Discovering more people than I expected, I freeze.

The room is crowded, it is clear that it is not made for this amount of people. Scanning each person’s face, I recognize six of them: Shriek, Leo, Jessica, Lorcan, and two additional people I never anticipated.

Off to the side by herself is a woman with a big white bandage on her face and small scabs around her neck and hands—this person is Emily. She is the Spirit Scribe that attempted to enslave me with the domination contract back in Gen’s enclosure. Wearing her usual black frock with the hood down, she grips her unengraved, blue tome tightly. She raises her hand, itching at the bandages on her face while whispering the words, “Resist. Endure. It shall pass…”

‘If she was not so mad and did not try to enslave me, I might feel a tad bad for her.’

After reciting those words, she looks up and glares at me. “Do I know them?” she murmurs.

Turning away, I look at a man sitting next to Leo. The man wears a long brown coat, blue trousers, and a flat cap atop his head. At first, I have difficulty remembering his name, but I am sure I recognize him. However, when he says, “What the hell” after seeing me, his throaty voice causes me to remember him—this person is the hoarse man. He was the one that appeared to be selling someone a horse so that they could use it to acquire Essence. I barely recognize him since I was only able to discern his obscure figure back then.

The remaining five people all wear attire similar to the woman in red: long red winter coats, flashy ornaments, and other such items. Four of them are also women, with only one of them being a man; strangely, they are all rather attractive in appearance.

‘Half this room are people I thought I might never see again. These are people Terra had to have gathered purposely because of me. Why!? Did my information really necessitate this!?’

The hoarse man laughs; his voice is throaty but not as hoarse as it once was. “This some kind of joke?” He claps his hands together, pointing at me. “Are we about to go to space? Why do we got a cosmonaut here? Hey, better question, who are you people?”

“Yo!” Lorcan shouts. “No talking about that until the boss is ready. Fairy, the people in red, don’t worry about their names; they’re just here to observe. The only people you need to know are Hoarse, not the animal, and Charm.”

My eyes move between the two additional people. ‘Hoarse is obviously the hoarse man; Terra must have picked it for him because she deemed it humorous. Charm is Emily; she must have picked that herself because she is a lunatic.’

“Hoarse? Why am I Hoarse?”

Pointing at me, Lorcan says, “Ask Fairy. Boss wouldn’t tell me, but she did say that she thought of it.”

“Her? I don’t even know her,” Hoarse says, clicking his tongue. “But whatever, enlighten me, I guess.”

‘Hmm, I think Hoarse was trying to insult me earlier so I suppose I should make a retort.’

Writing on my whiteboard, I turn it toward the Hoarse. “Thy voice is comparable to the stink of horse manure. Therefore, thy name is Hoarse.”

“Damn Fairy,” Lorcan says with a hearty laugh. “Didn’t expect you to murder the guy in broad daylight.”

Pointing at my whiteboard, Hoarse says, “How am I supposed to even read that!?”

With half-closed eyes, I drop the whiteboard to my side. ‘I need to remember to write my words less skillfully so that they may read it.’

“If you squint while reading it, you get used to it pretty quick, actually.” Lorcan points at me and then gestures toward an empty place on the floor. “You’ll be sitting up here next to the boss.”

I write on the whiteboard, “Sit where? On the floor?”

Flexing his eyebrows, he lifts a small hatch on the side of the wall and then presses something—a clicking noise resounds from the marble ceiling above. Like two doors opening longways, a pair of five-foot-long rectangular panels separate from the marble ceiling and swing outwards. The panels continue to gradually swing downwards, revealing white cushions and a backrest.

‘Chairs; in the ceiling… Is this normal?’ I glance at the other people; their confused looks say all I need to know. ‘Nay, it does not seem to be.’

When the panel has pivoted to the point that it is perpendicular to the floor, it stops and two high-backed chairs float two feet above the floor.

“Pretty cool, huh? Rich people shit for sure,” Lorcan says, walking back toward the front of the RV.

“Why, though? Isn’t it a bit slow and inefficient?” Shriek asks.

Hoarse rolls his eyes, leans forward, and replies, “Because that’s how rich people are. They want you to make sure you know that they can afford to have useless shit like that and you can’t.”

Behind me, I feel a tiny tap on my back. “The client must really like you, doll. Go on and take your place of honor,” Owl whispers. “This isn’t a typical client, don’t let them make their entrance without you in your seat.”

‘Aye. Though I do not believe Terra would be too angry with me.’ Moving ahead, I step between the marble table and Jessica’s legs.

As I squeeze by Jessica, she seizes my arm. “Hey. What’s going on? Why are you being treated like a special guest? This whole situation isn’t adding up.”

Erasing my words, I write, “I am not certain.”

Jessica squints, glaring into the arc suit’s window. “You’d tell me if you did, right? This is smelling fishier by the second,” she whispers.

“I do not know anything, nor do I smell fish,” I write before shrugging.

Still squinting and with a raised eyebrow, she releases my arm. Moving to my seat to the right of where I expect Terra to sit, I fall into the chair just in time to hear Emily huff.

Glancing over, I can see her glaring at me. ‘She is clearly jealous.’ I use my whiteboard to write, “Thou shouldst not scratch thy wounds. They will not heal.”

After reading my message, she crosses her arms and leans back into the couch with a scowl. Shrugging, I ignore Emily and watch Jessica instead.

Her gaze drifts to Leo, who is also studying the room; the two seem to begin having a silent conversation with their eyes.

At the same time, Hoarse bends forward and points at the woman in red. “Wait, I know you.” Running his gaze across the others in the room, he points at another woman in red. “I know you too. Both of you are whores!”

‘...They are harlots?’ I glance at the people in red; almost in tandem, they scoff and roll their eyes. ‘Are these the type of people that Terra hopes to perform her “coup” with? They seem oddly calm.’

Leo and Jessica nod at one another and then stand. “We’ve gotta go; I think I left some documents we were supposed to bring on the subway,” Leo states.

A click echoes, everyone goes immediately silent as I glance around in confusion. Next to Jessica, the woman in the red coat stands and places what looks to be a small silver pistol against the back of Jessica’s head.

“Sit back down,” the woman in red says.

At the same time, next to Leo, another click rings out. A man in red stands and places a second pistol at Leo’s back. “You too, pig.”

‘Pistols!’ I recoil; Jessica’s eyes glance toward me. ‘This is part of the plan, right!? It… it has to be. Terra said she would be in control. I just need to keep calm. Do not run, do not panic.’

Jessica frowns. I do not know enough to write much, so I write, “Apologies. Do not panic. Stay calm.”

“Pigs like you don’t give a shit about people like us, so don’t think for a second we’ll give a shit about pulling the trigger if you don’t listen,“ the woman in red says.

Gritting her teeth, Jessica responds, “Would you really? Escorts aren’t ordinarily murderers.”

The end of the pistol bumps against the back of Jessica’s head, causing her to grit her teeth. “The person in charge here offered us their hand when everyone else had written us off, so I’m actually looking for a way to prove my loyalty.” The woman in red places her hand on Jessica’s shoulder, emphasizing each word when she states, “Now sit down unless you wanna be my proof.”

A heavy breath exits Jessica’s nostrils, and she raises her hands. Together, she and the woman in red slowly lower themselves back onto the couch.

“Same goes for you,” the man in red says. “I’ve dealt with enough handsy pigs that I wouldn’t mind a bit of payback.”

Following Jessica’s and the woman’s example, Leo and the man also gradually lower themselves to the couch. “This must be a misunderstanding,” Leo says, putting his hands in the air. “We haven’t done anything wrong or over the line. We were invited here.”

“Did you say they were cops? What the hell is this!” Hoarse shouts. “Why are there whores and cops here!”

Emily huffs. “You moron, how have you not realized that we aren’t meant to know anything yet?” Snapping her fingers, she shouts at Hoarse, “Is your head full of horse manure like your throat is, or are you just stupid.”

“What’s that supposed to mean!?” he shouts at Emily.

She laughs and waves his shouting away. “Forget it. Just tell me, why did you come here?”

“Huh?”

“What was your reason for getting into a big ass RV?” she says, raising her arm and glaring at him. “You were invited here, right? You didn’t get kidnapped when someone offered you candy, did you? Because that would just be plain sad.”

Hoarse grimaces. Crossing his arms, he groans and does not seem intent on responding.

Seeing that Hoarse has nary any intention of responding, Shriek peers at me and replies to Emily’s question instead, “I-I’m here becau—”

Lorcan comes out from behind the curtain. “Shriek!” Shriek gasps, freezing up upon hearing Lorcan’s booming voice. “I thought I said not to talk about why you’re here.”

Shriek shakes his head, his mouth partially opened—Emily chortles in the corner.

With a sigh, Lorcan walks behind the two chairs that lowered themselves from the roof earlier. “Whatever. Boss is ready. I’m sure everyone here will recognize her immediately, so no need for introductions.”

The sounds of heels against marble echo from behind the curtain of the RV. A seemingly delicate hand reaches out, pulling the curtain away. When Terra steps through, a tiny squeak finally exits Shriek’s partially opened mouth.

At some point, she changed clothing. Her attire is much more dressy, reflecting an image of wealth and beauty. She wears what resembles a long-sleeved silk tunic of white with ruffles along the neckline and the opening of the sleeves. Though the sleeve runs all the way to her wrist, there is a slit from the pit of the elbow to the shoulder. From this slit on the right side, I can see large amounts of gray fabric sewn to her. The tunic runs past her waist, where a skirt begins and flows toward her ankles, yet from her ankles to her knees, there is another split revealing a pair of long black boots with heels. She intensifies everything with large amounts of black jewelry: a black belt around the waist, a black pearl necklace, a black lotus leaf in her hair, shimmering black bracelets, and other such things.

With her tome in her arms, she steps toward us. The only noise is her footsteps.

My eyes move to hers, where I discover she has placed an ornate black eyepatch over her green eye, leaving only the silver one exposed. Instead of her usual hairstyle, it is tied back and then thrown over her shoulder, where it swings gently with every step.

Her usually gentle gaze now displays apathy toward everyone and everything before her, yet there is also a hint of coldness in the deep silver pupil and the black ink that encircles it.

With a small nod, Lorcan steps from her path.

Displaying overwhelming poise, Terra takes a seat to my left and places her tome in her lap. Things remain quiet as she moves her silver eye to each and every person as if declaring her authority to each and every one. Shriek is visibly shaking, Jessica has her head in her hands, Leo’s gaze is entirely glazed over, Hoarse is staring at the ground, Emily’s eyes sparkle, and Owl’s expression is unchanged.

Terra motions toward the people in red, prompting them to lower their weapons. “I invited you here,” she states curtly. “Does anyone have any guesses as to why?”

It remains utterly silent until the least likely person speaks first. Shriek raises his shaking hand and points at me. “Her; something about her,” he says in a small voice.

With a leisurely turn of her head, she glares at the others. “Are you all really so pathetic that the youngest and least experienced person among you is the first to speak.”

Raising his hand, Owl speaks, “Miss Galtry, I believe the same as the young man. I know that is why I am here. Both the young man, Shriek, and the woman, Angel, seem to recognize her. So I have come to the same conclusion.”

“Owl, Shriek, you two do not have to speak further. She is indeed why you’re both here. You two have nothing to worry about. As for the rest of you, I asked why you’re here. However, I am changing the question.” Crossing her legs, Terra glares at the remaining people. “Tell me exactly what you’ve done that has offended me and then we’ll discuss how you’ll make it up to me.”

“Offended! I-I can’t believe I’m actually in the same room as you right now, Miss Galtry!” Emily says, shaking her head. With one hand over her heart and the other gesturing toward me, she continues, “But, Miss Galtry, I don’t know this person and I would never do anything to offend you! I-I look up to you as what all Spirit Scribes should aspire to be. Miss Galtry and the Church mu—”

Terra raises her hand, stopping Emily short. “My business with the Church is my own.” Terra taps the cover of her tome. I never noticed it before, but Terra’s tome seems to have several times the pages of Emily’s. “Don’t make the mistake of assuming that gives you absolutely any sway with me.”

With a red face and her mouth half-open, Emily turns, and attempts to inspect my face behind the arc suit’s window. Her expression changes to one of realization as she gasps. “Everything makes sense now! Miss Galtry, I am so sorry; I had no idea that she already had an owner!”

“Stop talking,” Terra says with a fire in her eyes. “I don’t want you to even think about speaking again until I’ve spoken to you first.”

Like an apprentice after being scolded by their mentor, Emily’s shoulders droop.

His eyes darting between Emily, Terra, and I, Hoarse speaks up, “M-Miss Galtry, I think there has been a mistake. I work underneath one of your Captains; I shouldn’t be speaking to you directly like this… This is just wrong and my captain would be upset.”

Terra glares at Hoarse; her gaze embeds itself deep beneath Hoarse’s skin. “Are you criticizing my handling of my own chain of command; are you really so brazen?” Pointing at herself, she declares in a threatening tone, “I made the chain of command! I can break it, tear it, bend it whenever I please because it belongs to me. Now, if you don’t answer my question in the next thirty seconds, then I’ll consider repainting these expensive sofas a messy red.”

“No, no!” he says, shaking his hands. “I… I just don’t understand. I don’t understand why I’m here, of all people!”

Glancing at me, Terra motions lazily between the two of us. “Give him a hint.”

‘Hint, but I do not know what he has done wrong... I suppose there is only one thing it could be if it was from the information I told her.’

I use the eraser on my whiteboard and write, “Horse sale.”

For a moment, he looks confused until realization dons upon him. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” He frowns, a drop of sweat rolling down his cheek. “I do vaguely recall some kid trying to get me to sell him a horse or something stupid. It was just some weird game teenagers have been doing lately.”

Tilting my head, I write, “Thou art not a very skillful liar.”

“Huh? Liar, I’m not lying.” His expression cracks; I can tell he is beginning to forget that anyone is here other than the two of us. “That’s what happened. Did that kid say something? Probably just wants to see how far he can go with his game.”

“Nay. Thou sold him a horse. Thou art a liar.”

“Listen, Shakespeare, I didn’t sell shit to no one. You’re clearly incapable of recognizing when someone is telling the truth.”

“I have known many excellent liars. Thou art not among them.”

“Fuckin’.” He takes a deep breath and points at me. “You can’t just go making claims without proof.”

“I do not require proof. I was there.”

“...You were spying on me!”

I hear Terra’s voice in my head, “Constance.”

Responding in my head, I answer, “Nay, I wish to assist and I can handle street ruffians. They are seldomly quick-witted and typically short-tempered. I shall antagonize him.”

“...Just do what you think is best,” she responds.

“Why were you spying on me!?” Hoarse yells.

“Thou wast rather loud; it was quite easy. Perhaps, if thou wast not so oblivious?”

“W-what? You’re wearing a Halloween costume! You have the nerve to call me oblivious!?”

With a shrug, I erase my whiteboard and write, “I do.” While the gears in his head turn, I add, “I saw and overheard everything and thou never suspected a thing.”

His face turns redder. “Are you makin’ fun of me?”

I erase the whiteboard and write, “I am, because thou art an oblivious ninny.”

Jumping to his feet, he shouts, “Who the hell notices when a whore is around!”

The room’s mood swings from burning to frozen in an instant.

“Trash,” Terra’s voice states plainly.

Hoarse’s face turns pale.

“Not only did you essentially just admit to brokering deals outside of the organization, stealing profits from my pocket, you, low trash, speak to my guest in such a manner. Start giving me reasons to not sink you to the bottom of the Hudson.”

“I-I-I…”

“Or perhaps a nice view from the top of the Brooklyn Bridge before you tragically take your own life.”

“No, I’ll talk! Please, it’s because of…”

“To prepare for the Beta’s end? Is that what you’re about to say?” She raises her hand, motioning toward everyone in the room. “Everyone here is in the Beta. None of them have stolen from me.”

‘Everyone here is in the Beta!’ I look around the room, finding everyone else is doing the same. It appears most of them did not expect that everyone here is in the Beta either. ‘It appears they were all hiding this information. I suppose I knew about the ones who came into contact with me, but I did not expect the people in red.’

Hoarse’s eyes turn wide, his mouth still opens; he just stares.

Next to me, I hear Terra’s voice, “Okay, you’re wasting too much time. You have two choices.” She gestures behind her where Lorcan stands. “Either he can take you into the back and beat you until you’re more willing to cooperate from here forward...” Gesturing toward me, she resumes speaking, “or she can hit you once in front of everyone.”

‘Me?!’

His eyes swing between Lorcan and I, “Her; I’ll take her!” he shouts.

“That’s fine with you, isn’t it, Fairy?” Terra asks.

I hesitate but decide to believe that Terra knows what she is doing. If I wanted, I am certain I could decline, yet if this was anyone else other than Terra, refusing would not be an option. Writing on my whiteboard, I hold it out, “Aye. I shall strike him.”

Standing, I walk toward Hoarse, stopping just short. “Sorry about what I said, just got a little hot tempered,” he says with a smirk. “Now, let’s not keep everyone waiting; just take your best shot.”

‘I suppose if it was between Lorcan or me, I should hit him as hard as I can so that I make as much of an impression as Lorcan would have. From my time practicing medicine, I believe one of the most painful areas to be struck is around the liver.’

I slither the cattail into my right sleeve and bend it back. Inspecting Hoarse, I can see he has nary any intention of bracing himself. It seems he does not expect much from my hit. Taking aim for his stomach, I punch.

Spittle blows from his mouth, staining the arc suit’s window. His body hits the couch; tears leak from his eyes as his mouth opens and closes, wheezing for air.

“Let that be a lesson, when it comes to strength, appearance means far less than it once did. If he had braced himself for the punch, it wouldn’t have been as bad, but he made the mistake of judging her based on his own conventional thinking.” While I am retaking my seat, Terra looks at all the people in red and continues, “As soon as I told him everyone here was in the Beta, he should have realized that Fairy was far too willing to hit him. That alone with several other oddities should have tipped him off.”

Hoarse coughs, taking deep breaths of air. Wiping his mouth on his sleeve, a smear of blood is left behind.

“Angel, Savior, please tell me why you’re here,” Terra says.

Leo and Jessica look at one another. A second later, Leo shakes his head and sighs. “I’ll talk, but before I do, I'd like it to go on record that Angel doesn’t know anything. I’ve been operating alone in secret.”

Terra makes a bored expression and waves her hand.

‘She knows it’s a lie. I already explained everything to her days ago.’

As if he is delivering his last will and testament, Leo begins to speak, “I’ve been… I’ve been collecting and gathering information in your territory for the Espositos.” Leaning forward, he removes some papers from his coat and places them on the marble table. “That’s everything we’ve been able to gather so far. I have no excuse; Angel knew nothing.”

Glancing at me, Jessica shakes her head. “Don’t be stupid. Galtry knows everything already. We’ve both been working with the Espositos; they have us by the throat and have for some time now.”

Lorcan walks over to the stack of paper, takes them, and then delivers them to Terra. The room remains eerily quiet until she’s finished going through them and then she asks, “I expect the full report and your evidence next we speak.”

“You-you aren’t going to make an example of us…?” Leo asks.

“Depends on how cooperative you are from here on out.” Looking at Emily, she continues, “We’ll talk later in private. Let's move forward with our discussion.”

Everyone nods, except for Emily, who has become oddly excited after hearing she shall speak to Terra in private.

“Since everyone here is in the Beta, they have already gone through the tutorial, so I’ll skip explaining what will be happening in the near future and go straight into things. The first few tasks I give everyone will be to make up for your transgressions, but after that, if you complete your tasks smoothly, I’ll give everyone here an opportunity to not just endure the coming hardships, but thrive.”

Hearing this, everyone’s ears perk up, even the gasping Hoarse and people in red. The people in red all fix their gaze on me, seemingly they know something.

“T-thrive?” Shriek asks.

“Yes. Around three weeks ago, a certain being was sent by the Cosmic System itself to give a small portion of humanity a better chance at weathering the coming hardships,” she peers at me. Everyone else does the same. “If we listen and support the one this Fairy speaks for, we’ll all be allowed to become more powerful than we ever imagined.”

‘What!? Thou art embellishing and promising a lot!’

“Sent by the Cosmic System?” Jessica mutters.

From the back of the room, Owl states, “Miss Galtry, sorry for jumping in, but you have me very curious.”

“It’s fine, Owl. We are on good terms; speak freely.”

“Thank you, Miss Galtry.” He says with a small bow. “I just wish for clarification; I recall the Cosmic System said it wouldn’t show bias and I assumed that meant it would not show humanity any bias. Is Fairy an exception to this?”

Terra responds quickly, “Great question, Owl. The Fairy isn’t showing bias; rather, only those that persevere will gain strength. If you recall, that was one of the answers the Cosmic System stated. I believe they stated that it “trust that the Entities will persevere” this is conceivably in reference to Fairy or the trials that Fairy will present us. Moreover, the Cosmic System did nothing but allow her early return to help make things “fair” for humanity. So we can either support her or… well, I suppose that means most of us will presumably fail to persevere.”

Glancing between the faces in the room, Shriek asks, “L-like we’ll all die?”

“Hmm, not necessarily, but a lot more people will die than expected.” Waving her hand, she continues, “Regardless, you’ll be working for me, not Fairy.”

“Is Fairy not just her nickname?” Jessica questions.

“She is a type of Fairy and, more importantly, she is the Fairy that will speak for the one who can provide humanity with the necessary tools to ‘persevere’ as the Cosmic System would say.”

‘...Is Terra really attempting to convince everyone I am a Fairy? Would people not be more afraid of me if I was a Fairy? Fairies are generally seen as dangerous and known to steal children.’

Leo sighs. “I’m not really following.”

Leaning forward, Terra glares at Leo. “Frankly, I don’t care if you understand; you all owe me and I will get what I am owed. Within the next forty-eight hours, the first changes will begin, and then you’ll all not only understand but experience it yourselves. Further, if I even get a hint that any of you are trying to leave the City, I’ll give you the honor of a bullet to the head.” She places her tome on the table. “But first, everyone must sign the tome.”