Dust swirled in the warehouse's air. Asher stood in its center, distracted by the series of prompts the System gave him.
[Error.]
[Manually establishing completion grade... Determined success: The Fragment of the Universe resides in Host's body in slumber, subdued.]
[Completion: N/A]
[E.G.O not obtained due to undefined grade.]
[Reward: +15 Insight, +15 Temperance]
[You have absorbed the Fragment of the Universe. Obtained two skills, 'Echoes from Beyond' and 'Fragment of the Universe'.]
[Next Punishment: Grave of Cherry Blossoms]
The System sounded different this time, but Asher couldn't pinpoint exactly how.
Either way, he had to check out the new skills he got.
[Echoes from Beyond: Produce a mentally damaging melody from your body for 5 seconds, targeting all hostile individuals within a forty-feet radius. If any one of them loses their sanity, kill them instantly and add 5 seconds to this skill's duration, for a maximum of nine minutes. Ten-minute cooldown.]
[Fragment of the Universe: ??? Conditions not met.]
[These two are general skills, capable of usage in all forms.]
Aside from the flat stat gains, the first skill was very impressive. He could definitely see himself using it when there was a crowd of enemies. And both of them were general skills too, the only ones he had so far.
But the other one... Did he get it from the Abnormality parasitizing his body? The name completely matched, so he assumed so. And what were the conditions he to use it? Would the creature awaken inside him when the conditions were met?
A noise in front of him interrupted his thoughts. It was the lock being torn off.
'I was too excited about the rewards, I forgot about the Carnival!'
"Gamma, Beta, stay outside. I'll check first." Alpha entered the warehouse.
Asher had no time to react as it locked eyes with him.
"What is a little girl doing here?" Alpha's voice was neutral, testing the waters with this unfamiliar child.
This was no time to hesitate; Asher tried to look as natural as possible, finding a plausible excuse to use. He closed his eyes like Yan sometimes did when she was bored and uninterested.
"I'm a Proselyte assigned to the Messenger of this meeting."
"Are you close to the Messenger? Acquaintances, or friends?" Asher ignored the second part of Alpha's words.
If it was anyone else in any other situation, then he might have shown the slightest expression, which Alpha would have exploited.
But his fear of the Carnival's leader paralyzed his face.
Using the near doubled Insight from the mission he just completed, he could now detect a faint aura of malice behind Alpha's seemingly carefree words.
He tried to make a mocking, careless expression.
"I was merely sent by the Proxies. The Prescripts must be upheld." He winced as he remembered the hallucination the Fragment gave him about Yan. She sounded exactly like him in that dream.
At the mention of the Proxies, Alpha recoiled in instinctual fear.
"...Tch." It had seen the aftermath of a clash between the Proxies of Section 19 and a Star of the City several years ago. An entire block of buildings, completely in ruins. Even thinking about it caused it to shiver.
Alpha called for its companions behind it, ignoring Asher now that it knew his circumstances of arrival.
Gamma and Beta lumbered in, as disgusting as Asher remembered.
"Girl? Can eat?"
"Looks tasty? Better than Sweepers." As expected, they only cared about eating. Beta and Gamma both salivated at the sight of him.
But they chittered in confusion as Alpha teleported behind them, tripping them to the ground before they could react. It dug its heels into both of their masks.
"She was sent by the Proxies, so hold yourselves. We can find Fixers later." Beta froze as it registered Alpha's words.
Gamma and Beta stood up sheepishly. Gamma's body fused shut, not hungering for the girl in front of it anymore.
Asher walked to the doors guarded by the two real Proselytes, positioning himself behind it.
He planned to discuss with Yan how to deal with this predicament when she came in. The false memories of the Messenger stabbing Mei... he discarded them with a violent shake of his head, leaving him dizzy. They were all fake, hallucinations created by the Fragment to disturb him.
An uneasy feeling still lingered in his mind, but he pushed it away through sheer willpower.
He stood there in silence until the door opened behind him.
"Psst, Yan!"
The Messenger yelped as Asher tapped her shoulder.
The Carnival was still in the middle of the room, unable to hear their whispers.
"What the hell are you doing here?! How did you get in?" She examined his body for any wounds, sighing in relief as she found none.
"The twins let me in because I smelled like you." Despite the situation, he couldn't help but wink. Yan giggled, realizing what he meant.
"Okay... guess I'll have to stay away from now on~" She poked his chest playfully, but their faces soon turned serious. Now was not the time for antics. They could save those for later.
"I've convinced them I'm one of your Proselytes, and that the Proxies sent me here."
Yan hummed in thought.
"Then, do you want to join me? I could use some company with those cursed Carnival monsters."
Asher almost agreed, but before the words left his mouth, he remembered that Sayako also had a deal with Alpha.
He could think of a thousand ways in which his disguise would be ruined at the slightest outburst from her.
Just for one: what if Sayako exclaimed that he was the Proxy from two days ago when she saw him? Then Alpha would surely guess that he wasn't a Proselyte or a Proxy, ruining his disguise.
As much as he wanted to stay with Yan and not let her go in alone, it was too dangerous for him. And there was little to no danger for Yan, seeing how easily she exited the warehouse last time. She only came back to save him, which costed her life.
"Sorry, Yan, I don't think I can go. Do you remember Sayako? She has a deal with them today, too. If she sees me, my disguise will be ruined."
She nodded her head in understanding.
"You," she poked his ribs painfully, "are going to tell me how you know that, but for now I'm just glad Alpha didn't hurt you while you were there. And... let's go somewhere when I'm done. Together."
She walked past him, wiping her face of any residual expression she had.
He glanced back at Yan one last time before pushing open the doors to the outside.
The sun dimly shined through the gray clouds, creating a dreary, wet sensation on his skin. The twins glanced at him in surprise before turning away like he didn't exist.
The awkward silence became unbearable to him as the Proselytes stood still, blankly facing forward.
"So... When did you all become Proselytes? What are your names?"
One of them adjusted their bronze blindfold before responding to him.
"You may call us Eleven and Twelve. Years ago, our father's Prescript was to hand us to the Index for It to raise. What can we call you?" She pointed to herself as she said Eleven and pointed to her sister as she said Twelve.
'That's... kind of sad...' They looked at most preteen, even younger than him and Yan. If they were given away to Index years ago, did that mean they became Proselytes before they were even ten years old?
"My name's Sophie. Do you ever think about your father? Are you happy in the Index?"
Eleven tilted her head.
"Happiness is fabricated by the unenlightened, the false and hopeless. The Prescripts give us fulfillment, made us above the rabble. Now we fill our purpose, serving the Prescripts."
Asher shook his head, uncomprehending, but he did not press further.
However, he had his own doubts. Why was Yan so much different from these brainwashed Proselytes? Was it because she was older, or maybe because she was a higher rank than them?
The twins didn't speak anymore, seeing as he had nothing more to say.
Asher turned toward the door, opening it ever so slightly to peek inside. Sayako and Alpha were shaking hands, having completed their deal. Comparing events to last time, Yan should exit the warehouse in a few dozen more seconds.
Indeed, he saw her bowing toward Alpha in the distance, signaling the end of the meeting.
Yan smiled as she walked back, noticing Asher's protective gaze from the crack of the door.
She flung open the doors, diving into his arms.
"How was the wait? Let's-"
She froze as the twins stared at her, confused.
"Miss Haruko... What relation do you have with this girl, Sophie? Must we report this to Proxy Esther?"
Yan cleared her throat, pulling away from him in the process.
"Ahem, Sophie is my coworker, nothing more. That was just a... greeting that we have with each other."
One predominant trait of the Index was the complete control the Messengers had on their Proselytes, as well as the Proxies had on the Messengers. No Proselyte could question the words of their Messengers, just like to doubt the word of the Proxies was the finest form of suicide.
Eleven and Twelve bowed toward him.
"I understand. Pardon the disrespect earlier, Messenger Sophie."
Somehow, a happy little misunderstanding was made. When Yan said 'colleague', they must have assumed he was the same level as her. Asher refrained from correcting them.
"It is fine. Does Messenger Yan go somewhere? And perhaps do something? Together?"
Yan giggled under her breath as Asher tried too hard to sound monotone and robotic, believing that was how Messengers always acted. Even she never sounded like that when she was handing out Prescripts.
"Come on, you don't have to say it like that! Tweleven, we'll take our leave. You two are both dismissed."
The twins saluted before jumping onto the rooftops, flitting away silently.
"Asher, want to go to HamHamPangPang then?"
'Again...? Is that like the only place she knows?'
She gripped his arm, tugging him away as he shrugged.
Soon they arrived at its front doors.
Peering through the windows, Asher could see Mei working tirelessly as she rang up another customer.
"Are you going to enter as Sophie or yourself?" Yan preferred his original body, but she couldn't bring herself to say that. Instead, she left it up to Asher's decision.
"Hmm... I think being myself is better." He transformed back, wincing as Yan squeezed his arm even tighter, pleased with his decision.
Yan sighed happily, tickling his skin with her warmth as they entered.