Chapter 26 - The director's visit [2]

(POV – Protagonist)

Based on the information I gathered while swimming through the shadows, today was the day the director would finally show up. I don't know if that explained it, but Emily seemed much darker today compared to yesterday. How could I express that? She seemed more aware of her surroundings.

Putting that aside, I continued with my routine normally, not doing anything particular. To be honest, there wasn't much to do, and that was the good part: I didn't have to work since they provided everything I wanted. Now, if you're wondering whether I miss my parents or not.

Honestly, I don't remember them. Does it make sense to miss something I can't recall? It's possible I don't even have parents. In the end, I decided to make the most of my life by doing whatever I truly wanted.

"Ms. Anomaly, you look radiant. Did something special happen?"

Laura, who was in front of me, seemed to notice my happiness. Although I couldn't respond to her words, my inability to speak didn't stop my body from revealing my emotional state; I was swaying back and forth while sitting.

Speaking of which, the reason Laura was in front of me now was that we were conducting a test. It was something quite simple: there were variously shaped objects laid out in front of me, along with containers that matched those shapes. The goal of the test was for me to place the objects in the correct containers, kind of like a game meant for children.

"You look especially lovely today, Ms. Anomaly. Not that you aren't cute normally, but the urge to hug you is even stronger than usual"

Laura hugged me once more. Lately, she had been doing this for no apparent reason; sometimes she just comments that I'm "cute" and wraps me in a hug. Normally, I can easily escape from her using my new anomalous ability, but unfortunately, we were in a corner of my room where there was no shadow.

While this ability is genuinely powerful, it's not without its drawbacks. The main—actually, the only—drawback is that I can't use it in well-lit places. Typically, to escape from my room, I go under the bed, where the darkness prevails because the bed blocks the light.

"Now, let's continue, Ms. Anomaly. If you win, I'll give you a reward: that new game you had your eye on last time"

Although it was a children's game, it was still an intellectual challenge. Ignoring the game just because society categorizes it as for kids would be disrespectful to children around the world. And to be clear, I'm not playing because of the promise Laura made moments before I changed my mind.

With that thought in mind, I didn't hesitate. I picked up the first piece, which was round, and placed it in the container of the same shape. I did the same with the other pieces. In total, there were about ten pieces, and I managed to put nine of them in the correct containers. However, the tenth one seemed impossible to fit, as the shape of the piece didn't match that of the container, no matter how I looked at it.

"Very well, Ms. Anomaly. You did great with the previous pieces, but will you be able to uncover the secret of this last one?"

As Laura spoke these encouraging words, she petted my head. Why did I feel like she was treating me like a child again? Well, it must just be my imagination. Anyway, I just needed to find a way to fit this piece into the container, right? It shouldn't be that difficult.

I brought the piece close to the top of the container, under Laura's curious gaze. Then, I raised my other hand above the one holding the container, creating a small shadow over it. Though modest, the shadow still covered the surface of the container. With that, I used my new anomalous ability to make the object pass through the container. As soon as it was inside, I simply let go of it while deactivating my power.

Of course, it didn't come out perfectly. Furthermore, the object and the container, since they didn't have the same shape, were about to break. However, the goal was achieved. I looked at Laura with a sense of pride, satisfied that I had managed to complete something that clearly wasn't meant to be completed.

As I imagined, Laura was staring at me with her mouth agape, a look of surprise on her face. Even she hadn't thought I could complete the task this way. In fact, this task was clearly not intended for me. As I looked at her, a thought crossed my mind.

(If you keep your mouth open like that, you might let a fly in, you know?)

***

(POV - Emily Parker)

"... This is undoubtedly an intriguing way to do this, an approach that only an anomaly would be capable of conceiving and executing"

Emily was genuinely impressed with the images displayed on the security cameras, especially seeing the exact moment when the anomaly cleverly overcame the challenge that had been presented to her.

Emily had long lost count of how many times she rewound the video to observe the anomaly. Normally, anomalies follow a fixed pattern, without deviating from it. For example, within the facility, there is a seed-shaped anomaly that, when planted, sprouts a small flower. This flower, in turn, produces another seed, and the process repeats indefinitely.

In summary, there was nothing to study; the anomalous seed was just that: a seed that, when planted, sprouts a flower that generates another seed, repeating the cycle eternally. However, this anomaly was completely different. Emily couldn't explain why, but she felt that this anomaly didn't follow a defined pattern. A clearer example was the humanoid anomalies, which, like her, displayed unexpected behaviors.

Like an anomaly that inhabits a mirror: when someone approaches and uses the reflection, this anomaly emerges, pursuing the person until it finds them and drags them back into the mirror. However, besides that, the anomaly doesn't cause any other problems or complications. It had been a long time since Emily felt genuinely motivated to study a new anomaly.

Although Emily was aware that this fact only applied to this facility, at the organization's main headquarters, there were incomprehensible anomalies whose nature was practically impossible to understand.