Anomaly

(POV – Protagonist)

I managed to catch most of the conversation between Emily, Laura, and the High Council. I didn't exactly hear the beginning, since I got a little distracted on the way by an anomaly that looked suspiciously like ice cream.

Seriously, who looks at something like that and thinks, “Hmm, looks delicious?” If I'd known that thing had a mouth, eyes, and apparently tasted like sewage, I would've run as far away from that abomination as humanly possible.

Not that I actually tasted it or anything... I didn't. I'm still having trouble understanding how an anomaly can be so blasphemous that it takes the form of something resembling ice cream. I mean, ice cream! A dessert! Something that's supposed to be pleasant, refreshing, and, preferably, not have sensory organs capable of staring at me while hurling insults.

Completely blasphemous. For a brief moment, I was seriously tempted to use my greatest weapon against that abomination. After all, maybe a concentrated thermonuclear explosion was exactly the kind of response that thing deserved.

But, after thinking it over... I don't think turning myself into a thermonuclear bomb would've been the best choice, considering the potential... side effects, so to speak, that decision would probably cause. Besides, Emily and Laura probably wouldn't be too happy if I destroyed half the base over a mutant ice cream cone.

So, as tempting as the idea was, I decided to simply walk away. Anyway, putting aside my near-hysterical reaction to that strangely suggestive anomaly, which looked like it had been deliberately designed to be even more strangely suggestive, the discussion with the High Council hadn't gone quite as well as Emily and Laura had probably hoped.

Not that I was particularly dense or slow. Quite the opposite, actually. I considered myself a reasonably intelligent person. Still, it wasn't until somewhere around the middle of the conversation that I finally understood what Emily and Laura were actually trying to accomplish.

They wanted permission to send an anomaly along as backup in case things got out of control during the operation. Unfortunately, from what I could tell, the High Council didn't seem particularly interested in cooperating with that idea.

Personally, I couldn't blame them for being cautious. I mean, it wasn't as though Emily and Laura had some weird fetish for sending agents to their certain deaths. Quite the opposite. Considering the nature of the operation, I'd say they had perfectly reasonable reasons for wanting a backup plan in case everything went wrong.

After all, sending a group of agents to deal with an anomaly that apparently had the potential to bring about a new Ice Age without any kind of additional support didn't exactly sound like what anyone would call a brilliant plan.

And if someone asked me, I probably would've done the same thing. Or, at the very least, tried. The problem was that, apparently, the High Council didn't share the same concerns. What a surprise. Come to think of it, I assumed the anomaly Emily and Laura wanted to send along with the agents was, naturally, me.

𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

I mean, it wasn't exactly difficult to reach that conclusion. I'd heard that a few other anomalies with special classifications occasionally worked alongside the organization's agents, but as far as I knew, all of them were housed in facilities scattered across different parts of the world.

I'd never personally seen any of them. And considering the anomalies currently present at the facility we were in, my sisters were obviously out of the question. That didn't exactly leave a long list of options. In fact, it basically came down to me. From Emily and Laura's perspective, I was probably the safest anomaly they could send along with the agents.

Not necessarily because I could talk. After all, finding anomalies capable of communicating wasn't exactly unheard of. Some of them simply had more... creative ways of doing it. What really set me apart was the fact that I'd demonstrated, on numerous occasions, that I was an ally of humanity.

Or, at the very least, I was an anomaly that didn't seem particularly likely to wake up in a bad mood one day and decide that every human on Earth needed to die. Apparently, that was a pretty big plus when it came to choosing someone to accompany a team on a dangerous mission. And it wasn't as though situations involving anomalies suddenly switching from friendly to hostile were particularly rare.

The organization already had countermeasures for that kind of problem. After all, it would be pretty stupid to send agents to work alongside an anomaly without considering the possibility that it might suddenly decide to kill them. Although, admittedly... I was probably an excellent exception to that rule. Not because I was incapable of doing something like that, of course.

But because, up until that point, I'd never felt the urge to turn my coworkers into mortal enemies. Considering the general track record of anomalies out there, that should probably count as a pretty impressive quality. But, putting that aside, Emily and Laura called me a few minutes after their meeting with the High Council.

I imagine the two of them had spent quite a while discussing what their next steps should be, especially considering that, technically speaking, the High Council hadn't authorized me to leave the base. Not that it actually mattered. After all, they didn't even have the means to genuinely keep me, or any of my sisters, contained.

In the end, just as Emily had reiterated several times in front of the Council on previous occasions, both my sisters and I were contained entirely of our own free will. Well... She'd also mentioned that I knew where every member of the Council lived. That part was a lie. I had absolutely no idea where they lived.

Anyway, Emily, Laura, and I met in Emily's office. Laura led me there, and as soon as I walked in, I noticed Victor was already waiting inside. Arthur, on the other hand, was nowhere to be found. Come to think of it, I hadn't seen Arthur since he'd shown up to tell Emily about his discoveries regarding the new glacial anomaly, the one that apparently had enough potential to bring back something as absurd as a new Ice Age.

If I had to guess where he was, I'd probably say he'd gone back to researching that giant eye we found during our last mission involving the giant mushroom. Arthur had seemed strangely fixated on that disgusting, terrifying thing ever since we returned. Well, getting back to the situation at hand... After I sat down at the table across from Emily's chair, I realized I was practically surrounded.

Victor was standing behind me, conveniently positioned in front of the door, his arms crossed and his posture practically screaming, You're not getting out of here anytime soon. Laura remained beside the table in front of me, wearing a calm and carefree expression.

At least until I noticed the subtle glances she kept throwing my way every now and then. Strangely hopeful glances. I wasn't even going to mention her hand, which, for some reason, seemed to have developed a mind of its own and kept inching toward my head. I honestly had no idea what she was planning.

Finally, Emily was sitting behind her desk, directly across from me. She had her arms resting on the surface, both hands clasped together in front of her face, partially covering her mouth as she silently watched me... Right. Personally, I'd give this atmosphere a solid ten out of ten.

Not because it was exactly scary, although there was definitely something a little suspicious about the way everyone was staring at me, but because it perfectly conveyed the feeling that something important was about to happen. It was the kind of silence that made you start wondering whether you'd forgotten something.

I stayed distracted for a little while longer, lost in some unrelated thoughts, until I finally pushed everything to the back of my mind and refocused my attention on Emily. Thankfully, she didn't seem to notice my little lapse. Which, honestly, was great. I'd already gotten enough lectures from Emily for zoning out during conversations to know that testing her patience again wasn't worth it.

I remained silent, waiting for her to tell me what she actually wanted. It didn't take long. Emily cleared her throat quietly, as if making sure she had my full attention again, and then got straight to the point: “I don't think we have as much time as I'd like for a long, detailed conversation, so I'll get straight to the point”

She kept her eyes locked on mine for a few seconds. Her expression was more serious than before, making it clear that this wasn't a casual conversation. Then Emily continued: “[Angel of Death]... I need you to escape the facility and follow the agents we'll be sending to deal with this new anomaly” She paused briefly, watching my reaction before continuing: “I assume you know what I'm talking about, considering you were listening to everything when Arthur came to talk to me”

I blinked, genuinely surprised. How the hell did she know that? I wasn't sure whether my expression made my confusion obvious, but Emily noticed immediately. Maybe she was simply too used to reading my reactions, because before I even had to ask, she explained: “We have cameras inside your... camp”

She paused for a moment, as if even she found it strange to call the place where my sisters and I stayed a camp: “When I checked the footage some time after Arthur left, I noticed you weren't there. At the same time, Arthur was still in my office. Then you showed up again shortly after he left” Emily shrugged, as if the conclusion were obvious: “It wasn't exactly difficult to put the pieces together and figure out where you were”

I remained silent for a few seconds. Well... That definitely explained a lot. The cameras. The constant surveillance. The ease with which they always seemed to know where my sisters and I were... Now everything made sense. Still, there was one part of the situation I simply couldn't ignore. I never imagined the day would come when I'd hear Emily willingly ask me to escape.

Putting Laura aside, who continued to stare at me with that strangely hopeful expression, I really had no reason to refuse Emily's request. In fact, I'd already been thinking about personally dealing with this new anomaly anyway.

So the fact that she had taken the initiative herself and asked me to handle the anomaly made things much easier for me. In the end, all I had to do was find the anomaly... And destroy it. Nothing too complicated. After all... I really didn't want to risk Emily deciding to cut off my ice cream supply.