Seconds

“Dammit! I flunked another job interview. That’s the seventh one this week! ‘You lack experience’ How can I get any if you won’t hire me!” Yells a tall young man in the middle of the sidewalk. His complaining attracts the attention of numerous onlookers tending to their rush hour commute. Though it isn’t surprising, considering his vagrant-like appearance with his messy dark-ginger hair and unkempt dress shirt and slacks.

The moment his eyes meet with another passerby, he gives the woman a look of disgust. The moment she turns away, he sighs. For the twenty-two-year-old zombie Miki Siltry, this was just yet another one of those unfortunate circumstances. As he digs into his pocket for his phone, he gets the sudden urge to eat his worries away but realizes it’s better to save his money. Spending his savings on a banquet of self-loathing would do more harm than good, but it sure would feel nice.

He picks up his empty suitcase, an appropriate prop in another failed attempt to get hired, hoping it would sell his overall look.

“Guess it’s leftover takeout for tonight…”

He kicks over a half-empty coffee cup in admission of defeat, whilst making his way towards the train station. For Miki, assimilating into society is an exhausting endeavor since it clashes with his delinquency. He’s been trying for the last three years since his parents disowned him, after years of him choosing to shirk his responsibilities as a student for the sake of popularity amongst other troublemakers.

Miki walks up to the gate of the subway platform and taps his card, as the clamoring of the arriving train fills the station. The moment it whines to a halt, him and numerous other citizens get on. The moment he sits down, he once again realizes how much he stands out.

Here in the country of “Humanity”, most of its citizens are human. However, when you consider the human population in the scope of the entire world, they are the minority. Humanity is where the riffraff from other species come to play, especially those who have failed to live up to their origins. Considered by many to be a dangerous interspecies melting pot, everyone must play their cards right to survive. Unluckily for Miki, he's hanging on by a thread.

After a three-hour train ride, he steps outside beneath the sunset. Walking down the busy sidewalk of his neighborhood, a police car rushes down the street with it’s sirens blaring. Crime runs rampant here in the city of “Good Faith”, and for Miki, such commotion serves as a rough reminder of his current situation in life. To some extent, seeing others live in constant distress serves as a bit of entertainment for Miki. And seeing how his life before exile was one of delinquency, it almost feels like home.

He greets the doorwoman in the front lobby of his apartment building before making his way up the stairwell. The light bulbs overhead flicker in the narrow halls, as he searches for his keys. He can feel a sense of community through the faint sounds of his neighbors' day-to-day lives, though it’s difficult to shake the feeling of isolation.

Now arriving at his door, Miki notices an eviction notice taped to it.

"Damn landlord..." he mutters to himself, as he rips it and unlocks his door. He loosens his tie and throws it to the side with his suitcase, involuntarily scratching at the stitching around his neck. It’s a feature common amongst zombies and is the most noticeable trait that sets Miki apart from ordinary humans, other than his dark green skin.

Reaching into his fridge, he pops open a can of cherry soda and leans against his kitchen counter. He grabs the remote next to him and switches on his television in hopes of clearing his head for a bit, but that isn’t gonna happen...

"As peace negotiations come to a close, many wonder about the eight new representatives. What are people saying, Jeff?" asks the anchorwoman, speaking to the anchorman beside her. Both their attire and cheerful attitudes coming off as superficial, while a glamorous backdrop of Good Faith sits behind them.

"Well Charlotte, viewer polls suggest that most consider them to be ‘too young’, while others applaud the diversity of their group."

"You said it Jeff! Tonight’s broadcast will be airing interviews with each of them, so stay tuned. Up next-”

With a click of his tongue, Miki switches the channels. Finds the privilege given to the eight reps, to be rather annoying.

"Damn brats, getting special treatment just because you've won the genetic lottery…"

For an hour, he skips through the numerous one-on-one interviews airing with each of them before deciding to head off into his room for the night. He lies down on his bed but realizes that he isn’t that tired.

Staring at his ceiling with restless eyes, Miki stares at his shimmering fingers; and is his special ability as an undead. It’s not like he’ll ever find a real use for it when it comes to employment, since it’s more akin to a neat party trick. Though what concerns him the most is his inability to find a job, as it’s been four months since his last job in real-estate fired him. He'd been working there for over two years before the higher-ups realized he was struggling to meet his quota, but he always found that stuff to meaningless anyways. Although he did accumulate a decent amount for his savings, so it wasn’t all that bad.

Jumping up from his bed, he pulls out the chair from his desk. His computer illuminates his room with hues of red and pink, to the point he squints his eyes. Lying spread-out across the screen is an alluring model, her lingerie leaving nothing to the imagination. Miki is hit with a carnal urge, as if her various poses and gestures are inviting him in. But after a few moments, he decides not to.

Miki opens the message board he frequents in hopes of finding another job opening. He searches for a few minutes, before realizing that he won't have much luck tonight. A fair number of these listings either look to be scams or have high requirements. However, one listing did catch his eye…

"'Young woman in need of financial assistance. Lives with younger brother.' Why is this here? And why are there so many comments?" Miki says, while scrolling down through the forum post.

What’s strange, is that the post has been up for almost a week, so it must be real. Otherwise, the admins on the site would have removed it in the matter of a day or so.

"How much is she...no income required!? You're kidding right?" Miki shouts in his empty room, as he continues to scour through the post.

Much to his surprise, it seems legit. Although, many of the other users seem to suggest that her requirements are a bit skewed. Her final decision looks to be based on the person themselves, with some crying foul-play in terms of discrimination and species bias.

Miki chuckles. "These low lives thought it’d be easy to snatch up an opportunity like this… Although it does sound like some sort of family quarrel. Maybe she's a runaway without a plan."

Sitting back in his chair, Miki starts to consider the offer himself. He has saved a decent amount, so it should be more than enough to make up for at least a few months. Who knows, maybe he could convince this woman to let him live there rent-free. It’s wishful thinking on his part, but then again, its hard to imagine the type of woman she could be. Her offer overall seems rather desperate.

Putting aside what her intentions might be, Miki decides that it’s an opportunity he can't afford to pass up. With that notice on his front being his third, he doubts the landlord will be so understanding next time, so he doesn’t have much of a choice.

"Fate offering me a helping hand I see. I’d be a fool to deny that generosity!" He says to himself while raising his fist.

The morning sun beams down on Miki as he drags his feet across the sidewalk. He didn’t intend for his excitement last night to get the best of him, but he was up all night figuring out what to wear. He figured a good first impression would matter the most, so he ended up going with for a more casual look.

Miki glances at the front-facing camera on his phone. “Here’s to hoping she ends up falling for my good looks, but damn, these bag under my eyes aren’t doing me any favors.”

Still walking down the sidewalk, he notices that the buildings around him are getting taller. While this is where her address has led him so far, Miki rubs the back of his neck.

“Why would someone who lives in this rich area be scouting for potential deadbeats? It just doesn’t make sense.” Miki says as he walks up to the towering high-rise before him. “Welp, this is the place…”

Miki looks at the plethora of malls and shopping centers around him, as each passerby struts past, indulging in their own self-importance. He takes a deep breath, and he walks into the front lobby and heads towards the front desk. After asking the receptionist, he walks into the awaiting elevator with a brisk pace. Waiting a few moments, he arrives on the tenth floor of this sixty-story building.

“The apartment number is 10E…" Miki mumbles to himself as he’s walking through the halls. “…Here it is!”

He knocks on the door twice, before hearing faint footsteps coming towards him.

"Coming!" yells a woman, before rushing to open the door.

Now laying his eyes on her, he understands the feeling of having someone subvert his expectations. Not only is she beautiful, but the outfit she's wearing is a collection of well-known designer brands.

"Well excuse me miss, The name's Miki Siltry! I saw your post and thought I'd take you up on the offer…"

"Nice to meet you! My name's Ylina Bosni. Would you like to talk outside? I was just about to head out myself."

"Awesome! Fine by me, but where-."

"One…" Ylina says glaring at the ceiling.

"One?"

"...Let me just grab my wallet and we'll be off." She says while turning away from him/

Miki nods as she walks back inside, curious as to what just happened. For her to start mumbling to herself, he must’ve done something wrong or maybe she's just shy. Maybe it’s his good looks and charm.

"Okay let's go!" She says breezing past him with a slight smile.

"Yes of course, I'll lead the way!"

The two of them walk out of the apartment building and are met with the usual hustle and bustle of Good Faith. The only difference is the prime proper way each of the citizens in this area conduct themselves, which makes Miki feel a bit out of place.

Ylina tugs on the sleeve of his hoodie. “You want to just walk around for a bit?”

“Yeah, that sounds like fun!” Miki says as she gives him a smile.

As they’re walking around outside the huge shopping mall, a feline man sitting behind his food cart shouts out at the both of them. When they walk up to the cart, both buy two skewers of grilled fish and start heading towards the fountain square.

“So, Miki, where are you from?” Ylina asks with an expecting glance.

Miki pulls down the neck of his hoodie, showing off the stitches around his neck.

“If it isn’t already obvious, I’m undead. Does that freak you out?”

She giggles. “Not at all, in fact I’m undead as well.”

Miki scans her up and down, looking for her undead trait. Ylina pushes up her sleeve, revealing the crystalline layer on her pale skin.

“I’m a Yuki-Onna, a spirit-like. But you wouldn’t be able to tell that just by looking at me, right?”

Miki laughs. “Not at all, I thought you were human.”

“No worries, I get that a lot. I couldn’t even tell that you were a zombie either.”

“I guess we’re both misfits, huh?” Miki remarks, as she nods her head with a smile.

The two of them continue conversing while roaming the city streets, finding comfort in each other's presence. It turns out that Ylina and her young brother were also exiled from Scarlet Radiance for the same reason as him. However, unlike Miki, their family continues to sustain them money wise.

Ylina then starts talking highly of her younger brother, by mentioning how well-mannered and intelligent he is. It’s like a mother praising her son, with how contagious her enthusiasm is. Although still, he can’t shake off the feeling that something is off. Considering how perfect her circumstances are for her, it’s hard for him to understand why on earth she would want to live with someone like him.

Miki’s stomach grumbles. “Hey, are you feeling hungry? I think I saw a burger place…”

Miki notices Ylina whispering to herself while looking straight ahead. She did the same thing before they left her apartment building, but he thought it was just a coincidence.

Ylina turns to him. “Oh sorry, did you say something?”

“Uh, do you want to get something to eat? There’s a burger joint we just passed by.” Miki says while stumbling over his words a bit.

“Sure, that sounds great right now!” Ylina says, sounding a bit excited. Noticing this sudden change, Miki glances at her as she’s heading towards the restaurant.

“Yeah, something is off…” He says to himself, before following behind her.

Sitting down at their table, a pig-man in a chef walks up to them. He takes Ylina order first and turns to Miki for his. As the pig-man walks away, a young faun working as the waitress rolls by in roller skates and serves them two glasses of water, before rolling away.

“What else makes you a Yuki Onna anyway? You haven’t given me the cold shoulder yet.” Miki says with a cheeky grin on his face, feeling proud of that one.

“Ha! After that joke I just might. It’s my skin, it’s cold to the touch. Although, when you consider that the rest of my family can also call on blizzards, It isn’t that impressive.” Ylina says with a shrug.

“Sounds terrifying, but what isn’t these days?” Miki chuckles.

Ylina leans in towards him. “Wait, are you one of those ‘shut in’ types. I’m sure you’ve heard of crazier species than that.”

"No! What I mean is-”

"Two cheeseburgers, right? Enjoy!" Asks the waitress, as she places their food down. Her two horns sticking up from under her backwards cap, as she rolls away on her skates. They both take a bite from their food, and nod in agreement with it's taste.

Miki swallows his bite. “So Ylina…”

“Yeah?” She responds, sensing the directness in his voice.

“How close am I to becoming your roommate?”

She gives him an inquisitive look, while resting on her palm. As if unsure of what to say, she closes her eyes while whispering to herself. This lasts for more than a few seconds, causing Miki to feel a bit anxious. As everything is riding on her decision.

“I’ll admit, you’re a lot closer than everyone else was.” She says a cheeky smile.

“How many have asked?”

“Like a dozen...maybe a bit more, but who cares. We’ve spent so much time together and I like what I see so far.”

“After three hours?” He asks, raising his eyebrow.

“Oh, come on! You’re too hard on yourself, I’m sure we’ll find your purpose.”

“My wha-”

“Hey, before we head back to my place, want to go shopping for a bit?”

Out of bewilderment Miki nods, finding himself caught up in her pace. While it’s good that she’s enjoying herself, he can’t help but wonder how bad the other guys were. It’s been only a few hours, but she considers that short amount of time to be meaningful. Something about it goes farther than wishful thinking and seems to be just plain reckless.

As they pay the bill, Miki finds himself no longer able to shake his suspicions. How were her assumptions about him so spot-on? He hasn't had a chance to mention much about himself all this time, yet she assumes he’s been looking for a purpose. The thought puts him off, since it now feels like she’s pitying him, like some lost puppy she’s considering taking in.

They both rush across the street towards a huge shopping mall. A towering maze of escalators and pearlescent floors sat in the center, surrounded by lavish storefronts. With many unique brands for various species, Ylina decides to go with one that sells clothing for those with a humanoid figure. Even on this side of Good Faith, stores like these aren’t common.

After a few minutes of shopping, Ylina decides to buy herself a pink diamond necklace.

“How does it look?” Ylina asks pointing at the necklace.

“It looks…great! I think it looks great on you.” Miki responds, trying to stare too much at her low-cut top.

He won’t mention it, but Miki is shocked by such an expensive purchase. Sure, she already wears rather expensive clothing, but if she’s buying things like that on a whim, it’s yet another reason for him to be suspicious of her.

While they are heading towards the escalator, Miki couldn't help thinking about what she mentioned earlier. He couldn’t understand why she would be judging him, considering she's the one who was reaching out on the boards. In his mind, anyone who'd put themselves out there like that must be desperate themselves, so he couldn’t understand why she was acting so self-righteous.

“Ylina…” Miki says in a low tone of voice, as he’s standing on the escalator.

She turns around. “Hey, is something the matter? You’ve been a bit quiet-”

A loud crashing sound goes off, as the front entrance of the mall is blown wide open. Everyone watches in shock and awe, as a tall muscular man kicks through the rubble. His enormous stature and thick long arms match his harsh voice and coarse blonde hair.

"Hello everybody! In case you pompous idiots haven't noticed, I'm here to rob the place! I'm sure some of us from the slums would appreciate a lot this valuable merchandise."

This was a pleasant surprise to Miki, as he didn't expect this sort of scenario to happen in these parts.

"We're not handing over anything to a brute like you!" Yells a brave citizen, as he walks up the man.

Towering above the brave man, the thief looks down at him and gives him a devious look.

"You are human, right?" he asks, looking down into the brave man’s eyes.

Noticing that look in his eyes, the once brave man gulps. "Yeah! So, w-"

The thief’s arm splits between the seams of each finger as he reaches forward. Each finger forms a long, squid-like tentacle before wrapping around the man and killing him instantly. Most of the onlookers begin to scatter, as many of them begin running and screaming in hopes of finding either an exit or someone who can help. Miki however, couldn't help but crack a smile at all of the hysteria.

"That was so awesome! Right, Miki?" Ylina shouts as the other citizens rush past her to get off the escalator.

Miki’s skin begins to claw, due to the almost of glee in her voice. With the expectant look in her eyes, he finds himself at a loss for words. How is he supposed to answer that?

"What? No, that was horrible!" He responds, in hopes that maybe it was just a sick joke.

"Liar! You were just smiling. I bet you're wondering how strong those tentacles are, aren't you?"

"What do you mean I'm a liar?!"

"Oops! Sorry, I guess I should’ve told you earlier, but I can re-experience situations from the last few minutes.”

“You can what? “I don’t get what you mean-” Miki manages to say, right before Ylina grabs hold of his shoulder. And her hands are indeed cold.

She stares into his eyes. “I can reach ten minutes so far, after counting seconds backwards, I call it 'Seconds'. I apologize if I’ve mentioned something about you didn’t tell me yourself, it’s just that you've already told me everything with Seconds."

With the screams of normal people filling the air, Ylina continues to explain further. Miki couldn't help but cringe at the idea that she knows everything about him. Her instinct grants her the ability to test new outcomes within previous situations, but she cannot influence the present through her recollection alone. She uses it to reexamine previous experiences, as she’ll always remember them.

Despite all his efforts, she has been aware of his violent and sadistic past as a young delinquent in Scarlet Radiance. And while he believed that it would ruin his chances, it turns out she is fascinated by it.

“…I think you’re pretty cool!” Ylina says while Miki turns away from her.

“Do you even hear what you’re saying?!” Miki shouts, not wanting to look back on the past that got him where he is today. “No one thought I was ‘cool’ back then! All of them were just scared of me.”

“And that’s what I think is so cool! You were so effective at it, while also being so creative also.” Ylina says, further expression her fascination. “It’s a shame things ended up the way they did though.”

Miki takes and deep sigh. "Listen, all of that was in the past. Besides, I've never killed anyone, how sadistic can I really be?"

"True, but you also mentioned how badly some of them really wanted to. Like your lizard-man classmate, whom you held hostage in an abandoned warehouse for four days straight while you kept dismembering his limbs and appendages even after they’d grown back."

"He called my mother a whore, besides he was lizard-man, it's his fault for being so regenerative-”

Miki pushes her away from the bottom of the escalator, as a flurry of tentacles launches towards them. Ylina tumbles to the porcelain floor of the shopping mall, while Miki is attempting to stand up. While they both narrowly avoided being killed by the squid-armed thief, Miki lost his right leg as a result.

“Sorry, but I hate being ignored.” The thief says with a grin.

Ylina nudges Miki in panic. “Golden Fist! If you listen to me, I’ll lead you to his openings.”

“Wait, I told you my street name also?!” Miki shouts in distress.

“While it’s true that your level of violence was extreme, it was never unwarranted. You were just protecting your parent’s honor, since you saw how hard they were working to raise you. You couldn't stand by and let your parents be bad-mouthed by those rich kids.”

“Yeah, but my methods-”

“You're not evil, you just tend to overdo it, which I like!”

Hearing her say, somehow made him feel at ease. And while all of this hasn’t sunk in yet, he realizes that maybe it’s worth giving her instinct a try. As Miki hobbles onto his left leg, he gives Ylina a nod.

As they’re whispering something to each other, the enormous thief laughs at his effort to stand against him and launches another flurry of tentacles. Looking back at Ylina, he notices her pointing to the right, so he hops in that direction.

“Oh, you’re fast on that one leg of yours-”

The man takes a swift strike to the side of the head from Miki’s boot, as his right leg is now moving independently from the rest of his body. Miki smiles in excitement, as it was liberating to be able to use his undead nature once again. If it weren’t for Ylina cluing him in on the fact that he can’t switch the direction of his tentacles mid-stretch, he wouldn’t have taken this chance to catch him by surprise.

Miki hops towards the disoriented man and grabs his leg midair, reattaching it, before dodging another flurry of his tentacles from the man's left arm. While he could keep avoiding this man’s flurry of tentacles, the only way he’d ever get near him would be to follow Ylina’s next instruction. When he looks back, he sees her making a throwing motion with her arms.

Miki detaches his head from his shoulders and flings it towards the man, forcing the thief to retract his tentacles.

“Desperate, aren’t we?! What’s throwing your head around gonna do?”

The thief averts his focus towards his flying head and retracts his tentacles in preparation for another strike. However, Miki’s body manages to get behind him, putting him into an arm lock while planting his foot into his spine.

“I know I’m handsome, but you shouldn't be so focused on my pretty face!”

Miki’s head reattaches to his body as he pulls away at the man's arms, ripping them out of the socket. The man screams out in pain as his blood squirts out everywhere, painting the pearlescent floors with crimson. When the police arrive at the scene, they take pause at the horrifying sight before them. Wielding both the thief’s arms, Miki stands triumphant over his body.

“See Miki! You saved everyone here including me, and you didn’t kill him...Miki?”

Miki picks the man up by his neck, with a smile on his face. He just realized that this man put his only option for a place to live in danger, so he starts thinking of ways he could punish him for that. Noticing the escalator shaft is broken open from the thief’s assault, he drags him along the ground towards it.

“Someone, please help me! This guy is a maniac!” the thief screams, begging for his life.

The human officers themselves watch on in fear, since they can’t tell who’s supposed to be the bad guy here. Miki kicks aside the plating over the shaft of the escalator and examines the metal belt clamoring along underneath, before lifting the man's body upward. Miki’s hand glows in anticipation, as each finger singes the thief’s neck with an abnormal heat as raises him over the turning mechanical belt.

“Miki! Stop! You’re a sadistic maniac, not a murderer...just hand him over to the cops!” Ylina yells in desperation, yet her face is flushed red from the sight of his ruthlessness.

Hearing pleas, Miki snaps out of it and tosses the man to the side, before walking away to let the cops handle the rest. Ylina notices his calm expression and gives him a thumbs up, as if he should be proud.

“See you’re in control, what is there to worry about?”

“The fact you had to tell me to stop. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to live a normal life.”

“Well, it’s a good thing we found each other. I should get back home; I need to prepare dinner for Caleb.” Ylina says taking out her smartphone.

Miki takes a deep sigh. “Sure, I’ll just head back to my place.”

“You don’t want to check out my place before moving in?”

“Dammit I guess it’s takeout for…Wait you’re still letting me move in?!”

“Yes, of course I am! You’ll never find anyone more obsessed with cruelty. Besides, maybe you can practice some of that cruelty on me.”

Not only did he find someone who would accept him, but she also has the same sadistic impulses. While Miki didn’t know whether or not this was a match made in heaven or hell, if it meant he had a free place to stay, he might as well pluck the petals off this masochistic flower.