Infinity in the Void – Freedom in the Abyss

Charlotte Silvi... my name... 

Charlotte followed Issac down a hallway, personnel on either side keeping an eye on her, hand on the trigger ready to fire. It was kind of excessive, but she understood the reason. Who exactly is he? Must be someone important with this large amount of guard. He walked in front of her, she was pretty sure she can kill him before the guards can act.

"Ask me anything, and I will answer it"

"Anything?", She tilted her head. Issac nodded.

"Then who are you?"

He stopped in his track, her azure eyes met his emerald gaze, and a smile appeared on his face, "Haha, do apologize for my late introduction. As you already know, my name is Issac Apocrypha, the person who wears the Butterfly Wing."

He got closer to Charlotte, invading her personal space and forcing her to take a step back.

"I am the Director of this organization—ah, I cannot tell you the name, that part is classified.", he chuckled, "Any other question?"

Director... what does being a Director means? I can find out more about it later. I have more questions.

she pointed at her chest, at her gemstone, "What is this? Did you implant this in me?"

Director Apocrypha stayed silent for a bit, then he smiled, "Sorry, I was taken aback. I forgot your memory was wiped."

"That is a Gem, an object which held power beyond human understanding. The people who hold these Gems are called Gem Holders. Where do these Gems come from? Nobody knows, they just one day appeared around the world and nearly brought the end."

"So what does my Gem do?", she narrowed her eyes.

to that he shrugged, "We still have no idea since it is still unawakened. But...", he inspects her Gem, starring deeply into the black object, "We are not so sure now"

Unawakened? Did they not see what I did?

Shhh, do not tell them about us~

The faint voice in her head warned, Charlotte decided to stay silent about the black substance she produced in that white room, they might put her in something similar. Speaking of black.

"M-Moving on, do you know anything about the symbols on my arms?", she grabbed ahold of her left bicep, and her eyes landed on the tattoo seen faintly under her shirt.

He shook his head, "We have no idea, they appeared on you a year after the Gem appeared on your body. Ah, forgot to mention, your Gem is a special case as it was the first ever to appear on a body directly, since the appearance of the Gems, they always had appeared randomly, but never on flesh until yours came."

The Director then stroked her right arm before she could react, sending a chill down her spine, "!!"

"This symbol specifically... one of the scientists theorized it was the Compass Rose, an eight-pointed star pointing at each cardinal direction. Or. Something much more sinister, the eight-pointed Star of Chaos."

Chaos... the state of absolute anarchy...

Charlotte ponders for a bit, the Star of Chaos, the Compass Rose. Stars pointed in eight directions, what could it mean?

Hehehehe, you are getting closer~~

That voice again, it giggles here and there.

"Anymore? I am all ears.", Director Issac pats her head, it was surprisingly warm, "No one here will harm you."

Charlotte did not find anything false in his statement. However... that sound too good to be true, there must be certain conditions for it to be true. I will ask more...

"What will you people do to me? What is Project Belial? And what did PD stand for?"

He straighten his back, standing tall before her, the perfect smile still plastered on his face, "I will get into that when we reach your new facility, there it will be more simple to explain what you will be doing in the future."

He turned his back to her and started walking again. Charlotte's image of him changed, she felt so powerless in front of this man, and his aura of comfort which put her guard down made her cautious. If he committed a murder... would he get away with it?

"What exactly will I have to do in Project Belial?", she asked as she followed him.

"Nothing much, just live selfishly."

Live selfishly...That is easy~

The faint voice in her head chuckled. Charlotte found it was somehow true, even if she did not know what the word "selfish" meant. It just felt right...

After a few moments, they stopped at a steel door, two guards stood on either corner holding rifles and wearing shades, they did not appear to be that dangerous as they do not wear any protection. Yet, something in Charlotte told her they are can easily take her down and could end her at this very moment.

The man on the right saluted Director Apocrypha, "Greetings, Director!"

The Director nodded. The guard took out a tablet and presented it to the blonde man, he placed his right hand on it. It shined a faint green light. While all of this was happening, the other guard was keeping tabs on her on top of all the personnel.

It took a minute for the procedure to finish, after the hand scan the guard asked the Director some questions, mostly about things she did not understand. When it was over, the man saluted.

"Thank you for your visiting."

The Director nodded once again. Charlotte knew there was something special about the title of Director, with the respect of many people from his interactions with the guards. He is strong...

Charlotte quietly followed the Director through the steel door. She was met with people wearing lab coats running down the hallway, they all carried in their arms papers, and important documents, the amount varied between people, some has just a few sheets while some carried stacks upon stacks of files.

One of the people in a lab coat approached the Director, giving him a bow before speaking. This person was a woman with a stern look and cold air around her, her brown eyes met with Charlotte's. She felt familiar...

"Director Apocrypha, I am here to bring Charlotte her belongings. Mind if I give them to her?", the way she spoke was a bit rude with her harsh tone.

He shrugged, "Sure."

With the approval of the Director, the woman approached Charlotte with a box in her hands. The box itself was nothing special, the smell coming from it was another matter. She narrowed her eyes at the box.

"Charlotte.", the woman spoke, sternly looking at the white girl. There was something else beyond that strict, unfriendly mask, sadness? worries? why do you hold those feelings?

"These are your belongings, take them with you."

Charlotte took the box, and inspect it carefully before opening it. In it, there was a book, a dictionary to be exact, a white fedora decorated with a black feather, and many other trinkets. She tried to touch the feather, only for her hand to pass through it. It is not real... an illusion— no, a Reverie...

Charlotte took the hat out, putting it on her head with a flick. She did not know why she did that, nor how she can do it so naturally. It was a fact she had power, she had skills beyond what she currently understood of herself.

"By the way, my name is Amelia Wosteria.", she smiled at Charlotte before coming back to her post with other people in lab coats.

"Amelia..." a familiar name... 

Her eyes turned to the Director, "I have another question. What exactly was I a part of?"

Issac's friendly attitude was gone, Charlotte felt an aura of anger coming out of him which made her tense up.

"Your original designation, PD 73-C, stands for Project Darwin subject number 73 3rd Gem. A Project started 96 years ago by a previous Director in order to study the adaptivity of humans.", the anger retreated, going back to his usual demeanor, "Well, it's not a very good place to talk about it here."

Charlotte instinctively looks around. Everyone was avoiding her gaze as well as the others in her group, there was some kind of tension here.

"I see...", she muttered.

Hearing her, the Director continued on his way, prompting the group to continue. Charlotte quietly followed, still observing the people who are avoiding her eyes.

They are scared of you, they feared the consequences of what they did to you...

What exactly did they do to me? And who are you?

She got no answer from the voice, so she left it at that.

The final door opened, it was more simple than she thought as it was a glass automatic door, swinging open as they approached.