The voice made all three freeze instantly.
"Didn't yo-"
Noara was about to answer when she noticed something wrong in the question.
It wasn't someone confused about the chaos of last night.
It wasn't a question about the state of the world.
It was too calm, too composed. Too interested for a survivor in the middle of the apocalypse.
Lu was already moving towards the door of the cubicle when something appeared in the doorway.
It wasn't a person. It was more like a pile of suits, ID badges, and stapled papers embedded like scales over a somewhat humanoid form that oozed a black ichor.
The thing emanated a repulsive presence as it 'walked' towards the three.
Marcos was the first one to buckle down, falling on one knee.
"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I should've helped them. I was too afraid and fled. I'm so sorry… I heard them screaming but kept running…"
He was bawling and crying, and even Lu was beginning to shed a tear, frozen in place.
[STATUS AFFLICTION]
Mandatory Disclosure
"Trying to use my own weapons against me, Karen?"
Noara gritted her teeth, holding on against the wave of anguish and regrets that was washing over her.
Velvet… Snare…
She felt the threads of intention of her power flowing towards the being but failing to snatch it.
"The fucking thing's too knotted…"
She could see the emotional core of the being. It was different from the one of humans or from the mutated animals and the shadows of last night. It was tight, dense, covered in a shell of obligation.
"Tsk!"
The thing slid on the floor towards Lu, putting a table between itself and Noara.
Velvet Snare!
She activated the skill again, but this time on Lu, to break the emotional hold the thing had on Lu.
"Thanks! Rhythm Step!"
Lu managed to regain her senses and jump back right when the monster was about to grab her.
"I need this documented."
Thing's voice was soft and composed, like a professional who was listening to what you would have to say. Which is exactly what made it even more uncanny.
It didn't sound like something the thing was saying but like an echo of phrases that were repeated over and over again by multiple people over years inside this office.
The moment he said those words, the pressure increased.
[MP: 47/100]
"Ugh… Lu! I can't hold for long!"
Noara's class made her naturally resistant to emotion-based attacks, and she was almost immune to them when using Velvet Snare. But using the skill to shield another person from a relentless attack was quickly depleting her mana.
"Gotcha! Step-Through Thrust!"
Lu put a foot on a chair, then used it as a platform to jump forward, thrusting her spear into the 'body' of the monster and splashing black printer ink everywhere.
"Oh? You bleed printer ink? I've always wanted to beat a printer to a pulp."
The thing didn't react to the strike or to Lu's words. But its movements became a bit faster, carrying just a tiny sense of urgency that wasn't there before.
The two kept dancing like that. Lu dancing and jumping over chairs and tables, sometimes landing a hit, while the monster pursued her.
Wait… That isn't right…
[MP: 43/100]
The thing is doing something… but wha-
A cabinet full of files of old processes was suddenly pushed in front of Noara. It had already been at her side, and the push was just enough to create a blind spot in the office.
At the exact moment Lu was in that blind spot, outside Noara's line of sight.
"AAAAAAAAAHH!"
***
PoV: Lu
The moment Noara slipped from view was the moment when the world went upside down.
"Why didn't you escalate? Who was responsible? Say it clearly."
Relentless questions rained into her mind, piercing like daggers, pushing forth half-forgotten fragments of memory.
The day she hurt a girl in elementary school because she was running too fast and didn't see the girl standing there.
The day she tried to hide a sweet in her pocket in the grocery store, but her mother saw it and scolded her.
The day she turned off a boy who was in love with her and confessed, making him cry.
At the same time, her body was being held and pinned in place, though she couldn't sense it.
***
The moment Noara catches up to them, Lu is half-covered in printer ink and stamped papers.
The monster's upper body had opened, revealing a pulsating core from which a microphone was being extended towards Lu's head, as if listening to her.
Noara's reaction was instinctive.
She jumped at the exposed core without flinching, thrusting her knife into it.
"Please… Just tell me… I will hel-…"
The monster struggled for a moment before its core shattered.
The pile of disjointed office stuff lost the force that was pulling it together and fell to the ground with a thud.
[SHADOW ENTITY DISPERSED]
Mandated Listener (Tier 2) defeated.
Emotional residue unclaimed.
+45 XP
[SYSTEM NOTICE]
LEVEL UP!
Name: Noara Vasconcelos
Class: Velvet Witness
Milestone: Initiate
Level: 1 → 2
[GROWTH PATTERN - VELVET WITNESS (S-TIER)]
Per-Level Stat Gain: +13 (auto-distributed)
[CORE ATTRIBUTES UPDATED]
STR: 9 → 9 (+0)
AGI: 11 → 13 (+2)
END: 10 → 11 (+1)
PER: 14 → 19 (+5)
WIL: 13 → 16 (+3)
CHA: 12 → 14 (+2)
[RESOURCES RECALIBRATED]
HP Cap: 85 → 90
MP Cap: 100 → 115
SP Cap: 80→ 80
[NOTICE]
Your perception deepens.
The city does not grow quieter.
Noara ignored the system notifications that flowed in her vision and focused on her friends, whose bodies were sprawled on the floor.
"Lu!!! Marcos!"
Puta merda. Velvet Snare!
[MP: 15/115]
***
Ten minutes later, the trio was at the window of that office, staring at the city below them.
"That's… wow."
"Fuck."
"Oh my god…"
The sight from there was disheartening. As far as the eye could see, there were fires and smoke. It wasn't possible to see the ground of distant neighborhoods, but what they could see was enough to tell them that whatever chaos happened last night was spread all over the city.
"Okay, mission accomplished. We shouldn't linger here. Let's bring the news and prepare our survival plans."
The first one to snap back to practicalities was, of course, Noara.