It was the following morning after spending my first night in the storage unit. Even with such a dull bed, it was one of the best sleeps I'd gotten in a while. When I awoke, I decided to head out and see if there was some place I could grab a coffee and breakfast.
But then I remembered what happened the last time I went to get coffee.
Nevermind.
I quickly lost my appetite. Plus, I was running low on personal funds. The rest of it was stored away as cash back in my dorm at A.X.A. There was no way I'd be getting that back.
Damn it. I'm so broke.
I steered far away from any café looking establishments. I didn't want to get innocent people involved again. Yet here I was, part of an organization that meddled directly with innocents. I realized how hypocritically I was living. I'd been forced to tear my morals apart all because a sloth gave me no option but to do so. At this stage, there wasn't much I could do but play out my role.
'You are the executioner to individuals with HP Fractals.'
Ian's words echoed loudly in my head.
After wandering around for a bit, I realized I wasn't even in the mood for anything breakfast related anymore. So I went back home to my storage unit. Upon opening the sliding door, I noticed an envelope on my desk in place of where the toy sloth used to be. Confused, I went over and tore it open, and a slip of paper, a photo, and two $10 bills fell out.
"What the…?"
I checked the paper first and saw that it had some writing on it.
{ This is your first target, Klyson.
NAME: Rosemary Peria
FRACTAL: Camouflage
- Able to blend in with background colors
- Only able to use on one side of the body like a two-dimensional plane
- NOTE: suspected to have already achieved a Fractal Activation - allowing her to blend-in with background colors and dimensions using all sides of the body (camouflaged from all perspectives)
The photo provided was taken along the intersection of Lidsberg and Jarvis Street. You can use it to help you distinguish her. I have also included $20, 0.2% of the total bounty you will receive once you've completed your task. If you fail your attempt, you can keep the $20, but the remaining $9980 will not be sent your way. Since this is your very first target, I will provide you an accomplice from Heathen that can assist you however you please.
Good luck with your first target, Klyson. }
Upon finishing reading the letter, my jaw had already dropped.
I'm getting $10000 for this bounty—?!?
It was more money than I'd make in a month working at A.X.A. The thought made me shiver. Everything about this was so absurd, I almost couldn't believe what my life had turned into. My mind was divided by morality—one side told me to run away and leave this all behind because it was wrong, while the other told me to take the opportunity to turn my life around like I'd always wanted to. But I was already knee-deep in this current predicament involving Heathen, and I'd already done irredeemable things to keep me cemented in place.
There was no turning back now. I already knew that.
I'm becoming worse by the second.
"Fuck!" I slammed the envelope onto the desk, scattering the paper and cash everywhere. No one would take me back after what I'd done at the café, especially my original place of belonging, A.X.A. I knew full well what the General would do if I returned and exposed my secrets. Heathen was the only place giving me an opportunity right now, and Ian had already put it into perspective for me—I had no choice but to comply.
I sighed.
I looked at the photo again, trying my best to remember which directions I'd have to take to get to that intersection, when suddenly—
Bang-bang-bang—!
There was a heavy knocking against my storage unit's door. I stumbled back in disbelief, shocked that someone had somehow found out where I lived.
I thought Ian said no one would find this place!
I looked around, searching for something I could use as a weapon to defend myself against this intruder. But there was nothing.
I'll have to use my hands then.
They banged against the door again. I could tell that they were getting more and more impatient. I readied myself for whoever was out there, with my hands locked as fists, and the lights shut off so that I could have an advantage in the darkness. Then, I slowly and carefully slid the door open. In a split moment, I saw the shoes of the unknown individual begin to step towards me. My state of survival quickly activated.
Flow State.
As my body began to move on its own with an attack towards this unknown intruder, I was surprised when my actions hadn't followed in pursuit.
"Static!" The intruder had yelled. It was the voice of a female. Suddenly my feet were glued to the floor, and I had absolutely no means of moving them.
I was stuck.
"Jeez! You're feisty!" The intruder revealed herself. It was a short woman wearing a cap and a baggy hoodie, heightened ever so slightly by the large soles on the oversized shoes she was wearing.
Her shoes are way too big.
Her appearance was suddenly familiar to me. I quickly realized I'd seen this person before.
Is this the person who was walking so loudly at the Grand Cordial?
"So you're the Fractless one..." She began to observe me. "I don't know what I was expecting from what Ian told me, but it wasn't this."
"Ian…? You know Ian?"
She looked at me and scoffed. "Of course I do, I'm one of his proxies!"
"Huh—!?" I was baffled. I was so used to encountering Ian's mindless proxies it hadn't occurred to me that they could be sentient. Then I remembered what Ian had said in the letter.
"Are you the proxy meant to help me with my first target?"
She nodded. "Yup. Seems like you'll need it, considering you couldn't even get past my Fractal."
I tugged at my legs but my feet were still glued to the floor. "And that is…?"
"Coefficient of Friction! That's the name of my Fractal."
"What exactly does it do?" I asked.
"I can change the coefficient of friction of the surface that my feet touch between two modes: Static, or Kinetic. Static raises the coefficient so high that the surface friction will stick anything it touches to it, indefinitely. Kinetic lowers the coefficient so low that the surface will have no friction. It'll become as slippery as ice!"
So that's why she yelled out 'Static' before I could attack her. Frictional forces are keeping my feet stuck to the surface.
"I'm guessing you're able to enable and disable it at will?"
"You're hoping I can, aren't you?" She giggled, seeing how helpless I was without being able to move my feet. "As long as you can guarantee you won't try attacking me again."
"Should I have a reason to?"
She smirked, understanding that I was still suspicious. "Heathen. Order in Chaos. There, is that good enough for you?"
I sighed of slight relief. "You just seemed like a threat at first."
"I would be if you weren't a part of Heathen." She released her Fractal. My feet had its pressures lifted and I could move them again. "S-O-H-O."
"Soho?"
"That's my name," she smiled.
"My name's Klyson."
"I know that already. I know everything I need to know about you, Mr. Fractless."
"Has Ian told you that much about me…?"
She snickered. "That, and I may have done a lil' digging around myself. I was the one who lead you on with the Grand Cordial."
The Grand Cordial.
I recalled having that whispered in my ears not once, not twice, but three times over the duration of a week before finally making my way to the library itself.
"That was you…?"
"Mhm. I placed the note with the address in that book for you to find as well, as per instruction from Ian."
I remembered now. She was the individual I saw leaving the Grand Cordial right after I'd found the chosen book among the Talitems. "So it was you with the loud footsteps."
Her face scrunched with confusion. "Huh?"
"Never mind," I sighed. "So Heathen has been keeping tabs on me ever since what happened at the café?"
"Well, of course. Ian knew you had nowhere else to go. He knew you'd circle right back around to Heathen eventually, so he assigned me to you. Too bad for you, you're stuck with me now!"
I forced a smile.
She's awfully energetic.
"And remember how my Fractal works too! I'll be using it to assist you with your targets."
I nodded. "I've already received order for the first one, Rosemary Peria. Apparently she was last seen on Lidsberg and Jarvis."
"Then let's get going! I know the way." She already began skipping down the hall, her steps as loud as ever with those oversized shoes of hers.
Is she really one of Ian's proxies? She seems so… alive.
I closed the door to my storage unit and followed in pursuit. It seemed as though I'd been dropped into the deep-end right from the start. I was already on route to find my first organized victim.