The First Head was a separate entity from most others, often regarded with an odd sentiment, as if talks about him didn't exist or were deemed sensitive. Wrinkled and old, he was one of those people who had experienced the first Emblems, lived through that era, and had begun researching it long before most got started. It was a startling era,

  which allowed many things to happen, develop, and remain unchanged, and if one thing rang true, he would never let wonders go to waste, rot, or lose their appeal.

  Many considered him the forefather of what Walkers became in this hemisphere. Most places had similar to him, be it a shaman or spiritual leader in a tribal or crazy community, or a saint or patriarch in some lands, yet none were anywhere near his level. Many believed the was the greatest. At least here, that sentiment felt about right, yet not in line with public concerns. For them, he was nothing important.

  While his years were not that nice to him, his mind was sharp, his eyes deep, and his experience was at the peak of what was commonly considered humanly achievable, which was worrisome for someone working with inhuman stuff out of nightmares. Perhaps one like that had long since turned inhuman and had awful tastes. He still had at least some years left in him, even if the old fucker didn't look like that to Celeste, whose time had come.

  Walkers and their shinies were what he saw them for, and their Emblems were the finest of gems. Walkers supported his endeavors, since omitting his work would be their greatest mistake.

  His worth shone after many decades, giving humanity a home and the Federation a valuable turning point with a bargaining chip as a bonus. In exchange, he got to play games with these kids and so on and so forth. It was fun. Overall, he was living the freaking dream at the moment!

  After all, he was one of the roots that allowed the Federation to exist! His Accelerator was worth it all. Tom Hough was his name, and he was the creator of the Accelerator, as well as someone who promoted many ideal pathways for Walkers and Darks, including their strengths, weaknesses, and progression. Many tools and acts followed his background, expertise, and death, and no ordinary person could understand them in his stead. Only Walkers might attempt that, but only if they sacrificed their time in order to see the truth and naked Madness in this new era.

  Hough was in charge of the entire Forced Awakening and performed the process himself, without ever allowing to touch his most influential creation.

  The Acceleration was kind of brutal. It required significant resources and investment. None of that was something Hough could manage alone, so there were a lot of concessions made with the Association, Assembly, and all its Divisions. Even the Academy had to chip in from time to time, considering that if they didn't, well, they would lose these benefits and more.

  Hough's position by Accelerator was his only requirement, like his control, but that didn't happen on its own. Many more hidden contraptions and concessions were behind extra steps, controlling comps, protecting data, or lives. He knew that failing was no longer acceptable, yet one had to preserve the status quo from time to time.

  Anything else was up to the Federation, their choices, and their decisions. Of course, no one denied him such a high position, and most did whatever they could. They were his lackeys, and this bunker was his canvas, and at the moment, he had a nice picture to draw, stain, and crack.

  He stood beside Celeste, examining papers and checking tubes, cables, and wires, right beside the Emblem Accelerator, which was the size of a small building. There were also monitors with notifications, calculations in progress, and pivotal reports on what was working or what was ready. A lot of energy was required, coming through the depths, looking like big pipes full of wires and many metallic parts, or straight-up liquid. Was that water? Celeste wasn't certain.

  The core of this process was still centered on Arcana, which Hough considered the most important discovery of humankind. If a normal person could tap into this energy and utilize it, that would mark the beginning of a brand-new era, but... that shit got problems. This was the only machine capable of doing that, and it didn't work on anything but those freaks, regardless.

  The current capabilities of science were far from touching the untouchable. It required a lot, or it was something that only Walkers could ever do. It was not fair. Tom Hough was never satisfied with this level of answer. He detested it!

  Of course, failures never stopped him either, and neither did this curious case. Hough gazed at Celeste's hand next.

  “Alright, young lady. We finally meet.”

  Celeste eyed him for the first time, taking his face and voice without a calm heart. “What are you?” she asked, and doubted he was just a regular old man. It was true, but fake. It wasn't joking either, but she itched to laugh as his face shifted in terrifying expression, with something else lurking not on his face. It was a bizarre feeling.

  the soft voice said.

  “First Head. We should've met before. Shame we didn't, but some things fell from the heavens, and we got busy. Shame indeed.”

  “Good. Can you go, or I will... run.”

  “Where is your Emblem?” Hough asked without politeness, getting straight to the point.

  “D-do I have to show it?”

  Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

  “Yes? The fuck? What else?!”

  Celeste frowned at his words and speedy delivery and, unwillingly, pulled her right sleeve to her elbow because the voices wouldn't let it go. Scars lined the main going across her arm, leaving many ideas in her mind.

  Hough hummed, watching the shining black sides and lines outlining the white core of the Emblem. Hough didn't care for scars or her skin when he judged it, and felt that this Emblem appeared as a long line with two corners. Like an arrow or sword, it cut into her arm without going deep, yet one couldn't go in. It was hard yet shimmering in energy, which was curious. More good than curious. It looked like part of her body, with how seamless and colorful it was.

  “Interesting. Most interesting, young lady. Very young lady. Big loud, that is. A bit younger.... huh?”

  Hough obviously didn't care for any small cuts and scars around it or... well, small talk. They looked old, so nothing was wrong with them. Celeste hadn't harmed her arm in a long time, and whether she did it or someone else, not all healing was ever sufficient.

  “Wanna see more? Dreadus asked me... to do it. Will you do the same?” Celeste asked.

  “Hm. Not necessary. We don't have time for it, young lady, though, what is this to you?” Hough pointed to her arm.

  “Monsters wanted to eat. They were hungry. My arm was hungrier. Was young. I don't like to see my arm. There was pain. Voices. There was nothing good to come out... so...” Celeste said half a lie, and no longer believed this. But years ago, those words were true, so she described it with hesitation and looked away from her arm, noticing the frowning, separate face before her. It enjoyed her and adored her, humming in appraising look at herself.

  Hough didn't seem to see it, and it made sense. The mirror was immense and out there, rather than before her, and Celeste wasn't questioning it. He was meant to overturn and see it.

  “Monsters are fine. Yours is fine as well, young lady. I am going to insert the needle now and start the Acceleration shortly. Rest your arms on the chair's handles, relax your body as best as you can, and don't shout too much. I have old ears, you know. Well, you can scream. All of it goes out in one way or another, and so far, we have had a few yanked ears and throats. Nothing shocking. Common issues, and blahblah. Boring stuff.”

  He showed no worry or compassion, having seen thousands of kids in this chair. Frankly, the whole time he talked, he saw only her Emblem; he never looked at her face whatsoever.

  It was already a miracle that he even managed to spot the difference between a young boy and a young girl. Perhaps the impression he got from Dreadus and the Crystal Water Sea was enough to link this girl with number 70 and get it deeper into his mind.

  Still, his hunch of professionalism was there, and whatever interest he had loosened because he didn't have time to chat. In truth, he was very interested in what this girl could do. Alas, he was a very busy man. The Crystal Water Sea was too big, so he didn't pay the reports too much attention. It was yet another shameful regret that soon came to bite his ass.

  Celeste forced her arms onto the chair, waiting for whatever was to come, regardless of the different face that lingered in the mirror, watching her and speaking to her. Closing her eyes was futile; she didn't want to watch anything, yet she welcomed everything in one way or another. Escaping it escalated the wrong fear, so she watched. There was no other way. It was a forceful lie, fueled by much-needed bravery, expectations, and the fact that voices hyped her up from the inside out, giving her waves, smiles, and quite a threatening look.

  The mirror was very far away, at least twenty feet, if not more, but again, whose feet were that long? She didn't get these weird sizes and had issues related to that. In fact, was five feet two inches a lot? An inch sounded like a funny word.

  Her trembling never stopped, but Hough had no concerns about it either way. He walked to a huge device with many sides and sections. Metallic and glass containers held strange-looking liquids that protruded from the machine.

  Celeste didn't like their look, smell, or shapes. They were moving, resembling snakes, faces, and most of them were bloody or dark. All of them had thin tubes extending from them, which then passed through additional machinery, and it all ended in more tubes and a large, wide syringe. These cylinder-shaped containers felt dubious. For Celeste, she didn't have to see them twice to think of them as shit she would see in pits.

  Perhaps it was close to the magic water she bathed in, or drank it from time to time. Well, that was false. These liquids were neither from Darks nor from treasures. It was an accumulation of forceful science and research, resembling science or alchemy. Considering Walkers, it wasn't very far from something humans might do without batting an eye at the consequences. Even if the abyss were before them, they would still shout deep or directly walk ahead, because that was what humans do.

  It was true that the core of these liquids came from some very nasty things, and Celeste didn't have to guess what they were. As for the wires, they ensured that electricity was running and the work was completed. Tubes and those containers were something else, but everything had links to monitors or functions for the Accelerator.

  Gears made noise, fans created airflow for cooling, but much of the cooling was achieved through water.

  Many machines rocketed as Hough began pressing buttons and levers on the control panel. The chair was at the very core of this sequence. After checking the syringe in a couple of seconds, Hough looked at the monitors connected to the chair and began to form a ratio of the liquids. The keyboard and mouse under his fast moves guaranteed speed.

  In less than a minute, on his left, he pressed a big red button. His favorite. For everything to work with one push had been his greatest self-proclaimed accomplishment, since he didn't wish to waste time on each kid any longer than necessary.

  Smiling and looking at the current host, Celeste's limb, he considered her whole body for the first time. Before Celeste could do anything, metallic and leather contraptions moved from the chair and captured her limbs. That surprises her because it was so quick, she couldn't move at all beforehand, let alone afterwards, which shocked even the Celeste, who groaned and teased her for it.

  Then, as she was concerned with those strands and fear--and the voices that called her brave, stupid, and weak--she watched how Hough set a huge tube into a big syringe. He shoved that object into her right arm, close to the Emblem that began shining in anticipation, and even the dark corners seemed to widen and dance in painful, bloody patterns. It hurt a shit load more than she expected, yet it wasn't the biggest pain she had ever felt. Odd, that one. What was worse? She couldn't remember.

  Hough noticed new patterns and smiled like a devil as he quashed the unrest of his hands. This reaction was so enticing that he almost stopped working and began to link and calculate anything worthwhile in this vivid Emblem. Oh, how much he wished to hear and know it too.

  “N-no...” Celeste's mumbles fell on no ears. It was too late. Hough pushed a way too wide syringe into her arm, and pushed the red button again. The series of liquids began to enter her flesh, blood vessels, and veins. Then everything started to waver, shake, and plunge her into the deep.

  She was about to lose it if it weren't for the laughter that came from the mirror and the monster beside.