The Opened Path

The burst of speed that Meryl displayed was astonishing. She zipped and zoomed across the rooms jumping over a ten-meter distance and could decapitate two or three scientists in that leap.

The scene was horrific even for the three Programmed Slaves. They knew this small girl to be a secret weapon of Harker, but they never expected such brutality.

They stared in shock as Meryl finally finished the last of them. A minute barely passed and all thirteen were dead.

"Amazing…" Sonia was stunned.

"How long have you been working with these scientists?" Meryl ignored their curious expressions.

Eric gave a confused look at the question.

"About thirteen years." Eric shrugged.

"Seriously? You worked with these scientists for thirteen years and you don't even shed a tear for them?" Meryl uttered in disgust.

"My dear Meryl, why are you disgusted? What do you expect for people like us?" Saunia laughed.

"I don't know! Maybe a bit of concern or even sadness!" Meryl shook her head.

"Just do what you got to do so that we can get out of here. I can't believe I have to protect you three." Meryl grumbled.

Sonia nodded to Eric, who turned and walked over to a computer and started working.

"You seem a little annoyed at our emotional states." Saunia laughed at Meryl as she approached.

"Do you even have emotions?"

Saunia and Sonia laughed at Meryl's disgusted response.

"The reason why we aren't in anyways affected by your actions is that our emotions are being overlapped. It's not that we didn't feel sad at their deaths. Of course, we are! But right now, were too happy to be sad!"

Meryl gave a strange look and then soon realized.

"Wait! Happy? You mean it's that chip in your head?"

"Correct. Convenient isn't it?" Saunia gave a smile.

BEEP!"

"Oh, that must be your boss!" Sonia cried excitedly.

"Hello?" Meryl answered immediately.

"Have you met them?"

"Yes. We're in."

"Good. Continue with the mission."

As soon as the call ended, Sonai, Saunai, and Eric suddenly shivered as immense pangs of delights shook their faces.

The three had maddened faces. Eric continued to tinker with the laptop but it was clear that he was experiencing a delirious state. His smile broadened as he continued to work.

Meryl also noticed Sonia and Saunia's expressions as they shivered in happiness.

The state of disgust that Meryl had for these three scientists turned into shock.

"Just like that?"

"This is why I love this job! It's so easy to become happy!" Eric smiled as he rushed to a nearby computer and started booting it.

"Harker gave the controls to your leader. We fulfilled the first part of the plan. And so he must have flipped our switch." Saunia giggled in delight.

"But… It's a lie! You guys aren't happy! You just think you are!"

"A lie? That may be true, my dear." Sonia laughed in glee.

"But don't we all live in a lie? Everyone pursues happiness! And they try to imitate or follow a path which they think can make them happy. Some to work, some to love, some to accomplishments. But can those things really make you happy?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean happiness itself is an illusion! Do you mean to say, my dear, that it's your path that can make you happy? How many of those end their lives at the end as it couldn't deliver them happiness? You can pity us, my dear, but the truth is, we are better than you!" Sonia's laughed continued to resonate.

"My happiness is an illusion? That's stupid!"

"Of course it's a lie. What is it that you think will give you happiness??" Sonia asked.

"Let me do it, Sis." Saunia turned and gave a smiling glance at Meryl.

"I took the liberty of reading your profile as well as review your sudden rise to fame. At first, I thought it was just cover. After all, how can such an assassin be such a sweet girl? But if what you say is true, then let's see… You follow the one with the most potential in the class among your classmates. Seeker must have always been that diamond in the rough, correct?"

Meryl frowned at Saunia's assessment.

"Oh, don't give me that look. I may be a Slave, Sweetie, but I've got several degrees and masters in human behavior. Tell me honestly, you secretly want to be famous right? But you're not confident enough. So you decided to stick to someone who can become famous. You love looking at the bright light and yearn for it! If you can't get it, be around someone who has. So your happiness is found in fame. Ironic for someone as timid as you are."

Meryl was silent.

"You followed this lie and it corrupted your will. This illusion of happiness directed your paths. This made you choose your friends and even brought you where you are right now. You accuse us of living a lie and having no will of our own. But how are you any different from us?"

"These were my choices. I've always followed my will. I am the master of my faith! The captain of my soul!" Meryl recited the one poem that struck her in school as boldly as she could.

Saunia chuckled.

"Are you really? You are guided by whatever childhood upbringings you have and led by whatever psychology applies to you. The thing that you think will make you happy is a subjective opinion! You are not the master of your faith! Your geography, family, culture, and experiences are the master of your faith! You are a ship tossed and led by the waves and wind around you." Sonia laughed in an almost manic manner.

Meryl was silent. Somewhere in her heart, she realized that what Sonia and Saunia were saying was true. She gazed at the bright light on the ceiling of the room.

"Is this why I like looking at bright things?" Meryl thought to herself.

"Don't you see, child? We far more superior because we can find true, perfect and constant happiness easily!" Sonia grinned.

"We can be the most generous people who will give our lives for others because we can find perfect happiness in that." Sonia continued with wild gestures.

"And at the same time, we can massacre millions at your orders because we can find true and perfect happiness in that as well. We are not bound by morality, conscience, egos or psychology! We may not be the Captain of our ships, but we will always be enjoying the cruise!"

"What about you? What of this fame that you longed for? Is that the answer to happiness? Is that the truth? Who among the two of us are living in a lie and who is living in truth?" Saunia challenged as she laughed.

Meryl continued to remain silent. Seeker had always had it and he was the only person a simple Rising like her could ever be in touch with. This was why Meryl became friends with Seeker. She always believed that Seeker was bright enough to reach the stage she yearned for.

"Was this really why I wanted to be friends with him? My will was corrupted?" Meryl thought in anguish.

And then it struck her. She recalled the moments when Seeker trained her.

"I don't get it Zeek! That's impossible! You mean to say that your little body is stronger than a professional bodybuilder?"

"Of course it is. Should you realize it, you can then easily do what I do." Seeker playfully stroke the large halberd he held with a single arm.

"What do you mean by "realize" it? How do I realize myself to that area?" Meryl angrily demanded. If she didn't figure out Seeker's riddle, then the halberd session with Seeker would be a thousand times scarier. And she was done with that.

"It's kind of hard to explain and explaining things won't help Believers like you. You have to realize this on your own. If I lead you to it, it won't help you as your will may limit you." Seeker smiled and started attacking.

"My own will limited me?" Meryl slowly returned from her recollection.

"That's it!" Meryl shouted in surprise.

"My will is limited to my knowledge and experience! What I know, what I believe, why I believe… But is this really the truth? Everything I know about my own body is a limitation set by my own self which affected my will! But what about now? With my Unlocking?" Meryl smiled as she stared at the light.

"My first true act of free will was to look at that bright light and believe that it wasn't bright enough to stop me. And that became a reality! I was no longer bound by the naturals laws! The Will of my Eyes surpassed it!"

Sonia had a confused expression. Meryl seemed to be as happy as she was!

Meryl gripped her fist and gazed at it. She then closed her eyes.

"Alright, Zeek. I won't go after your brightness anymore. I'll be my own brightness. This too will be my own will. Not pursued by happiness but pursued by my own choice." Meryl took a deep breath and closed her eyes. Slowly an interesting change started to occur.

The Believers of the future weren't simply classified by the quick rate of speed which they manage to push their Unlocking. Seeker Carlean always had the fastest speed and even reached a higher Unlocking than most of his peers. But the one thing that he failed at, was to make his own Path.

A Believer was someone who not only could climb the stages of the Unlocking but would possess abilities which allowed them to make miracles. These miracles would be enough for them to conquer a nation within four days.

When the Thief in the Night awakened her path, Italy was defeated within three days. The undetectable stealth and high speeds gave birth to an almost undetectable cloaking capability which later was used as the foundation of many cloaking techs in the future.

And in the comparison of Paths, the Thief in the Night was vastly inferior to Meryl's Path.

Meryl's own skin which was white, started to turn brighter as a mixture of gold started to slowly cover her skin. Her entire appearance seemed to radiate light. A thin layer of heat started to appear on her skin.

"Impossible!' Saunia stared in shock as the golden light enveloped Meryl. She slowly drew closer to Meryl as her curiosity peaked.

"Don't touch her!" Sonia cried.

"Look! That golden glow is heat!"

"How's that possible? Creating fire from nothing?"

"No! We've seen this yet we haven't proven it. Spontaneous combustion. But what she's doing is on a very controlled level!"

"Oh my God! You mean it's true? Spontaneous combustion is possible! But why isn't she burning up?"

"I don't know!"

"Doctor Sonia! Please report! The camera feeds in your office were all cut!" A soldier buzzed at the door's entrance.

"Sweetie, they shouldn't see us." Sonia alerted Meryl.

"Even now, you guys are still happy?" Meryl giggled as she opened her eyes.

"You looked like a changed woman." Sonia smiled.

"Wow. So beautiful." Saunia admired.

"Not even my happiness can eclipse my jealousy to your flawless and perfect skin." Saunia gazed longingly.

Even Eric could not help but stare with mouths wide open as he stared at Meryl. Her golden glow and flawless skin made her look like a goddess.

"Thanks. If it wasn't for our talk, I may have never reached this level. Anyways, I think I'm bright enough to deal with those soldiers. They shouldn't be able to see you now." Meryl giggled.

Meryl's light continued to grow brighter and brighter. The room also started to become warm.

Meryl finally unlocked the door and opened it. A sudden blazing light enveloped the halls blinding the soldiers on the other side of the door. Within seconds, the soldiers were all dead and the mounted cameras on these soldiers were all destroyed.

"WHEW!" Meryl sighed as the light diminished.

"I'm so hungry!" Meryl growled in complaint.

Meryl Mikado, the Empress of the Sun, has awakened.