Chapter 244: Claire’s Confession

The situation within Pandora was even worse than I had initially thought. I only used my Xollon senses to get a cursory look at the town when I came back, but now that I was on the streets again, the whole vibe of the place was a disaster. But what could I have expected given the monstrous evil castle floating above everyone’s heads? The damn thing was so large that it blotted out the sun for most of the day, casting an ominous shadow on the streets below. Worse, some kind of thick, tar-like miasma was leaking out the bottom of the thing, making the area around the base of the castle pitch black and absolutely inhospitable. 

The lack of sunlight coupled with the oppressive aura coming from the castle meant that the town, a once bustling place of commerce and social gatherings, was practically a ghost town now. There were almost no Aspirants on the streets, save Vadeem’s enforcers and Noel’s secret police. Even the lights were dimmed in the houses and inns, showing the fear and unease that the people were facing. Damn, I had a lot of work to do…

“It’s been like this for the past week,” Claire explained, “It’s only grown worse. People don’t come out unless absolutely necessary.”

She had grown a lot more at ease in the last few hours, in no small part thanks to Noe, and most of that nervous energy had dissipated. 

“No kidding…” I muttered, taking in the atmosphere, “It looks like we’ve been transported to some demon lord’s realm here, I can’t imagine the regular Aspirants are loving the new aesthetic change.”

“Haha, yeah… It’s quite unique.”

I sighed. Guess she wasn’t completely past the awkward phase of being a part of our organization. “You know you can drop the polite act, right?”

Claire looked back and forth nervously. “I’m not sure what you mean, Walter.”

I shook my head. “I’m a doctor, remember? I can tell that you’re still being reserved. Like the others said, it’s to everyone’s benefit if you just act like you normally would.”

She chuckled nervously. “Sorry, it’s just that I’ve been told that my personality can be quite… abrasive.”

I scoffed. “Have you seen Noel? Somehow I doubt that you can be worse than her.”

Lady Awesome: Hey, I heard that! That’s slander, little bro!

I ignored the idiot. Thankfully she sent a private message instead of a guild-wide one. I still had no idea exactly how her new scouting ability worked, but from what I could gather from her incomprehensible explanations, it could only detect people’s presence and spy on their conversations. Still, it would be a good idea to keep this fact a secret from Claire for a bit longer, she didn’t need to be paranoid about being watched all the time. 

“Fair enough,” Claire sighed. “But don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

“Like I said, it’s best for everyone if you drop the act.”

I saw Claire’s entire body relax and she immediately spat on the ground, as if something particularly nasty fell in her mouth. “Fuck, thank god I don’t have to act like a little subservient bitch any longer.”

I expected the change, having interacted with her before, but even then, this change was so drastic that I was caught off guard. She wasn’t this abrasive when she was with me before, but then again, maybe that was because she still had to put on an act in order to keep me under her thrall. 

She smirked. “Told you I could be rough around the edges, and I ain’t going back to how I was before.” 

I shook my head quickly. “No, this is fine. Just a little surprised. I think you’re better this way in any case, easier to talk with. I think the others would agree.”

Lady Awesome: We agree!

She stared at me long and hard. “Huh, you’re telling the truth. You guys are a strange bunch.”

I shrugged. “Eh, I guess you can’t be a part of the Abyss if you’re not a little off in the head.” I pointed at the huge castle in the sky. “I mean, we live in that thing. What do you expect?” 

Claire laughed; a genuine one this time. “True enough! Fuck, it’s good to get that out of the way. I was afraid I’d get kicked out if I acted out of line; there’s some serious rumors about you guys, you know, and I’m starting to think that your guild’s even worse in some ways than the gossip.”

“We don’t kick out members,” I assured, “And rumors?”

Claire nodded. “Yeah, shit like how you’re secretly training an army of child soldiers-”

Ah, that would be the twins. I always knew that they would attract attention since they’re the only kids around, but a secret child soldier program? I mean, come on! Where would be 

“- or how the executives of the guild are all inhuman monsters. Hell, there’s even talk about body doubles and doppelgangers running rampant within the guild halls. Load of bollocks to me.”

Huh, how did talk about those worthless, fucking trash doppelgangers get out in the open? I was sure that I made sure that nothing I did with them got out to the public. I hope it’s just wild speculation and nothing serious. 

“I didn’t buy half of it when I first came to Pandora, but it’s telling to have so many people talk about you.” Claire continued. “But boy, if they knew the real secrets your guild-”

“Our guild,” I corrected.

Claire shook her head and grinned. “Our guild had, they’d be running for the hills. You guys are a scary bunch! I’m glad I’m on your side!”

“Speaking of, now that I’ve seen you without the act,” I said, “But how did you get that particular class, if you don’t mind me asking? It uh, it doesn’t seem to suit your personality, no offense.”

She groaned. “Now that’s a fucking embarrassing story… but I suppose you deserve to know.” 

“You don’t have to if you don’t want to.”

She shook her head. “No, it’s only fair, especially after all the help you’ve given me with my brother.”

I nodded. 

“You know how we were all kidnapped and taken to that weird waiting room?”

I nodded again. It was kind of hard to forget that.

“And how we were dressed in whatever it was that we wore prior?”

“Yeah, why?”

“Well…” She blushed, but quickly regained her composure. “I was uh, wearing some compromising clothing during that time - not that the fuckers in charge cared.”

“So you came here in your underwear?” 

“Worse…”  She groaned. “So much for that date, I suppose, but that’s beside the point. So I got sent to the goddamn freezing zombie city wearing close to nothing, and what do you think happened? Fucking hypothermia is what! Bastards gave us weapons but not clothes!”

I remembered almost freezing to death back there as well, and without the Ascension program kicking in, we were all pretty much base humans back then as well. I can’t imagine how bad it would be if you were stuck in that wet hellscape in nothing but your undies. 

“I almost froze to death, but some fucking pervert found me first.” She shook her head. “I had to play the role of the damsel in distress just to survive, cozying up to that piece of shit to get warm. The fucker took me into his little shanty town and I guess that’s where my reputation took a nose dive. What do you think people thought of me when they saw how I came in?”

I winced. “I mean, you had to do what you had to do to survive. There’s no shame in that. What happened to the guy after?”

“I recovered after a day or so, but the guy who rescued me was a bit delusional,” Claire spat, “He thought I should repay his kind gesture and tried to get a little too touchy-feely, so I sweet-talked him a little, and when he had his guard down, I whacked him over the head and strangled him. My only regret is not taking my time.”

Ah… I was surprised for a moment that she would admit to cold-blooded murder out in the open, but then I saw the giant floating Satan Castle and remembered that she probably thought we were all psychopathic murderers. She’s not exactly all wrong either. We even admitted to being evil for god's sake. 

“So I guess one of your class options was due to those actions,” I said, “But you surely got other choices as well?”

Heck, even with the Trash Matrix hating my guts, I had 4 options to choose from, so that begged the question: why did Claire pick such a strange option?

“I know what you want to ask, and yes, I had 2 other choices,” she sighed. “Should have picked any of the other ones, but hindsight’s 20/20. I just had to pick the most exotic sounding one, thought it was a rare S-ranked class or some shit and that I’d be set for life.”

“To be fair,” I added, “It is a rather powerful option. Theoretically, you’ll be able to control half the population before long.”

In fact, that was almost certainly the case given the future that the Regressor saw. She’ll probably go further than her past since she wasn’t batshit insane this time around. Her future potential’s honestly scary; I’m just glad that she’s on our side now… and that I had Noe and all those Xollon bits to prevent her ability from affecting me. 

“I can’t deny that,” she grunted, “But the price is too fucking high. I grew up in a family of servicemen, my father was a full bird, and I wasn’t that far behind either before the world went to shit. I still have my dignity, you know, not that my class cares. I swear if anyone I knew saw me now…”

She shook her head and cursed under her breath. “Anyway, that’s my story, and I guess I just have to make the best of it.”

“Sorry for having to rely on your ability for this,” I added, “I didn’t know it was so unforgettable for you to do so.”

She shrugged. “It’s fine; it’s a tool, and it’d be idiotic of me to stop using it just because it makes me feel like a fool. Plus, you guys don’t seem like the judgemental type. It’s only a problem when people think I’m that kind of woman.”

“That’s good to know.”

“So what is the plan, anyway?”

Ah, right, I seemed to have forgotten to tell her the whole thing. Maybe this was why the Regressor always spoke so mysteriously, it was tedious trying to remember what I hadn’t said and what I had. I seem to be picking up his habits.

“Sorry, I’ll need you in the back when I introduce you to some of the commanders in my little resistance group.”

“Okay, so I put them under my spell; what next?”

I took out a small notebook and gave it to Claire. “That details what I have in store for this operation, and your job is to ensure that the guys under you follow those instructions to the tee. I can’t have them sneaking off trying to play the hero here; they need to be railroaded exactly as planned, or we might actually take damage from the resistance members.” 

The woman quickly glanced over the instructions before putting them in a pocket. “Seems easy enough; if the instructions were too difficult I might not be able to make ‘em work, but this? Yeah, I think I can make it work. They’ll do as you need.”

“Great!” I said, “And I’ll need you to support me in the building itself. There’s a security room you can use to see the operation, so feel free to instruct your goons as you see fit. I don’t know how your skill works exactly, so use your best judgment.”

She smiled a toothy smile. “I can see why they put you in charge of this kind of stuff, Walter. You make this too easy. Let’s get going then.”