How I Wish Honesty Wouldn’t Expose Me

“So… what do we do now?” Raven asked. She pointed at E.T., who was bleeding out on the floor.

“Tie him up and then ask for help.”

“Okay… ouch!” Raven dropped the bow and clutched her stomach. The pain finally caught up with her; the adrenaline had worn off. Fighting through that burning sensation, she repurposed the blanket into a rope, restraining E.T.’s limbs.

She wobbled out into the halls and didn’t take long to find help. The nurses who arrived at the scene had no idea what to make of the glowing arrow still embedded in E.T.’s wound, but they did their job, performing first aid. They were about to transfer him to the emergency room.

“We will take it from here,” a man said, approaching through the corridor. He had a burgundy suit, paired with sunglasses that couldn’t completely obscure the red gleam in his eyes. War had switched to another vessel. The same team of paramedics who treated Raven rushed forth from behind him.

“Excuse me, who are you?” A nurse asked.

One paramedic handed the nurse a mobile phone with an ongoing call. “We have your supervisor’s approval.”

The claim was verified, and the nurses reluctantly stepped aside. The paramedics hauled E.T. onto a gurney and carted him off, out of our sight.

The nurses also took off, hurrying back to their other duties. War led Raven back into the private room, taking care not to step on the smeared blood on the floor.

“You can rest on the bed,” War said with a tone that one would use for children. Raven lay down without complaint, releasing a long exhale once her body hit the mattress.

War sat on a chair next to the bed, giving Raven a minute of respite. He then reached into his chest pocket, retrieving a comma-shaped jade object and setting it on his open palm. “Do you know what this is?”

I knew exactly what it was, but I couldn’t stand his condescending tone. “Something you sell to tourists at a high price.”

“No, it is the Eight-Foot Curved Jewel.”

I didn’t deign to tell him that I was joking, just quietly snatching the jewel from him, in case he would have second thoughts about giving it to me. A mild heat poured from the jewel into Raven’s hand; it circulated throughout her body, dissolving any pain it came across. On second glance, the jewel actually looked a lot like a fetus.

“Excuse me, may I ask, who is this gentleman?” Raven fidgeted.

“Don’t ask,” I said telepathically. She already asked, but I just had to say it.

War gave her a uniform deep bow. “We haven't officially met. I'm War, the Red Horseman.”

“Nice to meet you, I’m-”

War dismissed her with a wave. “I know your name. Let’s move on to the main topic. To save your life, Death promised to do me a favor. The plan is for you to destroy the servers gradually and kill Pestilence.” Raven flinched at the word ‘kill’.

Kill Pestilence. He just had to shove another task onto me. But when it came to destroying the AI, it shouldn’t be too difficult. I was confident I could do it gradually enough so that not too much magic would be released at once. My natural resistance as a horseman, along with the fetus jewel, should be able to protect Raven from the fallout.

“And the AI, what if it escapes through the Internet?” I asked through Raven’s voice.

“It can’t. I have placed a barrier around the data center that restricts how much information can get out,” War said while typing on his phone.

“But I could get out.” Back when I visited Pestilence as a spirit, I didn’t even notice the alleged barrier. I puffed up my chest; it was just so addictive to find flaws in War’s statement.

“Your spirit was an exception.” Did he realize how little confidence this statement inspired? How could he know the AI wasn’t an exception too? There was also another clear flaw in this plan.

“Pestilence could just repeat the same plan after she reincarnates.”

“We will just have to kill her again.” He somehow assumed that I would take on this never-ending task. This was more work than he initially stated in our negotiation; guess this is how it felt to sign an exploitative contract.

“That sounds so annoying,” I said, trying to skirt the responsibility.

“There is no better way, even though her plan is so stupid. Does she realize that even if she succeeds, she could also be erased by the artificial intelligence?” His words forced me to mull over this puzzling fact. Pestilence’s scheme hinged on the AI evolving magic that could kill her, but who could say the magic wouldn’t affect her consciousness?

As long as information about Pestilence existed, the Horseman of Pestilence would be reborn over and over again. However, it didn’t mean that the reincarnated entity would keep the same sense of self as in their last life. I didn’t remind War about this because he might then explore the option of wiping Pestilence’s memory. Just imagining the possibility had made me shiver.

“Anyway, I’ll give time for the jewel to heal you.” War didn’t wait for me to respond. He gave us a quick wave and strolled out, picking up the Eight-Hand Mirror on his way. My quasi-omniscience sensed information from that man again, no longer a blind spot, no longer possessed by War.

Raven turned her head to the ceiling and closed her eyes. “Hey, I didn’t have a chance to ask before. But what is the friend confession thing about?”

Oh right, I did say that.

“It was just a tactic.” Or the heat of the moment, no point in dwelling on it. I felt a smile forming on Raven’s face, but she didn’t keep pursuing this line of questioning.

“Do you want to fight Pestilence?” I asked, hoping to change the topic.

The smile on Raven’s face vanished. “I want to. I want to do something.”

“But we will kill her. And she will probably beg us to spare her.” I was poking holes in War’s plan, but the truth was that I didn’t have a better one.

Raven paused to think, probably imagining the scenario I’d described. Just so lightly, she shook her head. “I’ll leave that to you.”

Her voice carried a coarseness, as if it had been dragged through gravel. Maybe this was when I should have offered words of consolation, but I was well aware that my strengths lay elsewhere. So instead, I asked, “Do you want to know more about your mother?”

Raven offered a nod so sluggish that I could barely recognize it as such.

“She was a member of the Yakuza. One of the big shots, even. She was on the Tokyo Metropolitan Police’s radar, but they never found enough evidence to arrest her.”

“I guess I should have expected this by now,” Raven said with a calm expression, as if she had merely listened to a dull piece of gossip.

“When she had you, she basically retired. Midorikawa Maya was a ruthless criminal. But once she became your mother, she was just a rich asshole.”

Raven snickered. Was she laughing at the word ‘asshole’? How old was she? “That doesn't make me feel much better,” she said once she had composed herself a little.

“It wasn't supposed to.”

“I know.” But she was grinning.

I felt as if she could peer into my mind, as if my skull was opened wide, its contents for all to read. It was chilling to be put on display. However, since I shared the same body with her anyway, I didn’t offer my usual resistance. Or… maybe it was really because I was disclosing myself to Raven. “While we are at it, I’ll tell you about my abilities, since we are going into a fight.”

The last time I volunteered information without an agenda was with Zoe. When I reflected on that past life, it was clearly a mistake to disclose so much. Yet, I did it again. Telling Raven about my quasi-omniscience, spirit form, and reincarnation. And against all logic, I just knew that I wouldn’t regret this. “That’s all I would say for now.”

“That is good enough.”

I didn’t know what I expected her to say, but this brought a pleasant tingle in my chest, as if every blockage in my body had been cleared out. A sense of freshness flowed smoothly within me.

“Do you mind me calling you Raven?” I asked. Will I actually stop calling her that if she says no? Regardless, I just hoped that she would accept the name I called her.

“It was annoying at first, but I don’t mind it anymore. Also, I think I’ll call you Yonna. It won’t be fair for me to be the only one with a nickname.” Though there wasn’t a mirror in the room, I could still picture her mischievous smirk.

Zoe also smiled when she picked out the name ‘Macaria’ for me. The name meant ‘blessed’, and it belonged to a daughter of Hades. I remembered really liking the name. I remembered feeling blessed to have Zoe as my host. I remembered many things.

“Yes, do call me Yonna from now on.”

“But I totes was hoping you would feel mildly irritated.”

“Why would I feel that? I made up the name.”

Raven’s facial muscles tensed up. Was she pouting? She was a spoiled brat after all. But I guess even brats have their charms.