Time for Ieva's day of déjà vu

6:24

Ieva shook the sleepy haze from her eyes. Well, what remained of it anyway. Having woken up from such a realistic dream, especially the way it ended, she still felt her heartbeat pulse in her head.

"Ugh." She tilted her head to left shoulders, and then to her right one. "Aaahhh..." A tiny smile crept onto her lips as joints in her neck clicked audibly. Hell, this feeling was amazing.

Then, she took off the rest of sheets from herself and slowly got up. After ensuring that the curtains and door to her room were closed, she undressed from her bra and panties, and made a short trip towards the dresser. Sitting on a chair right next to it, she pulled a drawer, and after rummaging through it a little, she took out a new set of underwear for herself to wear.

After donning the most important pieces of cloth, she lazily went through the room and picked up some shirt that could still be worn.

'Hell, Hilda could have taken some clothes already. I'm running out of wearables here.' She thought, taking a stroll to her sister's room. However, she was surprised to see the bed in perfect order, seemingly not a sign of anyone sleeping in it lately. Moreover...

'Where's she?' Ieva took a look around the room, but failed to see Hilda. No, why? Where has she gone? 'Has she gone to 13th floor or something?'

After a few seconds, she shrugged. Hilda was reasonable, she wouldn't have gone early if there wasn't a reason.

6:31

Slowly, she made it out of her room and walked over to the kitchen. Without even thinking, she opened the fridge and grabbed a bottle. After uncorking it, she chugged some of its contents, and put it back in the fridge. However, as she finally focused her eyes, she noticed something weird.

'Didn't I buy 2 bottles yesterday...?' She looked through the fridge, and even though she spent nearly 2 minutes on searching, she failed to find any reserves she thought she'd bought. 'Hell... where did they go to? Did I already drink them? I think I need to slow down with the juice.' She thought as she closed the fridge.

And then, she opened it again, feeling some hunger eat her from within. Not wanting to waste any time, she grabbed a large sausage and bit off a large portion of it. While still chewing, she fired up her phone. While surfing the net, she soon fired up her Discord app. As unprofessional as it sounded, she did take most of her commissions though either Discord or Reddit. Well, not that she cared for public opinion. She was the best tinkerer around, nobody had a say about her ways, at least if they wanted an opportunity to get a piece of her technology.

Immediately, she got greeted by a load of notifications. Spam messages, bots, or users; well, she had some people to take care of the servers. But then, she noticed a single message that stuck out. A direct message.

@Merchant King: Hello, miss Tinkerer. Is it possible to commission a piece of equipment? [23:10]
Please answer as soon as possible. We will pay good value for your efforts. [23:16]

@Lithium: What do you mean? [06:40]

@Merchant King: Right down to the business I see. We want to commission a special type of a shield for our tankers.

@Lithium: Wait a goddamn second, MK.

@Merchant King: ???

@Lithium: I said I'll make it. What do you want from me now?!

@Merchant King: I'm sorry? I'm not following?

@Lithium: We struck the deal yesterday. Are you trying to go back on your word?

@Merchant King: Miss Tinkerer, I believe you mixed some facts. I only tried to reach out to you yesterday. There was no deal made.

'The fuck you mean?! We've been bargaining for 2 hours!' She thought with outrage as she suddenly swiped up, wanting to send him a screenshot of their talk from the day before. However... She found nothing. 'Where is it? Where the fuck is it?!'

She spent a few minutes searching, but still, there was nothing. Actually, when she looked into other conversations, she found a strange trend. All her talks she'd had the day before ended differently from what she remembered. No, wait... what was going on?!

Still, Ieva kept at least a little of her cool. Yeah, it was natural to think of coincidences. A dream could reflect reality to some extent, after all.

@Lithium: My bad. I thought of another customer. So, what kind of equipment did you want?

'It'd be funny if he said shield projectors like in that dream.' She chuckled lightly, awaiting a response.

@Merchant King: We'd like to order 150 shield projectors made of C-rank batteries. We'll provide all materials necessary, as well as proper payment.

Ieva looked at the screen in shock. No way... there was no way this could be true, right? 'Even the amount is the same? No... did I just have a prophetic dream?' She thought, putting the phone down as she sat on the couch, her knees weak. No... there must be a rational explanation to this. Surely, she would be able to dream of this conversation, right?

With shaky hands, she slowly replied.

@Lithium: Alright. But this will have a large cost.

@Merchant King: Of course, we expect great prices for your quality, miss Tinkerer. Please state your price and we'll see if we have a deal.

@Lithium: I want a 8.8 cm Flak 41. Its condition doesn't matter much, I just want it to be operational.

@Merchant King: That is a very specific result. However, you do know that outside world doesn't allow weapon transport inside of Tower without proper authorization, right?

@Lithium: That is my final price. You won't bargain with me. Take it or leave it.

@Merchant King: ...
Can we instead provide you with blueprints for it? Smuggling that thing to the Tower could be quite bothersome for us.

@Lithium: Do you think I'm dumb? I can find blueprints on the net. I want a live model. Send it in pieces over a few months. And don't pretend you haven't smuggled weapons to Tower before.

@Merchant King: ...
Alright then. We'll try to get it within next 3 months. In the meantime, we'll provide you with the materials.

@Lithium: I expect all of it to arrive by time I'm done. Pleasure doing business with you.

And then, she threw her phone to her side. This was... weird. She clearly remembered a conversation with Michel that ended in the same way, albeit that one took nearly 2 hours of stepping down from her price. Originally, she wanted a tank turret from Leopard 2. To her, it was a fair price for making over 100 shields. In fact, she wanted to use it to create a defense system against Shadow Cult. However, due to those tanks being quite often in use nowadays, it was decided that the only one she would be getting was a rather broken one (since stealing a working one would bring attention), from which she'd have no use. Bit by bit, the two of them finally reached an old German antiaircraft gun that they agreed to provide in pieces. Well, perhaps the reason she finished the conversation so fast was because she was so adamant this time?

'Wait... this time?! What am I thinking?! It' not like this already happened...' She then thought about Youngwoo. '...right?'

No, don't think like that. A dream is a dream, prophetic or not. She might've had a gut feeling basing on the experiences of past months, but that was it. Surely, there was no way she already saw some kind of a future... right?

'No, wait... I can't have gotten a clairvoyance skill, right? I don't remember getting one, at least.' Still, just to make sure, she summoned her status in the Tower.

[Ieva Coull
Rank: E
Alias: Tinkerer]

[Skills:

[Tinkering (passive) (A)]
[Disassemble (B)]
[I can and WILL eat this (E)]
[Appraisal (B)]
[Enchant (C)]
[Great Magician Bond (passive) (F)]]

She froze on spot. No... no... no! How...? She swiped her hand, dismissing the screen, and then brought it up again. Still, that new skill, the one she got 'in her dream'... it was in there, laid bare for her to see. Her hands started shaking. No, actually, it was her entire body. A wave of fear and stress hit her, mixed with confusion and shock.

It didn't make sense for this skill to be here. No, not in a thousand years should it be there. It defied reality as she knew it. If she only dreamed about getting it... how could it be there? She quickly tapped on it, bringing up its information.

[Great Magician Bond (passive)

Rank: F

You are connected to the soul of a magician who had conquered the Tower in the distant past. You may see the soul of Iris Pionstrife, and even learn skills from them (if they're willing).

However, you will sometimes share emotions with Great Magician when in close proximity.]

She felt a tear escape her eye and mix with sweat that she was covered in. Suddenly, she felt like it was a scorcher in the room. Her mind stopped in one spot. She couldn't believe it. She didn't want to believe it. It couldn't be true. It was just a dream. But then, how could this skill manifest? But then...

'Lee... who is he?' She thought about him for a moment. In the 'dream', he told her to kill him. He didn't seem to care about his life. And then he said something else. 'Fuck you and I'll see you tomorrow.' Those were the last words she remembered from him before she woke up. But... that didn't make sense, did it? 'What the hell is he?'

No... this made less and less sense now. How could it be? No, wait, stop. Think. Think about it. Could it be a skill? To show prophecies to others? When she thought about it, it kind of made some sense, but that didn't explain how she got that skill... then again, was there even an explanation to this phenomenon?

'It's either a skill nobody knows about, or some kind of a mind control and clairvoyance combo...?' She thought about it. Yes, the second theory made some sense. Maybe he prophesied the future and hallucinated her, giving her a skill when she was in trance? Or something of the sorts? Hmm...

With an idea in her mind, she took hold of her phone. Quickly, she dialed a number. And waited. And waited... until.

"...Hello? Ya know what time it is, Ieva?" Donnie, who just picked the call, sounded quite sleepy. However, Ieva didn't care one bit.

"It's important."

"Figured. Is it about Lee?"

"Yeah. Say, did he show any kind of a mind control skill? Or clairvoyance?"

"...where did ya get that from?"

"Just answer me. Is there anything about him that could imply he can control minds or see the future?"

"...uh... I think there's something." Donnie sounded a little unsure. "I ain't sure 100%, but there's some kind of a weird aura around him, kinda telling me that he's worth trusting. It's quite weird, to be honest, surely a skill, but it didn't work all the time. And about clairvoyance, no idea."

"...I see. Alright, thanks."

"Wait, about that Frid-" But she already hung up on him. She now had at least something to work with. Well, but there was one thing that remained. How would she go about it now?

She wasn't sure what to do. She needed to assess the situation as calmly as possible. First of all, she needed a definitive answer about whether Lee was a part of Shadow Cult or not. Second, she needed to know the extent of his power. Was she already under his effect? Was it permanent?

8:22

She walked into the workshop, and entered her workplace. After locking the door, she changed the password to her computer (using a RNG machine, just to be sure that it wouldn't be influenced by anything other than what she wanted), and then she walked towards the table where she had the generator set up. It looked exactly as she'd left it, a rather small box with three slots for batteries. But... wait, something was wrong.

Ieva traced back what she remembered. She clearly remembered getting the battery from Hilda and putting it in the machine. Yes, she'd done that. But... if she was under influence of a hallucination skill, how could Lee know how the workshop looked? Hell, she knew that even the Clairvoyant had limits to what details she saw. But, Ieva remembered everything from that 'dream'. A half-empty can of Cola she forgot to drink, its semi-edible taste (it's been standing around for a week at least), the location of all the screws and tools, hell, even that one annoying cobweb that obstructed a part of lamp above her head, she knew and remembered all of that.

'If he's a Clairvoyant, he's more powerful than Norma... could he be a second SS-rank?' She thought as she grabbed the screwdriver closest to her. 'But... that still doesn't explain that skill I got...'

And there was another issue in here. If he knew the future, why would he show it to her? He could've just avoided it, so why did he do it? Was he proving a point to her? Or did he try to intimidate her? No... that didn't make sense.

'With clairvoyance of scale bigger than Norma Jacobsen, he wouldn't even need to worry about me... so why the hassle? Or... is his skill triggered randomly? Hmm...' She put a hand on her chin. For now, there was only one thing she'd need to do. Monitor him and decide what to do next.

16:20

The time was going on, and Ieva could feel the feeling of déjà vu sweep over her a hundred times over. Everything was nearly exactly the same as she saw in her dream. There were 2 tinkerers who needed her help with a broken generator they couldn't get working - it was an easy 10 minute fix. Someone came to commission an enchant on their bow - she managed to get exactly the same thing as in the dream. Request after request, people one after another, the day was exactly the same as she'd seen.

Donnie came around, but he didn't get to tell her what happened on 12th floor. Instead, it was Ieva who asked him some pretty specific questions. After he answered 'Yes' to the final one, she knew her suspicions were fulfilling entirely, and she contacted all the people who worked under her.

With a single command, 32 drones she'd created were centered on Lee Youngwoo, just outside of the range he'd be able to see them, but close enough to see and relay what happened.

She'd seen him train in the park for nearly 5 hours straight, and to be honest, there was something weird about him back then. He was moving sluggishly with his sword, as if he was provoking her. As if he was saying 'take a good look'. She watched Youngwoo go to the Gate with Mobius, and gritted her teeth. Shadow Cult, it seemed that he really was with them.

By the time he went out of the Gate, all the drones were already in position. Nearly half of them were armed and ready to fire at a press of a button, and the other half were recording every move Lee made. She entered a quick command for drones to send the data relayed onto a safe server in case anything happened. She gave the password to the server to the few people she felt like she could trust, encrypted with a timer that would allow access in a few days. Better safe than sorry, she thought.

After she went out and started walking towards the Gate, she monitored his location on a map. The route he was taking was showing that he was clearly going towards the main park in Safe Zone. 'Is he... inviting me?' A strange thought appeared in her mind. 'Does he want to have a talk with me?' She already understood that this park was a somewhat recurring place in his visits. He sometimes appeared there before he saved her and Hilda, but after he did that, he appeared in there at least 3 times in the few days that he was around in Safe Zone. Surely, there was a pattern here. He was inviting her. But... what did he want? Just to mess with her? To propose her cooperation? Or to give her a warning? Well, only one way to find out.

Slowly, she took her steps towards the location. She only had to walk for about 2 minutes, but she still hurried as much as she could. She fidgeted with the knife in her pocket, feeling her heart rise to her throat. She was nervous. Hell, she was actually afraid. What wouldn't she do to get Hilda's Calm Mind right now. But, she was **** to do it.

As she stepped behind him, she noticed that weird woman from the dream, exactly as she'd remembered her. Robe, long, white hair, and violet eyes, that were piercing her. Her hand shook in her pocket.

'W-Why am I seeing her?!' Her mind suddenly stopped working. So far, she was sure that what she dreamed about was a dream, but... this went beyond that. There was no way... was there? That woman was supposed to be sealed in a 'Wardstone' as they called it, right? No, wait, what? Ieva could feel her brain becoming soft. This was overloading her understanding.

Still, she **** herself to approach him. With stress taking over her, she simply lunged at him, hugging him. As he was too startled to respond, she sneaked her knife under his shirt, just enough so that people in the distance couldn't see what was happening.

"You have some explaining to do." She looked at Youngwoo, pressing the knife under his shirt. "Both of you." She glanced towards Iris, who was floating in front of them both.

"Ieva? W-What are you doing?" He asked, and tried to move away. However, she pressed the knife just a little bit, and he stopped.

Fear. Anger. Shock. She felt clearly all those emotions, but there was a glint of another one in there. There was a slight amount of annoyance as she asked:

"Lee. Who the fuck are you?" He could feel her teeth gritting lightly. "And you." She turned to the woman who appeared when she got the skill in her 'dream'. "What he fuck did you do to me?!"

"Would you look at that." Replied the woman, her eyes emphasizing the faint ridicule of her tone. She smiled towards them both. "My first bond found us."