Chapter 3: Cyanide Tastes Like Sweet Almonds to Me

Do you know my name? At this point, you’re probably thinking I’m Robin… I mean, I’ve been narrating the story as if I were Robin, even switching tenses, but I’m not Robin in the strict sense.

I am Robin, but I’m not Robin. And I know this story completely because I’ve lived it—through the real Robin, the main actor in this theater.

It’s worth clarifying to avoid confusion. After all, even if I seem like Robin, I’m not exactly him. I purely narrate what he lived… and also what he doesn’t remember… and those details he doesn’t know because he wasn’t there.

So the question arises: who am I, really? Well, I’m a character in the play—not in a metaphysical sense, literally someone who will be known in the future as having taken part in the events that led this world to… become what it is today. The peculiar situation of my world has allowed me to see the details in their proper order, and that’s why I can narrate from Robin’s perspective, by being him, like an outside observer to the events.

My sole purpose is to create a record that stores the details that led to the catastrophe to come and that, in some way, may be useful for the future.

So, continuing with the story, Ien Reed kicked the monster that had been tormenting New Hope Hospital. The monster in question—a hooded man with his face covered by a mask straight out of a hacker movie—was slammed against the wall at the end of the emergency corridor, about 40 meters (ca. 131 ft) away from where his attacker stood.

“The bearer of the ten-link stone…” said the assassin, who hadn’t killed anyone in New Hope in this new loop yet. “Aide. Change of plans. If we have to face her, don’t worry about the target dying.”

“Loud and clear, my beloved! I mean, my beloved captain! We’ll turn this place into a cemetery!” came the enthusiastic response through the communicator from a girl ready to commit genocide. “To death, to death. On Aness’ bridge, my sweet lady will die ♪.”

The hooded assassin, rising from the wall, was already scheming his next move: “We need to prepare the way for Nesty…”

In the middle of the intersection, Ien held a kung fu stance with one leg raised.

“Ieeeen!” I shouted from the bottom of my chest. It was an outburst of desperation. “You’re incredible!”

I ran to her, hugged her tightly, and buried my face in her chest (a necessary measure to heal my soul), ignoring the pain that the movement caused me.

“Hey, Robin, now’s not the time for that,” said Ien, stroking my head and wiping tears from her eyes. “Oh, that's sweet of you.”

“It’s just… I don’t know…” Emotion choked my words, but after a breath, I went straight to the point. “What are you, Ien? And what am I? I recently woke up, and it feels like...

“…that you have powers. Yeah, I know. I promise I’ll answer all your questions, but right now we have to focus on keeping that bastard from getting you.” She pushed me away and looked me in the eyes. “Robin, you, me, and my teammates all awakened these time- and space-related abilities… and it’s all connected to the terrorist attack you were a victim of. The guy we’re facing is the same. We’ve run into him before. He’s the bearer of the twelve-link stone.”

“Twelve-link stone?” I asked, confused.

“I’ll put it simply: the number of links refers to the limits of the ability. I know it sounds weird, but for now you just need to know he’s an enemy, and I have to stop him before he does something terrible.”

“Alright, Ien. No more questions. I'll do as you say.

“Run. You’re not ready to fight him. Get inside the shelter and wait for it to be over… and… your wound… I think it’s as bad as I thought. Can you… walk?”

“Now that you mention it…” I grabbed my side where the bullet hole was, and although it hurt, no blood was coming out anymore. “It looks like… it’s closed.”

Although I had never been shot before, it was clear that a bullet wound does not heal itself.

“Side effect of the stones, along with your enhanced physical abilities.” Ien’s worried face turned serious. “If you’re okay, then there’s no time to lose.”

I wanted to tell her no, to stay and help her however I could, but that would be denying my weakness and fear. I couldn’t do anything else, so I nodded. Then…

“Hello, hello, seashell!” a sadly familiar voice shrieked over a loudspeaker. “Don’t take it the wrong way, but my sexy captain and his huge ‘dick’ ordered me to exterminate you, bearers!”

It was the crazy flying drone girl, the one who had been chasing me since before repeating the past.

“Ien!” I shouted, but she had already grabbed my arm.

“Get them away from the innocent people! It’s coming for us!”

The shelter was next to the emergency exit. A room with stairs leading down to a basement, and well… they were all piled up there. I prayed that crazy girl wouldn’t focus her attention on them.

“I’ll make tons of new holes in you, bitches!” Without waiting, the ship’s weapons opened fire.

We started running down the west hallway with our lives on the line. The drone’s bullets were high caliber; the rate of fire wasn’t like a conventional machine gun. But the destructive power… it tore chunks of wall the size of a human head. Luckily, these enhanced physical abilities were enough to dodge the attack.

“That’s it, that’s it! Keep running! Don’t stop! You’re not heading into any trap! Hahaha!”

“Did you hear that last part!?” Ien asked.

“All I know is not to look back!”

We kicked the door to the next wing hard.

“There’s nowhere to hide!”

Passing through the door, Ien shoved me aside, saving me from the burst right behind us. In this section, the crazy girl would have to fly over the building to confront us again. That gave us ti—

KRAAAAACK!

The drone burst through the door we just crossed with full force.

“This little toy can do more than fly! Beetle mode activated!”

The drone split its wings into six metal legs, leaving the propellers on its back like a shell. It lifted off the ground and started running towards us.

“I hate spiders.”

“Take the stairs!”

We rushed together into a stairwell leading down to the lower floors, jumping from the railing. Otherwise, we’d have been shredded.

“Yes, yes! Make this chase exciting! I love it!”

Having left it behind, Ien and I emerged into the hospital’s underground parking lot, a wide space full of pillars holding up the building.

“That drone is way too versatile for our own good.”

“No, it’s not a drone. It’s a combat vehicle. See the cockpit? But it’s true, it’s a model I’ve never seen before. Too bad the tinted glass hides the pilot.”

“What’s the difference between a drone and a vehicle?”

“Aaah… that one doesn’t have a pilot? Whatever. My bike’s in hallway D. You’ll have to come with me to the fi—”

KRAAAAAACK!

“Kyahahahaha! With my dear toy, I can get anywhere! With brute force!”

It smashed the parking entrance. Worse than a demolition vehicle.

It kept coming at us, so we had to hide behind the parking pillars.

“Stay still!”

Bullets were eating away at the concrete. Staying there was madness. We had to leave cover and run between pillars and parked cars.

“Kyahahahaha! Kyahahahaha! Hahaha… huh? Not now…”

A bunch of chik-chik sounds announced the ammo was running low. The bullet storm stopped.

“I-it ran out of bullets…” I was pretty exhausted. “Ien, what do we do?”

Behind a green pickup truck, she looked at me with confidence. She had a plan.

“When you become a bearer, you get faster and stronger. That’s why we can smash that thing to bits.”

“To bits…? Brilliant.”

“D-don’t look at me like that. Muu!” she puffed her cheeks adorably. “It’s a simple but effective idea.”

“Alright… why not?”

I nodded without further thought. I’d thrown sanity out the window a long time ago, so following her wasn’t really a problem.

“Robin, charge!”

“At your command!”

With every intention of punching that lunatic in the face, we rushed toward her, right fist drawn back at my ribs… it was embarrassing… I looked like I was about to shout “Jajanken!” like Gon…

“Aaaaah!”

“Idiots. Guess I’ll have to burn through several links!”

“What?!”

By the time I realized it, a bunch of bullets came flying out of nowhere—no, not toward us… toward the damn machine. They came from the walls, the cars, the pillars—everything that had been hollowed out. The same thing that happened in the hospital park.

“Robin!”

“Uoh!”

We started dancing. Yes, dancing. We were improvising a full-blown aerobic routine in a survival style, dodging every projectile until it all ended with Ien sitting on top of me and me upside down. Ever heard of the “monkey inversion”?

“I think she… can rewind things.”

“Seems like it. So the wear-them-down strategy won’t work… Hey, don’t you have any clothes on you? That gown’s showing everything.”

“Nope. I’ve been flashing my junk all day (forty minutes). Could I get a pity hug?”

Ignoring my shamelessness, Ien slid off and yanked my arm to drag me back into cover.

“Assuming someone’s powers is dangerous. She might even be able to heal damage.”

“Then I’ll have to do more than just punch her…”

“Abilities have limits and conditions. Eventually they run out. But the problem is—we don’t know her limits or how her ability actually works. We should try hurting the bearer herself.”

Of course… if she can rewind time, we’re the ones getting exhausted while we don’t even know if it affects her. In the end, the wear-down strategy backfired on us. Maybe… maybe we could turn her ability against her.

“Ien, what if…?” I whispered a crazy idea to her.

“Alright, alright, I think we can try it. Got enough energy left for one last sprint?”

“It’s that… or die.”

“WEEEEAAAPOOONNNSSSS REAAADYYYYY! FIIIRRREEEE!” With all its batteries charged, the drone opened fire on the pillar we were hiding behind.

“Now!”

We both bolted in opposite directions, flanking the drone.

“Sweethearts! Just because you split up doesn’t mean I can’t take you both down at once! These turrets rotate 360, baby!”

Cue another parkour chase.

I leapt onto the roof of a dented sedan, slid under a twisted ambulance like I was playing limbo, and launched myself back up with a somersault just before the artillery shredded it into scrap. No explosion, though. Movies lied to me. As it turns out, automobiles do not spontaneously explode when struck by a Gatling gun.

Ien wasn’t doing badly either—jumping between pillars, cars, and even rooftops. Gravity didn’t seem to affect her as much as it did me. I wasn’t about to fall behind; this was getting fun. Straight-up action hero mode.

“You’re so annoying! My dog’s fleas are easier to kill! Aaaaaaah!”

She launched two pairs of homing missiles, slithering between obstacles. But I dodged them with the flair of an Olympic gymnast: I jumped onto a van to spring upward, letting the first missile zip under me, used the roof as a vault with my hands, and mid-air, I arched my body into a perfect ring. The second missile passed clean through the hoop I’d made, roaring as I froze in a full moon pose. I landed on my feet and threw a salute to an invisible crowd after a perfect 10 routine.

BLAST

BLAST

“I teach classes on Thursdays!” I shouted, laughing.

“Robin, focus!”

Yeah, that feeling of invincibility was starting to get to me.

“Rot in hell, you fucking bitches!”

“She’s run out of insults!”

The game restarted, with her trying to riddle us with bullets and missiles while we ran a QTE on Easy Mode. The turrets moved slower than us, and the missiles wasted far too much time weaving through all the chaos. Needless to say, that mechanical tick's mobility was pretty limited—especially in such a cramped space.

She probably emptied over a thousand rounds in under five minutes, and we were circus acrobats. I swear I saw Ien smile after a backflip.

“You really don’t learn, do you?! Doesn’t matter how many times you pull the same stunt! The bullets will come back to me! I’ll burn more links!”

“Stop yelling what you're about to do; it’s dumb!” After everything that psycho put me through, mocking her was the only pressure valve I had left.

Each bullet began returning to the drone… including the missiles she had launched earlier.

“Ien, now!”

She grabbed one of the parked motorcycles like it weighed nothing and hurled it straight at one of the regenerated missiles just before it re-entered the drone.

“Choke on this, you lunatic!”

BLAST

Direct hit to the missile’s head—blew up right next to the cockpit.

“Aaaaaah! Noooo! My precious toy—!”

Ien’s aim was dead-on. Several parts of the drone scattered across the floor.

“Ah… phew… I hope that was enough. If not…”

The wreckage lay broken. It was still twitching, but it didn’t look flight-capable anymore. Ien and I kept our distance, just in case.

“So now what? We go after the other monster, right?”

“Don’t even think about it, Robin. You’re overestimating your strength. This fight wasn’t directly against the bearer—it was with a machine.”

“Yeah? Well… I still would’ve beaten her. Where was your bike again?”

“Well… it’s right next to the psycho now. In pieces.”

Oh. Right. The bike Ien threw…

“Guess we’re walking?”

“GO… TO… HELL!” A scream from the wrecked drone echoed through the parking garage. “I’ll make you eat the other one’s guts!”

“She really doesn’t give up.”

“Apparently not.”

The rewind ability activated again. The machine piloted by that unknown girl began restoring itself—piece by piece—metal plates snapping back into place, glass reforming, propellers realigning. It was honestly fun to watch… almost magical.

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“I think we should go with the original plan, Robin.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

We both pushed off the ground and ran in circles around the drone.

“What the—?! Huh?!”

Unexpectedly, Ien and I used every ounce of strength we had to smash two more of the parking garage’s pillars—the last ones still moderately intact near the drone.

“What?! No! Noooo!”

“Bye~bye, nutcase!”

As we brought down those pillars, the entire roof collapsed—along with every one of the hospital’s four floors stacked on top.

KRAAAAAAACK

“Aaaaaah! My beloved captain, don’t leave me!”

This time, the drone couldn’t escape. It was crushed beneath tons of concrete.

“That worked pretty well, don’t you think?”

“Totally planned. Did I ever tell you my grandpa was an architect?” —I never imagined I’d use that knowledge— “Hope no one was up there…”

“I activated [Pathfinder] right before the roof fell, so it’s fine. One of the possible routes had me leave you behind and go check the upper floors.”

“You left me to die? Cruel. I’m still shocked I didn’t notice.”

“That’s because the reality that unfolded was the one where you stayed conscious—so there was no spatial adjustment.”

And that’s my angel: Ien Reed. Smiling, with a look of complicity that makes me feel everything’s going to be okay.

…

…

I feel a sick kind of attraction to this woman.

It’s clear to me now.

It’s like I’ve known her my whole life. And I have this strange, creeping feeling that I’ll lose everything I have if she’s not with me.

When did this start…?

When I woke up?

When she got shot?

“Ien… are you… crying?”

***

“There are two significant things you must remember. The bearer of Ten Links always makes the best decisions, and her power can affect the memories of those who are not bearers. Nesty… you and I must seize this chance to eliminate her.”

“Understood, Captain.”

“Order Aide to attack those two. If she fails, I need you ready.”

***

Seeing Ien’s tears reminded me it had happened not long ago.

“This… is nothing, Robin. Don’t… mind me.”

She turned away. I was left with a bad taste in my mouth. Maybe using her ability is painful, and she’s already used it twice in one day.

“Hey, I—”

An explosion behind us cut me off. When we turned around, we saw the roof over the access stairs to the parking garage collapse.

***

“I’ll create a decoy—something that limits their movement. One explosion should be enough to force the bearer of Ten Links to activate her power and spread her [Spatial Nerves] looking for me.”

***

We went on high alert, trying to pinpoint the source of the blast. I feared it was the masked assassin. Ien, on the other hand, remained calm—hyper-focused, but not rattled.

Back then, I didn’t know it yet, but what she did in that moment was something I’d later learn to do myself: activate [Spatial Sensitivity].

By now, you’ve probably figured it out—our powers don’t come from luck or coincidence. They’re born from special stones and the bonds they form with their wielders. These stones don’t just grant abilities—they enhance perception and physical capabilities and push us beyond human limits.

[Spatial Sensitivity] is the ability to perceive how matter curves space.

And when it comes to the stones, that curvature is something else entirely.

Let me explain it in simple terms—a mini physics lesson.

Imagine space as an elastic sheet. Place something with mass on it—a heavy ball, for instance—and the sheet sinks. It curves. That’s gravity: the deformation of space caused by matter. And while we don’t consciously feel it, our bodies are constantly in dialogue with those curvatures.

With the stones, it works similarly—but on another level. Each bearer develops a network of special nerves that grow from their stone and stretch out like threads in an invisible spiderweb. That network lets them sense the spatial distortions caused by other stones—letting them detect, anticipate, and react to the movements of fellow bearers.

“No… nothing…”

I didn’t understand what she meant.

***

“She’ll extend her nerves searching for me. I’ll stay at a safe distance and wait for it to end… and then slow time down.”

***

“You know,” I said, “there’s a countermeasure against time-slowing. Actually, it works—generally—against all bearer abilities.”

Another peculiarity of the nerves generated by the stones is their ability to wrap around the bearer, forming an intangible shield that insulates them from the effects of other abilities.

Simply put, they act as a sensory barrier—blocking or distorting the influence of other bearers’ powers.

For example, if the masked assassin tried to slow time, Ien could activate that defense and continue moving freely through space, unaffected by the temporal distortion. However, each technique has its limits. The shield isn’t infinite—it drains energy from the Links, just like any other ability. Moreover, if the assassin used enough Links—which increase the power and duration of his skills—he might overcome Ien’s resistance and push the effect beyond what she can endure.

“I-Ien?”

And then it activated. The world turned gray again.

The fear returned.

Is there a clearer sign than that?

***

“By gauging the range of nerve expansion, you can estimate how much energy a bearer has left—and how much they’ll be able to move… I still have a fair amount of energy. The real problem is the bearer of Ten Links. No one understands how her ability works… That’s why the best course of action is NOT to stop her before she activates it.”

Ien wrapped her body with nerves and performed a small expansion, covering a radius of about two meters.

She could move freely now, although it didn’t help much if the masked assassin wasn’t nearby.

“Ien!” I screamed in my head, stunned that my angel could move.

She started running through the parking lot, immune to the time-slowing field, moving with superhuman speed. She raced straight toward the collapse zone.

“I’ll find you—wherever you are!” Ien shouted, as she spread her nerves across the area. “There’s no place to hide!”

She used almost all her energy to unleash her nerves from a central point: a living web expanding into the upper floors of the hospital.

She spent nearly all her Links on that extreme expansion, sensing each and every curvature caused by nearby matter—rubble, vehicles, doors, windows, people, desks, chairs, stretchers, TVs, computers and peripherals, tables, lamps, crates, carts, bushes, even wilted plants and dead lamps, stairs, jammed elevators, cables, broken pipes, unmade beds, kitchen equipment like refrigerators and pots, water dispensers, bottles, syringes, folders, magazines, printers, phones, ventilators, oxygen tanks… even rats and other animals.

Everything.

Every atom with mass.

Every particle bending the fabric of space in the slightest… was detected.

But she didn’t find a single atemporal stone—except Robin’s and the girl’s from the ship.

(Where… are you?)

She had burned through nearly all her Links… and still couldn’t find the assassin. She was forced to retract her nerves back into her body.

Ien thought—either he used time-slowing to escape…

…or it was all a trick.

Time returned to normal, and I ran toward her.

“Ien!”

“Don’t come any closer!” she shouted, trying to warn me of the danger.

A sudden blast of dust rose, blinding me completely, and the sound of an impact made my heart seize. Debris flew everywhere.

“Holy— I can’t see anything!”

Against Ien’s wishes, I pushed forward—toward where she must be. I wouldn’t leave her alone, even if she ordered me to. Watching her die again would be unbearable.

A silhouette started to take shape a few meters in front. It was kneeling… at the top of the collapsed structure—right where she should’ve been—

“Tell me you’re okay, Ien!”

The dust began to settle—slowly, far too slowly. A frustrating wait. The wind barely cut a few streaks through the haze—just enough to glimpse what looked like a sliver of a door opening.

My heart pounded so loud I could hear it clearly. I felt each second drag by. It was even worse than time slowed down.

I swallowed—tasting blood in my throat. Through the fading mist, I saw… a green hood… red lines… a black mask… over a body clad in white.

“I… Ien…”

“It’s over,” said the masked killer.

“No.”

My angel’s body was hovering just inches above the ground—held up… by the assassin’s hand, which had pierced through her abdomen. Blood dripped, and she didn’t move.

I collapsed to the ground, trembling. My face went pale. My pupils dilated. No need to mention—my breathing was broken and erratic.

“Your death is a bonus reward… Bearer of Ten Links… Ah… wait…”

“My… death?”

The masked man—who must’ve fallen from the sky—wavered as he heard Ien’s voice. His hand was still embedded in her abdomen… but he couldn’t pull it out.

“[Pathfinder]!”

When Ien activated that skill, it looked like a prodigy. To me, a mere spectator, it felt an entirely new scene unfolding—wholly different from when I relived our encounter at the hospital entrance. A skill that lets you alter fate without others noticing… it's almost perverse. It makes you taste victory… only to crush you right after. She's using cheats in this game. But then again, it also shows you how you'd fail in other timelines. Maybe that's why she cries when she uses it.

“I would never spend all my Links on a single expansion, you monster.” Ien was on her feet, pissed off, one hand on her hip. “I’ve got enough experience to always keep an ace up my sleeve. And that explosion? Come on. Couldn’t have been more obvious.”

“I guess… cough… fooling you was harder than I thought.”

He could barely speak.

The roles had reversed: the killer now lay on his back, wounded. A man who literally fell from the sky and struck what should have been a fatal blow to my dear angel was now helpless—beneath the heel of a beautiful girl.

I almost felt jealous.

“To be honest, most would’ve fallen for it. I’ll give you credit—attacking from above was a good idea.”

I barely noticed, but blood was dripping from his mask.

What do I think happened? Probably, Ien activated [Pathfinder] right after the nerve expansion ended. Then, just as the masked man was about to deliver the final blow, she dodged at the perfect moment and kicked him to the ground. Honestly, I can picture her doing a spinning kick. In the end, she forced that future to become real.

As she basked in her victory, the assassin suddenly grabbed her ankle, gripping it tight.

“You still want to fight? That skill yours, a [Universal]-type, eats through Links like crazy. You think you’ve got anything left?”

“At most… cough, cough… five seconds. I could never… kill you in that moment…”

And still, time slowed again. Was he lying?

Ien raised her guard; with the little energy she had left, she retreated into her nerves—shielding herself from the masked killer’s skill, moving with relative ease.

“Idiot.”

Ien swung her fist up, fast—ready to crush his face.

BZZZZ

I heard a hum.

A red dot appeared on Ien’s forehead. A distorted-looking dot.

It felt familiar… too familiar.

I processed it in milliseconds. That moment came rushing back so fast, my body reacted before my mind did.

Everything was slowed down… I shouldn’t be able to move.

“Ien did move, though. She ran a minute ago. How?”

“How the hell did she do it?”

“That red dot… was it a sniper? A sniper aiming at Ien? When did this happen before?”

“At the hospital… the entrance. Did she have a red dot back then too?”

“The hum… it was the same hum I heard when Ien collapsed.”

“I don’t want her to fall again. I need to move—fast.”

“I have to save her. Push her away. Something.”

“Move, dammit. Move, stupid body!”

I managed to wiggle my toes… and a bit of my fingers.

“Why are you just standing there?! Don’t you want to save Ien? If you do, then MOVE! MOVE, GODDAMMIT!”

“MOVE YOUR ARMS! MOVE YOUR LEGS!”

“This time, I’m not afraid. I have no reason to fear for my life—because if Ien dies, my life is over anyway.”

Then came the elbow. The knee. And finally, my hip.

“MOOOOOVE!!”

I did it—I broke free from the slow-motion effect and rushed toward my angel. What I now know as [Spatial Sensitivity], I managed to activate it; I could feel the warping of space around me… but at that moment, all I wanted was to save her.

“Ien, watch out!”

It was the same sound I’d heard at the hospital entrance—a bullet cutting through the air straight toward Ien’s head… history was about to repeat itself.

However, she did not hear my voice.

She was locked in, glaring furiously at the man beneath her. That expression… it was so intense, it made me think this was personal.

Why did it have to be like this?

A bullet moving so fast it was practically invisible—even though time was supposed to be slowed. Firearms are already fast, but for this one to move like that, it had to be something special—an advanced weapon or maybe a wielder with some ability… either way, it was going straight for her.

One second… no, six-tenths… no, fifty-eight hundredths… no—five hundred seventy-five thousandths of a second. That’s how long the bullet took to cross the space between them.

Enough time.

Time snapped back to normal, and Ien’s body froze in place.

“Ieeeeeeeeeeen!”

I reached out, trying to grab her, but she was too far away.

…

“Mmm… well. This is…”

“A miracle.”

Those words came from Ien herself.

“Not a miracle. It’s called Amélie!” The tension that had just settled over the scene was broken by a happy, sarcastic female voice.

I was stunned—I thought she’d been killed. No, though. Ien was still standing. Still standing and ready to fight.

As I exhaled in relief, I noticed the same red dot as before, in the same spot, still distorted. It wasn’t a sniper laser. It floated in the air, changing shape and size like a red, gelatinous amoeba, always maintaining a flat front. That had never been a laser.

—“Amelie, what the hell do you think you’re doing?” my angel asked, visibly pissed.

—“Oh, please! Isn’t it obvious?” Her cheeky tone had an unmistakable air of pride and fashionista flair that was downright intimidating. “I just saved your ass, obviously! Didn’t you notice the bullet aimed at your head? If I hadn’t opened one of my portals right in front of you, you’d be dead by now.”

The red blot grew larger and split into two—imagine a pair of mirrors facing each other. From one of them, a slender leg stepped through, wrapped in a black boot that reached just below the knee. Then came an arm… and the upper half of a woman’s body.

She wore a bodysuit similar to Ien’s, but in a different color—a high-tech mesh that left the connection between her pelvis and thigh exposed while covering the rest.

“I swear, I’m gonna end up piloting an EVA,” I thought, watching the woman emerge from the portal.

Her neatly styled black hair gave her a trendy look. She wore several accessories and perfectly applied makeup that highlighted her refined features. She looked very feminine—a sharp contrast to Ien. Not that my angel wasn’t beautiful, but she didn’t seem like the kind of person who cared about fashion or tried to highlight her looks.

“I-I guess… I let my guard down,” Ien muttered, holding her arm and making an adorably sheepish face. “Not much, though.”

“A little is all it takes to die.”

Everything could go to hell. It didn’t matter who that girl was—what mattered was that Ien was alive.

“A huge relief.”

I could finally breathe.

“Hey, mask psycho. If you’re not a total idiot, you’ll understand that the two planes behind and in front of me are portals. I’m using the front one as a shield, so anything you shoot could end up hitting your own team. How about you back off? Tell the sniper not to try anything funny, because if I get serious, you’re all dead.”

“Amelie! You can’t do that!”

“Retreat?”

I thought I’d misheard. Our savior was giving that monster a way out?

“You can’t let him escape; that guy is—!”

“Shut it, tadpole!” the new girl snapped at me… harshly… and it kind of turned me on a little…

“She called me tadpole, but I’m clearly taller than her…”

“…” The masked killer remained silent—maybe he grumbled something under his breath.

“In this situation, retreat is the smartest option. The dumb blonde’s out of fuel, and I’d have to defend her and the dead weight over there.” She pointed at me “If you attack, I’ll go for your heads before I even think of protecting them. I care more about the lives of my comrades than yours, though, so I'd rather not fight. Wanna take the risk? How many Links do you have left? I’m fresh as a daisy. So? What’s it gonna be?”

Her argument was solid. And even though the idea of letting the masked killer escape made me sick, it was better than dying.

“At least we’re leaving with valuable information,” said the masked man, disturbingly calm. “Aide.”

“Yes, my magnificent captain!”

From the rubble, the drone we’d just fought rose up, reconstructed. “Damn it, it could still activate that ability,” I muttered my curses.

It burst from its grave with such force that it launched both girls backwards.

“Jump!” Ien yelled.

Her friend just replied, “Heh.”

They both landed on their feet, ready to fight.

But the drone—or combat craft—just hovered in place, carrying the killer’s body on its back.

“You don’t know how bad I wanna shove this lead up your XXXXX and shoot until you burst into a thousand pieces! However, I'm out of bullets. Aw, captain, please punish this useless slut real good when we get back…”

“Gumi, Nesty, Aide—we’re pulling out. Mission failed.”

From above, a helicopter-like aircraft, completely silent, approached the drone.

At the side access door stood a boy. He had short black hair and wore a ragged suit with patterns similar to the killer’s pants. He held a rifle in one hand… but his face was hidden behind a mask. An “X” marked the right eye, and a brushstroke-like line crossed the mouth—probably it had been painted on carelessly.

“Understood, captain.”

From that distance, we couldn’t hear what they were saying. The boy (I think?) received the wounded assassin into the aircraft, and then both the drone and the ship took off.

I got the strange feeling that kid was staring straight at me through the mask. A chill ran down my spine.

“It’s over.”

That comment snapped me out of my daze.

The two girls—each more beautiful and seductive than the other—walked toward me in those erotic suits that clung to their curves. Thank God I didn’t have a dick right now… with this gown, something might’ve poked out to say hi. Besides, even though it’s only been a short while since I’ve had this girl body, I feel so embarrassed. All basically saw my soul today.

“So she’s the one-link bearer?” Amelie asked, a teasing smirk on her face.

“She’s talking about me, right?” I replied, trying to cover myself. “I’m Robin, uh… nice to meet you.”

She ignored my hand gesture and leaned in close to my face.

Really close… I could smell her perfume.

“Mmm…”

“Is something wrong?”

“Have you told her yet, Ien? What did we do to her?”

“Eh?”

Ien grabbed her head, clearly pissed at Amelie’s loose lips.

“Oh, you haven’t said a word, have you?” Amelie said. “She was gonna find out anyway, so don’t stress.”

“You’re talking about my sex change?! I thought that was an accident! So you did do something to me!”

“Sex change?” Amelie asked, raising an eyebrow. “What are you talking about? Oh no, don’t tell me we messed you up worse than we thought.”

“Well… I kinda thought that too, but…”

“I’ve been a guy my whole life! Don’t start this crap again!”

“Highly doubtful.”

“I know my body better than anyone. My memories are clear as ever.”

Amelie laughed. She didn’t believe a word I was saying.

“Then tell me what… fills your head right now.”

“Huh?”

“What are you thinking about right this second?”

“What I’m thinking about… well… besides today’s mess… my future… or my childhood… or my family… my mom. Uh… r-right, there’s one more thing… I’ve been thinking about it ever since I woke up…”

“Amelie! Don't tell her yet, please!”

“Doesn’t matter. She can’t do anything about it. She’s incapable of hating you.”

“But there are ways to make her!”

“I could never hate Ien…” I whispered to myself—half statement, half question.

It’s strange how little I actually care right now. I just looked down, tilting my head a bit, lost in thought… about Ien. She’s such a special girl. She’s taken care of me since I woke up, since… an hour ago… That’s a pretty long time, right?

“Saying it straight out is much more human. Every second you delay is just self-indulgence. Don’t you want to face reality?”

“Reality?” I asked, genuinely confused.

Ien’s expression shifted into something deeply sad and resigned. The same face my mother made when I asked about my grandfather… déjà vu… everything today feels like déjà vu.

Still, she's as beautiful as the first time I saw her. That blonde hair, those red, scarlet, ruby eyes… Although I'm not very knowledgeable about colors, they are very intense.

“Robin, the truth is… I did something to you. Something I can’t undo… and don’t want to.”

I looked at her with a blank expression—not for what she was saying, but for who was saying it.

Just seeing her blurred my vision. I wanted to grab her by the hips and pull her into a tight hug. To trace every inch of her skin with my lips and taste the nectar of her mouth.

“What did you do to me?” I asked, voice trembling.

She bit her lip, pausing for an unnecessary melodramatic beat… She was choosing her words carefully.

“In the past few days, we used a medical technique… one that emotionally bonds a patient to another individual.”

…

“Robin… you might’ve noticed some strange feelings toward me. Those feelings… we implanted them. And now you can’t help but feel drawn to me.”

“In simple terms, we brainwashed you, Robin,” Amelie said, with a smile that belonged on a sassy cat.

A dark pit swallowed the last bits of light in my life. A direct gate to hell with demons pulled me into their lair… Today I’m less than I was, and tomorrow they’ll forget who I am. Heh…

“That’s right. A lab rat… Nothing noble in the end.”

“Everything makes sense. My weird attraction to Ien, my urge to be near her, to protect her, to love her… it was all fake. A manipulation… I am only a puppet.”

“There’s nothing left to do…”

“Hi, my name’s Robin. Who are you? I’m Robin, a cute nineteen-year-old girl about to start architecture school. You’re pretty… wanna be my girlfriend?”

It’s all fine now.

“It’s all fine.”

Her cheeks were soft, and her warmth spread through me. Her lips were full, her breath fresh.

She didn’t close her eyes—too shocked to react.

She didn’t run or pull away because she couldn’t even process what was happening.

And so, without waiting, without hesitation, I slid my tongue into her mouth to taste her… and as quickly as it came, it was over.

“That… doesn’t matter to me anymore,” I said, wearing a cynical smile.

As I pulled away, a string of saliva hung between our lips. She was stunned, frozen in my gaze, until horror slowly twisted her face when she saw the abyss behind my eyes.

I wasn’t free… I didn’t want to do it… and I didn’t care about reasons.

Ien covered her mouth with both hands. Her eyes were filled with deep fear—maybe even disgust. She trembled… I had forced my tongue into her mouth without consent… but the sweetness of her kiss… I’d do it again, even if she hates me…

…I just wish that thought was truly mine.