A Strange Duo

Eve was seated at his table, savoring the taste of the meal as he flipped through the history book he owned.

He had taken off the bandage wrapped around his face so his completely average face was out there to be seen.

Charlotte hated seeing his average-looking face so he wore bandages to hide it despite Jonathan's protest.

Whenever he came out of his room with his face exposed, she would mumble under her breath. 

"Damn, bastard. Didn't even inherit Jonathan's looks. Why did you inherit the genes of your mongrel of a father? At least you could have taken her looks and chromosomes."

Eve was homeschooled. Thankfully, he inherited his mother's ability to learn quickly so with the guidance of Jonathan, he possessed some necessary knowledge.

The title of the book read "History of the last century."

To summarize the contents; Several world wars, small meteor hitting the earth, several plagues, several revolutions, and the ever-increasing climate change.

Those events caused the rise and fall of nations and several mass migrations and those caused the creation of the current world.

At the end of it all, 10 billion people living on Earth were divided into 3 factions.

The first faction, the Federation. It had the most population and most of them were normal citizens.

The second faction, was the Empire. It was a faction of the elites and they were controlled by a single person. It is a place of trade, technological development, education, and entertainment.

The third and final faction was the Outlanders. Outlanders originated from the Empire when a law that made criminals slaves was established.

Certain groups of criminals escaped and founded the faction. Over time, it has gained plenty of members that escaped from the other 2.

To certain people, they were the heroes of this world. They were fighting against corruption, injustice, and inequality.

But that was not the case at all. Outlanders are heinous criminals who seek nothing but their entertainment. They got their own slaves, weapon manufacturers, and education facilities. 

In terms of population, the Federation is the best.

In terms of economic and living quality, the Empire is the best.

In terms of military power, the Outlanders are the best.

A couple of years ago, a carefully planned operation was carried out, and one of the leaders of the Outlanders was captured.

According to him, the Outlanders started as nothing but dirty criminals who wanted to go out with a bang instead of being used for manual labor.

Its current state was purely out of luck and people's stupidity.

To fight with the military powerhouse, the other two joined hands.

Technology hadn't advanced much in the past 150 years so manpower was the greatest advantage the federation had. It allowed them to form an equal relationship with the Empire when it was normally impossible.

In return for manpower, the Empire offered scholarships, money, and land.

After finishing his meal, Eve got up and looked out the window.

Neatly arranged skyscrapers, houses, and roads were a sight to behold for sure.

Not a single blemish could be seen anywhere, everything was clean. One of the benefits of living in the Empire.

Plants and trees were growing quite nicely alongside roads. The city was covered in a giant dome that filtered out toxic waste.

People walked leisurely on paved roads, basking in the sun.

Eve observed them all through his window. He did this every day since he was a small child.

He did not feel particularly jealous or anything like that. His eyes get tired when stares at a screen or a book for too long so he observes the scenery in the distance to relieve it.

While doing so, he noticed a new face on the pedestrian path due to his incredible height.

An intimidating man with blonde hair and a beard that seemed like a lion's mane. A hulking figure of incredible height and muscles, striking blue eyes filled with wrath, and an expression so fierce that it literally screamed that he was going to commit murder soon.

He wore a simple T-shirt that threatened to rip under his bulging muscles, shorts, and sandals. He was easily identifiable as people walking on the same pathway and he didn't even reach his shoulder in height.

'No way he was naturally born like that. He gotta be genetically modified when he was still a fetus.'

Right next to him, however, was the stark contrast to the hulking man.

Slender limbs and body with long smooth silvery hair with a hint of cyan and darker shade of blue at the tip and a pretty and petite yet cold face.

She wore a jacket slightly big for her body, black colored leggings, and sneakers that seemed to be of decent quality. She also wore a cap that hid her eyes but Eve could swear that he felt her gaze.

The girl seemed to be quite young, 17 at the oldest and 14 at the youngest while the unnatural man gave off an overprotective dad in his 40s vibe.

Eve chuckled a bit. 'What a strange pair.'

"Well, I hope they like the neighborhood here. Look at all those faces staring at that man, haha."

Indeed, the man was gathering quite a bit of curious gazes aimed at him which seemed to flare his anger even more.

'Well, that is for today I suppose. I want to sleep.'

He jumped into the bed and wrapped himself in it.

He had no nightmares this time so he slept soundly.

Until he was shaken awake once again.

"Argh, just a few more hours, please." He begged his grandfather.

"Who are you begging for, get up!" A voice snapped back at him, momentarily paralyzing him.

'Charlotte? Charlotte woke me up? WAIT, SHE IS IN MY ROOM?'

He practically jumped from the bed and ran to his television before carefully examining every bit of it.

Thankfully, it did not seem to be damaged.

He sighed in relief and forgot about Charlotte, which obviously pissed her off.

She picked his ear and twisted it, making Eve yelp in pain as he gave total control over him to her.

She dragged him to the door and kicked him out before slamming the door shut.

If Eve wasn't mistaken, he saw a hungry glint in her eyes when she saw her TV.

'Damn it, another one falls for the witch's hands.' He cursed inwardly.

'Where the hell is grandpa and why did she have to wake me up.'

"Eve! Come down here." Jonathan's voice came from below and he went down the stairs.

"What the hell happened? Charlotte got into my room and you know what she does! You know how expensive that one-" Eve froze in track as he got off the stairs and saw the door open at the other end of the hallway.

Jonathan sat comfortably on his chair while two people sat on the couch.

"We got visitors. Well, you did." He reported to Eve.

In the middle of the living room, two new people sat.

Two people Eve recognized but didn't know. The duo of the GMO man and the girl stared at him as he facepalmed.

'It's them but why? Why are they here and why do they know me?

No, more than that, why did grandpa let them in when he knows of Luna?'

"Yo, long time no see." The girl suddenly spoke.

She lifted her cap, revealing a pair of calculating golden eyes, eyes that were beautiful yet unnatural.

"I'm Melina but you probably forgot about that. So, how about we have a nice chat, Ivarage?"