While the winds hummed and whistled, visions of an old rundown warehouse came flooding back in the boy's thoughts, filled with fire and screams. Hazy, short and fragmented.
In the darkness, sitting inside a rattling cage, and a voice that boomed with anger from the other side of the door.
"That was the experimental!"
There was a vision of a syringe with blue and yellow fluid. Then one with a twisted hand buried in rubble as it reached for the sky.
The next vision followed, under the blue sky, standing at the podium. Feedback crackled from the speakers blaring, followed by a booming voice, "The first of his kind! Professor Tetsuya's masterpiece!"
Followed by the sound of soft giggles, and the voice that asked, "Well, we can't have that. How about I name you instead? What if your name was…"
Two-Zero-One's mismatched eyes shot open. The azure glow in his right eye had disappeared, and returned to being a dark copper. The skies above were nearly pitch black, partially obscured by the branches.
"Oh good, y'er still alive. Gave me a scare there." A familiar feminine voice sighed with relief.
He found himself lying on a log, still within the woodland, still surrounded by snow.
In front of him was a small crackling fire with barely any wood to sustain it, let alone keep him warm.
A snowy-haired woman stood nearby, wearing sunglasses, and a green, four-leaf clover necklace dangling over her black suit.
Heavy and sore, Two-Zero-One groaned. It was a challenge for him to even sit upright, and the cold it even harder.
"I was only s'posed to watch ya from afar, but since ya didn't come back, I had ta look fer ya. Lucky ya weren't wearin' that white cloak, otherwise I'd've never found ya." Her tone was a complicated mix of rattled and relieved, any semblance of formality she had in the radio had completely vanished.
Shivering, he noticed the black coat wrapped around his body.
"I think black suits ya better."
He took off his headset and asked, "What… happened?" His voice was raspy and barely audible.
"That's what ya get for not preparing properly." She sighed, "What was it you said? Get to the cliff, shoot, get back down, right?"
"... right." He answered meekly.
She let out a deep sigh, "Them higher-ups prob'ly knew about the blizzard, and yet they forced ya' out here anyway. Cold-hearted bastards, I swear, risking a boy's life like that…"
He blinked twice, staring at the crackling flame.
The white-haired woman adjusted her sunglasses, "I was tryna order you to return. But ya acted on your own accord, tried ta play hero, let the CEO get shot in the arm, get yerself beaten up by hail, disappear soon as you were done, and—"
He shuddered in fear, recognizing that the woman was his handler, and was listing down his mistakes, "I'm… I didn't—"
"… and ya saved a life…" The small flame lit up her smile, "You're a good, kind person, aren't you?"
Memories of all that transpired, of all he did, flashed in his mind. The face of the heiress, the blood-stained wall. Bile immediately built up in his mouth again — a disgusting taste that he immediately spat out, shivering in both revulsion and frost.
"Oh, gross." The white-haired woman's facade of professionalism quickly dropped as she watched him vomit.
"I killed… someone…" He muttered out with a clogged, nasally voice. His stomach churning.
"That's right… Yer first assignment was to take someone's life. You killed someone for the first time."
The white-haired woman pulled out a handkerchief from her pocket and began wiping his chin. "That ain't something a thirteen year old should ever experience. But you also kept the heiress alive, s'well as every other bloke there. Don't forget that."
"… understood." He nodded.
She tossed the vomit-stained handkerchief away and him a mug full of a dark, brown fluid, "Drink this, should warm ya right up."
His fingers quivered as he took hold of the mug. The warm wisps rising from it were clearly visible. The heat was soothing to his stiff palms.
"But… what about the CEO…" He whimpered.
She sat down beside him and added, "That tough old bloke'll be fine. I'm sure he's just glad his daughter's alive. Grats, ya succeeded in yer first mission."
Relief washed over him, and he took a sip, only to stick out his tongue as soon as he tasted it, "…This isn't chocolate?"
"Ya can't tell me you've never had coffee before. Guess it's only the finest for the Professor's masterpiece." She spoke in a carefree manner, ruffling his hair.
"Masterpiece…" His eyes narrowed as he lowered his gaze.
The woman laughed awkwardly in response, trying to shrug off the remark, "Sorry. Didn't mean to offend. It's only been a year since the implementation, hasn't it. Wounds still prob'ly fresh, ain't it?" She blurted out tactlessly.
"... Every day has been the same since then..."
The white-haired leaned back and exhaled softly, her breath visible in the icy air, "If ya want me honest opinion, I can see why the Professor has so much faith in ya. I reckon most adults would'a run at the first sight of the blizzard."
A soft laugh escaped the boy's lips, barely audible.
"Them higher-ups sent ya out there alone just ta watch ya tuck yer tail between yer legs. Ta make the Professor's success look like a fluke." She stretched out her arms forward, continuing with a louder voice, "But ya proved you were worth every damn penny they spent."
Startled, he responded, "Thank you, miss Nocturne…"
"Nocturne's just me codename. Call me Luna, Luna Aster."
"Miss Luna, I'm…"
"Felix, right? Everybody in the agency knows about ya."
"Right…" The boy, Felix, absent-mindedly took another sip from the coffee as he was lost in thought.
As he reflexively spat out the bitter drink, Luna covered her mouth and giggled to herself, "Still don't like how it tastes? Let me fix that."
She took the mug off his hands, "Stay here for a minute, the car's parked right outside from here."
Left alone in the woods, he shivered. Though his body was still stiff and sore, he inched closer to the small flame.
The crackle of fire filled the silence as he brought his hands closer to it. The warmth returned feeling into his hands, and he began stretching his fingers. Only for a cold gust to snuff out the flame, leaving only the charred wood and crackling embers.
The heated air faded instantly, turning his relaxed expression into an annoyed pout as the snow began to pour over his head.
"… saved…" He whispered in raspy voice, recalling the heiress' expression and how the CEO embraced her.
He pulled the coat tighter over his shoulders and exhaled into his hands.
"If only…" He remembered the other one reaching out to him.
Branches snapped, and the sound of snow crunched.
"Ah, the fire went out." The white-haired woman returned, handing the mug to the shivering boy, "Here."
As he took another sip, he immediately blurted out, "Sugar?" The taste was now much sweeter than before.
"Two creams and three sugars, to be exact. It's me favorite." She answered warmly as she sat down beside him."
"It's… nice… thank you." He hurriedly chugged down half the drink to warm himself up.
"In spite'a everything ye went up against, ya stood y'er ground and survived a hailstorm, an' somehow completed yer first mission. No wonder them scientists keep tryna turn more people like ya… " She mused as she gazed towards the night sky.
Flustered, he gazed into his coffee. The blue glow radiating from his left eye reflected in the dark drink. He sipped through the cup.
The wind began to howl, and snow started dropping from the branches.
"Time to go. Any longer and the cold's gonna kill the both of us."
"Back to the agency?" His eyebrows curled, there was a bitterness to his question.
"Ya ain't dead, but y'er beaten up and covered in dry burns. So let's get ya to a hospital first."
"Ah, mhm…" He nodded.
Sensing the dilemma in his voice, she then commented, "After that, how about we go to uh…" She placed her hand on her chin, "Well, y'er too young for a pub. So where do ya wanna go?"
"Me? I don't… really know anywhere…"
She nodded, "Then I'll show you places."
"Ah, okay. Thank you…"
"Truth is, I should be the one thankin' you."
"Huh?"
Luna suddenly slapped his back with a cheery smile.
"Erkh!" His voice ached.
She walked out the woodland, "Hurry up, agent."
He hurriedly finished the coffee and followed her out of the woodland. As he stepped out, he saw the open skies, waves of light dancing with blue, green and cyan hues.
"Ya know, there was a breakthrough in them scientist's research." She stood just a few meters away from him, her white hair swaying in the winter winds.
Luna lifted up her sunglasses and turned to face him.
"Miss, your eyes…"
Her eyes radiated with an orange glow — the color of fire.
"… Technically I ain't at your caliber yet, but thanks… for being the first of our kind."
Her words caught him off guard, and his hands squeezed the cup, "What?"
"They began turnin' others like ya, and… Am one of the first."
Iridescent auroras danced in the distance, yet her eyes stood out the most to him. They radiated with the color of the fire, no, the color of sunset.
She walked closer to him with a stern voice, "Y'er still just a boy, far from becoming the light of the future…" Placing her hand on top of his head, she smiled, "But don'tcha worry, I'll be here."
The car engine started. The heater hummed as Luna drove. Felix sat in the back of the car, sharing the space with a red spear lying in the back. He pressed his head against the window, the monotonous black and white flashed by, coming and going, yet the blue glow in his eye remained ever stagnant.
In the pale, muted darkness of the car, only two colors stood out —
The blue glow of his left eye, and the ember like orange radiating from both of Luna's.
Unlike those ephemeral moments that quickly disappear, he will always remember the taste of his first coffee, and the warmth he felt in his chest.
As the exhaustion set in, his eyelids grew too heavy. The last thing he saw was Luna's white hair waving back and forth from the driver's seat.
*
Several years passed.
Felix sat slouched in a cream leather chair, arms folded, eyes shut as the low drone of the engines filled the cabin.
"Felix?" A voice nudged him to the present.
His mismatched eyes met the gaze of a young black-haired woman seated across from him.
"We're here. Are you ready?" She asked.
He clutched the middle of his chest, squeezing the blue fabric. He exhaled deeply, staring at the night sky outside the window.
"Yeah… I'm ready."