Shattering Humanity-Chapter 422: Poppa’s Pitiful Purpose

’Indeed your Lord is Allah Who created the heavens and the earth in six Days, then established Himself on the Throne. He makes the day and night overlap in rapid succession. He created the sun, the moon, and the stars—all subjected by His command. The creation and the command belong to Him alone. Blessed is Allah—Lord of all worlds!

Call upon your Lord humbly and secretly. Surely He does not like the transgressors.

Do not spread corruption in the land after it has been set in order. And call upon Him with hope and fear. Indeed, Allah’s mercy is always close to the good-doers.

He is the One Who sends the winds ushering in His mercy. When they bear heavy clouds, We drive them to a lifeless land and then cause rain to fall, producing every type of fruit. Similarly, We will bring the dead to life, so perhaps you will be mindful.’ -Al-A’raf 7:54-57

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[MamMon’s Apartments]

Sitting by herself on a brown leather couch, in the living room to the 2 bedroom apartment she woke up in, is the new young woman to the Erinyes group, Poppa.

The scared woman in her early 20s is holding a small mirror with both of her delicate hands. She examines the gifted symbiote in her left eye with a worried expression.

Making the skittish young lady jump in her seat is the other new addition to Erinyes. The over hyperactive inventor, Buzz, pops up from behind the couch and appears in the reflection.

Buzz: "So what’s your power!?"

Poppa drops the mirror on the hardwood floor, making it break.

With little Buzz leaning over the top of the three person couch, the two girls look at the damaged property and then at each other.

Buzz: "Oooo... that’s seven years of bad luck on you."

Poppa: "What?!

But you-

I didn’t--!"

Completely believing the superstition, Poppa sweats and looks back down in guilt, with tears in her eyes.

Nomad: "Don’t worry Hun..."

Walking into the living room, the large, muscular woman notices the small mess and walks over.

She bends over and picks up the damaged mirror.

Nomad: "...Just like everything else good and bad, ’luck’ is all dependent on the mindset."

Carefully gathering the loose pieces into the frame, the Aunt to the inventor brings the busted mirror into the kitchen and throws it in the trash.

She comes back into the living room to watch her energetic niece leap over the top of the couch and land next to the unsettled Poppa.

Looking at her new roommate, the two eye users EyeEngage, surprising the new user.

Buzz: "Name’s Hypatia, but all my buddies and family call me Buzz!

That’s a cool lefty Eyelien you got there!

I once knew someone with a one just like that! So you were gifted one of those symbiotes too?

By who?

What’s its ability?

Have you ever actually killed one of those aliens?!

I did! That shit was tight! The dumb monster screamed like a bitch before I finally ended its miserable and cursed existence!"

Awkwardly being bombarded with the blabbermouth’s questions and answers to unasked questions, Poppa is able to break free of her forced locked stare.

Buzz: "Do you know, I might have a breakthrough discovery regarding them?

I’ve done a lot of research on them while designing the SunSwords!"

The older woman sits across from them in the armchair, making it slightly creak and Poppa’s head twists to the sudden noise like an animal of prey.

Nomad: "Relax, Pumpkin!"

The reprimanded niece shuts up mid sentence, looks at her auntie, realizes her intrusive list of questions, and turns back towards her newest friend.

Lightly sweating Buzz chuckles off her embarrassment while rubbing the back of her head.

Buzz: "Sorry about that, I sometimes don’t know when to shut the Hell up, hahaha!"

Poppa: "I--Its okay.

My name is Poppa."

Buzz’s eyes turn into hearts and she squeals at the name.

Buzz: "Oh my God!

That’s name is so freaking cute!

It totally matches your adorable face!"

The compliment makes Poppa turn bright pink and she puts her hands on her cheeks, looking away.

Nomad smiles at the innocent interaction between the two young ladies.

She takes a deep breath and stares at the ceiling.

Nomad(thinking): *She’s just like you, Bro.

But smarter...*

She returns her gaze back to the girls on the couch.

Nomad: "So, Poppa..."

The new symbiote user looks over but avoids making eye contact with the older military woman.

Nomad: "... What’s your story?

How did you eventually end up at New Dodge?

Do you have any family back in Vinland?

What do you like to eat?"

Buzz is quietly rocking back and forth, waiting for her new friend to speak. Her black and teal hair bobs with her movements.

Poppa: "I-I don’t have any family left alive.

My grandparents from my mum’s side took care of me, until my grandmother passed away from heart disease. Then it was just me and my grandpa...

Well...for about two years, until he died in a mugging."

Nomad: "I’m sorry to hear that.

Did they ever catch the person who did it?"

Poppa nods and her new symbiote tears up as her memories come rushing in, being shared with the unnaturally created creature.

A single snowflake falls from the newly acquired lefty, followed by a liquid tear from her purple human eye.

Poppa: "The man who did it turned himself in after two days.

I guess the final words of my grandfather and his attempt to talk the guy out of it, tugged at his conscious until the killer went to the authorities and confessed."

Listening closely to the dramatic story, both the Aunt and niece are wide eyed by the unusual reveal.

Buzz: "Damn dude!

What did he say to be able to live rent free in that guy’s head?"

Poppa(shrugs): "He never completely disclosed that information to police or the judge. His confession and guilty plea was all they needed to convict him."

Nomad thinks about the backstory but then proceeds to ask more questions, like her younger family member.

Nomad: "Well what happened after that?

Where did you go?"

Pulling out a small rose golden necklace from her shirt collar, Poppa looks at it while she willfully continues telling her tragic personal business to the people she just met.

Poppa: "I didn’t have to go anywhere.

I was 18 at the time. So I was seen as an adult, no matter the unfortunate circumstance.

Luckily, in both my grandparents wills I was given their home, possessions, and property.

I was forced to get a job as a police dispatcher, instead of going to college."

As if upset by the next Chapter in Poppa’s story, Buzz puts her head in her hands.

Buzz: "Arghhh!

You worked for the blue?!

What a sellout!"

Nomad: "Buzz, don’t be one of those people.

You aren’t a trouble maker, and you’re rational.

Besides, dispatch and the actual police force aren’t the same thing. Don’t chastise her for doing what she had to." 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

Pouting and turning away from Poppa on the same couch, Buzz shows how much she has been influenced by Don Laban Daemon’s "gangster" ideology.

Buzz(mumbles): "Still a snitch."

Moving on from the unrelated anti authoritarian interjection, Nomad leans back in her chair. Using her pointer and thumb to message the bridge of her nose, Nomad processes the young woman’s story.

After a moment of silence, the tension in the room has calmed down, and Nomad tries to get the shy Poppa to open up more.

She smiles once more.

Nomad: "So, what do you like to do in your spare time?

Do you have any hobbies?"

With attention deficit as her main weakness, Buzz forgets all about Poppa’s involvement with police and turns quickly.

The inventor is clearly interested in her response.

However, after the questioned woman takes her time to think, she shakes her head.

Poppa: "No.

Before their deaths, I spent all my life helping and spending time with my elderly grandparents. So I never made friends.

Like I said, I had originally planned to go to school, but I was undecided on what for.

After I had new obligations, I had to usually work strenuous hours to pay bills, and my depression made me sleep whenever I had free time.

When the end of the world happened, I moved from surviving group to group. For the past three years, I managed to barely survive and get away, when there were people who helped me survive, but they all would end up getting caught by those monsters sooner or later.

Nomad: "You heard the rumors of safety on the East Coast, and you kept moving that way until you were found by Vinland Scouts, right?"

Poppa nods with a "mhm". She tucks her necklace back into her shirt.

Buzz: "But what’s your purpose?"

Both Nomad and Poppa looks shocked by the single, serious, and deep question.

As if never really thinking about it herself, Poppa immediately gets tears in both her heterospecies ocular sensors with her confident answer.

Poppa: "M-My purpose...

Even though I feel like I never had a choice, I think my purpose has always been to be such a pitiful mess, I become a burden for others to look after."

Nomad gives the self depreciating young lady a look of sincere pity.

Nomad(thinking): *Poor girl.

She may actually have a few mental demons if she’s got such low self confidence already.*

With shadows over her eyes, Buzz gets up and walks away towards the bathroom without a single word.