After greeting and saying goodbye to the two guards at the door, they walked toward Mary’s apartment, located not far from the rehabilitation center, heading straight ahead and taking a right at the first intersection, where tall buildings were crammed with neon signs advertising inns, apartments, and tenement houses.
They arrived at a fairly wide eight-story building bearing a neon sign that read soldier apartments, the neon buzzing loudly as it struggled to stay lit despite flickering continuously. Stepping inside, Clyde took in the living conditions of the building.
The entire place looked filthy and cluttered, with no one bothering to clean the stairwell or the upper mezzanine walkways. Heading upstairs, the atmosphere remained identical, only littered with countless military boots of all sizes lined up outside the doors. Reaching the fifth floor, Mary stopped outside an apartment unit, drew her key, and unlocked the door,
"The most important rule in my place is no mess, and the second most important is no noise, got it?" Mary asked, looking back at Casca and Clyde behind her.
"Um... okay," Clyde answered briefly, while Casca simply nodded.
They stepped inside to find that the interior of Mary’s apartment was actually quite spacious; right past the threshold, they were met with the kitchen and the bathroom door, leading into a living room furnished with older yet lovely pieces, spotlessly clean without a speck of trash, carrying a faint fragrance of incense or room air freshener, alongside three bedroom doors.
Mary set her keys on the dining table and turned around, pointing toward two adjacent bedrooms on the right.
"So, your rooms are over there, whichever side you want, pick for yourselves. Now I’m going to take a shower and get some sleep; today was absolutely exhausting, so please help yourselves to whatever you need," Mary said.
"Yeah, thanks," Clyde replied briefly.
"Thank you," Casca added.
"Don’t go making Julia worry again, Casca; ever since you got here a month ago, you refused to leave the rehabilitation building altogether and locked yourself in an empty classroom, and then four days ago you ran off, lucky for you, you didn’t end up leaving the city," Mary said, offering Casca a word of advice.
"Yeah... I’m sorry," Casca replied briefly, looking down.
"Forget it... I’m just glad you reunited with your family. All right... time for my shower," Mary said casually, stretching her body.
Mary walked into her room and stepped inside, leaving Clyde and Casca alone in the living room. Neither of them moved or uttered a word, until Clyde turned to look at Casca,
"Let’s sit on the sofa. I want to hear your story, were you inside the simulation too?" Clyde asked.
"Yeah... that’s right," Casca replied.
They sat down across from each other on the sofa, but after settling in, both went quiet, neither speaking a word.
"Where did you wake up?" Clyde asked, initiating the conversation.
"In the city... quite far from here... They said the city I lived in was a livestock farm... To be honest, I still don’t really know anything myself... The whole time I was here, I shut myself off and didn’t dare leave that building... Then... I got scared, and eventually I ran," Casca answered.
Clyde fell silent for a moment, understanding full well that Casca must have suffered throughout the past month from being unable to satisfy her hunger,
"Don’t dwell on it. I’m just like you, but... why did you run?" Clyde asked, stroking Casca’s head.
"I... was afraid I’d hurt someone... For some reason, this strange, chaotic feeling welled up inside me... I was hungry, and I saw everyone here as food... On top of that, I felt hollow and didn’t know who I was, so I was terrified... That’s why I ran," Casca replied.
"I... understand... I was drawn to corpses and things like that too, so I completely get how you feel," Clyde replied.
"Every day, I made sure to go to that chapel to play the song we heard... For some reason, hearing it brought me comfort and eased my hunger... so I took 10 to 15 minutes whenever I could to play that song, and if the chapel was occupied, I just hummed it," Casca said.
"Hmm... I see. Do you want to talk about your life inside the simulation?" Clyde asked thoughtfully.
Casca went silent for a moment, her face suddenly turning somber as tears trickled down her cheeks, before she shook her head; Clyde, understanding her reaction, didn’t push her, silently moving to sit beside Casca to wrap his arms around her, also mourning the loss of the loved ones from his own simulation who could never return. The two remained still for a while, holding each other in silence.
Suddenly,
"Wooo-oooo-oooo," the city alarm wailed intensely, sounding like an incoming air raid; Clyde stood up to look toward the window, with Casca rising right behind him, as the siren cut out,
"Tier 1 Nephilim: Skitterer, nineteen feet tall, entering the northern corridor. All militant residents are requested to assemble at the north city gate to intercept it, while civilian residents evacuate to shelters as directed by personnel. The entire city will be sealed, and emergency shielding activated. Residents unable to reach a shelter are advised to remain indoors,"
Silence settled over the area once more, but the two could hear a commotion rising from the streets below, accompanied by a sound like moving walls; Clyde looked out the window to see that every building was indeed being encased in thick armor-like iron plates except for the windows, while numerous turrets and missile launchers with rotating magic circles at their tips surfaced in the middle of the street; he sprinted straight to Mary’s room and swung the door open, only to be caught off guard when he saw Mary fast asleep on her bed without having even changed her clothes. Clyde shut the door back tight, when suddenly,
"Big Brother!"
Clyde turned to see Casca clutching her head; her face bore no signs of physical pain, but she was visibly bewildered. Clyde closed his eyes, concentrating until he detected the song ringing inside his mind as well. He then whistled along to the melody to trigger his combat mode.
A brilliant light enveloped Clyde’s body, forcing Casca to shield her eyes; Clyde’s skin shifted to gray with lava-like veins, while a black slime-like fluid trickled from his joints to coat his entire body, this time weaving over his clothes to forge an even more intricate pattern than before.
"Pyasssh,"
The light dissipated, and Casca lowered her hands, gasping in shock as she took in Clyde’s transformed state; his eyes had grown into large red orbs, his head appeared encased in a helmet, and his whole body was pitch-black with crimson lines tracing every joint while emitting wisps of steam; "flap," two small wings previously resting on his back expanded into massive wings, bearing four glowing red eyes across the set.
"Big Brother?" Casca asked.
"Try whistling along to the melody, Casca," Clyde said, using telepathy rather than his mouth.
"Huh... Big Brother... you’re talking in my head?" Casca asked.
Clyde didn’t answer, offering only a nod; Casca went quiet for a moment before pursing her lips,
"Whistle... whistle... whistle,"
[Song Confirmed.]
[Combat Mode Activated.]
[Transformation process commencing.]
"Aaaah... it’s hot!" Casca cried out, wrapping her arms around her body.
"Hold on... don’t fight it," Clyde urged inside Casca’s head.
"Y... yeah... aaaaaaah!"
Casca let out a scream as a blinding light enveloped her; within the glow, her skin turned gray with lava-like red veins, while a pair of horns and a long, spiked tail sprouted from her body; black slime-like fluid oozed from within her, coating her entire frame in armor with crimson-glowing seams, spikes protruding from her shoulders, elbows, and knees, her head taking on a helmeted form with small red eyes and a pair of curved horns jutting outward.
"Pyaaash,"
The light vanished, and Casca landed on the floor on one knee, her entire body exhaling steam just as Clyde’s had moments ago. Casca stood up and examined both of her hands,
"Huh... I... transformed?" Casca asked.
"Yeah... now let’s go, we’re going out there to kill whatever’s attacking," Clyde answered.
"Yeah... let’s go," Casca replied.