Chapter 7: Nihilist Talents exist?

I think it was about 6 am? Just 5 hours of sleep. Then again, I was asleep after the plane crash for decently long.

My new roommate was fast asleep. I got up from my bed and thought of what to do. I didn't have anything on me.

I looked around the room a bit better. It was surprisingly big. There were two beds, apart from each other. The beds themselves weren't anything luxurious. It was just a somewhat thin mattress on a metal frame. There was a small coffee table that was common for both beds.

The room had one washroom, and a shelf full of books. This girl Maria must be a massive bookworm, I thought to myself. Phones didn't seem to be allowed, or else, Maria would have probably a phone on the table.

I went into the bathroom. It was surprisingly clean, and well-maintained for a military bunker restroom.

I went outside the door. The door had like 3 locks, and it was extremely annoying to get through, but I did it somehow. What was this place? A safe?

I stepped outside the room and noticed two suitcases, with their locks broken, outside the door, lying in the hallway. There was also a note on top of these cases.

I ripped the note out and read it.

'We found two suitcases near the airplane crash. We suspect it might belong to you. If it doesn't belong to you, go to the director's office and deposit the suitcases near the metal door

~Daphne'

These suitcases were definitely with me when I jumped off the plane. Or were they? I didn't care. They looked a bit dirty but if they had my stuff, then I would be more than just happy. I opened them and found the bare necessities. A few sets of clothes etc.

Huh. How convenient. On the bright side, I wouldn't have to share my new roommate's stuff. I took the suitcase and went back to the bed. I freshened up, took a change of clothes, and sat on my bed.

Now what?

What am I supposed to do? I had nowhere to return to. I was in this random place that I knew nothing about. I didn't want to think about all that, so I lay in my bed, waiting for something to happen.

I hadn't opened the other suitcase which I basically just 'stole'. I was getting bored, so I got up to open it.

Then I heard Maria wake up.

"Ugh… Good morning.", she said, looking for her glasses.

"Yeah, good morning to you too.", I said.

"Who the hell are you?", she said, wearing her glasses.

"Your new roommate.", I replied.

"Oh, you are the kid who woke me up in the middle of the fucking night huh?", she said, sounding pissed.

"Oh yeah? Then the hell was I supposed to do? Sleep outside?", I snapped back, getting irritated by her snarky attitude.

"Honestly, yeah you should have. At least that way I wouldn't have to share my clothes with you."

"You anyway don't have to smart*ss. I got my stuff.", I said.

"Wait for real?", she said, then looked at the suitcases at the doorstep. "Ayyy, good job. First time you actually made yourself useful kid!", she said gleefully, like as if she had just won a competition.

"What's with you calling me kid huh? How old are you anyway, granny?", I asked.

"You don't need to know that child. Also, did you just call me granny?", she said, heading over to the restroom.

"You sound like a really annoying 15-year-old granny you know.", I said, sitting back on the bed.

"Shut your trap."

"Yes, Aunty Maria."

"This b-"

Just then, I heard a loud announcement in the room. I noticed the sounds came from a speaker in the corner of the room.

"Ms. Maria and Ms. Cecilia are requested to go to the director's office as soon as possible, at most by 10am.", the announcement said.

"What?", I said.

"What?", I heard her say at the same time.

"What's the time?", I said.

"Ah… fuck… oh the time? Check the alarm clock at the coffee table.", she said from inside the bathroom.

It was 9 am on the dot.

I guess we had a good 1 hour to spare.

I saw Maria hurriedly come out of the bathroom. She fixed her hair and just got ready.

"Why are you in such a hurry? We still have 1 hour left.", I said.

"You dumbass.", she said as she flung open the cupboards to get something. "When that damned director says 10 am he usually means 9 am. He'll screw us over if we come after 9. Passive-aggressively. What's the time now?"

"Oh no.", I said, looking her straight in the eyes.

"Don't tell me…", she said, sounding defeated.

"Hurry up dumbass!", I shouted, as I went to open the door.

"Yeah yeah, I'm on it.", she said, coming out of the bedroom running.

Looking at her now, while she wasn't disheveled, she honestly looked quite good. She wore glasses, had somewhat long brownish hair, and pure black eyes. Definitely sported the half-tomboy look. She looked like she exercised somewhat regularly. It became quite evident with the speed at which she was running.

We reached the director's office in about a minute. She flung open the door, and both of us went inside.

"Good morning, sir. May I ask the reason why we were summoned here?", she said, sounding unusually respectful.

"Both of you are to go to investigate remnant damage near this area. It is given a class of R-2. Handle this with caution. David will escort you two."

"But sir… what about my classes?", she asked.

"You will be dismissed from classes for today."

"Alright sir.", she said, sounding monotone, but I could almost see the excitement in her face.

"David will explain to you the details of this investigation. You are now dismissed. Head over to the transportation station."

Both of us headed out of the room.

"Where is the transportation room?"

"Just follow me.", she said, looking like as if she was dreading something.

"What's the transportation room again?"

"Basically like a teleportation room. Only caveat is that it feels like shit going through that place."

"Woah. Teleportation?", I said. Teleportation? I thought that stuff only happened in sci-fi books and movies. Some part of me felt excited at seeing this teleportation machine.

"Trust me, it isn't as good as it sounds. You will feel like shit by the end of it.", she said, expressing her distaste for the machine, as if she held a grudge against it.

"I see…", what's so bad about instant teleportation? I thought to myself.

"The director mentioned something about this being an R-2 investigation. What's R-2 again?", I asked, cautiously.

She just turned to look at me. "How long have you been here again?", she asked.

"I came to this place yesterday nighttime, I guess? What does that have to do with this though?"

"Please tell me you at least know how to use nihilism.", she said, slowly paling in the face.

"Uh… I used for the first time yesterday…", I said, knowing that wasn't the response she wanted to hear.

"Did those bastards really just assign you to an investigation already? You don't even know the basics of controlling nihilism. Are they morons?", she said, sounding extremely annoyed.

"So at least tell me what R-2 means.", I said. Every word she said made me feel more and more stupid.

"Alright… do you know what gods and remnants are?", she said, letting out a deep sigh.

"Yeah, roughly."

"Not all remnants are created equal. Some are weaker than others. They are ranked with R and a number next to it. R-3 is the weakest possible; R-1 is an extremely strong remnant."

"So we are going for the middle level?"

"Yes but actually no. The R-number rating system is exponential, meaning a lower R-2 is easily 10 times stronger than an R-3. An R-3 can be called a mild annoyance. A R-3 might be able to kill a person using nihilism. A R-2 on the other hand can flatten entire buildings."

"And we fight them using nihilism?", I asked. If the thing I used yesterday was nihilism, then how do we fight things that can flatten buildings with something like that?, I thought to myself

"Yup. They told you about nihilism, right? Do you have a nihilist talent yet?"

"A nihilist what now?"

"So you don't."

"What even is that?"

"Using raw nihilism does work, but it isn't very effective. Especially against remnants in the R-2 level. They themselves have abilities that may seem supernatural. A nihilist talent is basically just a way to channel your nihilism in a more effective manner, like an ability to counter theirs."

"So basically just a superpower.", I said, only hearing the 'ability' part of the entire sentence.

"Yup. Takes a bit of time to learn your talent, but once you do, it becomes part of you. If I am being completely honest, the chances of you learning one is impossible.", she said, in an attempt to taunt me

"What's yours?", I asked, ignoring her blatant attempt at irritating me.

"I can stop virtually anyone in their tracks. Like if you throw a punch, I can stop you, basically stop you in your place."

"Wait really?", I said, trying to punch in the shoulder.

My hand just stopped, like she said. In fact, my entire arm felt like it was stuck in cement.

"Well… I'll be damned.", I said.

"Not just that, I can also do the same by touching something.", she said, touching my lips.

I couldn't move them. Like at all.

"Pretty fucking cool, right?", she said, almost snickering to herself. "I'll release it don't worry.", she said, releasing whatever was on me.

"Can I also get a power like that?", I asked, sounding kind of excited. In my defense, this was the kind of stuff you would read in novels. It felt like I was part of a novel.

Who wouldn't feel excited?