Season 0 - Chapter 11 - Groggy Mourning

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Opening my eyes, I let out an audible groan. Lifting myself from my bed, throwing the covers over the woman beside me. It was one of those nights.

I shitty headache, did drink that much again? Didn't really matter, I had work to do.

Showing and getting ready, I head off to work. The Safety Committie building should be opening up around this time. Should I wake her up? No, she's got a late shift tonight.

And after... it, she needs it. We both, we both need it.

For a second, my eyes closed, and my entire body felt like it was on fire. It was hard to get used to it all. I wish it got easier.

Releasing another groan, I ease myself into the car. A light cough escaped my lips as i grabbed my left hip, my left eye wincing.

It was a nice day. Sun rays shined throughout the city, reflecting off of light puddles from the night before. Children running around the tenements.

So happy, so innocent, so... oblivious. It was better that way. They deserved it. That's why I took my job, it's why I've done the things I've done.

I'm not a very proud man in that regard, and yet all I feel is that first deadly sin. The curse of mortality and free will, it was innate in all life. When you do what I've done long enough, it becomes easier, for some at least.

I started to convince myself that my 'evil deeds' were no different than my experiments, a useful deployment for society. It eased my mind. Twisted it too, sure, but that didn't bother me.

But everyone was little fucked up in the head, it was an absolute of life. It was the one curse God gave us for the first man and woman's inability to listen, or could you blame the snake? Maybe you could blame God for not stopping. Wasn't he omnipotent?

Huh, wonder if he'd smite me for my thoughts. Then again, I've been a devout believer for years now. Now that i think about it, I suppose it's a they actually, being all-powerful and all.

My keys click as I withdraw my hands, stepping through the lightly populate building. It's the beginning of the week. It seems people are still getting back into the groove.

Stepping into an elevator, I hum along to the tune, stepping out as I reach my floor. A place I knew the ins and outs of, better than almost any other worker here. I've spent too many sleepless nights here.

My office was as beautiful as ever. After the incident, it became like a second home. I messed up leaving her alone during those nights, but she understood.

Sitting at the desk, I pick up the small stack of paperwork. It was quite a medium-sized stack of new reports, test designs, confirmation papers, the works. I, unlike some, enjoyed paperwork. It meant advancements, advancements meant work was getting done, and I could do more.

It didn't take long for me to finish. The day seemed to be going as any other, giving good mornings to my co-workers. I finally reached 'the door'.

My hand clicked the door handle. It was slow, or maybe the world had slowed. I could still see it, you know?

I stepped slowly into the room. A part of me was averse to it all. This room was both a curse and a blessing. I could never truly decide internally.

The room was empty, a chipped computer, several small gadgets, and tools strewn about. He was probably still asleep. Though it seemed he got some work done judging by the almost 'complete' gun on the table, a small high-density polyethylene container nearby. There was a small amount of putty in the plastic container.

Before I can examine it, I hear a click, a soft purple glow coming from a door on the other side of the room. A small vibration from my phone following shortly after, letting me know his quirk had been activated.

The room stagnated, the air almost ceasing before heating up. I didn't hate him, but seeing him live, seeing him get a chance after what he did to him. It was hard to see one live and the other gone.

I could still recall his charred and mangled corpse. The world was like that. Cold and domineering, if wasn't here to help you, not mentally at least.

The boy stepped through the door, his short brown hair swaying, he looked up at me, his blue eyes glistening from the light. "Ah, you're here early. I was hoping to show you my project, it's almost finished." The boy let out a soft smile. Behind that smile there was a small amount of dread, fear, almost like he just stared at death in the face. Judging from the nightmares he had, he probably did.

God. Fuck, I wanted to hold him so badly, I wanted to tell him it'd be okay, that his father would do better. That his project was beautiful even if I hadn't seen it yet. That his mother was proud of his abilities.

But I couldn't.

My eyes reluctantly closed, the black haired boy now sitting at his desk. His eyes now bore an amethyst like appearance, now combined with the black void similar to 'it'. They'd appeared after he and Mrs. Nagant returned from their mission.

"You're trying to combine Nagant's, Toga's, a Trigger and Mineral Catalys, right? Using the Mineral Catalyst as a storage and the internal revolving and mixture system, plus some electricity, you plan to create nigh-limitless bullets, correct?"

"Mhm, but I had some new ideas. Nagant creates unique styled bullets, I found out by activating the blood oddly, I can create these bullet types. The bullet shape is fixed for now, sadly. I'm trying to create a system to automatically do so. By adding my own blood, I should be able to control the-."

"By controlling the coagulation an adding an internal based switch mechanism you can swap preset types. If you use an internal electrical source and your innate bio-electriricy, you should be able to activate the specialized quirk RNA as well as DNA strands for these presets ingrained to occur. It'll be difficult, but possible. Quick gear has only truly started kicking off, so putting in so many quirks will be dangerous. Don't destroy the weapon 'yourself'".

He stared at me. He almost looked like he wanted to give me an almost childish pout. It was his creation, yet I stole his thunder.

I noticed something odd on the table, another container on the table. Shavings? Mineral Catalysts shavings, to be exact.

"Yeah, all of that." He ended up igernally pouting, though I doubt he realized he did it. "Oh, those, I'm trying to make the entire gun have a... patina? Of the catalyst quirk. That or ingrain it through the whole gun. If I fill it with blood, I should be able to control the gun easier. That and my other weapon."

'Other weapon? Oh, right.' I stared at the bandages on his arm, his training had kicked up, and he'd started learning a new weapon, a bo-staff, I think.

He wanted to prepare so early, despite only just starting his training with it? How prepared, almost made me proud, almost. It was natural he prepared so much, you can only ever prepare too little, never too much.

Before I can say anything else, my phone goes off, answering it, the Directors' voices come through. Her words caused my grip to tighten. "Are you sure?"

"I am." Her almost steely voice entered one ear, and I had wished out the other, but that wasn't something I was gonna be getting. I'd expected this, overhearing them talk a bit, but still....

"Alright I," my voice halted, taking a second. "I'll see what I can do. It won't be much since it seems they decided, even if only asking in passing. If another incident happens, just let me know."

"Of course, if it does happen, it'll be of benefit. But still, a contract will need to be drawn up due to the sensitive nature of this. I doubt he'll treat her badly, it might do some good, possibly a bit of bad, but that'll have to wait for the future. I'll call you if I get more information about it."

"Alright, have a good rest of your day, Director."

"And you, Goda." The phone clicks, finding itself once again in the confines of my pocket.

I notice the boy glancing at me. He's curious but knows not to ask. "It's nothing. Just be prepared for the coming week or two."

Nodding, he turns back around, doing his own morning routine. It's probably a habit he got from me.

The two of us sit down. It was around that time of the month for me to withdraw blood from him. Blood, huh. Avaricious bastards.

Why can't my life ever just be nice and normal for once? Suppose all that's left is the waiting game. Will they really do it?

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If you can't tell this chapter is short, or shorter, than normal.

1500ish words to be exact compared to my normal 2k (these numbers only include in book words, not my rants.

Don't worry about my talks taking up the word count, I'm very particular about that.

Is the 1500 fine? It'd make things faster for me to write more and make me get to the point a bit faster on occasion, I think I'll fluctuate between 1500-2k, depending on feedback for course.

Either way, just wanted to give some background on Goda, hopefully the whole 'Lack for PoV' thing was fine and didn't make the chapter incomprehensible.

Question of the Chapter: Favorite side character in fiction? Not like side main characters just side character. I can't think of any good ones off of the top of my head, but Konan was pretty cool (From Naruto)

Currently Working On: Chapter 12 of Living Singuality, Ch5 of Duality System/Dual Leveling, and ch4 of Curses Guide.

1699 Words