Chapter 25 - Chat(Part 2)

Point-of-View: Adelmira Hartley

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How long have I been here now? I'm fairly sure that it's been more than a week since Eden kidnapped me, at the very least, but I'm not sure how long it's been since I was brought to this cell. It's hard to say since this room is underground, I haven't seen any sunlight since being brought here. The last few days or hours, or however long it's been, have been a bit more tolerable, after meeting X, but it hasn't changed much...this situation is still dire.

For the last several hours, all I've done is regret. Specifically, I've been regretting letting my curiosity get the best of me, which led to inadvertently touching that Meta-Orb, or whatever it's called. X has been teaching me a lot about the world of Meta-Humans, and honestly, it's all rather overwhelming.

If I hadn't let my curiosity get the better of me and just stayed away from that damned orb, I would still be at home, and...and my mom would still be alive.

I still remember that day clearly...I was at the supermarket with my mom, when a loud crash erupted from somewhere close by. I also saw the hole in the ceiling, and my curiosity and fascination just got the better of me.

Unable to resist, I rushed over to where the crash had come from, but naturally, I wasn't the only one. I was the first to arrive, and the crowd of curious onlookers that arrived immediately after ended up pushing me. I then fell forward and ended up touching the orb.

I couldn't pull my hand away, even as I felt an intense heat on my hand, and then, the heat suddenly subsided, as the orb disappeared. In the chaos, my mom was able to grab me and take me back home before anything else could happen. I remember feeling kinda weird, my body felt like it was changing.

I was a little freaked out but didn't want to worry my mom, so I decided to keep it to myself until and unless a noticeable change occurs. But maybe I'd have been better off telling her, maybe going to the hospital would have saved us from running into these Eden people.

But, then again, maybe all that would have done was delay the inevitable, nothing more. X mentioned another organization called Harmony, the enemy of Eden...maybe things would have been different if they found me instead, but then again...maybe not.

Yeah...the moment I touched that orb, my fate was sealed. A few days later, I remember seeing footage of me in that supermarket going viral on social media. And it wasn't long after that that those people suddenly appeared inside my house. They broke in through a window, and the first thing they did was kill my mom, saying something about leaving no witnesses.

The one that killed her, he simply pointed a finger in her direction, and a second later, she collapsed onto the ground. I remember staring is shock, as I saw the hole in her forehead, blood rapidly pooling around her head.

As the puddle of blood spread out and reached me, flowing around my feet, I snapped in a mixture of sorrow and rage, and the next thing I knew, bursts of water were being fired out from me. Some of those people were taken by surprise and got hit, but my attacks couldn't do much more than daze them a bit.

It wasn't long before they restrained me and knocked me out, before bringing me here. I'm supposed to have an unprecedented level of power thanks to that orb, but it was useless against those that actually knew how to properly use their powers.

X told me that the ones who kidnapped me were classified as 'Category 2' and below, which classifies Meta-Humans that are about average, or at best, a little bit above average. And I didn't stand a chance against them.

And now they want to teach me how to use my powers, but only so that they can use me as a tool for their own personal gain, just like how they treat X. I...I don't want that.

"Hey, good morning, Miraliz!" Suddenly came X's voice, snapping me out of it.

Every time she comes to talk to me, she activates her nullifying ability. I guess I can't blame her though, if I take advantage of her and manage to escape, they'll punish her for it...and if I had the opportunity to escape, I'd probably try to take it.

"Oh, good morning, X. You startled me a bit there," I replied with a smile, as she closed the door.

"Sorry, my bad. Hope you don't mind me hanging out here all day again," She responded, as she sat on the chair.

After that first day when she spoke to me, she's been spending most of her time in my room, only leaving when she goes to sleep or when someone brings food trays for me and the other person they captured.

She wasn't lying, she must really have been lonely all this time. If she wasn't doing this, I'd probably have been cowering in fear this whole time...but thanks to her, I'm able to stay calm now. I need to be careful though, I can't let myself get used to this...because if that happens, my desire to escape might start to weaken, I can't ever let myself accept my fate...no, I'll keep fighting against it.

"I don't mind at all, having someone to talk to makes this situation a lot more bearable."

"Yeah, I've been here for most of my life and I still haven't really gotten used to it...constant boredom in between risking my life is a pretty volatile combination," She sighed in reply.

"Wait, exactly how long have you been here, anyway?" I asked her.

"Since I was around twelve, I think...well, technically, from the ages twelve to seventeen, I was a lab rat for some Eden psychopath. The higher ups in Eden found out about his experiments, which dabbled into forbidden research, and executed him. They were going to execute me too, but decided that my power was too useful to waste. After that, they trained me like they wanted to kill me, till I was twenty-two. Since then, I've been carrying out any missions assigned to me, just to stay alive. Oh, and I know I don't look it, but I'm actually around twenty-seven, more or less. My age and birthday were pretty much the only things I didn't forget after my days as a lab rat," She explained, the look in her eyes darkening slightly.

"So, then, all the scars on your body...are those from back then?" I inquired in horror...she really went through all that?

In comparison, I've had it really easy.

"Oh, yeah, pretty unsightly, huh?" She replied with a bitter smile.

"No, that's-...," I began to deny.

"Sorry, sorry, didn't mean to bring the mood down, my bad. Why don't we talk about something else?" She suggested, forcing a smile on her face.

Guess she doesn't want to talk about it anymore...which is more than understandable...

"Sure, okay, uh...oh, do you have any dreams or ambitions for your future, X?" I asked her.

"Hm? No, not really. All I really know is that I don't want to die, but then, that probably goes for most people, so I don't think it actually counts," She laughed with a wry smile, before asking me, "What about you?"

"W-well, uh...I don't have any realistic dreams, more like fantasies, to be honest. I mean, they're not impossible, just super unrealistic," I replied sheepishly.

"Oh, I don't mind, in fact, I'm intrigued. What's this unrealistic dream of yours?" She inquired curiously.

"Um...to have my own island with a harem of hot guys," I muttered, as my felt my face heating up with embarrassment.

She was silent for a moment, as she stared at me with a look of surprise, and then letting out a stifled snort before bursting out into laughter.

"Wow, that's awesome! Heh, that'd be a real dream come true, mind saving me a spot on the island?" She replied with a grin.

I've been laughed at a lot before, thanks to my name, but this was different...this didn't feel like the cruel, spiteful laughs I was used to. Is that what it means to be laughed with than to be laughed at? I never understood what that meant, but I think I do now...

"Sure, I don't see why not. It'll probably be boring if all I had was mindless, gorgeous man meat around and no one that I can actually talk to," I responded jokingly.

"You're pretty frisky for a fourteen year old, aren't you?" She grinned teasingly.

"Well, I mean, it's always seen as cool if guys get a ton of girls, but it's the opposite if a girl gets a ton of guys, I just don't understand that," I shrugged in response.

"Yeah, good point. Slutty girls are seen as negative while slutty guys are lauded and called 'Chads' or dumb crap like that."

"I know, right? And who comes up with those labels, anyway? It's so cringy. Oh, except Karens, that label is hilarious," I replied with a laugh.

Never thought I'd say this after being kidnapped, but...this is nice. I've never had any close friends, I was always bullied because of my name. I got along with guys better than I did with girls, but I soon realized that was only because they were attracted to me...and then bullied me when I turned them down, since I wasn't really interested all that in guys my own age.

And of course, that only led to more animosity towards me from the girls. Not all of them, there were some that were sort of friendly to me, but since I got so much negative attention, they kept a distance from me...they wouldn't really talk to me besides saying good morning and stuff like that. So to have a pointless, meaningless conversation like this...to me, it's really nice.

Suddenly, I heard a slight buzz, before X reached into her pocket and took out a phone. Oh, she must have gotten a notification, guess that's what I heard.

"Give me a sec...," She muttered, as she tapped on the screen, before a frown appeared on her face.

"Um...is everything alright?" I inquired warily.

"Well, uh...sorry to be the one who has to tell you this, kid, but it looks like, tonight, you'll have a Condition placed on you," She replied grimly, my heart sinking as she met my gaze...

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