Tales From The Kronos

The three friends sat at the bar and pretended to be guests. Their goal was to find a certain Lucien and get his access card so they could climb higher in the building. Everything about him was still unknown but they were ready to make that change. After they commanded their drinks, Silva acted as if she was her other self while asking for information from the barman.

"Excuse me, peasant, have you ever heard of a certain Lucien?"

"Peasant? You better watch your tongue around here, sir Aspro doesn't like troublemakers."

Neige put his hand on Silva's mouth before she could answer and tried to defuse the situation using an apologetic tone.

"Please ignore her, she's always like that."

"Is it the new Silv everyone is talking about? Can't believe you actually are accepted around here, you're the talk of the city."

"Why? She's nothing special." Sepide said in a curious voice.

"That's what I'm saying! You're nothing but a fraud miss Silv, you came here and suddenly the boss trusts you fully."

Silva removed her friend's hand from her mouth and decided to answer the annoyed barman.

"He doesn't trust me fully, I got the shitty guest card!"

"Isn't it because you rejected him? You specifically turned him down and asked for a low-grade card. At least you know you're place."

The barman walked away and left the three friends at the counter. They didn't learn anything about Lucien but instead got new information. Silva thought deeply but couldn't understand her other self's actions.

"Silv rejected a higher rank? Why would she do that?"

"Maybe she knew you'd come. Since you look alike you could pass off as her and ruin her plan."

"Damn Silv, I can't understand what she's trying to do. I guess it means I'm out for now, they won't trust me."

"It's true..." Neige said, deep in his thoughts "I think you should try asking around Sepide. We probably made a lot of noise with Silva so they will doubt us both but it might work for you."

"Me? I'm not sure..."

Sepide looked around, intimidated by the idea of talking to people alone. Neige gave a reassuring nod, assuring her that everything would be alright. Sepide accepted and looked around before deciding to go to a table where a group of men were playing with cards. She sat on the table next to them and asked with a feeble voice.

"Can I... Play with you?"

The men laughed together until they saw her serious face. They silently dealt the cards and gave her cards.

"Poker, ever played it?"

"I ended up third in a tournament once."

"A tournament of housewives!"

The men laughed at the joke of one of their comrades, playing the game like before. A few rounds passed and the group continued playing naturally, taking Sepide seriously after some decent plays from her part. One of them decided to talk between rounds, trying to gain Sepide's favor.

"You know, we didn't mean to make fun of you. It's that with all those women going around, thinking that they're real men, it's hard to trust. We just thought you didn't know the rules and mocked you."

"It's alright, it happens."

"Wait, I'm curious now." One of the men said while shuffling the deck "I never saw you around and I'm a pretty influential person, what makes you so special?"

Sepide looked behind at her friends, hoping they could help her. Instead, all she could see was Silva arguing with someone and Neige getting her out of trouble. It seemed like they wouldn't be able to help and that she needed to find another solution. She searched in her memories for anything that could be believable and finally found something.

"I do videos on the internet. I have one billion subscribers."

The men laughed, visibly not taking her seriously. She took her phone and showed the number the them, shutting them up.

"O-One billion? How is it possible? I never heard of you!"

"Aren't we eight billion? those that mean that this chick is known for at least ten percent of the population?"

Sepide nodded her head with confidence. She forgot that she had reached multiple worlds, so one billion didn't seem much for her. One of the men seemed impressed and handed her a card. She was confused at first but was strongly interested when she saw the name of the man on the card.

"I'm Lucien, I work as a freelance musician. I'm going to work on a big project with sir Aspro but you know, it's not a passion project. I could work for you though, one billion is not a bad public and I'll admit I'm interested in you."

"I want to talk with you in a place without anyone, can we?"

Lucien couldn't hide his smile, already dreaming of the fortune he would make thanks to her.

"Of course! I know a good place for that."

The two of them went into the bathroom and made sure no one could hear them. The musician could barely contain himself and instantly explained his plan to Sepide.

"I make you a song, you give me money and promote me. Then we-"

"Give me your card."

"Huh?" The man was bewildered by the words from Sepide. He quickly realized what she meant and took his access card out of his pocket "You want that?"

"Yes, what do I need to do to get it? I'll do anything."

"Anything?"

Sepide answered by nodding her head, bringing a dark smile to Lucien's face.

"I want to be your personal musician and get half of the money you make. You'll talk about it to all your fans at every stream and video you make."

"Alright." Sepide had no intent to obey and just wanted to get the card as fast as possible. The man noticed it and decided to go further in his demands.

"I'll need something right now though, you know... As a way to make sure you won't run away."

"But I don't have money on me..."

"Oh, I didn't mean money. We're both alone, a man and a woman. And I'm sure you know a man's weakness~"

The man started to grip his belt. Sepide quickly understood what he meant and frowned.

"Silva taught me that yeah."

"Silva? Who is that? Maybe you should bring her next time."

"Oh no, I can do it alone. I'm just surprised it's what you want since it seemed to hurt when I saw it."

"What?"

Before the man could get an answer, Sepide kicked his crotch as hard as she could. His body fell unconscious on the ground, worrying the girl a bit.

"Can I get the card now?"

Seeing that the man was not answering, she hurried to take the card and leave, hoping she didn't hurt him too much.

Sepide went back to her friends, they seemed worried about her going alone in the bathroom with another man. Silva immediately inquired to make sure she was safe.

"Sepide, what did you do in there?"

"The guy was weird. I kicked him and took his card."

"Attagirl!" Silva put her hand in the air, facing Sepide. She stayed in that position for a moment, prompting Neige to explain to Sepide.

"She's trying to make a high-five."

"Oh." Sepide clapped Silva's hand back, bringing a bright smile to her face.

"So now that you got the card we can go to the higher floors. This place creeps me out, everyone here is so arrogant."

Neige read the notes he took from Emely's conversation and summarized them to the group.

"So we got the third level card, the business partner rank. It allows us to get to the studios, that's where they do most of the creative work. The next rank would be interns, we'll call Emely when we get there."

"Sounds like a plan, let's roll!"

Silva stood up with energy, quickly followed by her two friends. They were ready to get closer to Kairo and hopefully, find the reason behind this world's sudden fix. Their goal was getting closer, weighing their hearts as they made their way to the elevator.

Kairo stared at the city from the roof of the building. Everything seemed so small now, not only because of the height but because of his experience. The city he lived in was no more than a simple world now. He turned around to leave and saw Silv, followed by her friend Emel.

"So, how do you enjoy your world Kairo?"

"I still can't believe it's true, and yet... It all seems pointless now. I don't feel anything about it anymore. The truth... Is it really worth it?"

"Are you starting to have regrets?"

"No... I assume all my actions."

Kairo looked at Silv's confidant expression. It was obvious that she was planning for something but the reason behind her plan was still a mystery for the man.

"Silv... You already know how this day will end, right?"

"How could I know?" Silv pretended to not understand but the grin on her face betrayed her barely hidden intents.

"Have you already seen our creator? Have you seen the truth?"

"What if I did?"

The innocent-looking face of the girl was enough to exhaust Kairo, who looked at the moon in the sky with nostalgia.

"I don't understand you at all, I don't think anyone can."

"You may be right. I'll let you have fun with your old friends, they shouldn't take long now."

Silv left, followed by Emel. The cold wind blew on the roof, followed by a drop of water that fell on Kairo's face.

"It's going to rain soon..."