My assigned room in the residence was small and tidy. Bed, table, chair, rug, closet. There was also an equipment kitchen and bathroom in the apartment.
Compared to the tiny little room I had less than a week ago? It's heaven.
Cracked walls, water dripping from the apartment above, and flickering electricity. It barely had room for more than a bed and a small wardrobe, and I didn't even had the luxury of placing a desk in any corner.
I have no idea how I could return to it after a month… but till then I'll figure things out. That life, after all, was a safe life where dying in a car accident is a tragedy.
"Now that seems like the luckiest death ever..."
Just a car accident, no trapping in scary places with monsters nor solving bloody puzzles to stay alive…
"How did my thoughts become this dark when it has been two days only?"
A deep inhale filled my chest with an unfamiliar smell. I looked around, trying to know where it came from but nothing— I didn't recognize the source until the moment I looked at my torn clothes, whose owner—me—had clearly been dragged through the mud and left to dry completely.
I want reimbursement for these clothes. They've secured a Class-B Vessel because of me, after all.
"Or maybe they didn't want that to happen?"
I won't be surprised if all they were focusing on was the gems they get after leaving a Vessel. It was a company, and no company preferred social security over its benefits.
'Then maybe there are other institutions that prioritize civilians' safety? Should I search to know?'
"No, no. Nathan. Don't over dive in something you'll leave anyway."
I shook my head, slipped my hand into my pocket, then took out two flash drives and three polished and shiny gems.
The smell came out of the gems. Same as the sweet smell in the forest.
What should I do with it? I had no idea.
The only thing I could think of was the fact that I needed a bath and something to eat; since I haven't put anything in my mouth in the last two days.
When I finished showering, Silas was already sprawled on the couch. Alex wasn't anywhere to see, fortunately.
"First day out of hell?"
I asked. He just nodded.
"Do you know any good places to order food from?"
"There's one nearby, but you can't order from it." Somehow, he managed to set straight. "Let's go together."
"..." I really wasn't in the mood to go out for a meal, but realizing that I didn't know much about the area made me accept. "Fine, in ten minutes?"
"Yes."
In less than fifteen minutes, we were in the restaurant he talked about. Casual, wide, and seemed to be the very favorite place for the majority of our colleagues—
"Our department has a discount here, that's why you see familiar faces."
"Right..."
I didn't comment, although I was less comfortable that way.
"That table looks great,"
"Yeah. Far away"
"You too are here!" A high voice came just before we took our seats. "How's your first day?"
"Can we sit with you?"
"Are you asking after you've already sat?"
Dean and Drew talked in succession. Full of energy despite the fact that they are still in their work clothes.
"Team B gave us a bad time." Silas answered the very first question as he took his seat. "Five Vessels in one day. That was crazy."
"Ours entered 3 unrated Vessels, two were clarified as C and one D. That was luck. Pure luck."
"Just imagine going into A or B Vessels on your first day? How crazy is that?"
I finished my order while they were talking. Didn't say a word, nor put any kind of expression that would make them curious about how bad my day was.
But who am I to escape the radar of the twins?
"Nathan, what about your team? Which team did you choose in the first place?"
"I'm in team E"
"E?" Drew gasped in surprise. "How did they allow you to go there? Don't they think it's a waste?!"
"I'm very comfortable there."
"Still, how come team A's leader didn't play under the table to take you? He is known for poaching promising talents for his team."
Dean's question gave me a knot on the stomach.
"From what I've heard, the black box in the newcomers ceremony was some kind of Vessel itself." Silas spoke, looking at the food they put before us. "Something makes breaking oaths come with dire consequences."
dire consequences?
This company was crazy, no wonder.
"And the paper we picked our team through was an oath. I remember reading a line saying that the chosen team couldn't be changed unless I changed it."
"..."
"..."
Both Drew and Dean looked at each other, then looked at me. As if they don't believe that I've read that.
How come I put my signature in something without reading it? Wasn't it common sense?
"This is your luck, Nathan. Just don't give in to the temptation of gems now and you'll be fine."
"Yes! Although it's not that simple."
With a sign, both stopped talking and focused on their meal. I did that too, while my thoughts was completely a mess.
The food was good, too good, while the place was not. Should I trade one for another? What's more important, a good food or comfortable place?
I couldn't decide.
"Dad, Dad"
"Dad? I want to try it too!"
"Dady—"
…? Dad?
I turned around, trying to figure out which child gave that familiar voice, but nothing. There were no children in the restaurant.
Tightness grabbed my heart all of sudden.
"Did you hear about Adeline?" Dean asked me, taking me out of my vogue. "I didn't see her anywhere today."
"Who's Adiline— ah, the one joined us yesterday?"
"Yes. I've heard rumors about her. Being the eldest daughter of an important person or something."
My team mission was to know everything about everybody but yet, I have no idea about any rumors in anything.
Great start…
"She is the youngest daughter for one of the investors."
"Really? She gave the eldest daughter vibes somehow."
"Is that even something to consider as you decide what to believe?—"
The conversation went smoothly after that between them, while I continued eating in silence when all I could think of was: How?
How did Silas know?!
He was being more and more suspicious when he gave all kinds of information. Yet, no one felt that it was weird?
Being ignorant is something for everyone, but knowing lots of things? No. That couldn't be too easy.
From the beginning, knowing who I was, then the information about the forest we entered, then about the black box oaths... and finally about that woman.
Was it easy to find out about those things and I just didn't know how?
Or was it a real issue?
"Nathan, did you read the group's chat messages?"
"Group messages?"
Which group was that?
"The newcomers group. Didn't they add you?!"
Ah—
I'm being the black sheep, finally!
I'm already experiencing the greatness of being eliminated: I don't have to exchange random compliment messages with others. How beautiful.
"Shall I add you?"
"No please. Just don't."
"As you wish." With a shake of his shoulders, Dean continued. "They are talking about the same thing for the last half an hour."
"What's that?" Silas asked. "The last thing I saw was their uproar over being assigned to teams at random."
Poor people…
"They are all now betting on the identity of the person who accidentally neutralized a Class-B Vessel alone!"
"Accidentally?"
The three of them were looking at their phones, while I kept eating with my face as neutral as I could.
I did nothing.
I'm out of this.
Don't ever look at me.
"The forest house Vessel— how crazy, the one from the D team said that the creature who used to be there vanished, only his hand was found out of the house."
"The other one said that the forest, Class-D Vessel which we have our last exam in, was neutralized too. It's not information to say yet but it's the same person who did both."
Dean and Drew were reading in a loud voice, as if it would help me to understand the situation I'm not being part of.
Surely, their efforts were pretty useless this time, since it did nothing aside from making my hand itch.
"Four minutes and thirty seconds, that's all it took. He or she spent three hours there in total?"
Silas, too, seemed too shocked…
"The majority bet that he's the leader of team A, or one of the 3rd generation beside him. While the rest think that he's likely an outsider, I think that I'm going with the first option, what about you Drew? Silas? "
"The second option seems good for me… if anyone from the inside could do it, why didn't he do it earlier?"
Drew's opinion was good, to the point that made me shake my head unconsciously.
"I can't decide." Silas hummed, then put his phone aside and looked at me, like what the other two did.
"What?"
"Nath— oh"
Suddenly, all the three of them went wide-eyed.
"Nathan."
"It's him."
"Crazy enough— let me bet, let me bet"
"Guys?"
All three phones were opened again, their owners didn't even ask about my opinion. They didn't give me a chance to explain myself either.
Was it written all over my face?
No. I trust my ability to show nothing on my face. That can't be the case.
"When did you even get the chance to do that?"
"Why assume that it's me?"
"It is what it is, Nathan. Anyone can tell."
"That makes no sense."
"Don't over think that. Now, when did you even do that?"
"It was a failure of containment," I sighed, losing my hope slowly. "several individuals got trapped in that too."
"What did you do there?"
"Find the key to the house, then get out without that creature. It can't open the door, even if the key wasn't lost in the first place."
"Wooh, you did think out of the box just like the last time!"
Correction: I have no idea what that box to start with.
"Second time in the same Vessel? How crazy."
"Yes it was." I sighed, and they laughed as if they were witnessing the most unlucky human being on earth.
I, too, felt like I was in such spiral of misfortune—
Especially when that "Dad" in the background of my head was becoming louder... as if the child was calling me.
Out of all humans,
It decided that I'm the Dad.