3/19/54
ALEXANDER GALDUR
I opened my eyes and regretted it when my vision began to distort. It looked like the lights in front of me dimmed and changed, swirled and twisted, disappeared and reappeared in seconds. I blinked a few times, my vision quickly clearing up to normal. I slowly rose, but my body was lead, far too heavy for me to raise. Barely lifting an inch from the medical bed I was on, I collapsed on it with a thud. I was still slightly dazed from… why was I here again?
I remember waking up in a similar situation, and I had to stay here and recover from a battle in an alley. I recovered while bonding with resident Anna who was under the guidance of Dr. Whitaker. I talked with Deimos about how I wasn’t a threat in the bathroom, and then, we got changed and went to training. Right, I signed a contract to become a bounty hunter under the command of the DME.
Let’s see… we did a lot of intensive physical training, had a lesson on magic, and then practiced magic. I created a ball of light… then I focused it into a beam. Without care for my surroundings or my own wellbeing, I created a laser from my light magic. My head throbbed at the very memory of it. You know, I am starting to see a trend in my thought process. I. Am. An. Idiot. Why the hell did I do something like that!?
Not only was I putting myself in danger with that idiotic stunt, but who knows what would have happened if my magic went to shit! I could’ve easily hurt the other trainees, and I could have permanently ruined my body… fuck. I could already feel the dread and guilt of my idiotic stunt fill me as I imagined the lecture and scolding I was about to get. My ass would be more flame-roasted than meat at a barbecue. This was going to suck.
The dread filled me when the white curtains opened up to Dr. Whitaker and Anna’s forms. Geez, déjà vu or what? Dr. Whitaker grinned in joy to see that I had already awoken, “I’m glad to say we can add another $10,670 to your debt.”
My already worried expression sunk to hellish horror. More debt? Well isn’t that just great! Not only was I gonna get the scolding of a lifetime, but now I could feel myself slaving away as a bounty hunter till my late eighties. This is a low point. This hurts.
Anna cheerfully smiled, “I’m glad to see you're okay, but I wish the circumstances were better. Well, I would scold you on what you did, but you’re gonna get enough of that when you get back to training. I bet you already know, but the problem you encountered was that you used too much of your magic. Luckily, the magic you were casting was simple, so the chances of a huge miscast weren’t that high.”
I grumbled in dread, “Don’t remind me. Am I good to leave or do I have to stay here some more?”
“You should be fine,” Dr. Whitaker grinned wickedly, “Though going by the recent trend, I expect you and your money to be here soon enough.”
I groaned in another wave of dread. He’s right; I’ll probably be here again. Because of my idiotic stubbornness and my weak magical abilities, I’m most likely going to return here quite a few times throughout my training.
Pushing aside my growing debt problems, I got out of the bed and left for the door. I exited the room, noticing I was still in my equipment. Another groan escaped my lungs, quickly turned into a surprised yelp when I felt a hand on my shoulder. I whipped around, eyes narrowed, only to see Deimos with a hand pulled back at my over-the-top reaction. He nervously laughed at the possible threat I was in my surprised state, “Hey, uh, calm down. Are you okay?”
I nodded hesitantly, “Yeah, I just need to return this equipment.”
“Alright, I’ll follow you back.”
“Why?” I couldn’t help but question the choice.
Deimos clarified, “I need to keep an eye on you. While the equipment isn’t important, I need to make sure you do the right thing with it.”
“Then why did you tell me? If I know you’re going to watch my every move, I’ll just behave a certain way around you and behave another way when we’re separated.” I countered.
“What do you suggest I do then?” Deimos asked.
I suggested, “You have illusion magic; I saw you fight, can’t you just turn invisible?”
“You aren’t supposed to use magic just anywhere. Especially, not just in any random area in the DME.” Deimos explained.
“Okay, then you could have just stalked me. If I go in and come out empty handed, I returned the equipment, if not, then I’m untrustworthy. Easy.”
“I could’ve, but I need to try and keep up appearances. I’m not the most well-liked around here.”
“Whatever, let’s just head to the lockers.” I surrendered. We proceeded to leave for the locker rooms where we quickly put our equipment in a basket for used apparel. We walked out, and I realized I had nowhere to go. Attempting to clarify my confusion, I turned to ask Deimos, “Where am I supposed to go now? I don’t really have much of a place to stay.”
“Well, for your time here, there are dorms for people to stay in. I live in one of these dorms, and as I was the first person to make contact with you, my superiors have seen fit that we share the room.” Deimos announced with an exasperated sigh.
While slightly offended, I could see why he wouldn’t be too happy about this. I was a dark magician, and in a normal person’s eyes, I couldn’t be trusted. I, similarly, didn’t trust Deimos very much. Sharing a room with a DME ranker wasn’t the most calming of situations. Who knew, maybe in the middle of the night he would believe I’d shown myself as a threat, and he’d slit my throat where I lay. However, I didn’t have much of a say as denying this could only be seen as suspicious to others.
Following that train of thought, “In that case, I guess I’ll be staying with you for a while.”
“I guess you will,” Deimos sighed once more, “I’ll show you the way to the dorms.”
DEIMOS DUST
As I led Lucas, if that was his real name, down the halls of the DME, going down the winding hallways and maze-like structure of the building, I could only feel unease at his presence. I couldn’t say I was much of a fan of living with a dark magician, no matter how they acted. At least it’ll only be until his training is over, though, that could take a while based on his current abilities and actions. He was sent to the medical bay after about fifteen minutes of magical training, but he did manage to melt metal.
Honestly, I didn’t know how things were going to go with him, and I could only be worried that he was sharing a room with me. In the middle of the night, he could slit my throat and run away in the darkness. It’d be easy. I turned back to look at him, glancing at him with a barely turned head. He was nervously looking around, eyes darting back and forth, taking in and preparing a reaction for everything he saw.
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We walked down the halls before I heard the familiar call of a very annoying coworker, “Hey, Lucas!” I turned to my left, looking down the hall there, to see a waving Fred. A big smile was plastered across his face, but like always, his eyes glared and narrowed at me with unearned hatred. He sauntered over to me, towering above like always, but then he noticed Lucas. His focus shifted, studying Lucas to tell if he was friend or foe, prey or predator. In the end, his eyes simply acknowledged he existed, represented by the question he asked next, “Hey, who’s your friend here?”
I put on a fake smile and let my eyes show my real emotions, “This is Lucas, the person who helped me with that ARO member.”
With newly piqued interest, he refocused on a nervous Lucas, “So you’re the guy that helped out Deimos! It’s great to meet you!”
“And it’s a pleasure to meet you too.” Lucas said with a slight bow.
Fred let out a small laugh before glaring at me, “I’m glad you helped out Deimos here; I’m not sure how he would’ve held up in a fight.”
“O-oh, yeah?” Lucas stuttered, seemingly surprised by the sudden insult, “Well, from what I’ve seen, Deimos could hold his own and then some. He was the main reason we won, I just happened to be there.”
“Really? I never really believed Deimos had it in him, but I guess everyone needs one bound of luck every now and then.” Fred retaliated.
“Sorry, but I’ll have to agree to disagree.” Lucas settled, glaring at Fred. I didn’t know why, but Lucas was defending me. Fred clicked his tongue in dissatisfaction showing he clearly wanted to get me out of Lucas’s favor. Having his plan failed, he stormed off past us, making sure his large body pushed us aside.
Lucas sighed, “What’s with that guy?”
“That’s Frederick Goldman; He’s always like that,” I replied, “He was the youngest person to become a ranker in the DME until I came around.”
“So it’s just greed, yeah?” Lucas watched with a frown across his face.
“Yeah, I guess it is.” I nodded in agreement, “Though, thanks for defending me. You didn’t have to.”
“I didn’t have to, but I like you more than I like that other guy.” Lucas clarified.
We both shared a small laugh before a growl from Lucas’s stomach interrupted us, and he shyly admitted, “Heh, sorry, I’m a little hungry.”
“In that case,” I smiled, “I know a pretty good place for food; how do you feel about Sri Lankan food?”
“I haven’t had it before, but I’m open to new ideas.” Lucas smiled.
ALEXANDER GALDUR
We left the DME building. Looking back, I noticed it was large; it was mostly rectangular-shaped with two wings jutting from the left and right and a large glass dome in the middle part. Past each wing of the building, a large complex and another building stood behind it.
The DME building stood at three floors while the complex past the right wing appeared about double that. The building behind the left wing appeared to be one floor taller than the DME building at four floors. I turned back to face Deimos, only to see that he was waving at me with one hand on the open door of a car, “C’mon, hop in.”
A wave of hesitance and nausea came over me as I walked over, opened the passenger door, sat in the seat, and buckled the seatbelt. While the orphanage and hospital helped me get past my fear of cars from the crash, I still found it unnerving being in one. I gripped the door and the seat, preparing myself as Deimos turned the key. The car turned on with a rumble and slight hum. Deimos pressed down on the gas and drove us away from the DME and towards the city.
We rode in silence except for the radio of the car; the radio talked about magician scientist named Dr. Davis. Dr. Davis had space magic which allowed him to teleport objects through space. His magic was able to auto-adjust, following the constant movement of the Earth, our solar system, and the Milky Way. They were able to attach probes, cameras, and other things, all recording in slow-motion onto the things he teleports, so they could view what happened. At this point, it was far too much for me to even come close to understanding, so I just lost myself in thought.
The car pulled into a parking garage, and I was led to the restaurant by Deimos. We stopped at a place called Sri Lankan Burrow. It was simple and not very attractive looking, but when Deimos opened the door, the delicious smells of all the food hit me. I could feel myself salivating at the smell, and when we sat down at a booth seat, a whole list of options to choose from were presented on the menu. Deimos laughed at my clear bewilderment and indecision, “I suggest the fish curry with rice. It’s quite good and not too expensive. I’ll pay for the meals, so don’t worry.”
“Alright, in that case, I’ll have the fish curry and a Diet Coke.” I replied.
Deimos grimaced, “Why does everyone like Diet Coke? I find Coke Zero is much bett-”
Deimos was interrupted by the appearance of our waiter. He walked up to us with a clipboard in hand and asked in a peppy tone, “Hello, I’ll be your waiter today; my name’s Lakshan. Do you know what you’ll be ordering, or do you need a moment?”
We glanced at each other, nodding slightly, before Deimos turned to Lakshan and answered, “I think we’re ready. I’ll have medium fish curry and rice with a Coke Zero.”
Medium fish curry? There was an extra part!? I felt social awkwardness hit me at that moment, “Yeah, and I’ll have, uhh, the same, I guess.”
“Alright then,” He nodded, still keeping peppy and happy, “Two medium fish curries and two Coke Zeroes; I’ll have your order out right away.”
I tried correcting him, “Wait, no, I’ll have a Diet Coke.” However, he had already walked away to the kitchen. I could feel Deimos’s pitying stare, but he turned his head away before I could turn back to face him. I sighed in disappointment even though I hadn’t had Coke Zero before, but I wasn’t confident it could hold up to the masterpiece that was Diet Coke.
We waited in awkward silence, neither of us sure of how to break it without it feeling forced. After a while, I saw Lakshan come back to us, tray in hand, steaming bowls and chilled drinks on top. He arrived at our table. The curry smelled heavenly with the fish and creamy base served on top of fluffy white rice. I gulped down my saliva and waited patiently for the food to be served to us.
We were given a fork and spoon to eat the meal. I turned to grab my drink, took it in my hand, and had a hesitant sip. It was interesting. It was different from Diet Coke. While Diet Coke tried its best to taste like Coke, Coke Zero could’ve been its own drink. It was refreshing and wasn’t overpowering with sugar. In other words, it was great. I took another drink from the Coke Zero, this time more of a gulp than a sip, trying to get in as much of the sweet nectar as possible.
I parted my lips from the drink, bringing it back to rest on the table. I then focused on the main point of the meal: the fish curry and rice. It was served on one plate, the fish curry resting on top of the rice. I brought my spoon to the dish and scooped a chunk of the now-orange-tinted rice. Bringing it to my mouth, I closed my mouth. The curry was spicy and tangy, but the rice was there to bring the levels of heat down, mellowing it. All I can remember after that was vacuuming the meal down my gullet and being led back to the car by a similarly satisfied Deimos.
The ride back was silent but comfortable, neither of us knowing what to say, but neither of us wanting to say anything. We arrived back at the DME and headed past the right wing of the DME’s main building and towards the complex. We were allowed in after fiddling around with guards and a key card, and on the third floor, we entered room 386. The room had one main room, a combination of a kitchen, a dining room, and a living room. I saw Deimos taking his shoes off and putting them in a cubby next to the door, and I copied the actions, trying to be respectful.
There was a hallway heading down leading to two rooms. Deimos turned to me and said, “Your room is the one on the right. There’s a bathroom and walk-in closet in there as well.”
I nodded and smiled at him, “Thanks for letting me stay here.”
“It’s just another way to keep an eye on you,” He replied, “but it’s also a way of thanking you for helping me with that ARO member and for defending me against Fred.”
“It was no problem.” I responded, smiling. I then walked to my new room, opened the door, closed it, and jumped on the bed. My eyes flickered closed being I was quite exhausted despite having rested not too long ago. My mind slipped into the pleasant feeling of natural rest, and I accepted it with joy.