Temple_GD_

5.12

"Action—erm, I meant Enrico, was it?" I asked Deen. "The guy who looks like an actor in an action movie? He's the grandson of the governor?"

"A former governor," she corrected me. "Milandro Haynes. I’m sure Enrico Haynes is his grandson. My father had contributed to his campaign—um, nothing. Never mind. Anyway, Enrico's also an engineering student like those creepers, I guess for their family business in ComExo parts. So likely, he’s a senior in their fraternity too, and that’...

Erind/Deen - 5.6.3

Amber Deen Leska felt her best friend's short and thin fingers press on her arm through the towel. Surprisingly, Erind took her up on her challenge—it wasn't phrased like one, but they both knew that it was. Erind held Deen's wrist with her left hand and wiped her arm with her right.

Deen had expected Erind would admit defeat and back off, then she'd be able to claim victory and revenge for all the teasing about her sweat. Maybe she could add in a couple of jokes about Erind's aversio...

5.11

"Uh, hello?" said the mayor's nephew, timidly raising a hand as a greeting. His eyes, which were partially covered by his messy brown hair, darted in every direction, except ours. "My name...I'm Yves. Yves that's spelled with a 'Y'."

"Hello," Deen curtly replied. She faced the other way, making it clear he wasn't welcome.

"I'm Yves," he repeated. "What's your name?"

She refused to answer, choosing to keenly examine the wall to her side filled with black and white photos from...

5.10

The diner wasn't what we expected. In contrast to its dilapidated signage and rundown exterior covered with peeling paint from ancient history, the inside was well-lit and fairly clean. Its age did show, with some tiles cracked, a couple of light bulbs dimmer than others, and patches of the ceiling stained with mildew. But it was cozy and reminded me of the diners my family used to visit when I was a kid.

Another surprise was the number of people here. It had a lot of customers. I didn'...

Erind/Deen - 5.6.2

It was obvious Deen had no idea what she was doing while following the martial arts instructional video. But then again, I wouldn’t either. I'd probably look like a clown if I tried this. And I was certain I'd just laugh at myself; SpookyErind would too.

That wasn't the case with Deen. Yeah, her movements were that of a novice's. Yep, she fumbled around and did awkward, sometimes even hilarious poses. But there was a certain beauty in her determination to get it right. She really was ...

5.9

Fucking shit! I exclaimed in my head as a Skitter half the size of our car scuttled past. With the massive gun turret on its back, it was about the same height as the car. This was even bigger than the ones that prowled the tunnels I had traversed to escape Eve's underground arena. Can I just have the Labrador back instead?

Fortunately, it didn't pay any attention to us, moving to the next lane into formation with two others of its kind. Despite their size, they were d...

5.8

It was not a fun road trip.

I was wrong to assume there'd be fewer cars around this hour. We were stuck in traffic, as expected, but it seemed to be as heavy as during the daytime. Hmm, daytime? I looked at my phone. It displayed, "2:23 a.m."

Was two in the morning considered daytime? Or was it considered night because it was still dark? Well, not that dark because the massive floodlights dotting the sidewalk and the center islands lit up the entire road as if it...

Erind/Deen 5.6.1

(Author’s Notes: This is set in the afternoon of the day Erind and Deen went to meet Myra at Cindy's. Similar to the previous two chapters which were sequential, the next three or so chapters will also be parts of one scene. This way, we can have more development for longer scenes and more weight to the interaction. As I’ve mentioned, I seriously want to exert effort in character development in this bonus content.)

Hmmm, voices?

I gingerly stuck my head out...

Erind/Deen 4.54.4.3

(Author's Notes: This is a continuation of the previous chapter.)

I didn't need the future-seeing powers of Deen's Guardian Angel to know her prediction that I was going to 'love' the show would be wrong. As expected, I didn't like 'Fashionista Empire.'

At all. Period.

It was about aspiring fashion models, high-powered designers, and glamorous photoshoots and shows, but it didn't give any fashion tips—at least tips useful to a normal girl like me. Strutting on a runway was...

5.7

The Guardian Angel is such a bullshit cheat!

I fiercely swung my fist. Deen leisurely moved away as if she had predicted my move—which she obviously fucking did. Her face showing intense concentration, she hit me back from the side as the momentum of my punch carried me forward. Her blows barely hurt because she wasn't able to gain a firm footing before she attacked, likely unable to keep up with her Guardian Angel's instructions.

It was about half an hour past...

Erind/Deen 4.54.4.2

(Author's Notes: This is set in the evening of the same day as the previous chapter, the day Arc 4 ended and Erind had met SpookyErind.)

The Sunday Night news didn't have anything about a giant werewolf rampaging in the downtown area of La Esperanza. Just a boring marathon of various government officials—from the president, some BID people, the governor, down to our mayor—outlining their plans for aid and promising that this string of Adumbrae incidents wouldn't happen ag...

Erind/Deen - 4.54.4.1

(Author's Notes: The Erind/Deen Side Story will aim to keep their original personalities as much as possible, tweaking it only a bit so that this story can happen. To help with immersion, these will also be set in between chapters of the main storyline. For example, this chapter happens following the last epilogue of Arc 4, after Erind ate ice cream (so that's chapter 4.54.4). This can be considered a parallel world spin-off of REND that is structured in such a way that you can choose this to...

5.6

Our drive home was pretty quiet and uneventful. It was about two in the afternoon, so most people had returned to their offices after their lunch breaks. The streets were also way emptier than usual because many chose to stay at home.

We retraced the same route we took on the way to Cindy's and met the same bunch of National Guardsmen. Deen chatted up the soldiers about how awful it must be to work under this scorching sun while wearing their stuffy gear. The young men were only too eag...

5.5

I expected that Deen was just spouting random nonsense when she claimed she knew an Adumbrae. Maybe she'd suggest we approach Bianca for help or something? Though that scheming, silver-haired bitch wasn't an Adumbrae—that reminds me, I should find a way to check up on her, my supposed lifestyle mentee.

But it turned out I was wrong. Deen had indeed met a true Adumbrae, not those fake ones made by the 2Ms.

She told us that last Saturday, on her way to EFU Medical Center ...

5.4

Myra started her tale from where it all began for all of us here, albeit in different ways—with her sister, Kelsey. She admitted to Deen that her story about Kelsey's terminal illness was a lie, profusely apologizing for it, and explained that their parents' membership in an Adumbrae cult might be the cause of her sister’s seeding. And because of Kelsey's condition, Myra accepted Dario's offer to join his group and Meld with an artificial Core in return for a supply of Suppressors.

...