COVELENT: XenoTrait

The room was small and dim, with a single window whose blinds hung half-closed, letting in only a thin blade of light across the floor.

”Knock. Knock.”

Felix opened his eyes. He didn’t move at first, his gaze staying locked on the cracked plaster ceiling, on a water stain spreading from the corner. His breathing was shallow. ”Where am I?” he pondered.

The knock came again.

He pushed himself up, rubbed his face, dragged his palm down slowly, then stood. He walked toward the door.

He opened the door slightly.

Amme stood in the hallway. Her shoulders were raised too high. Her hands hung at her sides. She wasn’t looking at him. Her eyes stayed fixed somewhere near his chest.

”Don’t look at his face. Don’t. He’ll see,” she thought.

”It’s already 11:24.” Her voice was quiet. ”I thought I should tell you.”

Felix blinked. ”You’re sure?”

She nodded, still not looking up. ”Yeah.”

Felix looked up at the ceiling. ”...well damn.” He stepped back, ran a hand through his disheveled dark hair. ”Alright... give me two minutes.”

He closed the door and took a quick shower. He wore a new shirt that he had found in the room and took Kim’s shirt.

He came back and said, ”Let’s get moving.” Felix looked at her and said, ”looks like you got new clothes too”.

Amme replied, ”yes I did my old ones where torn”.

They walked for a bit. The hallway stretched ahead. Amme stayed one step behind, her footsteps uneven, one step, a pause, then another step.

Every time someone passed, a man with a briefcase, a woman pulling a coat tighter, her shoulders tensed.

”Keep moving, keep moving.... don’t look at anyone,” she thought.

A door slammed somewhere down the hall, and she flinched.

Felix stopped walking for a bit. He didn’t turn around immediately, just stood there waiting. Then he looked back at Amme.

”You don’t have to walk behind me, you know,” Felix said.

She hesitated, her jaw tightening. ”I’m fine like this... I don’t mind.”

”You’re not fine, but if it’s what you want, I don’t care.” His voice was flat.

She didn’t argue and kept walking.

They reached outside, where the air was cooler and more open. Gray clouds hung over the buildings, which were stacked against each other. Distant traffic noises sounded, horns and engines. Amme’s eyes moved constantly.... windows, doorways, the man smoking on the corner, the car idling too long.

Felix stopped near the curb and said, ”Taxis stop here... you can get one.”

She nodded in agreement.

He looked at the traffic and said, ”When you get back, go to a company called The Forelight and ask for Abel Yellow..... tell him that Felix Ainst sent you.”

She looked up slowly as her eyes met his. ”Will he help me?”

Felix held her gaze. ”Yeah, don’t worry. You will be fine.”

”Thank you.” Her words came out thin.

”I’ll be waiting to hear good news about what we discussed,” said Felix.

Felix stepped closer, his expression shifting. ”Oh, and don’t tell anyone about me. Only Abel, okay? Got it?”

She nodded quickly. ”Okay.”

A yellow taxi turned the corner and approached. The car pulled up, the driver barely glancing at them, just staring ahead, one hand on the wheel while chewing something.

Amme opened the door slightly. She stood there, the door half-open, the engine idling. ”You didn’t have to save me,” she said softly.

Felix shrugged. ”I know.”

Her lips parted. ”Still... thank you.”

She got in, and the car pulled away from the curb, and the buildings started sliding past the window.

Amme sat still as she looked out of the window. Her reflection stared back at her through the glass. Her hands were shaking, but she pressed them flat against her thighs.

”It’s over...” she whispered.

Her breathing changed; it became more extreme. The memories came back: crackling electricity, the smell of burnt hair and burnt skin, someone laughing.

Her body tensed, her shoulders drawing up toward her ears. ”It’s over... it’s over...” she calmed herself.

Her fingers dug into her legs, leaving half-moon impressions through the fabric.

A tear rolled down her cheek. She wiped it away fast, her palm dragging across her face. ”I’m alive...”

Felix stood on the curb, watching the taxi shrink, turn a corner, then disappear. He stared at the empty space for a long moment. ”She’ll be fine..... probably.”

He looked down at the crumpled shirt in his hand, the sleeve torn. ”Kim Jung,” he whispered. He lifted the shirt slightly, brought it close to his nose, and sniffed it. His expression shifted, something settling into place. ”Got you,” he mumbled.

Warm light spilled through the windows of a café, with a handwritten sign above the door. Inside, there was quiet chatter, cups clinking against saucers, the hiss of an espresso machine.

Kim Jung stood at the counter. ”Can I get a large espresso, please?” His voice was steady, his hands in his pockets. ”Ugh, what is taking them so long?” Kim pondered. ”Just bring my dri...”

Felix walked up behind him. ”Are you serious right now?”

Kim froze in place.

Felix leaned closer, his mouth near Kim’s ear. ”Didn’t I tell you to go to your headquarters?”

His fingernails lengthened a bit, hardening into claws, and pressed lightly against Kim’s neck. A thin line of blood appeared. ”Did I not make myself clear?”

”H..hel...” Kim’s voice cracked.

Felix pushed his finger deeper. ”Don’t.”

Kim stopped. His breathing turned shallow as he took in little sips of air.

”Why are you here?” Felix asked.

”I..I’m just an errand boy...” Kim’s voice cracked. ”I don’t have any power... and I was told to get drinks...”

Felix stared at Kim.

The laughing continued around them. At a table near the window, a spoon stirred coffee. He pulled back slowly. ”I don’t care. Go to headquarters.”

Kim’s throat moved. ”If you mean the main building... yeah...”

Felix’s eyes narrowed. ”What else would I be talking about?”

”I don’t know where it is.” The words came out fast and desperate.

Felix’s expression hardened. ”So I spared you for nothing?”

”No! Listen.” Kim’s hands came up, palms out. ”My boss is going there today!”

Felix paused. ”Then we go to your workplace.”

Kim exhaled, shaky. ”That’s where I was going.”

”Right.” Felix turned. ”Let’s go.”

They left the café and got a lift. They arrived.

The building stood gray against a grayer sky, three stories. The windows were tinted black. The sign near the entrance was small and easy to miss.

Kim stopped at the entrance. ”Wait here.” His voice was low, his eyes darting toward the door. ”If we go in together, they’ll think that I betrayed them.”

Felix looked at him. ”You think I can’t protect you from anything in there?”

Kim’s jaw tightened. ”It doesn’t matter,” he said. ”I’ll give you a signal of when you can get in.”

He walked inside while the door closed behind him.

Minutes passed. Felix stood alone on the empty street. ”This is boring,” he thought. ”...yh, I’m done waiting. I’m going in.”

He walked forward and opened the door.

Two guards stepped in front of him immediately, with matching uniforms and matching stances, hands already moving toward their belts. ”Sir, this is unauthorized leave.”

Felix kept walking.

”Sir, if you continue, we will shoot.”

Felix continued walking, then gunfire erupted. The first shot went wide, chipping the wall beside his head.

He moved fast. His hand caught the first guard’s wrist, twisted it, and the gun clattered to the floor. His other hand grabbed the back of the man’s head and slammed it into the wall with a crack. The guard’s eyes rolled back, and he slid down unconscious.

The second guard fired. Felix disappeared from the guard’s view. He was beside him. He drove his palm into the man’s stomach. The guard puked while Felix hit the back of his neck. The guard fell with a thud and dropped to the floor.

More men rushed in from a side hallway.

They all raised their guns and fired, muzzle flashes, shell casings hitting the floor..... dust filled the air.

Felix stood in the middle of it.

Felix tilted his head. ”You really thought that would end me?” A soft laugh. ”That’s disappointing.”

He disappeared from view.

Screams filled the room. Bodies were dropping one after another. Felix was striking them in the neck, twisting their joints, and hitting their pressure points. Each man collapsed unconscious.

Silence filled the entire room. The floor was filled with unconscious bodies.

Felix stood over one of them. He asked, ”Where’s your boss?” No response came from him. He crouched slightly and knocked him out.

He sighed. ”Haaaa, fine... I’ll find him myself.”

He followed Kim’s scent upstairs to a door. ”It’s strong here,” Felix thought.

He opened it.

Kim Jung was on the ground, a man’s foot pressed firmly into his back, forcing his face against the floor. His cheek was flattened against the surface. His hands struggled slightly to push himself up, but the pressure kept him pinned.

”Stay down,” the man snapped, pressing harder.

Kim let out a strained breath.

Felix tilted his head. ”Wow.... so this is your job, getting stepped on by your boss?”

The man turned sharply. ”Who the hell are you?” He removed his foot from Kim but stepped forward. ”The name’s Jean..... and you picked the worst possible time to show up.”

Kim stayed down, breathing hard, afraid to move.

Jean ran a hand through his hair. ”I don’t have time for this. Talk. Now.”

Felix walked forward calmly. ”Doesn’t matter who I am. I’m here because you know how to get to somewhere I need to go.”

Jean narrowed his eyes. ”And where would that be?”

”Your headquarters,” Felix answered.

”You’ve got guts saying that,” Jean muttered.

”I want to meet someone,” said Felix.

”Who?” Jean asked.

Felix smiled slightly. ”Takakura.”

Jean went still, his expression shifting. ”And why,” he said slowly, ”do you want to meet him?”

Felix’s eyes hardened. ”Nothing much.”