Several strategies ca to mind, each quickly abandoned. Id never dealt with soone as explosively unstable as Sunny before. Judging from the unkempt hair, the blood-soaked state of his shirt, and the way he was looking at , I was seriously reconsidering if ingratiating myself to Sunny was even worth it. And I couldnt lean on Azure herefrom the hints my summon dropped, he needed as much mana as possible for the geas.
Youve looked better, I said.
Okay. Sunny sniffed, hiked up his pants, and approached casually. But sothing was off. Sothing in his expression. I reached for my inventory a split-second before he hauled off the ground. My entire world exploded in pain as he slamd head first into the desk. What fucking ga are you playing? He yanked the back of my head up, his face inches from mine.
The hell? The pain and shock radiated through . My mind raced, trying to parse what he could possibly know that had pissed him off this much. Of course, my first thought was that he sohow knew everything, and Id just walked myself in here like a lamb to the slaughter. I have no idea what the fuck youre talking aboutfuck!
Sunny pushed my arm behind my back painfully, pinning to the desk as he went through my inventory. He pulled out my weapons, a manila envelope, along with the bag of User cores I brought, per our agreent. You just show up in the primary facility as a flex? Trying to make look bad? Incompetent?
Fuck this.
I spun, dislocating the shoulder he still held and driving my elbow into his face.
Sunnys head whipped back, and he smiled through bloody teeth.
Go fuck yourself. I cradled my arm, tense. There wasnt a directory. I followed the instructions you gave to the goddamn letter. Which led nowhere until so lady at a bus stop spouted cryptic nonsense and teleported into the facility proper. Calm the fuck down.
Sunny pointed the knife at and took a step forward. You expect to believe its all a fucking coincidence? He rotated the tip of the knife in a circle. I give you a little errand to do, then, over the three days that follow, a fucking car-bomb nearly wipes off the face of the planet, and Aarons suddenly gung-ho about moving up the tiline. But its all a coincidence, right?
Aaron wasnt being subtle. And of course Sunny would bla the newcor. I needed to be careful how I handled this, or Id end up crushed in the middle.
I snapped back at him. Bla it on the guy who's been here less than an hour that you cant keep your fucking house in order. Solid leadership, there.
My heart hamred as Sunny opened up the envelope and withdrew Carons finger, an inscribed picture of a Chinese dragon on the ring. I didnt want to escalate this. But there wasnt a person in the world that would put up with this treatnt when Id effectively done the man a favor for nothing.
You know what? Fuck this. I dont need this shit. Send back to the bus stop. Ill take my chances on my own.
Or what? Sunnys voice grew dangerous, as if he was daring to threaten him.
Or nothing. I did the job and reported back to you. And yeah, I was hoping this place would be a good fit, but youve clearly got too much on your hands and I dont feel like sticking around long enough to bite a bullet Ive got nothing to do with.
Sunny placed a damp hand on my throat, but didnt squeeze. Instead, he let it slide off my neck, bloodying my armor. Nothing to do with it? We're passed that. You killed Caron. Do you have any idea what Aaron would do to you if he found out?
You gonna tell him? I scoffed.
Were in this together now. Sunny drew a rag from his pocket and wiped the streak of blood from my armor.
A muffled moan sounded from the room attached to his study. We both glanced over, then looked at each other.
Unfinished business? I asked.
Hold on. Justfuckingstay there. Sunny stalked to the door and opened it partway, slipping inside. There was a terrified scream, then silence. Sunny absentmindedly erged, fresh blood spatter on his face. I glimpsed plastic spread across the floor and a vacant chair in the center of the room before he closed the door again. Now its finished.
Great.
You really want to leave? Sunny asked , cleaning fresh blood off his knife with a rag.
Not in a body bag.
No. But Ill tell you right now, Im not sticking around if you keep waving that thing in my face. I breathed. Now, Im missing a lot of context. But its obvious theres so internal beef, and youre floundering. This guy youre up against, he smart?
Thinks hes Einstein. Hes not. Sunny evaded. But yeah.
And did you say or do anything that could have tipped him off? I asked. It was a blind stab in the dark, but if Sunny was as paranoid as I thought, hed co up with sothing.
Im too careful for that. Its not as if Like clockwork, realization clouded his expression. Shit.
As tempted as I was to ask what, exactly, Sunny had realized, I wanted him to move on from it as quickly as possible, before he poked holes. Is it recoverable? In an angry motion, Sunny threw the knife. It wasnt directed at , but I was still startled by the sudden movent. The knife stuck in the wall beside the door and quivered.
Im so tired of this fucker being one step ahead.
Then improvise. Co up with sothing he couldnt have possibly accounted for. I urged him. If Sunny folded and ran, my primary avenue of sowing chaos within the group went with him. I needed him here, weakening things from the inside.
Sunny focused, eyes shifting back and forth wildly. The kid who brought you up here. He say anything to you?
He was helpful. I shrugged. Seed to like , for whatever reason.
Sunnys attention snapped to . Waitreally? Could you work him, if you needed to?
I was missing too much information to piece together where he was going. Part of wanted Nick as far away from this as possible, but that would only make it more difficult to protect him.
Given the opportunity, it wouldnt be hard.
Okay. Okay, I can work with that. Sunny straightened my armor. Suddenly buddy buddy in a way he hadnt been since he gave the assignnt. We dont have a lot of ti. Lets get your introduction over and done with.
Sunny was much better at blocking the elevator password than the henchman before, but I could still get a general idea of the number of inputs. It was between ten and twelve.
Different password than before.
It could have been my imagination, but the elevator seed to move much more quickly than last ti.
The door slid open, revealing an underground area that looked to have been abandoned in the middle of excavation.
Sunny put a hand on my back and shoved forward, out of the elevator. Hit the intercom when youre done. And dont doddle.
Before I could ask a questionsothing like What the hell am I supposed to do here? the elevator slid shut.
The underground space was half cave, half smoothed stone, with stalagmites pushing up from the unprocessed areas. Several large, yellow construction vehicles were strewn about the area, covered in a layer of dust and dirt.
More striking was the light blue glow that illuminated the cavern, light ca from iridescent moss that covered the ceiling. As far as I could tell, it was the only lighting the cavern had.
Id thought, after region six, nothing could phase . But the otherworldly light got under my skin in a way few things could.
Sohow sensing it was the correct direction to go, I followed the lichen on the ceiling, the unsettling feeling growing stronger the deeper I journeyed into the cave.
Another source of light caught my eye. A woman in robesone who looked remarkably similar to the woman at the bus stop, beckoned forward. She stood in the center of a mass of lichen that covered the area. The scarring on her face Id mistaken as the result of burns was luminescent, glowing the sa light blue.
And so, the ti has co. She said. She sounded sad sohow, as if my arrival was both a tragedy and a foregone conclusion.
You brought here. I pointed out.
That is not entirely true. I can take no more responsibility for your presence than a grain of sand may claim the coastline it resides upon.
But it was your responsibility."
The woman smiled, and for just a mont, I spotted a dull glow of blue in the back of her throat. Youve always been here. Just as Ive always waited. The result differs, but this eting has happened more tis than either of us can count.
The lichen had piled on top of itself unevenly, creating a static ocean of green and blue. As I drew closer, the outline of a large stone embedded in the back wall grew more pronounced. It was too covered in fungus to make out anything more than an outline
Before her were two kneeling pillows and a single teacup.
Can we get this over with? I asked. Id be lying if I claid our surroundings, and the woman herself hadnt unsettled .
Are you prepared for the oath?
Yes.
The woman knelt and indicated the pillow across from her. Let us begin.
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