Chapter 18 - Tour(Part 1)
Point-of-View: Zoraiz Rafayet
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"Well, this isn't awkward at all," I quietly sighed to myself dryly...it'd been about half an hour since Neo left, and the Meta-Humans he'd terrified before leaving were currently arguing over who gets to babysit us.
Okay, so technically speaking, they were arguing over which of them gets stuck babysitting us, but whatever. I mean, can't they just take turns or whatever?
"These guys kinda suck," Muttered Alexis in irritation.
"Hey!" Suddenly exclaimed Inoka, before remarking as he got all of their attention, "Just wanted to say, you've been calling us aberrations, abnormalities, anomalies, irregularities and a bunch of other words that mean the same thing, but I believe the correct term is 'Outliers'...oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to flex on you natural Meta-Humans with my knowledge, despite being a lowly artificial Meta-Human. Hope you all aren't feeling too humiliated."
Wow, that might be the least subtle provocation I've ever heard.
"Huh!?"
"Don't get cocky just because Sir Cronje spoke in your favor, you shit!"
"That's right, we're in charge of this base, so you had best listen to us! And that goes for the two of you brats as well!"
"All three of you are beneath us, as natural Meta-Humans, we're superior to you!"
"Ohhh, noooo, I'm feeling sooo mistreated right now," Inoka sighed in a blank tone, before adding slyly, "Didn't Neo say something about mistreatment before he left, I don't quite remember...do you guys?"
Despite his taunting, he seemed like he was barely keeping his temper in check...he'd made no secret of his displeasure since being brought here, this seems more like him trying to blow off some steam instead of simply taunting them.
"Little shit...," Growled one of them, before they all turned away from us and continued arguing.
Wow, despite his taunts, looks like their fear of that Neo guy is greater than their disdain towards us. I didn't think they'd back down so easily.
"I'm not so sure we should be provoking them like this, though I will admit that it's kinda funny," Alexis whispered to Inoka, sounding a little nervous.
Well, we are surrounded by a lot of these Meta-Humans, maybe it's giving her flashbacks to that alley...
"Don't tell me what to do," Muttered Inoka, sounding a bit irritated...it seems like he almost wanted them to react to his taunts and provocations, and is now annoyed that they ignored him.
"You don't have to be a dick about it," She huffed in response, glaring at him.
"Just shut up, right now it feels like anything and everything is annoying me."
This is really awkward...I'm just gonna pretend that I'm not here right now...
"Why, you-...hmph, whatever," She growled, before muttering to herself in annoyance.
To my right, Inoka was whispering irritated remarks under his breath while tapping his foot restlessly, and to my left, Alexis was grumbling to herself with a pissed off look on her face.
So, this is the sound of bitching in stereo, huh? I could feel myself getting a bit annoyed too, the loud arguing in front of us combined with the low yet very much audible muttering on either side of me was really grinding my gears.
Hm? What's going on? The argument in front of us was starting to quieten down...have they finally come to a resolution? Please say yes, I'm starting to get a headache...
"Hey, Outliers or whatever...don't go anywhere, we're going to fetch your tour guide, wait right here," Said one of them, before they all left.
Huh...so that's what they've decided...
"What was that about?" Muttered Alexis with a bemused frown, as they all left the room.
"Isn't it obvious? The fact that they all left in unison probably means that they decided to pawn us off to someone else in this facility, probably someone weak-willed," Replied Inoka with an annoyed sigh.
"You, uh, seem pretty sure about that, huh?" I responded curiously.
"Well, I was kind of a pushover in high school, so I know how people tend to dump stuff they don't want to do onto those that can't say no easily," He sighed with a bitter look on his face.
Oops, guess I touched a nerve, huh. Now it's even more awkward than before. As I've said before, I haven't had many normal conversations in my life, this is tough, my social skills are way too low level for this...
"Oh, someone's coming," Remarked Alexis, nodding at the hallway through which the Meta-Humans had left through, breaking the awkward silence that had built up, as someone appeared in the entrance to this room...
It was a girl...she looked a bit older than me, maybe in her early-twenties. She had shortish turquoise-dyed hair that covered her forehead, with two longish streaks on either side of her head that went down past her shoulders in front, and a single braid down from behind her right ear.
She was kinda short and slender, wore a pair of rectangular black glasses, had brown eyes and dark skin, with a gold ring pierced at the top of her left ear. She had a loose-fitting pink top on that exposed her left shoulder and a black skirt that stopped just above her knees, over black leggings.
"Um, hi...I'm, um, supposed to show you around," She remarked timidly as she approached us, before introducing herself, "My name is Kiyana Waller, and um, it's nice to meet you all."
Her social skills seem kinda bad too, though not as bad as mine. Well, if nothing else, it's nice to know that I'm not the only one here who's conversationally challenged.
"You're being suspiciously nice," Frowned Inoka, narrowing his eyes at her, as she averted her gaze nervously.
"Wh-what do you mean?" She responded uncertainly.
"He means why aren't you looking down on us even though we're not natural Meta-Humans, even though most others are clearly not happy about us being here," Clarified Alexis bluntly.
Huh, they've got a point...it is kinda strange that she isn't being all disdainful and condescending. Then again, she does seem awfully timid...
"Oh, um, it doesn't bother me," She replied with a slight shrug.
"I find that hard to believe, considering how most of the Meta-Humans we've encountered have been total dicks to us," I chimed in suspiciously...is she trying to mess with us or something, like get us to let down our guards and then reveal herself to be the most arrogant and cocky Meta-Human we've met so far or something like that?
Huh, this always happens...whenever I feel threatened or attacked, I tend to speak just fine, I don't stutter or say 'uh' every few words, I'm able to speak normally. Which is kinda depressing, it's not like I want to be good at talking only when I'm in a confrontation, I want to be able to talk normally all the time. But that's easier said than done...
"W-well, um...I don't really understand why normal humans are mostly seen as inferior by other Metas, I can't imagine being superior to anyone, normal or Meta...a-and, um, most of the others scorn me for that, so I...I...," She trailed off, looking like she was on the verge of tears as all three of us eyed her suspiciously.
Oh...guess I was overthinking it. Unless she's like, an incredible actress. Though if that's really the case, I think I'd be more impressed than mad.
"This is, uh, unexpected," Responsed Inoka, wide-eyed, looking kinda guilty now.
"H-hey, uh, we're sorry, we didn't mean to make you cry, um...," Alexis tried to calm her down, but didn't really look like she knew what she was doing.
Well, it's not my place to judge, she certainly isn't doing any worse than I'd have done. Like I said, the only time I can speak freely is when I'm irritated or generally in a bad mood, I have very little trouble talking to people if I don't like them or am pissed off at them.
It's when I'm trying to talk normally that I struggle, holding a polite or friendly casual conversation is kinda beyond me. The only person I've ever had normal conversations with was my mom, and after she died, I wouldn't call any of the human interactions I've had since then pleasant.
Before Neo kidnapped me, the only conversations I ever had were being yelled at by security guards of places I stole food from, and arguments with my neighbors in the trailer park I lived in...a lot of them were pretty racist, so things got kinda tense sometimes.
"Hey, quit your daydreaming," Suddenly remarked Alexis, before elbowing my in the ribs, a slight electric shock running into me...
"Ow! What the-...!? You little bitch-...!" I began to exclaim in indignation.
"We're being given the tour of this place, did you want to be left behind?" She responded icily.
"Why, you...!? Tch, whatever, you didn't have to zap me though, what's your problem?" I grumbled, as Inoka glanced back with a slight look of amusement.
"Huh? What do you mean?" She replied with a look of uncertainty.
"Don't play dumb, I felt a sting when you elbowed me, I was like a weak electric shock!"
"Oh, I see...my bad, I can't control my Aura, that's why all these sparks keep crackling around me," She apologized, after her eyes widened in realization.
Hm...I'm not used to people apologizing to me. Not quite sure how I should respond here...so I won't. Even if the shock was an accident, she still elbowed me pretty hard, so yeah, I ain't apologizing. I kinda want to punch her...but I don't want to get zapped again, those sparks keep crackling around here every couple of seconds. And now that I'm paying attention to her, I'm noticing that the air around her feels kinda static-y.
Anyway, Kiyana began guiding us throughout the facility, which looked surprisingly high tech for an organization of superpowered people...I suppose supernatural and sci-fi aren't necessarily mutually exclusive, but this still feels like a weird mix.
"Um, this is the cafeteria, it's open from 9 AM to 9 PM, meals are free, but there's a maximum of three per person for a day, to make sure that everyone gets an equal amount," Informed Kiyana, as she led us into a large hall with several tables.
There was a counter up front, with a pile of different parcels, I'm guessing those contain food.
"Is there enough to go around with us here? The last thing we need is more negative attention," Sighed Alexis, as some of the Meta-Humans in the cafeteria gave us dirty looks.
"Just don't let it get to you. Stop caring what people think and life's suddenly a lot less stressful," Stated Inoka confidently.
"I-is that really true?" Asked Kiyana, a slight gleam of hope in her eyes.
"Well, uh...I mean, it worked for me, so...," He responded with a shrug, looking a bit taken aback.
"I see...interesting, I'll keep that in mind...," She muttered to herself, before continuing the tour.
She's pretty timid, I'm guessing she's a lower ranked Meta-Human than those others. Otherwise, even if they disapprove of her mindset and whatnot, they'd probably keep their thoughts to themselves if she outranks them, right? What were the Meta-Human ranks called again...? Oh, right, Categories!
"Hey, uh...Miss Waller?"I addressed her awkwardly.
"Oh, uh, y-yes? What is it?" She responded, turning around.
"Well, uh, not to pry or anything, but I, uh, was wondering which Category level you're, uh, ranked at?" I asked her.
"Hm? Oh, you're not prying, it's not a big deal...I'm a Category 1 Meta," She answered, looks of surprise appearing on both Alexis and Inoka's faces as she replied.
Oh, cool...so she's at the second highest rank, huh? Wait, what!?
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