CHAPTER 18

"I can't handle something like that, Atlas," I refused.

The thought of killing someone never crossed my mind, especially if I had to do it. I'd rather just work in his warehouse than do those things.

"You don't have a choice. I'm not going to let you help in the laboratory because you don't know anything about those things," Atlas replied.

He took a deep breath and stood up straight. I watched him as he walked towards the woman who was with him earlier. They exchanged a glance, and when Atlas nodded, she nodded too.

What was that?

I looked up, and my heart pounded when I saw the woman standing up to approach me. Atlas had already walked towards the closed door. He opened it, and before he could leave completely, he spoke.

"Also, I forgot to tell you that from now on you're going to stay here since you're working under me."

"Atlas!" I couldn't finish protesting when he left, leaving just the woman and me in his office.

"Follow me, Sarah," the woman said simply, standing up from her seat and walking towards the open door.

I hesitated for a moment, but when she looked at me, I had no choice. I stood up and followed her. She closed Atlas' office and walked ahead of me.

We were back in the lobby area. We entered the section 1 laboratory, but we didn't go into the large room where they make the drugs. There was a long hallway here, and each hallway had steel doors with small glass windows at the top. And all the rooms we passed had names on the steel door.

We walked down the long hallway, and every time we passed a room, I looked inside because the people were busy with what they were doing.

At the end of the hallway, the woman stopped. I looked at a large door. It was a circle entrance, and on the side was a small scanner. She pulled out her ID, which was attached to an ID clip, and placed it against the small scanner. It took a few seconds before we heard a voice that I didn't know where it came from.

"Welcome to Section 1 main hall."

The metal circle entrance door suddenly opened in front of us. A vast space unfolded before us. On the side of this main hall was a small front desk and some lockers. I saw various equipment that was new to me. I couldn't explain what they looked like, but I think they were high-tech gadgets. The woman went inside and walked to the center. There was a small circle in the middle, and before she reached it, there was a small staircase. She turned around and sat on a chair in front of a desk.

On the side, below the small staircase, was a long, curved table. There were small screens and many buttons underneath. I don't think it was just an ordinary table. I followed her, and only now did I notice that the table was like a touchscreen. My eyes widened in shock and amazement.

"W-what is that?" I asked her, almost disbelieving.

She didn't answer. Instead, she just looked at me. She turned her attention back to what she was doing. She seemed to be adjusting something because her fingers were moving quickly across the surface, swiping and tapping. In an instant, something floated in the air, emerging from the screen of the table.

"This is a hologram projection. Do you know this?" she asked me, turning to look at me.

I nodded slowly. "I know about it, but I didn't know things like this existed," I replied.

"Now you know that this kind of thing exists. Pallas and Lapetus made this for us," a smile spread across her lips. "They're hella genius."

"I'm Ria, by the way," she introduced herself. She extended her hand to me, so I looked down at it. "Nice to meet you, Sarah."

I smiled faintly and took her hand. "Nice to meet you too, Ria."

She smiled at me and pointed to the small circle in the middle while still looking at the hologram projection. There were many floating boxes, and I immediately saw information about me. Starting with my name, age, birthday, and other things about me.

"Go inside the body scanner, Sarah. This is a mandatory body scanner checkup for all future members of El Orden Del Abismo. Don't worry, I won't do anything else to you. Also, all the technologies we're using here are high-tech. We're more advanced than what other people are using today."

"O-okay," I replied nervously.

She pointed to the small circle again. I stepped forward and stood where she indicated. She pressed something on the table, and after a moment, two small objects descended from above. I looked up and was surprised by what happened next. The body scanner, as she called it, began. It scanned me from my feet to my head. I heard faint sounds as it scanned my body until the scanning device returned to the top.

It was much quicker than I thought. I thought it would take a few minutes, but it was only a few seconds.

"You can get off now, Sarah," the woman said.

"Okay," I replied briefly.

I stepped away and approached her. She was frowning as she studied the information and other things about me after the body scan on the hologram projection.

"It's a good thing you're feeling better. I thought it would take longer for your fever to go down," she said, still looking at the hologram projection.

I frowned and looked where she was looking. It was a headache because there were so many small letters appearing that I think only she could understand. My body temperature and other details were also there.

"Is that bad?" I asked her.

"No," she replied immediately. She took an empty chair next to her and offered it to me.

I took it immediately and sat beside her.

"We just need to check if you're okay or if there's something wrong with your body. It's mandatory and is done every month. That's what Atlas said, he wants everyone working for him to be healthy, so he needs to know if we're sick or not."

I just nodded at what she said. I almost fell off my seat when I suddenly heard the door to the room open. At the same time, a bright light shone from behind us. I looked over and realized it was a large LED screen. All the CCTV footage from Atlas's entire warehouse was displayed there.

"How's the body checkup?"

We both turned when we heard Atlas's voice. We stood up and glanced at him. He was still wearing a lab gown, with a simple white t-shirt and cream-colored pants underneath. He was wearing glasses and carrying a white folder.

He went straight to the front desk and fiddled with a locker before it opened without him hearing a response from the woman who was with me.

"She's okay, Atlas. Her fever is gone too. But her immune system is not that good," she replied.

I turned to her because of what she said. She was already sitting back down in her chair, frowning as she looked at the hologram projection.

"What?" Atlas asked.

I frowned and looked at what Ria was pointing at. Below my BMI, there was a section labeled 'immune system' and next to it was a small orange circle. I looked to my side and felt Atlas's presence. He had already approached us.

"Hmm, I see," Atlas said softly. "That's okay. It'll improve once she's been here for a while."

I still felt like a lost cat in their conversation. I was confused and still trying to understand what was happening. Atlas seemed to notice my cluelessness and looked at me.

"Do you see the circle thing at the end of the word immune system?" he asked, pointing to the small orange circle. "That's where we can tell the status of your health, Sarah. The reason why your immune system is indicated in orange is because you lack nutrients and vitamins. Your BMI is green, which means it's okay. If it's orange, it's a bit risky, and if it's red, it's very risky," he explained to me.

"We don't have money to buy vitamins, so I haven't experienced that," I replied.

He just nodded at me and didn't answer. He and Ria nodded at each other before he went back to the locker near the front desk. He took out another white folder and came out. But the large LED screen behind us was still on, so I could see what was happening in the basement.

"Don't worry, I'll give you some vitamins to take so your immune system will be okay. Atlas is just very cautious when it comes to health," she pressed something on the table, and in an instant, the hologram projection disappeared.

Because of that, the information about me and my body status was transferred to a tablet. She took the tablet and stood up from her seat to walk towards a small corridor near the side of the entrance of this section 1 main hall.

"Let's go. This is the last thing I'll do for you," she entered a room and turned on the light. It looked like a mini-clinic, with a bed on the side and a table. She went straight there and sat on the chair.

"I'm going to take some blood."

"Why? What's it for?" I asked.

I sat in the empty chair opposite the table and watched her do her thing. She was getting something to use on me to draw blood. It was quick, and now I was just watching what she was doing.

I frowned when I felt the needle poke me.

"Atlas has a blood test done on everyone who works for him in addition to the monthly body scan and checkup. Once your blood is okay, he needs to take at least one or two bags of blood," Ria replied, still focused on what she was doing.

When she was finished, she put a cotton ball on the puncture site and taped it.

"What will he do with my blood?" I asked her, frowning.

"He will preserve it just in case of an emergency. If something bad happens to you and you need blood, we can use it. It's better to be prepared, especially if your blood type is rare, it will be harder for us to find a blood donor for you."

"You're right. But the truth is, I don't even know my blood type," I replied.

When she was finished with what she was doing, she cleaned up her things. She turned to me and smiled faintly.

"Don't worry, after Atlas examines your blood, he will tell you."

I just nodded. I watched her clean up the mess, and helped her. We finished cleaning up quickly, and we went out to returned to the table near the body scanner. She needed to transfer or update my information there since she had taken my blood, and it would be sent to Atlas immediately.

"What do you want to do in your life, Sarah?" Ria suddenly asked me.

"Huh?"

She stood in front of me and smiled. She gestured for me to come closer because we were about to leave the main hall of the section 1 laboratory.

She turned to me. "What do you want to do in your life or what are your dreams?"

The first thing that came to my mind was my dream of getting plastic surgery, in addition to my plan to give my mother a good life.

"I want to get plastic surgery, Ria," I replied with a laugh. "That's one of my dreams, besides giving my mom a good and comfortable life."

The smile faded from her lips when she heard my first statement. Her expression became serious, and she approached me.

"May I know what's the reason?"

I looked at her with a laugh and pointed to my face. "Do I need to say the reason when here it is?" I tapped the back of my hand under my chin a few times while laughing.

"Because I'm ugly. I want to change my face. It's so hard when you're not beautiful, Ria. I grew up being bullied, and I still am, that's why I really want to change my face. I want to be beautiful," I said to her with a smile.

"Is it too shallow? But I'll do it when I know that my mom's life is okay. I also want to experience being beautiful because it hurts when people call me ugly. I know I'm ugly, but they don't need to point it out to me."

A gentle smile formed on her lips, and she took my hand. "No, it's not shallow. I understand why you want to do that to yourself. Do you always prioritize your family?"

I nodded with a smile. "Of course. My family is important to me, Ria. That's why even if they don't treat me well, I will always prioritize them."

"Let's manifest that you will achieve your dream soon. And I'm so sorry if they feel you that way."

I laughed softly at what she said. "Why are you apologizing? You're not one of the bullies."

"I know. But they shouldn't say that you're ugly and other things that might hurt you," she replied. "They don't know what kind of impact that has on the person they're saying it to."

"I'm used to what they say because it's true, isn't it? I'm not really beautiful—"

"Sarah, every person is beautiful in their own way," she interrupted me.

I was speechless at what she said. I knew that, but I wasn't satisfied with myself. I smiled bitterly at her and felt my eyes start to water at what she said. I held her hand tightly while smiling at her, even though I was hurting.

It still hurts.

"I-I know, Ria," I stammered. I swallowed hard because it felt like something was stuck in my throat.

"I know that, but I'm still not satisfied with what I have. They say that you should accept what God gave you. But I can't accept that I'm like this, Ria. It just seems unfair. I envy other girls who are effortlessly beautiful. Even if they don't dress up, they look clean in the eyes of other people. Like you, look at yourself, I was amazed by you when I saw you in the glass window of the lab."

"While, me? No matter how I fix myself, I still look ugly, Ria," I said softly to her. I knew she noticed the tears forming in my eyes. "My friend did my makeup on our graduation day. She's good at makeup. I looked beautiful that day. But I know to myself what I really look like. That made-up face will never be my real face forever."

"I understand, Sarah. I know that you're not the only one who experiences faceshaming," her voice was gentle. She took her hand off me and stroked my arm to calm me down.

I didn't realize I was crying. I laughed softly at what was happening between us and she laughed too. Her laughter was soft, and she just shook her head because of me.

"Sorry, I cried in front of you," I said with a laugh.

She shook her head. "It's okay to cry. Just let it out. Don't let your emotions pile up inside your chest because it's heavy to carry."

I nodded. "Thank you, Ria."

"For what?" she asked, looking at me.

"Because you didn't judge me for wanting to get plastic surgery."

"I'm not judgmental, Sarah. Don't worry."

I just smiled at her and felt my chest lighten. Earlier, it felt tight while I was talking to her because I was hurt. And before we could completely leave the main hall of this lab, she spoke.

"I hope you'll achieve your dream, Sarah. And if that's happened, I can't wait to see your new version of yourself."

SHANGPU