Chapter: 7 Amara {Re-Write}

"Never thought I'd see your ugly mug again."

Renko stared at the glowing woman, well, that description wouldn't be quite accurate now that she had stopped glowing like a light bulb.

She found herself in a hall, or something resembling a hall since there seemed to be no walls, roof, or floor. There was only a chair she was sitting on and another chair where the glowing lady was seated, with a newspaper in her hands.

Renko searched for her pistol, but it wasn't in her hand, she remembered holding onto it as she fell asleep. 

The woman looked up from her newspaper. Now that she wasn't glowing anymore, Renko could make out the color of her eyes. They were pitch-black, with nothing more in the sockets.

"Well, aren't you the socializer?"

She droned in an amused voice,

"I seriously didn't expect to see you here again. It's been a while, hasn't it? A couple of centuries I presume?"

Renko leaned back, trying to get comfortable,

"A month."

The woman grinned,

"My, remembering time's quite a bit of a chore, isn't it?"

She frowned deciding that she didn't like this woman very much, 

"Who are you? What's this place? And what happened, exactly?"

The woman folded the newspaper and quite literally flicked it out of existence,

"This place? This place's sort of a liminal space between different realities and existences. As for who I am..."

She paused, leaning back in her chair,

"Let's see, you can call me... Amara? Amara's alright. Would you like me to reintroduce myself? I'm Amara, the Overseer of Order, Assistant number 9991119991."

Renko sighed,

"Is this a joke?"

Amara chuckled, the sound was strange, not like any human's that Renko had heard before,

"A joke? That's a first, even for me. No, I'm afraid this is more serious than a joke, at least it doesn't have a punchline that's for damn sure." 

She rubbed her forehead, feeling a headache coming on,

"Alright, whoever you are, get to the point. Why did you bring me here? Did I die again or something?"

This seemed to get a rise out of the formerly glowing lady, she sat up, flustered and provoked,

"Oh, hell no! It would be a bureaucratic shitshow if you died so quickly! Your patron deity would hound me for millennia if that happened."

And there it was, the headache that gave the word 'pain' a new definition,

"Patron diety? Never thought I had one before."

Amara sighed, and her pitch-black eyes glowed momentarily as she leaned back in her chair.

"Let me break it down for you. You died, blasted into a million pieces in an instant."

Renko shrugged,

"I remember as much."

"Let me finish!"

Amara drummed her fingers on her thigh,

"Your soul caught the interest of a deity—let's call them your patron deity. They most likely had their reasons, probably something to do with maintaining the balance of their domain or something. My role is to make sure that everything goes smoothly, to keep things in order just in case something happens."

Renko took a deep breath, she was a patient woman but this was starting to get on her nerves,

"Alright, so why are you here? Why am I here?"

Amara nodded,

"Good, you are finally asking the right questions. What you encountered today was a hollow... or maybe it was a ghoul?"

Amidst a silence, Amara pondered the world into which she had transported Renko, trying her best to jog some old memories.

"Ninja? Or was it a demon? Maybe a vampire... I don't remember really."

Renko's eyes twitched in irritation. She really didn't like this woman at all.

"Right, whatever it was, it was a nasty one. These creatures are probably part of the natural order of your new world. All I remember is that they feed on negative emotions directed at something... or someone."

"So, this... whatever it was, it attacked me because someone was directing negative emotions at me?"

Amara tilted her head,

"Something like that, yes."

Renko didn't bother with further questions.

"Give me a name and an address."

Amara smirked at her, those pitch-black eyes glinting with amusement,

"You're a funny one aren't ya'? Straight to the point. Unfortunately, as amusing as it might be, I can't give out names and addresses just like that. This isn't a hit list ya' know."

Ok, now she was feeling a bit irritated,

"Then what can you tell me? At least tell me who's targeting me and why."

The peacekeeper woman shrugged again,

"I can't tell you much, cause I don't know much in the first place. But I can tell you this: those negative emotions probably weren't directed at you personally, at least not consciously... maybe? It's more of an after-effect. You're in a world with beings and energies far beyond the spillage point. You were probably in the wrong place at the wrong time."

Renko sighed,

"So what? Just chalk it all up to collateral damage?"

Amara shrugged. Her eyes narrowed and the air around her shifted to a more subtle, somewhat hostile mood.

"Maybe, who knows? What I do know, is that you deserve every bit of bad luck that comes your way."

The sudden change in demeanor was quite puzzling but not unfamiliar,

"Pardon?"

Amara raised her right hand, palm facing up. A thick file folder appeared on her hand with a large 'KIA' stamp.

"Look, I'm just the messenger, but I've checked your records. People like you disgust me, let's just say they've got a special spot waiting for them in the redemption cycle."

Now where had she heard that one before,

"People like me, huh?"

Amara casually flipped through the folder that probably contained every word she might've said, or her daily schedule, or something else altogether. But Renko wasn't worried, she knew what she had done and why those actions were necessary,

"You've made choices that led to the deaths and suffering of countless innocents. The lives you took, the pain you caused—I'm just saying you deserve being left as a monster chew toy for a while."

A scoff slipped out of Renko's mouth before she could stop herself,

"I'm a soldier, not a saint."

Amara shrugged, her tone was dry and nonchalant, just like her eyes which seemed to hold no emotion in them,

"Seeing your files was an eye-opener even for me. I mean, War Crimes, Torture, Genocide... want me to continue?"

The peacekeeper's accusations had absolutely no effect on Renko; she had heard it all before, many times.

"I've seen your list of victims. It's quite extensive... I'd be impressed if I weren't so repulsed."

Renko's expression was a tight-lipped, emotionless mask. She didn't bother defending herself, what was the point? 

Amara leaned back in her chair again,

"Not even a bit of remorse?"

Renko didn't answer. There wasn't any point in explaining herself to this woman who claimed to be a being of order while simultaneously accusing her of things done to maintain the said 'order' albeit in an entirely different world. She chose the silent tactic instead, it always worked on self-righteous holier-than-thou pricks.

Amara clicked her tongue in annoyance,

"Nothing? Not even a word to justify yourself?"

Renko remained silent as the woman in front of her waited for a response, she could see the... whatever she was, get angrier by the moment from her lack of response.

"You're just going to sit there and act like you're blameless?"

Amara stood up from her chair, anger bubbling up in her eyes,

"Are you not even going to try and defend yourself?"

Her face contorted in fury. She threw the folder aside, and it vanished before it even hit the ground,

"You're infuriating! You are nothing but a rabid dog, with no trace of humanity in you at all! You're nothing more than a puppet!"

Renko remained silent, her expression was still as stoic as ever.

Amara leaned closer until she was almost nose-to-nose with Renko, peering into her sky-blue eyes as if searching for something deep within her soul.

"You don't even care, do you!? You really are a monster!"

Finally, she responded to the woman's accusation, 

"If you're done with your speech, what exactly do you want from me?"

Amara's furious expression disappeared almost as quickly as it had come. She sat back down with a sigh,

"I'm just doing my job, guess that includes being your conscience too."

She chuckled, not a very humorous sound,

"There's nothing behind those eyes of yours is there? No hint of humanity left in you."

"And your point is?"

Renko's voice was flat as ever. She couldn't care less what this glorified office lady said about her.

"My point is,"

Amara rubbed her temples,

"You're a lost cause. But for whatever reason, your patron deity saw something in you worth salvaging."

Renko kept her gaze steady on Amara, she wasn't interested in the woman's judgments or moralistic speeches. She'd heard enough of those in her past life and had no patience for more in this one.

"So, what's supposed to happen now? Am I supposed to just go back and keep dealing with those creatures on my own?"

Amara sighed, her fury had dissipated completely. She seemed almost tired now, 

"Yep, yer going back,"

Amara replied,

"As much as I hate to say it, you're not entirely on your own. Your patron deity, despite my better judgment, has some assistance planned for you."

Renko raised an eyebrow.

"And what kind of assistance are we talking about?"

Amara reached into the air and with a flick of her wrist, a panel appeared in mid-air,

[Initiate System?]

[Yes|No]

"This is a fragment of power,"

She explained,

"A system that will boost your abilities, facilitate learning new skills, and provide a medium to deal with those creatures. But it's not a free pass, you'll still have to fight and earn more power."

Renko eyes the panel warily,

"How do I use it?"

She asked.

"Just say 'yes' or 'no,' 

Amara instructed, flicking the newspaper back into existence,

"It will merge with you and unlock whatever is in the plan for your future."

Renko nodded, then closed her eyes and leaned back into the chair. She was in no hurry to make a decision, assuming the 'yes and no' was a choice to be made.

"What if I say no?"

She asked, curious to find out if she had any say in the matter. Amara chuckled again,

"You can try, it's your choice. But don't be too surprised if this choice of yours were to offend your Patron Deity... the consequences might be unpleasant, to say the least."

Renko sighed, she had no choice in the matter after all.

"Fine, I've got nothing to lose anyhow. YES."

As soon as she finished speaking her choice, an artificial voice echoed through the empty space,

|System Initiated|

There was a surge of light that enveloped Renko and before she could ask what was happening, the holographic screen updated itself,

|System Initialization Complete|

The text stated before disappearing, displaying a status bar with various information:

[Name | Renko Ivanovna]

[Sex | Female]

[Age | 18]

[HP | 100/100]

[CE | 500/500]

[Attributes]

[Strength | 8]

[Endurance | 10]

[Dexterity | 14]

[Spirituality | 5]

Beneath the panel, there was a list of several other options:

•[Occupations]

•[Inventory]

•[Quest Log]

"Is there anything else I should know?"

Renko asked as she fiddled with the floating hologram, which seemed to respond to her touch. It was great, she always preferred manual input holograms over voice-operated ones.

"No now get the hell off of my domain."

Amara answered in a monotonous voice and with another flick of her finger, Renko felt a sense of vertigo as the endless white of the place collapsed into itself.