Marvel: I'm a Symbiote-Symbiote 0259: Special Recruit (2/2)

My instincts drove me, completely taking over my actions. I didn’t think before acting, somehow knowing that if I didn’t take this plunge, I would be in too much trouble. I couldn’t feel the presence of the previous lady whom I had talked to, but I had an idea of whom I had to talk to. I moved through the crowd surrounding the recruitment platform where girls who were all younger than me were being evaluated.

Despite feeling like my tears had permanently clouded my vision, I easily moved through the crowd and found myself in front of a different beautiful lady.

“Hello …” I found the courage within myself to greet her.

“Who are you, little girl?” The beautiful lady knelt before me and asked. I looked at her, but couldn’t particularly identify any of her features.

“I’m Irene. Irene Adler,” I spoke to her as she nodded.

“Do you want to join the protectors of the Sanctuary?” She asked me.

“I do!” I said excitedly. “I want to become stronger so that the monsters can’t do anything to me anymore.”

“What about your parents?” She asked me as I felt my heart lurch to my stomach. I wouldn’t be allowed to join if I told them about my mom.

“I-I lost them both … To–to those monsters,” I choked out as I recalled my father. Back then mom used to care about me as well.

“I’m sorry for bringing up a difficult memory, Irene,” The lady put her hand on my head and used some kind of magic to calm me down. Maybe it was just that her hand felt so gentle on my head that I felt that it was magical. “Stand in the line behind your fellow candidates. Once your name is called, walk up to my companion who will ask you a few questions and perform a few tests on you, okay?”

“C-can I go first?” I asked, feeling a sinking feeling in my stomach that told me that my mother would be here at any moment and interrupt me.

“Why is that?” The lady asked me.

“I just have a feeling that it would be better for me to go first …” I said, looking around despite not particularly seeing anything clearly. The lady didn’t say anything for a few seconds. I felt that she was listening to someone.

“Okay,” She patted me on the head, “Go on to the front of the line. You will be called into the interview room next.” I tried to focus on her neck, where I felt some kind of presence that I couldn’t quite identify, yet it felt familiar to me. I listened to her words and walked up to the front of the line where another beautiful lady allowed me to cut into the front of the line. I brought my hand to my throat, trying to feel the foreign presence on me that had appeared again, but I couldn’t tell what was going on.

Slowly, my vision started clearing up as the seconds passed and my heart’s thumping got milder and calmed down. That was when the panic of my current situation settled in. My eyes darted around, looking at the crowd that was gathered all around me, I couldn’t help but start to huff in panic. I felt suffocated as if some kind of an invisible wall was closing in on me.

“Irene,” The calling of my name from inside the room, broke me out of my trance as I huffed loudly and looked apprehensively at the door. “Irene Adler.” I was called once again and the beautiful lady who allowed me to cut in line placed her hand on my head, calming me down.

“Don’t worry, child. She won’t hurt you. All she’s going to do is to ask you a few questions. Go on, now,” Her words gave me the courage to hesitantly nod and shuffle toward the door. It took me quite a bit of effort to push it open before I could finally enter. My eyes focused on a beautiful woman with blonde hair, who smiled at me.

“Come here, Irene. Sit,” She told me to sit on the chair that was opposite her with a desk in the middle.

“H-hello, ma’am.”

“I hear you want to become one of the Sanctuary’s Defenders,” The woman spoke as my eyes were attracted to the lines around the neckline of her uniform. I remember the woman who allowed me in had three lines on her neckline while this one has four.

“I-I do …” I spoke timidly, feeling jitters in my stomach and all over my body.

“Are you an orphan?” She asked me, making me freeze.

“I … n—yes. I-I’m an orphan,” I stuttered out. She didn’t say anything, frowning at my words. My breathing quickened as I felt that she was about to throw out of the room.

“Why do you want to become a widow, Irene?” The beautiful woman asked me. I couldn’t tell if she caught my lie or not.

“I want to protect myself … I want to be safe from the bad monsters outside,” This time I told her the truth.

“You don’t want to defend your fellow people? Your friends?” She asked me, making me feel that I had given her the wrong answer.

“I-I do ...” I spoke up hurriedly, “But I can only protect my friends if I can protect myself. W-when my father died to protect us from those abominations …” I felt tears cloud my eyes as the recollection of that horrible day ate at me.

“Wipe your eyes, honey,” The woman spoke ever gently. “Those monsters can’t do anything bad to you here. You don’t need to worry,” I nodded at her words, wiping my eyes as my vision cleared once again. She then asked me, “What about training? You have to know that the kind of strength that a widow needs isn’t acquired with half-hearted training. You will be trained extensively in all sorts of combat and put through what will effectively feel like torture. Are you willing to train like that?”

“W-will I be given sufficient food? I don’t want to stay hungry …” I said, my voice choking a little. The woman frowned.

“Do you not get enough food? The Sanctuary works very hard to make sure that all pre-adults are given an allowance that will keep them fed very well.”

“I-I do …” I realized that I had made a mistake in my words. “I do get enough food. I was referring to before I came to the settlement.”

“I see …” I couldn’t tell if the woman believed me or not. “Yes, you will be given ample nutrition. While the training will be rigorous and harsh, the benefits that you receive will be equivalent in nature. The best food, amenities, and living standards. You get to live in the Sanctuary’s Flying Fortress. And trust me, after the first few months, you are going to love every second of training.” I couldn’t quite understand what the woman meant, but I felt that she was trustworthy.

“I-I’m willing … I will train as hard as I need to. I won’t even complain. Promise.” The woman smiled and was about to say something before the door burst open and I heard a familiar shrill voice.

“Irene!” My mother screamed at me, fury shining on her features. “Please forgive my foolish daughter, madam. I don’t know what got into her, causing her to run away from home and come here. I’m afraid that she doesn’t match the criteria of an orphan twelve-year-old since I’m still alive.”

“No!” My mother grabbed my arm tight enough to make me squeal in pain. “I don’t want to live with you! I want to become a Protector!” I screamed, resisting with all my might. A sharp pain shot up my arm before I heard something crack. A pained groan escaped my lips as the pain in my arm became almost unbearable. My mother was looking at me furiously.

“Stop making a scene here, Irene,” She spoke with a measured voice, hiding her fury. I could tell. She’d just dislocated my arm in her anger after all. “Come home with your mother. We still haven’t discussed —”

“Stop,” The beautiful woman interrupted my mother’s words, making the painful grip she had on my arm tighten even further. “Irene. Do you wish to go with your mother?”

“No!” I shook my head. Since I was already so deep into the situation, I had to take a leap. I don’t want to be on the receiving end of the thrashing my mother would give me once I got home. “I want to become one of you!”

“What if your mother died today?” The woman asked me a question that I didn’t quite know the answer to.

“W-what?” My voice cracked.

“Let me phrase it in a better way,” The woman said. “What if your mother completely and permanently disappeared from your life right at this moment? What would you do in that case?” She asked me.

I couldn’t help but pause. Somehow, I felt like the pain that I was feeling had lessened somewhat. My mother’s grip was as tight as ever, but the pain seemed to have been dulled. “I don’t mind. I … I don’t care if I never see her again. She died the day I lost my father.” I gave her a hateful look as I recalled the events that transpired merely a day after my father died.

“Irene! How dare you?!” My mother was outraged, twisting my arm as I cried out again. The pain was back and it hurt horribly, but I couldn’t hold back.

“You sold yourself to another man the day my father died. You would’ve done the same to me as well if it wasn’t for Uncle!” I screamed, letting out all my frustrations at her. I don’t know what happened or when it happened, but the next thing I remember is being escorted by the beautiful women and a few other new recruits who were all close to my age. Everyone flew to the heaven-like paradise that was The Sanctuary.

I didn’t see her, but my mother was also one of the people who were brought up, just that she was restrained in handcuffs and a gag, and she wasn’t the only one. There were a few more women who were taken up to the Sanctuary in a similarly restrained manner. Then again, I wouldn’t be seeing her ever again, so what did it matter?

[Hello, Irene Adler. Or should I say, Madame Destiny?] I heard a man’s deep yet comforting voice in my head that startled me into screaming.