Chapter 3: Elijah's Report

The night was about to end. Dawn's dim soft glow was urging the lazy sun to quickly rise up. The previous night's gloomy weather was nowhere to be seen. In the sky one or two stars still could be seen. The whole city of Winstone was still sleeping deeply. Only some nightclubs and movie halls were still wide open for business.

In this silent atmosphere, a woman was rushing through a narrow alleyway, dragging a teenager behind her. Frequently, she would anxiously look behind her to check if they were being followed. Her forehead was completely drenched with sweat in the cold dawn. Her features were still unclear in the darkness of the alleyway.

After passing through many alleyway like solving a complicated puzzle, She came to an dead end. Surprisingly this dead end contained a small dilapidated house. The woman as if got her strength back, ran to the front door. She knocked the door lightly. In the deep silence the light knock on the door dramatically elevated, echoing throughout the alley. The person inside was as if ready from the beginning, opened the door almost immediately. It was almost an seventy year old man.

As soon as the old man saw the woman, his eyes burst into tears. The woman also couldn't hold back. The anxiety and fear she had been holding on broke open in the form of sobbing. In between her sobbing she said while hugging him," Dad, I thought I won't be able to see....see...you..again."

The old man patted her back to calm her down. Suddenly he noticed the teenager standing behind them quietly. His eyes widened. His mouth automatically spoke up," Young...young miss, you are..alive?!!!"

Then he hurriedly closed his mouth and signalled his daughter to come inside with the teenager. The woman took the teenager in the innermost room. The old man followed. Yes, this teenager was Rose.

As Rose stepped into the room, the still on TV attracted her attention. It was set on the news channel. A news was playing again and again in red block letters as the headline.

" The Destruction of the Ardolf Family!!!"

Ardolf Family. Rose stared at the word. She recalled the current full name of her body. Sky Ardolf. It was her family.

The TV was showing a man, holding a press conference with a heavy grief filled tone. His clothes were dishevelled. His eyes were red as if he had just wiped off his tears. As he spoke his low voice sent a chill through her spine. She unconsciously trembled. This voice, how could she or more specifically the previous owner of the body, forget? Even though Sky was half conscious when the man spoke, she remembered it clearly. Even though Sky's soul had left the body, the natural instinct of the body towards it's murderer, gave Rose a shiver.

Following through Sky's memory, she came to know, the man was her father's best friend and also the vice President of their company. His name was William Jones. It was really the family's out of imagination that such a person would bring about the ultimate disaster upon them. Rose stared fixedly without blinking as the man showed his Oscar winning performance in front of the camera.

" It...it is beyond my imagination that someone could do such harm on such a benevolent family like the Ardolfs. The deceased young President Elijah was like my own son. His capability to manage such a large company was so excellent that me and the former president John was so proud of him. The enemy was too cruel. They arranged Elijah's accident so viciously that even his body couldn't be found. And they were bold enough to assassinate his parents in their own house. They didn't even left...left..... the sixteen year old innocent mentally disabled girl....How could a enemy be so cruel to rape a child?.....…....."

Rose clenched her fist. This William was really blocking all her paths for coming back to society. One day even if she somehow exposed the truth, the society would point at her on every step. Then Rose smiled sinisterly in her mind, ' Oh well, hasn't the system said, the apocalypse is coming?....he..he.. Spend the last few months of your life well. I will personally torture you bit by bit then, that you will be begging death. '

As Rose thought, in her mind different kinds of torture methods kept flashing like she had used them hundreds of times. Her eyes flickered with a crazy light. It was fortunate that the old man and her daughter had their back on Rose, otherwise they would have been frightened by her maniac like facial expression.

As the old man closed the TV, Rose came back to reality. She herself was surprised by her own cruel train of thoughts. And more surprisingly she didn't have the slightest revulsion against it. On the contrary, Rose felt that it was natural to her. Rose panicked.

' Have I always been this kind of person? No..no... Right...right...it maybe the system's fault....You better be prepared damned system! Don't let me get my hands on you! '

The system who was sleeping, ' wu..wu...I am innocent. '

The old man's voice broke her train of thought. He coaxed her like a five year old child, " Young miss, it's so late at night. Why don't sleep in grandpa James's room today? Grandpa have some tasty cookie and grandpa can also give you some chocolate milk. What do you say?"

Rose remained silent for a moment and discard her previous thoughts. She knew she couldn't act like a child all the time. So, she decided to have been cured by the shock of her parents' death.

"I am cured."

Grandpa James and her daughter Lily were silent for a moment. Then after the gist of her words had finally rang a bell in their brains, they looked at her speechlessly.

"huh?!"

" I. Am. Cured. " Rose repeated each words separately.

"...."

Rose ignored the father, daughter pair's surprised expression.

" Grandpa James, is it possible for you to create a new fake identity for me in a different city, far away from it. And..." Rose paused and then said gravely," And please change my gender as a male. From seeing today's situation I assume that the police and laws won't be able to help us. Maybe William has full control of them. Or how could a major family like us fall only in a day?"

" So, I think living as a boy will ensure my safety for some time. Also, I want to enroll into a school. William will never think that a mentally disabled girl like myself can get into any academic institutions."

Rose looked at James and Lilly and said," So, Can you please arrange some fake story for me too. But don't worry, I will enter the school by giving the entrance test.....Just say to the principal that you have picked me up from the streets. I was without any identity. Then it will be easy to create a new identity for me too."

Hearing Rose's logical reasonings, James and Lilly teared up, " Oh my god, young miss, you are really cured. If the Master and mistress were alive today how happy they would have been. The young master might go wild in joy... don't worry young miss, I will arrange everything for you like you said...."

James had served the Ardolf Family for as long as he could remember. Serving the Ardolfs was their family motto. He had seen the father of Sky, John Ardolf grew up with his own eyes. Likewise after he retired, her daughter took his place. So, naturally after serving such a powerful family for so long, James although being only a chef, had many acquaintances in various fields. Creating a new identity and some fake papers would be a child's work.

After discussing the matter with the father daughter duo Rose decided to give a rest to her tired body. Grandpa James arranged a room for her. As per his suggestion Rose would stay in this house for a few days until her identity was made newly. As she left the room, Lilly asked her father, " Dad, don't you think the young miss is a little bit weird?"

"hmm...."James said placing his hand on his chin.

"I mean, shouldn't she be a little more devastated about the loss of her family? William murdered her parents so cruelly in front of her. Even though I haven't seen anything, just one look at the corpses of master and mistress are still giving me shivers."

James sighed heavily.

" Maybe it's because of the shock....I still can't believe the Ardolf Family is gone. Maybe young master Elijah is still alive. After all they didn't find his body in the accident spot."

".... William ...Who could have imagined, he was hiding such poisonous nature under his gentle mask...How I wish to tear that mask in front of the whole world.....sigh..... anyway go to sleep for now. And remember in the future if that beast calls you for anything, just say that yesterday you were not present in the Ardolf mansion at all. Understood?"

" Yes father!"

....

....

In the space, several thousands of light years away a huge wedge shaped spaceship was floating leisurely. The spaceship was about 1400 meter long. But inside it was completely silent. There was no crew members in the meticulously prepared cafeteria, canteen, gym, gathering places, conference rooms and general assembly. It was like a ghost ship. But one vast hall, although silent, was completely full. It was the hibernating center. This particular room was lined with thousands of hibernating pods in disciplined mannar. The most surprising thing was, the hibernating pods were all filled with people.

In the bridge of the spaceship, five figures currently surrounded a large screen that was covering the whole observing window. Their faces were red in excitement. In the screen a young man's image was showing in the dark background. If Rose was here she would have instantly recognised the man.

The young man in the screen opened his mouth.

" I have successfully bound the general's consciousness with her system and transferred it in Sky's body."

The youth from the left side with blood red hair almost couldn't control his happiness and said," At last, the general finally will be able to regain her memory. If the federation's ships didn't attack us that time, we didn't have to send the general's consciousness on the planet Earth....."

The man in the middle spoke, " Say Elijah-"

In the screen, the man seemed displeased.

" Why are you calling me Elijah? Call me lieutenant general."

Yes, this man currently speaking was Elijah, Sky's elder brother!! He had not died!

" Ha..ha..why do we care about by which name you are called or which name will please you? We are systems after all. We only follow our masters' command. And currently they are sleeping. So we are completely free.....ha..ha." The only girl in the group ridiculed.

" Shut up Nola!! Lieutenant general, how is system Sky doing? And also what about system kerra and Jos? Are they doing fine?" A serious 30 year old man among them asked.

Elijah got a headache thinking about the three systems.

" Don't ask about them. They have been restricted in a human body for too long. They had to pretend like a perfect family for more than a decade. Currently they are all in my head. I have just put them into sleep. Damn it! My head was almost exploding from their constant chattering."

Elijah paused for some moments, then said in a longing voice," And....wake everyone up from the hibernating chambers. The general soon about to regain her memory." He chuckled, " They surely don't want to meet their general in those rigid untrained bodies. Tell them to muscle up. And you five, Mir, Sabbir, Joda, Nola and kal connect with your masters. Our Ship 'Death Bringer' again will come into her previous glory."

The five system with body also hyped up. Then the 30 year old serious Sabbir said, " Lieutenant general, when are you coming on abroad?"

Elijah didn't expect the question and stuttered to answer, " Well...well, I will stay here for the meantime to protect the general....cough...cough... Send Richard and Sarah here to get their own systems."

Nola shouted out loud," No, I want to go with my mas-"

The screen suddenly blacked out. Nola clenched her fist.

" What protection?! The general can protect herself very well. You just want to stay by her side....wu..wu...I also want to go."

The red haired youth, Mir laughed out loud," Ha..ha..serves you right! "

"You...."

Sabbir and Joda sighed helplessly at their childish behaviour.

Kal who was silent for the whole time said slowly, " Guys, I have been thinking recently....say, we have made the general go through one extra miserable lifetime to bind with her system...it might be due to accident but....but, when she will regain her memory, will she let go of our masters?"

The four systems, "..."

Then they silently lighted a candle for their sleeping masters in unison.

Kal again said, " wait I am not finished...Imagine the boss system of the general..... imagine after he regains his memory...we made him accidentally transform into a child form, while transferring him into this planet...and this form is permanent....well it was also an accident....but, will he let us go?"

"....."

The four systems' faces paled. They shivered.

Kal turned his back to leave the bridge. The other systems looked at him. Nola asked," Where are you going?"

Kal said," To enjoy my remaining merry life. Hurry let's wake up the crew members and enjoy the last moments."

"...."