Infinity in the Void – Freedom in the Abyss

When Charlotte woke up, it was already high noon. Instinctively, she grabbed her pendant making sure it was still there. She breathes in relief.

"Wakey wakey, the sun is upon us!"

That was Issac's cheerful voice, which caught Charlotte off guard. He was waving at her from the chair. The Director's voice was certainly loud and clear.

Athen is standing next to him, leaning on the wall. She was in her business suit.

"Miss Argentum already told me about your problems with Akashic...", a flash of anger appeared on his face and was gone just as quickly, "That Project needs to be shut down, but I need an excuse for that."

The eyes of the Director focused on Charlotte, placing expectations on the girl.

"Charlotte Silvi, I need a favor from you."

Charlotte tilted her head, "Favor?"

What is that?

"Yes, favor. I will need you to kill some people for me."

That statement made Athen dash over, grabbing Issac by the collar. Her eyes displayed fury unknown to Charlotte.

"The fuck you just say?! Do you know how much that would alter someone's mind?! As a mercenary, tasting blood will only bring misery!!", she gritted her teeth.

In response to her outburst of anger, the Director stayed calm. His eyes did not show any emotion, rather, they awakened emotion.

"Charlotte!", Athen got her attention, "Don't listen to this man, killing is the last option anyone should take, and is not an option on behalf of someone else!!"

Charlotte felt the irony in those words. As far as Charlotte's particular knowledge, mercenaries are people who kill others for money. But she did not voice out her opinion, on the other hand, Issac did.

"Ironic, coming from someone who gets paid in blood money."

Athen threw him to the side, gritting her teeth and glaring at the man with a passionate fury.

"You would be dead right now if you weren't the Director.", she scoffed, grunting in a low tone.

The man just stood up, dusting his lab coat casually.

"Then again.", he spoke calmly, "This favor was not for you, it is for Charlotte. And why are you so defensive about her, someone you only met yesterday."

The woman's eyes moved to Charlotte, then quickly turned to the door. She sighed, "I have it with you!! Fuck it, I'm leaving!!"

Athen summoned a shield with her crimson flame, throwing it at the wall - busting the poor brick wall away. Then she stormed out of the room with heavy steps.

Now it was only Charlotte and the Director.

"Sorry about that, I will have it fixed"

She nodded in silence.

"Then, back to our main point. I will give you the documents about your progress in Project Darwin."

Issac took out his phone, which looked fancy and eye-catching with the shiny phone case that had a golden dragon on it.

A ping rang out by Charlotte's bed, it was her phone. She picked it up, there was a file sent directly and downloaded on it.

"I will take my leave now, your breakfast will be delivered to you in 30 minutes."

Charlotte followed Issac's movement, he did not walk through the hole in the wall but through the door like any normal person.

Charlotte too quickly got out of bed, she needed a shower. Her body reeks the smell of sweat and machine oil, yes, she did not shower yesterday because she was caught in her interest in Athen. 

Quickly, she took out a towel and a set of fresh new clothes. She thought about taking her hat too, but decided not to. My hat will get wet

She entered the bathroom, placing her clothes and towel on the table far from the showerhead. Then started to undress, revealing the yet-to-mature body of the girl. She kicked yesterday's clothes under the table, practically hiding them from her sight.

Next were her bandages, she slowly removed them to not make her arm twitch, showing the sweet bandages underneath. Unlike its original light yellow color, it became orange when mixed with her blood. And the sweet smell was gone, replacing it with a foul stench that made Charlotte wrinkle her nose in disgust. 

As much as she disliked the smell, Charlotte still held them up to use the old bandages to cover them up neatly, then placed them on the sink.

After that, Charlotte drenched herself in hot water, feeling a freshness not even her hat could provide. She cleans her right arm first, rubbing away the excess blood clot to observe the cuts.

The scrap metals cut her very deep, some might have touched her bones. The most probable result would be that she cannot use her right arm ever again.

She let out a regretful sigh. Why did I do that?

Everyone makes mistakes in the heat of passion~ 

Reverie's faint voice appeared as if mocking Charlotte. But she did not mind, since in the end, it was stuck with Charlotte, and not the other way around.

"Reverie"

The black inky goo of Reverie covered her right arm, she could feel water passing through it as if, or may very well be an illusion. Nonetheless, she observed how substance moves, wobbling around like a calm wave but did not splash. Shaking her arm, another feeling aroused.

Some of her wounds were reopened, causing a slight tingle to her. Charlotte felt she was fortunate, if she did not have the pendant she would have screamed in pain. She was fortunate, very fortunate.

A more pressing matter was how the Reverie goo slipped into the cuts seemingly replacing the damaged part. What would others see? Reverie is only visible to me. Would they see an unnatural opening? Or not noticing anything?

But it would be covered up by the bandages so Charlotte stopped her thoughts at that.

Resuming her shower, while letting Reverie stay on her arm, Charlotte joyfully relaxed and enjoyed the comfort of the water. Her eyes wandered to the conditioner and shampoo bottle placed on a steel board, she touched her hair and noticed how rough they were.

It would be good to smooth them out.

Taking the conditioner, she squeezed out a bit of glistening white cream. It did not have a particular smell except a richness similar to that of fat. After putting the bottle back she smeared her hands, creating some bubbles.

The conditioner made her hair slippery, and smoothing it out while at that. Charlotte also noticed a little Reverie got onto her hair, maybe it was accelerating the effect of the conditioner as she felt her hair was gradually getting smooth and not as rough as before.

In any case, the girl washed the conditioner away. The Reverie also disappeared with the conditioner gone, she made the black goo return to her to not cause any damage. Giving her hair a good wash, Charlotte did notice how her fingers could go through her hair so smoothly without any rough patches.

Reverie could have accelerated the effects of the conditioner. Then Charlotte's mind wandered to the points where she had caused the collapse of the wall, then the dummies. Giving benefits to the user yet causing great harm to the opposing side.

Charlotte felt this power was very selfish, ironically being called the Records of Mankind. She smiled, the collective power of humanity belonged to her, and only her. She felt something different about herself, a new feeling that began to take shape, slowly but surely.

Desire

"Selfishness... is such a good feeling"