Part One: The End of Terurun
It's obvious to any warm-blooded being why I was closer to Terurun than I was, or had been, to any of the other witches. It was blatant just by looking at the bunch of us that she was the only one among us with any sort of heart. The rest of us were a cold, unempythetic group of individuals, myself included.
Eudial had been the first in line among us, and probably one of the
least revered. She consistantly demanded respect, insisting that her position
gave her some sort of authority over us. She had always stood off from the
rest of our group, whether it was due to conceit or just general lack of
personality, I'll never know. (She had been infamous for her red-headed
temper.) One thing was certain though, she had been very exceptional in her
efforts and really deserved more credit than we'd given her in her lifetime. But it was too late for that now. One fatal mistake, perhaps the only one Eudial had ever made, had resulted in her termination.
However intolerable Eudial was, Mimete was infinitely worse.
Everything I believed about the Death Busters being an icy, egotistical
bunch applied to her in tenfold. She was the very queen of the cruel,
hardhearted bitches known as the Witches 5. She had been the very
cause of the extermination of Eudial, and afterward she had laughed about
it, congratulating herself for being so clever. Her sole concern in life
was her own well-being and success, both in love and career. She was, in
fact, so enraveled in her own ego, that she soon failed in her task. I
know I can speak for all of us when I say I was glad to see her go.
Cyprine and Pichurol, the twin witches, had always and forever will
remain a mystery to me. The only people they even really seemed to
communicate with were one another. They were so close in resemblance
and visible personality that they really only qualified as one witch.
Their hushed whispers and enigmatic aire always baffled me. I don't believe
I'll ever know exactly what they thought of me, or Mimete, or Souichi, or
anyone.
Terurun was next in line after Mimete. Her own streak of
insensitivity and heartlessness had been unveiled when she had pulled
the cord on Mimete's life. (I really don't blame her, I would've done the
same.) Outside of the lab, however, she was a much warmer, even
pleasant person. She was the only witch with whom I could really
converse. Although she could be sadistic and wicked at times (after
all, it was only in our nature), she saw no use fighting or putting up
a barrier against her own co-workers, like the rest of us had done for
so long. As time passed in our studies, I became closer to Terurun inch
by inch, and eventually came to consider her the closest thing I had ever
had to a friend. It's tragic that friendship couldn't develop futher.
I suppose now I must enlighten you on my own self. I'll make it
known that everything I said about the Death Busters applies also to
myself; I am not a kind soul. But I suppose much of this has to do with
my past, or lack of one thereof. (I'll attempt to explain this.) I have no
memory of the time I spent before working with the Death Busters. The
earliest memory I have occured in a small residence outside of Tokyo.
Vaguely, I remember a woman named Bidou Umi caring for me. That
period is but a haze in my mind; my brain and body had been severely
damaged due to some sort of accident, I'm not quite sure how. The
woman had called me Viluy, I remembered that. One particular night is
a little clearer in my mind than the rest. I caused Umi's accidental death
due to some sort of cybernetics that had been implanted in my body
(again, I don't know when or how).
Bewildered, and still very mentally disoriented, I somehow
found my way to Tomoe Souichi, who took me in and cared for me.
I adopted the namesake of Bidou Umi, her being the only person I'd
actually been aware of at the time. So I became Bidou Viluy. I'm not
quite sure when all of this took place (my eleventh or twelfth year,
perhaps). After Souichi took me in, I slipped into another period
of unconciousness (at least, I am not aware of the year or so that
passed after those few incidents). Gradually, I regained my physical
and mental health and began to study under Souichi in preparation for
his soon-to-be-organiztion, the Death Busters.
In the years that followed, I acsended a little further into reality,
beginning to abandon the shadows of my own mind and the vacant
period in my life. I became aware of the vast world outside of the laboratory,
as well as the people and the innumerable traumas within it.
So little is known by the outside world of what truly happens on
the other side of the microscope, so to speak. (The other side...we are that
other side...) I must first begin by telling you that everyone here hates.
Whether it's another witch, Kaolinite, or (God forbid) Souichi, we all have
our share of hatred for others, especially myself. While I had always felt
intimidated by Eudial, and extremely annoyed by Mimete, Kaolinite had
always been the one who caused my blood to boil.
Her entrance into the Death Busters had been quick and subtle, it
is little spoken of by my fellow witches or Souichi. She was simply a replacement of a prior assistant who had failed to work to her full potential. Needless to say, she was terminated at the first sign of deficiency. That is, after all, the way this organization functions. Her attitude was self-righteous, superficial even to the core. As far as I had observed, her performance was also less than adequate. I think Souchi's reasons for tolerating her were personal. That must've been the case, or she wouldn't have outlived even Eudial.
My own personal grugde toward Kaolinite had developed in my earliest years with the Death Busters. Perhaps it was a result of my own intolerance for incompetance. She, like Eudial, insisted that her position demanded respect. Eudial, however, had strived to achieve and maintain her position, whereas Kaolinite's had been given to her simply out of favoritism. (Whether or not an affair had taken place, I'll never be quite sure.) I, however, saw her as useless and bothersome, completely unnecsessary for our success. It could be that she sensed the judgement I had made and tormented me specifically; I had never seen her quite so hardhearted with the rest of the witches. She had been constantly at my throat, criticizing everything from the procedures I developed to my choice of hairstyle. And it had been blatant that the thoughts she expressed were not opinions, simply harsh words. Whether or not she had any internal motivation, other than to put me through more hell than I had
previously lived through, I don't know.
The majority of my days spent with the Death Busters were quite the same, much to my personal discontent. But, after time, even I fell into a routine monotony. My evening conversations with Terurun had become the highlight of every wasted day. (There were however, a few, more intriguing incidents involving Souchi, but I soon discovered that too was to be anticipated.) As soon as our endless hours of research and study commenced, I would retire to my dormitory, which I shared with none other than Terurun Ru.
It's obvious to any warm-blooded being why I was closer to Terurun than I was, or had been, to any of the other witches. It was blatant just by looking at the bunch of us that she was the only one among us with any sort of heart. The rest of us were a cold, unempythetic group of individuals, myself included.
Eudial had been the first in line among us, and probably one of the
least revered. She consistantly demanded respect, insisting that her position
gave her some sort of authority over us. She had always stood off from the
rest of our group, whether it was due to conceit or just general lack of
personality, I'll never know. (She had been infamous for her red-headed
temper.) One thing was certain though, she had been very exceptional in her
efforts and really deserved more credit than we'd given her in her lifetime. But it was too late for that now. One fatal mistake, perhaps the only one Eudial had ever made, had resulted in her termination.
However intolerable Eudial was, Mimete was infinitely worse.
Everything I believed about the Death Busters being an icy, egotistical
bunch applied to her in tenfold. She was the very queen of the cruel,
hardhearted bitches known as the Witches 5. She had been the very
cause of the extermination of Eudial, and afterward she had laughed about
it, congratulating herself for being so clever. Her sole concern in life
was her own well-being and success, both in love and career. She was, in
fact, so enraveled in her own ego, that she soon failed in her task. I
know I can speak for all of us when I say I was glad to see her go.
Cyprine and Pichurol, the twin witches, had always and forever will
remain a mystery to me. The only people they even really seemed to
communicate with were one another. They were so close in resemblance
and visible personality that they really only qualified as one witch.
Their hushed whispers and enigmatic aire always baffled me. I don't believe
I'll ever know exactly what they thought of me, or Mimete, or Souichi, or
anyone.
Terurun was next in line after Mimete. Her own streak of
insensitivity and heartlessness had been unveiled when she had pulled
the cord on Mimete's life. (I really don't blame her, I would've done the
same.) Outside of the lab, however, she was a much warmer, even
pleasant person. She was the only witch with whom I could really
converse. Although she could be sadistic and wicked at times (after
all, it was only in our nature), she saw no use fighting or putting up
a barrier against her own co-workers, like the rest of us had done for
so long. As time passed in our studies, I became closer to Terurun inch
by inch, and eventually came to consider her the closest thing I had ever
had to a friend. It's tragic that friendship couldn't develop futher.
I suppose now I must enlighten you on my own self. I'll make it
known that everything I said about the Death Busters applies also to
myself; I am not a kind soul. But I suppose much of this has to do with
my past, or lack of one thereof. (I'll attempt to explain this.) I have no
memory of the time I spent before working with the Death Busters. The
earliest memory I have occured in a small residence outside of Tokyo.
Vaguely, I remember a woman named Bidou Umi caring for me. That
period is but a haze in my mind; my brain and body had been severely
damaged due to some sort of accident, I'm not quite sure how. The
woman had called me Viluy, I remembered that. One particular night is
a little clearer in my mind than the rest. I caused Umi's accidental death
due to some sort of cybernetics that had been implanted in my body
(again, I don't know when or how).
Bewildered, and still very mentally disoriented, I somehow
found my way to Tomoe Souichi, who took me in and cared for me.
I adopted the namesake of Bidou Umi, her being the only person I'd
actually been aware of at the time. So I became Bidou Viluy. I'm not
quite sure when all of this took place (my eleventh or twelfth year,
perhaps). After Souichi took me in, I slipped into another period
of unconciousness (at least, I am not aware of the year or so that
passed after those few incidents). Gradually, I regained my physical
and mental health and began to study under Souichi in preparation for
his soon-to-be-organiztion, the Death Busters.
In the years that followed, I acsended a little further into reality,
beginning to abandon the shadows of my own mind and the vacant
period in my life. I became aware of the vast world outside of the laboratory,
as well as the people and the innumerable traumas within it.
So little is known by the outside world of what truly happens on
the other side of the microscope, so to speak. (The other side...we are that
other side...) I must first begin by telling you that everyone here hates.
Whether it's another witch, Kaolinite, or (God forbid) Souichi, we all have
our share of hatred for others, especially myself. While I had always felt
intimidated by Eudial, and extremely annoyed by Mimete, Kaolinite had
always been the one who caused my blood to boil.
Her entrance into the Death Busters had been quick and subtle, it
is little spoken of by my fellow witches or Souichi. She was simply a replacement of a prior assistant who had failed to work to her full potential. Needless to say, she was terminated at the first sign of deficiency. That is, after all, the way this organization functions. Her attitude was self-righteous, superficial even to the core. As far as I had observed, her performance was also less than adequate. I think Souchi's reasons for tolerating her were personal. That must've been the case, or she wouldn't have outlived even Eudial.
My own personal grugde toward Kaolinite had developed in my earliest years with the Death Busters. Perhaps it was a result of my own intolerance for incompetance. She, like Eudial, insisted that her position demanded respect. Eudial, however, had strived to achieve and maintain her position, whereas Kaolinite's had been given to her simply out of favoritism. (Whether or not an affair had taken place, I'll never be quite sure.) I, however, saw her as useless and bothersome, completely unnecsessary for our success. It could be that she sensed the judgement I had made and tormented me specifically; I had never seen her quite so hardhearted with the rest of the witches. She had been constantly at my throat, criticizing everything from the procedures I developed to my choice of hairstyle. And it had been blatant that the thoughts she expressed were not opinions, simply harsh words. Whether or not she had any internal motivation, other than to put me through more hell than I had
previously lived through, I don't know.
The majority of my days spent with the Death Busters were quite the same, much to my personal discontent. But, after time, even I fell into a routine monotony. My evening conversations with Terurun had become the highlight of every wasted day. (There were however, a few, more intriguing incidents involving Souchi, but I soon discovered that too was to be anticipated.) As soon as our endless hours of research and study commenced, I would retire to my dormitory, which I shared with none other than Terurun Ru.