Project: Socialize (Chapters 1-197)

21. Aftermath

I woke up the next morning to the sound of the alarm on my phone. I grabbed my phone and opened one eye to check the time and turn off the alarm. Then, I closed my eyes due to the fact that I still felt awfully fatigued, probably because I had fallen asleep only at 4:00 AM and that it was currently 7:30 AM.

After rolling around on my bed for a few more minutes, I slowly forced myself up right to a seated position on my bed and I opened my eyes. I thought I saw someone standing before me, so I rubbed my eyes and looked over again. Sure enough, someone was standing there, and this person was a stranger to me. I closed my eyes and shook my head to try and rid myself of the drowsiness before I opened my eyes once again to confirm whether or not someone was truly standing there. Sure enough, someone is.

"Good morning," she smiled.

"Who are you?" I asked, feeling oddly calm. Maybe it was because I was too tired to react at all.

"My name is Emilia Gabrielle Zartlich," the woman standing before me introduced herself. "God has assigned you to be under my care."

"God?" I asked, still seated on my bed. "What do you mean?"

"Ralus...he's been suspended from his duties for the time being," Emilia explained, "and is now...running errands for God."

"So he's punished?"

"That is correct," Emilia nodded. "Therefore, it is now my job to assign you missions and reconstruct you."

"Reconstruct me?" I muttered. "So would it be like before? You guys just assign me some random missions and I complete them?"

"Mr. Edel," Emilia suddenly said in a serious voice. "What do you think is the purpose of these missions?"

"Purpose? God told me it's because he is bored..."

"Is that your answer?" Emilia closed her eyes. "If So then very well...This might be a game to you, but trust me it has a higher purpose than simply entertainment for boredom."

"Then what is it?"

"I cannot tell you at the time being," Emilia responded.

A moment of silence ensued, bringing with it an awkward atmosphere as I sat there on my bed, still in my sleep clothes that consisted of a comfortable T-shirt and shorts. Well...it felt kind of weird that I sat there with all these casual clothing on while she stood there, formally and elegantly as an angel should be.

"So um...is that all?" I asked after glancing over at the clock on my phone and discovering that time was ticking and I still have school.

"That is correct," Emilia nodded.

"So are you going to like go back to Heaven or something?" I asked. "Like suddenly disappear or teleport?"

Emilia shook her head. "My assignment was to closely monitor you while also assigning you tasks for rehabilitation."

"Monitor me?"

I observed her in order to acquire more information. There exists a shocking amount of information contained within body posture alone that people often ignore. This is because our brain takes in body posture when we talk to someone and analyzes it almost unconsciously so that when one is presented with only body posture, thy could only grasp the vaguest of emotions. However, since I don't often talk to others, my senses are still sharp. Therefore, I pride myself in being able to read others based off of their body posture alone.

I observed her, from that mysterious smile of hers to the way she stood. Nothing was able to even provide me a hint of what her intent was. Instead, her mysterious smile seemed to draw me in, absorbing every part of my focus. The way her purple eyes seemed to conceal her inner thoughts captivated me, like a moth drawn to a flame, it makes me want to get closer, makes me want to know more about her. Why is it that even when you try so hard to conceal it, why is it that the pain still spills through that smile of yours?