([Decrypting location...] - Shyza's POV)----
And thus, standing there before me were vile creatures that had to be destroyed no matter what. My life was on the line, I HAD to complete that mission so I'd be able to stay in the organization but, the number of alien beasts I had to face was beginning to overshadow my confidence.
"Grimers", I muttered darkly.
Those aliens were worm-like parasites that completely drained your energy once they managed to touch your skin. They'd suck all the life force out of you without pity. They were not so dangerous but, the putrid smell that came out of the slime trail they left was enough to knock someone out.
Luckily, I had a mask. A mask which I managed to obtain from-
"Aaaah Enough!!", I threw the mop away with all my might. "Why am I even doing this!? I have a mission to follow!!"
For one to clearly understand my situation, I needed to take you through 'events'.
(Crux Coelestis ship - Deployment wing)
(5 hours ago)-----------------------
Sir. William clapped, summoning a holographic window that showed the image of a person.
"Shyza, your mission is to retrieve this person along with a very valuable book she holds", he smirked calmly. "The Holy Scriptures. We still don't know how someone like her has that book but, all that will be answered once you bring both of them in."
Ed stood behind him, his headphones glowed a cool yellow colour as lights hovered around it. He seemed to be typing something on the several panels that appeared around him.
Sek casually laid against the wall close to the entrance, folding his arms with his eyes closed. He didn't seem to care and avoided eye contact with everyone else.
"So, all I have to do is bring her in along with that book?", I stood before a mini ship.
Sir. William nodded, "Yes, her name according to the data we collected is Olivia Light. She's being kept on an island prison in the middle of the Urnen sea."
"I'll have to use a stealth approach then", I looked back.
"Exactly", he adjusted his glasses. "We're nearly there. You'll have your appearance changed into an elderly person, along with the prison's personnel uniform."
"Right", I responded firmly.
"And that's where I come in!!", Ed grinned as he tapped his holographic keyboard like a demon asked to type words that would grant it, free souls. "There!", with that, he gave a final tap.
Just then, the image of a uniform appeared before me. It was a turtleneck battle dress that had an overall pale blue colour with red lines along its sides, flowing down its long sleeves and ending its journey in the shape of a cross.
"Oooo", a whistle of admiration flew out of my mouth. "Wait, is that the prison uniform?"
"What? Pfft, no", Ed chuckled. "It's our custom Crux Coelestis uniform enhanced with the latest tech, allowing it to efficiently connect to your tech gear and can instantly change the appearance. It also produces high-grade skin shield for SUPER defence!!"
"Wow, did you make it?"
"Ahaha", he suddenly backed away, placing his fingers together. "Yes, it's specially customized for you since you're a Cyborg."
"Dummy, why are you embarrassed?", something suddenly clicked. "But, how did you know that I was a Cyborg?"
"Sky fishing", he promptly replied, adjusting his glasses that appeared from who knows where.
"Oh", I thought back. The cannons and jet boosters I used from before must've given me away.
"Alright, transferring", he made a few palm movements on one of his panels, instantly replacing my clothes with the custom uniform. "The transformation should begin now."
Almost immediately, my body changed into that of an adult woman with a white suit and a gas mask.
"All done"
"You'll fly in and land on the Island with that ship", Sir. William pointed to the vehicle before me.
"Understood", I nodded in response and got into the ship. "Sliza, can you connect to it?"
[Sliza: Beginning link]
[Link established]
Humming noise boomed from the engine as it came to life.
"I'll be done in no time", slight confidence welled up in me. I was good at sneaking up on people Afterall, how could a little stealth mission possibly go wrong?
Ed gave me a thumbs-up as the huge doors above the ship began to open.
I turned back to wave at Sekky, but he was long gone.
"Candy girl, are you okay?", Ed's voice came from my ear comm.
"Yup", floating screens appeared all around me after I swiped my hand. There was a map that pinpointed the exact location of the prison. "Activate auto-liftoff"
[Affirmative]
The engines burst into a full function as it gradually lifted off the platform and rose through the hatch, finally getting into the air.
[Incognitio mode]
[Location pinpointed - Beginning highspeed travel]
An invisible field engulfed the ship, making it invisible and impossible to detect. Within a second, we blasted full speed and arrived just a few miles away from the Island in an instant.
It was quite a big Island, mostly filled with plants. A white building stood tall on the Island's highest point, a cliff.
[Landing on safe spot]
Slowly, we landed at an area far from the building. An empty beach with no signs of life around.
"Well, that was fast", I thought to myself as I jumped off. "Now, I need to figure out a way to get in without being suspicious."
*KLANG!*
All of a sudden, a blurry object zipped past me. The force coming with it almost made me fall as a long line formed on my cheek but, there was no blood and it instantly closed.
"He wasn't joking, this skin shield is something else", I thought as I glanced at the direction at which the object came from and then back at it. It looked like a spear of some sort.
"You idiot!! Be careful with these things!! My head was almost chopped off!!!", an angry voice roared in the distance.
"Heh, sure sure. MY CRADLE OF MANHOOD WAS ALMOST TORN OFF!!", another voice retorted.
These two voices seemed to be headed in my direction. Without wasting time, I got into the invisible ship and observed.
Two men walked onto the sandy shore from within the dense forest, looking paranoid.
"Maybe, we shouldn't have opened it", a skinny man scratched his head.
"Pfft, curiosity got the better of us", his companion who was a complete contrast to him replied.
"What do they plan to do with such a weapon anyway?", the skinny man held his waists as his partner pulled the spear from within the ground.
"Beats me, I don't plan on getting my fingers burnt. Let's return to the team before they notice", the muscular man began to walk away when a certain item glowed on his uniform's sleeve.
After noticing it, I checked on my sleeve. "Damn, I don't have an ID mark."
ID marks were special marks given to workers that allowed them to have access to their place of work. The ID only differed depending on the branch in which workers worked. Without it, the scanners would detect no sign of verification and the alarm would be sounded immediately.
"I need to get it from one of them", I thought. "But, won't I be attracting the attention of those nearby if I start a fight?"
Strangely, a ticklish feeling began to slip up beneath my jaw.
"What-", I looked down and exclaimed in shock, "Cheeky!?"
"Ssss", the little Slitheryon hissed happily in response.
That's when I remembered what Ed had said. This little snake was 'the rarest of the rare'. He said that it had an ability that was on par with a mech fabricator. From what I remembered, mech fabricators had great psychic powers. The Psychics branch under the mech fabricators had stronger mental energy though.
What if, I used Cheeky's Psychic power? But how? There was only one way to find out.
"Cheeky, pull out the ID mark from one of those men and throw them into the sea while showing them horrifying nightmares. Oh, and make sure that no one can hear them", I smiled.
...
...
...
Silence
Of course, how would an alien snake understand human language-
"Sss", Cheeky excitedly wriggled its body, suddenly disappearing and re-appearing multiple times while a pinkish glow outlined its body.
"What's it doing?"
"AAAHH!!", a frantic cry could be heard from outside.
"Huh?", my attention was instantly diverted. "What-"
Both men were now in the air, screaming at the top of their lungs and flapping their arms like madmen hoping to fly. It was as if they were scared of being thrown into the mouth of a monster. Then just then, a sudden force sent them flying straight into the ocean.
... Awkward ...
"Okay, Okay", I calmly recollected what just occurred. "How do I unsee this?"
"Ssss", Cheeky coiled around my right arm, looking exhausted.
"It worked?", a shiny glow caught the corner of my eye. "W-When did it get there!?", the ID mark was already on my sleeve.
An evil grin appeared on my face, "Kukuku, so many evil things I can do... Together with Cheeky, we shall have all the food in the universe to ourselves!!"
After cracking up great plans for universal food shortages, I jumped out of the ship and picked the spear up. Quickly, I traced the direction it had come from and followed it, finding myself in a forest and on a path choked with weeds. It seemed to lead up towards the building on the cliff.
"The others must've left without remembering those men", I thought to myself as I inspected the footprints. "Better get up there then."
"Oh, Cheeky. Could you turn invisi-", I looked at my arm only to find out that it had already done that. "Jeez, at least let me get a chance to finish a sentence."
...
"Hey you, why are you late!?", a tall, intimidating man roared as I got closer to the entrance.
"Haha, the two men in charge of this spear have decided to go 'refresh' themselves", I laughed nervously.
"What?", the man growled.
"Umm, Uhh-", I desperately tried to find random words while thinking. "What I'm about to say is gonna scar me for life."
With one large breath, I spat out the words, "They desperately needed to go pee and then the pee started to stink and then I got mad because I am a woman of dignity and then I heard strange laughter and then I got naturally alerted and then I saw their grinning faces and then I screamed and then I woke a sleeping creature and then It ate them and now they're dead."
"..."
"Hehe", I scratched my head.
"Security-"
"Put him to sleep", I interrupted with a dark tone in my voice.
An instant force then slammed him against the wall, knocking him out cold. It was then that I felt something off, it was as if a part of me was wearing away.
Could it have been connected to Cheeky?
Its psychic power did get weaker after dealing with those men and we do share a link after all.
"Maybe I should leave you to rest", I glanced at my arm and cautiously walked into the building, successfully tricking the scanners with the ID mark I had stolen.
"What took you so long?", a woman approached me. "Hurry, give that to me."
She grabbed the spear from my grasp and walked away, not turning back even once.
"Okay?"
I was currently in the reception area, several workers talked to each other casually while others moved about trying to complete their tasks. At the end of the spacious room were two hallways.
The left one leading to the Cells and the right one to the Other parts of the building.
"Perfect, I'm close now", I walked briskly to that hallway. "I should be able to get her out before that man's body is found. It'll be bad if he wakes up before I leave though."
The hallway was lit with white light, making the path completely visible. It looked perfect, so neat... except, the horrible smell that penetrated my nose even though I wore a gas mask.
"Damn, that's why they wear masks. Is this coming from the inmates?", my palm waved in front of my nose, blowing the bad air away. "The hallway stretches so far, do I have to check every single cell?"
"Eh??", a long exasperated sigh weakly sounded in my ear. "Someone plans to break a prisoner out?"
"Waaaah!!", my heart almost leapt out of my throat as I jumped back. "W-What are you-"
"I can see through your disguise", this lanky person stared at me with lifeless eyes and kept sighing between words. It was as if he had been bored for years.
"Tch, seems like I'll have to get rid of you then", I grinned.
"Ahhh, kid. You can't, you haven't and you're way too scared to even think of it"
What was up with this fluffing weirdo, he cut through my guise and now he was able to dig so deep into me in a few minutes.
He turned around, "Oh well, another boring day. Might as well sound the alarm and get some fun- uh, on second thought."
The air turned stiff as he glanced back. Several thoughts ran through my head at that time.
Do I run?
Do I attack?
Do I push Cheeky to use its ability one last time?
I had to do something else, I'd be done for.
"I'm a lazy guy ya see, so I'll make you finish my cleaning work."
A sarcastic smile cracked up on my face, "Eh?"
(Island Prison - Present time)-----------
"The more I stand here, the more I get pissed off", I sighed. "Well, I only allowed it for a reason."
I was taken to the deepest parts of the cells, where the most dangerous criminals were kept. The smell was even worse than before because of the grimers and I was fed up.
"I'll just hack into the system and open all the cells", I said to myself with a blank expression.
"-Test hour, unlocking cells-", a robotic voice suddenly boomed, followed by the sounds of sliding doors all over the hallway.
"-Actions that fall contrary to normal protocols will call for immediate elimination-"
People began to walk out, following a long line towards the end of the hallway. I didn't know whether to classify them as humans or not. Some of them were still looking humanoid but with horrifying features. They had appendages pierced out from all over their bodies, some of them having their face disfigured as they looked like they had been forcefully merged with alien beasts.
"Don't cry! Don't shout!!, Don't cry!!! Don't shout!!!, I pinched myself as I screamed in my head. "Huh?"
A particular cell caught my attention, no one came out after its doors had slid open.
"Hello?", I peeked into the cell, instantly choking as a huge wave of putrid gas filled my lungs. "The hell is with this!? It smells like... rotten corpse."
My words slowed down as I noticed, the smell was indeed from a dead body. It just laid there motionless.
"They really need to be checking their cells. Tch, I'm wasting time here", I was about to launch micro drones into every cell when a lonely figure caught my eye.
It was a girl... no, an early adult. She just sat there doing nothing, her head was bent as she hugged her knees.
"Who's that?", the thought crossed my mind as I prepared to put on my 'act'. "Hey you, didn't you hear the bot?"
There was a long silence. I would've left her there and proceeded with my mission but, something left me grounded.
Slowly, she raised her head and revealed her sunken green eyes. "I don't want to leave", she spoke back weakly.
My heartbeat increased drastically as I realized who I stood in front of, "Y-You!!"