Trans-Reality Something

I walked back and forth, smoking the cigarette. I had quite a lot to think about.

Fighting the organization was fun at first, but it seemed to be on a much larger scale than I originally suspected. And all of it sounded really bothersome. Both the organization and the rogues. I would much rather not get involved.

I just wanted to enjoy my life.

But in order to do that, I needed more information. To avoid getting caught in the middle, I had to know what exactly was going on.

"So let me get that straight." I turned around to face the boy. "Some rogues are working together, and your organization is busy fighting them. But even though I'm not a part of it, they still want to eliminate me, because I'm also a rogue. Is that right?"

"Yeah, I think so," the boy confirmed.

I sighed and rubbed my forehead. What a headache. "And why is that?"

The boy tilted his head, thinking. "Hmm… Because the rogues are a threat? They cause the end of the world, by simply being there, or something like that. I don't really know."

That made a lot of sense. After all, it has always been like that for me. Even if I didn't want to destroy a world, it was inevitable. Whenever I ended up in a new one, it started hunting me eventually. To survive, I needed to break the reality laws… But that, in return, made the world more and more unstable, leading to its destruction. Then I would just get thrown into yet another world, and everything would repeat.

"So, your organization is meant to save the worlds or something?" I sat back on the bed, taking out another cigarette. "Anything else?"

The boy bit his lip, thinking hard. The situation looked more like a student being examined than a hostage being interrogated. "Managing all the realities and outliers? There are many departments, I don't remember them all… The full name is Trans… Trans-Reality… Trans-Reality Something." He glanced at me with a nervous smile.

I couldn't help but sigh again. He didn't seem to be very knowledgeable. "Alright then, let's try something else. How and why did you join the organization?" He should be able to at least answer an easy question like that.

He brightened up. He was probably happy thinking I showed some interest in him, even though that wasn't what my question was actually all about. "Oh, well, I was scouted, right after I became an outlier. There isn't anything else you can do as an outlier aside from working for them, so I agreed."

"Became an outlier?" Now that was curious. I have already figured out that outliers must be their way of referring to anyone who is outside of their original world, but I wasn't sure how exactly someone becomes one. After all, I've been an outlier ever since I could remember. There was one possibility that I knew about, but…

"Mm," the boy just confirmed as if that was the most obvious thing in the world. After a moment of silence, he glanced at me and was visibly taken aback by my expression. "You… don't know how people become outliers?" He asked cautiously, his eyes open wide.

I narrowed my eyes, annoyed. "Just explain."

"Oh, uhm, okay." The boy's smile disappeared from his face completely as he started nervously tugging on his clothes again. "Well, uhm, I don't know if it's always like that, but… When my world started falling apart, I suddenly got some superpowers of sorts, like moving objects with my mind. And then I kind of ended up being transported to a different world…"

"On your own?" I interrupted him. "Or did someone take you?"

From what I've observed so far, people were unable to escape their own worlds, even when the reality was falling apart. The only option was to hold onto someone like me when I was about to move on.

The boy, however, shook his head. "Just on my own. I don't know how I did that, I just suddenly got pulled out and that was it. I was really confused at first, I didn't even realize I was in a different world."

I put out my cigarette with a frown. "And then?"

"I just went on with my life?" The boy shrugged his shoulders. "The organization picked me up around a week later…"

He suddenly stopped talking and leaned back defensively, as I stood up and got closer to him.

"Wh-what are you…"

Not letting him finish, I hit him in the back of the head, knocking him out.

I was not done questioning him, but I needed a break. Of course, I couldn't trust him, so I wasn't about to just leave him alone like that. I tied him up again and put a gag in his mouth, so he wouldn't be able to scream for help if he woke up before I'm back. Then I left the room, locking the doors behind me.

So that's how people became outliers. I've never met any other outlier, except for the one I made myself, so I had no clue.

Was it how it all started for me? Or was I forcibly taken out of my original world, as I have done to someone else once before?

How come I was left all alone then? Why didn't the organization come to pick me up?

I was only six back then. I barely managed to survive. If someone was willing to give me food and a warm place to sleep, I would follow them without any hesitation.

Well, it's not like I would want to be a part of the organization now. I doubt they would let me just do whatever I wanted and break the reality laws. But…

Why did it take them so long to get to me? It's been almost twenty years now.

And doesn't that mean it's their fault I'm a rogue? They've never given me a chance, and now they're hunting me just because I didn't let the worlds get rid of me.

Do they see themselves as righteous? "The good guys?"

What a joke.

Honestly, fuck them all.