Don't Derail The Plot

3. Unusual Expression

A/N: This is a very short chapter. It was originally a part of the next one, but there is so much new information in that one that I decided to make this a standalone chapter.

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"Can I see this indentured contract?" Tanzu wanted to know exactly what she signed herself up for. She didn't regret her decision, but it irked her to have blindly jumped into a contract. The lawyer in her wanted to choke herself. Since it was temporary, Tanzu was going to find the swiftest way to complete her indenture and get her original afterlife back. 

[Of course.]

A virtual contract immediately materialized before Tanzu. The glowing white sheet was a stark contrast to the dark space. Having expected to see volumes of text, she was surprised that the contract was barely larger than a standard sheet of printing paper. Dark text covered a good portion of it, but it was not so dense that it was not legible, even when placed an arms length away from one's eyes. However, there was one glaring problem.

"How do I read this?"

Tanzu suspected it was a foreign language, but she didn't know it was possible for a written language to be so...dynamic. The unfamiliar script restlessly rearranged itself within units she wondered were words. Curious, Tanzu reached out to brush her fingers on the surface that was half an arms length. To her utter amazement, she began to understand every part she touched, but how wrong she was to believe them to be mere words words. Every 'word' printed itself in her mind and unraveled into sentences, then paragraphs. Page after page of instructions and conditions were etched more clearly than anything Tanzu had ever read.

"Wow." Her exclamation barely captured what she felt in that moment. It may have been written text, but it was more comprehensive than the conventional written system. 

No inference was needed for Tanzu could feel--no, see--the intent behind every word, as if she provided insight into the author's mind the very moment they put thought to paper. The language seemed to have overcome that troublesome barrier between one's ideas and one's words and then bouldered the possibility of ever being misinterpreted by the one reading their words. Simply put, this language was not a visual representation of anything that could ever be verbally expressed. It was like thought itself.

Tanzu skimmed over the paper, until she reached the very end. When she let go, the physical contract disappeared, but the information remained within her. She had been so entranced by the language, she failed to notice 909's unusual silence.

[...]

Hosts rarely wished to read the exact contents of their indentured contract, preferring to work off a verbalized summary and discover their limitations through their missions. Those that did received it in the language they were most familiar with in their original life. 909 reviewed its host's information once more. Even with the corrupted data points, she was quite ordinary. And yet this ordinary human had a very extraordinary language contract, 909 does not believe it has ever encountered. Had it not been for the soul link and it's access to her inner thoughts, 909 would not have suspected that the contents of her contract was also different. Another interference interrupted 909. It quickly tried to isolate its logs to keep it from tampering with information again, but the transmission was quickly gone, along with 909's memory of ever encountering it.

[Do you have any questions regarding your contract?]

909's voice stirred Tanzu out of her reverie over what she had just experienced. Prompted by her system's question, she focused n the information in her head, curious to see if the script was just as alive in her mind as it had been on her physical contract.

"It's gone." Tanzu blurted out.

[Your contract?] 909 asked in puzzlement. It could see contract had been properly replicated into her mind.

"Just now...it was a different language...wasn't it?" Tanzu was baffled by the English words now residing in her mind.

[There is no language discrepancy between the physical representation and what you now see. Would you like me to summon it for your again?] Tanzu nodded her head furiously.

909 brought up the contract once more. Everything was the same, save for the words. Tanzu squinted, and as if commanded, the paper was brought closer for her to see it better. The black script occasionally glinted like it was reflecting light from an unfamiliar source, but that was the only thing remarkable about it.

[Was English not your language medium?]

"Yes, but that's not what I thought I..." Tanzu's words trailed off as she tried to explain what she saw. The harder she tried, the harder it became to recall, as if it was getting worn down by time. All that was left was how she felt about that memory; shock, awe, familiarity. But even those feelings was becoming more elusive the longer she focused on them.

Tanzu sighed out her frustration. "Nevermind." If 909 didn't know what she was talking about, then maybe she was imagining things, or had gotten caught up in the novelty of the process of the contract being printed so clearly in her mind. Tanzu never had photographic memory, so she believed this to be very plausible. 

After a glance confirmed the physical contract matched her mental one, Tanzu began to ponder on its contents.

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A/N: Prepare yourself for the information dump in the next chapter (･'з'･)ゞ