Username~ mango marmalade,,
Name~ Kazimir (
No. 00742)
Name Meaning ~ He who destroys the world ; Destroyer of peace
Gender~ agender
Gender for breeding~ male
Prompt ~ Is everything as it seems?
(1000 words MAX)Extras -
2 pieces of art OR 1000 words, NO animations or comics"You see, cuckoos are parasites. They lay their eggs in other birds' nests. When the egg hatches, the baby cuckoo pushes the other baby birds out of the nest. The poor parent birds work themselves to death trying to find enough food to feed the enormous cuckoo child who has murdered their babies and taken their places."
From the point of view of Modern Au Cienkam My eyes are dull as I glance over page after page of neat, typed resumes. It's been four hours since I stepped into the small, well lit office, and I feel as if I might explode if I read one more dull middle-aged Viscet's paper. Flipping the sheets over and over again, my mind glazes over and my shoulders droop.
Lovely, another Viscet who graduated from a kind of well-known college with a Bachelor's Degree in Economics. I let my eyes drift from the paper, sighing as I fight the urge to throw every one out the window. I continue flicking past, but stop when my eyes hesitate on a seemingly innocent question. I read the answer twice, tilting my head ever so slightly.
space "
Place of birth: Unknown"
space I look out the window overlooking the city to my left, and pause. Has anyone ever written that before? I pull the paper out of the stack and skim over it again, this time with a bit more intrigue.
space "
Surname: N/A" Parents: N/A"space I frown. What? That's impossible... Doesn't everyone have a last name? And, well, maybe they were an orphan or something. But in the back of my mind, I can't help feel that something is off about them.
space Slowly, I place the paper in my small stack of "keepers" to my right. Blinking, I shake my head before continuing my mindless task. However, as much as I try and focus on new papers, those phrases remain permanently fixed in the back of my mind the entire day.
space Finally, the day of the actual interviews came. After arriving at the office and nodding to my slightly nervous co-workers, I enter the room briskly. Placing the neatly stacked resumes on my desk, I take a seat and wave my hand as a signal to "come in". And as soon as the first Viscet steps into the room, I know immediately which resume belongs to them. Slowly, avoiding eye contact, I take out the resume.
space "Place of birth: Unknown"space I look up. The Viscet is standing right in front of me, uncomfortably close to my desk. They are almost leaning over it, staring into my eyes. I stand up as well, extremely unnerved. I didn't hear a single footstep after the walked into the door. It was as if they just... appeared.
"Please take a step back."
space The Viscet seems to give a small smirk before stepping backwards. Their long teeth are unusually shiny, and they glint in even the dimmest of sunlight. However, it is not truly their appearance that is causing me to feel so unsettled.
space It is their
eyes.
space No matter how hard I look, I do not see a glimpse of human in them. Viscet eyes, which are usually deep, often reflect what their soul is truly feeling. But these eyes are... shallow. I can't see past the surface, as if they are hiding something deep inside them. Even their breathing seems unnatural and forced, as if they are only doing it for show. I swallow, the adrenaline in me making my heart beat faster. However, I sit back down, despite hating the feeling of them looking down at me.
space I feel a shiver run down my spine as I force myself to speak to...
it. space "So... Why are you here?"
space They laugh, and I cannot begin to describe how much I hate it. It is mechanical in an extremely uncomfortable way, and just sharp enough that it makes your ears flinch. "Isn't it obvious?"
space I freeze, not knowing how to respond. What?
space "I'm here for a job."
space My shoulders release tension I didn't know I was carrying as I visibly relax. I am glad that it was such a basic answer. I was afraid they'd answer something far worse.
space "Okay... And why here? At this business?" My voice cracks in the middle but I am quick to keep talking.
space "This business just... interests me."
spaceThe entire room goes cold as they lock eyes with me. Again, with those unfeeling, shallow eyes. I break eye contact as soon as I can, not knowing what will happen if I don't. I try desperately to get back into my interviewers mindset, but it's hard.
space "Please be more specific."
space "I dunno. Maybe it's... the
people."
space A shiver runs up my spine again, and I feel so, so deeply unnerved. They let their arms drop limply at their sides, and I see them. A pair of butterfly wings attached at the elbow. Usually wings look really complex and interesting, but these ones just look... Fake. There is a plastic sheen to them that no wings I know of have, and they almost
crinkle when they move their arms.
space I coughed, directing my attention back to their hollow eyes. Now, I am no longer unnerved. I am terrified.
space "What's wrong?" They ask, in that awful metallic voice. "You seem...
nervous."space I suck in a shuddering breath, trying to maintain my composure. "Oh, I'm fine."
space I pause, then make a bold move in an effort to gain power over the conversation. "Now... Are you?"
space They look surprised, and I can see them going over my words in their head. "What?" Their voice is the same one, but I can hear the hints of doubt hiding behind their words.
space "I'm okay... But I think it's you I should be worried about." Now the conversation had completely shifted, with just one sentence. I held the power, as the interviewer should in an interview. I examined their face, waiting to pounce as soon as I saw the doubt get stronger.
space There it was. Their eyes darted to the door, ever so slightly, but I was quick to catch on. "What, you want to leave?"
space They quickly made eye contact with me, trying to feign ignorance, but I wasn't going to fall for that trick. I had seen many a faker in my life, a liar, a cheater, someone who isn't who they say they are. But this one... This one was different. And now that I was no longer on the defensive, I could figure out just what was wrong with them
space Suddenly, I stood up. "So. You want a job here?"
space They nodded, but I noticed they took a half step back when I stepped forward.
space I took a step towards them, keeping direct eye contact the entire time. They knew that I knew they were scared, so I took advantage of that by taking another step forward. And when they tried to step back again, I saw fear flash across their face when they hit the wall behind them.
space "What? Leaving so soon?" In a flash, I darted my arm out and grabbed their butterfly wing. If they were real, I wouldn't be able to pull them off. But if they were fake...
space RRIIPPspace In my hand I held a torn piece of fabric that had been airbrushed and spraypainted to resemble those gorgeous wings. I was shocked, not knowing what to do at this point. Neither did they apparently, because we both stood there, looking at the "wing".
space However, they recovered first, quickly darting around me and bolting for the door. I lunged at them as soon as they moved, reaching out to grab their tail. "Hey! Get back here!"
space They fumbled for the doorknob, and I quickly changed tactics, attempting to tackle them instead. However, as soon as I made contact with them, I heard an awful thud as my head slammed against their shoulder. It made a hollow ringing noise, and I groaned and fell to the floor. Their shoulder must have been made out of metal or something, because my head hurt so bad I couldn't stand up.
space They took off down the hallway, not stopping to look back. I rolled over and up, holding my head as I watched my confused coworkers slowly realize what happened.
space "Did they hurt you?" "Was it dangerous?" "Who are they?"
space I knew the answer for the first one; The rest I could guess, but I'd never know for sure. Not unless we met again...
xxxxx
xxxxx
(word count: 1305 / 2000)
^ I used space to indent 46 times so I subtracted that from the total ^
