The cafe shop was fall into a deep silent, only the sound of the clock could be heard, tick tack tick tack... Noir sat up straight, her eyes boring into Specter as if she wanted to rip out his insides, Noir need him to face it all.
Specter lifted his coffee cup, his hand shaking slightly. After a moment, he continued.
"Maybe you thought you were the only one in that project...?"
"Each memory will gradually die, so that no one would ever know what happend, even you and your missions just need to do which is...kill!"
"That's the reason why you can't remember anything about your true origin, who you are..."
"Your memories can only be of fighting day and night regardless of life or death."
Noir frowning, her eyes slightly narrowing.
Specter said, his voice deepening.
"That project was a series of experiments, with no end in to it..."
The air suddenly froze. Noir paused slightly, her lips pressed tightly together, then she asked.
"So your eyes..."
"They don't know you've uncovered whole the truth?"
Specter slowly took off his glasses, revealing completely normal eyes. Deep black. His eyes didn't have any strange color, but in that gaze, Noir recognized an unexplainable void, something was his painful, something he was lost.
Her blue eyes flashed, each line of his memory, she saw all the days he was experimented on, his bloody hands, enemies of VOID, aslo many victims he just killled, and then it's the time he had to escaped from those hunters, like her. So clearly.
"I am a failed version. My abilities were destroyed by excessive testing."
"As for the secret, they don't know it. They only knew that I wanted to escape so they didn't use brainwashing on me, they just removed all of my abilities as an assassin, that period was full of pain..."
"If they don't do that, they'll feel threatened. So after that, they don't need to waste their energy to hunt down a useless person like me. With them, we're all trash."
A gentle breeze, carrying the summer sun, passed through the crack in the door and gently touched Noir's neck.
"What about me? Why do I still exist?" her voice was cold as ice.
Specter looked into her blue-red eyes, his eyes filled with pain.
"It can only be… You… are the only successful verson. I remember, when I was still a child in the lab, I saw a closed room, i accidentally saw inside with so many machine connected to a web of equipment, the control panel clearly showing the words 'WAS SUCCESSFUL' while the scientists were surrounding it in celebration, so that was you. Those eyes are not a gift. They are chains. When you unlock your full potential, even the organization will no longer be able to control you."
Deep within Noir's mind, she felt like she had opened a new chapter, only she didn't expect that she was the only one...successful? Is that real?
/So this is the reason they must eliminate me to the end./
Noir tightened her hands, her nails digging into her own flesh.
"It's true that they never considered me as a human…"
Specter smiled faintly, his eyes slightly sad.
"With VOID, we are just tools. I escaped by throwing away my name, throwing away my past, memories. But you are different… you carry within you the thing they desire most."
The space of coffee shop fell silent again. Noir sat unmoving, like an ice statue, only her eyes flashing with cold light. Specter poured more coffee into her cup, a calm ritual in the storm. He spoke softly, his voice calm.
"If you truly want to defeat them, you can't do it alone. They are an empire, and we are only a tiny part of it. Besides, not everyone is trustworthy. Every teammate you find... could also be a knife in the back."
"They will make you never forget." Specter said seriously.
Noir looked up, her eyes of two color shining brightly in the warm atmosphere of the cafe.
"I've been hunted for a while now, Specter… Don't worry, I'll turn them become a weapon. These are will make those scientists as proud as like the day they celebrated their invention."
Specter was silent, only slightly curling his lips. The way he looked at Noir was no longer that of a anonymous barista, but of someone who had once emerged from the same abyss. Specter put his glasses back on, stood up slowly and put away the coffee making equipment.
"A little tense, huh? Come on, I'll take you for a walk around here. Everyone is very friendly, don't worry."
"They won't hear anything about you either." *Closes the cabinet*
She was a little embarrassed but still chose to put on her glasses to cover her eyes.
But the one thing Noir didn't notice, a red light flashed in the distance and then went out.
Specter led her around the village, where each house looked very simple, they gathered together, cooked together, drank tea and chatted, a few children ran around the neighborhood very happily and pure. Perhaps for a 'machine' like Noir, she only felt this was boring, but her heart skipped a beat. In the distance, it seemed like a group of children saw them, then waved.
"Hey! Uncle coffee, look!"
"This kite-flying machine of yours works really well." *smiling brightly*
Noir was a little puzzled.
"Uncle coffee?"
Specter replied calmly, smiling gently.
"Yes. That's what the kids call me. I'm the only one selling coffee in this village." *waves back*
"It's been windy these days so I made a kite flying machine for them to play with."
"You know how to make machines too?" Noir asked.
"Just assume it."
Noir was a little suspicious but didn't say anything more. The two of them continued walking on the path around the village, Noir had to admit that this place and the bustling city were truly a world apart. On the way, a little girl ran straight to Noir, smiled and handed her a warm cake, then turned and ran away. She was small and pretty, Noir didn't know that Specter was still silently watching during they walk together, but his eyes were very gentle and soft. However, she turned to look at him and asked.
"Okay. So what do you think about me wanting your help?"
Specter was flinched and not responsing immediately.
The wind still blew gently, softly brushing past the two people who seemed so distant from one another.