Resignation (1)

When Zero and I got back to the "office" we were greeted by loud snoring.

Lisa had fallen asleep at her desk, head resting on her arms. It did not look comfortable. It was well into the night at that point, so it wasn't too unexpected. Seeing her like this, you'd almost mistake her for a normal person. 

Zero patted me on the shoulder. "Good work today. I'm going home," he said quietly. Then he left. 

Honestly, I was exhausted and my head hurt like hell after using my Photon so much. I was ready to collapse in bed and forget tonight ever happened. But there was something I had to do first. I walked up to Lisa a bit hesitant to wake her up. If anyone needed some sleep, it was her. Regardless, I needed to be done with this once and for all. 

I gently shook her. No response. 

I tried again, a little harder. Still nothing. 

I took a deep breath in and yelled, "Wake up!" 

Lisa lazily opened her eyes and looked at me. "Washi? I'm not dreaming right now, am I?" 

"Unfortunately not. Sorry to wake you." 

Her hand flopped in the air in an attempt to wave away my apology. "It's fine. I can sleep tomorrow," she muttered, followed by a long yawn. "How'd it go?" 

"We rescued them, though I almost died in the process." 

Lisa stood up with a groan, grabbed a half-empty mug of coffee, and took a sip. "See? I told you that you'd be fine." 

"I got lucky. Let's face it, I'm not cut out for this kind of work. I think Zero can just do fine on his own." 

"What are you saying?"

"I quit." 

"Oh, really?" Lisa said, unsurprised. 

"Yes. Really." 

Lisa studied me for a moment, her face suddenly more awake. "We really do need you." 

"You said you would hire just about anyone for this position."

"I… didn't want to come off as too weird." Lisa looked away, suddenly bashful. 

I stared at her, dumbfounded. She was serious. 

"Let me get this straight," I said slowly. "You hired me for a fake position, told me that you could see the future, and said that we had to save the world— but that would've been too weird?"

Lisa nodded as if I had just made a perfectly reasonable statement. "That's right." 

I waited for her to say anything else. She didn't. 

"...And you need me because…?"

"Can't say."

"Because you won't tell me or because you don't know?"

Lisa shrugged. 

"Alright, that's it. Goodbye forever. I'm going back to my normal life. I'll bring the payment you gave me tomorrow," I said as I turned to leave. 

"You can keep it. I have a feeling you'll be back soon enough," Lisa called after me. 

Her last statement made me a little uneasy. But right now, I didn't want to think about it. I wanted to sleep. 

***

I woke up the next morning to the sound of my alarm blaring in my ear. I looked at the time. I was going to be late for class.

I hopped out of bed and felt lighter—like a weight had been lifted off my chest.

This was how my life should be—worrying about being late for class, not about getting stabbed. 

As I was hurrying to class, I heard a voice behind me.

"Dude, you look like death." 

It was Felix, an energetic guy who had forced his friendship upon me in our first year at college.

"Yeah, I was… studying." 

Felix raised an eyebrow. "Studying? You?" 

"Had to try it at least once to see why everyone else was doing it." 

"I see you barely survived." 

"Never again." 

The professor eyed us as we entered a few minutes late. I had just sat down when I felt a tap on my shoulder. 

"You didn't forget about today's quiz, did you?" 

I looked over to see Reina—calm, sharp, and the only reason I hadn't failed half of my classes. 

I sighed. "I wish they'd tell us about these things ahead of time."

"It's literally been on the syllabus since day one," Reina replied. 

"Well, literally no one looks at that," I said. 

The professor cleared her throat. "Everyone, quiet." 

A panel of light flickered into existence in front of her. "Now, get out some paper and write down the answers to the questions displayed up here." 

Several questions appeared on the glowing screen. 

They were all about evolution and natural selection. Which, of course, I hadn't studied for. I came up with answers that at least sounded plausible and passed my paper forward. 

At lunch, I spotted Felix at a crowded table, surrounded by his loud, chaotic friends. Not my cup of tea. 

Then, I noticed Reina sitting alone. I grabbed my tray and joined her. 

"How's the slop taste today?" I asked, pointing to the sad excuse for a meal on her plate. 

"Not great, but at least the meat isn't raw this time." 

"Wow, what an improvement! I still dream of the day they find out what spices are."

"We both know that's never going to happen," Reina said dismissively. 

"Indeed. Reality is cruel." 

Reina looked at my face intently. "Not to be harsh, but you look rough. You doing ok?" 

"I'm fine, really. Just had a long night." 

She nodded with understanding. "You know, I've been having trouble sleeping recently too. I don't know what it is, but I've just felt kinda… off these past few days. Maybe we both caught the same thing?"

"What do you mean by 'off'?" I asked. 

"I don't know how else to describe it. I don't feel sick, exactly, but something's going on. I can't sleep properly, I get exhausted out of nowhere, and my body just feels… uncomfortable." 

"You're not studying too much, are you? I know it's your favorite thing to do." 

She rolled her eyes. "It's not, and no. I've been doing my usual routine. Nothing's changed." 

I gave her a concerned look. "You should probably see a doctor. Or at least the campus nurse." 

"Yeah, probably. You don't think it's something serious… like cancer?" Reina said, her voice wavering a little. 

"How about you go to the nurse before we start jumping to conclusions? I don't have another class until this evening, I'll go with you." 

"Okay. Sounds like a plan." 

We finished up our meals, then headed for the nurse's office on the other end of campus. I was familiar with the place as I had caught a variety of ills my first year. Some of the other students had yet to learn that sometimes sharing is not, in fact, caring. 

I waited outside as Reina went in to talk with the nurse. Not long after, she came out looking a little annoyed. 

"They just told me to get some rest, like I wasn't trying to do that already." 

"Hey, look on the bright side. At least they didn't tell you to start saying your goodbyes to everyone." 

"Yeah. Real encouraging." Reina sighed. "Guess I should schedule an appointment with a real doctor if this keeps—" 

She cut herself off with a sharp intake of breath, staggering slightly. 

"Are you ok?" 

"Yeah, I think I just need to sit down for a moment," she replied weakly. 

I helped her over to a nearby park bench and she slumped onto it. Her eyes darted about frantically as if she couldn't decide what to look at.

"What happened?" I asked. 

Reina took a deep breath to calm herself. "I don't know. I got dizzy all of a sudden and for a second, I felt like I lost my depth perception." 

"You definitely need to see the doctor soon. Until then, you should probably listen to the nurse and rest." 

After a moment, Reina had fully returned to her senses and stood up. "Alright. I think I'll be able to make it back to my dorm on my own. Thanks for worrying about me." She gave a slight smile and began walking away.

"Thank me by getting better. My grades will die with you if you don't," I called after her. 

***

Much to my dismay, my evening class went late, and it was dark as I walked back to my dorm. Illuminated under a distant streetlamp, I saw someone else walking the opposite way. It was too dark to make out their face, but I immediately knew who it was. Reina was the only person I knew who often wore such a fluorescent yellow hoodie.

I was about to go lecture her on why she should still be resting when I noticed two dark figures behind her. Before I could call out, they grabbed her and dragged her into the darkness.