Evelyn VIIThe director leaned back in his chair and sighed. "Shinya will be placed in command of your team, effective immediately."That took me by surprise. "What?"The director sighed. "You heard me. Shinya will be placed in command.""Why? Have I not performed my duties to the expectations Sword placed on me? In what regard have I failed?"This was crap. I had gone above and beyond in my whole career. Even after getting this new body, I haven't let my performance suffer.The director shook his head. "You misunderstand me. Your performance has been excellent, the same as it was before the change. If anything, you seem to be going beyond. You are being removed from the team entirely.""Why?" We had just become a team. I was getting to know them. We haven't had the chance to learn to work together."You've been removed from my jurisdiction." He clicked his linker and an image appeared between us. It was one page and it had all the right files and information an official Sword order w
I almost took Mireille's head off. Which would have been bad, since decapitation was the only way to kill a knight. I was in a blood frenzy, the urge to hunt and kill so dominant. But a part of me must have recognized her on some base level because I was able to restrain myself.Mireille set the girl gently on the couch and laid her down. My mind returned to me as she fluttered across the room, bringing the girl a glass of water and a red pill. "This will help replenish the blood she lost. By tomorrow, she will be back to normal."That was good because I wasn't sure how close I was to killing her. If Mireille hadn't been there and I had kept going... I'd have blood on my hands. Damien, and before him Julius, must have had plenty of blood on their hands, but whoever they had been, they weren't me. I didn't want to be a murderer.The scent of blood hung in the air of the room, and though the burning in my throat had been quenched, I wanted more. The need was weaker now. The drive was me
"You know what we are and you're okay with it?" I asked. The woman opened the door all the way and leaned in the doorway. Now that I had a full view of her, I noticed how attractive she was. Not as attractive as my knights, but she was pretty close.I wondered if their attractiveness had something to do with changing them. That was something I would ask. Later.The girl nodded. "Oh yeah, we know. Why wouldn't we be okay with it?""... Because we'll be sucking your blood?"I remembered interviews and news segments when Twilight was at the height of its popularity. The vampire cast had fans asking people to bite them. Was she the same way? Did vampires just have some innate appeal that mere mortals couldn't understand?"Nanase, you explain everything," Kaya commanded. "I'm hungry.""Don't give me orders."Kaya grabbed the girl's hand and pulled her inside. The girl even giggled like this was some love affair. Kaya sat on the couch and positioned the girl on her lap. When Kaya opened her
I was confident that whoever he had been, Damien was smarter than me. Before my rebirth, if you could call it that, I had forgotten everything from my calculus class. Hell, I forgot trigonometry and was in danger of forgetting advanced Algebra. But when I sat down in Professor Verner's class and connected my linker to the room, I discovered that math wasn't as difficult as I remembered. In fact, it was too easy.No, easy wasn't the right description for this. It was beyond easy. It was as if my old self had been sat in a third-grade classroom and was asked to do basic arithmetic. That's how easy pre-calculus was for me. The equations just clicked and everything made sense. I was the first one down with the work that day and Professor Verner messaged me my results: a perfect score.There had always been a part of me that wanted to do things over again. I had wanted to go back in time and redo my life, just without the sickness. Another part of me knew I wouldn't have been able to keep
They looked the same as the Ares models, perhaps a shade or two sleeker, but otherwise, I couldn't tell the difference. Unlike the Ares Hardsuits, the Athenas were colored black. Most hardsuits in urban environments were white, better to reflect the sun, but all the Athena Hardsuits were pitch black."These are going to be hell to wear in the summer," Jac said. For once, I agreed with her."The Athena Hardsuits has built-in climate control," Inspector Sparks said. "Or so I'm told. I haven't worn a hardsuit since my time at the institute. For all I know, every hardsuit comes with built-in climate control.""Believe me, that's not the case," I said. I walked over to the first suit and ran my hand across the old metal. "Have these been registered to our IDs?""Before they were even shipped out," Inspector Sparks said.The armor was in three pieces: the helmets, the torso, and the waist. We had come here to try the armor out, so I picked up the waist and slid one leg in at a time. Each pi
"I'm your commanding officer. That's Captain Lescheres, not princess.""Whatever, princess." She crossed her arms. I was sympathetic but if she couldn't be professional, then she shouldn't be here. Her aptitude aside, if she couldn't follow orders, she was going to be a problem."Captain Lescheres," I repeated."Princess."Oh, this was going to be fun. I could just feel it.One of my better teammates took the cigarette out of his mouth and saluted. "Shinya Togane, at your service, Captain Lescheres.""Glen Weber, ma'am!" He also saluted. At least I would have two subordinates I could count on.I looked at her. "Jacqueline Porter, but if you ever call me Jac, I'll introduce your face to the ground, princess. Everyone calls me Jac."Oh yeah, we were going to have a lot of fun."I'm Evelyn Lescheres."Shinya frowned. "Evelyn Lescheres? Are you related to thy Evelyn Lescheres?"Jac looked at him. "Who?"Glen sighed. It was long and suffering. "Evelyn Lescheres is one of Sword's best hunte
I woke up a minute before my alarm went off. My room was pitch black despite the fact that the sun must be up outside. The sound of a bubbling stream echoed through the room, with the rustling of trees gently in the background. If I didn't know any better, I would say I wasn't in Neptune anymore. Maybe I was in some far-off jungle on the continent.Then the alarm chimed gently through the room, cutting off the sound of nature. The blinds retracted, allowing sunlight to stream into my bedroom. As the chime gradually began to get louder, I found my linker on the desk next to my bed and put it on. Activating it, my virtual assistant appeared above me, a balloon figure with arms."Good morning, Hunter Evelyn Lescheres! It is 7 o'clock! The temperature is 21 degrees outside! There is a zero percent chance of rain and not a cloud in the sky! It is expected to reach 26 degrees at the height!"Why did my assistant always have to sound so damn cheerful? I swear it was Rumi who programmed the d
It felt so surreal, finding my classroom. Room X-306, one of the French language classrooms. It had been seventeen years since I graduated from high school and went to spend the rest of my life at the hospital. It might sound pathetic, but compared sterile environment of the hospital, school had been the high point in my life. It was the last time I had my freedom. The last time I was around people that weren't hospital staff or patients. It was a much better part of my life than the hospital was.So when I set foot in the classroom, already filling up with students, I felt a rush of nostalgia. I was getting a second chance at life, a real chance to live like a normal person. Well, almost. The blood-drinking wasn't normal, but my body was fit and strong and I wasn't going to suffer a relapse. It was a new game, with a better hand.The homeroom teacher waved me over when I walked in. "Are you a new student?"I hurried to take out the slip the dean gave me. "Yes. I am. I need you to sig