NOVEL NEXT Chapter 16: And why would you be overjoyed?
Alice returned with nothing but her shorts and sports bra on. She tied her hair up in a rough bun. Whatever they wanted to do, her hair would definitely obstruct so unlike the other days where she let it down nonchalantly, she put it up.
If it were up to her, she would've definitely gotten rid of it but she decided to shove those thoughts away for the moment.
"Whoa, it fits so well." She said but Mark's eyebrows furrowed.
On the body of what seemed to be a 17-year-old girl were scars that ran deep and long across her skin.
It was an awful sight.
But even that, Alice did not find it disturbing or shameful. Yes, she suffered, but it was all in the past, and she would not let it dictate her next move.
These scars were what she used to remind herself that with failure comes punishment.
"But pink's not really my color." Alice added.
The shorts were a bright shade of pink, and her sports bra was a darker color of pink, but it was still pink.
"It doesn't matter, does it?" Mark asked, tearing his gaze away from her scars.
"Ugh, it does. It makes me feel like a pretty princess and I'm not." She stuck out her tongue, showing her disgust.
He shook his head and sighed. She was a piece of work, really.
They took her measurements and observed her skin. It was soft but seemed to take on impacts pretty well. It was almost impenetrable.
How did they know? They tried stabbing her arm with a mana-embedded knife, and Alice was so nonchalantly okay with it, watching the process quietly.
The knife did not cut through her skin and when they tried forcing it in, it broke.
"Well, that's a surprise." Alice exclaimed and tittered.
Mark watched her. Was it normal to feel so nonchalant about having your skin stabbed when you were unsure if your skin would be able to handle it?
It was either she was well aware that the knife would not be able to harm her or she was just so used to getting cut that she didn't care.
He gritted his teeth and furrowed his eyebrows. He was angry. Why?
Who was it that made Alice like this? Made her feel nothing and desire nothing ...made her see death as child's play ...and crushed all hopes of being a normal person? This child held no desires whatsoever and no dreams. It was awful.
"Hey, Boss," Alice called and Mark snapped out of his thoughts.
"Yes?"
"When's the food coming?"
He stared at her pleading face. Ah yes, the only thing she desired and that was how to continuously fill her stomach which was practically a bottomless pit.
He suddenly laughed, letting go of his anger.
"A triple portion this time, right? You'll get it." He said, but Alice was just so confused by the way he laughed out of nowhere.
She looked at the professionals and asked,
"Are you seeing what I'm seeing?"
They nodded, also surprised to see Mark laugh so heartily.
Mark noticed this and stood at attention. He cleared his throat and said,
"We'll proceed with the interrogation now."
"But before that, Boss, aren't you going to tell me what's in that video you were talking about the other day?" She asked but Mark dodged the question, asking his own,
"Miss Alice, are you an S-class awakened or not?"
"Oh, come on." She waved her hand in annoyance and dropped it on her thigh. "How could you just dodge my question like that? And... Is there no other question you can ask apart from that? You keep asking and I keep telling you the same thing. I'm no freaking awakened, not to talk of an S-class. If I were, I would be over the roof overjoyed."
"And why would you be overjoyed?" Mark asked, scribbling down on his notepad.
"Because, then I wouldn't have to worry about Big Stach chasing me down once I left that hell hole." She relaxed back on her chair and looked away. "Besides, S-class awakeneds don't need to worry about what to eat or a roof over their heads. They're hella rich, and I want to be rich like that, too. I... Just don't have the power to."
Mark stopped writing and sighed.
No matter how many times he asked she still gave the same answer. She didn't look like she was lying and she didn't have a reason to lie either.
But...that video was there. It was all in the video.
Then, could they assume she was brainwashed?
No, it wasn't easy to brainwash an S-class awakened. To do that, the kind of power needed would be at the level of an S-class. And records didn't show that she met up with an S-class awakened after leaving that zone.
"I guess we'll end things here for now."
They took her back to her cell, handcuffed with her restraints.
"So, Boss, I saw that the tragedy was still ongoing." Alice said.
"It's a 'calamity'." Mark said. "It's so catastrophic out there that all fighting personnel are being sent out. And it's not just happening in our country. It's everywhere."
"Wow, that deadly?" Alice asked and he nodded.
"Yes, and that is why the government wants the agency to get you to admit your status as soon as possible." He said.
"Ah, the government just wants a hunting dog, I see." He said and then muttered, "Not that different from the last place but okay."
"It's not for them but for the good of humanity. With your power added to the manpower we have, we will reduce the level of casualties." He explained but he definitely lost Alice at the part of 'your power added'.
She looked away, wondering what exactly was on the video that made them believe so strongly that she had powers.
Yes, they ran some tests and discovered she had abilities above normal but as long as she didn't see a screen in front of her, she knew for sure that she was not an awakened, and whatever was happening that she ended up having superhuman abilities.
She got to her cell and then asked,
"So, what will happen if I don't admit it in the end?" She asked.
"You will be sentenced?" He said and her eyes glimmered.
"As in life imprisonment?" She asked but he shook his head, dashing her hopes.
"Whether or not you admit to being an awakened, they will send you into a dungeon on your own. If you survive, you will become the slave of the government, restrained to what they want, and if you die... Well, that is the end."
Alice's face twitched. What sort of sentence was that?
"That's literally a death sentence." She said and he nodded sadly.
"Yes, and that is why I implore you to tell the truth and not go through all that."
"Hah! Why do you care?" She threw herself on her bed. "If I die, well, that's my fate. But before then, I'll make sure to leech off of this godly treatment." She said and laughed.
Mark was once again speechless. What was wrong with her?
No, he shouldn't care and he wouldn't care.
"Your life is in your hands, Miss Alice." He said and turned to leave. "I'll bring you your food in a bit."