Chương 20: Eva Has Questions

A day off is a word that conveys satisfaction and a certain joy to working people; it is when normal people do what they truly aspire to in their personal lives—some go to the beach, others go camping, and even those who stay home watching TV shows are considered normal routines on days when people have a day off.

But in Soren's life, that word had a different meaning in the dictionary; it was a strange word, one that caused a certain discomfort, because what could a day off possibly mean to someone who had been alive for eight centuries?! Soren wondered what this pause in his life truly meant, for it could be a pause from the endless project of existing, or even a careful maintenance of insignificance.

Still, Yoshida insisted with a certain persistence, trying to convince him through a mere recognition of his labor effort; the boss mentioned, in his characteristic way, that Soren had worked too many shifts last week. Soren remembered the legendary phrase Yoshida had addressed to him:"Boy, you've already worked too many shifts, you know, labor laws also apply to strange employees like you. Enjoy your day off."

Lying in his bed, Soren visualized the little bearded old man taking advantage of his day off to call him strange; his boss never missed an opportunity, with his experience managing to fit any adjective into a professional pretext. For he remembered well when he wanted Aiko to speed up her pace, to quickly clear a line of 20 customers, Yoshida went up to her and convinced her that at the end of the day he would listen to and follow her podcast.

The girl's eyes shone full of hope, but in the end, when she got home, her podcast still had the exact same 11 listeners. He felt a special pleasure looking at that ceiling at 10: 00 AM; besides being relaxing, Soren sought to find in his extensive memory what normal people did with free time.

He remembered the times before he had sealed the crown, of when he would wake up early with a view of the beach, when in winter he would surf the giant waves of Nazaré; he felt a certain nostalgia for when he could teleport there, then have lunch by the beach and eat the best freshly caught fish. There was a certain creativity in finding occupations for a long life. None of his thoughts were interrupted by an annoying mobile phone ring; his phone remained on vibration mode on top of his desk.

No message from Director Tanaka, which was quite unusual, and there were also no missed calls or messages from unknown numbers, which led him to think that the concept of a day off was indeed comprehensive in every sense. Eva hadn't sent any more messages either; the girl hadn't asked him any more questions, and Soren was not indifferent—her absence left him with some concerns, given his interpretation of those patterns early that morning.

At 10: 47 AM, a delicate hand knocked four times on the wooden door, with an interval coordinated like the second hand of a wall clock. Soren knew this was not Mrs. Sachiko's usual knock; the knocks were followed by a patient wait while he decided to get up to open the door, and whoever was on the other side did not knock again on the old door. It was then that Soren got out of bed, with his sheets thoroughly crumpled, and went to open the door.

Soren tilted his head; it was Eva standing in the hallway, holding a notebook with both hands, wearing a determined expression, her chin tilted upward and her eyes piercing Soren's gaze. Greetings were dispensed with; Eva went straight to the point:"I have questions, Mr. Gas Leak." Behind her, on the other side of the hallway, Mrs.

Sachiko's door was ajar, a two-finger gap separating it from the frame—enough to be able to hear anything that might be pertinent, or perhaps just plain gossip, since the elderly loved information—and inside was a dark background with no sign of light. Soren was completely surprised looking at Eva; it felt as though he had just received a relative who could visit his home any day of the year except one: the present day. Without further ado, he asked her:"You shouldn't be here. How did you find my apartment, Eva?"

"You told me to stay home. And yes, I obeyed, I stayed home, but you didn't say I couldn't visit you." Meanwhile, Eva looked into the interior of his apartment and, determined, walked right past him without any invitation.

"What? This is really small." Then she looked back, and with her mouth open, looked him up and down.

"I thought powerful people lived in big mansions or even palaces." Soren turned around toward the interior of his apartment and tried to appease the girl's spirits.

"I am not powerful."

"Yes you are, the System says you are error level, and that sign can only mean that you are very powerful, or else severely messed up in the head." The girl, with her sweet air, smiled at him.

"And you, actually, don't seem messed up to me." Eva maintained her tender look as she continued to gaze at him. Find this and other great novels on the author's preferred platform. Support original creators! Soren entered his apartment and kept his door ajar, his mind beginning to think about the possible complications that visit would cause in his life. But now, there was nothing to be done.

"But look, how did you get all the way here? This is Shibuya."

"I came by train; I don't have classes today, but wait, I'm 12 years old, I'm not stupid, I know how to defend myself very well." Eva now addressed Soren in a very firm tone. She approached his desk and began to examine the employee of the month certificate with the intensity of a forensic investigator, her eyes wide open, with the focus of someone whose concentration leaves no room for a single detail to escape.

"Wow! But this doesn't match the decor of your apartment; why do you have this here?"

"It was an award for being employee of the month—in fact, my first award as an employee of MinouseMart."

"You don't say, for closing a fissure?"

"I already told you, Eva, that's called a gas leak." Eva pondered before answering him, opened her notebook, and with her pen, the girl made a note. Soren looked at the girl, and she couldn't seem to put a full stop to what she was writing there; the notebook was quickly filling up with notes.

"I saw the patterns last night," said the girl.

"After I sent you the message, the patterns became sharper; I saw spirals everywhere." She looked directly at him.

"In the fissure data, also in the System's warnings, and even in the way people walk on the street. Everything is pointing to you, Mr. Gas Leak; there's your answer on how I found you." Eva smiled at Soren. Soren sighed, leaned back, and sat on the edge of the bed while looking at the palms of his hands.

After all, in that apartment, there were few options for a person to sit: one of them would be the chair with a broken wheel, the floor was also an option, or on top of the toilet for anyone who didn't mind talking with the door open. Soren looked at Eva with a serious expression.

"You know, you shouldn't be able to see these things."

"But I do see them, Mr. Gas Leak; I can't stop seeing them."

"Well, I can see that."

"But, one question, why do I see them? Can you clear that up for me?" The question hung between the two of them, without an answer to make it drop; it was simply a 12-year-old child asking about patterns that, in reality, most adults could not perceive, about connections Tokyo was not yet ready for, and about things that were far beyond her age.

"Eva, do you really know what the awakening is?" asked Soren.

"I know that your mother had already said something about the awakening."

"Yes, I know what it is; when we turn 16, the System gives us a class."

"So, what happens before age 16, do you know?"

"I know, we are unawakened beings, we are between level 1 and 5, according to each person's characteristics—I think it must be like that, perhaps potential."

"Right, it's exactly about potential. Most people cannot see System data before the awakening. That data is totally blocked; it's a safety measure to prevent children from doing things, things they are not yet ready for."

"Yes, I understand, but the truth is I can see them as they are." The girl, with her cute air, smiled at him once more.

"Yes, you can see much more than that. You can see inside the fissures, you can perceive the patterns, even those that escape even the most specialized WID analysts. And you can see that the System classifies me as an Error." Eva continued paying the utmost attention to Soren's words; her seriousness was that of a girl with every capacity to understand the language of a being much older than her.

"So, tell me, what does that mean?"

"It means that your abilities awakened very early. At 12 years old at least, that is extremely rare, or even—" Soren weighed his next words.

"Even unique." He began to digress about his long history.

"I want you to know that your ability is unusual, Eva." Eva remained next to the employee-of-the-month certificate and asked:"But do you think that's bad?" She expressed herself in a louder tone with some anxiety.

"Consider that it's just different, for different doesn't strictly mean bad." Eva, with her pen in one hand and the notebook in the other, wrote something else down. While she was concentrated on her writing, Soren, with some curiosity, raised his head and managed to read what the girl was writing:"different doesn't strictly mean bad. Confirm later."

Eva turned to Soren, maintaining the same attentiveness to what he was saying:"Be honest with me, the patterns I see, the spirals, they're getting bigger, aren't they?" Soren leaned back; he was not having a good feeling about this questionnaire.

"Yes, they are."

"And they're also getting faster, aren't they?" Soren took a deep breath and said in a more cautious tone: "Yes, they are too."

"Well, and they point to you, because—" Eva put the pen in her mouth and began to reflect while biting the tip.

"Because Mr. Gas Leak is creating them, or because something is using you to create them?" Soren was incredulous at the girl's perceptiveness; his hands began to sweat upon hearing her words, and he remained still, looking at her until he found his composure.

"The truth is it's both things. I'll explain it to you, Eva." Soren closed his eyes, and when he opened them: "There is something inside me that is growing and having an impact on Tokyo's dimensional barriers. Simply put, the fissures are a response to that impact."

"Impact like when a microphone is close to a sound system?" Before answering, Soren appreciated the creativity of her example.

"Yes, very much like that, Eva."

"So, the more you use your powers, the more fissures appear?" Eva, with a worried look, paused, remembering that moment in the park.

"A power like the one you used when you saved my life and my parents'. Right?" Well, the girl was reaching the maximum level of perceptiveness.

"Yes, essentially that's it."

"So what if you don't use your power? Do people die because of the fissures that will appear anyway?" Soren breathed in and didn't answer this time; he dedicated himself solely to looking at her, for the logic was evident.

"That seems unfair, Mr. Gas Leak," Eva replied with a certain indignation.

"Yes, it's unfair." As he looked at her, something reminded him of when he was a kid.

"And the System should resolve that quickly," Eva said, using her youthful irreverence.

"Mind you, the System doesn't resolve these things directly, since its main focus is to classify them."

"Then you should be the one to resolve them. We can't let this continue like this, Mr. Gas Leak." Eva closed her notebook and stared at him once more. Soren smiled at the girl and said:"I'm working on it, Eva."