“Where’re we going?” Betty asked as they came out of the subway five stations away.

“There’s a park around here I want to visit with you.”

“The park?” Betty breathed out as her shoulders fell. “You take out a girl to a park? That’s so boring.”

“Really? Well, last time I came I wasn’t allowed to go in so I wanted to try again.”

“Why? Anyway, there’s nothing to see in there, really.”

“I didn’t bring my ID, I was brought here without notice so I couldn’t get in. There was a concert and the people with me wanted to go, at the end I was left outside, fortunately someone stayed with me. I was left with regret not going in and got curious, this is a nice opportunity.”

“Alright. But after that let’s go someplace different.”

“Okay. As you wish, princess.”

“Princess!?” Betty’s voice heightened to a shrill as her face fought her hair for the one with the most vivid color.

“Yes?” Charlotte’s tilted her head innocently, blinking twice.

“Ugh. Don’t call me like that again, I don’t like it!” She turned around and started walking in the park’s direction with a pout in her face.

“Alright alright, sorry. I won’t do it anymore.” Charlotte sighed and followed behind her.

Both walked while speaking about the park, going past the security check of ID without problems. They wandered around it for half an hour as they followed the paved roads. People went past them, some jogging while others walked with dogs or their families. On some clearings people sat to enjoy the afternoon sun with their families and laughed without worry. The peaceful place Charlotte was one she hadn’t seen for so long. They came to a free bench.

“See? There’s nothing here. Are you happy now?”

“… Yeah, really, nothing remarkable.” 

She said as her eyes followed a couple of kids playing with a ball and a puppy following them. The kids kept throwing the ball to one another or for the puppy to go after it, they fell every so often and shouted and cried out, but always with a joyful expression. Their parents were nearby sitting under a tree, soft smiles on their faces.

“Hiro?” Betty licked on the ice cream in her hands and turned to look at her, lowering her face at the lack of response to Charlotte’s level and followed her gaze to the playing kids and smiled. “You like kids?”

“… Not exactly. I hate brats, but I wonder if at some point I’d like to have some of my own…” 

“We’re too young to consider those things, don’t you think?”

“Hmm? Oh, yeah.” She laughed as her mind came back.

“But a parent. It wouldn’t be so bad in the future to be a mother. Speaking of parents, how’re yours?”

“Mine? Well, I guess they’re ok. I won’t be able to meet them for a while, if ever.” Charlotte looked at the ground with a soft smile.

“You fought them? No good! You have to make up! There’re so many people who don’t doesn’t matter that at the end you’ll regret heavily not being able to be with those who really does!”

“I know. But I don’t think it’s possible now.”

“What happened? Care to explain?”

“It’s complicated. Anyway, what about yours?” She turned her head to Betty.

“Uh, they’re not here anymore.” She answered without change in her expression, her eyes, though, quivered a little as they locked sights.

Charlotte turned away to the kids. “Sorry.”

“Don’t worry, I’ve come in terms to it. It’s been some years already… We had a fight before it happened, that’s why I told you, it’s best to reconcile with them in case you regret not seeing them again.”

“Reconcile… Well, we didn’t fight. In fact, last time I saw them we had a casual dinner and enjoyed our time. But the thing about not being able to see them now still stands. So much happened since then, like I said, it’s complicated.”

“I see, then that’s good.” She said as she ate the last of her snack and stood from the metal bench. “Let’s go somewhere else, it’s boring here.”

“Alright. Where to?”

“I know this place. Just follow me, it’s not that far from here.”

Charlotte nodded and followed Betty out of the park. They wandered through the streets for fifteen minutes until they arrived to an unremarkable ten floored building, nothing made it stand out from the others around it except the amount of people going in and the lack of those going out. 

They arrived to a hall full of people in line, everyone waiting to get in with big smiles on their faces. Guards checked everyone through big scanners through a screen, not even bothering to ask of ID. Betty went to the scanners first, going through it without any issue as everyone did around her. Charlotte followed next, not wanting to spoil the surprise after the scanners, she didn’t went inside the colorless space. The guard didn’t say anything to her, so she walked towards Betty, before she joined her, however, a new guard walked out from a door towards her swiftly.

“Excuse me. You can’t go in like that.”

“Yes?”

“Armed ones can’t go in like that. From what was reported, it’s your first time in this kind of place, come with me. Your companion can wait for you inside.”

“Hiro? What happened?” Betty came next to her, worry in her voice, she hadn’t heard what the guard just said.

“I didn’t know it’d be an inconvenient.” Charlotte smiled wryly. “There’s some additional procedure I have to go through, I’ll look for you inside.”

“Additional procedure? But that’s only done to dangerous ones! You can’t do that to him, he’s harmless!” She protested to the security guard, getting a lifted brow in response.

“You’re telling me an armed individual is not dangerous?”

“Armed…? Hiro is…?” She looked at Charlotte and frowned at her wry smile. “I’m coming with you!” She turned to the security guard. “There isn’t any problem with that, right?”

“None. But you’ll have to follow the same procedure.”

“No problem!”

The guard nodded, turned sideways and showed the way to the door he just came from with his left hand. Charlotte walked first with a sigh followed by Betty and the guard at the end. They walked through a small corridor to a small open door at the end, entering it. The room had a screen with its back to them on a white table with two seats, one at each side. The guard walked past her and sat in front of the monitor. He put his hands over the desk and moved his fingers as if he was typing on a keyboard.

“Let me see both of your IDs, and all of your weapons.” He said without turning away from the monitor.

Charlotte complied, putting her ID and gun on the table before sliding them to him. Betty raised an eyebrow at the gun and looked at Charlotte with curiosity before she produced her ID from her purse. The man picked the IDs and typed more things on the desk.

“Beatriz, eighteen, frequent visitor, no problems inside, currently without any problems outside. Allowed.” A female voice came out of the screen. “Hiro, sixteen, new visitor, new registry created, no problems inside, track record on the outside, affiliation found: The Luxuria Pleasure Group, came without invitation or warning, danger level: three, precaution advised.”

Betty sucked in air as her face grew aghast. The guard on the other hand frowned and looked at Charlotte.

“What is your intention in coming?” He asked with a firm voice.

“We just came to play around,” she answered without a change in her voice, “it was a last second decision and I’ve never been here so I thought it’d be interesting. I don’t want to cause any trouble.”

“Too late to think like that. You already caused problems, for us and your group. First of all, I’ll let you know that if you decide to continue, you’ll be monitored all the time. Second, I’ll inform your group of your actions. Who’s your direct boss?”

“Direct boss…?” She tilted her head in thought. “I believe it’d be Dr. Murakuma.”

“Dr. Murakuma.” He wrote on the desk and looked at the screen for a moment. “He knows you’re coming here?”

“No, like I told you, this was something we decided to do just now. I told him I was going out with someone today, though.”

“Alright. Any other person in there who has direct contact with you?”

“That’d be Olimpia.” She nodded to herself and smiled.

“Olimpia.” He typed and read. “That’d be only Dr. Murakuma, then.” And continued to type for some time.

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“Continuing. We’ll give you two options if you decide to enter, on both of them you’ll be monitored but in different ways. The first and easiest one: you give us your weapon and get in, you’ll be actively monitored through the cameras inside. The second one: you don’t give us your weapon and instead wear a wrist band which will keep us informed about you all the time; if you were to cause any problem it’ll incapacitate you on the spot. Lady Beatriz doesn’t need it, she’ll only get monitored through the cameras.”

Betty’s blinked twice with a jump as her name was called. She looked at the guard for a moment and turned to look at Charlotte, who had a frown on her face but kept her overall expression neutral and calm.

“I want to keep my gun.” She said flatly. “I want this information to be sent to Olimpia as well.”

The man searched through her from toes to head with a raised brow. “I thought you wanted things to end without any problem.”

“That’s why I want this to be sent to her.”

“As you wish.” He then inserted his hand inside his black suit and after moving it around for a while, he brought out a wristband. “You have to wear this at all times. If you ever take this off, you’ll be determined as a threat to us and in the better of the cases you’ll be just thrown out of the building, banning yourself from ever entering any of our adjoining places.” He extended his hand to Charlotte and waited for her to take it.

She studied it for a moment before taking it, wearing it immediately. She then took her gun from the desk and holstered it on her back.

“Alright, you can come inside.” He stood from the seat and stepped to the side before the door behind him opened. The pair walked through it in silence before she heard from the man behind her. “Welcome to our little land of games.”

She turned around to see the door had closed already. She turned again to continue the only road in the corridor, where at the end was another, bigger door.

“I can’t believe you’re from one of those killing groups…” 

She finally heard her companion coming back to life. She turned her head to Betty and realized she was trembling with a downcast face. “Yes? I thought you already knew that.”

Lifting her head, Betty looked at Charlotte. “What? How would I know that?”

“Wasn’t it you who said that only dangerous groups did a test for a job?”

“That. But you told me you’re to take a test for the morgue!” She bit on her lower lip as her face grew red, looking at the ground with heavy breaths.

“Well, it’s not the morgue specifically, it was an autopsy room. It’s an autopsy room of the Luxuria group, though.” Charlotte showed Betty her tongue before tilting her head.

“You… Is there anything else I don’t know about you?”

Tilting her head to the other side, Charlotte smiled. “Maybe? But I won’t tell you. It wouldn’t be fun that way.” And it’s more dangerous to say that in this place, we’re being monitored and surrounded by guards.

“Can I trust you, at least?” Betty gritted her teeth as both hands closed on her dress.

“Of course! I’ll never let something bad happen to you! I swear!”

“Really?” She let go of her dress, lifting her sight from the floor. “Do you really promise that?”

“Yep! If you don’t believe me, then ask anything of me! I’ll do anything you want!”

“Coming from someone who won’t share his secrets, it’s hard to believe.”

“Ouch, that’s harsh.” Charlotte looked at the wall with a pout, smile pasted on her face. “But you know how it is in that business.”

Betty giggled and thought for a moment. “Then, tell me. Have you ever killed someone?”

Charlotte’s smile vanished and turned to face her, she had her eyes glued on her. She took a step back after seeing that reaction, her eyes swam to the side before her body started trembling.

“Yeah. I had no choice.” Charlotte started before Betty could take the second step. “It was them or me. Someone tried to kidnap me.” She gave Betty her back and lifted her head to the lighted ceiling. “I didn’t know they were dead; I came to realize that some weeks ago. I thought I had incapacitated them at first.”

“H-how did you realize they’re dead?”

Charlotte wetted her lips as she closed her eyes. “… I read a letter on the matter. I was pretty shaken that time. I mean, who wouldn’t? After the incident I never felt regret, because I never thought them dead. It’s different now. You know, I got this gun after that incident to prevent anything like that happening ever again. It’s meant to protect me. I’ve shot it twice, at people I mean. The first one, I missed by some centimeters. The second one was hit on the shoulder, but he was with others who tried to assault me. They ran because an agent from Luxuria was coming, he saved me. They beat me before they went away, though.” She laughed weakly.

“Why are you telling me all that?” Betty’s voice quivered.

“I’m being honest with what I can.” Charlotte turned her head back with a smile on her face. “I’ll tell you whatever you want, but not now. It’s not the place nor the time.”

“Alright. I understand. I’ll trust you.”

Charlotte turned her entire body and extended her right hand. “Shall we go, then?”

Betty stepped forward slowly and hesitated before grabbing extended hand, realizing there were small tremors in it. She sighed before a thin smile blossomed on her lips and pushed Charlotte to herself, hugging her. “I promise I won’t leave you, So, promise me the same.”

Charlotte’s mind halted its functions for a moment before she hugged Betty back. “I promise you. Oh, there’s something else you need to know, but I’ll tell you later on.”

“What’s it?” She let go of her.

“Don’t be hasty. Let’s get inside, we’re here to have fun, no? A gaming land, huh.” Charlotte turned around after she was free and walked to the door.

“Oh! Right! Let me have the honor!” Betty ran past her, turning to face her before opening the door. “Welcome to the most exciting place of the city!” Her hand held the door’s handle before pushing it open, making an exaggerated ovation.

Loud music harshly entered Charlotte’s ears, hitting her head with force. Light erupted from the other side, forcing her to close her eyes. The first sound she could point to was that of falling coins, then came the laugher, screams of joy and sadness of a large number of people as well as shouts of victory and defeat; everything at the same time and mixed together in a concert brightened by the neon lights that she soon saw as she opened her eyes.

There was a big stream of people, way greater than any conglomeration she had seen in the city, all of them wore colorful attires. They walked as they shared words of any and all kind, of different languages and accents. Most of them walked around without shame, dressed in so many different ways she couldn’t put a finger on most of them. Between them were also robots serving or people dressing as them, she couldn’t tell.

The most distinct sound, however, came from a place beyond the big crowd. Charlotte tried to look through the multitude to finally see what appeared an endless array of slot machines. The ceiling appeared endless, with hundreds of advertisements and notifications of games and events taking place.

Betty grabbed her hand and charged triumphally to the stream of people. They came to a clearing after some minutes of fighting their way through the mass, her hat forever lost at some point. She breathed roughly after the rash battle, her hands held her knees to keep her body from falling.

“We’re here!” Betty spoke loud enough for her to hear, her voice lost to those a meter farther, however.

“W-we’re…” She looked up after somewhat calming her breath. In front of her were old time gaming consoles, big ones so old she didn’t know for how long they had existed and more recent ones which she could name were the only she saw around. She was sure there were the new generation somewhere and even those which weren’t released on the outside for healthy issues. “Woa.”

“There’re more people than I’m used to, but I normally come on weekdays so there’s no helping it. Let’s search for something to spend time in!”

She started walking with Charlotte behind her, amazed by the sheer amount of people. They arrived to an old dinosaur no one used and played a few rounds of the most insane, unbalanced game. It had broken controls and lagging responses, while the machine’s AI answered perfectly to all moves the player made. They played against each other after a few rounds of being unable to beat the game. At first there wasn’t much difference between the two, but the controls had different bugs so a difference was made. Betty won two thirds of the games.

They moved to a car race after a while, and then to a dance platform. Continuing through various games against each other, even playing with other people at their request. Betty paid for everything, making Charlotte swear to pay for everything next time they came.

“It was faster than I expected.” She said as they finished a boxing game she won. “I don’t have any more cash, well, it’s to be expected since there’re two of us.”

“If you want to continue I can pay for it.” Charlotte suggested.

“Nah, I’m good as it is.” She stretched her tired arms and rotated her head. “If you start paying for them without thought, you’ll end up on bankrupt, I’ve seen way too many people fall that way.”

Charlotte nodded as she imitated Betty’s movements. Betty walked to the exit as Charlotte followed, her eyes marveling at the place.

“This place is really wonderful. Now I understand when you said the park was too boring.” She chuckled.

“You get it! But I think the park is necessary, too. To rest your mind after a day in here is a must.” She nodded at her own words.

After they went through the exit, a hall full of people talking softly and without the vigor of the inside waited to greet them. A man in a butler suit hastily approached.

“Hello, Mr. Hiro and his companion.” He greeted with an exaggerated bow. “I believe you’re going out now, right?”

Betty eyed Charlotte and took a step to the side.

Charlotte tilted her head. “Yes?”

“We’d like to ask for the wristband back.”

“Oh, right.” She took it off and handed it to the man.

“Thanks, we await your next visit.” He bowed again and walked away with long strides.

“So weird.” Betty commented after he disappeared between the multitude.

“Yeah.” Charlotte continued towards the exit.

Betty followed as they started a small talk about the games they played inside. 

Charlotte yawned as they crossed the doors, “Man, I’m so tired.” stretching her hands to the air.

“I know! Hey, what do you want to do now?” She asked, skipping to Charlotte’s front before she started walking backwards through the road.

“Hmm.” Charlotte looked at the darkening sky and wondered for a moment, following the almost moonwalking Betty without thought. “I don’t know, it’s not as late as I thought it’d be, but I believe it’s best to go home now. I don’t want for it to get too late.”

“Aw, don’t be that boring!” She gave Charlotte her back and continued walking. “You can spend the night at my place, it’s pretty close, actually! We can make dinner and go somewhere I know to have more fun!”

I used a fourth right there … That damned device was more devious than I thought. It extracted some blood without me knowing, Prism changed it to the same sample I gave Olimpia and informed me afterwards, had I known that, I wouldn’t have entered this place with it. She rubbed her wrist before answering. “I don’t have any plans for tomorrow, so yeah, why not. I’ll warn you, I eat a lot, so make sure you have enough.”

“That’s the spirit! Those are big words coming from someone so small!” She chuckled.

Charlotte jogged to her side and brought her hands over her body, locking them behind her head. “It’s true, you’ll be surprised.”

“It can’t be that much!”

“Heh, I’m not joking. If you don’t believe me, you’ll regret it.”

“That’s worrisome. If you insist that much, it should be true. Tell me how much you eat so I can be sure I have enough food.”

“I can normally eat four normal servings, if I push myself to the limit I believe I can eat close to seven.”

“What? No way, tell me seriously!” She chided.

“You see? You don’t believe me. I’m not lying, you can throw however much food you want and I’ll eat it, heh.” Charlotte grinned at her.

“… Then you better be prepared, if you can’t finish it, I’ll tie you and feed everything until it’s over!”

“Yes, of course, I won’t disappoint.”

Betty stopped to get more things in a store close by and then they finished their way after walking for close to twenty minutes. They arrived to a thin building no more than thirty meters wide. Betty walked past the entrance first and greeted a man staying guard. After using the elevator to the sixth floor, Betty arrived to the door number 9 and put her hands inside her purse in search for the keys to her apartment.

Charlotte closed her eyes and looked around to check for anything wrong around them, looking inside Betty’s place in passing. It was a small house with a kitchen, a single room with a bed, a desk and a door to the only bath, and the central area which had a small, low table in the middle. She opened her eyes as Betty walked inside.

“Welcome to my great palace! Let’s get to dinner asap!” She said before walking to the kitchen.

Charlotte looked around the common with interest. There were some posters of celebrities on the walls and cushions she didn’t notice along with an empty glass next to the table. She followed Betty to the kitchen, marveling and the colorful house, all its walls had a different color on them, a vivid yellow, a calm blue and an annoyingly bright blue. 

“What a cozy place.” She said, entering the kitchen. “Do you need any help?”

“I know, right? I decorated it myself, I bought everything and painted it all. I’m proud of my home! And no, you can wait for it to be ready, and prepare your stomach as it’ll be a feast!” She answered without turning around, her hands kept bringing utensils out from different compartments.

“Alright, where do I leave these, then?” Charlotte brought up her hand to show her the groceries on her hand.

“Just leave them next to the dishwasher, I’ll get to them in a sec.”

Charlotte walked to one of the soft cushions and let her head rest on it after she left everything to Betty. I need to somehow improve this energy thing, Even if I can do fantastical things, the amount I need to just move a hair is too much. There should be a way… Closing her eyes, she entered the colorless space and played with White Prism until she was forced out as the back of her head was hit.

She opened her eyes to see the white, bright ceiling of Betty’s apartment. A shadow to her right made her turn that way, Betty stood there with the cushion in her hand and a frown in her head.

“Serves you right! I called you for a while. Who thought you’d fall asleep just like that! It’s ready.” Eve headed back to the kitchen while Charlotte sat up.

Looking around, there were empty dishes on the table accompanied with a strong aroma from the kitchen, telling her of the great variety of spices she used. She stood and went to the kitchen.

She almost bumped on Betty, to what she answered with a smile. “Oh, perfect! Take these.” Betty handed her two bowls and turned back.

She brought them to the table and before she turned back Betty arrived with a jar of juice and another bowl, saying it was all before sitting on a cushion after she let them on the table. Charlotte sat on the other side and waited for Betty to start. She lifted the lid on the bowls and showed Charlotte its contents. The first one was full of pasta while the second had rice, the third was a mix of fried vegetables, spices and sauces. Betty put a portion of everything on a dish and handed it to Charlotte before pouring some to herself.

“Let’s see how much you can eat. Feel free to eat however much you want.” She mocked with a grin.

Charlotte didn’t bother in answering and started eating. The food was especially spicy and well cooked. It didn’t leave anything to the imagination as all the flavor was well defined and could be distinguished if one focused on the taste buds, which Charlotte did. She ate slowly as she savored everything. 

They finished the first serving at the same time. Betty put her elbows on the table and rested her head on her hands, a mocking smile still over lips. Charlotte shrugged and served herself a second portion. As she served a third, Betty’s lips started to twitch, her expression breaking apart. When Charlotte finished the third and was about to pour the remaining of the bowls on her plate, Betty had an incredulous face. She looked as if she just discovered an alien.

“How’s that possible…”

“I told you. I eat a lot.”

“And you’re still so small and slim…”

“Perks of being me.” She chuckled as she started the last part of the meal.

She finished the meal with a sigh, her stomach bloated at last. She caressed her belly and looked first at all the empty dishes and bowls, before lifting her gaze to Betty. Betty’s mouth opened and closed constantly, eyes fixed on the table.

“It was delicious, thanks for the dinner. You said you had more plans, no?”

Betty jumped in surprise and turned her face to Charlotte. “O-oh, yeah, right! You wait here while I get ready… No, tidy the kitchen and then wait, yeah. I’ll be back.” She got on her feet and headed to her room.

Charlotte nodded and propelled her body up. She brought all the dirty stuff to the kitchen and started to wash them manually, there wasn’t an automatic dishwasher inside.