Earth Underground Refugee City
Vince admired the lustrous gardens and vivid flowers of his old tattered book about gardening. His green and brown eyes wide with fascination at what he saw.
Vince's eyes were an unusual color, brown on the bottom and green on the top, arranged in a diagonal position that couldn't have been an ordinary human.
He sat in his chair at the underground orphanage reading, since he finished his math exercises and was waiting on the orphanage manager to check his work. Reading about plants was his favorite pastime as there were so many unique ones and plants were rare in the underground city he resided in.
Going to the aboveground wasn't permitted because of the dangerous existence known as Viruses. Unless you had special permission, were part of the Virus Resistance or were surveying the land like the big loud helicopters he'd heard about. There was no approaching the stairways that led to the surface.
But he'd heard there was a garden near the surface, in a sort of middle ground between actually being on the surface where the buildings and helicopters were, and the safety of the underground refugee cities.
The environment was constantly monitored by gardeners and looked after since some gardens had food good for the people of the underground.
Being a foolish seven year old kid, he snuck out and approached the greenhouse on the corner. Carefully hiding in the shadows of the dimly lit world he called home. He wondered with glee of the plants he would see. Would they look as colorful as they do in the picture books?
Even so, the greenhouse was dangerously close to the surface, where the viruses could potentially be out looking for humans to consume.
Vince looked at the numerous helicopters and flightcraft. The noise was unpleasant but they were good ways of keeping time with his given options. The rotation was every thirty minutes he felt that was enough time to at least look at the garden and come back. If he got caught on the way back the guards would probably assume he was trying to go to the surface because he didn't understand the dangers and 'put a stop to it'.
The allure of the picture perfect garden, to someone who spent his entire short life underground, it was a utopia. He darted in when he felt the closest helicopter sounded far enough away.
He felt his mouth open in wonder as he looked at the vivid green plants. He looked at the smaller flowers, dandelions, and patches of clovers. The lights overhead seemed stronger than the lamps used in the city. They were brighter and hurt his eyes a bit but he focused more on the greenery and the empty spots with labels of what he recognized to be fruits.
Then he stopped short.
Face to face with him was a girl. If her attire wasnt so bizarre it might have been pretty.
Her skin tone was deathly pale, almost unflatteringly so in comparison to those he'd heard of to have alabaster skin. Her navy blue hair, as he stared at her in terrified silence was adorned with a translucent headband decorated with molded gummy worms in green.
"Do you work h-here?" He asked nervously.
Her eyes stared at him, empty and blank.
Her dress is short and puffy, with a sleeveless black top with shiny lines and a dark blue skirt with gooey gummy worms, in hues of green, pink and blue, with a dripy cut and a dark blue sheer underskirt, in ruffles. The top, around the arms and neck, has red, navy and black gooey dripping material, framing the dress sleeves and neckline.
She took a step forward.
Her boots are wedged with wrapped red and green translucent gummy worms all around and in the heel. To add to the unsettling air, all the worms appeared to be wriggling a little.
She was most likely a Virus. Or was a normal human infected by one.
Either case, apparently she had thought it a good idea to seek refuge there. He swallowed hard.
"Uh--" his voice cracked on that alone and he hadn't even said anything. She continued to stare intensely at him. He took a step back unsure what would be the best course for action.
He bolted as he processed the worm-like creatures extended from her as if to touch him.
*'I read somewhere that things - living things that are brightly colored... Are very often -not always but *often*.....'* he couldn't help but think as he charged fearfully through the garden.
The worms swarmed towards him, latching on to every part of his body as he howled in terror, praying someone would be around to help.
The swarm caught up to him just as he reached a door.
*'Poisonous.'*
"YEEEAAÀAAAAARRRRGGHHH!!" He howled in agony. Screaming in pain until he blacked out.
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"I'm inspector Sage Mandarin " the man before him introduced himself.
"We're investigating what you were doing in the southern garden on the peak of
A guard noticed a disturbance among the greenhouse. We were called and found you emitting a strange red vapor."
"But what about the girl??" He tried desperately.
"You mean this victim?" He said holding up a monochrome picture of the girl from before. Her clothes seemed less vibrant and she wasn't wearing any shoes. Though that could have easily been the type of picture.
"One of four others. We can only deduce that you felt she was a light snack and that we stopped you." The man next to him said.
"No- NO WAY I have- I would never eat a person!!" He protested. The two inspectors spoke over him. The orphanage caretaker gave him a stern look not to interrupt adults.
"The type of beast inside you is a class B rank Virus." The other inspector said. Behind him stood a third, slightly shorter man with a rather gruff expression.
The caretaker gasped fearfully. "Inspector Nīkau, Is that bad?"
"Any virus is bad. The Virus Resistance will have to be informed so he can be monitored." Nīkau responded simply. Then glance at Vince as though it were somehow his fault.
"We'll contact the Virus Resistance and decide the way to remove them but for now the only option is to determine how dangerous you are and if we can send you home." He informed the boy. Vince looked on the verge of tears.
"I'll cooperate fully and sign the papers to release him," the caretaker agreed.
"Your records don't exist in the database and you are an orphan. You'll have to be stationed on the outskirts of the city where the population is minimal compared to the center." Mandarin responded casually.
Vince blinked blankly at them as he walked down the hallway.
He hung back looking at the woman admiring the various portraits of inspectors and police officers on the wall. The portraits didn't interest him any, but she certainly seemed intrigued.
Her face and skin made her look like the indigenous people of North America, in the world before the apocalypse started. He'd seen them in his history books when he was younger. Her black hair was longer than the pictures of the people depicted.
Her dress didn't quite match that however. As it was a brown dress dotted with small gold sparkles and one arm didn't have a sleeve. The other had a short sleeve made of strings of brown beads that stopped before the elbow.
"You're really pretty Miss," he said formally.
"Thank you..... You bear a remarkable resemblance to the original carrier of the first Ancient Eldritch beings, I look forward to seeing your growth," she remarked, crouching down so she was at his level, then tilting his head up.
"The... what now..?" He asked, expression slack with confusion. Her expression looked sympathetic.
"Vince! Kid! Try and keep up with us will you?" Inspector Mandarin asked. He stood straighter and wondered why he hadn't asked about the woman in front of him. She let go of him and he began to run towards the two adults.
Silently, he looked back at her. However her expression was less kind toward a woman standing in the window on the first floor of the building.
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"This is a denizen of the world of Midgard, she's here to train potential students to defend themselves for jobs on the surface." Inspector Mandarin introduced the grey haired woman before him.
"I am Eudora Crane Scholastique, you may refer to me as Madame Scholastique"
Her gaze tilted downwards to Vince Crylight of age seven, too young for her academy.
"To all youth that is Headmistress Scholastique," she stated.
He gulped. "But I don't go here yet-"
"Nonsense, all children are part of the learning division. Even the ones not under my jurisdiction." She waved off.
He looked at Inspector Mandarin and then back at her. "... Pleased to meet you, Headmistress Scholastique," he said as formally as possible.