Chương 180: B3. 20.2 - Normal Glass Woman

Trepanner's here so soon? My heart thumped so strongly that I might have a heart attack. I tensed my body, pinning my arms to my side and keeping my legs as stiff as a pole, countering the intense urge to run back into the building. I wasn't leaving this man alone to face the Corebrings. My disguise should be sufficient. I was of medium build, a foot taller than my original self, and had curly hair. I expected my face to be quite far from my Erind look.

"Who said that?" He looked left and right, stretching his arms to keep me back.

"It's the bird! The bird spoke!" I exclaimed, adding fake surprise in my voice. I didn't need to fake fear because I had plenty of that. Am I afraid? What else could be constricting my chest and throat if not fear? But how could that happen? I had never felt this before, not something beyond fearing that Mom might cut off my allowance, and I'd have to find a job.

"Heyo!" The speaking seagull, yet another one, spread its wings as a greeting.

"You two don't have anything to worry about if you cooperate. I'm a Corebring."

"What the…? Are you really a Corebring?" The man lowered his hands.

"Maybe it's a shapeshifter Corebring?" I wondered, peeking from behind the man. I didn't want to leave him here, but it was actually beneficial for me to stay. Running would paint me as suspicious. Ultimately, I was just using him, wasn't I? Was this an inherent nature of mine?

"Nah, not shapeshifting," replied the Pan-controlled gull. It should have another fetus CoreQuip attached to its back.

"Anyway, I'm not here to talk about that. I'll keep this simple. Us Corebrings are pursuing an Adumbrae."

"There's an Adumbrae down there!" I shouted, my voice cracking into a shriek. I couldn't believe that I was putting a Corebring on the spot. This was something my original Erind self would do without a second thought, but I was super stressed just speaking out. Was this a side effect of transforming into a seemingly normal human? Pan answered as I expected—with lies.

"That's not an Adumbrae. Just the remaining body parts of one. We're going to clean that up, don't you worry, random lady. But we also need to find the Adumbrae that caused this mess." I should be pissed that they were ruining my plans, changing the narrative I had wanted to present to the public. The Corebrings should come out as the bad guys. But I couldn't muster up the anger at them because I was already angry at myself. This was further proof that innocent lives were pointlessly lost.

"Yeah, we'll help," the man eagerly said.

"What does this Adumbrae look like?" Huh? Why didn't he immediately mention the Adumbrae that he had encountered? He could be thinking that I was an Adumbrae in disguise, weighing whether it'd be safe to snitch on me or not.

"Looks like a werewolf," replied Pan.

"A very dangerous Adumbrae that goes by the name Red Hood. She excreted all of that crap you see down there that killed many people."

"A werewolf? I… I don't think I've seen anything like that around." The man turned to me, meeting my eye. That glance meant something. But what? Why not tell a Corebring the truth?

"Me and miss over here… We were too busy running away."

"Ye-yeah," I said. The man probably didn't trust Pan's story, given that the werewolf had saved him. I strengthened my voice to avoid sounding hesitant and suspicious.

"I haven't seen a werewolf either. It was just those tentacles everywhere. I'm sure we would've noticed a werewolf."

"This particular Adumbrae can turn into a fairly human-looking woman," Pan said. She was probably going off the information that I wore a hoodie and a mask even as Erind while at Marsh Row. Even if Pan knew what was under all that covering, my current appearance was very different from it.

"Her other body is supposedly short," Pan added, looking up at me.

"But if this monster can transform, who knows what else she can look like? Have you two been together all this time?" That question made my blood freeze. Pan was trying to catch us in a lie, already suspecting our appearances. Could I spout a coherent story to save myself? Not while I was in this form that was messing with my head in some worrisome way.

"We met at a bar, two or three streets away," the man quickly replied, pointing in a random direction. I clenched my teeth, stopping myself from jerking in shock. He continued to lie.

"Now, when I say 'met', it wasn't that we're dating," he continued.

"We don't know each other at all. We met while everyone was running away." Why is he covering for me? No way he thought that I was the werewolf who had saved him. I nodded.

"I went inside the bar after the alerts about an Adumbrae attack came. Didn't expect that an Adumbrae would be right here. There were other people at the bar, too. I'm not sure what happened to them…"

"Killed by those damn tentacles," said the man.

"I saw a couple got squished flat. We're luckier than a baby born into a rich family that we got out alive. Can you help us get down from here, Ms. Corebring? Not literally down there."

"Somewhere safe," I chimed in. It looked like I was in the clear, with much thanks to this man. And I didn't even know his name. Out of respect, I didn't give him a stupid nickname. Not sure why I usually did that, as if I didn't care about a person's true identity. Not as if … I really didn't care about other people. I should change that. Pan made her signature gurgling noises. This wasn't what she had wanted to hear.

"No one leaves this area until we've sufficiently made sure that you're not an Adumbrae."

"The hell? We're not monsters!" The man extended his arm.

"Test me! Make a cut. I'm not regenerating anything. I actually heal slower than the next guy because of my diabetes." A bird with dark feathers swooped past, nicking the man's arm with its curved claws. Was that a hawk? The man yelled in pain, hugging his arm and turning away.

"Argh! The fuck? Is that bird also yours?"

"Show me your wound," Pan the seagull demanded. The man glanced at me, probably asking if he should comply. I nodded. I didn't know what to do! We were surrounded by more and more birds. Three stray cats also found their way up this roof. The only silver lining was that the gravel monsters stayed away since that'd contradict the Corebrings' story. You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. The man held out his arm.

I could make out a couple of red lines perpendicularly crossing it.

"You next," said Pan, pointing her beak at me.

"Don't hurt me!" What excuse did I have to get out of this test?

"Hang on," said the man.

"I don't think this is necessary, Ms. Corebring."

"We're both humans," I said.

"We just want to get home and—Aw!" Something scraped the back of my head. Feathery wings slapped my ears. I flailed my arms to shoo away the shitty bird that attacked me. The stinging sensation was dull and distant, as if someone else was experiencing the pain. But I was also feeling part of it. Not sure if I was describing it accurately. I touched the back of my head. A warm liquid made my hair stick together. Examining my fingers, it seemed that my fake body bled a bit.

"Are you alright?" The man offered me a handkerchief.

"Press this against the bleeding."

"It's… It's just a small wound," I said. Turning to Pan, he said, "Are you satisfied now, Ms. Corebring? We're not Adumbrae!"

"We need medical attention," I said.

"Quiet down, both of you," Pan snapped, awkwardly waddling on the concrete roof.

"Let me think what to—oh, here's Clive." I didn't immediately spot Clive jumping on the buildings because his glowing spear wasn't with him.

"Pan, what are you doing?" he asked after landing in front of us.

"Interrogating two people who claim to be humans," she replied, flying up to perch on his shoulder.

"And don't call me Pan."

"They do appear to be humans," Clive said, another clue that Corebrings could sense Cores and Adumbrae a certain distance away. I should be planning how I could avoid this 'sixth sense' of theirs, but I was too worried about the present. Would I get exposed? My original self would've been thrilled about this situation, giddy about the prospect of putting on an act and fabricating stories. I really am crazy.

"A-are you really Corebrings?" I asked, the words almost getting caught in my throat. Clive looked at me. I mustered up the courage to continue.

"You're not supposed to be in our country! The Washington Protocol—""We have permission," said Clive.

"We're here to assist the local authorities in handling the situations that have most apparently gotten out of hand." He turned to Pan.

"Have they seen Red Hood?"

"They say that they haven't," she answered.

"Is this about the werewolf Adumbrae?" the man asked.

"How can we be expected to see it if Corebrings lost track of it? You say you're Corebrings, but you're wearing a Quality Mart uniform."

"He didn't want to change," Pan dryly said.

"And you're a bird," continued the man.

"If we're not Corebring," Clive said, "then logic dictates that we must be Adumbrae. But we haven't killed you yet. Now, what'll we do here?"

"We'll round up a bunch of people," said Pan.

"Attach my CoreQuip to each one so I can examine their memories for myself. Very untrustworthy, the average person. We need to do it quickly before Red Hood gets too far. She should still be in this area."

"How can you be so sure?" Clive asked.

"Can you feel it?"

"No! No! No!" The jumbled flock of different bird species screeched their calls.

"It fucking disappeared! How can this be?" Pan can't detect the CoreQuip that I had swallowed? It must be inside my Blanchette body, now in another dimension. Though it seemed that it was just one CoreQuip piece out of many. It couldn't be that Pan was given individual CoreQuips for all of her animals, right? Clive only had his spear. Would Corebrings sense the missing CoreQuip if I turned back into Blanchette? Could I even digest that?

Maybe the CoreQuip could strengthen Glowy Erind—this would be fine with me because all the more reason the Corebrings would want me dead, and Glowy, along with me.

"Quiet down, Pan," said Clive.

"You're scaring the civilians. This isn't something that they should hear, assuming they can understand your avian cadence."

"Avian cadence my cloaca! Help me do the thing! I don't have coercive capabilities."

"Someone is coming who might object." Clive nodded at a helicopter approaching us, the noise of its rotors announcing its arrival before it shone powerful floodlights on us.

"Tch. The BID." Pan's birds scattered, leaving a lone seagull that perched on Clive's head. This is getting worse! Feelings of déjà vu hit me. Like during the tunnel excavation, my plans spiraled out of control and problems piled up, with the BID, and eventually the Corebrings coming. Now, both the BID and Corebrings were here! But I shouldn't be afraid. My power fooled even the Corebrings, though Pan still wanted to examine our minds. I should be able to pass the scanners of the BID. Fear was normal for humans.

I didn't have the experience dealing with it, but it was clear to me how. Just bury my fears. Fool myself into being brave.

"It's the big man himself," said Clive. The rooftop didn't have enough space for the helicopter to land. A BID agent chose to jump down from the helicopter instead, landing with a huge crash as his bulk hammered his wide foot an inch into the concrete. I gasped, looking up at the towering BID agent. With four arms. It was Agent Matt! In the short time that we had parted ways, he had found a spare suit his size, with four sleeves, and worn it.

His face was mostly metal, probably not having the time to reapply synthetic face and hair. His golden eyes blazed, glaring at Clive.

"Corebrings," said Agent Matt, almost growling. Gone was his jovial tone.

"Care to explain what's that down there? I'm assuming that you won't foot the bill to clean that up?" He seemed to know that the tendril flood was created by Corebrings.

"We're pursuing a very important Adumbrae target," said Clive.

"The one who takes on the form of a massive werewolf—Red Hood. You should be familiar with her."

"Are you saying that Red Hood is here?" Matt asked.

"Yes!" Pan squawked.

"We've seen her, and we have to catch her before she causes more harm!"

"Just like the harm you've caused?" Matt walked to the edge of the roof and pointed up the road.

"My bionic eyes spy a dead American citizen over there. And another one. Don't you dare take the bodies and hide them!" I couldn't see the street from my spot, but I could guess from the noises that the tendril flood was retreating into the manholes and drains, leaving behind destruction and death. That was what Agent Matt was angry about. Half of me rejoiced that my plan was back on track. Half was angry that I was happy. I couldn't understand my own feelings!

"Unfortunate casualties," said Clive.

"We had to act quickly."

"And yet," said Agent Matt, "you didn't find Red Hood despite all this supposed quick action. Cooperation under the Washington Protocol doesn't mean you'll act on your own, unless the definition of 'cooperation' has changed. I have a dictionary in my system, so I'm sure it hasn't. I have to put on a dunce hat for not realizing that your metal buddy was too talkative."

"What metal buddy?" Clive sharply asked. Agent Matt snorted.

"You know what I'm talking about, Corebring." He said that last word as if it were a racial slur.

"Jiggling keys in front of my face while you carry out this operation. We could've examined the PCM computers afterward."

"I have no idea what you're talking about," said Clive. I do! Agent Matt thought that Pino really was a Corebring. Pino toured Agent Matt around the PCM base so that he couldn't object to what the Corebrings were about to do outside. That was far from what happened, but Agent Matt seemed inclined to think otherwise. In the end, everything sort of worked out for me. I wanted to celebrate, but that'd be disrespectful to all the dead. Pan made gagging noises.

"This is a waste of time! Red Hood could be anywhere by now!"

"Go on, then." Agent Matt made shooing motions.

"Look for her. I have to attend to the citizens that you didn't kill."

"But I want to—" Pan began to say.

"We're leaving." Clive gave Agent Matt a curt nod.

"Thank you for welcoming us into your country."