At the moment, I had to find out what to do.
"Alright. I'll just infiltrate into this place. For a military base it seems surprisingly lax with security." I told myself.
The orb responded. "That's because they have over 10 Celestial Angels in there right now. Kill th-"
"I got it. So, they're overconfident."
I looked towards the metal siding, and quickly climbed above the rocks.
The salty fresh air invaded my senses, but in a good way. It was kind of nice.
I cupped a bit of fresh water in my hands - It was see-through!
It was so unbelievably clear that it looked edible.
The orb then spoke.
"The water near the KRIEG naval base is actually drinkable, despite being saltwater. Go ahead. Drink up."
I decided not to. Instead, I ran up to a part of the grassland I saw before, and noted to the orb, "So, this disguise... How will it help me evade capture? Is it permanent? Will I always look like this?"
Before, I was 5'5. Now, I seemed to be around 5 feet tall at most. Not flattering.
"I can't get all the women looking like a little kid, man!" I whispered to the orb.
The orb, as if a real person was speaking, simply laughed. "You're a virgin. What ladies?"
How did it know?
Either way, the thing was creeping me out.
It was then that I got an interesting thought. What if I were to just throw it out in the sea?
No. I quickly scrapped that idea. Something this powerful? I'm not gonna risk offending it. Plus, I'd rather keep this kind of power to myself.
The orb, as if to answer my previous question, spoke.
"To address your concerns, I believe that a person by the name of Arthur Leo lives on this naval base. You will be able to assume their identity. Your body is a perfect clone of them."
Great. Complicated now.
I'd have to go through the naval base pretending to be someone whose mannerisms I don't know, who's life & friends I don't know.
On top of that, they live on the naval base at the same time, so I probably have to kill them before being spotted.
"Hey... can't you make it easier? Just kill the real Arthur Leo, or better yet, let me kill Kyle right now. On second thought, I can just teleport right to him, and instantly kill him, and teleport away. With all this new information, its impossible to go stealth mode, now."
To that, the orb thought. "No. You will use stealth. I want you to kill the boy, but if you don't do it in the way that I want, I will kill you, instantly."
At that moment, the orb whirred, and an incredible pain surged throughout my body.
My vocal cords - Cut!
I couldn't even scream for help as I felt searing pain shoot all over my body. The worst pain I've ever felt in my entire life.
It was shocking, grotesque, unsightly.
My tear ducts ran into overdrive, and my throat, struggling, vomited blood.
It was as a thousand bees were stinging me, enraged!
And as soon as it began, it ended.
I felt nothing.
And I was back, at the rocks, right underneath the fortress.
The orb, now having struck fear into my heart, spoke.
"You will entertain me. Kill the boy. Without anyone finding out. If not, I will end your life, and the hope for a perfect world. In addition, nobody can know your real identity, and you must survive as Arthur Leo, and Arthur Leo alone."
Damnit!
This... thing! It was keeping me as a slave! What the hell could I do!
Freedom... It was taking my freedom!
The thing I worked so hard to obtain...
"Ironic. The Freedom Junkie, himself, has been enslaved."
That damn thing! Mocking me!
I quickly climbed back up onto the grassland, once again, and started sneaking across thd fortress walls.
"This is so fucking boring. Why do I have to keep watch?" Some random woman's voice sounded out.
Why did she sound so familiar?
I couldn't recognize her from afar, but she was definitely someone I knew.
Another voice, just as familiar, also sounded out. Unlike the first one, I instantly recognized the second. My eyes went wide, and I panicked.
It was the Guerilla King!
I didn't know he was alive. I thought he died years ago.
Flashbacks to that time were rare, but I had some fond memories of those days.
At that moment, I some random saw me.
"Who the heck are you?" He asked, startled.
A kid, maybe aged around 14, and very skinny.
"Oh, fuck." I said, out loud.
The orb, in response, chuckled. "Better do something before the 2 Celestial Angels find out. Remember, secretive."
Quickly, I made up a fake story. "Hi, i'm Arthur. What are you doing here?"
The teenage boy looked at me. "You're not supposed to be up here!"
Trying to finish my excuse, random words just came out.
"Hey, dude, chill. It's me, Arthur Leo. I have some business up here."
The kid, clearly not buying my story, walked up to me. "I'm sorry, Arthur. Anyone up here will be forced to see the General. Come with me."
This was bad. If I went to see Krieg, I could potentially meet the real Arthur, and my identity would be blown. And then, the orb would... I wouldn't risk that.
On a split second, I knew what I had to do.
I tried teleporting, but for some reason, it didn't work.
In response, the orb glowed. "I removed your teleportation temporarily. It'll be more fun that way."
More fun? You want to see me die? That's fun for you?
I rushed to the kid, grabbed him, and pushed him off the fortress as soon as possible. He didn't even see it coming.
As he fell, he cracked his neck on the jagged rocks from below, dying instantly. Blood started pooling into the water.
And just to my luck, the Guerilla King asked, from afar. "What was that?
Great. Now I had to deal with this asshole, who is the LITERAL definition of human dynamite.
"Ah, nevermind, I don't do anything unless i'm getting paid. Krieg can keep watch himself!"
Luckily, he was an idiot. The other girl, however, seemed to have not heard it at all.
"Guerilla King. You're just paranoid. I can't hear anything."
They both started arguing, while I, from another side of the fortress, had something big to deal with. The body.
Blood kept drowning into the water, making it red. A dead body would eventually be noticed.
I rushed over to the rocks, careful not to slip, and grabbed the body.
As I looked at the face, an even worse situation occurred.
"Help... m..."
This fucker was still alive! How? At least the kid had serious brain damage.
Quickly, I grabbed a jagged rock that we were nearly standing on, picked it up, and bashed his head in!
I couldn't scream, so I silently cheered, giving an imaginative smile. "Finally. Something easy."
After that, I kicked his body into the water, used more of the jagged rocks to dig up a grave for him, and buried the kid in the ground. In all, it took around 10 minutes. I was lucky that nobody saw me.
"Let's hope this kid isn't someone important."
Who was I kidding? A 14 year old child going missing is ALWAYS a big story. Everyone will be looking for this kid eventually.
Who cares. All I had to do was focus on the task at hand. Clearly I had a time limit on killing Kyle. That time limit is when everyone finds out I just killed a child...
Ignoring all the glaring problems of my plan, I just decided to walk up to the fortress again, and snuck through a window.
I looked through the room. It was pink, completely filled with nothing but children's toys. Not only girls toys, but action figures as well. A small optimus prime toy was in a fake treasure chest inside.
"Optimus... prime?"
That was strange. That must have meant that whoever created the toy was a transmigrator like me. It was kind of interesting to think about, because in this world, optimus prime, autobots, and other classic franchise titles didn't exist.
In fact, I remembered being upset when I first reincarnated into this world, because I couldn't rewatch episodes of the office anymore. I always missed out on television.
Luckily, phones existed in this world, but the entertainment on it was entirely different.
I stared at a picture in the middle of the room, instantly recognizing the figure in it. It was general Krieg.
In the photo, there was a little girl, as well as a woman right beside him.
"Whoa! She's hot!"
The 20-ish year old woman really did look scandalous in a way.
On the back of the picture, wrote in cursive. I read it out loud.
"In loving memory to my wife of 10 years, gone too soon. -K"
I found it interesting, but personally, I couldn't care less about this guy's life.
To me, he's just some random dude that won't stop annoying me.
"Orb thingy, by the time i'm outta here, remind me to kill that stupid general."
The picture, which should normally humanize someone, just happened to make me angry.
"This guy gets a super hot wife, and I don't? Yeah, fuck him. He's going down." I whispered to myself.
I slowly walked out of the room, before the door opened, revealing a girl, age 14.
"Oh, Arthur, why're you here? Was it to make out again? You dirty dog!"
Instantly, without my control, I made a gagging sound, and instantly pushed her out of the way. It seemed to have made her... upset...
"You womanizer! You think you can just show me love, and just push me away like that! You'll see! I'll show you." She screamed.
All of a sudden, she tried punching me, but I managed to dodge, continuing to run away.
Why did it have to be this person? It could've been literally anyone else!
As if making fun of me, the orb responded telepathically.
"It could've been worse. You could've been a 20 year old man sneaking into a 14 year olds room."
Shit. "I AM a 20 year old man! I just LOOK like this fuckass!"
The orb corrected me. "Actually, as of this day, you're 21. Kyle has also aged to 13. Kind of important to remember birthdays."
As it said that, I wracked my brain.
I was 21? Yeah, today was my birthday. And I spent it... alone. With nobody. Again.
"Whatever. That girl isn't following us anymore. First order of business. Find & kill Arthur Leo. Next, find Kyle."
In jest, the orb gave me some important advice.
"The earlier situation was funny, but if too many people suspect that you, Jesse Essej, are Arthur Leo, I will kill you. Now, go on. You can teleport again."
Great. I could teleport, but I still couldn't teleport to random people I'd never met. Arthur Leo could be anywhere.
I thought about camping near the girls room, since he seemed popular with them, but eventually decided against it. It was too public. I'd probably only be able to kill Arthur Leo in more private places. The fear of being found out & dying was much worse than anything else, so I couldn't risk anything.
I slipped through the crowds, finding myself in the lunch hall. I snuck right up behind a kid, and tapped him on the shoulder.
If I knew where Arthur Leo was in the base, I could kill him more effectively. That's why I was going to go around the place, asking tons of people where "I", was last seen. I'd figure out an excuse, like, maybe I was drunk.
No. Underage drinking was a crime. Maybe, instead, I could ask this kid where my dorm room was. I could feign ignorance, and pretend I forgot.
But, shocker! As I tapped his shoulder, and he turned around, it was none other than my target himself - Kyle!
And the orb, shining with an ethereal glow, said it one more time.
"Kill the boy. Further the plot."