Cybil (2018) #projectsuper

Chapter 33: A Desire for the Truth

James had, as was always the case, been waiting in Cybil's barracks for her to come back from her latest mission. Between his hours at the hot dog stand he'd been compelled to work at and the various tasks that the powers-that-be at the Organization, his days were full of toil and trouble, to say the least.

James usually looked forward to this time, but for some reason, his stomach seemed to be tied in knots now.

He heard Cybil being warped back and talking with Fuller. Her approaching footsteps only served to magnify his anxiety. Why was he feeling this way?

"Tell me. Who are the Guardians?"

Now in front of him, she surprised him with this question. Not because she spoke it, as he had more recently "commanded" her to speak her mind whenever she had something she felt like she needed to say. In fact, he loved hearing the sound of her voice, though she had dropped the Italian accent completely as of late.

No. This was much bigger than just that.

"Where did you hear about that?"

"My latest mission," she answered. "I was sent to deliver a message..."

As he listened to her tale, he couldn't help but feel that Fuller had put his hand in this. After all, Wester didn't deliver messages without some physically intimidating hitman being sent to do it. Also, since when do the Guardians get mentioned in such a public area and in such an indiscreet way?

"...and I was teleported back here," the girl finished.

A few minutes of silence passed. James remained deep in thought as Cybil periodically alternated standing on her tip-toes and on the balls of her feet. This child-like behavior slightly worried James in terms of whether or not she would grow up like a (reasonably) normal person.

"Father, what are you thinking about?"

"Huh?" James snapped back to reality.

"Are you thinking about Mother? You tend to think about Mother."

She was right about that one. "N-no. I...I just can't quite figure out how to tell you this. Suffice it to say that there's an entire world out there that you don't know about..."

"With people like me, right? People who can do things like this?"

She calmly walked over and hefted her bed over her shoulder with ease.

"Well, not everyone's like that."

But there's someone, right?" There was sadness as well as a type of fear to her voice. It was completely void of her original stoicism.

"Yes. But there's more to it."

"M-more?" she stammered, actually starting to shake. She was crying, though it was questionable as to whether she was aware of it.

"A lot more," James said. He sighed. "Let's take it one step at a time. I haven't told you about Ryu, have I?"