A white ceiling.
That was the very first thing I noticed. I couldn't help but remember Shinji from Evangelion once more.
…
"Ughhh…"
My thoughts felt blurry, I couldn't help but hold my head with my hand
"Huh-?"
What happened-?
…
Beep
Huh?
A single glance and I could see. One of those beeping things when you're at the hospital.
…
Glance
"Ah—" It was night time.
…
[-90]
That screen in the system had replaced the usual numbers I was familiar with.
…
What-?
…
"Finally awake-?" Eve's voice sounded tired
"Eve-?"
"What happened-?"
"…"
"We survived. That's what happened."
"Site X70."
Memories surged to me, and at the same time… That voice. It sounded familiar, yet—I couldn't remember.
"How?"
"All I remembered was you said something, then the voice answered with something back, now that I think about it… I forgot a lot of it."
…
"Is that so."
Whooosshhhh
The winds felt exceptionally strong for some reason.
…
"Took you a while to wake up eh Cael?"
"Jeremy-? You're awake-?"
"Yeah."
"…"
"Scheisse."
-?
"We almost fucking died."
"No we would've been dead actually."
Beep
…
"…"
"We're quitting this shit when this is all over."
"…"
"Yeah."
…
Beep
"Tsk. It ain't that easy kids."
"Old Man-?" At that moment his grumpy voice sounded strangely soothing at this moment
Whoooshhh
…
"Their definitely gonna try to silence us."
…
"That much is obvious."
Beep
"We'll probably have our memories erased if we try leaving"
"Can't we quit under the guise of traumatic experience? You know like the Hotel Prosperity incident."
…
"We could"
"…"
"Where's Amanda at?" I asked
"Still unconscious"
Glance
…
"She was the one deprived of air for the longest"
"Yeah."
"She'll be fine~" Eve spoke, trying to cheer up the mood—But let's be honest. At this point?
"…"
"Yeah you know what. Who am I kidding?" She spoke with a sigh, her voice exasperated, then she continued "Old Man, you can definitely tell right?"
"…"
"The equipment's been getting worse."
"…"
"It's worn."
…
"It's old."
"Hah."
…
"You know Cael, those diving equipments we used to clean the Gill Man's tank the first time?"
"?"
"It hadn't been changed for 3 years now."
…
"Only after 'that' incident did they actually changed it."
…
Jeremy was staring at her, as if urging her to continue.
Sigh
"Basically We almost died cleaning the Gillman's tank before we were transferred to this team, Our previous teammates who were 'absent' during work were all demoted to R Classes."
…
"Well it's the Silentium after all"
Nod Nod
"Nngh-?"
A voice we recognized, of someone who was about to wake up, and at the same time… I glanced at Jeremy.
…
He was putting one of his finger right infront of his mouth, his intentions clear, telling all of us to be silent.
Sigh
"Nnghh…"
"Amanda? You're finally awake eh." Jeremy spoke, his tone was on purposely one of acceptance,
"E-e-eh? I'm alive-?"
"Yeahhh… It's been 5 years Amanda."
"Yea—WHAT?!?!"
"Old Man Randy's long gone… Cael and Eve died saving us both."
"HUH???"
"Don't you remember-?"
"How they sacrificed themselves for you-"
"I—"
"I lost my legs Amanda to help you."
"I—"
Wow, he's really into this.
…
"W-w-what have I done" She spoke, her voice trembling as she looked at both of her arms
"I."
"I-."
…
"Should I even live anymore-?" Her voice sounded strangely hollow, and almost instantly…
"Okay okay I was joking, everyone's alright see look."
Glance
…
Glance
…
Stareeeeeeeeeeee
"y-y-y-y-y-YOU GUYSSSSSS" She spoke with a hysteric voice then she sounded…
"JEREMY YOU TRICKED ME"
"Hey?!?! You could've just looked you know? Nobody was hidden behind a curtain or anything" He spoke with this mischievous tone, on the other hand..
"Uuuuu…"
Beep
///.///
She was red.
"Haha."
"Well, any ideas?"
"…?"Amanda looked confused
"What job we should take after this?"
"…"
"W-well… My family has a business…"
-?
"My family's runs a diver company…"
Wha-?
Beep
"You can apply to be a saturation diver…"
Her family does this for a living and she's scared of the water-???
"Pfft—"
"Jeremy."
"Ahem."
Cough
"I mean—Well are they willing to take us-?" He spoke his tone serious this time.
"W-well… I can ask.."
"How much's the pay?"
"$35000-$60000 monthly…"
"You could even get up to $300000 yearly if your that skilled…"
"Damn…"
"That's not that bad…"
…
Beep
"We'll probably start working soon not gonna lie.."
"No." Old Man Randy spoke "They said we'll have a month off"
"A month??? Damn."
"We're still getting paid?
"This month? yeah"
"How'd you know???"
"Tsk."
…
"A higher up came here and told me. You kids were still asleep."
"Ahh…" The 4 of us spoke in unison. Yet I couldn't help but ask him
"…"
"I don't know his name."
"Well, you at least know his Alias no?"
…
Silence
Old Man Randy didn't speak for what felt like a long time… And then—
"He calls himself—Mr. G"
What?
"What?" Jeremy also spoke
…
"Tsk. Seems like you two know him quite well."
…
"I was invited here by him."
"So was I." Jeremy continued.
…
Instinctively I couldn't help but look at Amanda and Eve waiting for an answer, yet…
"M-my parents got me into this job…"
"Same here"
"Never heard of this guy named Mr. G" Eve continued
…
"How did you get invited?"
"No job wants and Oldy like me. Either this or homeless."
…
"I was… In the lowest point of my life"
"…"
"You know? The typical story? peaked in highschool, college drop out, drunk, small apartment yeah you get what I mean"
"Were you a—"
"Bully? Oh definitely. I was the worst of the worst"
"Heck the reason I even got to know this place?"
"One of those kids I bullied barge into my apartment, was about to kill me, I survived. And Mr. G just came"
…
"Damn."
"…"
Beep
"What about you guys?"
"He just told me benefits and I wanted a good monitor." Jeremy spoke, his tone this mix of confidence as if saying, anyone would do it
…
Yet I couldn't help but think, Damn that's a shallow reason.
Bzzzzt.
Hm?
I couldn't help but notice a ringing in my ear, in a glance…
[-87]
The system showed that number.
Huh-?
"Say what time is it?"
"It just hit 12.00AM why?" Jeremy spoke
Beep
"Nothing, just a bad feeling?"
"Heh? that so? what's your intuition feeling this time Cael?"
"It's called intuition duh, I don't know 'what' the bad feeling is, but I know there might be one" I spoke hoping that no one noticed anything about my system. A joke you could say
"If you jinx this Cael, I swear…"
…
-87
The system gives me 3 questions a day.
The fact that after midnight it went from -90 to -87 is pretty self explanatory… But…
2 questions actually.
My memory may be slightly blurry, but I still remembered those words it tried to speak of.
There exists 5 of us.
Most of it was censored… But one a couple I could still read.
Recollection
The 5 who govern.
…
…
Beep
"Cael?"
"Earth to Cael?"
"Huh?"
"Really now? you were dozing off again~" Eve spoke with a sincere smile, and for some reason, I couldn't help but sigh loudly.
"What is it?" Jeremy asked
"Honestly I don't even know what to say anymore."
"?"
"…"
I'll think about it later I thought to myself, then I spoke
"I can't wait to quit this fucking job."
Silence
Then—
"Hell yeah."
"Let's take a rest, we'll probably be discharged… 3 days longest I suppose" Jeremy spoke, to which we all agreed and…
"Good night."
"Good night."
"Nightttt~"
Rustle Rustle
Beep
—The Next day…
Yawnnnnnnnnnn
…
Smack Smack
Instinctively I tried to wet my dried lips, as I looked around, the sun was starting to rise, I couldn't help but wonder, damn.
The bed was uncomfortable, it was hard, thin and felt cold, in no way was it comfortable, but…
Glance
Somehow everyone was still asleep, still quiet, heck even Old Man Randy was quiet, he's usually the earliest after all. Guess he was too tired
He is quite old after all
…
Hmmm…
What to do today…
…
"Scheisse…"
"Oh Jeremy you're awake?"
…
"I just realized I'm missing my war thunder event again."
…
Bruh.
"Anyways we got one month off yeah? any ideas what we should do?"
"We could go to the beach?"
"Blue bell beach I assume?" Jeremy continued
"Duh, we could find a quiet place and just do our own things there, I think it's a great idea actually"
…
"You know what's going to happen if we do that-?"
"Uhhhh…"
—
"Caellll let's go scuba divinggggg" Eve spoke already in a wet suit fully suited with her SCBA with what looked like a vintage Scuba diving gear
"150, 151, 152 153, 154, 155—"
"Amanda we're suppose to chill, not train-?"
"Ah? But I am chilling- 159, 160, 161—"
…
"SCHEISSE. CAN YOU FUCKERS EVEN PLAY?"
Mean while Jeremy somehow was playing a game… I think it's called Mobile legends or something? Pretty popular game in southeast Asia I believe…
…
"Tsk. You're no better kid, who reads a book in the beach??" Old Man Randy snickered quite hard.
…
—
"…"
"…"
Silence
For a moment no words were spoken, and knowing us…
…
"Yeahh… Let's just do something else-?"
""""Agreed"""" Everybody spoke in unison, for a moment it was like our minds were united as one.
…
"Well-? Any better ideas?"
…
"Uhhh, we could just go somewhere together?"
"Not something too expensive please."
"These Old bones ain't got the money nor energy for that shit"
"heh."
"Don't jinx it Old Man" Jeremy continued and for a while it was peaceful again.
"W-w-well we could go to my house-?"
"Oh??? Good idea actually"
"We haven't seen your house at all~, then next could be Cael's? agreed?"
"fine."
"Ayyyyy, finally~"
"Say Evelyn have you been to his place?"
"Jeremy the fuck?"
"Nope~ not yet~"
"Heh."
"Oh??? Old Man You finally said something other Tsk and a snicker."
…
"Tsk. Shut up you kid."
"Oho~?"
"Old Man's being a Tsundere eh? what's next?"
"You—"
Creakkkkkkkkkkkkkk
!!!
"Ah you're all finally awake?" It was a doctor-? I think. He wore the typical robe you see along with a surgical mask,
"Well, you guys will be discharged in at 12.00PM unless there's some injury or medical condition that requires our highest attention, you all are free to go"
"…"
"Ah don't worry, you're fees have been covered by your company,"
Phew
"Damn if we didn't die in there, we'd die cause of the medical bill" Jeremy spoke trying to make a joke, only to well…
Stareeee
"My bad, I'll stop talking about it"
"Well, it's 10 AM right now, we got 2 hours, any plans after this?"
"We could go watch a movie? how about Avenger's doomsday?"
"Ehhhh… Sure, whose house?"
"I-I have a very big tv at my house…"
"Alrightttt~, we're watching avengers doomsday while getting a tour at Amanda's house~" Eve spoke again, her voice now light without any burden.
"Hell yeah, your monitor's good? Lemme play War Thunder."
Bruh
I couldn't help but think of that in my mind… Yet…
Well…
This felt nice.
And as the noise seemed to fade to the background…
"Alright you are all officially discharged congratulations" Spoke the Doctor as he gave us a small clap
—
Step Step Step
"Alright, Amanda's house it is then~" Eve spoke her face had this look as if she had planned what we'd do once we got there.
"Oi, don't walk so fast, I'm still recovering here."
"Pfft—Old Man, you're literally walking at the speed of a snail."
"Tsk. Shut up, kid."
Heh
"It's Old Man Randy after all" Jeremy continued
Step Step Step
Let's se… well We'll continued walking then we could talk about what movies we'll watch, what we'd eat, and all the stupid things we're do during our month off.
…
Somehow, I couldn't help but glance back. Old Man Randy was a little further behind us.
Huh.
Well, he's old after all, and he's exhausted…
"Say, Old Man, hurry up!" Jeremy spoke urging the Old man to hurry, I could here Eve and Amanda laughing already.
Yet.
Was it perhaps a curse? Or was it karma for surviving something impossible?
…
THUD
"OLD MAN???"