64 System Space (Arc 4)
Dina's eyes snapped open as she groaned in agony while trying to stand up. Her whole body was throbbing in pain and she felt like her mind was about to rip into bits. Her mouth opened as she muttered a scream. She was in too much pain to scream after all.
“Geraldina,” a voice called out to her. It was calm and soothing, in a way that made you wanna doze off while hearing it sing a lullaby.
“Hm?” Dina muttered in a daze. She wanted that person to go on speaking….
“Host.”
*Gasp!*
“Zero?! Where am I? And Katelyn? What the…..” Dina started as soon as she jolted up but was cut off by a resounding pain in her mind, making her yelp in shock as she laid back down.
“Calm down host, your tutor will be here soon, for now, have this,” Zero explained patiently to her as he handed over to her a pill that slipped from her shaky hands, tumbling down.
“Sorry…. high?!” Dina exclaimed in shock as she felt Zero shove a pill into her mouth, palms covering her lips. Her face flushed red on realizing what had happened but soon noticed just how cool Zero’s hand was, like a cool yet refreshing morning breeze after a hefty night of rain.
‘Cool…’ Dina thought dazzlingly as her tongue traced Zero’s hands without even realizing it until he flinched before instantly throwing off his hands.
“Host,” Zero cautioned her with a glare, making her sweat drop.
“Sorry… it was so cool I couldn’t help it,” Dina said as she stuck her tongue out at Zero playfully, pill already consumed.
Zero was about to say something when someone barged in and Dina finally recognized her surroundings, she was… in the nurse’s office at high school?
‘Did she have to be so thorough with the descriptions?’ Dina thought as she leaned back on the bed looking towards Mrs. Katelyn, who walked towards her before suddenly coming to a pause and sitting next to her.
“I’m so sorry…. I didn’t realize it and judged you so… can you please leave us Zero-one?” Mrs. Katelyn asked as she cupped Dina’s hands.
“Yes,” Zero replied before leaving the two of them alone.
“It’s no problem, Aunty,” Dina said in a soft voice, even her mother misunderstood her so it wasn’t that big of an issue. The only thing she regretted was losing her best friend in this stupid fight for her to get over Jackson.
“Say… is Luka also an agent?” Dina asked hopefully. It would be nice to make up with him here.
“You guys broke up because of Jackson, right?” Mrs. Katelyn asked.
“Yeah… he told me to choose, and I stupidly chose Jackson over my close friends of years, I didn’t even know what I was doing then until we broke up and it finally dawned on me that I was in for some serious trouble,” Dina said.
“You should try it, Dina….” Mrs. Katelyn said.
“What?” Dina asked.
“No matter how scary you should try it,” she said again.
“Try what?” Dina asked once again, confusedly.
“Try to get over Jackson, over that second side of yours, you have to break the yoke!” Mrs. Katelyn exclaimed fiercely while tightly squeezing Dina’s hands but was met with silence, she stared at Dina and was surprised to find her crying. “What are you—“
“It’s just amazing to have someone who finally understands me, Aunty! Am glad and all but am not sure if this will work.” Dina said as she rubbed her hair, which she always did when nervous.
“Why?” Mrs. Katelyn said as she stood up, walking towards a wall. She suddenly pulled down a board out of nowhere.
“I j-just feel so,” Dina said as she went on a full-time hair itch from anxiety.
“You can though,” Mrs. Katelyn said
“How sure….” Dina started but was cut off by Mrs. Katelyn.
“Dina, your issue is a unique one, yes, but hey! You’re a transmigrator! Should I say it in baby words to you? You can travel various worlds and do anything as long as you do your job. Are you telling me that there’s a chance that during all your travels that you won’t find ANYTHING at all?” Mrs. Katelyn said as she wrote down something on the whiteboard.
Points. Points system. Artifacts. Mission Rewards. Rewards. World restart.
Dina read them internally and instantly became on alert. She wouldn’t want to miss any important information.
“First things first, of what surety are you that she’ll leave you after you capture Jackson?” Mrs. Katelyn said.
“I-i…..” Dina muttered incoherently, she had feared this but when a person in darkness sees even if it was but a tiny glimmer of light no matter how shallow would rush towards it.
“Dina… close your eyes,” Mrs. Katelyn said with a smirk making Dina confused, but she did as told either way.
But was shocked the next minute the opened them by what she saw.
“Do you see it?” Mrs. Katelyn asked her.
They were no longer in the clinic but in a certain bound of space floating around like astronauts, but that wasn’t the shocking fact, what was…!
“Oh fuck…. are those… worlds?!” Dina exclaimed in shock.
That was right.
Beneath them was a very powerful outlay of thousands, possibly millions of worlds revolving around a central space. Worlds of different beauty and looks, some purplish, blue, red, silver, pitch black, hazel, rainbow, all the colors she ever knew and ones she never knew existed, they all shone brightly and all this beauty reflected right on the central.
“What is….”
“That’s the bureau, the one you work for and the one that controls all worlds,” Mrs. Katelyn said with a smile as she pointed at the center.
“Shit….” Dina muttered.
“Hands, Dina, I want to show you something even better,” Mrs. Katelyn said, to which Dina instantly listened with no complaint, and then she suddenly she felt her entire being swayed and swerved, and the next minute…
“What the hell…..” Dina muttered as she felt herself being thrown around by the huge vortex of spatial energy. It was so much that she felt that she was about to be torn apart.
“No matter what, don’t let go!”
“Yes…..!!!!” Dina's voice faded though as soon as she answered as they both went down in an affluence of spatial energy.
*Gasp*
Dina gasped as opened her eyes only to stare down and get out an even bigger gasp, her eyes nearly fell out. Right before her was a fight! Not just any normal fight but one between...d-d-d…
“Dragons, they sure do like to fight, ah,” Mrs. Katelyn said leisurely, “Tea?” She said, offering a cup to Dina.
“Where the hell am I even?! And why are we floating on air?!” Dina shrieked.
“Straight to the point eh…. well, we’re in a favorite world of mine, where a certain transmigrator I guided had his happy ending. Of course, am not here to show you others' happy endings,” Mrs. Katelyn said.
“T-then?” Dina asked with a sweat drop, she felt something wasn’t really adding up…
“Dina, have you ever wanted to witness something mind-shattering, an event that you’ll deem so sacred that you’ll feel your soul open to a door of new unknowns?” Mrs. Katelyn asked.
“W-wha….” Dina muttered but had her hands suddenly grabbed by Mrs. Katelyn, who beamed her a lovely smile.
“Prepare to be shock-ridden,” Mrs. Katelyn said causing Dina to pale.
“Nono-no-aahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!”
***
“Should we be letting her do all this?” a computerized male voice muttered from the screen, seated before it was a dark-blue-haired man with laid-back eyes as he watched from the screen Dina screaming her ass off while being rapidly dragged around worlds by Mrs. Katelyn.
“It’s fine. It’s about time she gets a new motivation, don’t you think?” The seated male said with a smirk.
‘You’re fascinating, Tana, to be able to split the curse from yourself… we definitely made the right choice,' The male said obvious glee in his voice
***
[Meanwhile]
“Mbleafggh….ajaug vhgi;….” Dina puked with a blue face or so she wanted to but could only dry heave, causing her to feel even dizzier.
“You okay?” Mrs. Katelyn asked as she giggled beside Dina.
“I thought you knew that… I have motion sickness, and you just decided to take me on a universe tour with no prior invitation, that sucks Aunty," Dina complained as she gulped down the cold water in the ‘refrigerator’ to calm down.
Although they were in their soul form and things like food, water, and motion sickness would have been insignificant, the bureau designed things in such a way one could still feel all these like normal for two reasons-
“So we, as transmigrators won’t feel like some living doll and uncomfortable, and two, so we won’t get too used to our soul form as addiction to this form is highly detrimental. I can’t believe you were actually teaching me while being THAT high,” Dina complained.
“You’re smart so I believe you grabbed it,” Mrs. Katelyn said before suddenly looking at Dina with soft eyes making her flinch “I know you can do it if you truly desire to,” She said one last time before standing up, in preparation to leave.
“W-wait! You’re leaving?!” Dina exclaimed.
“Yes Dina, my job here is done, let’s meet after you complete your second mission, don’t forget that time isn’t by anyone’s side, most especially you,” Mrs. Katelyn said as she raised her snapping fingers before suddenly stopping, “Oh, hope you’ve found you’re a truer motivation now or the next time we’re meeting, I’ll use a book to beat it into ya,” She said one last time before snapping her fingers and the next minute, Dina was once again in the red-orange space.
Dina sat down for a while, seemingly mulling on something. She was at it for a while till the clanking of boots filled her hearing and Zero appeared right in front of her.
“Host?” He called out to her.
“Zero,” Dina said as she stood up, her eyes obscured under her hair as she walked up to Zero before suddenly grabbing onto him in a hug, causing him to stiffen.
“Host?” Zero called out to her again.
“Call me Dina from now on and I promise you, Zero, from now on… all my missions shall be taken seriously. You know that curse thing you once mentioned to me about? You’ll help me with it till the end, right?” Dina asked while rubbing Zero's, who was very visibly tense, back in circles.
“Yes, according to the contract,” Zero mentioned as he tried to pull away from her.
“Then… let’s try to work together…. well,” Dina said in a soft tone as she beamed a smile at Zero while tightening her hold on him, “Don’t even bother, you’re glued to me until the very end, so the earlier you get used to it, the better.”
“Host….”
“Don’t call me that. Also, from now on, tell Jackson to not appear before me again. He’s a distraction. I’ll rather focus on myself and my job. For more work efficiency, of course (not that I hold a grudge or something)," Dina said, muttering the last to herself.
"Affirmed host... but tell me, Dina,” Zero said, sending shivers down Dina’s spine.
How can someone’s voice be so… addicting, it was like her name was being spoken by an ephemeral.
"Yes?"
“Do you really believe what she said? Are you really willing to try your very best Dina?” Zero asked, finally giving up the struggle.
Dina felt weird at Zero’s questioning, the good kinda weird, Zero was always the cool stereotype so seeing him more active was actually making her happier, hopefully, their compatibility and cooperation would increase in the future.
“Because, after what Mrs. Katelyn told and showed me, I have decided, no matter how minuscule, even if it isn’t possible, I Geraldina will make it possible,” Dina said before looking upwards right into Zero’s eyes, “Prepare the world Zero. This time I won’t destroy it. You and Jackson won’t control me, like the first one,” Dina dictated before finally letting go of Zero.
“Affirmed,” Zero said as he brought out his hands, which Dina grabbed at, and soon they had the pings.
“I’ll show you what I mean Zero! No matter what, I will fulfill my contract, and then can you please hold my moronic self back from leaping at Jackson, and actually tell me what I need to know?” Dina said with a tired smile.
Zero looked towards her. Somehow he felt… elated. That was it. He didn’t know what that meant, but he knew that it was definitely a feeling….. a feeling….. and he was feeling it.
His lips raised up slightly, curving up ever so slightly as he replied without looking at Dina-
“Yeah.”
Dina noticed and her eyes bulged out in shock, was this guy smiling?! And with deadly features like that it... but before she could assimilate-
/Normalities detected;
AIT and Transmigrator detected
To be dispatched;
Integrating command;
Identity formed;
The pair will be transferred in
5… 2… 1/
‘Am sorry Jack or Favela… I’ll make it up to you someday if I can. Good thing everyone’s still safe and one day…. one day… I will come visit, one last time.
