Chapter 16.3

Asami and Jared went into the room Emily was recuperating in, only to see her getting dressed. The two exchanged surprised looks while she glared at them.

"Two seconds sooner and I'd still be naked," she said to them. "You two mind knocking next time?"

"We weren't expecting you to be awake," Asami answered. "But to be honest, I don't mind seeing you topless. Yummy yum yum."

"Sis, should you be up?" Jared asked ignoring the 'perverted geezer' that was next to him. "You were hit pretty badly."

"I'm alright now," Emily smiled at Jared and patted his head. "You head home and look after mom, I promise I'll be ok."

"But sis-"

"Hey. Remember when those debtors came along?" Emily asked him, while Asami pretended not to hear but was listening in carefully. "This is nothing compared to that. So go home. Study, eat, and practice to get Espers abilities."

"I - alright," Jared said.

"That's good," Emily said before hugging Jared tightly.

"Sis?"

"You know I love you very much, little bro," Emily said. Jared felt there was something different about Emily but with how young he was, he couldn't understand what it was. "We'll head out together and split up at the Bullet."

"Where are we going?" Asami asked.

"I'll tell you when we get there," Emily answered.

"Children, didn't you just arrive? Stay, have some lunch," as they reached the mansion's entrance, Silvia appeared. "And Ms. Caldwell, what are you doing up and about? Go back and rest some more."

"I'm fine, Ms. Graves," Emily replied stiffly, a hint of nervousness echoing in her voice. "I'm already healed."

"Nonsense," Silvia retorted. "It would take at least half a day for those internal wounds to heal. Unless …"

Silvia looked at Emily inquisitively and the latter nodded before raising an arm. A green glow surrounded it surprising all three who witnessed it.

"You've reached level 1?" Emily nodded at Silvia's question and she nodded back in curt admiration. "Impressive. I must say, I did not expect you to increase your ability so quickly. Congratulations.

"However, I can't permit you to leave so soon. You at least need a checkup to confirm your health, not to mention that you would be safer here."

"Ms. Graves no offence, but I'm an adult," Emily said in a slightly higher-pitched tone. "You can't keep me here against my will."

"Very well," Silvia said after the two had a silent confrontation where they stared at each other for a while. "You may leave, but only after you have taken Jason's, and my own, contact information. And if anything happens, call either of us immediately. Understand?"

"Yes, ma'am," all three answered simultaneously.

***

Twenty minutes later, Emily shooed Jared away while Asami checked her phone. The two left the bullet and took a Bus to the Sumps. The Bus was designed like a double-decker that covered the entire street; it was the size of three roads making it three times the size of an average bus. The first floor was hollow, allowing cars to pass through it while the sides were connected to maglev tracks on the side of the road. The two exited through the hover-lift at the side of the bus and walked through the Sumps, their destination getting closer to the Slums.

"Alright, can you tell me where we're going now?" Asami asked. "We're getting too close to the Slums and we're both pretty girls, y'know. Oh wow, this totally looks like a date, right?"

"We're looking for Accelerant," Emily said quietly. Asami stopped joking and looked at her in pure shock before grabbing her hand and turning Emily to face her.

Accelerant was a new drug that was almost nonexistent in the streets. It was so rare that AEM merely suspected the drug to be a rumour and the fact that no one had been hospitalized from overdose supported their claims.

However, Emily accidentally eavesdropped on Melanie when she passed by an empty corridor. Melanie who was talking to Olivia, let it slip that Accelerant was real and available in the market, surprising her. Later, after some research of her own, Emily discovered that what Melanie had revealed was true and that several lower-level Espers have already secretly taken the drug. Emily had been struggling for a while on whether she should follow their lead and take it as well but the recent event forced her to accept the situation.

"You can't be serious right?" Asami asked Emily who refused to look at her. Asami's father, who seemed to know many things due to his position, had warned her of this drug, telling her not to be tempted into using it despite the fact that it might increase her strength. "Emily this … this isn't right. You know that's a drug."

"I know," Emily whispered.

"And it's only rumoured to increase your level," Asami continued.

"I know," Emily's voice slightly rose.

"And it probably has side-effects that we don't know of!" Asami protested.

"I know!" Emily shouted. "Goddammit, I know all that! But I need to get stronger, Asami!"

Asami was taken aback by Emily's shout and looked at her. She narrowed her eyes as watched Emily carefully.

"This is about Jason isn't it?" Asami asked, her voice unintentionally accusing her. "No, it's not only about him but Alina too. You want to be stronger because of them don't you?"

"This is about me, not them," Emily had her head lowered which prevented Asami from seeing her face as she answered.

"You know what it's like, don't you? You're a level one and no matter how much you pretend, I know you feel it. The contempt, the ridicule, the- the scorn others feel about you," Emily said in an anguished voice. "And you at least have your parents. You're an ambassador's daughter, at least you have that!"

Asami didn't say anything and looked away. Of course, she knew what Emily was talking about. Sanctuary was perfect for Espers, but there was a disparagement amongst the Espers based on their levels. Higher levels were given more preferential treatment as opposed to lower levels.

And since society gravitated to the strong, weaker level Espers were neglected, resulting in bullying or false accusations aimed at them and hardly any effort was put into dealing with this, regardless of how much anyone, especially Melanie, tried. Due to her parents, Asami did not suffer any mistreatments but she had seen the disdain many had for her in their eyes, and she imagined how much worse it was for Emily, someone who was not part of the one-percenters.

"You know, Jared isn't really my brother? I live in a foster home," Emily explained bitterly. "I was abandoned by my parents because my potential as an Esper was low, so low that it'd damage their reputation. My friends joined the girls in bullying me when I started attracting all the boys back in elementary. My boyfriend dumped me right after fucking me, telling the class I was a slut even after ... I have nothing, Asami, nothing but this face which has given me nothing but trouble my entire life!"

Tears ran down Emily's face as Asami comforted her by patting her back while hugging her. Emily took a deep breath to calm herself and wiped her tears away.

"I started to cover my face with makeup and my bangs. I tried to attract less attention but it never helped, it just made me a bigger target. A … a more vulnerable target," Emily shook her head as she spoke. "So one day I just gave up. 'Fuck it' I thought. If they're gonna treat me like a slut then I may as well be one. At least that way I won't be ... forced.

"But then I met you, Michelle, Alina … Jason. I met Jason," Emily wiped the new tears forming in her eyes before closing them. "He ... all of you encouraged me to be myself. But to do that I need to be stronger. I want to get stronger."

Emily finally raised her head to stare at Asami, her emerald eyes sparkled with determination and stubbornness.

"I can't rely on others forever," Emily said. "And I don't want to rely on my face or my body anymore. So, no, Asami. I'm not doing this for them ... for him. I'm doing it for myself."

"Alright," Asami finally said. "I'll help you. And I'll keep it a secret but if anything happens, I'm telling Jason. Ok?"

"Thanks," Emily said. "I knew you'd understand."

"So, where to now?" Asami asked.

"There's a gang here that might sell Accelerant and don't worry, we'll be safe," Emily replied. "This gang is called The Orphaned and they seem to look after Second Academy students, I don't know why but I think it has to do with Jason."

"Huh, that makes sense," Asami said. "Remember how Jason said he told the gangs to lay off us students to Q-tip? Wait, is that why you're wearing a school uniform?"

Emily nodded before checking the map on her phone. When she was able to move after awakening, she asked the maid waiting outside her room to give her a school uniform since she didn't have any other clothes other than the gown she woke up in.

"Come on, we're almost there," Emily said as she urged Asami to hurry, her face full of confidence as she walked faster. "They hang out in a bar near here."

The two walked for several minutes before finally stopping at a large bar that was sandwiched between two short buildings. The holo-sign for the bar was inactive and the neon signboard was also practically dead with only a few lights flashing. The paint had turned a dingy gray while lines of rust painted the area around the metal pieces. Looking up, the two saw the name of the bar written in red paint on a wall next to the door: Clumsy Punk's bar.

Emily entered the bar and Asami followed her nervously. The inside of the bar was as bad as the outside, the dimly lit room barely illuminated the walls and the stench of skunky marijuana and cheap, undistilled alcohol. Dark, electronic cyberpunk music filled with bass played in the background as groups of rowdy people lounged together, playing cards, throwing darts, and mingling together while making out in the dark. [3]

A big man, no doubt a bouncer, was sitting near the entrance and he stood up when he saw them. He was about to stop them when he saw Emily's school uniform and swallowed his saliva while sitting back down, pretending not to see them.

Emily ignored him and walked further in and Asami waved her hand while laughing; she was trying her best to act normal and friendly as the people near them started to pay attention to them. A few wanted to walk up to the newcomers with bad intentions but several others stopped them.

A man sitting on a barstool downed a mug of ale before turning and looking at them. His blonde hair and chocolate skin gave him an exotic look while his features and lean figure screamed pretty boy. His age couldn't have been more than twenty-eight but his life-weary eyes proved he had seen much in life.

"You girls lost?" 'Papa John' asked while looking them over with a critical eye. "The karaoke club's on the other side of the road."

[1] The Bureau of International Oversight, an agency that is similar in nature to the IAEA, but are watchdogs for WSD (Weapons of Significant Destruction) such as AKEERAs. (AKEERAs are not classified as WMD, so a new term emerged to con them and any weapon that can cause a country significant damage but not at a scale like nuclear weapons and that was WSD).

[2] AKEERAs: think Anthem's exo-suit Javelins meeting anime mechs. Literally.

[3] Cyberpunk music like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=syyqfa7ZUcM

(Explanation of Chapter 16:

There may be parallels between Emily and Michelle's reason for getting stronger but it is not exactly the same. Michelle wants to get stronger to protect others whereas Emily is looking to find herself by getting stronger. The reason why they sound similar is that the person they're conversing with assumes their doing this for someone else, specifically Jason.

Previously, Michelle has hinted at preferring an American accent instead. This is because of her mother who is American. (Chapter 11)

Elizabeth is having a conflict inside of herself. She loves Jason but feels that he doesn't love her back. He's the perfect lover, but he doesn't open up. So, he knows everything about the woman he's dating but they don't and that works, the whole mysterious thing, it works in the beginning but not when you want a serious relationship. And that's a major problem for his love life: how girls he dates like him but feel like they don't know him so they break it off (that or they get terrified by his true nature). Elizabeth here feels like just being friends with benefits is better for both of them.)