"Mr. Beo?"
"Yes, Mr. Orial?"
"I was just wondering if there would be an NDA for all this since we're done with the contract matter."
It was just him and the investigator. The other man had suddenly left, saying how it was some emergency meeting.
"Oh. Well, we have other ways of binding your mouth without the law."
"Ahhh."
"The classic memory erasure—fortunately, you chose to cooperate."
"It is in both our best interests, after all." Alongside that, the amount of money they offered him was crazy.
Catheris's gaze moved down towards his hands. 'Interesting.'
A bit off putting to know that they could erase memories. But it was necessary: so be it.
...
Mr. Beo began tapping on the desk. "There's only so much we can do—it's not complete erasure. It's putting it in the back of your subconsciousness, tucked away so you won't remember. However, a sense of deja vu will occur if you encounter something similar-"
Was it that obvious that he felt awkward? It sounded like reassurance.
"You... must really love your job, don't you?" Catheris chuckled, tucking back a section of hair behind his ear.
The way he spoke with such fervent passion and gentleness to ease him into this line of work was really telling.
"You'll come to find that all the people you work with are worth the trouble."
"Is that so?" Catheris narrowed his eyes with a playful glint.
Mr. Beo nodded his head "Yes." he spoke fondly – a whisper – like his breath was taken away.
"Well, what to do now?"
"we still have to set up a profile so, if you don't mind coming with me to get your picture—"
"No warning? I really didn't prepare myself, you know?"
"-Ah."
"It's fine. Now, if you don't mind showing me the way..."
"You look good today, don't worry."
It was standard procedure. Taking his photo for his id was just taking his photo. Beforehand, he also got to fill in his details: height, address, number, etc., all alongside his blood type in case of emergencies. But apparently he wasn't done just yet.
Now, they stood in silence in an elevator. The two of them running around from floor to floor created quite the chaotic image. Worn out, Catheris fixed up his outfit.
"..."
Was Catheris slightly upset that he couldn't touch up his appearance? Maybe, but he wasn't petty enough to make a fuss out of the matter.
Mr. Beo broke the silence. "We'll need to go to the basement to collect the last bit of data. The side effects of the equipment wouldn't be good for the people upstairs."
"I see." He leaned against the wall, eyes peering down at a loose ribbon on his outfit.
He lied. No matter how much information the man tried to jam in, Catheris really didn't see.
"You know, everyone you've seen in this building works with the Bureau of Paranormal Activity. Those women you were staring at are very high ranking." Mr. Beo flicked the center of his forehead. Ouchy.
This was Catheris's final deadpan—at least, for this trip anyways.
Eccentric, though he couldn't decipher if it was a good or a bad trait just yet.
"-Ah, we'll also run into the Ste. Aberose team down there. By the way, I'll give you a heads up that they're sensitive to the demon's claim on you. So don't let the sudden spotlight catch you off guard."
.
"So that's what's up with today?"
The other just nervously laughed in response before the door opened.
There were no scornful leers. Instead, it was the pink-haired lady from earlier, ready to escort him.
..?
Suddenly, she took his hands and shook them together in her own.
"I understand you don't harbor the background information our recruits had when they stepped in here. Even if some things here may seem scary at first, that's just how they appear. Don't worry about it and don't be afraid to ask for accommodations."
Damn. She sounded way more friendly with him just now than with Mr. Beo. Who was, in fact, opening the heavy metal doors for them. Supposedly this was all 'worth' it for the coworkers according to him.
"And what are you doing here, Ms. Avaire?" Mr. Beo held the door open for them.
"I'll be taking things from here now. I've brought a special guest pass, so nobody tries to pull something instinctively on Mr. Orial." She walked in and gestured for Catheris to follow.
So this was the basement...
It was quiet and dark. The only thing that filled the air were heavy breaths. Those who sensed his presence whipped their heads so swiftly their eyes blurred. Their irises were uncannily big and their whites freakishly bright. The lady right next to him swatted them away, their dark figures swallowed by shadow.
"They're really sensitive to light in the morning, please don't mind them." She grabbed his wrist. "There won't be many people later."
He blindly followed wherever she went. Trails of eyes came and went as they recognized the reflected shape of the pass. Catheris anxiously hurried his steps, and so did she until they met a corner. She swiped her ID against the electronic scanner, and a robotic voice confirmed "authorized".
Inside it was somewhat well lit. The light didn't touch the corners, but it was enough. The window on the other side of the room was tinted so dark that he couldn't see past.
"Mr Beo will explain how it works."
Wait.
'I thought he left?'
He backed away to look behind but—ah, clearly that plush feeling he bumped into was evident the investigator was still there. Through the large palm covering Catheris' eyes and keeping him stable, he could sense the other's scammer-like smile.
"Aiyah, don't trip."
Across the room, Ms. Avaire's hand sat on a long door handle. "I'll monitor your progress from the other side. Do you also have a snack preference? Since we'll have to determine your potential by extracting it, you'll be drained."
"How's the coffee here?"
"We have the funding for our connoisseurs. Is that all?" She let out an airy laugh.
Satisfactory answer.
"You can choose anything sweet, but not too sweet."
"Alright. I'll have someone prepare something." She left the two of them for the observation room.
The device in the middle of the room seemed... cryptic. He doesn't know how to place his thoughts. Four large black metal rectangles formed a diamond, their chains suspending a silver plate in the middle.
Mr. Beo began to speak. "It's pretty standard. Just place your hand on the plate and try to stay calm. The panic will draw from your emergency ink reserves so we'd have to reschedule. If something's wrong we'll interfere, so don't question it. I'm here to keep things in check. Catch you when you fall too."
"Fall?"
"It's pretty strong!"
Who has this energy in the morning...
Ha...
"Got it."
He placed a hand on it while standing sideways to the plate.
'This isn't so bad-'
-And suddenly his hand was dragged down like a magnet to its opposite. It felt like the tiny bones in his hand were about to fracture from the pressure, and the blood drained from his head in a second. His body jolted at the sensation of a rumbling vibration trembling up his arm. All of his veins turned black. He's so enraptured by it all, entranced until he hears a crack.
Subconsciously, he places his hand on his cheek as the veins on his face begin to blacken.
Crack. Crack. Crack. The noise reverberates through his chest.
Why does it feel so—relieving...?
Ah-
He simply goes still.
Catheris moves his hand just a bit off the plate. Underneath his palm, a pitch black void orb and a vacuum space manifested. He readjusts his palm to spread out the energy and he feels control over this damned thing—and his hold just got stronger as the orb stabilizes itself more.
"Oh merciful saintess what in your holiness's starried veil-" Mr. Beo whispers underneath his breath.
Catheris heard footsteps getting closer, distorted through the haziness.
His head feels like it's filled with shattered glass flying in a jar. But he persists as his chest cracks more and more in a weak pulsation. So much ink was expelled out of his body at once that he began to feel sore.
The orb shrunk exponentially, relieving its weight entirely until it glitches out of reality in an instant.
His vision grew shaky, but he could still stand. He raised his forearm up. The blackness of the veins thinned out, and the normal blue barely showed through.
"Is that all?" Catheris turned around, holding his shaky wrist. The red glint in his eyes was arrogant.
.
..
...
Catheris stood there twitching for a stale few seconds. The weight of his eyelids pulled themselves down.
'-so... tired.'
And all he saw was himself plummeting to the floor milliseconds before his consciousness tapped out.
***
Catheris awoke to a brown teddy bear stuffed in his arms and a blanket draped over his shoulders. As he rubbed his eyes, he realized that he was exhausted. When his senses came back he noticed the smell of hot coffee beside him, thankfully accompanied with a platter of pastries. Instantly, he perked up.
The coffee came with cream and sugar cubes on the side. The platter had a fine assortment as well: a chocolate croissant, a raspberry danish, and some scones with clotted cream, and strawberry jam. 'Taxes well spent,' he thought. He huffed in agreement with himself before he noticed he wasn't alone. He was left in the observation room with Ms. Avaire and Mr. Beo.
"Raw potential itself—currently his stats classify him as a higher A-Class." Ms. Avaire began.
"Are you sure? Recheck it."
"I've been looking at it over and over. I'm certain."
"There has to be something else with his history. What do you mean he's higher than a B?"
"It's not impossible. We can just count him as an exception."
"But higher at that? Ms. Avaire... males are usually fixed at B. And if they are A-Class they barely pass the threshold to qualify as one. And that's their final assessment at the end of their career... This is raw potential we're talking about. Don't you find it a bit odd?"
"Yes. But that may be because of his situation. He's not normal. I'm sure we'll find out why along the way."
"Mn...." Catheris feigned just waking up, rubbing his fuzzy eyesight away. Though, he didn't process much of the conversation anyways, nor did he know what anything meant.
"Ah." Ms. Avaire swiveled to him on a spinny chair and pointed to her laptop screen. "We've run into something with your ID. The database didn't accept your profile?"
"...Could you bring it over to me?"
"Of course."
As he nibbled on his pastries, he carefully inspected the profile. All the information looked correct?
Until he looked up at the top.
"Orpheus Orial"
Oh, yeah.
'This must connect somewhere outside Virosiad...'
He looked at the woman, then to the laptop screen, and then back at the woman again.
"Orpheus Orial doesn't exist outside of Virosiad."
...
...?
"It's Catheris mette Orial."
"Me-mette...?!"
"Yes."
Quite literally meaning pearl of the Orial family.
Yes. The 'mette' signified him being in the main family considered closest to nobility on Virosiad. The Orial family had a long, strong hold over politics and hand in managing the country as a whole. But that was long over. His mother broke him off from that side early.
"Ive been 'Orpheus' since I was a child." Catheris began. "Such modifier doesn't hold much weight in my position now."
"I'll just edit that real quick-"
How long had it been since he had told someone of his true identity?
Maybe 5 years ago when he told Reena...?
He still remembered how it went down.
***
"How... how do you get your fabrics—tell me what your parents do so I can switch majors!!" She joked.
"So about that..."
***
"Done. Please excuse me, I'll be getting it now." She waved him goodbye and went out for the printer.
And Mr. Beo stood like a lamp on the other side, eyes fixed on a laptop screen that apparently had Catheris' 'stats'.
Catheris yawned, nudging the laptop away with his elbow as he sipped his coffee.
.
..
...
Mr. Beo finally spoke after an awfully long minute of Catheris drinking coffee.
"You..."
"Me?"
"Mette..." he swayed his head back to look at Catheris "Is your family from Deliamois?"
"What do you think the title points to?"
"So you are."
"And what of it, is something amiss here?" Catheris' heavy eyelids blinked slowly.
"No, it's fine."
The man's demeanor, while not shown outwardly — had shifted from whatever he saw on the screen.
Catheris didn't have much time to dawdle on that fact. Ms. Avaire knocked on the door three times before entering with an additional plain black lanyard and a packet.
"These are your results and this is your ID." Ms. Avaire placed them on the table.
"Excuse me, what do any of these terms mean?"
"I'm very sorry, I can't be away from my other duties for too long. He'll explain to you. I look forward to seeing you in these halls from here on out."
"Thank you–"
Blink.
Poof.
Gone.
Such a busy little lady.
Ha...
"This is just a placeholder card until we have enough information to properly assess you," Mr. Beo said.
"It's quite a lot to take in all at once, especially at 7:00 in the morning."
"Come here. Ms. Avaire did tell me to teach you."
Catheris looked at the mug of coffee. A look torn with not wanting to part.
But he must.
Internally sighing, Catheris took the packet and got up, placing the bear in his stead.
Eh? Why did everything feel so light and heavy all of the sudden? It felt like something's randomly messed with the dials of his perception–
Catheris calculated his steps, cautiously teeming forward – before all the weight went to
the side and he stumbled.
He plopped headfirst to the floor. He flinched before his forehead hit the ground, but it was met with a palm.
Mr. Beo sighed, "Damn it. How'd I forget the sensitivity, that's awakening protocol 101-"
"I thought you said you'd be there to catch me?" Catheris groaned into the hand.
"Next time then."
"...Just take the paper and sit down. I don't want to get up."
Mr. Beo took the lanyard from the table. "Lemme see your ID too. Weowwww."
...
As he noticed Catheris's very unamused expression, he froze.
"Fine, I'll get to it." he feigned a theatrical pout as he squatted down "Ink's ink, you know it when you see it. Supernatural byproduct." He pointed to a black tear symbol marking a column.
"The formula complexes when it's purified and that's why it's a whole different story from melting humans. We call non-human ink taint. It's like acid when the concentration is high enough. Gain more control and you can manifest it into a weapon. From what I've seen you just know what combat style you want. Base stats.. higher A-Class, high replenishment, high purification rate, high capacity, high concentration percentage..." His words trailed off.
No wonder he was so insistent earlier.
He must've been thinking, 'Where the hell did this guy come from?'
"—Your stats are definitely very combat biased. There's nothing else I can say." Mr. Beo shrugged his shoulders
"I see. Now give me your ID." Catheris said.
Mr. Beo: ?
"You saw mine."
?
"Access: DENIED."
"Ah."
"Nah, I'm just playing. Here ya go." Mr. Beo slipped it out from his coat's inner pocket.
His profile had a handsome fox-like devil that looked more like a goofy mugshot rather than an ID. And for his information,
[Aoirnoc Beo]
[Male] [24] [6'4]
[B-Class]:
[Above-average healing ability]
[Ability to communicate with animals]
[Affiliation: N/A]
"What are you, the Bureau's veterinarian-?"
"Sometimes, yes."