"You sound elitist," Everlearn said as she raised an eyebrow.
"I am?"
It wasn't a question. It was a statement— and it left Everlearn speechless.
"See, Everlearn, the news tries to portray normal humans and Corers as the same, but the truth is, we're superior in every way imaginable."
"You'll save yourself many headaches if you accept that reality instead of clinging to the false hope of equality," she said matter-of-factly, and Everlearn simply remained silent.
The Corers were supreme to the humans?Why— because they fused with cores and could now punch a stone to dust?Does that make the inherent value of their life greater than that of a human?
PSSSCH
The sound of the lighter being switched rang out, and he watched her illuminate a cigarette, taking an inhale before she turned to him.
"I want to know more about your family."
"Why do you want to know?" Everlearn asked, and she shrugged.
"If you have a family, then you might want to get them away to someplace safer…" she said, and his brows creased but only for a while before they settled.
"They're dead already," he said with a shrug, and she simply nodded.
No families, all ties to organizations severed, and with a deceased status recognized by Mechara itself. His background is perfect, the woman thought to herself.
"You've passed the background check," she said to Everlearn, who hummed.
"You have questions you wish to ask, don't you?" she said, almost like she could read his mind.
"Ask away."
"What's your name?" he said— a question that made her pause.
"They call me Boss Ash."
"Boss Ash…" he mused beneath his lips before his expression focused once more.
"What exactly did we come to do in Mechara?"
Huuuuuuu—
"For a sample."
"A sample?"
"There has been a secret organization in Mechara that is running an experiment— trying to create an Arcane Serum," she explained, and Ryuk's eyes twitched here and there.
Arcane Serum, Arcane Serum… I've heard that before.
"Arcane Serums are hypothetical chemicals, holding properties of the Arcane energy belonging to the Nakros, in an amount that is consumable by humans to give them the power of Arcane," Everlearn recited out, as Boss Ash's eyebrows twitched.
"It's like you're reading out of a book," she said.
"That's how I saved it in my head. But Arcane Serums are just hypothetical ramblings of geneticists."
"There's no special study dedicated to studying them, especially after the government banned humans from ever touching a Nakros body part or using them in any way."
"I don't know if it's real or not… I don't care," Boss Ash said with seemingly no care in the world.
"But the mission says there's one such serum hidden here in Mechara, and I am to obtain it and bring it back to base. That's all."
It was immediately clear.While Everlearn's heart and brain had been sent into a frenzy at the thought of an Arcane Serum being made—She didn't care at all, not interested in any such study.
They weren't similar, but at least now, he understood why they were in Mechara in the first place.
Something in her words arrested his attention deeper.
"So, you do work with an organization," he said, as she exhaled a puff of smoke.
"I do. And don't ask for the name."
"Why?"
"As I said, every piece of information is attainable with enough status and money."
"To learn the name of the organization I work with, you need three things," she said, reclining back on the sofa as she raised her fingers.
"The first is to have a base net worth of 50 million Nvdollars," she said— a condition that made Everlearn almost cough blood.
"The second is to have a power level of at least Mecha V Core," she said, something as shocking as the first.
Everlearn and his group had been killed for creating an Anomalous Mecha X Core, and the reward for Mecha Eva killing them— him— had been a Mecha W Core.
Yet, to learn of a simple organization name, one needed to have fused with a Mecha V Core, something even higher than W.
"The last is to be part of the organization."
"You fulfill none of them," she said, and Everlearn hummed slightly before he dropped the topic.
"I'm guessing if you brought me here, then you must be planning on taking me on your mission," he said, as she nodded.
"While I want you to work for me," she said,"It will be much better if you join the organization. If you're out of it, you can't know about it, and if you do, you will be killed. To avoid that, I want you to join."
"The test to join is your background check, and right now, you have a perfect score on that," she said.
"The second will be judged by how you perform in this mission. If you pass, then I'll recommend you in," she said, exhaling.
"What if I fail?" he asked, as she paused.
"Would that mean I won't get to work for you again?" he said, watching her furrow her eyebrows before she grinned.
A big, wicked grin.
Ash moved away from her reclining position as she sat upright to look at Everlearn.
"I understand you, Everlearn," she said.
"You wish to run, don't you? You wish to be… free, right?" she said, watching him remain silent.
"You've realized that right now in the world, everyone believes you're dead, and you'd like to keep it that way."
"It gives you that freedom of being anonymous— something truly rare in this age."
"So you think to yourself— if I fail the mission, I'll leave you alone, and you'll be free. Something which will be a win for you, since that's what you wanted in the first place anyway."
"But the truth is…" Boss Ash said,
"There's no freedom anywhere."
"If you wish to be anything— something, I know you do, based on your excellent academic records— then you'll have to get under the system's radar. And under the system's radar, nothing is free."
"The best move you can make is positioning yourself to be in a more protected area of the system, to avoid really getting fucked over as much as you can."
"And that is what I'm offering you right now, though it might seem like I'm forcing you."
"Don't worry— you'll understand… very soon."