When Nikita told Kaori that Kyle was intelligent, the halfbie assumed he would look it too, like Dr. Reuter or Jozette.
She was extremely mistaken, however.
Unlike the bodysuits that most everyone wore with a few pieces over top, Kyle, a late 20ish year old man, was only wearing a tied dye t-shirt and a pair of khaki cargo shorts with black slides.
His blonde hair was long, unkempt, knotty, and greasy, making Kaori feel second-hand disgusting and she too wanted to take a shower, but she knew far too well that that idea had been knocked off the table and broken long before she arrived.
The only clean thing about him was his clean-shaven face and his decently sized 4 bedroom house that The Pacific had built in to accommodate extremely important figures.
Very few families lived in them anymore though, as most of the figures have either passed or have been killed; The more she sees the more she knows that the World once thought the disease would be similar to Covid, with the brunt of the pandemic lasting only about a year or 2.
The guard that had guided them to the intelligent man and left them soon after leading them to Kyle's door, was called back within a second to be sure this man was in fact, their man.
Which, he was, and the guard told them to not bother anyone again with such idiotic questions before leaving for a final time.
Kyle's bloodshot, orange eyes were staring at them in amusement, a smirk upon his face as he watched Jesse and Kaori struggling to make sense of his appearance.
And his smell.
"That's him, though?" Kaori whispered out of the corner of her mouth to her cowboy as they began to close the gap between them and the stinky man, as if the guard didn't just tell them. She just couldn't believe it.
"Why should I know that? I've never had a reason to visit him. But the guard-" He began to whisper back as his boots clicked against the ground.
"I know what the guard said!" She snapped back, "it's just a bit-"
"Unbelievable?" Kyle finally spoke up, loud enough to reach the two's ears. Kaori's face turned redder than a tomato before she apologized for possibly offending him. She was surprised he could hear her considering the distance they still had- at least 20 feet from his front door to the end of his living room where he sat down upon a leather couch that farted with each movement.
He wasn't preparing to watch a blank screen though, instead, he had a long, oval coffee table not far from his couch, within reach, where he had an array of items upon it- all of which resonated his era nearly stereotypically.
A foot long glass bong with yellowed water and black floaties, a sandwich baggy of green, a lighter and some snacks.
Kaori didn't recognize the snacks nor did Jesse recognize anything, but they didn't ask. They had business to discuss.
Before either of them could speak however, Kyle, as he packed his bong, continued to talk to them like they were his long-lost friends. "Want to have a sesh?" His voice was raspy, but friendly. "This futuristic shit is groovy as hell, man."
Jesse covered his nose as the green began to light, followed by an intense stench filling the room, but Kaori embraced it. The halfbie sat next to him, breathing only through her mouth, while Jesse stood behind the couch and on the furthest side from them.
"I wish," Kaori finally replied, a slight grin on her face as she craved the feeling but knew better than to dabble at a time like this.
"Same," Kyle smirked back, sucking the contents from the neck of his glassware and into his lungs before blowing it out of his body shortly after but this time as a large cloud of white smoke.
And right into Kaori's beautiful face.
Instead of getting mad at him, she smiled softly and told him 'no, thank you,' much to Kyle's expected disappointment, before also thanking him for his time. Though, he only chuffed as he quickly informed them that he had no choice but to; he was an object the government needed to use every so often. He was used to it and was only alright with it because they kept him as safe as the King, if not safer most times, considering.
"The key to the cure is pretty simple, but it involves death- a lot of it," Kyle began, taking another hit of his bong, as if it was making things easier for him to tell the two about it. "That's why I can't do it. I love living, and death's a bummer." He let out a barrage of coughs after clearing his piece once more, but when he was done, it was clear he was sadder when he began talking again. "It's my second chance, and I don't want to ruin it."
Kaori took the bong from him suddenly, "I love living too!"
Then, to the shock of Jesse, took a huge hit of it before coughing so hard she nearly passed out; her face having turned a purplish-red. The cowboy, though reluctantly, frantically ran to her, holding his breath as he traversed through the thick cloud of smoke to make sure she was fine.
She shooed him away with a few flaps of her hand while gasping a few times, "I'm alright-" she managed to muster through the remnants of her cough.
"Yeah, she is," Kyle's frown turned upside down as he watched the whites of her eyes slowly redden.
"Shut up, Casanovas," Kaori hushed them both, her voice stern, before addressing them. "If this is bad enough to not want to cure the world, then I feel like something to take the edge off is in order." She then turned to stare at the tie-dyed man directly in his eyes. "But I prefer to live on Earth, not space. So, please tell me how to make that a reality."
As Jesse excused himself from the house, not being able to take the smell any longer, Kyle finally told Kaori what she needed to do.
And it seemed simple enough.
Kill Zombies.
"Every time you level, Persephone gives you rewards. And you level by killing those flesh eating fuckers; some help more than others. Most rewards are the same between those reincarnated, but each one gets their own special.... powers; if you're lucky anyways."
The idea of having special powers intrigued her; it was beginning to feel more and more like a real-life game to her, and she was eager to get back into an infested ship- though she wasn't sure if it was just because she had already begun to block out the memory of it.
Kyle continued, "me, for example, I've only leveled enough to be able to hear a pin drop from a mile away. It's a sick game. Persephone does what she thinks is good and I appreciate her willingness to make things easier for me, but.... she doesn't take into account the potential downfalls." His voice cracked with emotion, but quickly snapped back, "this is the only thing that keeps me sane, man," he smugly said, motioning towards his weed, snacks and paraphernalia. "Persephone gifted this too; said I could have a reasonable wish granted."
Kaori shrugged, seemingly agreeing before getting back down to the business of everything; her high was making her think. "So, one of the powers we get from leveling is being able to cure everything, right?"
"Yes, but the cure itself isn't meant for us to enjoy." He took another big hit, letting it out a second later.
Kaori's face scrunched up in confusion, "what?"
"We are the cure." His voice lowered, "remember what I said about Persephone having a thing for games? Well, her game is death, stone fox."