Emma Barnes, February 13, 2011.
Emma had always been proud of her intuition. Pulling feeling somewhere just below the back of the head more than once rescued her in difficult situations. For example, when she forgot to copy homework borrowed from Hebert, just before decided to suddenly check their essays. Something similar happened when Hebert tried to record their... entertainment on tape. She managed to hold Sophia and Madison back before they could ruin the whole game.
Yes. «Game». That was the closest definition of all the things Emma could think of to describe what was happening at Winslow.
Game. Simple and effective. Emma had learned the rules the summer before high school when the scumbags from the ABB surrounded her in an inconspicuous alley not far from home. Looking in their eyes, filled with lust, she realized the truth. The truth about this world.
There are no humans or animals. There is no division between the reasonable and the unreasonable. There are always predators and prey. Those who feast — and those on whose bones feast. And she sure as hell didn't want to be eaten. She saw it then, and, apparently, a reward for the discovery of that truth she was given a chance at rebirth. And she took the chance, willingly taking Sophia's outstretched hand.
But in order to be reborn finally, the sacrifice was necessary. The bridge linking her with the past that needed to be burned in order to cross this Rubicon. And she had such a bridge. Taylor Hebert was Emma's Appian way. Her first and oldest friend. And all the more valuable victim of she was.
Emma was scared at first. She wondered if it was worth it. She didn't know how strong the bond of friendship between her and Hebert was. She didn't like to feel pain. She was afraid of it. But there was none. Bullying Taylor did not bring her pain. Just... satisfaction. Looking at her tears, Emma realized that she was not a victim. That she's stronger and more dangerous.
And this feeling excited her. Gave strength and energy, filled her life with contrast, in a word, made her who she was the last year and a half.
That was until last month. That was before the accident. She was aware that they had... overdone it. Before that, she, Sophia and Madison had never crossed the line between their... victim and the Berserker state that the victims fell into when they were cornered. Emma had always felt close to that border, perhaps because she had been there herself. But that time she was wrong... And the mistake cost them their game.
Hebert snapped. The mother's theme was too deep a wound for Taylor. Deeper than Emma thought. Because the pain from her split lip and several bruises became too much for her abrupt change of the usual tone of life.
Everything that happened after... was veiled for her. No, she, if desired, could remember every second and every detail of what happened, but the overall picture, the thrill of all that had happened... All of it put together like puzzle pieces, soaked after rain, didn't want to get in the grooves.
She came to her senses after a week. One she just realized herself standing near the HHebert's locker and staring through it as if in anticipation of what Taylor's about to come out of a turn and allow Emma to continue so prolonged game.
But she didn't come back. Not in a week. Not even in two. And then Emma began to worry. Something inside her, some fragile plate that held her whole complacent state, slowly began to crack.
Her day, once full of bright colors and new images, energy spilling over the edge, suddenly became gray and dim. The world around her, singing and chirping, seemed to shrink to the size of a huge dim tunnel with light at the other end, which looms unattainable point. It was as if someone had removed the battery from her life that fed her existence.
And in this string of gray days that followed each other endlessly to Emma, drop by drop, came an understanding of what or who was to blame.
From her father, she knew what had happened to the HHeberts. After all, her brand-new smartphone and the outfit she had chosen meticulously for so long were part of it all. But she didn't go into details, satisfied with the basic facts.
But in the changed circumstances had changed and her desires. She wanted to know everything. She wanted to see what actually happened with Taylor, to see with her own eyes what was left of her. And she intended to do it.
The reality was completely different. Since yesterday morning, her intuition had been telling her that the danger was near, but Emma could not understand what was wrong.
Until she turned on the TV
The wide-angle screen showed the reporter standing in front of the building, surrounded by yellow tape. Adding sound, Barnes froze.
..."It is unknown what caused the tragedy, however, the PRT representatives tend to the version about the new Cape. As you can see, the scene is cordoned off and patrolled by the Wards, however, as we learned, investigation inside the building is still ongoing. At the moment, body count reached forty-eight, both among the staff and among the patients of the hospital. The fate of at least four others remains unknown. We will continue to conduct a live report from the scene and talk about new facts…»
The television continued to speak, but Emma could no longer distinguish the words. All her consciousness at that moment concentrated on a single word.
Hebert
Hebert was there, she knew it. Dad mentioned the difficulties with the guardianship and medical bills, which has led to the fact that she was in "Brutus". And now this. Something was wrong. She didn't know what, but she was sure Taylor had something to do with it.
The sucking feeling of growing anxiety, coupled with the already half-melancholy mood, resulted in a series of vivid nightmares in which Hebert rose from the dead, destroying everything dear to Emma in front of her eyes. Barnes lost count of how many times that night she woke up in a cold sweat with the feeling that everything that was happening was real.
And the more monstrous it became when ten minutes ago her brand new smartphone rang, identifying an unfamiliar phone book number. She hesitated for a few seconds before replying.
"PRT knows. They found out the whole story behind Hebert" the voice coming from the speakers could not belong to anyone but Hess.
"PRT? How did they? " almost shouted Emma, but Sophia interrupted her
"No time. Get rid of everything. Don't leave anything. If they ask — you know nothing! Understood?" Sophia said threateningly.
"O...Ok, but what will you do?"
"I'll find you if I have to." Call ended abruptly, leaving Emma in utter confusion.
But the girl was able to overcome it. She was well aware of exactly how dangerous the current situation were, and Sophia's imperative... was absolute to her. She rarely spoke to her in such a tone. And when she did, Emma listened.
After receiving instructions, Barnes gave herself a mental kick to accelerate and rushed upstairs to her room, where there was everything that could indicate her involvement with Hebert.
For a start, she ejected SDcard from her old phone which stored pictures and videos of some of their antics. Emma found it fun to revisit some selected moments while enjoying her own participation in this show. Then she extracted her diary, normally hidden under the bed, containing some notes that Barnes did not forget some important things related to Hebert, like her fears, traumatic memories or some embarrassing moments of her former friend. Both of these items had to be destroyed, but Barnes couldn't think of a quick way to do it. Burning those was one of the options, but there was fire alarm all around the house and burning things in the backyard would be too suspicious. So she turned on the computer, typed the password and opened the messenger. Here was her chat with Madison and Sophia where they were openly discussing their...intentions. That was the simplest evidence to destroy.
Selecting whole chat history, Emma almost clicked "delete", but the sound of the door opening made her instinctively freeze and turn toward the entrance.
There were two men in the doorway. Her father, now looking extremely preoccupied with something, and the man in the unmistakable PRT uniform, of about thirty in appearance, with thick, but a short beard.
"I'm afraid you'll have to stop, miss, whatever you're doing. We have a warrant to search your room," the officer said as three other PRT agents entered the room. "And you, along with your father, you need to come with us for questioning..."
At that very moment, something inside Emma collapsed.
How would you define the word "space"?
A multidimensional coordinate system with given laws, mechanics, and interactions?
An infinite area in which defined infinities collide, forming a finite set of axioms that determine reality?
The moment of energy, frozen on the eternal terminator line between the past and future?
None of those. And all of them at the same time. Observer's Paradox, Critical mass theory.
Being has never defined consciousness. Only consciousness determines being. For her, time and space were now like two magnitudes frozen at different poles of a magnet.
There were no coordinates, no usual metrics of four dimensions. There was everything and at the same time — the point of singularity, seeking to disappear into nothing.
Time for it as if frozen, went back, flew forward, rolled sideways and moved jumps at the same time, without influencing the events in any way.
She was here.
But what is "here"? Where is "here"? When "here"?
"And He said, let there be a firmament between the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters. [And so it was.]"
Voice. A voice that came out of nowhere and was always there. A voice full of power and hidden power. A voice that seemed to proclaim the truth with every sound, imprinting it into being, recording it into reality.
"And it was said, Henceforth Thou Will Act As Voice Of Mine."
It wasn't just a line. Words proclaiming the truth of the past, announcing the present and affirming the future.
She was confused. Voices. More and more. She heard them, felt them. They were an endless cacophony, so loud that she could hear only silence. Illogical, wrong, different — they were all here.
Here.
She couldn't answer what "here" was. That it meant.
"Those who signed [Contract] outside His reach. His Will. His Anger. His Mercy. His Trial. His Gates. His Guardian. His Key. His Cage."
She didn't. She couldn't understand. Wanted to understand. But the knowledge was too multidimensional and voluminous, did not want to shrink to simple measurements.
"The mind of the intelligent seeks knowledge. And I Will Entrust this Gift."
Something touched her. And knowledge filled her. Without words and images. Only pure knowledge. If she could describe what she knew — she would only say that it was obvious. As if it were said that the straight is straight and the sun is shining.
But it was too overwhelming. The world around her. This place, "here" it shuddered. Infinity, which became a segment, and the beam, curled into a ring. The metric has changed, turned into another form, collapse row, rejecting her.
"Now Go, His Child, that World Outside for You is Waiting. And if You Need Judgement, Call out My Name, And I Will Come, As His Herald."
A moment — and a sense of presence disappears, leaving it's in blissful oblivion. The sleep of the mind is an effective remedy.
AN: The new party has entered the game. What is your opinion? I hope my choice of words for this Persona isn't too odd.