damned_institute | Day 43: Courtyard, Third Shift

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Day 43: Courtyard, Third Shift

Once again, Endrance's nurse interfered with his plans. He had been planning to look around the Game Room, but the moment he began to move towards the Sun Room, she had taken him by the arm. "Your family has asked that we make sure you get as much fresh air and sunshine has possible, and you won't get that by staying inside playing video games all day."

He had thought for a moment about protesting, but decided against it. After all, if what had happened to Haseo was punishment for having spoken too strongly the day before, he didn't want to make that worse somehow. So, when given the choice of going out to the recreational field or the courtyard, he chose the latter.

There were a few reasons behind the decision, the most salient being that he wanted to see what the area looked like for a second time - this time without the threat of a brainwashed patient surprising him. The second reason was just as strong as the first, and it had to do with the presence of a second former Demon Palace Emperor. As energetic as she was normally in The World, he couldn't imagine Alkaid not wanting to spend some time outside.

Just as before, he sat down under a tree by the side of the pond, keeping one eye on the door.

[closed to Alkaid]

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"I've been here for four days." Soma frowned slightly at the building, which sat innocently in the sunlight. If she didn't know better, she would have thought it was mocking her. "If you have questions, I'll do my best to answer them."

This morning. That meant the chapel, then. It hadn't occurred to her that the chapel might have afforded an opportunity to see the second floor during the day. "Did you see anything of note up there?"

"I have none. The board and someone I spoke with this morning gave me all the information I required."

Looking back at the building, where she believed the chapel to be located, Teresa replied, "Just another room dedicated to the human foolish belief in gods - nothing of note." She paused. "And another of the Organization." Perhaps this one would recognize the name...

Soma nodded again; the bulletin board had given her virtually all the information she had needed as well, though it had first taken a little convincing on the Institute's part.

It was the woman's response to her question that gave her pause. She tilted her head slightly in interest and slight curiosity, though she tried not to let the latter show. "I take it you weren't human in your own world," she said. "What were you? And what is the Organization?"

"Half-human," Teresa clarified. "Once upon a time I was fully human." And had beautiful dark hair, but that wasn't something to dwell on even if it did pop unbidden into her mind every once in a while. Granted, the frequency had been increased with Clare's presence, but that was neither here nor there.

"I am still what I was before being here," she commented. "The Organization is the group I was once associated with. They create beings such as myself in order to have powerful warriors to exterminate youma." Her eyes flickered down to the girl again. "Demonic creatures that feed on human flesh."

"And your eyes are a sign of that?" Soma's expression showed interest, as much as she tried to hide it; learning about other worlds fascinated her.

Feeling, perhaps, that her question needed explanation, she added, "I've never heard of youma, but there were those in my world who created soldiers as well. I'm a product of one of those programs, even if I'm still fully human." A pause. "Golden eyes signify what you might call created warriors in my world, and I thought..."

A subtle smile touched Teresa's lips. "Yes, they are. Many humans call my kind silver-eyed witches because only a hybrid has silver eyes and they fear us."

She met the girl's eyes for a moment, taking in their golden color. "To me, golden eyes signify something else, but yours lack the vertical pupil. Yet, I find it interesting that unusual eye color represents beings that were created out of desperation."

A pause. "I am Teresa."

"There aren't enough of us left to be feared, even if we could have been once." It was impossible to keep the bitterness out of her voice. "What do golden eyes mean in your world?"

Teresa was...almost disappointingly normal a name, Soma thought, for a half-human who killed demons. But on the other hand, she wasn't sure what she'd been expecting. "Soma Peries."

"Golden is the color a hybrid's eyes turn when we access our youki - the youma energy almost all use to increase their abilities to the level to kill youma."

Teresa let out a soft snort. "Even one is enough to be feared, Soma. How many of you are left? There are only forty-seven active hybrids at any given time, ranked according to strength."

"So you use youma energy to fight youma. What abilities does that provide you with?" This was what interested her especially. There were always going to be different ways of fighting in different worlds; it wouldn't hurt if she could learn something from them.

She thought for a moment, pondering the best way to answer the question, and settled for a simple, "One."

"Then that one, you, is enough to instill fear in humans. They will always fear what they do not understand, what they see as a threat, what they see as different. There is nothing wrong with enjoying the fear your mere existence brings about. They give you power with that fear and it is up to you what you do with it," Teresa replied.

The hybrid considered what to tell Soma about a hybrid's abilities. With the difference between offensive and defensive types, it wasn't an easy task to narrow down what could and could not be done. Eventually, she decided to stick with the basics.

"The higher level abilities vary from hybrid to hybrid as we tend to specialize in an aspect of combat and develop signature abilities from that, but all hybrids have greatly increased strength and speed. We can all regenerate damage including severed limbs to different degrees. Our need for food and sleep is greatly reduced and we all posses the basic ability to sense youma and other hybrids."

Her position in life was different from Teresa's after all, Soma realized. Even if she might once have enjoyed the fear her rank and status as a supersoldier might have provided, it wasn't quite the same thing. It wasn't as if she could regenerate damage or sense demons, though the increased strength and speed were still there, and she knew perfectly well how simple it was to stop her.

"I don't want to be feared." She said the words with a quiet resolution. "There's no need for my kind anymore now that the world is at peace. I just want to live a normal life."

"That is not something you have a choice in unless you hide what you are," Teresa replied, her eyes straying to the building again. "Peace never lasts, Soma. It is human nature to create conflict as they have even less regard for their fellow man than we hybrids do for them."

She crossed her arms. "What is normal for someone that was made to know nothing but combat and death? At least you're still human. There is no monster inside you."

That was a truth she didn't want to face. For months she'd tried to convince herself otherwise, and she'd almost succeeded. But there it was, still lurking at the back of her mind, refusing to leave.

"The entire world has united," she said, painfully aware of the doubt in her voice that betrayed her. "It might last. Even if it doesn't, there could be years before I fight again. What do you think a warrior is supposed to do during peacetime?"

"It will last... for a little while, granting warriors a well-earned rest, but that is all. Eventually conflict will break out once again. it is foolish to believe that it won't."

Teresa turned her gaze back to Soma. "A warrior will never know when they will be needed next. She hones her abilities, stays in shape and keeps her fighting instincts for the day when she must draw her blade again," the hybrid answered. "Nothing is more shameful than a warrior that has allowed herself to become obsolete."

Soma nodded slightly, keeping her gaze fixed on the third floor. Her friends here had given her what advice they could, but they hadn't grown up with the same experiences she had; they hadn't lived their lives as weapons, kept ready for war at all times. It sounded as if Teresa had, and she understood the fact that regardless of what Soma herself wanted, her original purpose was still being a soldier. That was a fate she couldn't escape as easily as Hinamori claimed.

She was quiet for a moment, then said, "I agree. Thank you."

There was that phrase again. Teresa cocked her head at Soma and blinked.

"Why are you thanking me?"

A little surprised by the question, Soma stared back for a moment before shaking her head slightly.

"It was something I thought about a lot before I came here," she said simply. "I didn't know what I wanted to do after the world united. As much as I wanted to adjust to normal life and live like a civilian, I knew I couldn't."

She paused, turning her gaze straight ahead. "I made friends here who thought I could abandon all of that and do what I thought I loved, but that goes against my purpose. You reminded me."

"You could always cut yourself free; I did," Teresa replied.

Soma started for a moment; she hadn't been expecting that. Teresa had sounded like the sort to take pride in her identity and remain in her Organization. Now she was starting to sound a little like Hinamori had.

"It isn't that easy. There would be nowhere for me to run, and they'd track me down in days. And I'm still proud of what I am; I just wonder sometimes if there's anything else."

"And I am proud of what I am, even though in a moment of carelessness I could become a monster far greater and more terrifying than the youma I kill," Teresa replied. "I am a warrior and will always be one, Soma, but who and what I fight for is a decision that I should be making, not the ones that created me and held my leash."

Her eyes drifted to the building, the wind playing with her hair as she remembered, her voice taking on an almost softer tone. "They would hunt, but it's not a matter of running as much as it is being on the move and finding solace in knowing you are your own and no one else's. Eventually, they catch up, but if you can stand tall and not submit out of fear or resignation, then you'll know it was worth it."

Teresa looked back to the girl and chuckled, a small smile on her lips. "Though since you aren't a monster, things might be different for you. Yes, being the last of your kind is something, but I'm sure humans will treat that somewhat different than they do the most powerful hybrid they've ever created and probably ever will deciding to defy her very makers."

Soma was silent for a while longer. She'd thought, initially, that Teresa's opinion of matters was different from all the others', but it was turning out to be the same after all. She thought just the same as Hinamori and Senna, and Soma was beginning to think all of them could be right. Perhaps she could make a life for herself after all.

But she wasn't going anywhere without the lieutenant colonel, and convincing him to see matters that way might be a little more difficult. Still, it almost felt as if she had found a meaning for her own existence. It was ironic that it had happened in a place like this.

"I'll think about it," she said, and her voice was a little stronger than it had been before.

Silver searched gold for a very long moment.

"Never forget what you are, Soma," Teresa finally said. "But more importantly, never forget that what you are does not determine who you are. We may have been created to be nothing more than a weapon, but our makers made a mistake; they gave us sentience."

Soma nodded. She opened her mouth to say more, but the intercom switched on and her nurse appeared almost instantly.

"Thank you for keeping Maria company, Nina! Come along, M--"

"Soma."

"--Maria, you have a visitor here to see you! I'm sure you'll be excited to meet them!"

Trying to conceal the inexplicable dread she suddenly felt, Soma murmured a quick "Thank you" at Teresa again before she found herself whisked back indoors.

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Day 43: Courtyard, Third Shift

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