6.6.3502, 23:00, Votal, Avalon Park.
In the middle of the seemingly never-sleeping city that was the capital of Panderium, there was a forest.
But it couldn't be called natural as it had been influenced significantly by humans. Originally just another patch of a vast forest, it had been absorbed as Votal had grown.
Its sheer size made it hard to believe that artificial structures surrounded it.
In contrast to the rest of the woods, it hadn't been cut down to make space for houses or roads. As such, a giant area of green now adorned the city's center.
This had happened because the Pentilon of Panderium, Avrien Avalon, had decided that with the capital's seemingly endless growth, a park should be built. And so the Avalon Park came to be.
That decision now lay 400 years in the past, and the current Pentilon was still an Avalon. The control over a country seldom switched hands. Since, unless a royal family was unable to produce a heir or committed high treason, the Zenitan, who ruled the entire continent of Arcanterra, wouldn’t command the replacement of a Pentilon.
In Panderium’s case, the year 2841 was the last time such a change had taken place. Back then the Starfall family was accused of high treason against the Zenitan and subsequently sentenced to death.
However the Starfalls were a rare case, most of the time the lack of a heir warranted the appointment of a new Pentilon. But even that happened very rarely.
Currently, night had fallen over Votal. A diverse array of trees and other plants, illuminated by weak starlight, were gently swaying with the mild summer breeze.
Appearing to be on a leisurely stroll, Blur, donning her usual lab coat, was walking on one of the few paved roads the park boasted.
Hands in her pockets, she casually glanced around before abruptly changing directions and leaving the road.
Her black leather shoes, now stepping on dirt and leaves instead of grey-white stone, she quickly navigated through the woods.
Despite originally being natural, human intervention had reshaped them significantly.
In the past, it would have been an arduous endeavor to traverse the wild forest, but now it was no different than using a dirt road, with the trees spaced out and bushes mostly removed, only kept in specific clusters.
Of course, due to the large area the park covered, it wasn't perfect; occasional blackberry bushes would challenge the orderliness, rapidly sprouting all over the place and obstructing passage.
Blur, standing before one of them, stopped and removed the black leather glove from her right hand.
Nonchalantly reaching out for one of the stems, she made contact with only the tip of her index and activated one of her abilities. The bramblebush instantly curled up like it had been tossed into a sweltering flame, losing its humidity.
After the fluids inside the stems evaporated, something unprecedented occurred as the plant melted in its entirety, opening the way for Blur.
The ability she used was Sear; Mass Heating, although when she used it, it was more commonly referred to as Visage-Swap, due to her unorthodox application of it.
There were other abilities that, just like Visage-Swap, had gotten nicknames like Sear did due to one or multiple members using them in a unique manner.
With the bramblebush out of the way, the pale scientist slid the glove back on and continued onwards.
Feeling the all-so-familiar aching, she produced the usual vial from one of her pockets and quelled the pain.
Accompanied by the neon green flames, she wandered deeper into the forest.
Shortly after, the ground began to rise and she ascended the hill's semi-steep incline like it was flat when suddenly the starlight dimmed.
Blur raised her gaze to meet the target of her current excursion.
The huge dark-brown tree that took up the hill's center stood at nearly 100 meters, its long branches like a canopy hanging over at least half the hill, throwing shade onto it.
Soon Blur reached the peak and scanned the branches, seemingly searching for something or someone.
She didn't need long to spot what she was looking for, around halfway up the tree on a thick branch, which stood at some distance from the others.
There was a slightly darker spot; the difference was negligible, and if she didn't know what she was searching for, even the infamous member of the Arcane Operatives wouldn't have spotted the faint outline.
Without further ado, Blur pushed herself upward by manipulating the air and flew towards the branch with the peculiar spot, her black hair getting tousled by the currents.
During her approach, the outline suddenly moved, and from one moment to the next, a seated figure materialized, seemingly from thin air.
Clad in black silk robes adorned with intricate red patterns, elegantly swung arcs and crosses covered the edges of the garments that didn't leave any part of the body exposed.
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Not even the face was visible since the person wore a bleak-looking mask, hiding their countenance. The mask bore a cover akin to an undulating black sea, water seemingly moving through inexplicable means.
Head turned towards the night sky, the person appeared to ignore the new arrival and continued their star gazing, with their legs dangling down at the branch's edge.
Reaching the broad appendage, Blur released her control on the air and set foot on the rough dark-brown bark.
She was about to speak when she noticed the pungent odor around her.
Her expression shifted into a resigned frown, and she looked at the person with a tinge of sadness in her grey eyes.
“Dupe, could you make a puppet for me?”
Even though the young adult didn't answer, a hazy figure still left her shadow. Quickly turning from transparent to palpable, the figure was the same Dupe that Blur had met at the hideout yesterday. Even the clothes were the same, the layered black robes with the hood thrown back.
Her dull, dark green eyes scanned the pale scientist for just a moment before she started to speak, her voice monotone.
“What brings you here?”
“I wanted to have a chat with the real you, but it seems you're too inebriated for that.”
Dupe's puppet slowly stepped towards her, brown shoulder-length hair flowing down her neck and swaying from the movement.
“The puppets I create hold a one to one copy of my mind and are all interconnected. So there is no difference between the real me and my puppets. Just say what you want to say.”
Blue looked into her eyes for an instant before turning towards the sparkling stars that bathed the world in a subdued glow.
“Even if we, who possess a link to Terex, are blessed with greater regeneration, there is no need to intoxicate yourself and challenge fate deliberately.
“Your puppets may be the same as you on a psychological level, but they can't use your abilities, can they? The only thing they have is your enhanced physique.
“Do you think that will be enough to defend your real body from enemies when you can't even speak properly anymore?”
As the pale scientist finished her critique of Dupe's behavior, the puppet suddenly turned around towards her in robes, shrouding her real self.
The layered cloth ruffled, and the dark figure began to get up, evidently experiencing considerable vertigo.
During this display of extreme drunkenness, the puppet had swiftly dashed to Dupe's side and was now supporting her.
“So you are supporting yourself now; is that what people like to refer to as standing up by yourself?”
Witnessing this comical yet saddening scene unfold before her, Blur began to jest in hopes of lightening the mood.
This comment of hers made the puppet laugh self-deprecatingly. The laugh was uncanny, as it stood in stark contrast to the puppet's or, to be more precise, Dupe's usual lack of emotion.
“You could say that. I'm such an independent individual, aren't I?”
Suddenly, a string of unintelligible words echoed from under the black mask. Then Dupe sagged down, and even the rest of her body showcased signs of going limp.
She appeared to be very close to dipping into unconsciousness, but before that could happen, she abruptly disappeared, and in her stead, another brown-haired, green-eyed puppet materialized.
Blur's expression turned solemn at this sight, and she lamented Dupe's current state internally.
“Do you have another puppet there to take care of yourself?”
The two identical puppets in front of her responded in unison, proving that they were actually the same person and had their minds connected.
“There is a second puppet on standby in my bedroom for these cases. I've already moved to my bed. I should be sober by morning.”
A long sigh filled with frustration left Blur's lips before she started talking.
“You could just get a puppet dead drunk since you can feel what they feel. Why do you insist on intoxicating yourself and endangering your safety by doing it outside?”
This time, only one puppet responded; the other one had stepped away and was now standing at the edge of the wide branch, staring at the ground around 50 meters below.
“What is a beautiful night sky without a proper drink? No matter how realistic it feels to experience things through my puppets, my real brain stays unaffected by the effects of the liquor that way.”
Accepting that the discussion wouldn't lead anywhere, the pale scientist diverted her focus to the puppet standing at the edge.
“That jump will most certainly kill you, if you land head first that is.”
Hearing this, the puppet turned her head away from the abyss and faced her.
“We could walk back to the hideout, but there's no need to. We won't have a purpose for continuing our existence after this conversation has ended. Once it does, we will have to find a way to die as painlessly as possible.”
“Which means you two will live as long as I talk to you. A conversation with the outcome determining death. Since I don't feel like prolonging this I would appreciate if you stand next to each other for me. Painless death. I can do that for you. No need to go jump.”
The puppets appeared to be taken aback for a moment but then set into motion, lining up shoulder to shoulder in front of Blur.
While the pale scientist removed her gloves, the puppet to her right spoke up.
“What made you change your mind? You always refused to clean up my puppets for me.”
“I realized that you experienced every single one of their deaths in their entirety.”
With this, Blur stretched out her arms and gently wrapped her hands around both their throats.
Then their gazes turned absent simultaneously, eyes staring into nothingness, bodies losing all tension.
The pale scientist had severed their brain stems, leading to instantaneous death.
Their demise led to an eerie event, as their bodies lost tangibility and fell into the ground, disappearing without a trace.
Watching this happen without any fluctuation in emotions, Blur slipped her gloves back on and procured a box of cigarettes.
Taking one out of the metal receptacle, she brought it to her lips, the tip of the cigarette suddenly igniting without an obvious source of fire.
She closed the box again and stashed it away before inhaling deeply, causing a cloud of smoke to emanate from its end.
The melancholic atmosphere of the night hours and the still lingering scent of liquor made her recollect old times.
Taking the cigarette from her mouth with her index and middle finger, she exhaled a wave of smoke and gazed upon the stars, her grey eyes gleaming with wistfulness and regret.
Air rippling, she propelled herself upwards, flying past the branches, with the sky as her destination, her arms lowered.
The tree's brown appendages moved past her rapidly, as she accelerated.
Focusing her control on speed, she squinted her eyes, as to avoid the air pressure. Her lab coat pressed tightly against the grey turtleneck, as she left the tree behind in seconds.
She soared towards the sky, her surroundings blurring. Creating a minor illusion, the pale scientist hid herself from possible onlookers.
Continuing to fly, she soon felt the air become thinner and stopped, hovering in midair.
Votal stretched out beneath her, illuminated by the sporadically placed gas lamps that formed a piercing carpet of light, driving out the darkness. The park right beneath her was like a pitch-black abyss in comparison.
Standing above this view and imperceptible to regular sight, she brought the cigarette, whose flame had been extinguished, back to her mouth, reignited it, and continued smoking.
With the air holding her up, she sat down on a non-existent chair, silently observing the city from high above.
During this, her mind wandered to regret-filled memories of the comrades she had lost.