Book 1 Prologue (1/2)
”Are you sure?”
The question came from a voice dancing on the very edge of my hearing. It was barely audible yet somehow awfully loud at the same time, and its strange cadence stirred me right out unconsciousness.
”Of course I'm certain!” snapped a second voice. It was just as ethereal as the first one, yet for some reason I couldn't help but find it more masculine than the previous speaker. ”I tell you, he got through!”
”Then where is he?” the first voice spoke again with a hint of alarm.
”How the hell should I know?!” the gruff voice of the second speaker lashed out once again, and I found myself thinking. For some reason I felt that I was supposed to feel sympathy towards the first voice being menaced by the second one, but I couldn't. I didn't know why thought, as I didn't know either of them. It was a weird thought.
”Now, now. No need to shout.” A new voice entered the fray at this point with the self-assured words of an adult chiding unruly children. ”Are you sure he didn't bounce off?”
She, for by now I was quite sure it was a woman, inquired with a hint of veiled bemusement.
”Yes,” came the somewhat uncertain answer from the first voice of ambiguous gender. For the sake of simplicity, I decided to start labeling the speakers, so I mentally tagged him as The Boy. Anyways, he continued by saying; ”Five layers were circumvented, three pierced, one completely shattered.”
”That's just nine. What about that special bottom layer of yours?” the latecomer asked, and this time I had to conclude she sounded weirdly familiar. It was probably the tone, a mix of sultriness, arrogance, and sense of superiority that made the small of my back itch with irritation. The small of my back; I wondered for a moment. Somehow saying that felt subtly wrong. Maybe it had something to do with my head feeling all fuzzy and detached from my senses. More importantly, I christened her The Woman until further information was available.
”It was...completely erased,” the Boy answered meekly, and then quietly added, ”Sorry.”
”You better be,” scoffed the abrasive voice of The Man. By the way, that was his label. Yeah, my naming sense was boring but practical. ”We've been planning this for ages and you blew it!”
”Tch-tch,” the Woman clicked her tongue and I could totally picture her wagging her finger disapprovingly while doing so. ”Last time I checked, it was your job to make sure we knew where he was in case he broke through, yet I don't see you looking for him.”
”W-well...” the Man shrunk back for a moment, but then he quickly regained his attitude. ”Yeah, I lost him, but it would've never even happened if he did his job and—”