No Near But Still So Far Away
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Walking alone up the stairs leading to the twenty-first floor, Ziya decided it didn’t bother her that she hadn’t heard anything about Elton today. After all, a day spent together was long overdue. That afternoon, when he arrived early, had gone well despite the storm raging outside, and soon afterward they had both received frightening notices.
So he’d naturally wanted to speak to his team leader again. If only briefly, just to be safe. Who knew how long these false identities were going to last?
But Mr. Stavros wasn’t anywhere to be seen when Elton finally reached her office. She was obviously not around anymore. No trace of her perfume lingered in the air, nor did her scent seem to remain in the carpet or furniture. Not that it mattered.
Although Elton had indeed felt comfortable sharing some private moments with her, he hadn’t imagined it to be more than that. Still, knowing she was no longer in the building made him sad for reasons unrelated to physical intimacy.
He often tried not to dwell on memories from their previous relationship, but they still remained there anyway—though never quite forgotten—despite best efforts at denial. Sometimes he would even miss the way Ms. Behrman used to cackle like a witch after having said something particularly amusing during one of her lectures.
There really had been nothing else similar within sight; most professors who taught history could barely raise a smile at all by nature.
So why couldn’t his feelings evolve into something greater? For a time, maybe once an hour or so, thoughts about her entered his mind…and then she suddenly appeared again on stage. Only this morning, while crossing campus and heading down towards the dining hall, a mental image of the two of them lying side by side on their bed popped into his head.
Once it was there, though, he quickly pushed it out along with everything else.
And yet, it would keep returning if he let it. He refused to believe in such coincidences, because of course she had accompanied him upstairs earlier that very moment: he caught a whiff of her familiar odor just as he entered the empty reception area on level four.
It wasn’t her full presence per se, but the lingering remnants were nevertheless visible through the curtains draped over the window—the ones right next to where his mother always hid before sneaking up on people to surprise them from behind. This, however, should’ve already ceased since his arrival yesterday—if what Ziya told him was true.
He figured Mr. Stavros simply needed more practice before fully embracing this new form of existence, which meant the scent shouldn’t appear again until tomorrow, perhaps. Then he gave another good sniff of himself and concluded there might actually have been traces left, too, otherwise Ms. Behrman’s imagination wouldn’t continue to carry such vivid images into the real world.
He came upon a black metal door that was only slightly easier to open than those placed previously. As far as Elton was aware, only the highest-up staff members knew its secret code, but luckily no one stopped him in spite of his lack of access rights and no name tags either.
They probably assumed he was also off duty now, which unfortunately happened to be correct. When he pressed the round button that appeared under the engraved inscription ‘Fuchsia,’ he sensed someone entering behind him.
The handle twisted ever so slowly to reveal an electronic pad underneath the glass plate of the lock. As he held out his palm in front of him, ready to input the number code from memory, as usual, a notification popped up telling him not to touch any other keys at present. If he pressed 0 or 6 instead, then the alarm went off.
This meant that whoever stood behind him must know the combination well enough to prevent anyone from accidentally triggering the emergency response feature.
Luckily he’d just memorized it, since the third digit, 4, was supposed to be replaced by the letter A. Since there was only one key in the building, its presence meant Elton was expected downstairs almost immediately. This explained why nobody checked if he was authorized to pass yet.
But somehow he’d end up dealing with an angry Mr. Fisch anyway, so Elton decided against pushing that button and simply waited for whatever awaited ahead. Instead, he examined his surroundings to prepare himself for the event. In addition to the usual water cooler, work desks lined three sides of the large space in the center, where the coffee machine normally sat.
Next to these benches stood several pedestals featuring numerous monitors displaying various views across the school grounds. Most seemed to show pictures of students engaged in recreational activities, while others depicted some kind of small animal, as though somebody kept extensive surveillance of the school’s wildlife.
Either way, there didn’t seem to be anything unusual in those particular videos. What grabbed his attention rather significantly, however, were the screens on the opposite wall depicting a 3D simulation of the inside of the academy: maps of individual areas, halls, and floors. That one is above all the rest.
“Hello, Mister Wong.” A woman with straight dark hair addressed him without any sort of greeting beforehand. She stood directly behind one of the computer stations like they weren’t even bothering with introductions anymore, not to mention attempting to hide away in order to evade being seen by Elton.
Whether she suspected he may still need the training to resist her influence or she hadn’t deemed it necessary to act upon this matter yet remained uncertain, but nonetheless, a great weight had just descended onto his shoulders.
“You look surprised,” she said somewhat smugly. Her tone suggested Elton wasn’t pleased about this development after all. Just as when she first contacted him via messenger on Wednesday afternoon, her face displayed nothing but pure indifference.
At first glance, it could be believed that none of her emotions influenced her behavior, except perhaps some faint disappointment. Of course, most humans felt something regardless, but Ms. Behrman hid those sentiments so well that they might go unnoticed. Maybe he really never would get used to her apathetic nature?
Elton mumbled, “I… I’m sorry?” He hadn’t expected such a clear declaration of hostilities, although it shouldn’t have been too surprising considering everything that had gone down thus far. Now he thought back, she even refused to entertain him yesterday despite having taken advantage of his arrival earlier before going on vacation.
Still, it took him some time to recover from the shock and finally take stock of their situation, once again thinking about what exactly he could expect from the infamous ‘Evil Overlord’ in person today.
Despite all the warnings he received in advance, Elton felt genuinely curious how an entity that should naturally prioritize the interest of the whole over the little parts would behave around him right now. Will there be a sudden shift in policy, or does she stand firm until the last moment?
Even more importantly: will she actually harm me? Based solely on what we already discussed online, her methods suggest the former is highly unlikely because her main goal seems to be eliminating every possible threat to her plans, in accordance with what Elton would assume are the majority opinion.
On top of that, the Academy’s infrastructure makes sure that it can operate freely.
She wouldn’t try to hunt me down inside this place without a good reason. There remains another possibility, however: she won’t care to make things personal either. Just eliminate me within sight, without ever actually hurting myself. You see, that means the only thing you gain from that approach, Elton, is my life.
My body might lie somewhere else, but with only your knowledge that I am dead. And yet you hold no guarantee that it couldn’t come true afterward… That was why Elton had chosen not to bring any weapons with him at all – Ms. Behrman’s status as the Evil Overlord made it abundantly obvious she has other ways of taking lives than simply cutting off heads.
And besides, carrying around his beloved blade right here on campus probably would’ve looked quite suspicious, if not outright illegal anyway. Not to forget, he wanted to avoid drawing unnecessary attention to himself whenever possible. Who knew what secrets she possessed that nobody could learn otherwise?
Why risk complicating his own mission? It made total sense for Elton to stay grounded up until now while they were meeting each other in life and in person.
In the end, he couldn’t say anything against her wishes when he didn’t know her very well. But that also meant trusting her completely went out the window now. To find out where we’re headed today, there’s a lot of work to do before then! With his mind set on gathering enough information ahead of time, Elton gave a cautious nod.
The woman answered him with barely visible annoyance, as though she expected far more courtesy from her opponent given the circumstances: “Good. Then let us begin!”
***
Despite what his observations revealed, Elton hadn’t dared to guess whether or not the female student in the black dress code would strike again today. Would she follow through or give up after learning it takes more effort than she anticipated to frighten a young man so thoroughly?
Both alternatives seemed equally plausible to the confused boy, whose thoughts kept jumping between both scenarios, neither of them looking likely. This clearly isn’t good… Did I make a mistake by coming here? Was she playing with me? Or was her prior behavior simply intended to ease him into the experience?
Elton now wasn’t merely nervous, but truly afraid, which became increasingly obvious when he failed to conceal his shaking legs from Ms. Behrman while crossing the Academy’s halls in search of her room, stumbling all over the place without saying a word.
Since his ability to memorize locations quickly also did not allow him to overcome this setback, Elton ultimately chose to walk around in circles instead – doing everything short of making noise – until he eventually spotted a figure sitting inside one of the wooden-framed buildings across the open yard.
What luck! She’ll never notice me standing outside like a complete moron unless she looks straight at me first. Slowly but surely, Elton came closer and decided to go for it when he noticed she’d started writing something in a journal. Seizing this opportunity, he boldly tapped on the door frame above the threshold with the tip of his boot, eliciting a sharp glare from the student in question.
After taking a second glance at Elton, she opened the door slowly enough to observe him closely but hastily pulled it wide open, sending her visitor back several steps and locking the wooden barrier behind herself before facing him head-to-head as if nothing had happened. “Good afternoon.”
“Ah… Hi, um, how are you?” Elton stammered out nervously, feeling terribly self-conscious about being stared directly at even though his heart raced at an alarmingly high pace; It’s no use hiding my hands anyway. If she sees that I’m sweating like a pig right now, there won’t be anything left to do but run away like crazy!
No matter how intimidating she may appear, at least she can’t read minds like those monsters!
He took off his gloves immediately with all possible speed and made sure he looked either down or completely indifferent toward the young woman’s face whenever he could. Despite seeing her eyes widen slightly in surprise, Ms. Behrmann didn’t say a thing throughout the entire episode before finally walking past him, then proceeded to lock the door once more behind herself with just as much force.
Taking a quick look over at Elton’s reflection against the glass wall where they were meeting, the young instructor wore a smug expression, obviously satisfied with her actions while turning to the empty chair situated across from hers. As usual, Ms. Behrman remained silent, studying her visitor’s every move with visible hostility emanating from within.
Her manner of speech remained monotone as well, keeping both herself and Elton in tense silence during their conversation in spite of the fact nobody dared utter a single word.
Still not knowing what to say in order to break the ice – since being trapped in a locked office for no reason is hardly a situation Elton wants to put himself into on purpose – he decided to start talking as soon as he knew the time was right, nodding towards the spot beside the desk.
Ms. Behrman smiled briefly in response, albeit humorlessly – seemingly enjoying whatever game she imagined she was playing – and obeyed her student’s command.
The moment Elton sat down opposite the female teacher, Ms. Behrman picked up one of the chairs placed around the table and slid it into position to sit next to Elton; proceeding to lean over and lift her briefcase onto the seat directly beneath the window behind him.
Afterward, she folded her arms tightly, appearing fully prepared to scrutinize him as she had done many times in the past. His best chance of success might rely more on the fear he felt being honest than on attempting to hide any information whatsoever.
Letting his gaze drift across the neatly arranged clutter scattered around Ms. Behrman’s desk, Elton took care not to turn his attention toward the left side of her face, unwilling to risk getting caught staring at her lips as opposed to her pupils, desperately trying to keep his breathing controlled and to make eye contact with Ms. Behrman’s right cheek when looking back at her.
She’s still an incredibly attractive woman… Okay, this ought to work if nothing else does!
“So you want me to tell you about that night,” Elton began carefully without breaking his previous unspoken rule so as to avoid embarrassing himself too much. “Well, okay. To begin, I guess we should go into specifics regarding our arrival inside the orphanage.”
Not really expecting any particular reaction, the male teenager chose to stick to the truth as best as he was able. A single nod of Ms. Behrmann’s head confirmed her understanding.
In most cases, Elton wouldn’t have cared whether Ms. Behrmann heard everything from beginning to end because doing so would’ve been absolutely necessary in order to achieve results. However, the teenager understood perfectly well that Ms. Behrmann likely wouldn’t simply agree to his proposal without taking a few things into consideration first… Unless she has some kind of telepathic ability…?
Actually, having thought about it quite thoroughly in recent years, Elton did believe he could sense more people thinking inside his own mind nowadays compared to three months ago. Could this power be called ‘telepathy’ as well? Without further ado, he decided to press forward; mentally preparing himself for what came next.
“I was holding Yoko in my arms the whole time…” Elton recalled his reply clearly, letting the memory feel fresh again on purpose before continuing, “Her little body was trembling with excitement each time we approached the city gates of Bitterbush City until I let her hand off her stuffed animal to Hiko… Then suddenly, the very same day…
We got sent back home after we passed through all the checkpoints surrounding the area where the orphanage stood. Wasn’t like it wasn’t strange though!
The security personnel inside those heavily fortified walls practically became human statues the way they froze all at once. Only the teachers seemed unaffected by the unusual scene.” He shook his head slowly with deep sadness, his emotions making it hard to remain calm.
Just like before, he found himself almost unable to resist his impulse of placing both hands atop the table instead of remaining sitting upright.