IASATA (EN)

Part 1:

The sound of the television can be heard in the apartment, that music that starts that well-known talk show, but this time with a more festive variant.

The presenter comes out from behind that huge curtain doing his characteristic dance that, like his show, that is just another talk show with nothing special, manages to keep me glued to the television. It will be because they always bring relevant guests, because of the charisma of the person presenting it or their intelligent questions, or maybe it is because of all the staging and the work behind the scenes. In the end, even if I always ask these types of questions, the answer does not matter, it will not make the program stop being good and I will spend my time enjoying it.

The presenter arrives at his seat, somewhat tired due to the passage of time that has been reducing his stamina; he settles down and makes his typical greeting to the audience, kicking off the show.

−Well, today we have a luxury guest - He looks directly at the camera, who makes a close-up of his face - he is director general in the investigation area of iasata and recognized as one of the great minds of the 21st century, Mr. Philip West -Then canned applause sounds- I have to say that it is a pleasure for us to have you here

−The pleasure is mine -a well-dressed man, somewhat older, with an affable look and sleepy tone- not every day you have the opportunity to be in a program of this caliber

−Damn, if you say things like that you will make me blush

−And who said no wants to achieve that.

−It seems that today he has not only come for the time on camera, but also wants to take the presenter

−Hahahaha

−Well, going back to what concerns us; I have a doubt that does not leave me alone, despite the importance of your work, why are you so little known?

−I think it is because the investigation area is not precisely one of the visible faces of the institution; If we add that most people have a superficial and sometimes wrong knowledge of iasata, it is no surprise that my existence is unknown.

−You know, to tell the truth, when my producer came and told me that you were going to come I was something lost, but after he explained who you are, I couldn’t wait for this day to come; but continuing with this, you just said something that kept me thinking, people have a superficial or erroneous knowledge about iasata, and this leads us to our next question: What is iasata?

−It is a complicated question, not because of its complexity, but because of its length, and as I understand time on television is a tyrant, so I am going to have to give the summarized version, let’s see, said roughly, iasata is in charge to deal with everything that has to do with those, misnamed, avatars

−Okay, correct me if I’m wrong, but basically it would be like a kind of government, which is in charge of security, health, education, among other things of the avatars

−Yes, You are quite close to what the summarized version would be.

−And with this, another question arises. What are, according to you, misnamed avatars?

−Let’s see, according to me and the entire scientific community, we prefer to name them as people with singularities, but we are not going to discuss this, the avatars are ordinary people, like the two of us, who due to a series of genetic mutations have obtained, what we at iasata, we call singularities that, translated more simply, would be something like superpowers.

−It is interesting to think that, if you told me this a couple of years ago, I would have thought you were talking about one of the comics my son reads , but what seemed impossible has become something everyday, but this was not always the case, was it?

−To me too, if you told me this 20 years ago, I would have thought you were kidding me, but after what happened at the “tragic Christmas”, I believe anything; Obviously now it is something normal, but to get to this we had to go through a rather long and complex adaptation process

−And with this we come to the main dish of today’s program, the well-known “Tragic Christmas”, which today we see a world holiday that runs from December 24 to January 7, but that is actually an event that changed the world as we knew it and brought us to where we are, although I think you are better able to talk about this, so I passed you the ball and asked what exactly happened on the “tragic Christmas”?

−I do not think I am the best to talk about this, it is more in the investigation area we have many more qualified historians, but the one who is here is me, so I have to assume responsibility, if you think about it, it is an event that is It can explain from many points of view, political, economic, social, scientific, among others; But if I have to make a kind of summary that serves as an introduction, it would be that on December 24, 2000, a certain sector of the world population underwent a kind of change in their genetics that awakened a series of abilities or powers, which today we call singularities…

This year’s special ended up falling into the same trope as always, the “Tragic Christmas”.

It is annoying that every year they repeat the same thing and more if it is something that is supposed to be common knowledge, that is, it is something that almost everyone lived or learned in school. On December 24, 2000, a sector of the world’s population began to awaken abilities that surpass human capacities, the famous singularities, something like superpowers; These superhumans are what we know today as avatars. Obviously this caused quite a stir, I mean, suddenly the guy next to you at the supermarket becomes the closest you’ve ever seen to a superhuman, like the ones you see in the comics, but they were unable to control these singularities; in short, they were the equivalent of a monkey with a revolver, causing many civilians to be injured and even killed.

This led to the appearance of several groups that began to take action on the matter to try to control it.On the one hand, we had the governments, which at first were waiting expectantly for their intervention to be essential, but that passivity did not would last a long time, a large part of the population would rise in protest, which would lead to the mobilization of the armed forces with the aim of “appeasing” the situation, some what they did was neutralize in a “peaceful” way these superhumans, due to that they were still considered civilians and the damage they caused was not done consciously; but others took more radical measures and gave permission to implement violence without qualms, under the allegation of the common good. The former had several people without singularities wounded and killed, while the latter dedicated themselves to massacring these superhumans; but in the end they both had similar results, a huge death toll.

On the other hand, there was the reaction of the population, who at first remained skeptical, it was impossible for them to believe that things like this would happen outside of what was a fictional story, but with the passage of time and as the events increased , it became difficult to maintain disbelief, however minimal it was, it was impossible not to come into contact with an avatar or with the damage they were capable of causing. The reactions were diverse, but not for that reason unproblematic, you had some who began to empty the shopping centers and lock themselves in their homes, others crowded into the main government headquarters to request the government’s intervention in the matter, which caused the mobilization of the armed forces, previously mentioned, but not only to keep the avatars under control but also to repress the manifestations that with the passing of the days were becoming more and more violent and numerous; And finally, you had those who decided to take action on their own hands and take charge of the supposed “common good” themselves, under the banner of “citizen justice.”

This degenerated into a great division in the population, since there were those who understood that the avatars were not intended to cause damage but were innocent civilians, who found themselves with an unexpected situation and completely overcome, and with those ideas in mind, they supported the search for peaceful solutions, in which there would be the fewest possible injuries; although those good intentions did not end in good ideas and many civilians without singularity died trying to carry out those ideals. On the other hand, you had those who believed that avatars were perfectly aware of their actions and had evil intentions, these people supported and carried out more radical measures, such as indiscriminate killing of avatars.

There were also some groups that saw avatars as gods, but much information was never obtained about them, so their activities are, even today, unknown to us.

In the end, everything resulted in total chaos that brought with it hundreds of thousands of deaths and the greatest crisis in human history. Destroyed economies, overthrown governments and bloodshed, this is what happened in the two-week period, and this is what is commemorated in the period from December 24 to January 7.

The chaos was increasing with the passage of time, until in this context disastrous appeared ...

−The iasata,which had the perfect plan to end the crisis, and carry out, in return for it, met its demands; the states accepted and in a period of only three months the chaos was appeased and the problems generated by it were solved or were in the process of being solved.

−And this leads us to another question, we already know what the problem was and who solved it, what remains for us to know is how it was solved.

−The answer to that question is much simpler than you might imagine, what iasata did was…

Fight fire with fire, if the problem is Avatars, then make them the solution. The first step was to get the avatars to carry out the plan, for this they took advantage of the fact that several avatars were arrested in isolated areas, IASATA took them to their facilities and there they were taught to handle their singularities; Once they had a considerable number of troops, they created what we now know as “the new guard”, which consisted of small groups made up of 5 avatars that worked together with the security forces of each nation, to improve their reaction power and incident prevention. Its next goal was to restore social order; The strategy to do so was to leave the national forces in charge of any incident caused by civilians without singularities and the new guard would intervene if the incident was caused by civilians with singularities, anyone who did not belong to the new guard was strictly prohibited from intervening; not only could they able to restore order, but they also got civilians without singularities to trust the avatars.

With these measures in just three months they managed to restore order; but this was not the only thing. The IASATA seized several properties belonging to the state, such as schools, hospitals, police stations, etc.; These were adapted to serve both civilians with and without singularities and making them part of the infrastructure IASATA, they were also given permission to build their headquarters in points that itself IASATA considered strategic.

After seven months from the beginning of the incidents, it could already be considered that everything was returning to normality, IASATA had obtained more power than any institution, whether state or private, in the world; they had the ability to dominate the world, if they wanted to, but they quickly went out to dismantle these rumors, making it clear that from the beginning their only interest was to ensure the well-being of civilians without singularities and with singularities; For this, they saw it necessary for governments to stay totally out of any matter that involved civilians with singularities, in addition to being given total authority over these matters; These requests were not long in being fulfilled; and with this, IASATA became a new state system in charge of dealing with avatars worldwide.

It was to be expected that various media outlets spoke out against it and had some support, but over time they began to stop doing so, as the good results obtained by IASATA made them lose their credibility with the public.

And this is how we are today, citizens with singularities and without singularities coexist in their day to day; When these dates arrive, all the channels are dedicated to recounting what happened 20 years ago, despite the fact that it is supposed to be something of common knowledge, which makes everything that happens on TV these days incredibly boring and repetitive.

−Fudto fudto

And it seems that I am not the only one who is bored; I can hear how he hits the balcony door of the terrace, at this rate it is going to knock it down. I open him and enter the apartment at a lazy pace, dragging his belly across the floor, a furry ball of fat that looks like a cat.

−Hey Giza, how are you doing?

−Hungry fudto -his characteristic voice of an overweight old green man

−What is education, respect and manners you do not have it very incorporated in your mind, do you?

−Shat ap, hungry!

−Okay okay, there is no need to get so upset - I go to the cupboard and put some cat food in a bowl- I’ll give you your filthy food

He sits on the couch as if he were a person with his hind legs being almost covered down its fat stomach and dropping its front paws on its belly. I put his food beside him and he starts gorging himself on it.

It is quite rare that he comes with such a violent attitude to ask for food, usually he approaches like the classic friend who suddenly comes to your house with a couple of beers to watch some sport or a porn, I think he would be more of the porn ones ; It is as if it has been a long time since the last time he ate something, but it is difficult to draw these kinds of conclusions when we talk about Giza, that his life revolves around eating, sleeping and looking at cats on animal planet; if he go more than thirty minutes without eating anything, it gives he an existential crisis. But, despite everything, he is not the type of cat that struggles or is violent, and if we add to that that his owner has been quite silent lately, not to say that in recent days her scandals have disappeared, it is a coincidence of events that at least raises doubts; in the end the best solution is to ask directly the source of the problem.

−Hey Giza, how’s Lisa been lately?

−who?

I really don’t know what I expected from a cat that never learned to use a litter box well; Although sometimes he comes to surprise you, he is still a stupid cat. But hey, going back to the main topic, it seems that I won’t be able to get anything out of him; although it may also be that I am worrying too much, most likely she has gone home to spend these dates with her family and forgot to leave food for Giza.

−Well, at least it will be a quiet party.

−JOJOJOJOJOOJOJOJO -he holds his stomach, while he looks at me and breaks his rib with laughter.

Is the fucking cat making fun of me? This fucking fat ball, realizes that he is laughing at whoever is feeding his, at the owner of the sofa on which his fat butt is resting, while he watches my television and eats the food I gave his.

−How about I take you out to the streets and make a comedy show to earn your food for yourself, you chubby jocular?

−HO! - A mixture of surprise and concern about the answer is seen in his face

But in the end, the one who laughs last laughs best, obese cat.

Part 2:

December 25, Christmas, a date that unites families and friends under a motto of peace and love; The peace night, the night of love, or better known as Christmas Eve, It left full refrigerators and happy people; This cliché is repeated in most homes, but, like everything in life, there are exceptions and I am one of them, the only union I had at this time was with an obese cat, both sitting on the sofa eating junk food, and my non-existent Christmas Eve left my refrigerator empty, although this is normal; I have to admit that this is quite regrettable.

I think I’m at the point of going shopping or being eaten by a starving cat.

−Hey Giza, I’m going to buy, I’ll be back in a bit.

Completely ignored by a sleeping fat ball, who snores like an African hippopotamus, while holding his nonexistent “testicles” and responding to me with a scratch of the ass; I am surprised that there are people who wonder why I say I want to throw him off the balcony.

One would think that at this time the streets would be empty and people locked up in their homes enjoying family time; Unfortunately the reality is somewhat different, people spend their time with their family, but not in their homes, but in the street. I expected someone to be there because of the noises coming from the apartment, but I didn’t expect it to be a human-scale replica of an anthill.

It is annoying to walk through this human obstacle course, who takes a look at the collar around my neck and removes it before I look at them, others cross to the opposite path, while whispering about me; for these things I do not like to go out. I would like to go back, but if I did it would end up being the cat’s lunch. The only solution I can think of is to use the secret technique, developed by the masters of the art of isolation, to ignore the world around you, until you reach the store.

The interior of the seven eleven is almost empty, except for about four people, who don’t look like they have someone to spend the holidays with, lonely like me, and the two employees. Given the size of the store and the seven people inside, it can be considered crowded, which makes it almost impossible for me to walk through the gondolas without passing anyone, which makes shopping difficult. But, with some care, I can grab everything I need and walk to the nearest box; it’s being cared for by a young guy, who doesn’t seem to be having his best day, which is understandable considering he’s working on Christmas. I put my purchases in front of him and he looks at them, then looks at me, then looks at them again, to look at me more closely.

−This box is not available for S category care

−Sorry?

He observes me one last moment and he notices my disbelief, he points to a sign that indicates the maximum category that this box can serve

“Category A or lower, or without singularity”

* Sigh * Christmas, celebration where humanity unites in peace, love and solidarity; What a bad joke, I have not received love or solidarity, people treat me like a criminal and this boy refuses to attend me, all because I wear this black collar with a full neck with red lights that look like those of the Christmas tree, whose only function is shouting to the world that I am a category S.

−AH haha, what an idiot, I did not see the poster, sorry for the inconvenience.

−Nothing happens, they will attend you in the other box.

−Thank you.

I try to hide my annoyance while I change cash; This is attended by a girl, with a blue wristband that indicates her category B; In front of me I have a hooded man, a little taller than me, in sports pants and a sweatshirt, who takes out of his bag an absurd amount of bottles of mineral water, which surprises the cashier and me.

−To… something else?

He turns around and allows me to see his profile, he seems foreign or at least of foreign descent, with a white complexion with some red blushes due to the cold, dark hair, blue eyes and a cold, expressionless look.

−Nothing else - his tone of voice is deep and calm.

−It would be eight hundred and ninety-nine.

He takes out a fairly simple wallet and hands the cashier a debit card, as he begins to put away his purchase; Once the payment is finished, he puts his wallet away and leaves.

−Good morning

−Eh ah, good morning

Even if I am interested in knowing what he will do with all that water, it is none of my business, so I will refrain from paying the cashier and going home.

Part 3:

December 31st, end of the year, most families still reunited after a week; I get up at seven in the morning and, surprising as it may seem, my obese partner is accompanying me for breakfast.

−BRECFAST BRECFAST BRECFAST! -Sitting on the sofa, he hits his belly like it was a drum

−Shut up for a second, for God’s sake, and stop giving me orders, I’m not your fucking servant

Above that I let him stay in my house, he treats me as if I were his servant, just wait for my patience to run out and put you on a diet.

−You could at least turn on the TV, if it’s not too much of a hassle.

−Don’t worry -He hit the remote with one of his legs and it somehow manages to turn it on.

−* LAST MINUTE NEWS * Another disappearance was reported yesterday, the complaint was filed at the 26th district police station, it is about a woman of about 25 years, and with her there are already thirteen women missing in the last 3 months ; for more information we connect with our team outside the police station; Moira, can you hear us?

−There are already thirteen disappeared, every day the world is more screwed up, don’t you think? - I put the bowl full of milk and trout-flavored croquettes on Giza’s belly.

−HO HOUUUU YEAH! - incredibly euphoric.

−What the hell is wrong with you, you understand that this is not a good thing, right?

−NANI! - completely surprised.

Sometimes I seriously wonder if he really understands what we say.

−The complaint was made around three in the afternoon by the victim’s family, who had contacted her for the last time on the 20th of this month; Her identity is still unknown to us and the police refuse to speak…

−Shit, it’s already 8:30, I’m going to be late!

I get off the couch so fast that I shake Giza and spill his breakfast as I rush to get ready to go out.

−I’m leaving, take care of the house and do not steal the food in the cupboard

−NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! -He is on his knees in front of his spilled breakfast, while crying for his loss.

I leave the apartment, I have fifteen streets to the nearest subway station and I have to take the 8:45 which goes to the center of the city, which I manage to get on just in time; The few people who occupy the car quickly stand out, the majority are young couples or some office worker. I’m certainly glad about this, I can travel seated and keep my distance from the rest of the passengers. I get off at the ninth stop, after about 15 minutes of travel, and go to the headquarters of section 3 of district 7, to have the mandatory monthly review.

Once inside headquarters, I go up to the third floor and am supposed to go to my supervisor’s office, but I’m usually interrupted before I can.

−Ohayōgozaimasu!

−Aaaaaaaaaa… good morning?

−Uuuuuuuuuummmmmmmmmmmm -She puff her cheeks like a small hamster stuffed with food- that greeting was very bland, you have to do it with more emotion and joy or at this step you will not get friends, come on, let’s do it again and this time give me a big smile, okay ? -she shows me the most dazzling smile I’ve ever seen - Ohayōgozaimasu!

−¿¡Ohayōgozaimassssssssssssss!?

−That sounded forced, but hey what matters is the intention - she takes a little jump to give me a pat on the head.

I really don’t know what you expected, when you are basically forcing me to do it; It is also very shameful to be treated like this by a woman who looks like a little girl just entered adolescence, with that null development in terms of curves and feminine charms that you have, it feels as if a little girl is comforting me, when in reality you have almost twenty.

−You’re thinking of something rude, right?

−Of course not

−Sure?

−I was never more sure of something in my life

−Okay, if so, that’s fine

−That was easier than I expected

−It can be said that I have my reasons -Something blushed, she shows a less striking smile than the previous one, but more affectionate- for Right, are you coming for your monthly review?

−Yes, have you already made yours?

−Yes, it just ended

−How was it this time?

−Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm normal, they did not upgrade me, they did not lower me either -She thinks for a moment - although if I look at it from another perspective, being category A2 is already quite a good thing, so you could say it was a good day -She inflates her chest with pride.

−It’s good to see that in addition to your physique, there is something else that resists the passage of time.

−You’re really looking for me to beat you up, right? - She emanates an aura of hostility

−The truth is that, at times like these, I like to promote pacifism, it would also be a shame for a girl as pretty as you to stain her fists with blood.

−Eh, you really think I’m pretty, hehehe-she blushes, while playing with her hair

I’m not going to lie, I’m worried about her future since she’s so predictable and easy to manipulate, I mean you never know when a pedophile might appear and confuse her with a little girl, you have to be prepared for when that time comes and know how to escape from that situation. You have to improve your resistance to flattery and stop being an open book; Although a part of me doesn’t want her to.

−Well, I’d better hurry up or else I’m going to have to put up with Jeanne’s complaints

−Hey ... wait!

−Yes?

−Ha ... There is a bakery that opened recently near here and I was wondering if ... if you would like to go with me one day -she looks at the ground, while playing with her hair- obviously, you are not obliged, if you do not want to come, nothing happens.

−Ai - I lightly pat her head

−YES ?! -She startles as soon as I touch her.

−Would it be okay if we met on Saturday at 10 o’clock at the entrance of the headquarters?

−Yes, so on Saturday at 10 am at the entrance of the venue, don’t forget! -She Jumps a couple of times and runs away

I turn around and head to Jeanne’s office.

Once in front of the office, I tap the door twice before entering, a fairly spacious office with white walls, with a sofa, a series of cabinets full of papers and a desk, behind this you can see a woman of 31 years old, snow white complexion, blond hair, blue eyes and quite pretty. Seeing me come in, she leans back in her seat, giving a long yawn.

−Until you deigned to arrive, Lean, hadn’t I taught you not to keep a girl waiting?

−As I recall, you told me that I shouldn’t make her wait for an appointment, and based on my criteria this wouldn’t be

−Right now, you could say that you’re on a doctor’s appointment

−I was defeated without a chance to win, although it’s not so dishonorable if I lose to a nobel prize winner

−* sigh * let’s stop wasting time on this stupidity and talk about something more interesting -invite me to sit down- how have you been lately?

−Well, I mean I have a quiet life that, seeing what I’ve seen, is the best I can point to

−is that all?

−Well, yes, that is, there is not much else

−* Sigh * If there is more, but you settle for “a quiet life”, instead of looking for something better; You could at least try, maybe something can happen that you don’t expect

−Like what? May they pursue me with torches; people are afraid of me and I can’t do much to change that, other avatars in my category could try, but I don’t have that opportunity

−* Sigh * your pessimism makes my day bitter

−I prefer to believe that I am someone optimistic

−You know, the partner of a friend used to be an office worker without any hobby, besides his job, after starting to go out with my friend he started going to the gym and discovered that he is passionate about reading, you know what they say, if you want to change a man just introduce him a woman -She is quiet for a moment- if I moved in with you I could change your sad existence

−You know, I should start dating more, since Giza moved in with me I don’t have a moment of calm, so leaving would not be bad at all, it is more I could start to talk to some people, recently I spoke to a cashier, he was a very friendly boy

I refuse to let Jeanne move into my apartment, I already had the experience and I would not like to repeat it; She’s incredibly loud, she refuses to wear clothes when she’s at home, she’s incapable of doing any household chores and when she gets drunk, or by god I don’t want to have to deal with her drunk, I’ll just say she gets extremely affectionate.

−Just saying “no” was enough, there was no need to do that monologue -she seems a bit annoying- the only thing you got with that, is exhausting our time to speak -she receives a call to the office phone and answers, to short time cut- They are waiting for you in the test area, you should go there

−aren’t you coming?

−I have some paperwork to finish -she points to a pile of small folders full of paperwork- when I finish it, I’ll stop by to see how things are going

−Okay, then I’ll do as usual and find Eric, to start -I head to the exit

−Yes , and do me a favor, when you see him tell him I tell him to fill in the cards accordingly, or if not, he will be the one to stay after his turn correcting them one by one -she emits a terrifying aura, worthy of a demon

−Be sure that I’m going to tell him about it.

I leave the room, while Jeanne dismisses me and begins with the paperwork. I go up to the fourth floor and go through a small hallway until I reach a double door that leads to the testing area. As soon as I go through them, I am greeted by a guy somewhat shorter than me, disheveled brown hair, green eyes and a smile that is rare enough to seem unnatural, all of this falls apart with his perfect posture, more typical of an army private, than someone like him.

−Hey Lean, Ohayōgozaimasu! -He makes the Vulcan salute with his hand

−Is it fashionable to greet like that?

−I don’t know, I saw Ai greet everyone like this and it seemed funny, so I copied it

−Ok, I think I understand -I regret asking- putting that aside, did you do your tests?

−Yes, by protocol, employees are the first to do them

−And how did it go?

−It was catastrophic - he looks totally heartbroken

−Was it that bad for you? -I’m starting to worry

−When you see it, you will understand

He raises his skillful hand and shows me a green wristband that is assigned to category C avatars; And if I’m not mistaken, the last time I saw it, it was category B.

−Did they downgrade you?

−Exactly, my power has diminished - he scratches his head frantically - this doesn’t make sense, I’ve been training all year to improve my stats, I don’t understand how I could have weakened myself!

−If I didn’t know about your addiction to video games, I would think you are an idiot for regretting it -it’s a tiring thing to talk about this- I mean, you are the only person who would see terrible, something that anyone would celebrate

−Anyone who is happy to become weaker, it is just an idiot, who does not prepare before facing a boss

Well, apparently I am an idiot, but an idiot who differentiates reality from fiction.

−We’d better continue with the tests

−. True, the tests! I had forgotten about them -he begins to walk.

I follow him and we come to a small room, where he hands me a change of clothes and leaves so I can change; once dressed, he takes a sample of my blood and leads me to a treadmill.

−It is quite simple, when the machine turns on, you start walking and we will gradually increase the speed; Meanwhile status check your agility, dexterity, endurance, speed and evasion

−You repeat the last part in English

−True!, not everyone knows the most basic technical language -He taps his forehead- we will see you respond to certain efforts

−See how can you do it if you want, by the way, Jeanne told me to stop doing stupid things with the chips, last warning -I pointed at him and try to sound threatening

−Hugh -He shudders and swallows- her concern is unnecessary, after all, I have everything under control -he is sweating too much- so let’s start with the test -He starts erasing the cards and rewrite them

I run about 20 minutes on the tape until the test ends; then he guides me to the next station. He invited me to sit in front of a transparent tube with a ping pong ball inside.

−Okay, do you see the hose in front of you?

−yes

−you only have to blow through it, we are going to check the status of your respiratory system

−there is no need for you to explain all the tests to me, I mean, it is not the first time I do them

−I know, I only do it for policies of transparency

I started the test and finished it in a few minutes, then we continued with a couple more tests, until I was taken to a square room, completely white and with a camera in each corner; there are different types of cuts of meat and fruits scattered around the room. A group of people in lab coats invite me to sit on a chair in the center of the room, while they leave it, leaving me alone.

−Lean, are you ready to start?

−Jeanne?

−Jeanne, the tests are under the responsibility of the medical team, not the science team -He sounds like a child who has just been punished - you can’t come and do whatever you want

−Shut up and correct the reports

−But they are done right!

−Shit they’ll be fine!

−But they are the same as the Dark Souls tokens!

−I don’t care, just shut up and fix them according to the model I gave you!

−Excuse me for interrupting, but I wanted to remind you that I am here, waiting to start the test

−Ah Lean, sorry about that, uhm - She thinks for a few seconds - you are in a singularity test, it is quite simple, you just have to turn your singularity on and off, Did you understand?

−Yes

−So, when you’re ready, we start

I give her an “all right” sign, while taking long breaths in and out to relax.

−Then, on the count of three; one, two, three

−Toxicity - I whisper

Everything around me turns black; a huge black cloud of spores surrounds me, the air feels heavy; I can feel the gazes through the cloud, their fear and contempt evident. In the end I was right, there is no point trying to interact with people, when they only see me as a monster and all because of this damn singularity.

−Now you can stop

Each of the spores that make up the black cloud that surrounds me, begins to be absorbed by each of the pores of my body, until the world recovers its original color, meats and vegetables are totally rotten and give off a foul smell, it is as if they have been months out in the open and in the sun. The team in charge of my tests enters the room and takes the meats and fruits.

−You’re good? -Jeanne was the only one to approach me

−Yes, I’m just a little tired

−Okay, we’re almost done -she takes off her latex gloves- could you open your mouth

−Yes -I open my mouth as much as I can

Put her hand inside my mouth and begins to touch my tongue, cheeks and teeth; she goes so deep that I even want to vomit, then withdraw her intact hand.

−Luckily, your singularity is still limited to the outside -she looks at her hand

−How good, I’m so lucky -complete sarcasm

−We’re done now, go change and wait for me in my office until the results are in, I still want to talk some things with you

−Yes

I wait at the office for about 15 minutes until Jeanne arrived with the results; nothing changed, I stayed in the S8 category, the third highest and worst category.

I talk to Jeanne even before I lose the last subway home; once at the station I start to feel tired, I want to get home and throw myself on the bed. Upon arrival, I see two men in suits standing in front of my door; one of them is clearly older than the other, will be in his forties and the other in his twenties or thirties.

−Excuse me, I would like to enter my house, so if you could move

They both turn when they hear me.

−Are you the owner of this apartment? –The elder’s voice is deep and somewhat raspy.

−Ehm, yes.

−Let me introduce myself, Detective Paolo Di Francesco -he points to the young man- my partner Tomas Kaiser -they show their police identifications- we were waiting for you

−Why? Maybe something happened -I start to sweat

−You don’t know why we came to look for you, doesn’t you watch television

−The truth is, I wasn’t in my apartment all day, and I didn’t have a chance to see it

−Let me inform you that your neighbor, Lisa Williams, has been missing for a couple of days -he lights a cigarette- we asked all the neighbors and they said that the only one they had a relationship with was you, so we would like you to accompany us to the police station

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Hello, I am NekkoMiu-Sensei, the author of IASATA; I wanted to thank you for giving my work a chance, despite being a new author and without much experience in writing novels, so I am open to receiving criticism that will help me improve, as long as it is respectful.

I hope you enjoy reading this novel, as much as I enjoy writing it. If you wonder why the ending is so open, that is because this is an episodic novel or as it is known in Japan, a light novel, consisting of several chapters, which will be published every day 15 and 30 of each month, both in Spanish and English.

I would be very grateful, if I could recommend my work to other people, if it is that you like it; Because like many writers here, we do not work for publishers that have a large advertising apparatus; That’s why we depend on your recommendations, so if you can, recommend not only my work, but also that of other artists who strive to entertain you.

With nothing more to say, I hope you enjoy IASATA and have a good year 2021.

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