Before i knew it, i was in a hospital.
funny right? I can't even remember the fight. All i knew was that i lost.
'I want to leave' i thought to myself, but unfortunately, i found myself cuffed to the hospital bed.
"What the hell?"
"You should be lucky i didn't have them gag you"
A familiar voice, it was the detective, in an arm cast, it would seem my eyesight got enhanced cause i could faintly read the small text, written on the nameplate on his chest,
'Abstentine Koshva'
"Good god you should thank your parents"
"You look exactly like your name"
"Is that an insult or a compliment, based on our limited interaction"he said while putting emphasis on his cast. "It feels like the latter."
"No it was a compliment, the closest i could give to one"
"Hey kid, you wanna become a ment?"
i felt like he was calling me a slur, but i'd heard riko say it aswell?
"What's a ment?"
"Right, i forgot. You're an anomaly.
EY, before you get ready to fight again, I'm not calling you a slur, it's what you people are called"
"You people?" first time i'd heard that
"Yeah, you people. Transcended Humans." "Did you not go through the tutorial?"
"It got interrupted"
"Interrupted? That's never happened before, it was even tested. No matter how much the physical body was put through the effect never stopped the tutorial, just delayed it until after when it all hit at once."
"That can't be. The kid you met, riko i think his name was. He just shook me until i was out of it. "
"Ha ha ha ha. Ofcourse, no way you're this strong just out of the tutorial. I thought either you were stronger on earth, or started with a law.
I looked in confusion, tried my best to hide it but it was fairly obvious."Right, you don't know what a law is.
A law is basically a god's constant, something that will affect the world around them no matter what. Like the law of gravity. As long as it exists, that law will apply to everything.
"So how do i get a law?"
"A law is not something, you can buy or train to achieve.
Think of it as a manifestation of your soul."
'Manifestation of my soul my ass' "No way you came up with that explanation on your own."
"It might've come from my superiors"
"Is are your superiors teenagers or something"
"..." no way.
'No way' "No way"
"It's a bit unfortunate yes"
"But thankfully she is capable"
"KOSHVAAAAA"
"Oh god, fuck. HEY, help me quick" I'd only seen someone this scared when they were about to die
i heard a loud bang down the room, someone had kicked the door in. Mr. detective over here, ... hid under his bed. The 47yr old, hid under his bed.
"Where the hell is he! Where's the old bastard!"
A kid, couldn't have been over 20, just broke the door down. She looked like bubblegum candy, but even i was a little scared of her, more worried for him
"You!, where is he!" I didn't say a word, just slowly pointed my finger downward.
Her gaze followed my finger. Her jaw, which had been set in a furious line, went slack for a half-second before the anger returned, tenfold. It was impressive, really. The sheer voltage of her rage.
"Abstentine Koshva, you worthless son of a nebula, get out from under that bed right now before I drag you out by your cheap metal hand!"
There was a squeak of springs and the clatter of the prosthetic hand against the bed frame. Slowly, looking more like a chastised child than a 47-year-old detective, Koshva emerged. He tried to smooth down his coat, a gesture that was so utterly pathetic it almost made me feel sorry for him. Almost.
"I can explain, Val-" he started.
"Don't 'Val' me," she snapped, her voice dropping to a dangerously low temperature. "The Director wants an immediate report. The Anomaly—a potential Law-Holder, mind you—gets into a civilian brawl, damages municipal property, and you decide the best course of action is to cuff him to a bed and play hide-and-seek? Are you trying to get yourself reassigned to scrap-hauling detail on Xanthias?"
She moved closer to him, and the air in the room seemed to thin. Her pink hair was almost offensive in the sterile white room, but the power rolling off her was anything but. This wasn't just a teenager with an attitude. This was a predator.
"He hit me first!" Koshva protested, his voice cracking.
"And you, a Class 4 Ment, couldn't subdue a fresh-out-of-the-tube Transcendent without getting your arm broken and your ego shattered?" She flicked his cast with a finger, producing a dull thunk. "Pathetic."
I just watched, my cuffed wrist resting on my thigh. This was better than theatre. Back on Earth, this kind of dressing-down happened behind closed doors, with hushed whispers and the threat of a promotion denied. Here, it was public, primal. I respected the efficiency.
Then she turned to me. Her eyes, which I'd expected to be some bright, matching color, were a flat, unsettling grey. Like storm clouds just before they break.
"And you," she said, her voice losing its heat, replaced by something worse: clinical curiosity. "The one who interrupted his own tutorial. The one who doesn't know what a Ment or a Law is."
I decided to play dumb. It usually worked. "Am I getting a tour of the city after this? I was promised a guide."
A ghost of a smile touched her lips. It wasn't friendly. "You're an anomaly. An irregularity. The universe doesn't like anomalies, Dokja Choi. It likes predictable outcomes. My job is to either figure out what you are or file a report recommending your erasure."
"Erasure?" Koshva squeaked. "Val, the Director said to bring him in for questioning, not—"
"I am the questioning," she said, not taking her eyes off me. She raised her hand, and for a second, I thought she was going to slap me. Instead, she just snapped her fingers.
The cuff on my wrist popped open.
"You're free to go," she said, taking a step back. "But you're coming with me. And you," she glanced at Koshva, "are staying here to contemplate your career choices. Don't leave this room until I say so."
"yes ma'am."
She just turned and walked out, the door sliding shut behind her with a soft, final snap of her fingers.
I sat there, rubbing my wrist. Koshva stared at the door, looking utterly defeated.
"Okay," I said, breaking the silence. "I'm starting to think the welcome wagon here is a lot more aggressive than I was led to believe."