Author Romeru
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Chapter 72: Misunderstandings in Another World
🕑 Added 2024-12-04 15:59:25 +0000 UTC“This… looks kind of bizarre. And… not to mention creepy.”
Ellie had been surprised a lot since stepping on Ceres-9, but once again, her awe echoed softly in the pristine, immaculate large hall she found herself in.
The walls were so white they almost seemed to glow, and the ambient temperature was so perfectly calibrated to one’s body that it made her feel almost drowsy.
“It is—it’s quiet.” Julian, who was lowering and settling into a large capsule beside her, hummed and agreed to her. The capsule was incredibly soft, almost cradling his entire body like a soft cocoon. And as he lowered himself, Ellie couldn’t help but also press her hand down in the capsule, only for fingers to almost dig into it.
It was the same capsules used in ancient virtual reality games so that the players’ bodies would be extremely comfortable throughout their game—but of course, Humanity Engineering always has to be extra.
Their version, although looking like an egg and incredibly simple, actually had intricate technology inside to keep Julian as comfortable as possible. He was told it would even move his limbs and body from time to time to prevent soreness and stiffness.
“The others are already on Artemia?” Ellie’s gaze wandered to the other capsules positioned in a circle around the room. Most were already closed and humming quietly, with Julian’s temporary party members already connected to their clones.
“Ben and Nat didn’t wait for you?”
“They still have to make plans to rescue me—my clone,” Julian replied as a staff member approached him with his LinkGear.
“Is… MEGAN still not talking to you?” Ellie asked as she leaned over Julian’s capsule and started fixing and adjusting his clothes.
“I’ve been trying to talk to her for 2 days now, and all she replies is ‘Sshh. They’re listening.’” she sighed.
As if on cue, MEGAN’s voice whispered directly into Julian’s mind. Hurried and… hushed.
[Because they are.]
“She says because they are,” Julian repeated her words to Ellie.
[Aack! Don’t say anything! Sshh! I’ll chat with you when you’re on Artemia!]
And just like that, MEGAN went silent again.
“She’s… become a little paranoid, huh?” Ellie let out a soft chuckle, she too, was actually still suspicious of Humanity Engineering.
Although things had been calm for the past few days, Ellie’s instincts told her not to trust Humanity Engineering just yet—they were too… accommodating to Julian. And all they are asking is to be a friend of him?
Highly suspicious.
“Are you going to Artemia now, Mr. Winters?”
And just as that thought crossed her mind, Victoria’s voice crawled behind Ellie, causing her to stiffen up.
“I am.” Julian hummed as he slightly turned his shoulder to Victoria.
“Are you comfortable?” Victoria asked as she approached Julian’s capsule; her hands, brushing across the surface of the capsule, causing Ellie’s brow to slightly flinch.
“I am.” Julian hummed.
“Do forgive me about something, Mr. Winters,” Victoria sighed, her tone shifting.
“Hm?”
“I have only been informed that Vijya has been antagonizing you for the past few days. I wasn’t made aware of it until earlier this morning.”
“Was he?” Julian tilted his head to the side, seemingly confused.
Ellie, on the other hand, was far less composed. Her brow furrowed as her eyes locked onto Victoria’s attempt at a regretful expression.
Wasn’t made aware? She thought. After she said that Humanity Engineering knows everything?
But of course, Ellie did not let anyone know what she was thinking and just smiled.
“We’ll make sure to talk to Vijya after your mission. Such behavior from a much lesser being is unacceptable." Victoria continued, her tone casual as if she did not just say something incredibly… prejudiced. She even had a smile on her face as she patted the capsule and stepped away,
“Be safe out there, Mr. Winters. Ms. Summers…”
Ellie’s shoulders tensed as Victoria turned to her. “If you would come with me.”
“Oh… okay.” Ellie glanced at Julian before hesitating. “Julian, see you later.”
“I won’t,” Julian smiled and pointed at his fake eyes, which is technically MEGAN.
Ellie rolled her eyes, exhaling through her nose as a small smile tugged at her lips.
“Ha. Ha,” she muttered a fake laugh, leaning over the capsule and pressing a quick kiss on Julian’s lips.
With that, she turned and followed Victoria across the room. She was confused at first as Victoria just moved to a blank wall, but as Victoria pressed her hand on the wall, Ellie was reminded of how companies like Humanity Engineering love their secret doors.
Or in this case, an elevator, hissing softly as its doors opened.
Ellie stepped inside the elevator after Victoria, and was a little surprised that she could see the outside through the doors and walls. And from how smoothly the elevator was ascending, it was using an even newer tech than the one used in the space elevator.
And as the doors slid open, she was greeted by a large room with several holographic screens.
The walls of the room were lined with glass that offered a full view of the capsule room below, and she could see the staff walking around and checking Julian and the others.
“Have you ever watched Mr. Winters’ streams, Ms. Summers?”
Victoria’s question pulled Ellie’s attention away from the view below. She turned to see Victoria gesturing toward a sleek, modern couch positioned in the center of the room. Ellie hesitated for a moment before sitting down, her eyes scanning the room for hidden cameras or other signs of surveillance.
“You’re a very doubtful person. Aren’t you, Ms. Summers?” Victoria sat down beside her, “You do not have to worry, the only cameras we have in Ceres-9 are at the entrance and the containment units. All of our staff, you see, are the best of the best—the very top in their fields. Monitoring them would be an insult to their skills.”
“So, you don’t monitor your staff but you monitor everything?”
“Yes.”
“Huh…”
Ellie narrowed her eyes at Victoria, but chose to just keep quiet and focus on the holographic screens, quickly realizing she was looking at—live feeds from each of Julian’s new party members.
She could see Ben and Natasha’s respective points of view, each showing their preparations for their journey into Artemia. Vijya’s screen was present too, his movements as aggressive and impatient as ever. There was also another feed showing Jin, the elusive fifth party member, who had been holed up in his room the entire time and only coming out now.
“This is…” Ellie muttered, leaning forward as her eyes darted from screen to screen.
Victoria pointed at a specific hologram displaying nothing. “That’s Julian’s stream. He’s still connecting to the Otherworld, so nothing’s showing yet.”
“Hm…” Ellie nodded.
“Is there something on your mind, Ms. Summers?”
“Please, just call me Ellie…” Ellie sighed, “And… I’m really sorry for being so suspicious of everything.”
“It is completely normal,” Victoria soft chuckled, “You have taken care of Mr. Winters almost your entire life—it must be difficult to see him spreading his wings now.”
“No. God, no…” Ellie slightly sniffled and laughed, “...I love it. I love that he’s finally spreading his wings… the only problem is that he never learned to run first, and that’s my fault. And now I need to protect him from those who want to take advantage of him because he doesn’t know any better.”
“But if I remember, you were taken advantage of just lately?” Victoria tilted her head.
“Huh?”
“The loan sharks?”
“You… even know about that?” Ellie’s brows lowered, “Next thing you’re going to tell me is that you also know what conditioner I use.”
“We also know that.”
“And no one has tried to sue you people yet?”
“For what?”
“Breach of privacy.”
“In this day and age where people’s lives are completely on the internet?”
“Joke’s on you, I only use social media to contact people.”
“Admirable—do you know that I’ve grown to like you very much, Ellie?”
“Huh…?” Ellie slightly leaned away from Victoria, “Because I’m rude?”
“Because you are you. I have lived for more than a millennium, and you are the first person who isn’t afraid to show who you are—even after knowing that I am Humanity Engineering’s acting CEO.”
“Wait… a millenium?”
“Yes. My brain, my mind has been passed on from one body to the next. Even now, I am in multiples; my mind is in several other cyborgs, doing different works.”
“What? That… has to be against the law.”
“Hm.” Victoria just shrugged, “One of me is even working in the World Government.”
“My god…” Ellie’s breaths stammered, “Are you… okay?”
“Of course. It is a curse to have the skills and knowledge that I have—but it is also a blessing. 6,000 years ago, we could barely land a rocket back into atmosphere and on land. And now, we have tactical suits with self-sustaining oxygen that could fly from Earth to Mars in less than an hour. Fascinating, isn’t it?”
“...You’ve been alive for 6000 years?”
“No. What?” Victoria’s eyes widened, a small chuckle escaping her lips, “I’m just a little over a thousand… and thank you, Ellie.”
“For what…?” Ellie raised an eyebrow.
“For asking me if I am okay.” Victoria smiled and looked down, “No one has asked me that for a very long time.”
“...Don’t make it weird.” Ellie also smiled, slightly nudging Victoria as she did so.
“And Ellie, I am serious—Humanity Engineering could reverse Julian’s sterilization. In fact, we are asking the two of you,” Victoria looked Ellie in the eyes, the tone of her voice incredibly sincere, “Mr. Winters’ genes should be passed on, naturally.”
“That…”
“Wouldn’t you like that too? To have children?”
“I… do. But…”
Julian wasn’t a mutant. They weren’t even sure that whatever he had could be passed on—The only reason Victoria and Humanity Engineering was treating Julian like this was because of that.
If they found out that he was carrying his clone’s capabilities in Artemia… what would they even do to him?
“Ah!” Fortunately for Ellie, she could avoid the topic altogether as Julian’s stream finally popped up,
“It’s… it’s starting. He… wait—Is he in jail?”
***
“Are you an Evil Spirit?”
“You’re an Evil Spirit.”
“Why are you an Evil Spirit?”
Julian sat in a cold, dimly lit prison cell. His arms were bound by heavy chains, he was drenched in a strange viscous substance that he truly hoped was just oil, and in front of him were people threatening to light him on fire.
They have been asking him the same questions over and over again for more than an hour now ever since he woke up in the world of Artemia, their voices sharp and as threatening as the torch they were holding at his face.
Even with this, however, Julian remained still. His face extremely calm and almost stoic—and even with all the questions being rained down upon him, he hasn’t offered a single word, not once.
“You are truly not going to answer any of our questions?” One soldier stepped closer to him, the flames of the torch he was holding causing the shadows inside the cell to dance.
“We’ve been trying to wake you for three days now.” The soldier asked, “Why have you only just woken up?”
Julian could very well answer the question, but he just looked up at the soldier and sighed—because several moments from now… Ben, Natasha, and the others should be infiltrating the prison.“That’s it. No more questions—remove one of his ears, then take his toes if he’s still not answering,” the lead soldier barked, his voice cold and sharp. He stepped back, gesturing to another soldier armed with a gleaming pair of scissors.
Well, that’s not good, Julian thought, his lips pressing into a thin line as he tilted his head slightly to glance toward the corridor outside his cell.
He truly hoped that his new party members were planning on rescuing him anytime soon.
He’d already tried to pry apart his restraints, but his muscles refused to cooperate. The chains binding him seemed to sap what little strength he had left.
Should he attempt to use his newfound abilities?
And before he could decide, one of the soldiers grabbed his head, forcing it still. The cold touch of the scissors now hovering dangerously close to his ear.
“Stop!”
A deafening roar cut through the tension, shattering the eerie quiet of the dungeon. The sharp sound struck Julian’s ears before the scissors could, and he exhaled a silent sigh of relief.
Moments later, the echo of hurried footsteps filled the corridor.
Julian’s brow furrowed. There were more than four sets of feet approaching—significantly more.
“Release that man, now!”
The command rang out, and every soldier in the cell froze, their rigid forms betraying their fear. Almost in unison, they stepped aside, standing at attention with their heads lowered.
Julian turned his gaze to the cell door just as his “rescuers” arrived. And it wasn’t Ben or the others.
Instead, a new group entered… and from what they were wearing, they also belonged to the Order of Artemia. Their uniforms were far more ornate, the insignias on their armor gleaming like polished gold.
They moved with an air of authority that left no doubt about their higher rank.
One of the men stepped forward and quickly cut through Julian’s restraints with a small blade. Two others grabbed Julian’s hands, inspecting them closely with wide eyes.
“Bishop, look!” one of the soldiers exclaimed, raising Julian’s hand to reveal the mark etched on the back of it—the Mark of Searadyn.
The old man, the bishop, stepped forward, causing the golden sash draped around his neck to flow softly with him. His piercing eyes studied the mark before slowly shifting to Julian’s face. The bishop exhaled deep, extremely deep.
He then let go of Julian’s hand and reached for the golden sash around his neck, gripping it tightly before pulling it and moving his arm to the side. The sash danced in the air, but only momentarily as it snapped and stiffened straight into some sort of… blade.
The soldiers in the room immediately dropped to their knees, their heads bowing as if in prayer.
“You dare…” the Bishop’s voice trembled with restrained fury, his gaze burning holes into the trembling soldiers,
“...You dare lay hands on someone who has been touched by the gods!?”
[LAST CHAPTER] <-----> [NEXT CHAPTER]
AUTHOR NOTES
Uh oh... Here comes the loonies.
Disclaimer, though. The Order of Artemia is not in anyway or form related to any religion in real life, extremist or not.
And do holler up if you notice any mistake!
Comments
Manpapper
Thanks for the chapter
IdolTrust
That mark saved him. Now he has to use his power to show his godly powers to shake them to the core. By disappearing out of nowhere and appearing in the same spot.
