My Ex-Girlfriend is the Strongest Guild Master and I'm the Weakest!

Chapter 131: Gears in Motion (Part 2)

Marco Souza got out of bed first and fetched himself a drink. His defined, exposed muscles were bathed in bluish light as he got close to the window. Outside, the city of Fleurella slept, but for him, his day was barely beginning.

"What is it, my lord? Can't we have a second round?" a woman asked behind him.

He cringed his teeth. He hated being called 'Lord' after leaving Londorus behind, and he especially loathed the situation he had just gotten into. Although she's not a bad partner to pass the time or for me to indulge in these kinds of... 'pleasures,' everything goes south when she opens her trap.

Marco turned around to see Karen Svensson sitting at the edge of the bed, wearing delicate see-through lingerie. Her eyes still gleaming with passion.

"Sorry, my dear..." he began, "but she should be here any moment now."

Karen exhaled loudly. "Seriously? Is it time--" A knock on the door interrupted her. She checked the hour in her User Interface and snickered. "Wow. Like clockwork."

If that's the least offensive thing Karen can comment about her, that means these stress-relief sessions are working.

Marco cleared his throat before speaking. "That's right. She is. Didn't you say she's quite committed?"

Karen stopped dressing herself with the help of her Inventory window to snark. "Yeah, I said that. Committed as a puppy, you know. Always fetching, always wagging her tail. I bet she could even learn to roll over and play dead if I told her it'd help her channel mana faster. Seriously, where did you get her?"

"Karen..."

Karen raised her palms aloft. "I know, I know. I'll be on my way already." She put on her clothes first with a push of a virtual button, kissed Marco on the lips, and opened the door to find a pink-haired girl wearing a mage robe and leather boots outside.

"Ms. Svensson," the girl said quietly. "Is Marco...?"

"It's all yours," Karen said dismissively as she stepped aside, but whispered in the girl's ear first, "Figuratively speaking, of course. Got it?"

And with that, Karen crossed the hallway with her hands inside her jacket's pockets.

"Hurry up, Barbara. Close the door," Marco demanded.

Barbara obeyed and made a curtsy. "Good night, Marco."

"Level 61, huh? Not bad... Before starting, Karen told me she taught you the 'Silent as a Grave' spell. Can you do the honors tonight, please? Build a bubble big enough to cover this entire apartment." He paused to use his 'Eye of the Sage' on the girl to inspect her mana rank. "With your current power, you should be able to do it."

"Of course, Marco. Give me a minute, please."

Marco used that little break, the only one he would have for the rest of the night, to visit his fridge. There were a lot of smoothies, juice blends, and sushi rolls that Karen had left from previous nights, but nothing of his selection, save for a plate of blue cheese slices. When Karen found them, she said, "I think something's rotting here," and was about to throw it away before getting scolded.

He took the plate and chomped on a slice while his gaze focused on the sink in front of him. Would the one that introduced me to this midnight snack be a better accomplice than Karen? He closed his eyes and shook his head slightly. Too bad I'll never find out, huh?

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"Silent as a Grave successfully cast, Marco," Barbara informed from the center of the room. "Is it okay to start now?"

"Grab a cushion," he said, gesturing where to place it. When the two sat on the floor and their gaze were at the same level, he offered her a slice of cheese.

"Thanks, but no. I already had ramen with Faiza."

"How's Faiza as a teacher? Better than Karen?"

"To be honest, although strict, I prefer Karen. Faiza is too informal."

I didn't expect that.

"I see..." he murmured, trying to prolong that moment for as long as possible. But she sucks even for small talk.

Marco stared at Barbara's eyes, knowing what was hiding behind them. Something inhumane and cold. Something he could barely comprehend. Just a few days ago, I thought she was not that different from the fridge, a few feet away. But now? She seems like the depths of the ocean...

He glanced down at his hands. Were they shaking?

No way. If there's someone who can endure this, it's me. Freaking me.

"Ready?" he said in a raspy voice.

"I could wait until you finish your dinner." She looked at the plate, but Marco shook his head.

"I'm already full. Let's do this."

"What would you like to check tonight?"

"Let's continue with security footage, but this time from inside the Cryo Chambers."

She said nothing more and closed her eyes, remaining with her legs crossed and a relaxed expression on his face, unlike Marco's, that looked in pain.

Come on, you fool. This is nothing.

"Dark Conjure..." He began channeling as he stretched out his hand to hold Barbara's. "Slumbermare."

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Marco: [ There was nothing suspicious in the Alvearium's security footage, nor from the ones of the Santa María. So that means that whoever loaded the Singular virus into the ship must have done it from inside a Cryo-pod... At least that's my current theory for now. ]

Isabella / Barbara: [ Are you going to review the footage of every single passenger? ]

Marco: [ Answer this first... Do passengers' faces change as they sleep? ]

Isa / Barb: [ During regular REM sleep, rapid and random eye movements can occur. These eye movements can indeed influence facial expressions. But inside the Cryo Chamber, all passengers go through a term known as Perpetual Rem State, so for the majority of this voyage, their faces never change, save for some occasions. During my observation, I've noticed that every passenger has winced at least 15 to 50 times since their connection with the Novus started. And with the passage of time, the number of passengers that go through this phenomenon has reduced drastically to 15% of the overall population. ]

Marco: [ So... We can infer that this 'wincing' occurs when a User dies inside the Novus. That'll explain why it has gone down with time, since not all of the Novus' community kept leveling up, and subsequently, expose themselves to dangerous situations... ]

I usually am not this wordy... But here, inside Isabella's digital mind, it wouldn't matter if I'm this verbose for information travels so fast and efficiently that I could recite the entirety of Shakespeare's Hamlet in less than a couple of minutes... I bet Isabella could do it in a matter of seconds.

Isa / Barb: [ Knowing this, what are you looking for? ]

Marco: [ The moment the Singular entered the Cryo-Chambers and spread itself. I want to see if someone reacts erratically during that short time frame. ]

Isa / Barb: [ I thought the same, so I have already checked. Since the Singular provoked a power shortage, the cameras stopped working for ten seconds. By the time the cameras turned on again, the large majority of the passengers went through some sort of reaction. ]

Marco: [ I need to see it regardless. Commence with our lists of suspects, from A to D. Then the rest in numerical order. ]

Isa / Barb: [ Understood. Commencing reproduction... ]

The mind of the real Barbara is no more, and only Isabella remains... That means that through my Slumbermare, I've managed to access a sort of 'Super Computer' that shouldn't exist here inside The Novus... A computer that has stored all the Security Footage and data that I could wish for before getting isolated off its mainframe.

As for my list of suspects, it goes like this:

List A: Every User with mental issues. Although Alverearium Enterprise's selection of candidates was quite strict, some wackos managed to enter through... influences.

List B: The millionaires, the celebrities, those academics that used all of their brain power to convince the board of directors to have a guaranteed spot aboard. I wonder what they are doing right now since only a handful of them have made a name in the Novus.

List C: People directly involved with Alvearium Enterprise. If a janitor from Kintech managed to board the Santa María, they're on my list. Astrid Bradford, and my old pal Alan Warden are here.

List D: Users related to Alvearium Enterprise's employees. Parents, spouses, sons, daughters, and cousins... Amelia Laflamme is on this list among many others I personally know. I didn't know her father and uncle worked at Caelum. Interesting...

And the last one, List E, is composed of the people responsible for creating the Cryo Chambers. 'Isabella's Naughty List'... Everything points to one of them working with the Singular and leaving a backdoor behind that could be abused. They may not be inside the ship, but they may be a key to uncovering this mystery...

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They took a break two Novus' hours later. Marco then immediately ran all the way to the restroom and slammed the door shut. The next thing Barbara could hear were sickly and guttural noises.

"Are you okay, Marco?" she asked from the other side of the door while Marco wiped filth off his mouth with the reverse of his hand.

Even with an enhanced, virtual body... the brain still dictates how to feel...

"I'll be with you in a minute!"

"Marco... We could continue tomorrow."

"No! We still have 2 hours left! 4 hours of work. That was our deal!"

"Understood."

I don't need the sympathy of a machine!

With renewed fervor, Marco washed his face at the sink where he could watch his reflection in a mirror. Only I can do this. Only I can endure this. This is nothing.

"This is nothing..." he murmured to himself.