O.C. Saar
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General Release | Chapter 7: Sister Silver
🕑 Added 2025-06-02 18:07:02 +0000 UTCWe spent the rest of the elevator ride in complete silence, Aren constantly fidgeting with his shirt. I might have started twitching, too, if I had less self-control, but I did my best to retain my composure.
When the elevator went “Ding!” both Aren and I visibly flinched. We looked at each other with puzzled expressions. Why was the kid so on edge?
“What’s got you so worked up?” he asked me in a sardonic tone.
“I could ask you the same.” I retorted.
“Mind your own damn business.” He looked up at me and scowled.
“Same to you.” I scowled right back.
He huffed and crossed his arms, facing forward again at the now-opening doors. The red light mercifully faded, and a warm, golden light entered the gloomy elevator. Seeing a spacious, beautifully decorated, comfortable, warm, and friendly lobby sent shivers down my spine.
“Alright, here we go.” I took a deep breath and stepped out. The warm brown of the synthwood floors matched the red, black, and gold shaggy carpets under some plush-looking couches. A moment later, Aren joined me in that room, wiping his palms on his pants and fidgeting more than before. “Seriously, what has you so worked up, Aren? Are you good? Do you want to leave?”
“No, yeah, no, I’m… Good. Don’t worry about it,” he said in a forcibly nonchalant way that had me even more worried than before. He dropped his voice into a whisper. “Just heard stories about this place, you know?”
“What kind of stories?” I whispered back.
“Come on, man. You know what I mean. The scary kind. About how this place takes crazy kids, you know, freaks, and does all sorts of things to them to find a cure?”
“Now hold on for one rings damned second,” I said, no longer bothering to whisper, my voice rising with every word as the flames of rage building up in my chest. “Just because most kids here are Fluxborn does not mean they are crazy or freaks. It wasn’t their fault they were born with powers.” I pointed my finger down, straight at his face, my voice turning cold in anger. “These kids have been abandoned by their parents. They chose to throw them away rather than being discovered by the priests and getting excommunicated. And these are the lucky ones. At least they weren’t voluntarily given to the Ecclisiarchy.”
I snarled at Aren, who looked at me with a shocked face. “They have been rescued from a fate worse than death and will be loved and nurtured here until they grow to be fine young men and women.” At this point, I was in a full-on tirade mode. My nerves probably didn’t help the situation, but I was almost shouting at Aren by now. “And what the fuck was that bullshit about a “cure”? Are you one of those morons who thinks being Fluxborn makes someone a monster, and they need to be cured? That’s how they were born, dumbass, and they are fine the way they are. Some of the best, bravest, most trustworthy people I’ve ever met were Fluxborn.”
Aren opened his mouth as if to speak, but I cut him off, wanting to drive the point home. “Do not let me catch you saying anything bad about anyone just because of how they were born, ever again, if you know what's good for you.”
Aren stared into my eyes, still as a statue, genuine shock and something else, too complicated to untangle, behind his gaze.
“Ehem.” Said a small, weak voice.
Both of our heads slowly turned to the source of that sound.
“Whilst the young man is correct, and it is heartening to hear him speak thus, I am afraid I must interrupt your “Lessons in civility” diatribe to ascertain the purpose of your visit.” said a small bouncing white bun of hair from behind the front desk, in a posh, kindly, old ladies’ voice.
Aren and I turned our heads to look at each other again. Aren gave me a “what the fuck?” look. I gave him an “I dunno!” look. We glanced at the front desk, nodded at each other, and approached it.
Lo’ and behold, the small white bun of hair with a kindly, old lady’s voice turned out to also have the head of a petite old lady under it and the body to match, too!
“Um… Hello?” I said hesitatingly.
“Yes, hello to you too, young man. And you, child.” Her disarmingly sweet smile stopped even Aren from going off on her, calling him a kid.
“I’m here to see S… the Sister,” I said, stumbling over my words.
“Very good, very good! May I please see your token?” She opened her palm, and I placed it in it. She examined it in very close detail before slotting it into her desk. “Excellent, all seems to be in order, Mr. Razie-” Her expression immediately dropped from a grandmotherly smile to a scowl. “You.”
I chuckled nervously. “Yeah. Me…”
“She has told me all about you, you know. Are you sure you want to do this, young man?” She narrowed her eyes at me.
Of course, she had told her. And what an epic rant that must have been. “I am. Yes. It is necessary.” I firmed my wavering resolve.
“Fine,” she spat out. “But mark my words. If I have to spend one more evening consoling and drying her tears because of you, I will hunt you down myself.”
Her words sobered me up. “Heard you loud and clear, ma’am.” I nodded somberly at her.
She took out my token and handed it back, all the while glaring at me. She pushed a button, and the double doors to her right swung open. “Very well. Go on in. She’s in her office.”
“Thanks,” I said simply and started walking towards the door. Aren followed, looking baffled at the entire affair.
We walked through the doors and found ourselves in a large space full of comfortable couches, beanbag chairs, tables with toys, and entertainment units lining the walls. Kids of all ages were running around, playing with each other, reading books, drawing pictures, or just generally lounging around and having fun. The oldest ones I could spot in the common room were 17, and the youngest around 6.
Some glanced at us, but they appeared too preoccupied with enjoying themselves to pay attention to us. Now, Aren did get many glances, the gazes of some of the girls his age lingering on him.
He noticed none of them as he looked around, his head as if on a swivel, his eyes taking in every detail of this place in stunned silence as he mechanically followed me.
I kept walking straight until we reached the door with the label “Matron” on it. I turned to Aren. “Go through the green and black door on the left wall. It leads to the mess hall. Grab a snack.”
“What, I can’t come in?” he protested.
“Just… Give me a few minutes first, yeah?” I had my hand on the door handle but couldn’t find the strength to turn it. “I need to do this on my own first.”
Aren shrugged. “Suit yourself.” He walked off, and I took a deep breath. Before I had the chance to lose what was left of my resolve, I turned the handle and entered.
As I walked into the room, I saw her sitting behind her office and felt everything freeze for a moment. She hadn’t changed at all. The same piercing blue eyes stared through me and into my soul, the same long silver hair framing a face I knew all too well, the same lips twisted in a grimace of displeasure like the last time we saw each other. The same gun pointed right at my face.
“Raziel, what the fuck are you doing here?” Her eyes were locked with mine, a familiar yet unfamiliar tension between us.
“Hello to you, too, Silvie.” I tried acting casually. I failed. Each word felt like it was fighting to stay in my throat.
“You don’t get to call me that anymore. I’m Sister Silver to you, the same as everyone else. Now answer the question.” She snapped at me, anger flashing in her eyes.
“Look, I’m sorry to come unannounced. I need your help.” Staring down the rifled barrel of her revolver, [Righteous Fury], I think I was having second thoughts about this plan.
She let out an incredulous-sounding laugh and lowered her gun. “You ignore my messages for three years, and you show up here, out of the blue, to ask me to help you? I must say, Raziel Ibikas, your arrogance and stupidity have not diminished even a little bit since I last had to endure your presence. Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t kick you out right now.” She impatiently tapped her fingers on her desk with the hand not holding the gun. A gun, which I noted, although lowered, was still at the ready.
“I need your help with a job. I need equipment.” Forcing those words out felt as hard as lifting the entire outer ring on my shoulders.
“You need my help with a job.” Her voice and stare turned flat.
“Yes.”
“A job dangerous enough that you would dare to show your face here.”
“Yes.”
“And ask for my help.”
“Correct.”
“Alright. Which Otherlord are you going to kill? I didn’t realize any bounties were on their heads right now.” Her expression turned hard but inquisitive, the same expression she always wore when we used to talk business.
The pang of nostalgia came so unexpectedly that I almost stepped back.
“No, no. I’m not taking out an Otherlord. I’m… Look, I’m in trouble.”
She rolled her eyes at me. “That much is obvious.”
“Well… I took a job from Kornok.” Her expression of disappointment and disbelief was precisely the reaction I expected.
“You took a job from Kornok? If you think that our past means I’m going to help you with whatever illegal shit he has you doing for him, you are sorely mistaken. I do business with the gangs because I have to, but this? No. I will not be a party to you hurting innocents, directly or indirectly.”
“No, it’s not like that, Silvi- Silver. I didn’t even tell you what the mission is.” I sighed and rubbed the bridge of my nose as she went on her little tirade.
Her expression softened a little to mere annoyance. “Then please explai-”
“I can’t get any snacks. I only have credits. The machine takes coi-” Aren piped up from behind me, his head poking into the room.
Her eyes immediately glanced down at Aren, then back at me with a hint of confusion, and then back at Aren. Her expression went from barely contained annoyance to sheer fury.
Before I could blink, she stood up, and her revolver was again pointed at my head.
“Raziel, what the FUCK is this? What are you doing, dragging along a kid like him? Did you finally snap, trying to relive the good ol’ days?” She was practically shouting at me now, her hand trembling with the finger on the trigger. The memories rushing in, and the disgust, anger, sadness, and hurt on her face made me want to retch.
“Hold on a minute.” Aren sounded offended as he fully stepped into the room, closing the door behind him, his hands up in a placating manner, “Listen, lady, I am just here doing my job. And don’t call me kid. I don’t care if you’re a legend or not ...Also, can I have your autograph? I’m kind of a huge fan.”
Silver looked down at him and then back at me, her expression pure confusion and disbelief. It was like she was silently asking me, “Is this kid serious?” I just shrugged.
A couple of moments passed, and she once again lowered her gun and began rubbing at her eyes with her free hand. “I cannot believe what I’m saying, but fine, I’ll hear you out. As for you.” She turned to Aren. “Shush. And no autographs.”
“Aw...” I thought I heard Aren mumble, but I was too preoccupied with trying to find the right words to pay attention to him.
“Well, I...” I tried to get rid of a lump in my throat, but it only seemed to get larger. “I screwed up. Hob is dying. And HUMAN closed the loophole I was using to skip on rent. I need four hundred thirty thousand credits for new high-quality components and to pay off my debt. Hob will die if I don’t get enough to replace the failing components within the next couple of days.”
Her hand fell from her face, and her already pale complexion grew paler. “Oh, Raz, why did you let things get to this point?” she breathed. “I could have helped…”
I couldn’t look into her eyes and the pity and grief I’d find there anymore. It might have been enough to break my resolve. The synthwood floor was more comforting to look at. “You know why. I couldn’t do what you did. I couldn’t go back to our work, and I couldn’t find anything new to do. And above all, I couldn’t let him go. Hob is the only thing I have left to remind me of him. So I just… I kept him going and waited for all my sins to catch up to me, I guess. Putting off the day of reckoning. I don’t know.” I felt so tired. So, very tired.
“Okay, this job will be enough to wipe the debt, right? Then… Let's get you some gear. What are you going to be doing, and what sort of opponents will you be facing?” Silver seemed to regain some balance and control over her emotions as she looked through stacks of papers listing equipment. I looked up in hope. Thank the Rings, she was going to help. I just needed to present the mission in a way that didn’t make me look like a suicidal madman.
“Easy,” said Aren. “We’re breaking into a storage facility full of Gemling Priests to steal a box from them, before Elisa the Beautiful’s team steals it.” The nonchalant cheer in his voice caused Silver to turn and smile kindly at him for a moment.
Then his words sank in.
Her smile melted away, and she looked at me with what I can only describe as pure, unadulterated horror.
“Raziel.. WHAT THE FUCK?!”
