"Look at this. Do you recognize it?" A man held up an item in his hand, almost shoving it to my face.

"Don't thrust that thing to my face! I won't eat it." I angrily replied as I pushed him away.

"Ah sorry, sorry. So, what do you think this is, Darheil?" asked the man after taking some distance away from me.

Darheil Quicksilver, that's my name. My looks are decent but it's a bit... Anyways, back in the day, said looks isn't one I can be proud of. It's not like I'm ugly or anything, it's the opposite rather. It's a rather sensitive topic, I hope you understand.

My body is quite lean, you could even say it's a bit thin. For my appearance... I have a hair glowing in silver and rather soft facial features. I also have a baby face but if you know me from back then, you'll be shocked by the change.

"That thing...? That's just a leaf, right...? Oh! Is that one of the new matter that appeared after the Great Devastation?" I excitedly said.

"You got it!" The other man affirmed my guess.

"That's my first time seeing that... know it's properties, Reiner?" I asked Reiner.

Reiner Claymore, one of my colleagues. A man with youthful features. Together with some other people, we work at a lab.

He's also lean and fit like me but he's better overall. Together with his rather masculine and youthful looks, he's a total lady killer! I'm quite envious, to be honest.

"We don't know for now. It's just recently discovered deep underground. I know it sounds a bit unbelievable for a plant to survive deep within the earth's crust, but all new matters we gathered till now are quite unbelievable too." Reiner said, in an excited tone. He's like a kid who found a new toy to play with.

The leaf, an indigo-colored leaf with faint blue luminescence exuding out from it. It feels mystical to gaze upon it. Even I can't wait to know it's properties.

"Yeah, people even built a floating island. But it's the first time for a plant to be a new matter that appeared after the incident. This is the first time an organic being appeared... Won't there be animals at this rate?"

"It's too late to worry about that. Older people said that our hair isn't like this in the past, also your eyes are bizarre even on modern standards." Reiner said pointing at his own crimson hair and my eyes.

Back in the day, according to the older generation, our hair is mostly black, brown, and blonde. Other colors are unusual and most of the time it's just dyed and unnatural.

They said that their hair suddenly turned to other colors overnight baffling them. This is the first strange occurrence before the discovery of new matters.

Some of them even had their eye color changed. This is too mystical and unscientific that still today, they're researching what happened back then.

Many theories have been made but none of them is proven right up till now.

Going back to the topic, Reiner has hair colored in crimson while his eyes are brown. While I have hair of silver hue with almost the same color as my eyes. From the opinion of other people, I seem dreamy and ethereal, detached from the world.

There's nothing special about my eyes other than the appearance and the fact that I could still see the world properly.

Various researchers are also researching if there's a difference in sight between normal people and the ones whose eye color changed. No real progress is made other than minor differences like noticing a certain color faster and something along the lines.

"You're right about that. It's almost guaranteed that an animal that we know will suddenly change their appearance... I'm getting side-tracked here but, is that leaf going to be our next research subject?"

Before Reiner gets a chance to answer my question, I heard footsteps resounding from behind Reiner. Soon I spotted a certain person.

"What are you two discussing?" That person asked, standing behind Reiner.

"Wah! don't surprise me! ...So it's just you Vincent. Well, we're talking about this leaf here" Reiner replied to Vincent.

Vincent Wolfhart, another one of my colleagues. This, here, is a block of ice. Just kidding! He's just always composed, an icy aura oozes out of him that makes you think he's literally ice. He's the opposite of Reiner so to speak.

Like every other person in the lab, he's also lean... Anyways, his facial feature is delicate and a bit sharp, his expression is always a solemn one, and rarely does he smile. It almost led me into thinking that he has facial nerve paralysis. He's a good guy, nonetheless.

His hair is blonde and his eyes are blue. A common color from back then but a bit rare in the current time.

"Oh, that one. It'll be our next research subject... also Reiner, why did you just ran off with a sample?" Vincent coldly stared at Reiner.

"Sorry! I forgot to ask for permission... It's just too interesting." Reiner sullenly replied.

"Haa... Just take care not to do it again in the future..." Vincent relented.

"Anyways, there's only a few minutes left till we go back to work. The break doesn't last forever." Vincent added.

"Oh crap! I haven't eaten yet." shouted Reiner grimly.

"You better hurry. Time is running up." Vincent reminded him.

"Alright, I'm off!" said Reiner as he hurriedly dashed off to somewhere.

Reiner being Reiner doing Reiner things... Good thing I already ate earlier. I should probably just wait for time to pass.

"What will you be doing?" Vincent asked me.

"I'll just wait for time to pass. Oh, maybe I'll read something." I said as I stretched my arms outwards.

"You really like reading, huh? I think you just read pretty much every type of writing there is." Vincent said, amazed.

"Yeah? Well, reading does help you escape from the constraints of reality. It also helps to refresh your knowledge, providing some entertainment depending on which book you read." I stated my opinion.

"Go on then. I'll just remind the others that the break is almost over." Vincent said, leaving almost immediately.

'He's like a supervisor' I thought, but his image fits perfectly for the job.

What should I read? Among the many books available here in the lab as well as books that carried... Which among them did I not read yet..?

'I should probably continue reading this one.' I grabbed a book from the bag I carried.

“Deep Within Ourselves”, a self-enlightenment book about guilt.

Ever wanted to become something you're not? Creating the ideal persona, this book is about that. It follows the story of a man who repeatedly made mistakes and crafted lies, building a persona for himself. He is smart and
intelligent; kind and diligent.

One day, he got fed up with this act and chose to run away. Every night, he dreamt of his friends learning his true personality, that he is the exact opposite of what they thought of him. It scared him.

He saw a dream different from the rest, in there, he is endlessly running. Chasing after the light in front of him. However, he abruptly came into a stop because of shackles holding him down. He knows what it is, guilt.

They separated for a long time but all of them coincidentally met each other again in a group. The Protagonist, Rei, has changed a lot and isn't recognized by others. The only exception is one girl, Liera, who recognized him
shortly after they get together.

What part am I again, page 81... Ah, I think this is one emotional scene. Let me read it--

"Rei, I..."

"...It's not me..."

Looking down, I muttered softly. My voice easily dissipated by the wind.

"Huh?"

"I said this back then but it's not me that you should be saying this..."

She bit her lips softly but she didn't back down.

"...I know... but, I really do like you."

"That person is gone, I'm not who I am in the past. The past me is crafted by my lies, I'm a big liar."

"I know. You're a liar."

"Now that you get it, I'll..."

Before I even finished my sentence, she shouted.

"But! Even if you deny it, even if it's just a lie, I love what you really are."

"I'm saying tha-"

"You're just lying to yourself. How many times do you have to deny that part of yourself!?"

Without giving me any chance of rebuttal, she continued.

"You always say that you're not you, you're not you. Even if the past you isn't what you are right now, you're still the one who took care of me. Our memories still remain!"

She breathed in and out to compose herself. I took this chance to speak.

"You know, I really hate you. How many times do I have to reject you till you're satisfied?"

"I-"

"Enough, I don't want to partake in this."

 

I turned around and prepared to leave. However, just as I took my first step, I stopped.

She embraced my body from behind to keep me from leaving.

"...D...on't.. go..."

A small voice escaped her lips. I noticed something, her voice is... shaking?

I leaned back and the first thing I saw is her face. Tears are welling up within her closed eyes, and it fell down her cheeks. Why is she crying?

"...Do..n't.. le..a...ve.. m..e.. aga..in.."

I'm lost and I don't know what to do in this situation. I tried asking her.

"What's wro--

*Krrrr* *Krrrr*

My phone suddenly vibrated, breaking my immersion on what I'm reading. I checked what it is, it seems like there are only 5 minutes left till work starts.

I can hear hurried footsteps outside the room, and there he is. Reiner managed to catch up just before the working hours.

I reluctantly stored my book away and started preparing. 'Just when it's getting good!' I grumbled in my mind.

Vincent already arrived at some point while I'm reading. He looked at his watch, stood up, and saidーー

"Time for work." he took some plant placed on a pot as well as some container on the table.

I recognize this plant, or more specifically, the leaves. It's what Reiner grabbed carelessly earlier. It's our supposed research subject.

It really is a Plant-type New Matter, the first one to be discovered. From the looks of the plant, it's just like a sapling of a tree. It has quite a few leaves hanging from branches but it still looks mystifying. The container
probably had leaves, roots, or the branches stored in it.

As a precaution though, it's encased in a glass container with a tube supplying it with carbon dioxide(?). But I don't know if that's its food.

It has amber-colored branches and indigo-colored leaves. The leaves are exuding faint blue luminescence from it. I wonder what it does?