“Ugh, is this the first time you guys are seeing us? Get back to work!” As she helped Zack to walk, Rose ordered. Her words left no room for disobedience, as the audience turned their gaze from the duo. “Sigh, let’s hurry up and go to the infirmary to get patched up.”
“Ugh…yeah,” Zack muttered in response.
- * * *
The infirmary – the white walls, chrome counters, and neatly aligned beds was some of what you’d expect in this place. Not a blemish in sight as its interior was always sterilized, the smell of bleach in the air was an act of proof. This was the sanctuary for sickly or injured individuals, an invitation to treat oneself – Zack and Rose happily accepted this invitation.
“Ugh…owie,” As the needle slid into the torn flesh of his jaw, Zack winced at the pain. The one piloting this needle was of course Rose, as she moved her gloved hands with indifference. “Ugh! Can’t you be a little gentler?”
“Tsk, quit being a damn baby. You’re much stronger than most humans, so this much should be nothing for you,” Rose replied.
“That doesn’t- ouch…that doesn’t mean I don’t feel anything, especially when you’re driving a needle in my face,” Zack retorted.
“Hmph, I’m done anyways,” Rose remarked as she sliced at the thread with a pair of scissors, completing Zack’s stitches. “You haven’t received any major internal bleeding, fortunately,”
“Huh, you can tell?” Surprise was written all over his face as he locked eyes with Rose. “You didn’t do any scans or check ups.”
Rose blankly matched his gaze for a few moments and her eyes fluttered as if something irritated it. As her face bloomed with heat and looked like a peach, Rose couldn’t help but turn away.
“Don’t worry about that,” The clearly flustered Rose responded. “Uhm, yeah…you haven’t shown any symptoms.”
“Uh, if you say so,” Confusion dripped from his raised eyebrow expression as Zack remarked.
“Well, I should report this shit to the director–”
“Yes, please report this incident…I’m rather curious,” Accompanied by the tapping footsteps, the injured duo’s gaze were magnetized to the sudden presence of the director and Octavius.
“Jeez, what the hell happened to you guys?” Octavius questioned after appraising their patched wounds.
“Huh? How did you guys find out so fast?” Rose questioned. “We just returned.”
“Word spreads fast around here…especially when members of the Blueblood had noticed your injuries,” The director answered.
“Tsk, they just couldn’t mind their business, huh,” Rose muttered to herself.
“Back to what’s important. I’m sure I sent you two to simply meet with our new manufacturers to see if they’ll be useful,” The director continued. “I suppose it didn’t go well, considering your states.”
“Tsk, it was a freaking set-up! The ‘manufacturer’ was a rat from the Silverdust gang who survived, and he brought super soldiers in disguise to get revenge on us!” Rose voiced her anger, inducing a jaw-dropped shock on both Octavius and the director. “We got to escape after killing a couple of them though.”
“How did one even escape after we destroyed their organization?” Octavius questioned. “Did they sneak and hide in the forest or something?”
“Hell if I know. The rat must have gone to some authorities and told them about us,” Rose deduced. “Must have helped them to get rid of us in exchange for getting off scotch free.”
“Hmm, that would explain why our president mentioned eliminating a certain criminal organization,” As he stroked his chin, the director assumed. “I made a blunder in not properly running a background check…I just wanted a new manufacturing group as quickly as possible.”
“Nah, it’s not your fault…it’s that bastard rat’s fault,” Rose assured. “What was his name…right, Xavier Carmen!”
“That’s his name, huh? He was working for the Silverdust gang, so it’ll be immensely easy to find his whereabouts,” The director remarked. “There’s no way he’ll get away with nearly killing two of my subordinates.”
“Yes, I can’t wait to get my hands on him–”
“No, I’ll do this personally,” The director said. “It’s my fault this happened…I’ll make sure to rectify this mistake.”
The boss seems pretty mad. It’s likely because his ‘tools’ nearly got killed, I bet. Zack pondered. But if that Xavier guy is the reason Ada has her eyes on this organization…then we really should have murdered all those super soldiers…and not leave any alive.
His focus was diverted by the light tapping on his shoulder. Zack turned casually, recognizing the gesture to belong to Octavius.
“Looks like you had a tough time,” Octavius whispered. “You know what can take the edge off the pain?”
“Heh, great minds think alike.”
- * * *
Lilith entered her home with a loud sigh – she was welcomed to the cozy atmosphere of her living room. As she leaned her sheathed katana against the wall, Olivia had trudged and entered timidly inside.
“You can make yourself at home, I suppose,” As she padded towards the kitchen, Lilith remarked. “Do you want anything to eat…drink?”
“Uhm, I’ll have something to drink.”
While Lilith prepared something for the two to munch on, Olivia had sat on a couch of the living room patiently. Her eyes occasionally flickered to various parts of the house as she waited, scanning at the entrance, the television, and other pieces of furniture to pass the time.
If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.
“I’m back…I hope I didn’t keep you waiting too long,” As she stepped out of the kitchen, Lilith remarked. Tall glasses of sunny yellow lemonade clinked against each other with sweat of condensation running against the base. Adding to the meal were two grilled cheese sandwiches, both perfectly crisp – golden brown on the outside and melted cheese flowing from the outside in lazy strands – sliced in half diagonally each. All were neatly aligned on a tray, which Lilith carried steadily with both hands.
“W-Wow…” Immediately darting her gaze to the meal, Olivia’s eyes glimmered with surprise.
“I know you just wanted something to drink, but I didn’t think it was right for me to be the only one eating,” Lilith continued as she placed the tray on a table, before taking a seat. “Here, help yourself.”
Lilith was the first to dig in, with Olivia following suit by grabbing a half of a sandwich. She sank her teeth into the soft, crunchy bread, and her eyes instantaneously widened. The flavor had struck her tongue and forced a satisfied hum from her mouth.
“T-This is…delicious!” Olivia complimented as she continued eating.
“Fufu, thank you! I do take pride in the food I make, after all,” With a delighted smile, Lilith replied. Her smile dimmed and expression soured as she bit into her own sandwich slice. “Nathan…would have said the same thing.”
“...I-Is Nathan…is he…doing okay?” Olivia questioned.
“Yes…he’s in his bedroom…still catatonic,” Lilith answered. “It’s been nearly two weeks since…and he hasn’t shown any progress…of waking up any time soon.”
“I-I see…I’m s-sorry…to hear.”
“W-What am I doing, bringing down the mood!” Dispelling the suffocating gloomy atmosphere that was generated by their conversation, Lilith stood up and reached for the remote. “Let me find something for us to watch!”
“...Okay.”
It was more so out of necessity than interest, but Lilith switched the television on with the remote. Pictures flickered on the TV as Lilith flipped through without watching any. Cooking shows, animated series, news channels, Lilith skimmed through them all. Eventually, she settled on a regular old sitcom for the two to watch.
“I’m not really sure what type of shows you like, but this should be fun and entertaining,” Satisfied by the channel choice, Lilith remarked as she sat down.
“I…don’t mind.”
Exaggerated reactions and echoing laugh tracks, those are what you’d expect from your average sitcom, and this one was no different. Even a half-hearted chuckle was brought out from Lilith by one of their loud and cheesy one liners, but the silence from Olivia was deafening.
Her gaze drifted over every so often at her friend. Olivia hadn’t said anything…she hadn’t even given the slightest reaction in the ten minutes they’ve been watching the sitcom for. She may have been staring at the show, but she was never really watching it.
The second punchline had landed and this time…neither of them reacted.
“...Uhm, are you sure you’re okay, Olivia?” Finally, Lilith asked. “You seem rather tense.”
“O-Oh…I-I’m sorry…I’m fine!”
“It doesn’t seem that way. I know you aren’t the most outgoing person, but you seem a bit different,” Lilith continued. “I think you should enjoy yourself, you know.”
Hearing that, the reserved and timid expression Olivia possessed exploded into a wide eyed expression, similar to her snacking on the meal Lilith prepared.
“Hmm? What’s wrong?”
“I…I heard those words before…” Olivia replied. “From…Ada.”
“No, you don’t have to worry about anything. Unlike that…bitch, I don’t have any ulterior motive,” Realizing Olivia’s interpretation of her words, Lilith explained. “You’re a human…you should be free to enjoy yourself too.”
“Hehe, I know…you’re different from her. I get…a different feeling…from your words,” With a small smile, Olivia said. “Your personality…is nothing…like hers.”
Phew…thankfully that didn’t ruin her impression of me. With an audible sigh, Lilith thought.
“Also, about…why I seem…r-rather tense, I-I was wondering…why you were…training so hard,” Olivia continued. “I…It’s because…of what happened…with Nathan, right?”
“...Yes, I need to get as strong as possible…so something like this can never happen again,” Lilith admitted. “Nathan has always protected me…so I want to do the same for him…You could say I’m clinging on to the hopes that he’ll wake up one day.”
“Yeah…I understand. N-Nathan…was your…precious knight,” Olivia said. “You…want to get stronger…to also protect…your knight…so you won’t…lose him.”
“Uhm…it’s a bit cheesy when you put it like that,” Lilith replied as she shied her gaze from her, while scratching her cheek. “But…in a way, you’re right.”
“Hehe, I’ll be s-supporting you,” Olivia said. “I-If you need…my poisons…I’ll be happy…to give you.”
“O-Oh.”
- * * *
Following their unsuccessful elimination of Zack and Rose, the super soldiers that remained alive had returned to their post. Of course, an unsuccessful mission meant failure – punishment even. It’s only common knowledge for the soldiers to report to their superior’s office, especially after a failure.
But this time was different. The atmosphere in this office was rather cold – not because of the air conditioning – but due to the disappointed but composed expressions of not only the Queen Deathbringer, but even President Ada. She had personally made time to come here.
“Good afternoon, Madam Ada, Chief!” In a synchronized manner, the super soldiers greeted the two with a salute. They must have made a trip to the infirmary, as their wounds had been patched up with bandages and stitches. “We have returned from the mission!”
“So, you guys failed to kill them…that was the little report you gave,” Leaning against the wall, the Queen Deathbringer spoke. “And two of your partners have been killed in action.”
“Apologies, those criminals were more troublesome than we thought!” One of the super soldier trio apologized as they maintained their attentive stance. “Especially the one by the name of Rose Thatcher, Chief.”
“Hmph, five super soldiers couldn’t have eliminated two criminals?” Sitting behind the office desk, Ada coldly spoke. “How ridiculous does that sound?”
“We’re sorry, Madam, fighting them in a confined warehouse proved to be more helpful for the criminal duo,” Another replied. “We wanted to keep them from attempting to escape, but the setting of our fight was a terrible decision on our part.”
After listening to their words, Ada simply locked gaze with the trio. Her icy, cold gaze burned them like frostbite. Not even their trained and disciplined nature could keep them from shedding a bead of cold sweat.
“I’m sure you soldiers know I’d love it if things would always go the way I want,” Ada finally stated. “I hate it more than anything when my dreams take longer to be fulfilled.”
“We fully understand, Madam!” A super soldier replied. “The mission was not an utter waste, as the informant, Xavier Carmen, had successfully attached the tracker on their getaway car before fleeing the warehouse.”
“Oh! Well, why didn’t you say so!?” In a complete shift, Ada’s expression lit up into delight as she remarked. “That’s an even better outcome then!”
“Yes, the tracker would be too small for them to even notice it…at least not immediately,” The Queen Deathbringer remarked. “That would be a great chance to find and eliminate their organization at once.”
“Fufu, here I thought you guys had let me down,” Ada said. “I knew my little super soldiers wouldn’t have failed so disgracefully!”
“Thank you for your kind words, Madam president!” The super soldiers said in tandem.
“We have to make use of the tracker as fast as possible then…it’ll only be a matter of time before they find it, after all,” Ada reckoned. “Chief Deathbringer, I need you to rally a task force as quickly as possible…by the end of the day.”
“No problem, Ms. President.”
“I want to destroy these obstacles as soon as possible,” Ada declared. How funny that you were with them, Zack.
“Pardon me, Madam…Chief, but what should we do with the informant now?” A super soldier questioned.
“Huh? He’s already served his purpose…I don’t care what happens to him now,” Ada immediately replied. “You can just forget about him.”