Second Genesis

Grey stood in front of a mirror, touching his mechanical jaw. He wondered if he should take it off or not.

Originally, he had been using the Skrill Mask to cover his face so that if a situation occurred where he would need to do something the Producers could unnecessarily blame him for, he would be ready and prepared to pretend as though he had nothing to do with it.

The Producers had proven themselves capable and willing to manipulate the narrative through selective editing, but as far as Grey had seen, they never went as far as blatantly doctoring stuff. So, there was value in hiding his face.

However, it seemed inappropriate to wear this now, especially when his jaw was apparently a huge sticking point for people. After all, it was related to why Globb was killed.

’Fine.’

Grey ran a hand over his face and digital pixels lined reality as the mechanical jaw faded into his Cyber Space. The same hand pressed onto his Skrill Mask, pulling it off.

Grey ran a hand over his face, thinking that he should probably go and wash it like he had the rest of his body, only to freeze in place.

’... What the hell?’

Grey ran a hand through his hair and then peeled his eyes open with a pinch of his fingers as though to double check he wasn’t hallucinating what he was seeing.

His hair, once black as night, was whiter than even a fresh pile of fallen snow. It was so white, in fact, the light that met it quite literally bounced off, almost giving him this odd halo effect. It was something that would have looked quite angelic if not for the fact his eyes were the brightest and deepest shade of red he had ever seen.

His pupils dilated and then constricted, his ruby irises reacting like the shutters of a camera. The way the shades of red moved in relation to one another, making room and then forging more of themselves was almost... beautiful.

’Holy fuck...’

Grey took a step back from the mirror, looking at himself again, and then again.

Was this because he had died so many times? Or did the Vampire Lord Frame do this?

Grey had been so distracted by all the danger and death that he hadn’t realized these changes had been occurring long before he met Valdris.

’They dipped my ass in the River Styx so many times I came back a ghost... at least my tan is still there?’

Even in Canada the summers could be quite beaming. He wouldn’t be a farm boy worth his salt if he didn’t have at least some of a tan. If even that was robbed from him and he became a straight up pretty boy, he might have to kill himself again.

Grey took a breath. He didn’t know what to make of his change at all. It felt and looked purely cosmetic, but something told him it wasn’t nearly so simple.

He looked down at his mask and shook his head.

’Let’s go clean up.’

...

When Grey stepped out of the showers for a second time, he found a Cyber Core waiting for him on a neatly arranged pile of folded clothing.

—

Object: Cyber Core

Energy Reserve: 100/100

—

’Nice.’

Grey held up a symbolic middle finger to the Producers and topped himself back up, filling his iron jaw back up to full capacity and cracking his neck.

Now he was good to go.

At this point, with how many people were targeting him, if he couldn’t get extra lives, he was as good as, well... dead.

Grey used an extra unit to open up a space in his inventory to store his Skrill Mask.

Honestly, he was a bit wary of doing this. If the Goddess found out that he had his own control over space, what would happen? But Grey assumed that if he was at the point where he needed to pull out his weapons at the ceremony, it was as good as cooked anyway.

Plus, his most powerful weapons were stored in his head via a different method. So he wouldn’t necessarily need to expose himself to fight.

’Too bad I still don’t have time to look into the tome. Should I set a new checkpoint?’

As things stood now, if Grey died he would end up having to fight Valdris again and that was no good.

’Huh?’

Grey’s lips twitched.

’... You’ve got to be kidding me.’

The earliest checkpoint he could set now was when he woke up outside of the Instance. In fact, his previous checkpoint had been moved up to that very moment already. What was going on?

’The Fog of Chaos? Something else? How many fucking rules about this thing do I not know?’

Grey pinched his brows and shook his head. ’Forget it.’

It seemed the fates didn’t want to give him a chance to get that cloak back. For now, it didn’t matter. Grey had a feeling that so long as he kept trying to clear his Legendary Quest, he would come across her again.

...

Grey walked out with a powerful confidence in his steps. Pressed robes that looked like a Japanese and old English royal infusion swaying with his steps. The sharp black and embroidered crimson flowers matched well with the silver pauldrons of fabric that capped his shoulders.

His hair was slicked back, his eyes sharp and bright, while the grin on his face seemed to paint the picture of a man trying to decide whether to sweep the nearest beauty off her feet or to play the perfect villain.

Either way, when he entered the waiting room where the others were, he seemed to tower over them.

Baron Giyoto’s gaze flickered. "You clean up well, Sir Temolt."

"Sir?" Grey laughed.

"Well, of course. How could I not properly address a soon-to-be knight. You have earned it. Your Frame must be powerful for you to have such presence."

"It’s alright." Grey replied.

Baron Giyoto released a hearty laughter. Stepping forward, he handed Grey a sheathed sword and a buckle.

"Here. No knight could possibly step out without a weapon, right?"

Grey took the weapon, a bit surprised by its heft. Still, he fastened it to his waist and then met Stella’s eyes over the Baron’s shoulder. She seemed to have calmed considerably, but for whatever reason, the hate hidden in her eyes was even deeper after seeing his real face.

"Then it is time we go. We will escort you to your Canon Event, and once those matters are over, I will pass on the land contract to you."

Grey nodded slowly, taking everything in stride.

But on the inside, his mind was churning. Something about this was too easy, and that was never good.