Chapter 123 - 122 - South Quadrant Conundrum(Part 2)

"Wow...you look absolutely amazing," Remarked Director Silva, before stifling a laugh and trying to pass it off as a cough. 

"I hate you...so fucking much, right now," I growled in response. 

We'd agreed that it would be a bad idea for me to go as myself, a disguise was going to be essential for this Mission...she then suggested that I go back home and get all my equipment ready, and that she'd take care of the disguise and help me get into it. 

So I went back home, got changed and equipped myself, before making my way back to the X-Warrior Zone and to her office. And that's when I realized that I should have just handled it myself. Because she'd decided to disguise me as a girl. 

I adamantly refused to wear a dress or skirt, much to her dismay, but she eventually got me to agree to the wig and makeup by promising me a month's worth of supply of desserts from Delectables. 

And now, I've got on a long, straight black haired wig on my head that went halfway down my back, covered my forehead and went down to my shoulders in the front. 

My face feels really uncomfortable with makeup on...admittedly, it wasn't a lot, just lipstick and something brushed over the rest of my face, but I had this overwhelming urge to rub my face and clean it off, it was really irritating. 

To finish the disguise, I wore a pair of square glasses with a white metal frame. After she finished, she held up a mirror to show me the results, and I had to admit, I definitely looked very different, I highly doubt anyone would recognize me like this...but it was also extremely embarrassing and kinda horrifying. 

"Seriously, though, you might be even cuter than Kilella right now!" Laughed Director Silva. 

The worst part is that she isn't being sarcastic..it's mortifying to admit this, but looking at my reflection objectively...I would call it attractive, and in a feminine way. Admitting that felt like my pride just took a major hit. 

"Please stop talking...I hate this so much," I groaned in dismay. 

"Oh, don't be like that...here, put this on," She replied, handing me a sleeveless purple hoodie, "I figured you'd refuse to wear anything too girly, so I brought this. Zip it up, otherwise your chest might give away the fact that you're not a woman. But your arms are nice and toned without being overly muscular, so show them off." 

"...is this what it feels like to be objectified?" I sighed in exasperation, "But fine, I'll put this on, since I probably shouldn't wear the same outfit that I've always got on."

"I've been wondering about that, actually...you always wear the same thing, but it always looks clean," She said with narrowed eyes. 

"Because I have multiple sets of the same thing, obviously," I replied with a frown. 

What, did she think I was wearing the exact same clothes every single day without washing them? 

"...why, though?" She inquired in bemusement.

"None of your business...also, I'm about to change now, so mind turning around or something?" I sighed. 

"Hm? Why, though? You said you aren't going to change your trousers since you refuse to wear a skirt, so you'll only be changing your top, right?" She responded with an innocent tilt of her head, her lips quivering slightly as she tried her best to keep a straight face. 

"Regardless, I'd still be more comfortable if you weren't staring at me while I change," I muttered as my right eyebrow twitched a bit, starting to get annoyed. 

"Fine, when you put it that way, I guess..."

Is it just me or she becoming less and less professional around me? She definitely used to be a lot more formal with me than she is now, and I'm not sure how to feel about that. 

I finished getting changed with a sigh and looked at myself in her hand-mirror...I definitely look like a girl right now, Director Silva had made me wear a choker to hide my Adam's apple, so there's no obvious giveaway that I'm a guy. This is very conflicting. Did I already say that? I don't care. 

"Now for the most important part...your voice and mannerisms. Though I suppose you could pass for a tomboy, so the latter isn't that important...but your voice definitely is. You'll attract unwanted attention if your voice is too masculine, don't want anyone to realize that you're cross dressing. Alright, give me your best girly voice!" She prompted me encouragingly...she's enjoying this way too much. 

I'd like to think that I'm pretty good at imitating voices, I tend to do so out of boredom sometimes, but I don't know for sure since I've never gotten a third party's opinion on it before...because it'd be too embarrassing. 

Okay, she asked for a girly voice, I'm guessing that means more on the high-pitched side...but I'll probably sound annoying if I overdo it. Maybe if I think of someone as a reference...from all the girls I know, the one who has the softest voice is...probably Seila. 

This should be easier if I imagine it as playing a character. I'll try imitating her tone and way of speaking, let's see if it works... 

"Okay, here I go...," I remarked, before clearing my throat and closing my eyes as I got into character, before opening them and speaking in a soft, slightly timid voice, "Um, is this okay? I've never done this before, so-." 

"Holy crap! That was adorable! A top notch girl voice, I'm seriously impressed!" She exclaimed in genuine awe, clapping her hands.

And I want the ground to swallow me up and disappear. This is mortifying. Kill me...kill me now. 

"No one ever finds out about this...or I won't be held responsible for what I might do," I warned her, in my usual voice. 

"Right...I won't tell a soul. It's still a bit early, you can go in about half an hour, teleport from here straight to the South Quadrant, into the Teleportation Point closest to where Sofia's I-Watch signal is coming from. I'll notify the attendants, and I'll make sure your I-Watch registers an anonymous log, so that no one will know that it's you. Is that okay?" She asked. 

"Fine, I guess that works," I sighed in reply, my shoulders slumping in defeat. 

So, then, for now, I wait... 

... 

"I think it's about time, don't you?" Said Director Silva, as the clock struck 8 PM. 

"I mean, it's still pretty early, but sure, I don't mind getting an early start," I replied with a shrug. 

"Don't forget the voice." 

"Yeah, yeah, I know."

"Alright, click on the link I'm sending you, it'll download an app that'll let you track Sofia's I-Watch location. Oh, and the app will delete itself after twenty-four hours, just so you know," She informed me, "So if you're still on the case twenty-four hours later, I'll send you a second link to re-download the app."

"Got it...now, come on, let's do this. The sooner I get it over with, the better," I remarked impatiently. 

"Fine, fine, I'll teleport you now...seriously, though, don't forget the voice."

If I respond, this'll just drag on even further...so instead, I walked over to the teleportation platform, as she began linking it to the Teleportation Point in the South Quadrant and then activated it, teleporting me away. 

I then reappeared on a different teleportation platform, the attendant looking up as I appeared...there were a couple of guards outside, armed with X-Weapons...so, they're not Prodigies, huh? 

"Anonymous ID...," Muttered the attendant with a frown, as he looked at the logs, before his eyes widened in realization, "Ah, you must have been sent by Director Silva, right?" 

Okay, time to see how convincing my altered voice really is... 

"Yes, um, that's right."

The less I say, the better...minimizing the chances of me slipping up is crucial, and talking as little as possible is a key part of that. No matter what, I can never let anyone find out that I did this. The cross-dressing, I mean.

Just think about the months' worth of supply of Delectables' desserts that the director promised me in exchange for this...mm, okay I can do this. 

I soon left the Teleportation Point, without any issues and began heading in the direction that Sofia's I-Watch was at, when suddenly, a group of people turned the corner and one of them bumped into me, nearly knocking me over. 

"So sorry about that, are you okay?" Inquired the person who bumped into me...wait a sec, that voice is kinda familiar... 

I glanced up, to see...Lin standing in front of me, with a look of concern. She was with an older couple, probably her parents, I'm assuming. They had a bunch of suitcases with them, looks like they're moving out of the South Quadrant, which Director Silva said was happening with a lot of the residents here. 

"Um, yes, I'm fine...sorry, I should have been watching where I was going," I apologized with a polite bow of my head, keeping my gaze down to prevent her from getting a good look at my face. 

"Nah, it's fine, no harm done! Hm, though I have to say...you look a bit familiar. Have we met before?" She inquired, narrowing her eyes at me. 

Uh-oh. Okay, just stay calm, no need to panic... 

"Hm? I...don't think so?" I replied, putting on a tone of uncertainty, before adding, "Um, please excuse me, but I'm in a bit of a hurry."

"Oh, sure...take care, it's dangerous out there!" She warned me, as she walked away with a friendly wave of her hand. 

Man, how is that girl able to talk so naturally to a stranger? Well, anyway, that was a close one, I better hurry...I'm about five kilometers from the location shown in the app that was tracking Sofia's I-Watch, it shouldn't take me too long to get there if I go through the alleyways and stuff. 

After making sure that no one was in sight, I set myself a Save point and then quietly slunk into an alley and made my way through it, while keeping an eye on the map I was following. 

I have to say, I highly doubt that Sofia is in the same location as her I-Watch. The previous X-Warriors who disappeared, except for the first one, all of them started by tracking the I-Watch location of the one who previously disappeared, including Sofia...and now, I'm doing the same.

In other words, whoever's behind this knows that we can track the I-Watches and has been using them as bait...otherwise they'd have just destroyed the devices right away, in order to avoid being caught. But they doesn't care about that, at least no primarily...so, then, what's their objective? 

Killing X-Warriors for the thrill of it? Definitely a possibility...in which case, this person is either really strong, or outnumbered their targets, or used something like tranquilizers or sleeping gas. And I doubt that covers all of the possible explanations. 

What I'm most curious about right now, though, is why'd they have Sofia kill Ze-Ro? Maybe it's someone whose family was killed during the Wight attack and they're blaming the X-Warriors for failing to prevent it? Yeah, that's possible too.

But I don't have any evidence to prove any of that...so it's all just speculation. What isn't speculation though, is the fact that everyone who investigated this case before me disappeared while tracking down the I-Watch locations of the one that disappeared before them...which means that when I get to this location, something's bound to happen. And-. 

"Well, lookie here...what's a cute little thing like you doing in a place like this?" Suddenly came a voice from ahead of me, interrupting my thought process. 

Tch, and I really felt like I was getting somewhere with my current line of thought too. Looks like a gang of five thugs, they were carrying X-Weapons and had some blood splatter on their clothes...blood that didn't look like it belonged to them. 

Whatever, they're not why I'm here, so if they don't mess with me, I'm willing to ignore them. But...it doesn't look like that's going to happen... 

"Aw, what's the matter, girly, cat got your tongue?" Inquired one of them, approaching me with a sleazy grin on his face. 

Alright, fine, I guess I can spare a minute to take out this trash...it's a good thing I switched back to my own glasses before coming here. Right before I left the X-Warrior Zone, I realized that the pair of glasses Director Silva had gotten for the disguise wouldn't have the recording function that my own glasses do. 

I tapped the side of my frame to begin recording, as the man put a hand on my shoulder, his rancid breath and body odor invading my personal space. Tch, how disgusting. 

I swiftly grabbed his wrist and broke it with a violent twist, eliciting a shriek of pain from him, before I knocked him out with a powerful knee strike to the midsection, as he let out a sharp gasp and collapsed limply onto the ground, losing consciousness. 

"Don't presume to touch me with those filthy hands, you disgusting piece of shit," I scoffed in disgust, imitating a more dramatic version of Suri's tone of voice, before turning my attention to the others, who all looked pretty furious, glaring at me with their rotten eyes, "I'll warn you once, step aside if you don't want to get hurt. I refuse to waste my precious time on lowlife scum like you pieces of trash...so get in my way and I'll kill you."

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