God damn it, Noel and her short temper! She was playing right into the hands of the enemy, and the dumbass didn't even know it!

  I wasn’t expecting Noel’s attack to actually do anything since these Central workers should be unfathomable abominations from beyond space and time, but from the clearly decapitated corpse left behind. Hell, even Noel was surprised by the ease with which she killed the guy; she was probably just lashing out as a warning not to underestimate her. The other members of the Abyss guild got up just as quickly - I saw that Yoona hadn’t done more than wince upon seeing the gruesome sight, a strange change - and readied ourselves for combat. All of our attention was on the surviving woman, but she seemed nonplussed. In fact, she seemed glad by the way that things had played out. That wasn’t good.

  “Oh dear,” the woman grinned without even feigning sorrow, “It appears that you just killed my poor, dear associate. I am terribly wounded at the shocking display of wanton, unprovoked violence." Now her grin turned preditorial as massive, black talons sprouted from her fingertips. "Therefore, I believe that my following actions would count as self-defense.”

  “Shit,” Jae-Hyun muttered, “Walter, Vadeem, get-”

  He didn’t have time to finish those words. An insane pressure erupted from the woman and engulfed the room. The twins were the first to be affected, followed by Yoona who tried her best to shield the two. Their knees gave out on them before falling prone on the ground. Vadeem tried to reach them, but it only took two steps before he was in a similar position, but even then he desperately crawled forward. The Regressor and Marcus faired better, with the latter on his knees while Jae-Hyun clung on desperately, holding his spear with all his might.

  I was the least affected, maybe because of my Xollon passives or because I was furthest away from the others having sat in the back, but the effort from trying to stay upright was putting an insane strain on my human form. Still, the one in the worst shape was undoubtedly Noel. The redhead, who was at the epicenter, had turned into her flame form, but even that did little to help. Our guest grabbed Noel by the throat, her ethereal offering little protection, and pinned my friend to the wall.

  Noe, I think we’ll need to act. Do you think we have enough Charges to do anything here?

  “That will not be necessary, my Host.”

  What do you mean? Is she just bluffing?

  “The intruder is not, but that is not why we need not act.”

  I frowned, not quite sure what Noe meant, but I decided to trust my System. She’s never proven to be wrong so far.

  “Now then,” the strange woman continued before showing her slightly singed hand, the same one she had been using to strangle Noel. The redhead darted back a little, doing her best to regain her breath, but her movements were slow and sloppy due to the pressure the intruder was emitting. “I believe that this is a clear indication that the Aspirant has continued to assault me, and thus I am perfectly within my right to retaliate.” She turned her attention back on Noel. “Careful now, I can’t control my strength well.”

  Noe… are you sure she’s safe?

  “Please trust me,” she replied without hesitation, “Your friend will be fine.”

  Well, it wasn’t as if I could help now even if I did doubt my system. The hysterical intruder rushed at Noel, her hands lashing out like a blade as it went in for the kill. I almost looked away inadvertently, but true to Noe’s words, I really didn’t need to worry. A shimmering barrier stopped the fatal blow from landing and another figure, one I recognized immediately, appeared in the room.

  “Now now, June,” the man said, his perfect features relaxed and carefree, “I believe that this is an overreach, given the situation.”

  The woman frowned. “You… what are you doing here? The Over-” she paused and shook her head, remembering that she was in the presence of Aspirants. “The Management team sacked you a while ago. Where’s security?”

  “Right here,” Another familiar voice said. The woman fell on her knees almost immediately as another will made itself known, and that horrible pressure we all felt disappeared in a flash.

  A petite woman wearing an all too familiar security uniform stepped out of a crack in the dimensions. She had short, shoulder-length hair the color of molasses, yet the tips of her hair had the same slight reddish hue that I remembered. Otherwise, the girl looked average. The same couldn’t be said about the way she presented herself; everything spoke of lethal intent and ability, although if one looked closer, you could see that she looked uncomfortable, almost constrained in her skin. Well, I doubted anyone else could see the slight twitches she made that told me of that fact. Our eyes met for the briefest of moments and a tiny smile crept on her lips before it disappeared just as quickly. Xalla was at work, and I knew how deadly professional she was then. She turned her attention back to the other woman on the floor.

  Q took out a neatly folded piece of paper from his perfectly tailored suit before kneeling down to show this June person its contents. I didn’t need to read it to guess what it represented; it seemed that Big Bob and co. had managed to win his appeal process, and Q looked better than I’d seen him in ages. I’ll have to properly congratulate the man when I have the chance, but for now, I could only look on and enjoy the show.

  “But…” June stuttered, “That’s… that’s impossible!" Her eyes darted back and forth between Q and Xalla. "I know that bitch you call your head of security’s on your side, she must have snuck you in here!”

  I winced. What the hell... was this woman insane? Did she just call a fucking Xollon a bitch? I've seen a lot over my life, even longer if you consider the stuff I've witnessed when I was fully awake, and I can say this without any hesitation: pissing off a Xollon was up there for the worst things you could possibly do if you still valued your existence. I could tell that my girlfriend wasn’t too pleased with the insult either, even though her emotions were muted through the skin suit.

  Damn, either Xalla’s race wasn’t widely known or this June person really didn’t want to live any longer. She didn’t look suicidal, so my guess was that the mundane workers, or at least the new ones that the Overseer brought in, weren’t privy to Xalla’s nature, it’d be just the kind of crucial information the slimeball would omit.

  This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

  Well, it was nice knowing you for the few minutes I’ve seen you, June!

  “I demand to see the Admin!” she continued, oblivious to her demise, “Where’s Jordan? She’s out of recovery, you can’t hide her now!”

  Ah, turns out that whatever Awake-Walter did to her had healed, or at least healed enough for her to leave. I should probably find out what happened to her later as well, it wasn’t good to leave loose ends, especially since I can’t imagine that she’s too pleased with me frying her brain.

  Q stared at the woman before shaking his head. “It seems that things really have deteriorated while I was away.” He made an exaggerated sigh. “Xalla, would you be a dear and inform June of the consequences of insubordination?”

  “Of course,” she answered without emotion, “And it is best if you shield the Aspirants, Administrator Q. I wouldn’t want to damage them.”

  Q snapped his fingers and that familiar bubble of protection enveloped our side of the room. The pressure from June was gone, but aside from Vadeem holding onto the girls close to him, no one else dared to move. Noel didn’t even bother tending to her wounds, given the unstable nature of the situation. Jae-Hyun, in particular, looked like he was ready to go to war.

  “What’s going on, brother…?” Yoona whispered, still shocked by the turn of events.

  “I don’t know,” the Regressor answered, “But be prepared for anything. There’s clearly something wrong within their ranks.”

  “I knew this would spill onto us sooner or later,” Vadeem spat, clutching the twins closer, almost smooshing them in the process. “What do we do, boss?”

  Jae-Hyun frowned. “Stay still for now and just observe. If that man is who I think he is, then we can’t do anything at the moment.”

  “That’s it?”

  “That’s all we can do.”

  “Think of it as a good opportunity to see the enemy’s capabilities,” Marcus added, “It is good to know our foes, if only at a surface level, so that we may know what to expect in the future.”

  The others nodded and remained silent, their eyes fixated on the opposite side of Q’s barrier. I just wished I could tell them that those two, in particular, weren’t enemies, but some things just couldn’t be said, Marcus wasn’t entirely wrong here. Eventually, I will need the Regressor and his gang’s support in taking on the Overseer and his goons, so letting the others grasp a rough gauge of Central’s abilities couldn’t hurt.

  Xalla’s attention turned back to the prone woman once she was certain that the Aspirants were safe. “June, junior Enforcer number 1132, you have been charged with reckless endangerment of Site property, negligence of your duties as an Enforcer, and causing the needless death of your subordinate. Additionally, you have chosen to undermine the authority of the Site Administrator, and insulted the Head of Security, and for all of that, you are to undergo Excruitation.”

  Now, I wasn’t sure what “Excruitation” was, but it didn’t sound all that pleasant, and from the absolute shock and horror that June displayed, it was probably best that I didn’t know.

  “Y- you can’t! You don't have the authority!” the woman stuttered, and with trembling hands, she took a small trinket out of her pockets. “T-take it all back, or else I’ll be- I’ll be forced to use this.”

  I frowned. What on earth was that thing that she took out? From the growing confidence that the woman was undergoing, it must be something important. Maybe a bomb of some kind?

  “You know what this is, right?” June continued, and upon seeing Xalla hesitate, her confidence grew by the second. “Don’t make me use it! Apologize and I’ll pretend none of this happened!”

  Q simply shook his head, looking no less relaxed than before, and went over to observe his unfortunate underling. “I know what that is-”

  “Then you know what the consequences of fucking with me is!”

  He snapped his finger and the woman was forced on her knees once again, her face ghastly white from the strain. “Now let me finish before you interrupt me.”

  She forced her head up and glared at him in pure, unrestrained rage. “You won’t get away with this…”

  Q rolled his eyes. “What I was going to say was,” He gestured to the token still in June’s hands. “I know what it is, so please, feel free to use the token.”

  She looked at him dubiously, as if she was certain that he was bluffing.

  “Ah, right.” Q snapped his fingers again and I could see that the woman could move again. “There. Now you can use it. Go ahead, I implore you.” He turned his attention back to us. “Ah, but it’s best if you humans don’t see what happens next.”

  Q waved at us and one by one, my friends passed out on the ground, leaving me the only one awake. My friend gave me a friendly nod before his attention was back on the woman. Man, I wish I had some popcorn right about now.

  Seeing the change, June’s confidence deflated, but whatever the token was, she was still clinging to the hope that it would save her. Wasting no more time, she held the tiny thing and crushed it with her fists.

  “Lord Overseer!” she shouted, “Your humble servant is in trouble! I wish to use your blessing here, please grant me my wish!”

  The charm burst and flooded the room was radiant light. Soon, those particles of light condensed into the image of someone familiar: that of the Overseer. However, this one had none of his usual disgusting aura. Instead, it seemed like some kind of prerecorded image. Looking at it closer, it was clear that this was just a worthless projection of the man and nothing more. Xalla and Q had noticed the same thing immediately, but the same couldn’t be said for June.

  “Oh mighty Overseer, Master of the Central Collective, hear me! This filth dare defy your will and enter this space after being terminated from service! Show them the errors of their ways!”

  A slight pause and the image of the Overseer began to move. June was so pleased that she stood up taller, looking absolutely triumphant. Well until the image spoke that is.

  “Greetings, my humble servant. Your trial version of the Token of Salvation has expired, 8.215 cycles ago-"

  June looked on with equal parts confusion and shock. "But... but I received that token not two Earth months ago. How can it..."

  The prerecorded projection continued unabated. "-and all privileges offered by this token are unavailable at the moment and a late fee of 28.33 x 10^9 credits will be deducted from your registered Central account. Please renew your token at your nearest Central Customer Service Station, and note that you take your intact expired token with you at the time of renewal or your warranty is void."

  "But..." June looked on in shock. "The Overseer wouldn't..."

  And as always, the projector just droned on. "It will take up to 45 business cycles for a new token to be issued, along with the reinstatement fee. We at the Central Collective strive for the best customer satisfaction, so we accept all major forms of currency, including but not limited to: sales of estates, shares of all major companies, all central approved credit systems, transfers between all major banking and loan institutions, selling of your soul and indentured servitude. We thank you for your understanding, and look forward to seeing you soon." The projection flickered and it played on repeat. "Greetings, my humble servant. Your trial version of the Token of Salvation has expired, and all...”

  And just like that, the life in June's eyes evaporated as she let the crumbling token fall to the floor. The flashy image disappeared just as quickly as it had appeared, and the token turned to dust. Well, so much for taking the token with you to get it renewed, although I wasn’t sure how that was possible since she had to crush it to activate the thing. I doubted that was an oversight in the design, given the Overseer’s shitty nature though.

  “Well,” Q continued with a smile. “Do you have another one of those?”

  June stared blankly at the pile of dust in her hands. “Ah…”

  “I’ll take that as a no then,” he continued, “Now then, Xalla, where were we?”

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