POV: Adriana
Pandora, the leader of The Spectrum, had shaped with her own hands, an inorganic being of flesh to which life would later be given... A homunculus. That is what creatures like are called, manufactured rather than born, programd to obey no one but their creator...
My mission was simple: monitor the Paragon household. Their family had been flagged as a top priority for one of the most important projects.
I was to be her eyes, her ears. Unwavering loyalty, that was what she demanded of . And for months, I served her without asking questions.
But I never would have imagined that I, a re homunculus, would fall in love with the very person I was supposed to spy on. After all, I wasn’t supposed to have free will, but...
Why was I now rushing toward the station? My crumpled ticket in my pocket, ready to abandon everything for him? Ready to disobey my mistress for that playboy bastard?
I walked quickly along the platform. The train to the Duchy of Valerius was already there, puffing steam into the air. I clutched my small bag against my chest, even though it contained my entire life.
Inside there was almost nothing: two or three changes of clothes, the ticket I had paid for with coins I had secretly saved over the months, and a letter for Kaiser. A letter I had never dared to mail... I wanted to give it to him in person.
I wanted to tell him everything.
Who I really was. Where I ca from. The truth I carried... Created by Pandora in a hidden laboratory of The Spectrum.
I wasn’t that ordinary commoner who trained with him, or who sulked when Kethra refused to train ... I had always been there for one very specific reason... A homunculus built to obey without thinking.
I wanted to explain why I had lied for so long, why I had even betrayed him... And above all, I wanted to tell him that I loved him.
The conductor punched my ticket without looking up, then I climbed the steps into the third-class carriage. The compartnt was half full. I found a seat by the window, aisle side, and sat down with my bag on my lap. My hands were ice-cold despite the warmth inside the carriage. I rubbed them together to warm them, but they stayed cold.
"Shit... I’m scared..."
I knew that with the breach having ruptured, ti was running out and as a student he would surely be in the Duchy of Valerius as planned in Pandora’s sche...
The train lurched forward with a grinding screech of tal. The station buildings slid backward, slowly at first, then faster. Flat, gray fields appeared, stretching endlessly under a late-afternoon sky.
I watched the landscape go by without really seeing it. My heart was pounding too hard in my chest, almost painfully. I was already picturing Kaiser’s face when I arrived. Would he believe ? Would he chase away calling crazy? I didn’t know. But I had to try to protect him from her... I had no choice left. If I stayed and Pandora eventually discovered that I had developed feelings for him, it would be the end...
I chanically turned my head toward the seat next to , feeling cold sweat run down my back. When I had boarded, there had been a completely ordinary man there: brown coat, soft hat, forgettable face. He was reading a newspaper folded in four. Now he was gone.
In his place sat a hooded figure.
All in black. The hood hung very low, almost completely hiding the face. A gloved hand rested on the knee. On the glove, thin, curved tal claws glead under the yellow light of the carriage lamps, giving off a dangerous glint.
My stomach clenched violently. The air suddenly beca hard to breathe.
The figure slowly turned its head toward . In the shadow of the hood, a small smile appeared, barely visible but terribly familiar.
"How could you, an insignificant homunculus, think of betraying your creator? For a man?"
It was her voice... Pandora’s voice... So familiar that nausea rose in my throat.
’Among all the Seraphs... Why is she here!?’
I shot to my feet.
"Pan! Pandora!"
I shouted without thinking. Around us, heads turned. But no one intervened after all, no one knew the real aning of that na.
Then I ran down the central aisle of the carriage, leaping over passengers’ outstretched legs, desperate to save my life. The rear door was only a few ters away. Once I jumped overboard, I could run and disappear into the crowd at the next stop.
But I had underestimated her cruelty...
I had only covered two ters when an atrocious heat erupted in the center of my chest.
At first, I thought I could endure it. But the pain was infernal, a deep burn, as if soone had slid a glowing coal under my sternum.
"Ahhhh! SHIT!!!"
I kept staggering forward. Then the pain climbed up my windpipe, invaded my throat, my jaws.
"AAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!"
I scread, but the cry wasn’t human at all, it was guttural as iridescent flas poured out.
My clothes ignited in an instant. The gray fabric of my dress crackled, shriveled against my skin. My artificial skin whitened, then blistered, then blackened before peeling off in patches that fell away while burning.
But the real fire was inside. It devoured my synthetic organs, lted my joints, made my circuits explode one after another... I was her creation and with a single thought she could self-destruct using the philosopher’s stone that kept alive...
Around , the carriage plunged into horror.
Nearby seats caught fire. A woman scread when her hair burst into flas. A man in a suit tried to smother the flas on his jacket with his palms, but the fire spread to his sleeves, then his forearms and face... The child his mother was holding scread, a high-pitched, continuous sound that cut through the noise, as his flesh liquefied.
Under the heat’s pressure, the windows shattered. Glass fragnts rained down on the passengers, piercing flesh.
People ran in every direction, crashing into each other. So threw themselves to the floor to roll. Others beat at the flas with their coats, their bags, their bare hands. Screams of pain, calls for help, children’s cries, confused pleas. The sll of charred flesh and burning fabric saturated the air until it was almost impossible to breathe...
I fell to my knees in the aisle. My legs no longer supported and my skin hung in charred strips along my arms. Yet my eyes remained fixed on the hooded figure.
"Please... Mistress... Please Mistress Pandora... I just want..."
She hadn’t moved. Still seated in the sa place, gloved hands folded on her lap. The flas danced around her, licking her shoulders, never truly touching her. Beneath the shadow of the hood, her iridescent eyes shone...
I opened my mouth but only a rattle ca out... My last thought turned to Kaiser. I wanted to tell him I was sorry I hadn’t succeeded. That I truly loved him, with all my heart or philosopher’s stone...
The fire grew even stronger. A burning wave tore through from end to end, devouring what remained of . My chest burst open in a flash of iridescent light. Pieces of my body flew across the carriage.
Around , the screams had weakened. Bodies lay scattered on the floor, most motionless. The carriage was now nothing but a rolling inferno, hurtling through the night at one hundred and ten kiloters per hour. The train continued its journey, indifferent to the screams that died out one by one.
At the heart of the flas, the hooded figure remained seated, perfectly calm.
She tilted her head, as if listening to sothing...
Then murmured:
"I hope you enjoy my gift, my dear Kaiser. Don’t worry, your father will be next."
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