Endzone: Simulated Apocalypse

"Nah. Not worth the trouble. Farewell."

As he proceeded to pick Kirika up by the shoulder and practically drag her across the floor to head up the stairs, the poor girl thrashed and screamed all the way.

"W-Wait! Please, I'll prove to you that I'm worth keeping around! I'm pretty strong, and my looks aren't half-bad either… I think! You can even call me Kiri if you want, please!!!"

There were practically tears in her eyes, and Cyanide came to a stop, considering her words.

It was true, she was a force to be reckoned with. While she wasn't anywhere near Cyanide's level, she was a good seed and could very well reach Cyanide's current stage, given the proper training. Cyanide had ascertained that through the various little tests and observations he randomly threw at her.

The looks part Cyanide really didn't care about, but she was far from not half-bad. With her long black hair that reached all the way down to her legs with auburn highlights, paired with glimmering yellow eyes and a small bouquet of pink flowers on the top-left side of her head to compliment the dark hair, she could be called a beauty able to bring down nations.

But Cyanide didn't care.

Her strength, however, was a different matter. As long as Cyanide could somehow force this girl into remaining loyal to him…

"… How can you prove your loyalty to me?" He asked the girl quietly, testing her for her response.

"H-Huh? Loyalty…? Well, there's nothing I can do to prove I'll remain loyal, but…"

'… She didn't try to lie and admitted it honestly,' Cyanide thought in his head.

"Hold on," a third voice suddenly interjected—Luna, who had appeared beside Cyanide in the form of a hologram. "Cyanide, you're cautious of her possibly betraying you, correct?"

Cyanide nodded. "Is there some way to prevent that completely…?"

"In the real world, no. But in Endzone…" Luna smiled wryly, then looked at Kirika through her blindfold. "… There is a special bond you can set in place between yourself and someone else, known as an Oathsworn."

"Wow… is this your Survivor's Assistant?" Kirika asked curiously, observing Luna's hologram with great interest. "Mine doesn't look nearly as pretty… and she never talks unless I ask her directly! And even then, she might not answer…"

"Actually, I'm an upgraded version that Cyanide made, you could say," Luna said hesitantly. "… It's complicated."

"… Tell me more about this 'Oathsworn' business," Cyanide said, folding his arms and leaning against the doorframe.

"Does this mean you're actually going to keep me around?" Kirika asked, eyes sparkling in excitement. But-

"Shut up and listen. If it requires anything I don't currently have, you're out of here."

"Hehe~ don't worry, it doesn't cost anything to form an Oath," Luna said. "The only thing it needs is both parties' consent. Once you do that, I will administer the process to turn you two into Oathsworns, which essentially means you'll be protected from damaging each other in any form—even things like leaking the other's secrets when you've been told explicitly not to tell anyone."

"I see…" Cyanide turned to Kirika. "Well? If you want to stay here, this is your only choice."

"Urgh… I don't like the sound of being 'oathsworn' to a guy I just met like we're going to get married or something, but… oh well." Kirika took a deep breath, then stared Cyanide in the eyes. "I accept."

Cyanide felt an urge to say 'I don't, leave', but ultimately decided against it. Kirika would be useful addition to the team so long as she never turned traitor, and Cyanide did want to learn that aura-reading ability of hers. It would prove to be useful, no doubt about it.

With that in mind, he turned to Luna and gave a brisk nod, signaling his approval. Luna smiled in response and appeared to type something in her hologram, and suddenly, a panel opened up in front of Cyanide.

[Confirm: Add Kirika Kishi (SURVIVOR-102) as an Oathsworn?]

[Yes/No]

Without hesitation, Cyanide pressed on Yes. After thinking things through, any further hesitation would only result in unnecessary doubt. The screen then transformed into a loading three dots, with the following text:

[Waiting for other party to accept…]

"Jace Silverdale… huh. So that's your real name," Kirika murmured as she stared at the hologram panel before her.

"Call me that and I'll kill you, Oathsworn or not. I have many techniques that don't involve direct damage."

"O-Okay, okay… geez… I liked the name, though…"

With the last part being almost inaudible, Kirika pressed on the [Yes] button, and the process was complete. The screen before both of them changed to display the same success screen with a green checkmark on top.

[Success]

[Kirika Kishi (SURVIVOR-102) has been added as an Oathsworn. To delete this bond, both parties must consent once more.]

There will one day come a time when Cyanide would have to kill Kirika as well. That was just the harsh reality of this sick game. But until then, he would take full advantage of her abilities, and use her to his benefit.

After all, in Cyanide's eyes, a life wasn't a life. It was merely a tool, nothing more.

"All right… let's start with your first meditation lesson, shall we?" Kirika said with a smirk, clapping her hands together in anticipation. "Given your personality, it might be a bit hard, but… I'll need you to sit down, and just relax."

Relax… easy for her to say. Not once in Cyanide's 22 years of being alive has he ever truly 'relaxed'. For someone like him, relaxing was fatal. Relaxing spelled death.

Still, if he wanted to learn this aura-reading ability, he'll at least need to give it a shot. With a sigh, he sat down crossed-legged on the floor, and shut his eyes. With the Oathsworn bond in place, he could ease up a bit more than usual—but just a bit.

"Okay… now, deep breaths," Kirika whispered gently.. "Purge everything else from your mind, and visualize humanoid figures in their rawest forms—spirit."