[Isa (˶˃ ᵕ ˂˶) .ᐟ.ᐟ 𐙚 ‧₊˚ ⋅: Hihiii~ Where r u rn?]
Eve glanced up from her steaming rice, soup, and banchan. She put down her chopsticks and adjusted the peak of her baseball cap.
[Me: Eating out. :Rabbit_drinking_soup: Gmmmm.]
Eve normally would have snapped a picture or selfie of the restaurant but her training in TRACE taught her otherwise.
[Isa (˶˃ ᵕ ˂˶) .ᐟ.ᐟ 𐙚 ‧₊˚ ⋅: (Gmmmmm) Kk… how long do u think it'll take you to get here?]
A photo of Einstein's Royal mall popped up on Eve's screen. She blinked. Isn't she cautious about sharing her location at all? She's a PMC, so she should know this… I know that we're out on leave but still… Eve hustled to respond.
[Me: ~30 mins.]
[Isa (˶˃ ᵕ ˂˶) .ᐟ.ᐟ 𐙚 ‧₊˚ ⋅: Kk Cu then. I'll wait by the main entrance.]
Eve set down her phone, brushing stray strands of hair off of her face as she blew on her food, eating as fast as possible. The hot water vapour rose to her face, and she quickly paid and left, heading to the nearest bus stop.
Waiting for a few minutes on the sheltered plastic bench, a bus soon arrived and Eve hopped on, swiping her phone by the pay token to pay her bus fee.
She settled down at a seat near the back of the bus- close enough to the door and fire axe that she could bolt if anything happened, but also far enough to where she could observe all people coming on and off the bus. She was in Einstein, one of the most heavily defended cities, but it couldn't hurt to be safe- plus, old habits die hard.
Eve's muscles stayed relaxed yet ready as she allowed herself the slightest bit of comfort, ever so lightly resting against the back of her seat. Eve breathed out as she slid in one of her earphones and hit 'play' on her phone. Their sound quality was set to transparent as always.
As the bus rolled along the neatly kept streets, Eve saw small shops opening for the day, rolling up shutters, propping open doors for customers, a varied garden of colours shining under the gentle brush of the sun's rays.
Seeing shining faces, a turbulent knot of emotions hit Eve. While she was certainly glad that the citizens of Einstein were living well and happy under the protection of the HAF[1], she felt the smallest bit of bitterness. While they smiled, soldiers fought and died every single day on the frontlines to protect them. They lived on, joyous, blissfully ignorant to the predicament they were in and the situations of those soldiers on the front lines.
Eve sighed heavily. It… was probably better that way. The horrors she'd seen on the front lines… They couldn't be expressed in words. She clenched her hand into a fist and laughed mutedly. She was only 20-odd years old and she'd already seen her share of horror for a lifetime- and after a short break, she was going to see more.
Not to mention more of those… anomalies, if there were any more.
Eve kept a watchful eye out, scanning the bus ever so often while scanning outside as well, peering outside the massive glass pane windows of the bus. The panes had been reinforced with emergency shutters as of the war's start for emergencies, and with the push of a locked red button, one near the back, and one in front of the driver, they would slam shut, restricting visibility and hopefully protecting the passengers inside.
While Eve loved the concept, she was sceptical of their practical usage- but it definitely did give people some peace of mind and hope. It was still better than nothing.
As they neared the center of the city, the smaller shops faded away into the occasional bookstore or café, the cityscape dominated by highrises and skyscrapers, large bridges weaving the entire city together like a massive steel spiderweb, with threads going everywhere you could possibly want to travel to.
The city was designed to be two sides of one coin: in the hours of the day, flashy colours, buildings and signs shone, interweaved with greenery and water, the solarpunk aesthetic reflecting the radiant nature of the city's culture. At night, the signs would flash brilliantly neon and windows would come to life like little stars, giving Einstein a more cyberpunk and industrial aesthetic.
Soon, the bus stopped. A voice sounded over the PA.
"All passengers for Einstein Royal Mall. All passengers for Einstein Royal Mall. Please be careful of the step when exiting the bus, and please have a pleasant rest of your day."
Eve stood, casing her surroundings once more as she stepped off the bus and got a face full of sunshine. She marveled her surroundings as she pulled the brim of her hat further down on her head.
The Einstein Royal Mall's glass dome brought up unpleasant memories of her previous mission, and amongst the early morning hustle-and-bustle on the streets, Eve still couldn't understand how remarkably well the city functioned- everyone acted as if it were normal and peacetime when a war was raging. Granted, Einstein was nowhere close to the borders and any attempts of aerial attacks were promptly shut down by advanced anti-air, but still…
Eve walked up the grand flight of stairs to the mall's massive glass door entrance which lay propped open, kept in place by intricate mechanisms unobservable to the human eye.
Glancing around and looking for Isa, Eve checked her phone. She was 10 minutes earlier than she said she would arrive. Eve cased the area, looking for Isa's amethyst eyes and obsidian hair among the crowd.
No one.
Then, she nearly jumped as someone hugged her from behind. Isa's chuckle luckily stopped Eve mid throw.
Eve had gotten her arms underneath Isa's hug and was about to throw Isa over her head onto the pavement. Given her status as a TRACE operator, she'd been given a permit for a handgun that she kept in a quick access pouch of her fanny pack. Her hand was halfway to the tab, about to pull it down and unholster the weapon.
Isa laughed heartily, clutching her sides as she doubled over. Looking at Eve's face just made her laugh even more.
"C'mon." Isa wiped a tear from her eye and stuck out her arm for Eve. Eve blushed and stared at Isa's outstretched arm awkwardly.
Isa sighed, rolling her eyes. "Here," she said firmly, grabbing Eve's arm and looping inside hers. She inclined her head towards Eve. "Better?" Eve blushed even deeper than before and stayed silent, tugging her cap over her face.
"Oh, come onnnnnnn. I could tell you were about to throw me earlier." Eve nodded and grasped the crook of Isa's arm.
Isa giggled again, leaned down and pulled up Eve's cap so she could look her eye to eye. "Shall we?" Without waiting for a response, Isa pulled Eve closer and led her by the arm into the mall.
At that moment, Eve's heart was positively pounding. Isa smelled so nice, and… Eve took in Isa's outfit. Isa layered a beige v-neck sweater over a white button up with the first couple buttons undone, revealing her collarbone. Isa's hair was done up in her typical ponytail, this time with her bangs done out in front. She'd also opted out of the mask today, and Isa wore a longish gray plaid skirt with black tights underneath.
She gave off high schoolish vibes but the way Isa carried herself made her seem many years older, easily seeming like a young adult or college student.
Isa noticed Eve staring and smirked. "What. Is there something on my face?" A swarm of butterflies flew from Eve's stomach to her heart.
"N-no." Thankfully, Isa chose to leave her alone. Eve pondered her thumping heart and life decisions as she allowed Isa to lead her along, her senses dulled from the blood surging to her head.
Eventually Isa and Eve arrived at a secluded lounge, tucked away in a quieter section of the mall. "Sit down," Isa offered, gently sliding Eve's hand off her arm and motioning to a couch. "I'll get you some water."
Eve heeded her words and sunk into the couch, wishing it could swallow her whole or at least do something about the little muscle jumping in her chest.
Isa quickly came back with a bottle of iced water, which she offered to Eve. She then sidled up next to Eve.
"Sorry that I'm leading off with this… I wanted to get to some shops, but I thought you'd rather get to know what's going on before we forget."
At this, Eve nodded. "Speaking of which, am I talking to… Elise right now? Isa- you…? Don't seem to be the kind of person to be all bubbly."
Isa (Elise?)'s eyes subtly flashed a frosted lavender. "That is correct. You're talking to Elise right now. I should probably explain what happened and what's going on."
Eve nodded and screwed off the cap of the bottle of water. She glanced around. No one seemed to be paying attention.
Elise spoke as if she could read Eve's thoughts. "Nobody's paying attention. Don't worry. There's also a disrupter underneath several of these benches, so don't worry about bugs. I've used this lounge as a meeting spot for previous commissions."
Eve perked up. So this was one of Isa's meeting spots for the Seaward Wolves PMCs.
"I'm trusting you not to reveal that. Let's see… where to start?" Elise seemed to ponder this for a moment. "Firstly, Isa is my twin sister. That's the reason she-we- always kept a mask on. While we aren't completely identical, it helped to keep her from being noticed by the government."
"You're… twins? I guess that makes sense," Eve commented. "Then shouldn't you have a mask on right now? They'd get suspicious if you suddenly show up after… you know."
Isa smiled. "I'm just about to get into that. You know the Bloom's power- you read the file, correct?"
Eve nodded.
"Technically… the Bloom isn't dead."
Eve blinked. Isa continued.
"I am the Bloom. Its influence is no more on me, but Isa agreed to let me embed myself as a parasite in her person. Currently, to everyone but you, I look like a man with blonde hair." Seeing Eve's expression, Elise quickly amended her statement. "Nothing much, just a simple illusion. Continuing on though, I guess you could call us Elisa? We both share this body. Currently I'm in control, but Isa can take control when she wishes… like right now."
Elisa's voice plummeted down to Isa's regular tones. Her eyes rolled backwards. Where Eve would've expected white was now Isa's amethyst eyes. Elisa continued, their voice now rising to a mix of their voices. One of their eyes rolled back forwards to Elise's lavender. "Or we can both be in control."
Eve stared. A regular person's reaction would've been to scream and run, but then again… Eve wasn't a regular person. Far, far, far from it. She pondered this for a moment.
Elisa watched her closely. "You're taking this a lot better than I thought you would. Oh, and just to be clear- I do not follow the bloom's agenda. Its consciousness is dead. I'm just borrowing its power to stay alive."
Eve narrowed her eyes, then shook her head. "But you could be lying." A steely glint appeared in her usually soft brown eyes. "I'll keep silent for now. However- if you do show any sign of… anomalous behaviour…" Eve's tone sharpened to a cold, silvery deadly dagger's edge. "I won't hesitate to put you down."
Elisa smiled. "And I wouldn't have it any other way." She then stood and started walking away slowly. She paused and turned her head back to Eve. "You coming?"
Eve quickly screwed on the cap of her water and quickly stood. "Where are you going?"
Elisa smiled. She seems to do that a lot now, Eve noted. I can't help but-
Elisa cut through Eve's thoughts. "We're on a date, aren't we? We should take a look around, at least." Eve flushed so hard that her cheeks stung.
God. Fucking. Damnit, Eve thought. Elisa smiled and stuck out her arm, and Eve held on tight after some hesitation.
Elisa stooped down, close to Eve's face, feeling Eve's forehead with the back of her hand, gently brushing Eve's cap and bangs out of the way. "You're burning." Not a question, but a simple comment.
Eve couldn't think as Elisa drew closer, transfixed as she could feel Elisa's light breath caressing her skin. Elisa drew closer, and closer, and closer. What was this… person? Anomaly? Eve didn't even know any more. She stared. What was Elisa doing?
It took her several seconds to put two and two together and Eve's eyes frantically darted side to side as her mind scrambled to keep up.
Then… both of their phones buzzed with texts. At the exact same time. Eve broke away, hiding her tomato-red face, fumbling for her phone. She then quickly realized that she could've hurt Elisa's feelings and turned back to apologize, but Elisa smiled.
"It's okay. You were so cute… I know you're just getting used to this." Elisa smiled to herself before holding out her phone. Someone had texted her- it was a blank wiped account, asking her to report immediately to an address that Eve recognized as the only military airport with direct flights to TRACE's headquarters. "I assume you got this too?"
Eve glanced down to her own phone, where she had received an encrypted text by lieutenant Nia, confirming her suspicions.
Elisa sighed exasperatedly, brushing her bangs onto her head with her hand and tilting her head back, revealing her slender neck and collarbones. Isa flashed to the forefront of their consciousness for a moment. Her voice dipped low again. "Looks like we're working together again. Let's go." Offering Eve a hand, she led them both out of the mall before parting ways with Eve, slipping down an alley.
Eve hailed a bus and rode back to her apartment, her heart thumping. She felt something in her heart that she couldn't place.
She stared out at the receding skyline. Then she realized. Am I disappointed?
[1] Halcyon Armed Forces