emily's efforts were focused on a single being, a single anomaly. Despite seeming as simple as the others, it was proving even more complex in comparison. So far, Emily had gathered a few ideas about this anomaly, including one intriguing point: it didn’t attack humans.
(First, there’s its ability. Although I initially believed it was just incredibly fast, that might not be the case. It's likely its ability is related to ti manipulation. Could it stop ti completely? I haven't collected enough data yet, but I noticed that it usually doesn't move before disappearing and reappearing, or it only does so when it's about to be attacked. This could indicate so specific condition for using its power... For now, it’s just a theory)
Emily let out a brief sigh, reflecting on her thoughts. This was, without a doubt, the anomaly she understood the least throughout her career. On top of that, there was the fact that this anomaly always manifested so new anomalous power. While not entirely unheard of — other anomalies with multiple powers had appeared before — the way it displayed its abilities seed strangely unique.
(And almost as if it had recently acquired them or hadn’t had them just before showing them... Of course, it's possible it simply didn't want to reveal all of its anomalous powers... The more I think about it, the more complicated it seems. In the end, it seems that the more I learn about it, the less I know)
Additionally, Emily still couldn’t contain her curiosity about the being she saw last ti—the smoke-like creature that resembled the [Angel of Death]. That entity had summoned hundreds of snakes, including one that swallowed Graham whole. Despite its misty appearance, when Emily touched it, she felt sothing surprisingly solid, like scales—exactly like those of a regular snake.
This only deepened her doubts. Could this be a manifestation of another anomalous power of the [Angel of Death]? No matter how Emily looked at it, the being seed to have a will of its own, yet at the sa ti, it gave the impression of following so direction from the [Angel of Death].
Emily let out another sigh, this one full of resignation, as she rested her face on the table. Several thoughts crossed her mind in that mont. She concluded that, for now, the best course of action would be to observe. After all, it wasn't like she could just force the anomaly to reveal all its anomalous powers without making it seem like humans were acting hostile.
"Boss, may I co in? I need to talk to you about sothing really important!"
Emily turned her attention to the door as she heard Laura’s voice from the other side. Her eyebrow arched slightly, as far as she could rember, there wasn’t any pressing matter of great importance. Plus, Emily wasn’t the type to leave critical issues for later. So, the topic Laura wanted to discuss was likely sothing that had co up recently.
"Alright, Laura. You can co in!"
With Emily's permission, the door opened, revealing Laura in her usual white lab coat and the signature glasses she always wore. She entered the room with quick steps, heading straight to Emily's desk while carrying a noticeably bulky folder in her hands.
"Good morning, boss! I know you must be busy, sorry for popping up out of the blue... Oh, and before I forget! Congratulations on the promotion to General Director of Managent!"
Emily gave a brief smile at Laura’s words. In any case, she wasn’t too surprised that she’d reached the position. After all, with Graham out of the way, nothing was stopping her. Plus, she had already held the position for a few weeks, as the board had been aware of it.
"Thanks, Laura. But by the way, what’s this important matter you wanted to discuss?"
Upon hearing Emily, Laura nodded and then opened the folder she was holding. From it, she took several docunts and photos, spreading them across the table. Emily looked at the images for a mont, her eyebrows furrowing in doubt and confusion. Then, she skimd through the docunts, reading them superficially but enough to grasp the general picture of the situation.
"What the hell is this? So creepy, mysterious cult or sothing like that?"
Laura nodded in agreent after hearing Emily’s words; in the end, that was exactly what the important matter was about. Emily shifted her gaze to a particular photo after Laura’s confirmation. In the image, several people dressed in strange white clothes were gathered around an object that appeared to be a circle.
Though the photo focused mainly on the people, other images revealed that the location resembled a small village. However, there was sothing else in those photos that was making Emily particularly curious.
"Who sent all this? I don’t believe you went to the location and took the photos yourself, considering how confused you seem about the situation, just like "
"Sorry, boss. I have no idea who sent this. It was just in my emails when I woke up this morning. I thought it might be important, so I made copies of everything and brought them to you. But whoever sent it seems to know exactly what I work on"
Emily let out another sigh, surprised by how many tis she had sighed in the past few days—far more than in her entire life. But it wasn’t her fault; problems were cropping up one after the other, nonstop.
(Seriously, why the hell does it feel like the world is against us?)
***
(POV – Protagonist)
Since Graham was removed from his position (or rather, swallowed by a giant snake), things at the facility had stabilized, and I don’t feel like any major problems have arisen. Of course, the fact that I revealed more about my powers made the scientists more cautious around , but that only happened when the being that looked like was around. In other words, I can still get candy from them.
... Of course, it wasn’t like that was the only thing going on. Actually, about a week ago, whenever the being that looked like appeared, it started making strange gestures. My gaze involuntarily drifted toward it, which was now in a corner of the room, gently rocking in a swing made of smoky shadows.
I’m not sure how long this has been happening, but that thing started creating objects made of shadows to decorate my room, like swings or little figures. Of course, everything disappears as soon as it returns inside . I also have no idea how long it can stay outside, but based on the average ti it usually stays, I’d say about six hours. Of course, that's just an estimate.
Anyway, when that entity realized I was watching it... it... or was it a she? Honestly, I don’t know how to define it. I an, it looks like , but since I don’t have a defined gender, it’s hard to know how to refer to it. On my own, and maybe out of similarity, I’ve been calling it “he”.
He then looked at , blinked a few tis, and turned his attention back to the sa wall he always faces when he notices my gaze. Then, the smoky entity raised his arm and pointed toward the wall with his finger. His gaze shifted back to , and once again, he blinked slowly while tilting his head slightly to the side.
As usual, my gaze followed the direction he was pointing. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t see anything except... well, a wall. I an, we’re surrounded by walls here. I just assud it was another one of his weird habits. Anyway, whenever I ignore him, he just goes back to whatever he was doing before.
However, unfortunately, I realized this wouldn’t be the case anymore when I felt sothing approaching the back of my head. It was clearly trying to get my attention. Even without looking back, thanks to the way I see, I could clearly tell who was behind this.
My face slowly turned until my gaze fixed on the entity, which was still gently rocking in its swing. Although I was irritated, it wasn’t like I could show it outwardly. I an, I can’t make expressions, though there are a few exceptions, which are rare. Anyway, the being noticed my gaze, and like before, pointed his finger at a specific spot on the wall, blinking his eyes and tilting his head slightly to the side.
For so reason, this little creature always made that expression when I stared at it this way. He definitely knew when I was annoyed with him... but honestly, what could I do? Anyway, his attempts to get my attention had been happening more and more often.
(... and what if the place he’s pointing at isn’t necessarily inside the facility?)
If that’s the case, how the hell would I know where he’s pointing? The only thing that cos to mind is that sothing must be happening... but wouldn’t that be even stranger? At first, I thought this thing was just a perfect replica of , capable of understanding my feelings and actions as if it were . But now, this sa copy is acting on its own, trying to lead sowhere.
Besides, this power ca directly from that giant octopus that inhabited the mysterious lake. I didn’t know why, but my intuition started ringing an alarm: what if sothing much more serious is happening out there? Sothing involving an anomaly? Still, it’s not like I could just leave here... or could I? I an, I do it all the ti. The only difference is that, this ti, maybe I won’t co back so soon.
(Well, in the worst-case scenario, they might send so guards after . Besides, he’s probably not going to stop bothering until I go to the place he wants...)
With everything decided, I walked up to the being, who was still pointing at a specific spot on the wall. However, there was a problem: how exactly would I leave? I an, I usually rely on so tricks, but those are pretty casual situations, and it didn’t seem like that would work now. I don’t know if the being sensed my internal doubts, but suddenly, it began emitting smoke that rose and ford a kind of cloud, plunging most of the place into darkness.
Well, that probably cleared up my doubt about how to escape. Pushing those thoughts aside, I opened a portal and jumped in, quickly being transported to the shadow world. I looked around, but as always, all there was endless darkness. While thinking about where to go, I felt sothing approaching. When I looked toward the presence, I saw the familiar dark, smoky shadow that slowly took my shape.
(... I didn’t know he could enter here... Oh, right, I still haven’t closed the portal)
Anyway, as before, the entity in front of pointed to a specific spot in the darkness. And, as I had imagined, the place he was pointing to was undoubtedly outside the facility. I had already made up my mind before even jumping into the portal. With this thought clear in my mind, I moved quickly, starting to swim through the darkness toward the spot I believed the entity had indicated.
From what I rember, my luck has been the worst possible. Even though I wish this is just so nonsense from that shadow, I’d better prepare for sothing that could threaten the country. Of course, the ideal would be for there to be nothing, but unfortunately, my luck has been far from favorable since I woke up in this body.
I followed the flow of shadows as I rose, not knowing exactly where I was. I just kept rising, hoping to reach so point of reference. Although I knew the being was pointing to sothing outside the facility, I had no idea where that place was or how I could see it. I needed to reach a higher point, where the entity could give clearer directions, and where I could also see sothing beyond the endless darkness.
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