Chapter 4: Introductions

     After Jack's discussion with Marianne, she summoned a soldier to accompany him to what they called the Briefing Room #3, which was basically a standard classroom with desks, chairs and a whiteboard in front. Of course, the walls were white and windowless to keep up with the plain minimalist theme of the laboratory. There were already around five or so people waiting inside the room, each and everyone of them possessing unnatural hair colors. Jack immediately realized they were all infected by the May Disease. The soldier pushed him inside the room and closed the sliding door behind him

     Jack easily found a familiar face sitting on the back row while waving at his direction. It was that annoying kid from the gate, Iris Seralstin, whose sundress was mysteriously replaced by a frilly maid uniform. Jack had to admit that it suited her neatly tied-up blond hair and graceful sitting posture that held no openings. Maybe she's an actual maid here, he speculated. Curiosity got the best of him as he took the seat beside Iris.

     "Hey partner, welcome to the club. How's life?"

     Jack didn't answer and went straight to the important questions. "Why're you in a maid outfit? You work here?"

     Her face grew grim. "Not really, I just had a little fight with the chef. But on the plus side, I learned how to make custard. And gravy. And pasta, stew, spaghetti, and their all-famous salmonella."

     Jack decided to drop his interrogation, afraid of the horrors he might unearth inside Iris' Box. Many things on the universe were best left undiscovered, his teacher once said.

     Moments later, another familiar blond woman in her trademark lab coat entered the classroom in brisk steps and went towards the whiteboard. She grabbed a marker and began writing her name on it with abysmal handwriting.

     "Morning. I am Professor Marianne Eventide and welcome to the Department of Scientific Advances, where suicide rates are high and pay is low. In the next few months, I will be your god. You eat, sleep, breath when I tell you, and ONLY when I tell you. Listen to me, and you get to live your remaining days here on Earth comfortably, plus bonuses. I may be uninfected, but don't push your luck. Any wrong move — and I swear to myself that you are going to experience hells so unimaginable that you'd rather wish to be placed in those Quarantine Zones. Any questions, morons?"

     There was someone who didn't take Marianne's words lightly. A ear-splitting crash resounded all over the classroom and a delinquent-looking guy with spiky red hair and beast-like eyes stood up, his desk split into two.

     "Oy, who do you think you are, you piece of shit?" he shouted in a threatening voice. "An uninfected like you shouldn't be messing with me!"

     Before Marianne could reply, she was interrupted by another shout from another part of the class.

     "Hey! You shouldn't shout to the professor like that!" This time, it was from a girl with low-hanging blue pigtails that reached her back. Her unwavering lightblue eyes weren't something to be underestimated. "Being selfish won't help anyone but you!"

     "You wanna be mincemeat too, little girl?"

     "I'm not gonna hold back against people like you, you know."

     Literal sparks surrounded the blue-haired girl, while the delinquent's pissed off meter maxed out with veins popping on his head. But before any of them made a move, Marianne broke the tension by slamming her fist on the board. "Shut up, the both of you! And you, meathead, break any more tables there will be consequences."

     "DON'T TELL ME WHAT TO DO!" The hothead hurled himself at Marianne like a huge mass of iron. The scientist calmly stood her ground. As soon as the hurricane was within reach, she pulled out a thin silver card from under her sleeve and caught his punch with it.

     "What the fuck!?"

     The brute's strength magically fizzled away and his bullet-like punch stopped dead in its track. Everybody was dead silent. But it seemed like Marianne's surprises didn't end with just that. 

     "And— rebound."

     It was as if an invisible force took hold of the delinquent's body and hammered him to a once pristine wall. And as expected, he passed out and fell to the ground like a thick flab of meat, leaving his figure imprinted on the wall.

     "You could say that she really drove him up the wall," Iris said with a smug grin. Her sad attempt at a joke was ignored by Jack and the rest of the class completely, making the poor girl retreat in silence.

     Marianne paid the mess(es) no mind and continued her speech. "Now that we have that over with, let's all introduce ourselves." She walked to where the corpse sprawled on the ground and dug her shoe on its head. "This here's Lance Silver. He's one of the few people I yanked from the Quarantine Zones, so do forgive his actions this time. But you're free to kill him if you can, I don't care. Fuck, I don't even care if you start killing each other right now. Anyways, introductions. Let's start with miss bluehead over there."

     The blue pigtailed girl stood up. She wore a chic shirt under a brown cardigan and a short skirt to match. "My name's Klara Constance from the Eastern District of Parea. I'm seventeen years old, and I'm here to save the world!"

     Klara immediately cut her introduction short and went back to her seat. Marianne looked pleased. "Snappy and concise, I like it. Constance's the strongest powerhouse among you all, so think twice before you kill her. Next, miss seaweed."

     A frightened young girl with seaweed-like silver hair stood up next, shaking in her knees like a small animal. She was dressed with nothing but a plain gray dress. She raised her hand for some reason and stiffened up like a frightened goat. "Y—YES! I—Im... lili... LILI! Liselotte... fifteen. I don't know why I'm h—here... mama told me to, but she doesn't really like me... but she said my eggrolls were good... but I don't like eggs... yeahokayI'llshutupnowthanksforlistening." She slammed her head on her desk and hid her face under her hair, steam coming out of her ears.

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     "Shitty but interesting, so I give it a pass. Don't be fooled by Liselotte, everyone. She can both read and fry your minds, so think twice before you kill her. You next, Mr. Glasses."

     "Yes." This time, a tall guy with a cool demeanor stood up, with long dark purple hair and rectangular eyeglasses. He wore a jet-black suit over a shirt of deep blue and was truly what you could call "dressed to kill." 

     "I am Gin. Gin Kazuya, nineteen years old. That is all," he said with a lingering smile.

     His speech was even shorter than Klara's. "Short, but gives a sense of mysteriousness, so pass. For anyone planning to kill Kazuya, he's got an absolute force field that even Klara can't pierce, so think twice. Next... oh shi—"

     "I, am the great Iris Seralstin, fourteen years of age! It's self explanatory, so there's no need to say that I am the bestest at everything around here. I'm a wicked cook as well. Is that all? No it's not, but I can mess with Marianne later."

     "—t. Shit. Somebody please KILL the bastard. Her ability's so stupid, it should be easy to do. She can teleport, but not only must her body go along, she can only do it ONCE EVERY FUCKING DAY. So as long as you can predict where she'll appear — which is usually behind you — you can twist a goddamned knife straight to her heart."

     Iris replied with a smug cocky grin. "If I'm that easy to kill, why haven't you done it already? Oh sorry, I forgot. You're so stupid you can't even follow your own advice, retard."

     "... The problem is, she's also the DPD's most wanted, so anyone who could elude them for so long should be troublesome. But with 67% Lorine Infection Percentage, she's only got four months left to live, so let's hope she dies a horrible death. Take that, you sucker."

     "Yes, very funny. Let's hope as well that you'll live longer than me, considering that stupidity disease of yours at 100%."

     But there was someone who couldn't ignore Marianne's words that easily. Klara Constance stood up once again and protested to the scientist. "D—DPD's most wanted, that Iris Seralstin!? Professor, why are we letting an actual criminal roam free?"

     "I don't know, Miss Constance," Iris answered for the profesor. "It's said that every and all infected humans must report to the DPD's Quarantine Zones at first sign, so it feels hypocritical for an infected not in those zones to tell me where to be right now."

     "W—we're different! I'm here to save the world—"

     "And I'm here to solve world hunger. See, I can make reasons too."

     "You—"

     "SHUT UP, BOTH OF YOU!" Marianne interrupted their quarrel with a shout of her own. "Constance, I know you have your qualms about Seralstin over there. I do, too. But hell if I don't hate the DPD as well."

     "But professor, where's the justice in that?"

     "Rather than bringing justice to the world, our priority here is to ensure that there's a world to bring justice to. And as much as I hate it, Seralstin's services are required to do so. And I need your strength as well. So bear with it, Constance, or you can quit right now and report to the DPD if you want."

     "But—! ... Fine. Saving the world come first."

     Iris tried to comfort her in an arrogant tone. "Heh, don't be mad at yourself, Klara. We're fellow criminals, so there's no need for infighting."

     "And you, Seralstin! Just keep your mouth shut."

     "What wrong did I do?"

     "I don't know, you just look annoying."

     "... Oh."

     Marianne took a deep breath to regain her composure and continue the introductions. "And lastly, Mr. Swordguy. Your turn."

     Jack was met with stares from almost everyone, especially his hair. They were mostly curious about it, as an infected with black hair was never seen before. And that wooden sword with the white sash he kept carrying around his waist added to the mystery. He began his introduction. 

     "I'm Jack Waterfelt, seventeen years old. I'm here because of... a deal I made with Marianne, nothing else. I guess that's it."

     Jack didn't like attention, especially the kind of attention they were giving him. Attention only got him further away from his "problem-free" life. His ears caught the new murmurs going around the class.

     "Is he shy? But his sword looks cool." "S—Sa... nevermind." "Hmmm." "The mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell." "*dead*"

     "Okay everyone, shut up. That introduction was lackluster, but I expected that. Waterfelt here's... special. Any questions about him go directly to me, where I shall move the goalpost until you give up. And remember, he may be weaker than all of you, but his "special skill" can and WILL destroy the pathetic thing you call your lives, so think twice before you kill him."

     Jack cocked his head. He didn't have a special skill. Well, there was that skill, but it really shouldn't be considered as a special skill at all. He decided to roll with Marianne's words after she glared at him to keep his mouth shut. 

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     Marianne Eventide glanced over the team she has assembled.

     Lance Silver, her pawn. Gin Kazuya, her rook. Lili Liselotte, her horse. Iris Seralstin, her crooked bishop. Klara Constance, her queen. And Jack Waterfelt, her king. She has gathered the pieces necessary to play a game against the greatest of adversaries. This historic moment was when the grand plan she has culminated for over ten years begins. All for the sake of one and one objective only.

     "Now that we got that over, are you kids ready to save the world?"

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