Layla sneaked a glance at Alesha, curious how she was taking this. She had survived one such attack before, but how difficult must it be for her to see it happening again, even though it was just through a screen this time? After all, from Alesha's point of view, it hadn't even been three days since the attack.
What she saw came as a surprise. Alesha was watching the snake-men ravage the city through eyes not tinged with terror, dread, anxiety or any of the other emotions Layla would have expected to see. Instead, her multi-colored eyes were taking in the scene as one would an especially good movie. Her face had some shock and horror on it, sure, but she seemed to be enjoying the scene all the same. If she didn't know any better, Layla might have even thought she caught a glimpse of hunger in her eyes.
Confused, Layla decided to probe her sister. "I can't imagine how these people feel," she said softly. "Is this what it was like in Faxton?"
As Layla watched from the corner of her eye, she noticed that her words seemed to snap Alesha out of a trance. "Y-yeah, something like this," she said in a subdued tone. She looked almost sheepish? Ashamed, perhaps? "I was watching a stream at the time and couldn't see much even when I looked out my window, but knowing that a disaster was going on in my city was… an experience I'd rather not repeat. I think I was in shock. I don't remember doing much other than being frozen in fear, then I woke up two months later in a hospital."
"Does… it feel the same now?" Layla added.
Alesha looked down and fiddled with her hands a bit before responding. "No. I'm not sure whether it's because I've seen it before or if it's… something else… but this time, it doesn't feel as real, I guess. I'm not scared at all. Worried for the people there? Absolutely. Concerned about what that symbol is and how it appeared on the moon? Sure. But personally afraid? Not at all."
Privately she added, "I don't think I have anything to fear from these creatures anyways. Something tells me they'd recognize me as one of their own… though that fact itself worries me, and it doesn't mean my family would be safe."
[Ha, you think that just because you have Chaos Energy these beings wouldn't see you as prey? You're still human, you idiot, because of your dumb reluctance. Just because you share the same energy as them doesn't make you friends.]
Alesha's shock at the System's harsh response was interrupted by Layla's next remark.
"Ummm the moon? You said that symbol was on the moon?"
Looking at Layla in surprise, she noticed the confused expression on her little sister's face. "Didn't you see? That symbol is on the moon right now, big, red and glowing."
Layla's eyebrows shot up. "What?! Show me!" She exclaimed, getting up and leaving the stream playing on her bed as she pulled Alesha out her door.
In the living room, Mom, Dad and Dennis were on the couch watching a different stream together, all of them wearing different expressions. Mom looked like she wanted to storm over there and whack the attackers upside the head with a baseball bat, Dad appeared morbidly curious, and Dennis was curled up in Dad's arm, looking absolutely terrified. Dad noticed the sisters first.
"Hey girls, come here, you need to see this," he said, beckoning them over.
"One second," Alesha replied, opening the balcony's sliding door. "We need to check something."
Alesha shut the door behind them and moved to the corner. Checking, she saw the symbol was still there. Then, she maneuvered her sister to the right spot, giving her instructions as to where to look for the moon since it was still rather low in the sky.
Layla gasped. "You're right! That's so eerie…" A shiver visibly went down her spine. "It makes me feel like someone's watching me! Aghhh I don't like this!! I'm going back inside!"
With that, Layla fled the balcony.
Confused, Alesha looked again at the moon, which still felt incredibly welcoming to her. Did this symbol make normal people feel uneasy? That possibility worried her even more. If a symbol that made normal humans feel creeped out and intimidated instead made her feel comfortable and at home, what did that imply? Did it mean she was already past the point of no return with regards to her humanity? The idea pained her, especially as she recalled how she had felt while watching the carnage the snake aliens had wrought in Trania CIty.
She wouldn't admit it, but how she had felt went beyond a simple instinct to join them. The sight of all the blood had made her hungry. Even worse, when she had seen the man carrying his torn-off arm with him, she had briefly wondered what the arm would taste like.
Burying such recollections and strongly reaffirming to herself that yes, she was still human, and no, it was not her fault that she had thought that, but it was the System's stupid quest "rewards" that had made her think such things, she took a deep breath and went back inside.
She was still human. And she would remain so for as long as she had any say in the matter.