16 Cat

"Let's find that cat first, shall we?"

Asher quickly shifted the conversation, embarrassed by his girly transformation.

"Are you a girl? Or-" Finn wouldn't let the topic go so easily, as his curiosity got the better of him.

"Come on, let's just focus on finding that cat."

Finn shook his head, still confused, but took another device out of his pocket nonetheless.

"This is a Multi-Detector, made by D Corp. It's what we use to complete all the Canard missions about missing animals and humans. It can detect species and everything, so it's pretty foolproof."

"Hold on, what's D Corp?" Asher interrupted Finn while he was fiddling with the machine as it produced static screeches from the opening in its front.

"It's a Corporation, obviously. A Wing of the World!"

"And... what's that, exactly?"

Finn swiveled his head slowly, staring at Asher in astonishment.

"How the hell did you live so long without even knowing that!?"

The boy sighed and stopped turning the knobs on his detector.

He huffed proudly, excited to show off the knowledge his Captain told him years ago.

"There are twenty-six Corporations in the City, known as the Wings of the World. They each have their own 'Singularity', a piece of patented technology that they use in order to make devices like these, weapons, and other stuff."

Asher's face lit up.

"Hey, aren't there also twenty-six Sections? Does that have anything to do with the Corporations?"

He tried to connect the dots, however shaky they were.

"Yep! Each Corporation gets their own Section, but the products of all the Corporations are everywhere in the City, helping life be a bit more convenient."

Finn turned another knob on the machine, and it whirred to life. He typed a few words into the interface.

"So what Corporation is in our Section?" Asher wanted to confirm his prediction. If the Corporations all used letters for their names, then shouldn't the twenty-six corporations represent all the letters in the alphabet?

"Section 12? It's L Corp, stands for Lobotomy Corporation. It specializes in energy production. The entire City uses their energy for almost everything."

'A, B, C... I, J, K, L... Yep, that's the 12th letter, too.'

Asher caught up with Finn, who was already walking away from him into another alley. Sharp beeps periodically rang from inside the machine, but Finn kept walking. Asher didn't know what Finn was doing, so he just stuck behind him.

"Anyway, Asher. How did you know that Messenger's name? Are you from the Index?"

"No way, dude. She just... seemed like a 'Yan' type of girl, y'know?"

Finn squinted his eyes, not believing a single word that he said.

"I'll admit you're not eccentric enough to be in the Index, but there's no way you just guessed her name."

"Fine, fine. I saw her before in the past, okay?" Technically, it was in his past, but in a different timeline.

"...Keep your secrets, then." Finn absently wondered what that Messenger whispered to Asher when she leaned into his ear, and why Asher would blush so hard at it.

They walked in amicable silence, interrupted only by the periodic clamor of voices and the steady beeps of the machine.

Sometimes Finn would randomly swerve into another alley, and Asher had to try his best to not lose sight of him.

"Alright, it seems like we're here." The beeping noise became so frequent that it was almost like a steady, high-pitched scream. Finn flicked the device off, sparing his ears from the grating noise.

As Asher walked behind him, he saw a tall stack of boxes, neatly arranged in a pyramid structure.

"Hey Judas, want to come down? Clara's worried about you~" The cat peered down from on top of its tower of boxes. He flicked his tail lazily and turned his head away.

"Come on, you know people will eat you if they catch you!"

Judas' eyes peered down at Finn, his expression almost saying, 'now how would they do that?'

Just to emphasize his point, he leapt upward, landing on the rooftop.

...

*Yawn* Asher's eyes drooped downward. Finn had been chasing the cat on the rooftop for dozens of minutes now, still unable to catch it. Asher didn't see any reason to participate, so he just lied down on the floor.

"Haha, finally! Alright Asher, we can head back now!"

Asher blearily opened his eyes, sneezing as Finn pushed the cat into his face.

"That took a long time."

Finn scoffed and pulled Asher up, forcing the cat into his arms.

...

Soon they were back in Yun's Office. Asher awkwardly handed over the cat in his arms to Clara, who raised the animal high into the air, much to its unenthusiastic complaints.

"Thank you, thank you so much, little Finn! And the other boy, is he one of yours too, Yun?"

"Nope. Haven't seen him 'til today."

Either way, Clara excitedly shook both of their hands and hobbled away as she hugged the cat in her tight embrace.

Yun turned back to Finn.

"Did anything strange happen? You look worn out."

Instead of immediately reporting to him, Finn first glanced at Asher. Yun narrowed his eyes in suspicion.

Asher shrugged his shoulders.

"I don't care. Say whatever you want."

Finn gulped.

"Um... Asher, is it alright if I talk with Captain alone for a second?"

"Sure." He stepped out of the office and into the hallway, closing the door behind him. Both Finn and Yun didn't seem like bad people, so he was fine with it.

Asher didn't know what they were talking about in that room, but he could roughly piece out what was going on. Finn probably told Yun that he knew the Messenger's name, and also his sudden transformation.

'Wait, Finn didn't see my Fairy Queen E.G.O this time, right? So he probably thinks that my only skill is the Synchronization?'

The door swung open, and Finn motioned him to come inside. In the office, Yun looked at him curiously.

"Can I see your transformation? Finn said you had quite a unique skill."

Asher nodded his head, turning into the Scorched Girl before Yun's eyes.

Yun made a small noise of surprise.

"That is... quite the metamorphosis. Is this your actual body? Or is it a body augmentation? Which Wing did you get it from?"

Suddenly Asher had a thought. If the Synchronization skills didn't have a limit on transformation time, wasn't it possible for the 'real' him and the 'Scorched Girl' to be completely separate people from the perspective of others?

'Can I... Should I...' Asher's mischievous personality flared up, and he suddenly thought of a great idea.

It would require a lot of acting, but he felt like their reactions would be worth it.

And besides, someone smart like Yun would become suspicious if he kept gaining more and more non-related abilities.

"I cannot disclose anything else, but this is my true body. I was borrowing the form of an acquaintance, if you don't mind." Asher's expressionless face added to his believability.

"Hm? Then Asher is your companion's name, not yours? What is your name then?"

"My name is-" The System helpfully interrupted Asher before he could continue.

[Sophie is the name of the Scorched Girl. Naming you as such will further synchronize you with her, which may unlock more abilities.]

"-Sophie."

Asher felt a strange rush of euphoria as he shivered, sharing the pleasure felt by the Scorched Girl.

A small voice in the back of his head seemed to thank him before fading away.

[A new skill of the Scorched Girl has been unlocked!]

[Fourth Match Flame: Every fourth attack will be infused with flames, damaging the user as well as dealing bonus physical damage to the target. All damage dealt, including to oneself, depends on the sum of user's Fortitude and Insight.]

[Description: The caustic warmth of the Fourth Match Flame... The Scorched Girl was burnt to death by it. Use it sparingly.]

Asher didn't have time to look over the skill he got as his attention was drawn to Finn, who was staring at him oddly.

"All this time... I've been talking to a girl..." Finn muttered inconsolably in the corner. The boy was still in the immature age of wanting nothing to do with girls.

But when he took another glance at Sophie's ethereal beauty, he couldn't help but blush.

He turned away, embarrassed.

Yun took out a small piece of paper out of his coat, handing it to Asher.

"It's fine if you don't want to reveal your skills, but are you interested in becoming a Fixer?"

"...Won't they judge how I look, though?"

"They definitely won't. Fixers are a diverse mix of people, many of them have... odd preferences. Not that I'm judging you; I've seen much stranger Fixers in my career." Yun put the paper in his hand.

"This is the address of the Hana Association branch in Section 12. You can sign up to be a Fixer there. It's the easiest job that anyone can do, as long as they don't die."

Asher nodded. Becoming a Fixer didn't seem too bad, as Finn and Yun both seemed like decent people. He put the paper slip in his pocket.

"Thank you, Yun." Asher tried to sound as ethereal as possible, delicately stepping away.

Acting was clearly not his strong suit, as he stumbled countless times as he exited the building, trying much too hard to make his footsteps as light as possible.

"Captain! So Ash- no, Sophie is actually a girl?" Finn still wasn't willing to believe in what he just experienced.

"Hm... Probably. Although something felt a bit off, the eccentricities of certain people like those truly can't be fathomed. She would make a great Fixer, though. Some clients would certainly pay extra to use her services, I can imagine."

"What do you mean by that??" Finn looked at Yun for guidance, but his captain merely shook his head.

"It's surprising how many clients love cripplingly depressed looking girls... You're too young for all that. Tell me about when you met the Dark Cloud Blade again; I should file a report on that." He took a small tablet from underneath his desk.

Finn once again retold his harrowing story, adding personal tidbits here and there...

"And then Sophie had blood leaking out of her eyes! It was so scary!"

Yun sighed and covered his eyes with his hands.

Sometimes it wasn't good to have such a hyperactive child as your right-hand Fixer.

But it was what he promised her, just before she died.

'...'

Yun's mouth curled into a tired grin, reminiscing about old memories. He set down his tablet and relaxed, if only for a moment.

"And then what happened next?"