## **A Distant but Near Noise**
"How is he doing?" a man asked.
"Right now he's fully stabilized. All his senses have adapted, and he's finally calming down," the woman replied. "He does have some fractures in his bones, but they're healing by the minute. Sadly, because he gained a Soul in the early stages, the cracks won't heal completely. His hand will function at 100%, but the fractures will remain—like a design etched into his bones."
The man nodded. "That's good. When he wakes up, tell me first, okay?"
"Arghh… you guys talk too loud," came a sluggish voice as Eden slowly began to open his eyes.
The woman in the black nurse uniform turned to the man. "He's awake, sir."
Lucian stepped closer. "Finally, you're awake. How do you feel, kid?"
Eden groaned. "My head's killing me… And where am I?" He glanced at the nurse. "A hospital?"
Lucian gave a small smile. "Yes… and no." He turned to the nurse. "Thank you for looking after him. You can go now."
"Okay, but if they come and question me, I'm putting all the blame on you," she said as she walked out.
"Yeah, that's fine." Lucian chuckled and looked down at the boy. "Eden Abaddon… They gave you a heaven name and then a hell name. Funny."
Eden frowned. "Are you a doctor or something? You still didn't answer me. Where am I? Who are you? And where's Alice? Also… why do you look so damn familiar?!"
"Calm down, kid. I'm much better than a doctor." Lucian raised a hand, counting off on his fingers. "One: my name is Lucian. Two: you're in a hospital, but not one open to the public—it's more of a private underground facility. Three: don't worry, Alice is being treated… and questioned."
"Questioned?" Eden echoed.
"Yeah. When you two had your little fun at that school, you broke a few rules, you little rascal. Because of that mess, the interrogation unit got involved. Now they're questioning us to determine if the situation was justified."
Eden stared in confusion and shock. "Who the hell are you people?"
Lucian's smile turned sharp. "I won't say 'us'—more like 'them.' But welcome to the Elimination Unit. Just like the military has branches, we're the seventh hidden one."
"Elimination Unit…?" Eden repeated, still lost.
"You remember that fight you had against the snake woman?"
"Yeah…"
"She's known as a Disaster—something that's not human. The Elimination Unit gets rid of those Disasters. Regular humans can't kill them, so we have a little… boost. Something called Soul. It enhances human capability, granting supernatural abilities. Like how you fell from a building and still survived. Right now, that very thing is flowing through your body."
Eden's eyes widened. "I remember… back when Alice said she was going to give me something. Was that the Soul thing you're talking about?"
"Bingo. Soul can't be unlocked by a person on their own. They need someone else to awaken it for them. If you do it by yourself, you're either a genius… or a Disaster."
"The hell are you telling me this?"
Lucian rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, you see, Soul isn't easy to control. Hell, it's unpredictable. Opening a person's Soul can do more harm than good—even kill other people. That's why it's unlawful to give a regular human a Soul without authorization. You should've been excited alongside Alice, but your great savior saved both your asses. Because I gave 'authorization,' it's now either two things."
Eden: "What's that?"
"One: you join the unit and learn how to use Soul.
Two: Death."
Eden: "You're bullshitting me."
Lucian: "I wish, but the higher-ups hate when people don't follow their 'laws.' They would love to use you two as examples."
Eden: "Then what's stopping me from walking out of here?"
Lucian: "You will be killed. I think you know I'm not lying—after seeing the teacher."
"Look, if you learn to use Soul and join the Elimination Unit, you'll soon be able to leave the unit and go back to your family."
Eden: "How long would that take?"
"Depends how good you are. Months, maybe a year," Lucian said.
Eden clenched his fist. "But my sister and mom…"
Lucian: "I know. I already have someone there taking care of them and making up an excuse for you."
Eden: "If my sister's gonna be taken care of, then fine. I'll join your stupid—"
In the blink of an eye—no warning, no sound—the room plunged into darkness. Lucian vanished.
Eden jolted. "What the hell?! Lucian?!"
**Eden Abaddon**
**Age:** 16
**Birthday:** April 2, 2009
"Is that you?"
Eden froze. "What?"
A massive electric shock ripped through his body. "Ahhhhhhh!"
"If you do not answer my question, you will be shocked until death. So I'll ask again… Is that you?"
"Yes… that's me," Eden gasped. No shock this time.
"Good," the deep voice said. "Let's begin the questioning, shall we?"
"Can I ask a question first?" Eden managed.
"Sure. Go ahead."
"Is this… the interrogation?"
The voice sounded almost amused. "Interrogation? Oh, that. No, no—that happened two weeks ago. Old news. The verdict's already been decided. This is just a question on joining the corps, as you verbally agreed, right?"
Eden blinked. "Lucian said Alice was just being questioned… I was out for two weeks?"
"Shall we start?" the voice asked calmly.
Eden looked up into the darkness. "Sure," he said in an uncertain voice.
"Perfect. 1 + 2 + 2 + 2 makes 7. I will ask you 7 questions. Please answer accordingly. Do you understand?"
"Yeah, I do," Eden muttered.
**Question 1:** "When you left home and walked down the street, a young boy was getting bullied. Why didn't you help?"
Eden's jaw tightened. "How did you—?"
ZAAAAP!
"Electrical shock—enough to kill a normal human. For a Soul user, it's infused with Soul. About five to seven more shocks and you will be dead," the man stated calmly. "So please answer the question."
Eden gritted his teeth. "It wasn't my problem, so I didn't get involved." The man hummed.
**Question 2:** "If you are sent on a mission to execute a Disaster that could kill many later on, but when you arrive the Disaster is living a normal life—friends, family that love it—would you still fulfill your mission?"
Eden: "I'll watch it. If it even tries to kill or already did, I'll kill it with my own hands and take the blame. Probably kill myself for the crime I let happen. But if it's 100% guaranteed to become a threat, I'll kill it without hesitation."
The man: "Would you kill a comrade if they turn into a Disaster?"
Eden: "I guess I can't let my emotions get in the way. To be honest, after seeing how the teacher looked… I'll kill them so no one else has to."
The man: "I see."
**Question 3:** "Kill evil or fix evil?"
Eden: "I don't think I can forgive some evil, so kill."
The man: "Explain."
Eden: "I guess if the evil hurt innocent people—kill, rape, traumatize—how could we just keep them locked up with other criminals who did the same thing? Then after 10+ years they're free just to do it again. They're not fixing them… they're just delaying the next victims."
**Question 4:** "January 5, 2014. There was an emergency call at your house. Do you remember what the emergency was?"
Eden, confused: "No, not really."
The man continued: "When the police walked in, they saw a man on the ground, blood flowing from his stomach."
Eden, still confused: "No, I still don't know what you're talking about."
The man: "Oh, that's why."
The light began to move back and forth, revealing the man. He had no body—like he was part of the darkness itself. His face was a white mask. Black tears dripped from his left eye, red tears from his right.
**Question 5:** "October 18, 2018. Leaving for school, you went upstairs and saw your mother lying on the floor. Is that correct?"
Eden: "Your knowing stuff is freaky, but yeah."
The man continued: "On that same day, your mother was taken to the hospital."
Eden: "Wait, what?!"
"The doctor pronounced her dead from a drug overdose."
Eden: "Wait, wait—what are you talking about?"
The man: "Did you leave her to die?"
Eden: "The hell are you—?"
ZAAAAAAP!
"Did you hate your mother?"
Eden: "No, I don't."
**Question 6:** "Did you kill your mother and father?"
Eden: "No… I… I don't know."
Eden: "She's not dead."
The man slid a phone to Eden and dialed a number. "It's the hospital. Go ahead."
Eden hesitated, but eventually pressed call.
"Hello, St. Jude Hospital. How can I help you?"
"Hi… I'm calling for Ulise Abaddon."
"Date of birth?"
"12/12/1972."
"Oh… we tried contacting you, but you never picked up. She passed two weeks ago. We tried to find a close family member but couldn't, so we followed her wishes and cremated her. I'm very sorry, but if you want, you can come to the funeral home to pick up the remains."
Eden: "…"
"I know this is hard, but—"
Eden hung up. Destroyed. No thoughts.
The man: "Did you kill your mother?"
Eden, voice hollow: "Yeah… I did."
**Final Question:**
The man said, "Do you accept death?"
Eden: "It doesn't matter."
The man smiled, a long grin spreading across his face.
Eden's eyes opened. He was back in the same room as before the darkness.
"Eden!!" Alice screamed.
"You passed thank God "
—-