Anomaly

Chapter 357 – Worship of the true gods [3]

(POV – Protagonist)

“I’m bored” The declaration came with a dramatic sigh, long enough to compete with the game’s soundtrack flashing across the TV.

Meanwhile, I was perfectly entertained, controller steady in my hands as my character barely dodged another attack. Beside me, a half-empty tub of ice cream was starting to sweat, small droplets sliding down the carton and leaving damp rings on the table.

Althea’s voice buzzed loudly in my ear, way louder than necessary, considering she didn’t actually need lungs to project it. There was a deliberately drawn-out, whiny tone to it.

She drifted aimlessly around the room, her bare feet hovering a few inches above the floor. Her hair flowed as if underwater, moving lazily with the slow, carefree rhythm of her flight.

She didn’t seem to be heading anywhere in particular, just letting her own momentum carry her in idle loops through the air... whatever that meant for someone who broke the laws of physics as effortlessly as breathing.

At one point, she spun upside down midair, her face suddenly dropping into my field of vision so close it nearly blocked the screen.

“Let’s do something fun, dear sister” she insisted, a mischievous smile spreading across her face as her eyes gleamed. From experience, that look meant trouble. I didn’t even need to pause the game to know: Althea being bored was always the first sign of impending chaos.

I ignored her and kept my eyes locked on the TV, my fingers moving automatically over the controller. This wasn’t the first time she’d tried to bother me, and, if I was being honest with myself, it definitely wouldn’t be the last.

The sound of digital gunfire and the game’s soundtrack muffled whatever commentary she might’ve been making behind me, which was convenient. My other sisters were scattered around the room, each absorbed in their own activities.

The background hum of running systems blended with the distant echo of footsteps in the metallic hallways. Chronas was the only one missing at the moment. She and Victor had been going out quite a bit lately.

Most of the time, their “excursions” were limited to the base’s internal areas, usually “recreational” spots, if you could call them that.

Still, every now and then, the two of them would head up to the surface to do something together, watch the sky, collect something specific, or just escape the suffocating routine down here. She’d probably be back in a few hours.

That said, the sensations were still there. I still hadn’t found the cause or the reason behind these emotions. The only thing I knew was that they had been growing exponentially stronger over time.

Love, joy, sadness, anger, they hit me without warning, crashing into me all at once. I felt them in every pore of my body, as if my skin were some kind of antenna tuned to a specific frequency.

It wasn’t just a vague feeling in my chest or a stubborn thought in my mind. It was physical. Like electricity running through my nerves, making my arms prickle. Sometimes I had to close my eyes and hold my breath for a few seconds just to endure the intensity.

I couldn’t say the sensations were pleasant, especially the ones tied to sadness and anger. Those carried something heavy, dense, almost viscous. They felt sticky and nauseating, as if they clung to me from the inside, leaving residue behind.

Sadness was cold and suffocating, spreading like thick fog. Anger, on the other hand, was hot and sharp, burning under my skin like embers. Even so, up until now, the sensations had proven harmless.

So eventually, I stopped worrying about them. Or at least, I tried to. It’s not like I knew how to stop those emotions from reaching me anyway. They just came. And I simply received them. This time, though, it was different.

Alongside the usual sensations, there was something else, a dull buzz, barely audible, as if it were coming from very far away or from inside my own head. It wasn’t a clear, steady sound, but a cluster of disconnected whispers, loose words tossed into static like a badly tuned radio transmission.

It was impossible to understand a single sentence or organize those syllables into anything meaningful. It had started the day before. At first, I just found it irritating. Still, I managed to ignore it.

I even discovered that if I firmly thought that I didn’t want to hear the buzzing, it would stop, which, on its own, was useful. My sisters seemed completely unaffected as they went about their routines, talking, walking around the room.

Because of that, I started doubting my own perception. Were they hearing it too? Were they feeling the same uncomfortable tingling under their skin, like tiny electrical currents running along my arms and the back of my neck? Or was it all in my head?

Yesterday, I asked Althea if she wasn’t hearing a constant ringing in her ears or feeling her skin tingle in a strange way. She frowned slightly, clearly confused by how I phrased it. In the end, she said something like: “Isn’t that normal?” I’m not entirely sure what she meant by that.

Normal for who? Since when? If there’s one thing I can say with certainty, it’s that if my skin had been tingling and my ears ringing like this before, I would’ve noticed. It’s not exactly the kind of sensation that’s pleasant, or subtle enough to go unnoticed.

“I wonder where you got all that energy from, Althea...” Eryanis’s voice drifted through the room like an exasperated sigh, gentle, but laced with amused exhaustion.

With precise, elegant movements, she set her teacup down on its saucer. The porcelain clinked softly, briefly breaking the silence. A thin ribbon of steam still curled upward, carrying the sweet aroma of freshly steeped herbs.

She shook her head in disbelief, one eyebrow arching in mild reproach. Her long, well-kept fingers tapped idly against the edge of the table before she continued: “As far as I remember, Mother always had a rather calm and composed personality”

Althea puffed out her cheeks in an exaggerated show of mock indignation. A moment later, a mischievous smile, far too bright to be innocent, curved her lips as she floated closer to Eryanis, stopping just inches away. Her feet never touched the floor. She spun once in midair, as if presenting an irrefutable argument.

“What can I do if Mom wanted me to be this way?” she said, placing a hand over her chest in dramatic flair: “If I weren’t as fun as I am, our family would be the very definition of eternal boredom” She began counting on her fingers, tilting slightly to the side as though reviewing a list of catastrophic flaws.

“Nekra barely cares about anything. Chronas is so closed off that sometimes it feels like she’s having a conversation with time itself. Nyara’s way too shy...” Althea tilted her head, softening her tone a little: “She hardly says a word unless you start the conversation first”

Then her eyes turned to Eryanis, scanning her from head to toe with theatrical scrutiny. The energy around Althea seemed to hum faintly, as if echoing her curiosity: “You, Eryanis, are simply...”

She cut herself off mid-sentence, pressing a finger to her chin as she narrowed her eyes in thought. Across from her, Eryanis raised a brow patiently, waiting for the verdict. The silence lasted only a second.

“Well... you’re very... you” Althea concluded, flashing a satisfied smile as if that explained absolutely everything: “Which, honestly, is already saying a lot”

She shrugged lightly before adding in a breezier tone: “And Tenebrya’s still too young. She needs time to bloom... unlike me, who was born radiant”

That mischievous glint returned to her eyes, making it clear that, deep down, she knew exactly how much she provoked, and she enjoyed it immensely.

Then she floated back to my side, moving with the weightlessness of a feather on the wind. Her feet didn’t even touch the ground before she drifted close and wrapped her arms around my neck in a gesture that was affectionate and possessive all at once. Her fingers were cold, but the embrace itself carried warmth.

“The beloved sister... and the only one among us, aside from me, of course” Althea declared, lifting her chin slightly, pride woven into every syllable. Her eyes sparkled with playful fire as she leaned her face closer to mine, a satisfied smile dancing on her lips: “Who has enough joy to brighten this entire family”

Out of the corner of my eye, I watched Althea’s radiant expression. Her eyes shone with childlike excitement, and the subtle curve of her lips betrayed her satisfaction.

Then I turned my attention to Eryanis, who responded with nothing more than a small shrug and the faintest hint of a smile at the corner of her mouth. That was when, keeping my gaze fixed on her, I noticed something shift.

A faint tremor ran through her body, quick as a shiver caused by an unseen draft. Her fingers tightened briefly around the porcelain cup, producing an almost inaudible sound as her nail grazed the glazed surface.

She adjusted in her chair so subtly it might have gone unnoticed, as though trying to mask a sudden discomfort, and lifted one brow slightly. She blinked once. Her eyes flicked upward for a second. Then, as if nothing had happened at all, Eryanis simply raised the cup to her lips and took a sip of tea. Naturally, it stirred my curiosity.

What had just happened? Why had she suddenly trembled as though an invisible current of air had passed through her? It had been subtle, yet unmistakable, her shoulders tightening for a moment, her fingers hesitating, her eyes losing focus for a fraction of a second. Can Virtues feel cold?

The question echoed in my mind. Aside from Nekra, who always shows a certain discomfort when absorbing souls, as though something icy runs through her veins during the process, I have never seen any of my sisters complain about cold or heat.

I imagine it has to do with the nature of our bodies. Like mine, theirs exist in a constant, unmoving state, an absolute equilibrium where there are no fluctuations, neither cold nor warmth, as if we are forever suspended at the precise neutral point between both.

In the minutes that followed, I remained silent, attentive to every subtle sign from my sisters. Ironically, Nyara was the hardest to read. At first glance, she seemed as serene as ever, posture impeccable, breathing steady, gaze fixed on some indistinct point in the distance.

The only sign that something was off was nearly imperceptible: her fingers were moving slightly faster than usual, tracing invisible patterns in the air for a few brief seconds before returning to their usual methodical rhythm. To anyone else, it would have gone unnoticed.

To me, however, it was like a signal breaking through the silence. Tenebrya, on the other hand... was the complete opposite. If Nyara was a calm surface hiding deep currents, Tenebrya was a storm that made no effort to restrain itself.

Her emotions reached me with intensity, brushing against my perception without the slightest hesitation. Curiosity, that was the dominant feeling, pulsing vividly and insistently.

But there was something more. A direction. A focus. She seemed particularly intrigued by something on the surface. Before, I hadn’t paid it much attention. I assumed it was simply a natural fascination with the outside world. But now, observing more carefully, I realize that curiosity was different.

So if I take that into account, what Althea told me earlier: “But isn’t that normal?” finally begins to fall into place. Her question, which had sounded naïve at first, now carries weight.

Although I still don’t have absolute certainty, it’s hard to ignore the possibility that Althea said that because she’s been feeling it for a long time, perhaps for so long that the sensation has simply become part of her routine.

If that’s the case, then it’s very likely the same happened with the others. Maybe they all noticed it, to varying degrees, but simply didn’t know how to interpret it.

All things considered, it’s a reasonably solid theory, if I may say so myself. Not perfect. Far from it. But coherent enough.