17:57

And so, she speaks a bit more with a few former colleagues that she used to know here before leaving, being accompanied by AV4R0 once again. The guy sure looks a bit pissed at her since he heard what she has done to one of his colleagues, as they sure like to gossip. But instead of asking her in a rude tone, he tries to have a calm conversation.

[AV4R0]-...So... I heard that you've tested our new prototype for the weapon that should get rid of the demons, hm?

[KYR4]-Yeah.

[AV4R0]-Alright, cool... And... did you like it?

[KYR4]-I guess.

[AV4R0]-Okay... Then what's up with the rumour I've heard? Did you really test it on a soldier?

[KYR4]-Yes. Got a problem with that?

[AV4R0]-...Why did you though?

[KYR4]-To do my work, of course. Why shouldn't I?

[AV4R0]-Because he is a living being like you? And also a former colleague of yours?

[KYR4]-So?

[AV4R0]-What do you mean "so"? You really got no heart and started injuring anybody you wish just because "it is your work"?

[KYR4]-We are not talking here about any kind of injury, AV4R0. 1ZA4N's immunity wasn't affected, a reason why I chose him as my test subject. And it's not because I got no heart as you said. Weapons have to be tested in all kinds of situations before giving them further. If a defected weapon gets in the hands of a soldier, it might put his life at risk.

[AV4R0]-And you have to test them on people just because of that? Training dummies aren't enough for you anymore? You want us to be your toys?

[KYR4]-The creatures of the outside are a threat to us, no matter our equipment. Need I remind you that? Training dummies aren't enough for us to conclude how they would react. I tested it on a person because I had to see the effect of the shot on a real being. That and... because it was funny too... Heh...

[AV4R0]-...You've gone insane, ADIN4.

[KYR4]-Oh? Well, insane or not, I am still doing my duty as a soldier, no matter the ways I work.

[AV4R0]-And what exactly are you implying with that response of yours? That I am not doing my work?

[KYR4]-I mean, you said it with your own mouth...

[AV4R0]-But I am doing my work! All of us are! You are just blind to think that you are the best soldier this base has ever had! Well guess what!? Saying that you didn't reach your full potential at our base when you left us doesn't make you any better than us!

[KYR4]-Mhm. Then what exactly makes any of you better than me? I remember when I was working with all of you, none of the soldiers of this base respected the schedule and had done something in time. I was the only one that was actually doing some work every day, unlike you who were either playing games with others or going outside the whole day to get drunk. You never did your work properly, yet you expect to become a member of the Council. Pfff, what a joke...

[AV4R0]-You know what, ADIN4!? You start to make me realise why everyone hated you back then! You make me realise why everyone called you a coward, throwing insults at others to make yourself look better! You think you are superior to us now just because you got into the Council?? Well, maybe you got your title because the Leader there felt pity for you! Did you think about that!?

[KYR4]-...I never said I am superior. I just said that I've achieved what I have today with all the work I have done throughout my life while you all just stood and complained about not getting more than you deserve. You want to hate me? Then hate me. I do not care. But you cannot run from the facts either. If you want to achieve more, then work harder instead of staying here and crying about it.

[AV4R0]-Work harder? You work harder?? You amuse me, dipshit! You never had any potential for anything! You were weaker than us all, even your name defines it! Don't you know that the Leader was lying to you when you said that you are a great warrior!? You were nothing to him from the very beginning!

And the conversation escalated pretty quickly. I mean, as honest as KYR4 is and what the Central Base soldiers believe in their reputation to be, it was pretty clear that the soldier would feel attacked since all of them believe that they work harder than the whole city together. A former member of this base telling him that he does nothing but waste time sure got a bit too personal for him. So of course... KYR4 is pissed too.

[KYR4]-...If you believe that, then so be it. But if you see that after years and years of "hard work" you still didn't get to be a Council member, you should really start to reevaluate your words and take into consideration what I've told you today. If you want to see me as a coward just because I've left this place, then it is your problem alone. Believe what you want. I've completed my work anyway.

And so, she left the Officer behind without adding any other word, leaving the base for good and going back to her initial plans for today.

The Underground City

18:21

Minutes later after walking alone around the city, she found herself at the merchants' area first, to buy a few things for her apartment and look around. After all, break or not, you have to do the house tasks too sometimes. But to her surprise, she finds one of her colleagues there, looking around too. Seems to be recruit N04H and an old friend of his. So, by pure curiosity alone, she goes and greets him.

[KYR4]-Green Head!

[N04H]-Huh? Oh, Officer KYR4! Morning! You came with LUK3 and the others? They invited me too, but I had other plans already.

[KYR4]-Other plans?

[N04H]-Yeah! I'm out with my old roommate for a bit and I told LUK3 that I will come a bit later.

[KYR4]-Aha... And this friend of yours is called...?

[N04H]-Oh, right... He is M1LO. We used to go to together at the Central School and had the plans to go in the same military base too.

[M1LO]-Greetings, Officer!

[KYR4]-Greetings... You seem to be a new soldier from the Central Base, right? From the uniform and all...

[M1LO]-Oh, right... Right. Yes, I am, Miss!

[KYR4]-Why so formal, recruit? You are in your break, as well as I am.

[M1LO]-O-Oh? Sorry then... In my base, there is a rule to respect the high titles no matter the times, and since you are an Officer, I thought that I have to obey to the rule here too.

[KYR4]-Respect them, huh? Respect them for what exactly, if I may ask?

[M1LO]-Well, because technically they are the ones giving orders and also working harder than the rest. Isn't... the same in your base too?

[N04H]-I mean, it is, bu--

[KYR4]- --And what exactly are they telling you they are doing if you see them as hard workers?

[M1LO]-I don't know, to be honest... They say they do a lot of things, but never actually specify what exactly are they doing. I began to feel that I've made the wrong decision a few days ago anyway... I do my tasks and everything all the time, I help my other colleagues around and so, but no matter what I do, the high titles get the whole praises, while we just stand in the darkness. A lot of the members just choose to stay and do nothing just to get the salary, and the others that are actually working are stepped on. B-But please, don't tell anybody from my base about this.

[KYR4]-Hmph... And? The impression so far?

[M1LO]-*sigh* I think... simply a disappointment. I believed that for the most appreciated building in this city, there is a reason behind everyone's vote. But the more I see it, the more I believe that something isn't right with that...

[KYR4]-And what do you choose to do from now on?

[M1LO]-I think I'll just... continue everything... It was my dream after all, so why give up on it just because of my colleagues, right? I guess you were pretty lucky that you've changed your mind in the last second, N04H.

[N04H]-*sigh* I guess...

Yet the Officer seems pretty annoyed by that answer, but it's not the annoyance given by the recruits, rather simply the thought the young boy has.

[KYR4]-...You know, Recruit M1LO. It is never too late to change what you know it isn't right.

[M1LO]-I-I know, but what can I do? What if the other bases are the same too? W-What if I've simply dreamt of too much? My second choice was the North Base, but I heard that they've changed their work because of a small issue! Who says they aren't even worse!?

[KYR4]-You never know until you give it a try, right? Sometimes it isn't that bad to make a change in your life.

[M1LO]-But how do you know that it will turn to be better? Life is full of lies! Heck, even my dream was a lie!

[KYR4]-Well, this is an advice from someone that chose to change this lie that was affecting her life and managed to get into a decent fate similar to her dream. Hearing this, will it help you?

[M1LO]-I-I...

Even N04H found it surprising the answer she gave. But looking at her expression, she simply seems as pissed as ever, though her words and way of talking say something completely different. Maybe this has been forever? Yet if so, pretty hard to find the truth of her thoughts.

[M1LO]-...I guess I will give it a try then. At this point, there is nothing else to lose anyway.

[KYR4]-Good. And good luck with your choice. Green Head, I will see you when you come to the group then. You both probably have plans and I also must take my leave.

[N04H]-Alright, Officer... I will see you later.

And so she leaves. She simply gives them both a nod of goodbye and begins her road towards the group once again. And though her expression is the same as ever, her eyes now seem pretty relaxed, even if she knows that she is about to meet up with someone she doesn't suffer.

"...Fate brought me the name KYR4, name chosen by me to replace some unwanted thoughts of mine that were connected to my previous name. I am a child of the shelters, as well as many more like me. MY4 and I were raised together and had the same thought and dream which we never gave up on: help the city and its people.

When I was young, this dream was everything to me, believing that one day I will succeed in giving back what the people that took care of us gave. I worked hard for that dream of mine, studied a lot and exercised with my powers like no other being. I have this motivation to continue and simply become better and better, and maybe that's what people hated at me. But do I care? ...Nope.

At my times in the shelter, the kids around us always made fun of this dream I had, saying that I fight for nothing since I will still remain a weak little girl forever. Beauty in our culture is the equivalent of weakness after all, and my name did have a correlation with beauty. Maybe because of the vision everyone had on me back then, including the people that named me. As a consequence, I was getting in all sorts of fights with the other kids of the shelters while MY4 was trying to get me out from the arguments. Most of the times I was losing, to be honest, but my point wasn't to win. My point was to simply show them that they are wrong.

Later on, years have passed and I got into the Central Military Base under the command of Leader EM3RY, where I've dreamt of seeing myself in. At first, it wasn't so bad, thinking that it simply takes us from a lower level to a bigger one bit by bit. But months pass and nothing changes. I worked hard there, and maybe some of the members still remember everything I've done for that base. Yet my limit was crossed when I've heard that everything I've done for them was just for the high titles to look good in front of the others, while they simply stay and do nothing. So... I just left and never came back at that base.

I dislike when people take advantage of some discouraged yet devoted young people, people that are actually trying to help everyone else while they simply sleep or play games. And I dislike more when people are telling me lies and think that they can fool me so easily. So... I guess... I had a reason why I wanted to give up on my dream when I joined my childhood friends and went to a military base that was barely known, seeing the Great Leader for the first time and realising who are the people behind the city's protection.

But to be clear, it wasn't because I disliked Him as a person, I simply thought at that time that a 16-year-old isn't and shouldn't be the ruler of an entire city. This idea was so absurd to me... yet I've realised that I've done the same mistake as all the other people around me. I've... judged someone from the way He appeared... just like how they all did with me. As I proved myself to be worthy of being called an Officer, He too proved that He is a capable ruler, which resulted into my respect to grow. And He too respects us as well.

Yet this concept of glory that people are talking about... is strange to me. It was always strange. Glory is said to remain with you as long as you didn't change, but I never understood if my glory is still with me or if it left a long time ago. In my eyes, I've never changed. I remained the same devoted citizen of the Underground City, hoping to put an end to this misery. But in the eyes of the others, I have changed more than anybody else. What exactly do they mean by change though? I'm not sure to this day. But for MY4, I've never lost my glory, even if I did replace a few things here and there, and that's enough for me.

Change isn't as bad as people think though. Sometimes we are forced to do it, other times we simply want it to happen. No matter, it shouldn't define one's character and desires. Because for me..."

"...change brought me closer to my dream."