Acrid Air
The air I was smelling was too clean for my taste. I was now inside a quarantine chamber. The wall and the floor were all white and I was in my birthday suit alongside Kei who was sitting on the corner of the wall hugging her regenerated legs. It was where the light was warmest here.
After dealing with the demon, we got quarantined by the Bureau, examined, and tested. I had spoken to four priests and two scientists this day alone. It had been a week since then and I had grown accustomed to it.
The comprehensive physical examination, blood tests, urinalysis, ECG, vision and hearing tests, chest X-ray, cancer screenings, bone density test, immunizations, and other things were so tiring. Don't even get me started on the purity rituals and litanies of the sanctified.
It didn't help that they were locking us inside a chamber to study us further before releasing us. I didn't feel right without a castor at hand. I felt extra naked.
"Stop looking."
"I am not?"
"You're not functioning well. Can it even stand up?"
I leaned on the wall. I gave up on covering myself as Kei gave up on it as well.
"Your legs are… longer."
Kei smiled.
"They told me it was better to grow my legs back again so they amputated it and grew it back. You know what's the problem with regeneration, A?"
"You need to train it back."
"Exactly. That's the problem with it. So I had it installed with augments now."
It's a common tactic according to Kei how Anomalies drop people from the sky to watch them splatter on the ground.
"How's your back?"
"Flawless. Got rid of old scars too. Bastards got rid of my black dye though."
"It's not so bad. White kinda suits you."
Kei snorted. I laugh and asked again.
"You think they'll let us out today?"
"Depends if they are satisfied. Demons are subversive creatures and they can wear the skin of a human. I heard that from the twenty five there were three who took on the skin of the agents."
I wonder if she was using the light to obscure my vision. It was cold here, but not cold enough that I feel like warming myself.
"Going quiet again?"
"No, just enjoying the sights."
"Really? Well, enjoy it while it lasts. But A, you really know how to bring down a woman's confidence. I was preparing for it, you know?"
I looked at the cameras hidden like pin needles on every corner of the room. She follows my eyes and blows her nose.
"I don't want to star in a porno."
"Oh, I agree. But it's insulting somehow. Hurts my pride... but oh well, guess that makes you decent?"
I had been holding back. For the past few days all that I had been dreaming was me becoming shameless enough to approach my boss and push her down on the floor. I try not to think about it. Forcing that self-discipline into my veins.
"What? Your eyes went glassy there for a moment."
My face hardened and I stare directly at her. Short hair. Naked body with half of it bathed by the light she's close to. Because she took the regeneration treatment. Most of the scars she was sporting when I met her are gone.
"W-what?"
"Please stop teasing me, Ma'am. I'm really holding myself back here, you know?"
She gave me a look that I have no idea what means and was way too long for my comfort before smiling.
"Alright, I get it. Geez, it's not like we have any fun here."
She bit her lower lip before turning away.
I got into a meditative stance for the next few hours. Kei fell asleep near the light. Seeing she was sleeping soundly, I got into the farthest corner of the room and took a stance.
My heart races. I start with light stretches, loosening up my muscles, and taking deep breaths to calm my nerves. Fully assuming a fighting stance, fists raised, and feet firmly planted.
I begin to move, my body starts to flow with a rhythm. Jab, cross, hook—the movements come naturally to me again. The sounds of my fists cutting through the air fill the white room, creating a rhythmic symphony that I had almost forgotten now without a castor dangling on my waist.
With each punch, I could feel my focus sharpening. All external distractions fade away as I immerse myself in shadowboxing. My mind becomes a blank canvas, and my body took control. All the muscle memory that I forgot holding.
Time seems to slow down, and my senses become heightened. I am completely in tune with every muscle, every fiber of my being. I felt the sweat forming on my forehead, but I pushed through, lost in the euphoria of the moment.
My breathing becomes steady, matching the rhythm of my movements. I'm no longer aware of the room around me. It's as if I exist in this white void, with nothing but myself and the shadows before me.
As I execute combinations, my mind becomes a calm sea of tranquility. The repetitive motion lulls me into a trance-like state, where my body becomes an extension of my thoughts and intentions.
In this white room, I find solace and escape. The worries of the outside world are left at the door, and for a brief moment, it's just me throwing my punches in this white void.
With every punch, I release stress, fear, and doubt. It's a cathartic experience, a way to express myself physically and emotionally. The intensity builds, and I could feel the power surging through my veins.
Finally, as I slow down my movements, I return to reality, feeling a sense of renewed discipline. I stand there, basking in the afterglow of the experience, thankful for the quick therapy that shadowboxing in this white room provided. Though I'd prefer to do this with clothes on.
I set my eyes to the walls. Maybe I spent too much time in this white void that I can't hold myself back. Being trapped in a white room with a naked colleague had been too much. Every self-discipline that I enforced on myself was being tested.
I throw a punch at the white walls. The walls remain unscathed. Curiosity fuels my desire to explore further, and I unleash a barrage of rapid punches, each one stronger than the last. The room comes alive with the sound of my blows, but the walls, seemingly indestructible, held firm.
With newfound confidence at its sturdiness, I took it up a notch and slowly I was lost. This body has been untrained and seeing it go to waste made me realize how lacking it was in training. I need this body to get back into shape.
I continued punching the wall blindly.
I didn't know what I was doing when suddenly a hand slapped the back of my neck.
"If you continue doing this, they might give us another week and by that time I'm sure we had pornos all over the net. So stop, will you?"
"Sorry. Can you back off?"
"Stop okay, you're forgetting that you're naked and as much as I enjoy seeing you dance around punching a white wall. Please be reminded that you don't have pants on, Assistant."
She bit her lip and looked down at my privates before looking away.
"I get it. Please back away."
She slapped me on the back hard and I could hear her walking back to the corner.
I then became a deaf and blind person for the next few hours.
She did not make it easy.
Eight hours later they threw our cleaned clothes on alongside the case where our weapons were. I wore my slacks and shirt on. They even cleaned my coat and I didn't have to worry about sending it to a laundry station.
Kei's wearing a white long-sleeved shirt tucked into her black pants. She notices my gaze and then grins.
"What? Not familiar with me being dressed now?"
"When will I get my pay, Ma'am?"
Kei snorted and tapped her cane on the floor. She gave one of the officers in full gear the eye before they went and handed over the rest of the gear.
I see Elvira walking alongside Eta who was glaring at her with daggers in her eyes. Elvira gave me a grin.
"So, you think I can watch you two somewhere on the net?"
Kei glared. I shut my mouth and stood on the side.
"What? You two didn't do shit? Uh, yours not working, Assistant?"
Kei crossed her arms.
"It means he has decency."
"Or you're not as pretty as you like to think you are sis."
"I'll give the wall behind us another dent if you can't shut the fuck up."
Elvira glances behind the wall and grins.
"Anyway, pay's already in your accounts. A pleasure working with you two again."
She left the containment area. Eta's face calms down and she gives Kei a hug.
"Ah, it's been a while, Boss! You two, A!"
"Hey."
Eta breathes out.
"That was a hellish week being stuck with that woman. She keeps trying to provoke me. Bitch. So, did you two have fun? You do know that they keep records, right?"
Kei grinds her teeth.
"Eta. We did not have sexual intercourse. And why do you think it would happen?"
"Eh, well, when a man and a woman are inside a white room without anything to do other than stare at their naked bodies. Something must have happened, right? Wait, really? None at all."
Eta's look of disappointment was somewhat pissing me off, but I ignored it and turn my attention to my phone. It's off obviously and thankfully batteries were half-full. No messages or any notifications.
The dimenbag that I own now makes it convenient for me to put my swords away, but I guess it's just my style to let my castor hang on my waist.
We left the containment center and got into a barbecue shop where we ate in a booth. Eta keeps teasing us for an hour, but since we weren't giving her the satisfaction of reaction, she gave up on it.
I'll be lying if I didn't find Kei attractive. She's a pretty woman. Smart and cunning enough to have an office of her own and clearly knows how to fight. She also hunts Anomalies for a living, which makes trying to get to know her hard.
CHANGYE was a harsh place. I almost got squeezed into concrete a week ago and maybe it's logical to have fun because of it being a harsh place. Indulge in debauchery as much as I can before I perish. Life's so fleeting and fragile in this city. The tech can bring your limbs back, make you stronger as long as you have the money and yet it seems like some monster might just appear and tear you apart. You spend your life seeing horrors and abominations and fighting monsters. That you begin to see the world in a dull light sometimes.
My time in Kei's office has been heaven compared to the previous companies I've worked for. And it's because it's heaven that I don't want to mess up and ruin it because I can't control myself. Professionals should have standards and I rather keep my manners with me.
I'm honestly regretting it. Maybe I lost my spine somewhere or maybe I just don't want to see myself in pornos, but I think I made the right choice. I would have a hard time eating the barbecue in front of me if I did.
"Whatever happened to the demon heart by the way? After everyone hammered it with a stake."
I asked, eating a big piece of barbecue meat. Kei sips on the side broth she ordered and wipes her mouth with a tissue.
"OB's got the church at it. They didn't even have time to study the demon when the church's hounds got the sniff."
"You think the Okinawan Devil is banished then?"
"If they are telling the whole truth. It's crossed out on the list of devils active in the world."
"Ohhh! Is that why we having a BBQ, Chief?"
"Yeah. Also because I need some damn real food after eating nutrient paste for a while. God, how does anyone live a life eating only nutrient paste?"
Outside of the barbecue place, I saw a salaryman wiping his face under the heat of the sun. The salaryman inhaled and moves forward, then it was just a continuously long line of men in business attire going to their work.
Behind the smell of the barbecued meat I can smell the acrid air of Changye again.