Chapter 124 - Falcon
Chapter 124 – Falcon
"…?" The girl with the sniper blinked a few times in surprise at Cyanide's words, but Cyanide had no intention of answering. Instead, he continued to toy with her using his words.
"Shoot," he dared, still not even turning around to face her. "You won't."
The girl bit her bottom lip, lined with anger. You know what—fine. If this man wanted to get shot so badly, then she would grant that wish.
… Or rather, she would. But for whatever reason, her finger wouldn't pull the trigger on her gun.
The back of the target's head was right in front of her, not even a meter away. Why couldn't she just press one trigger, and end his life? She's never had a situation like this happening before. She'd always been the perfect soldier. The ace sniper, the Girl Who Did Not Miss. Over the years, she's been given countless nicknames by her peers and superior officers—Hawkeye, Owl, and of course, her formal alias, Raven. But for some reason… none of them ever felt right to her, deep down in her heart.
After a few more seconds of struggle on her end and a few more seconds of entertainment on Cyanide's end, she gave up and stowed away her gun.
"Tch… damn it. Why can't I shoot you? And more importantly… how did you know the bottom half of that line, in its exact words?" She asked, eyebrows knitted together in frustration.
"It's simple," Cyanide said lightly. "I taught you it."
"Wha…"
After a while of hesitation, Cyanide sighed and decided to lend her a hand. After all, as much as they were strangers now, they were once good allies—the only person Cyanide considered trustworthy other than Luna, and what's more, also on par with himself in terms of skill.
"… Answer me this first," he said, sitting down on the mountaintop and glancing at her. "Back there… why did you save me?"
"Why…? I wasn't saving you," the girl replied defiantly. "It was… just a suitable opening, the right moment to fire. That's all. Saving you was just a side effect."
"That's not completely true either, is it?" Cyanide chuckled. "You needed me alive to deal the final blow to the beast, because you knew you couldn't beat it on your own."
"… Well, yes. I admit that is part of the reason as well."
"False," Cyanide suddenly said, to the girl's surprise.
"What? You just said-"
"Yeah, that was a lie."
"…"
"The real reason why you saved me was because you know me. Deep down, the old you still exists. Even if you don't realize it, you subconsciously saved me because we were once allies who worked together at one point. But if I am to be honest… you actually do realize it, don't you? After all… that's why you entered this game in the first place."
Every word Cyanide said had been on the mark. It was as if he could read the girl like a book, and quite frankly, she didn't take to that very nicely.
"… I hate you," she spat with venom, glaring her yellow eyes at Cyanide. "Why do you know so much about me, even more than I do about myself?"
"Of course I do," Cyanide said quietly. "You told me everything, once. Everything."
"… Tell me," the girl said softly, lowering her head and sitting down beside him. "… Please."
Cyanide shifted his gaze at the girl for a moment, who had her head buried between her knees, not wanting to look at him. Seeing this, he gave a light chuckle. For some reason, he felt ease around her. She was cold and ruthless, but for whatever reason, she was the first person Cyanide felt like he could truly understand and connect with. After all, the two shared many similar philosophies and beliefs—the old her, anyway. And now… he was going to help her remember, as a favor for her saving him earlier.
"… Your old alias was Falcon," Cyanide began, staring up at the moon. "You were an expert sniper who used to work for the military, but quit and went rogue after they tried to experiment on your body and turn you into a bioengineered supersoldier. You were very… prideful. You believed you were fine on your own, but when they insisted after your refusal, you couldn't accept that and decided to simply leave."
"The bioenhancements…" She murmured, glancing down at her two hands. "No wonder… every time they ran tests on me to make sure all the components were working fine… something in my heart was yelling at me, saying this was wrong."
"But the story doesn't end there," Cyanide continued. "Later on, you discovered that the man who came up with the entire bioengineering project and proposed you to be part of the first batch of test subjects… was none other than your own father."
"What…" The girl was stunned. "Impossible… my father is dead…"
"Yes, he is," Cyanide said. "By your own two hands."
"But they told me-"
"They told you lies, is what they told you," Cyanide interrupted coldly. "Deep down, you know. That's why you came here, to look for answers. That is your wish, isn't it? To find out the truth behind your background, and your past."
"… I did suspect it," the girl admitted at last. "It feels like… there is another me inside this body. We're the same person, but she knows things I don't. A gut feeling tells me there was more to what I was being let on. One night, a masked man came up to me and invited me to participate in this game. His words made me question myself, and I was prompted to ask my superiors about just really who I was. But when I did… they dodged my questions. And after that… I accepted their invitation. After all, I was ready to break free in case anything happens."
"… Well," Cyanide said, standing back up. "I'll let you remember the rest on your own. If I tell you anything more than this, you won't believe me anyway since you don't remember all that much. I've done my part, to repay the favor of saving me.. The rest… is up to you."