A Serenade for the Innocent 145 It's Cool, They Just Wanna Talk

I soon realized that the tentacles dragging the people around me weren't doing the same to me. In fact, there's not even anything dragging me down towards whatever the fuck sort of deadly bullshit exists at the bottom of this deep body of water. Realizing this, I soon swam up towards the surface, and there I realized that we're inside of a vast swimming pool underneath the now fully-opened, double-door-like floor of the sixth area. Around the pool, I could only see only nothing but darkness on all sides--the same can be said to that bottomless pit below my feet. The only thing I can tell for sure is that there's a well-lit room above me; the rest is nothing but the call of the void. I then desperately swam towards the side and realized that the pool itself is inside of what seemed like a tall, massive, and square-shaped glass structure. Once I reached the side of the pool, I soon realized that the transparent material used to contain the water around me is quite thick, so I held onto it like my life depended on it.

As I floated at the surface of this large swimming that seemed to have the same square meter as the room above, I then noticed that something seems to be descending at the side, coming from the well-lit room that is nonchalantly hovering over the pool. There, as I panted with my body thoroughly soaked with water, I realized that the thing slowly going down at the side is the same stupidly colossal TV screen on the wall of the tiled area.

"WHOOOOOO!" I heard the familiar voice of a woman scream out loud; I can now finally see a sense of genuineness in this woman's face for the first time since I've last seen his broadcast earlier in the room above. "WHAT'S UP, ANATOLY, YOU MOTHERFUCKER!?" Veronica roared as she asked me with a silly and almost comical look on her face. She then took her tongue out of her mouth as she laughed maniacally like the green witch in The Wizard of Oz. Finally, I could see the real Veronica that I knew since I was a child. "What's up, baby?" Veronica then smooched the air with her anger-filled gaze still directed at me. "Did you miss me, you punk ass motherfucker!?" She laughed out loud as she looked at me with eyes filled with a mocking tone as I clung with all my might on the high glass railing at the side of the pool.

"You old-ass bitch," I chuckled as I looked at her, finally revealing my real face again, which felt so freeing in a very odd kind of way. I believe this is the first time I ever cursed before her, not that she would ever care about such a small detail like that. "I can't believe you're still in business after 70 years."

"Oh, Anatoly, you know how it goes here in the Association! These shitbag fuckfaces can shove their bullshit down my throat every time they fucking like in every decade and in every generation, but as I did time and time and time and time fucking-gain, I will crawl out of the afterlife and greet these boot-licking sons of bitches with a smile on my beautiful fucking perfect face outside of the Gatekeeper's doors. Motherfuckers. I've died thirteen times, BUT I'M STILL HERE BREATHING." Veronica then showed a twisted grin, which showcases her perfectly lined up, shimmering white teeth that is a stark contrast from her crazed and outstretched eyes. "GET FUCKED!"

It is true that nothing can ever faze this Nelly Furtado-looking-ass capitalist pig, but hey, who am I to judge her, seriously?

"How have you been, Veronica?" I then paused as I assessed the entirety of her face on the enormous TV screen. "You look a bit fat."

"Bitch, shut up! I've been eating lots of pancakes lately." She then started pinching her cheeks. Is she trying to prove a point or something? I only know she's gaining weight.

"So, what's all this pool thing? What the hell is up with those tentacles that grabbed the others into the bottom of the pool?" I asked, not beating around the bush and being as specific as I can. "Are the Japanese porno you've been consuming finally getting into your aesthetic choices?"

"Psh! Nah!" Veronica replied while waving her hands swiftly. "This is your mom's project, actually. Well, it's not like I ever had a say in what could happen in your own damn house anyway."

"Ah, really?" I asked with both shock and wonder. "I never heard of this project before."

"Uhhh... Maybe it's because you've been gone for like, three years, and we heard no news about you whatsoever?" Veronica replied with a faux confusion plastered all over her face. "Glad you killed that whore, by the way! Never liked her."

"So I've heard." I said as I shook my head with a defeated sigh. "Hey, but wait, you haven't answered my question yet. What's up with this pool? What's this supposed to do here?"

"Oh, I dunno. Your mother's head is filled with so much coo-coo shit that I honestly could not keep up sometimes, and that's saying a lot." She then chuckled slowly as she placed a bit of her long black hair behind her ears. "I heard there's something at the bottom of that thing that will awaken some kind of untapped side in the people who go in it. Dunno what's in there, though."

"Huh." I said, un-amused. "Sounds a whole lot like what the seeding in the fourth area does to a person. Sounds kind of redundant, to be honest."

"Oh yeah, that's the first time I saw that seeding thing! I was watching it on the TV monitors upstairs, but even I thought it was fucking disgusting!"

I then chuckled upon hearing her response. "Yeah, it's awful."

"So what does it do, anyway? I seriously thought that everyone talking about is just joking, but no, a huge centipede thing is actually puking shit inside of a person! Ugh!" Veronica then started fanning her face with her hands. "Gross, gross, gross! I'm imagining it again, oh god! So disgusting!"

"Oh, shut up, won't you? It's not like you haven't seen worse." I said as I rolled my eyes with a mocking groan.

"Not ever skinning a dead hooker's pussy can beat the disgusting level of that seeding shit!" Veronica then shook her head with an expression that shows how done she is with this whole conversation as she pushed her fingers on her temples. "Just tell me the tea, Anatoly. Why is that thing even necessary? What does it do?"

"Necessary? Hmm... Not really, but it's a good precaution." I said as I frowned my eyebrows in thought as I felt the water around me finally prickling the rashes on my skin. "We're basically planting baby parasites inside of someone's body. The whole colony of pests inside of the host's body will force a person to act on their survival urges, so they would do everything that they possibly could just to stay alive. I think, after a few hours, the whole pests inside of the seeded person will mature enough that they wouldn't need the body anymore, so they would just kill their home and go on with their lives. Basically, we would plant the whole damn thing inside of the person who would most likely win the whole dungeon thing. Once the parasite's host leaves this wild place, those damn pests would probably have enough time to mature, so yeah, the host would die right after defeating the dungeon, and we would get the revenue for it! All the win for us!"

"Ooooh! That's fucked up, yeah. So, you sell the parasites?" Veronica asked, which almost made me feel like she's disinterested in the whole thing, but it's just the two of us here. What am I supposed to do? Float here until the entire job is done?

I'll just prolong this conversation as much as I can. "Yeah. One parasite costs millions; I think the last one we sold is around $37 million or something like that?"

Suddenly, Veronica's eyes widened with shock as her jaw dropped. "Thirty... ARE YOU FOR REAL?"

"Yeah, some rich guy in Singapore bought three of them for god-knows-what-reason, but hey, we only sell the goods and the customers get to enjoy it even if we don't know what they do with it." I scoffed before a silent chuckle breathed out of my lips. "I think my mom knows what they do with, though, but she never really told any of us. It's not like she would die anyway and let any of us inherit her whole gig. So, whatever."

"Damn. Now I know how you guys can be this fucking disgustingly rich." Veronica said with a twinge of jealousy in it, but I can also feel a bit of wonder amid her downcast tone.

"Yeah. One human filled with those parasites alone is enough for one human lifetime, and we already did this for, like, twenty-five people. We're so fucking rich that it's disgusting." I said with a bit of apparent pride in my tone. Hey, flexing once in a while is not a bad thing at all, especially in my case. I have been modest for far too long. I deserve this moment.

"So how can you even get one of these seed things?" Veronica further inquired. Ah, so that's her point. Sneaky little bitch wants to end our parasite monopoly. Oh well, she's always been like this to anyone; can't say I'm surprised.

"I dunno." I lied. Of course, I know how to get one. "Why don't you ask my mom? Believe me, she never says ANYTHING!" I further clarified to solidify my excuse.

Veronica was about to reply when suddenly, a loud roar erupted at the deepest part of the pool.

"Oh, looks like time's up, Anatoly. Hey, don't be a stranger, man! Visit us some other time too!" Veronica said as her face lifted towards the room above the pool.

"S...ure?"

Chapter end