Breaking and Envying

“Don’t you just love how easy it is to break into a house in Japan?” Pestilence said as she finished picking the lock. She glanced at me, more specifically, at my spirit.

“It’s not as easy if you don’t have someone to block the security cameras for you.”

I had fallen into the role of a camera cover, all because I could float through walls and show my form at will. Being too competent has its own drawbacks.

Pestilence's gaze stayed on me. I must have looked like one of those hung plushies from a carnival booth. She was taking way too long doing that.

“The door is unlocked. Get in before anything goes wrong,” I said.

“You look majestic here. I wish I had my phone with me.”

Again, couldn’t tell whether it was part of her act or sarcasm.

“I could move aside for the camera, and you could expect cops at your doorstep tomorrow.” A bluff, since Pestilence was in disguise.

“Oh, no. I sure hope my new roommate will save me.”

I smiled in response to her covert threat towards Raven. “Ten, nine, eight…”

“You are such a bully,” Pestilence sighed and opened the door.

She was the real bully. She was the one who suggested this heist and made it a condition for working for me.

The apartment was dark, but neither of us needed the light. The air was still and chilly, but neither of us would shiver in the cold. Pestilence closed the door and was about to pass through the foyer. Just in time for me to float inside through the walls.

“Take off your shoes,” I said.

“Aw. But I don't wanna.” I just glared at her, tired of talking to someone who acted like a kid. Weren't my days with Raven enough? Did she realize that Yūdai Kojima would get suspicious if he woke up to shoe prints in his living room?

Pestilence’s attitude was in stark contrast with the smart suit she was wearing. She cut her hair short to appear more masculine. The white ends migrated upwards, an identity that clung to Pestilence no matter what. Even if Pestilence shaved her head, short white hair would still immediately grow back like weeds. Other than that, she bound her chest and put on some makeup to look more androgynous.

Under my silent pressure, Pestilence shrugged and relented. “Sorry, I didn’t realize you wanted to see my feet.” She knew full well that it wasn’t the case, but arguing with her would just be plain useless. Pestilence removed both her sneakers and her socks. She could have left her socks on… Whatever. These details wouldn’t matter. Since Yūdai Kojima was still sound asleep in his room. Not a clue that Pestilence had just snatched his key card.

“Mission complete. Let’s go.” I wanted Pestilence to leave before she could make a mess. She stayed silent. Her eyes locked onto a framed picture of Kojima with his ex-wife.

“They got divorced because they couldn’t have a child,” Pestilence whispered. I had no idea why she had to say out loud something that both of us knew.

“What? Are you thinking of developing an infertility virus?” I asked.

“There’s already one. It’s called the cost of living.” She smiled and turned to leave.

***

The Chiba Bay area housed several power plants that had integrated magic into generating electricity. Manmade magic was still new, only around for a bit over two decades. Those who innovated in the field saw immense riches. To borrow from a saying, the early leech gets the blood and sweat of the average citizen.

Pestilence walked straight towards the Mukara Power Plant, a complex of several pyramidal structures of various sizes, reminiscent of the grand treasures of Egypt, only more metallic and with less soul. Even in the dead of night, the lights permeating the area would never sleep, as if those buildings were volcanoes, ready to erupt and wipe out humans on a whim.

This place doubled as a data center. The whole pipeline in one place. Information flowed to conjure magic to power the generators. And in this age, data was as valuable as gold. Adding to the strategic value of energy infrastructure, you would get security on par with military bases.

“I’m asking you again. Are you sure the card has enough clearance? He is only a security guard.” I didn’t want to clean up her mess, especially one that I knew little about, since she refused to even tell me what we would be stealing. I assumed it was a magical artifact.

“Who knows? That’s why you are here. To save me if that happens.”

“You know I can’t. My host body is too far away.”

“You can still show yourself and sweet-talk people. You’re hot, Dede-chan,” Pestilence said while reaching out to the electric fence. Spark burst forth from her skin; the zapping sound would have made any mortal cringe. Voltages flowed through her, but she still climbed unperturbed, as if the flickering was a mere special effect.

Security cameras caught her, but the guards were too busy waiting for their turn at the toilet to watch the live feed. Pestilence sent a package of coffee powder laced with laxatives to a guard, disguising it as a promotional gift. That guard lived alone and wasn’t fond of the drink, so naturally, he thought to share with their colleagues.

“The laxative is a type of bacteria,” I said.

“You’re so smart, Dede-chan. It’s a type of E. coli that releases its toxins at exactly this time.” She might have used the same type of bacteria on Raven.

Past the electric fence, Pestilence wandered past the half-filled parking lot to the shortest pyramid. The keycard she stole opened the back door for her. Icy air rushed out, giving the impression of a meat storage. That explained why that security guard, whose name I already forgot, set the temperature of his apartment so low.

There were more cameras along the way, but since no human was watching the screens, it didn’t matter. And even if they reviewed the footage after the fact, they wouldn’t find anything useful.

Pestilence strolled into the guard supply room, casually typed in the password on a keypad, and took out a pair of magical gloves from the unlocked safe. That object could shoot out wind charges, doubling as both a cooling device for the servers and a weapon.

“Can we leave with this? It looks fun enough.”

“You don’t get it, Dede-chan. I’m here to take back what belongs to me. Not to have fun.” Her excited expression said otherwise. But at least she gave me more information about the goal of this intrusion.

Pestilence strode along the corridor while putting on the magic gloves. She stopped in front of a doorway.

A doorway to the male washroom.

“Um.” I couldn’t think of words to say. Could it be that Pestilence was a closet pervert? On second thought, the answer had always been yes, and she had never been inside any closets.

“Before you say anything, I should be the scared one. Entering this place as a lone maiden.” Shamelessly, Pestilence swung the door open.

A whiff of ammonia embraced her, but that was it. There wasn’t anyone inside to yell at Pestilence. She barged right in, going straight for the row of urinals.

Was she…? Huh?

I opted to stay silent. It wouldn’t be good to get ahead of myself.

Pestilence reached for the urinal cake. She wouldn’t get sick from any of the bacteria latched onto it, but really? Was that really what she wanted to do in this place?

She ran her fingers around the edge of the urinal cake in a specific sequence, as if she were inputting a password into a keypad. Perhaps that was exactly it, because with a beep, the urinal sank into the floor, revealing a passage behind it.

Curious how Pestilence knew about this entrance, because my quasi-omniscience couldn’t detect it. What lay beyond the wall should be the female toilet. There shouldn’t be any space for a secret room.

Yet, a secret room was exactly what I saw. I floated into the hole with Pestilence trailing behind me, and we ended up in a grand hall that shouldn’t have existed. An impossible space that must have been sustained by magic.

Permeated with a light teal, an emptiness that was ordered only by columns of massive pillars. A faint mist drifted throughout. At the very center of this stadium-sized space, a glass display sat casually. Floating within it was a… mummified hand.

“Do you recognize it?” Pestilence asked.

The Hand of Glory. A processed hand severed from a hanged murderer. Few of these hands actually possessed magical powers, but those that did were coveted by many. I was about to speak. But…

ZING!

The next moment, a hole ripped through the fabric, fat, and bones at Pestilence’s stomach, exposing her inner organs. Blood dripped like a tap that wasn’t closed all the way.

And surprise! A twinge in my waist seized me. The deaths acting out in the background grew louder, their influence on me exacerbated by a startling realization. Though I couldn’t see my own spirit body, my intuition told me that half of my waist was missing.

Someone or something had injured my spirit, and I didn’t see it coming at all.