Antithetic's Tale

Chapter 9

I have been suspecting that Mreine are trespassing my brain. I always feel like someone is watching me and then I remembered that they have a piece of my brain. I don’t know how they did that but Mreine’s technology is really advanced.

I looked at the computer screens and saw different people. I know all of them. My memories with these people are recorded and are currently playing on each screen. Ion, Jensen, Lian, Dwight and Zephyr. So they had been watching and monitoring the people I was with.

I walked towards one of the computers and saw the list of all the dexterities that I’ve discovered. I scanned each screen but nothing about Thyra was recorded. Oh, I heard that the reason why they called me here was because they couldn’t get access to my dreams. Good thing.

I took the small glass containing my brain. The recorded videos on the screens slowly faded.  Mreine is indeed amazing.

I was about to exit when I saw a CCTV camera. Looks like I am not done yet. I went out and went to the control room which is also on this floor.

I opened a restricted door and a man almost jumped when he saw me. I know that he is expecting me to come here because he had been watching my movements. I locked the door and slowly walked towards him.

“Get down,” I ordered. He stood up, trembling, and was about to leave but I stopped him.

"Stay here," I said which he obeyed while trembling.

There are fifteen CCTV footages on this floor. I deleted the footages on the elevator, the hallway, the AI room and on this room. Now, Mreine wouldn’t know anything about what I did.

I looked at the man. Deleting the CCTV footages is not enough; I should do something to shut this man up.

If I could do everything, maybe I could do something with his memory too. I approached him and held his head. Memory manipulation would be good.

After a few minutes, nothing happened. I thought I could do everything. Why isn’t it working?

"What are you doing, Miss Iris?" he asked nervously. I was still stunned. I'm so disappointed. So does that mean my dexterity is limited?

I could feel pain and now I couldn’t even erase his memories. What a nice day.

I let go of him. I have no other choice. I know I would be damned if I merely let go of this man. I kicked him hard enough to make him weak. I removed my contact lenses and concentrated. After a while, the light came out of my eyes again.

As expected, it created a hole on the floor. I picked the man up and dropped him inside the hole. I saw a flashlight next to the computer screen and picked it up to see what is underneath this room. When I saw that there’s a floor there, I went down. I can't kill the man by imprisoning him here.

I lit up around and was surprised to see things. There are meals as well. It looks like this guy lives here. I looked up a flight of stairs. Annoying, there is a road there, I still work hard.

I searched for him. I did not find a cell phone so I looked around for something he could use to escape or ask for help. I took it all. I first covered the hole my eye made with the remaining debris.

When I made sure that this man could not escape, I went upstairs using the stairs and closed it completely.

I went out and made sure there was no weak suspicion of what I was doing. I succeeded in returning to my room. I can rest again.

"Thyra?" I look tired because I fell asleep right away. There is a class now. He doesn't seem to be sleeping because he is not in my dream.

I had nothing else to do so I just left that place. I did not know where I was going but I was not worried because I knew I was just in my dream.

"Athena Iris." I was shocked when someone called my name. I know it was not Thyra because her voice was different.

"Where are you?" I rolled my eyes but did not see any trace of the person who spoke.

"I'm everywhere." I just stood up and looked in one direction. I found a house. Someone was urging me to go in there so I walked towards that house.

"Sit down, Athena Iris." I was irritated by the way he called my name. Athena Iris is too bad to hear.

"Who are you?" I sat down as he said. It seems that the mystery I was thinking will increase again. When will it end?

"I'm your nightmare," said the voice. She's my nightmare? If so, I am not afraid of him. Because I really have nothing to fear.

"And you're in my dreams, Ms. Nightmare." I said laughing.

"I can kill you right now, Athena Iris. Anytime," he said. I mocked him. Why didn't he just kill me?

"Then do it," I said smiling. I learned to keep smiling because of that Dwight.

Just a few seconds later I felt something approaching me. Am I having a battle with my nightmare inside my dream?

I dodged it and saw it pierce a wall.

"That's it?" I will tease him. Seriously?

"Are you testing me, Athena Iris?" Napairap naman ako. When will he stop calling me by my full name?

"Stop calling me Athena Iris," I complained to her.

"I won't." My nightmare is also really annoying. I was shocked when a knife struck me in the arm.

"Be careful," he said laughing. The arrogance. If he shows up to me? So that I can kill him right away.

I thought of something I could do. It is not my job to just avoid the things that I am trying to bring down during my life. There is nothing I can do to avoid and run into things that criticize me.

I am here now in my dream. I mean I own everything here. I could control events based on whatever I wanted.

Looks like I already know what I'm going to do.

"Where exactly are you?" I asked him.

"I told you, I am everywhere." I smiled again at what he said. She's everywhere?

I closed my eyes and thought I was holding a gun. I know I can do it. I'm in my world right now.

When I opened my eyes, I felt something in my hand. I did not miss. She's everywhere, so I shot every part of the house. I also heard her cries.

"That's the problem with people who don't know their place," I told him. I saw blood flowing on the wall of the house.

"Gross," I said when I saw that the whole house was almost red.

"Iris." I suddenly woke up because of my tapping. I saw Charlotte sitting on my bed.

"How is the world?" he asked me. She's unbelievable. He can go out into the world but he does not. His heart, until now, was full of negative things. I know nothing of the past and even of Charlotte’s present, and I also don’t care about that. But, there is something whispering to me that I need you to know. He chooses to be confined to this building. I know his reason is not inferior because I see anger in his eyes.

"Still beautiful," I replied to him so he raised an eyebrow at me. She's still one of them, she's still a human being. Pare people just think the same. Pare they both consider negative things. They can't even notice that you should be thankful for waking up in the morning.

"The world, it will never be beautiful again." He answered and nodded slightly. Again? What exactly is Charlotte’s past.

"I was like you, Iris. I see everything positively. But it turns out that I'm wrong. Very very wrong," he said, as I always see in his eyes, it was still sad but it became even sadder now. Her own past is her weakness. I pity her.

"Why did it go wrong?" I asked her, wishing that she'll answer my question.

"Because in the beginning, everything was wrong. I was too blind in the positive part of the world. I did not know that being positive is a trap," he replied. How do I know your past, Charlotte?

"What if the real snare of the world is the negative?" I asked him. We are not the same and at any time, my perspective will not change.

"No, I lost her. I lost the only person who made me think that everything is perfect." The emotions in his eyes doubled. She lost her? Who is he?

"She's like you, Iris. She only focused on the positive sides. She made us think that the world is our home but, when they killed her. We lost. We lost our protector." The tears that he had been holding back were already flowing. I never thought a Charlotte would cry. I thought she's tougher than me but, I'm wrong. She's a pretender.

"In reality, no one actually cares. They're just using you to put you in an abysmal pain," he said. It really got really bad when he looked at the world forever. I need to find out who's the girl she's talking about. I know that ‘woman’ was the reason Charlotte became like this.

"The result is already ready. They need to talk to you." he said and he completely disappeared from my sight.

I fixed my hair because I just woke up and I knew it was messy. I got up and left the room.

See you soon again, my room.

I approached them so the surroundings loosened. Suddenly they returned to what they were doing and only Willows was left. It looks like he hasn't noticed me yet because his attention is focused on the object he is holding.

"Don't waste my time, Willows. What now?" I asked him. His eyes widened as he looked at me.

"What?" I asked a little aloud. Why did he react like that? Is he insane?

"Iris." He mentioned my name. I just raised an eyebrow at him.

"Someone has another piece of your brain, be careful."