The embers of daylight were on the verge of being swallowed by the darkness of night and the wind’s bite had become akin to that of a cat that had been teased for too long. The city was gradually retiring for the day, following the citizens’ lead with no choice in the matter. A girl at the edge of her teenage years was watching the place she had known her entire life with no appreciation in her heart, her body and mind soaked in a numbness that had penetrated her entire being. She was on the roof of a building in the middle of construction in the outskirts of the city, her palms grazed from climbing to its very top. Their stinging had been amplified by the chill air, but the girl paid it no mind, as her racing brain and thundering heart represented a problem of a greater priority. Her knees were already starting to turn to jelly, so she needed to steel herself and see her intent through before rationality fully returned to her head. Thus, with a last shake of her breath, she pushed herself into the embrace of gravity, angling herself so that her head would be the first to smash into the ground. Her heart had dropped into her stomach, but for the first time in months, if not years, her mind had achieved a serenity she had heard of only in scam inner-peace ads.

  She closed her eyes and smiled in the face of liberation, but it never came, for a gust of wind slammed into her chest and propelled her into a pair of arms that wrapped around her legs and shoulders. Before she could glimpse her saviour, there was a rush and she saw the ground coming at her at an accelerated pace, which caused her to close her eyes again. When next she opened them, she was standing firmly on gravel and before her was a woman who looked like any other, except for a wing as long as she was tall dissipating into nothingness as it was being retracted. With her breath caught in her throat, her mind struggled to create a cohesive thought, which left the girl staring at the woman the way a toddler might at anything deemed new by its developing brain. The awkwardness that was slowly settling over the moment was repelled by the saviour, who asked the most natural question anyone could come up with in this situation.

  “Why are you so eager to part with the life granted to you at conception?”

  Her words dripped with a mockery that made her eyes shine, but the girl did not catch on to the woman’s tone. Instead, as her mind finished processing everything that had happened after she had let herself fall, her chest burst with a fire that engulfed her thoughts and words.

  “Why did you save me?! I was so close…”

  She was hyperventilating and her head was buzzing, trying to determine her next course of action, but repeatedly failing almost as soon as she started.

  The woman watched her and clenched her jaw at being ignored.

  “If you’re so desperate to die, you can do that anytime, can’t you?” she pointed out.

  “No!” the girl flared up even more. “Do you know how long it took me to work up the courage to get up there?! You have no way of knowing!”

  She pointed at the building and began pacing around. The saviour gritted her teeth, then took a step towards the girl.

  “If dying is so important to you, I can kill you myself. In fact, I might do it whether you want me to or not because your whining is already getting on my nerves.”

  The girl stopped and stared at the woman.

  “You don’t mean that. Nobody just offers to kill someone.”

  The woman scoffed.

  “Really? I wonder how hitmen make a living, then. Maybe they actually just sit at home with their kids while their spouses work a 9-5, only taking out targets whenever it strikes their fancy, for sport. What do you think?”

  The girl folded her arms and looked away.

  “Well, you never know,” she mumbled.

  “I know I mean what I say. I didn’t come here to fuck around.”

  “Why did you, then?”

  The saviour pondered her reply for a moment.

  “I wanted to be away from the busy streets and saw you sneaking around. It caught my attention and here we are.”

  The girl watched the woman, then sighed.

  “Well, now your curiosity is satisfied and my day is ruined, so can you leave me alone?” she asked without expecting or desiring an answer, brushing past the adult as she did.

  She stopped when the woman grabbed her hand.

  “What about your date with Death?”

  She turned with a throbbing vein.

  “I guess I’ll do it another time.”

  She intended to wrestle her hand out of the saviour’s grasp, then rush away, but the next words put an end to her plan.

  “I can kill you as early as tomorrow.”

  How ridiculous, she thought, but her body relaxed slightly, a new question on her lips.

  “Why tomorrow? I wanted to die today.”

  The woman offered a smile without warmth.

  “That’s because I want something in return, which is gonna require time on both of our sides.”

  The girl frowned.

  “What could you possibly want from me? We don’t even know each other.”

  The woman let go of the girl.

  “Exactly! I want to know the reason you tried to kill yourself.”

  The girl’s frown deepened.

  “Why? What does it matter to you?”

  “Hmm. Let’s just say I’m interested in people besieged by despair. I want to know and understand their situations. I often find them fascinating.”

  What a weird thing to say, the girl concluded in her head.

  “But that’s personal,” the girl argued. “I’ve never told anybody, so I have no reason to tell a stranger like you.”

  “If you really want to die as soon as possible, I’d say you do,” the saviour pointed out.

  The girl considered her options, despite knowing that she would not refuse in the end, provided the woman had truly been honest, for her heart yearned for eternal peace. However, she still needed to confirm that her wish would be granted.

  “I want to believe you,” she confessed, “but I have no way of knowing if you will keep your end of the deal. Can you really kill me? As in, do you have it in you? What if you change your mind? Can you offer any guarantees?”

  “At this point in time, your life means nothing to me, so I have no qualms about snuffing it out. I can also offer a promise that I will no matter what may come. But I doubt mere words are enough to convince you, so come along. I have a practical way to show you I’m serious.”

  The woman walked away and rounded a corner without looking to see whether the girl was following. The latter watched her, thinking that she could instead head home or anywhere else, but a shred of curiosity tugged at both her heart and mind, eventually compelling her to go after her saviour. The adult seemed strange, potentially even dangerous, but the teenager did not feel unsafe at the idea of being around her, for in light of what she had tried to accomplish today, she was aware that ultimately, she did not care about her own preservation. She would prefer to go out on her own terms, but if something or someone else took her life instead, she would not be upset – just slightly disappointed.

  She jogged after the woman – who was about to enter another street, moving away from the edge of the city – and caught up to her as she was looking around, her expression betraying the gears turning in her head.

  “What are you doing?” she asked the adult.

  “I remember there being a park somewhere around here. Or am I wrong? I want to see if it has what I need. Although at this hour…”

  The saviour trailed off, but the girl paid her no mind. She knew the park mentioned. On their way there, the teenager wondered how that particular location could put her doubts to rest, but a knot had already formed in her stomach. In the depth of her mind, she could guess exactly how. When they arrived, the knot had tightened enough that she would not be surprised if she hurled. The park was empty, except for a young boy and an elderly woman, whom she hazarded to be his grandmother. The two were making their way to the exist at the pace of the latter. Her companion stopped, so the girl did the same, her chest tightening.

  “My, what luck! There are still people,” the woman feigned excitement, then turned to the girl, her eyes burning like two blood moons. “Now, let’s play a little game. You tell me who to kill and I will prove to you that in matters of death, I am most reliable. You can choose one or both, it doesn’t matter to me.”

  The teenager could only shift her gaze between her saviour and the approaching duo, her thoughts paralised, her throat dry.

  “Mind you, if you don’t choose, I’m going to have to let fate decide,” the adult urged, materialising a six-sided dye in her left hand, which the girl noticed was as dark as her outfit, her fingers ending in claws. Since they had partially been obscured by the long sleeves of her jacket, this was the first time the girl saw either of her hands in full.

  There was the wing too…There’s no way she’s human, concluded the teenager.

  “What are you…?” she asked, the reverberations of her heart rippling into her ears.

  The woman chuckled.

  “You have more important things to worry about right now, don’t you?” she reminded her younger companion, lifting the dye to her eye level.

  The boy and the elderly woman were almost next to them. The teenager’s stomach was churning and her chest was thundering. The saviour was about to throw the dye. For a moment, the world stood still as the pieces were coming together to reveal the outcome awaiting the duo behind the puzzle of fate set up by the being that only appeared to be human. In a characteristic display of fickleness, however, fate sent a gust of wind that blew the pieces every which way, accompanying yet another piece meant to give the puzzle a form outside the control of everyone present, if only for a brief instant in time.

  “I can’t believe you guys are still here!” a middle-aged woman chastised the duo after rushing past the girl and her saviour. “Do you know what time it is?!”

  “Ah, it’s my fault, dear,” the old lady confessed. “I was tired and lost track of time.”

  “Grandma was asleep for a looong while!” chimed in the boy. “But it’s okay because I got to play lots today!”

  “Mom…”

  “I know, I know…”

  “You shouldn’t have gone out. What if something happened? You can’t be out when it’s getting dark anymore, Mom, especially not with Aaron!”

  “I…I understand what you’re saying, but come on – the boy needs to get some fresh air every once in a while, play and meet other kids his age. He can’t just go from home to school and from school to home every day. You know he hasn’t even made friends in his class yet.”

  Aaron lowered his eyes and wandered slightly to the side.

  “Yes, I agree, but he needs to be accompanied by someone who can react quickly if the situation demands. And more than that, if something happened to you, how would a child know what to do? He can use a phone, but who’s he gonna call? If it’s something serious, any delay can make the difference between you continuing to be with us and…”

  The mother did not finish the sentence, but everybody but the boy understood what she meant.

  “…I’m sorry. You’re right, I should be more careful. Not just for his sake, but mine as well.”

  The mother sighed.

  “I’m sorry too. I shouldn’t yell, I know you mean well. It’s just…I can’t help but worry about you guys. But we can figure something out later. Let’s go home for now.”

  The grandmother agreed and the child got some of his energy back instantly, skipping ahead of his family and past the girl and her saviour. The two watched the trio walk away from the park, but they only managed a few steps before the woman’s eyes flared up and the mother dissolved into thin air. The teenager’s breath froze in her chest and her eyes went wide, but she could not react in any way before the boy vanished as well. She glanced at her companion, who met her eyes and offered her the smile of a devil, then back where only the old lady remained, expecting her to disappear the moment she did, but nothing happened. Soon, the strained wails produced by vocal chords long past their prime disturbed the settling evening, but if not for the two witnesses, they would have gone unnoticed even by the closest homes.

  The girl dropped to her knees, her body shaking. The cries of the elderly woman pierced her ears and she covered them in response, but their sound became louder, as if they were being projected directly into her mind, then distorted, until their pitch reached a level akin to nails on a chalkboard. At that point, a pair of hands removed her own from her head and the wails settled into the stinging cries of a child. Blinking, she noticed the boy, Aaron, where his grandmother had stood. He was on the ground and his voice was already becoming raspy.

  “Huh…?” was all she could let out.

  Out of the corner of her eye, she saw her saviour walk towards the child. Her mind only registered the movement, but not its potential implications at first, but once it did, she shot up to her feet and rushed after the woman.

  “—are Mom and Grandma?” Aaron was asking the adult through sobs that were rocking his body. “I want Mom and Grandma!!!”

  “I know, I’m so sorry…I wish I could help, but I don’t know what happened.”

  Liar, the girl thought remembering the woman’s smile.

  The boy was about to cry anew when the saviour made a suggestion.

  “The nice, big sister over there and I can look around for your mother and grandmother if you like, but it’s getting late, so we should take you home first. Is there anybody we can call and tell we’re coming?”

  It took the him a moment to answer.

  “Dad…Dad should be home…”

  “Oh, that’s great! Do you have his number in your phone?”

  He nodded, took out his smartphone and handed it to the woman. She unlocked it, found the number in the short list of contacts and dialed it. The father answered almost immediately. The saviour explained the disappearances and the state of the child, then asked for an address. Once she received it, she thanked the man and assured him that they would be there as soon as possible. The girl had been like a statue the entire time and would have remained so if not for the woman.

  “Hey,” the latter snapped her fingers. “C’mon, their home is not far. I checked the map.”

  She offered Aaron her human hand and he took it. The teenager stood in place and stared at them, only following when their silhouettes had shrunk too much for her brain to ignore. On the way, she reflected on her lack of action, but was unable to find a reason for it. Her saviour might have been a devil in disguise, but she did not know what she should do or if there even was something that she could do. The police would not believe what she had seen, so there was no point in contacting them. Running away was an option, but she was unsure how that would affect the woman. If she were to only get angry and kill the teenager, the latter would probably be grateful, but since she knew what the girl wanted most, the more likely chance was that she would torture her instead. The thought sent shivers down her spine and she resolved to draw as little attention upon herself as possible. She would have to go against her instincts, but at least it would not be her first time doing so.

  When the three of them reached Aaron’s home, a man was standing in front of it. The boy ran to him and hugged his waist.

  “You must be Mr. Li. We talked on the phone,” the woman greeted him, extending her human hand.

  Mr. Li shook it, then threw a barrage of questions at her, which she answered with half-truths and lies. The child had quieted down while walking home, as the woman had maintained a conversation with him probably for that very reason. However, now that he was not only back with his family, but possibly the only family left, his cries resurfaced, albeit smothered by the man’s clothes. Watching the scene before her like a spectator in a theater, the girl’s heart became seared by an emotion she had not felt since being saved by the woman. A part of her wanted to intervene and tell the truth, no matter how insane it would make her look, but she reined herself in with the fear of a future of uncertainty.

  If not for this nutjob, you wouldn’t even know about this boy and his family, she argued at her own mental reflection. There’s no reason to get involved. We’re just here to die.

  As the adults concluded their conversation, the father led his son to the entrance to their home.

  “Thank you again for taking care of Aaron and bringing him home. I’d offer something in return, but in this situation…”

  His voice was trembling.

  “Don’t worry about it! I hope you and your family will be reunited soon.”

  As soon as the words were out of her mouth, Mr. Li dissolved into dark particles, visible to the girl for the first time. A scream broke the silence of the street just a moment later. Aaron rushed outside, almost stumbling on his own feet, looking for his father in every direction, but he was the only one present who would consider doing so a fruitful endeavor. Nevertheless, the culprit, who had jumped backward and had put her hands up as if to defend herself, mimicked him, a smirk tugging at her lips all the while. The teenager’s body had been put through enough shock today that it had a delayed reaction to what had happened, consisting only of her mouth hanging slightly open and her breath catching in her throat.

  “What the f—? What just happened?!” the woman feigned panic.

  The boy’s breathing became more and more agitated before he dropped on the pavement and began crying. The girl remained motionless, waiting for her saviour to continue the drama play she had been roped into.

  “Okay, okay, um…For now, let’s all get inside. Maybe there’s something out here with us. We might be safer if we can’t be seen!”

  She grabbed the screaming child and hurried through the door, leaving her companion to follow suit like an obedient pet. The teenager obliged with fading fear and anger, but wishing she had nonetheless not entertained the woman when the two had met.

  For the next hour, the adult attempted to calm Aaron down and although she struggled at first, she eventually managed to get him to listen to her. She assured him that she and the girl would do everything they can to find his family and that they would help him with anything he might need until they do. He appeared relieved at the end of their talk, but it was obvious that his mind could not be truly put at ease. In fact, it took no small amount of convincing until he ate all of his dinner and took a bath, the woman supervising him the entire time with a relaxed but vigilant demeanor, which only made her more difficult to understand in the eyes of the girl. She was now acting like a babysitter or even a parent, but over an hour before, she was killing the boy’s family simply to prove a point. Her behaviour being as disconnected as it was brought the teenager to the edge of exhaustion and she found herself nodding off while waiting for the woman to finish putting Aaron to bed.

  Once she did, she joined the girl in the living room and crashed next to her on the couch.

  “Haaa…I can never get used to dealing with kids,” she announced to the air.

  “Ah, but it helps when they get to about your age,” she then added, glancing at the girl after seemingly realising a mistake only she was able to.

  The teenager just watched her while her emotions were swirling inside.

  “If it’s such a hassle, why do it? Why do any of this?”

  She did not mean to spit her words, but they still came out like phlegm. Her gut prepared itself for some sort of retaliation, but none came.

  “Well, I’m not entirely sure myself,” the woman confessed, shifting her gaze to a place beyond the house, the city and maybe even the world. “But you wanted proof of my sincerity, so I hope this was enough.”

  The girl clenched her fists and lowered her head, enough for her hair to block her vision.

  “…could have stopped. You could have stopped at one person,” she mumbled, uncaring whether she was understood or not.

  “You’re right, I could’ve,” came the reply after a moment of silence. “You likely would have been convinced with only one. But you see, that’s just not satisfyingly fun for me.”

  The girl’s eyes snapped back to the woman, carrying a mix of shock, anger and horror. The adult met them with the same smile she had given her in the park. This time, however, her eyes were shining crimson and the teenager noticed that the pupils were not round, but slits. In a flash, all her emotions turned to fear and she pushed herself to the edge of the couch.

  “What are you? What do you want from me?” she asked, her voice trembling.

  “Why are you afraid? Isn’t death what you crave most? So what if I killed you now?”

  Why am I afraid? Why have I been this whole time? Is it truly because she may torture me instead?

  “If you’re gonna do it, do it!”

  The woman narrowed her eyes and chuckled before lunging and pinning the girl down in a single motion. Her alien hand held the latter’s head in place.

  “That wouldn’t be very fun either,” she argued in a low voice.

  The teenager could barely breathe as she was forced to stare into rubies full of a hunger she could not even begin to comprehend. Her saviour’s exhales were brushing against her face and she vaguely noticed they were coming out too fast for someone who had been calm until a mere moment ago. In fact, the woman was huffing, as if she had just come from a run, and her cheeks appeared flushed, although it was hard for the girl to tell since the woman’s visage was blocking the light in the room. Only her eyes like burning coals had retained their clarity. The girl wondered if they were perhaps hurting her saviour, hence the huffing. The adult traced the teenager’s cheek, jaw and chin with her fingers, then moved to her neck and chest, looking lost in a trance. The latter’s heart quickened its beating and she was sure the woman could feel it as clear as a drum. She wished she could hide her fear. She wished she could have hidden it better a few minutes ago, not realising that her control over her body had been waning since the park. Her body was fighting her, just as it had while she was preparing to take her own life.

  The saviour pushed away, lowered herself in a straddling position, then closed her eyes, her hand still on the girl’s chest. Her mouth turning into an O signaled a change in her breathing. The girl watched her for a moment, unable to make sense of her actions, but relieved that it no longer seemed like she would get hurt, then her eyes fell on the hand over her heart. It was truly dark, like the space between stars, but the light in the room revealed that it was made up of two layers, one being the skin and the other something akin to a shell, covering the top of the hand and the knuckles. The claws were short, but appeared sharp, although not enough to shred skin at a mere touch, for she did not feel any wound on her face or neck. Despite its tar appearance, the skin had not struck her as any different than the skin of humans, but she could bet the shell would not feel the same. The child in her was curious to find out how it did, undaunted by what the woman was capable of. She was almost amused by her own innocence.

  When the adult’s eyes opened, her eyes were less bright than before and her breath had returned to normal. She seemed to study the teenager for a minute, then climbed off her.

  “You good?” she asked, crossing her arms, after moving back a step.

  “Uh…I think so,” the addressee replied with a frown.

  “Check your legs.”

  She moved and patted them, but aside from feeling slightly numb, she did not find any issue. The woman nodded and began pacing in front of the couch, arms still crossed, as if trying to figure out what to say.

  “What I want from you is to understand,” she repeated her reason. “I want to understand what drove you to suicide.”

  “Why do you care?”

  The girl was having a déjà vu. The saviour smiled and knelt before her.

  “I can’t say I care, to be honest…I’m only curious. Well…I suppose there’s a bit more to it than that, but I’m mainly curious. That’s really it.”

  “But why? I don’t get it. And why me and not somebody else?”

  The woman took a moment to think.

  “I’ve been where you are right now. More times than I can remember. Maybe a part of me still is. However, it’s impossible for me to stop living.”

  She paused, then continued.

  “The way I see it, you and I are at the boundary between life and death, but I am closer to life, while you are seeking the embrace of death. We are on opposite sides, despite the thin line separating us. And I know how it was for me to at least have one foot on the other side, but my experience was different from yours and our situations are different too. So I want to know what the other side is like for you. Other people probably have similar struggles, but right now, I just want to know about you. Don’t ask me why, because it’s a mystery for me too; my heart has simply issued a call and I am trying to answer it.”

  The girl paid attention to her saviour’s words, but processing them proved to be a harder task to accomplish than it normally would have been. She sighed in defeat.

  “Okay, I’m not sure I understand what you mean and I’m too tired to keep trying. Will you actually kill me if I tell you?”

  “Were three and a half victims not enough to convince you?”

  “…please, no more killing. I’ll take your word for it, alright? But…I wonder if instead of just talking about my shitty life, I can show you…Wouldn’t that be more believable?”

  “I mean, yeah, but how are you planning to do that?”

  “Seeing how things are for me at school would paint a pretty clear picture, so just come with me tomorrow.”

  “Huh? How am I supposed to enter the school in the first place?”

  “I don’t know, can’t you figure something out? If you can disintegrate people, sneaking into a school should be no problem, right?

  “…what even makes you think that? I’m not a magician. My abilities are limited to—”

  “Well, I don’t know! I just made a suggestion. If you can’t do it, I guess I can tell you, but then don’t accuse me of lying or anything.”

  The woman sighed and rolled her eyes.

  “Fine, I’ll see what I can do.”

  The two agreed to meet the next day before the girl would leave for school. The saviour would let her know whether she could follow and then they would plan the day based on that. As soon as their conversation ended, the girl got up and announced that she needed to go back home. She gave the woman the address and told her to be there at 7 AM. The latter nodded and led the teenager to the front door.

  “Can you make it home on your own?” she asked, catching the girl off-guard again.

  Who does she think she is? My aunt?

  “What kinda question is that? Of course I can. I’ll see you tomorrow. Don’t be late.”

  “Wait! What’s your name? You never told me.”

  The girl groaned to herself before half-turning to her saviour.

  “Aurora. I don’t need to know yours, bye!”

  “My name is Mina! Nice to meet you and see you tomorrow!”

  Who even asked?!

  As Aurora stepped out of her house at 7 AM sharp, her gaze immediately fell on Mina, who was sitting on the branch of a nearby tree, feet dangling in the air. The woman smiles and waved, but the girl did not respond.

  “So?” she asked the adult once she jumped down. “What do you wanna do today?”

  It was Mina’s turn to keep silent, extending her non-human hand instead and coalescing a slim, dark rectangle roughly the same size as her palm.

  “This is a type of dagger that can be easily concealed. If you keep it on you today, I can project the metaphysical part of myself wherever you go. I’ll be able to see everything you see and more.”

  “You want me to take a weapon to school?”

  “Nobody has to know. Keep it in your bag and it’ll be fine.”

  “Couldn’t you make something normal?”

  “No, because I’m not a creator. I’m a mimic. And I can only copy tools of destruction.”

  Aurora shook her head.

  “Whatever that means. Okay, anything else I should know?”

  “Hmm. No, that should pretty much be it. Are you ready to take the blade?”

  “Uh…sure.”

  She was about to reach out to it, but the woman bent and placed the weapon at the girl’s feet.

  “Hold on a sec, I’ll tell you when to pick it up.”

  Mina clenched her dark hand and kept the forearm suspended in the air. The sleeve slid down, revealing that her entire arm was just like the hand, a large shell disappearing inside her jacket. The shells vibrated and her eyes lit up, but both returned to what the teenager assumed to be normal almost immediately.

  “Okay, it should be fine now. Take it and let’s see.”

  “What did you do?” Aurora asked as she her fingers touched the dagger’s sheath.

  In an instant, darkness engulfed her vision and the images of two women flashed before her eyes – one older and one younger. She had no time to study their appearance, however, for the images changed to the same women lying motionless on the ground, covered in blood, the light in their eyes long gone. There were other corpses around them, but they were difficult to make out, aside from the silver hair they all apparently shared. She expected the images to shift again, but instead, they disappeared altogether, along with the darkness that had brought them, replaced by a large patch of gray, the corner of a rooftop and Mina’s face, with the expression of a scientist studying their guinea pig.

  “Are you alright?” she asked and the girl could detect a trace of amusement in her voice. “What happened?”

  “I…I don’t know,” the teenager groaned as she started getting up. “I couldn’t see for a moment and then…I saw two people? And then they disappeared.”

  “What kind of people?”

  She checked herself, but she seemed unharmed and her clothes untarnished. The dagger was in her right hand, which was wrapped tightly around it, as if she had been afraid of losing it.

  “I have no idea…They were women. One was pretty young and the other looked older; she had a few wrinkles. I didn’t recognise either of them.”

  “Hmm, anything else you saw?”

  “Uh…Well, I think those women died and…They were on the ground and around them were…other bodies? I think they had white hair.”

  Mina froze for a second, then her face darkened, her lips losing the playfulness with which she had been treating the girl. Noticing her reaction, Aurora frowned and wanted to ask what was wrong, but the question died in her throat. She chose to wait for the woman instead.

  “The older woman…Did she have animal ears?” the latter finally inquired.

  The girl was unsure she had heard the question correctly, but considering how close the two were, she could also not deny the functionality of her ears. Her mind suggested that it may have been a joke, but Mina’s tone and eyes proved otherwise. She made an effort to recall.

  “I thought they looked normal…but their figures were a bit hazy and didn’t last for very long, so I’m not so sure.”

  The woman lowered her eyes and turned to the side.

  “What about her hair? How did it look?”

  “What do you mean? It was just normal hair. Loose. She had bangs too.”

  She nodded, her expression empty. She then lifted her alien arm towards the sky and a giant shadow appeared beyond the clouds for no longer than a second. Aurora looked at Mina and discovered a pair of large and pointed ears on top of her head. Her hair had become shorter than her shoulders as well, but the girl barely noticed. Before she could even think what to say, the woman lowered the ears to the sides of her face and moved to face the girl directly.

  “Did the woman you saw look anything like this?”

  After accessing her short-term memory, she almost shook her head in response, but the moment she remembered the older woman lying on the ground on her back, she realised there was a near-perfect overlap between that lady and the one standing before her right now.

  Her ears were obscured by the spread-out hair…, she thought, her eyes lighting up and a largely inaudible gasp escaping her lips.

  “So it was her…No, it was both of them,” Mina concluded, her eyes twitching.

  “Who?” whispered Aurora, her guts twisting on instinct.

  The adult avoided the teenager’s gaze and left the question unanswered. The latter knew better than to probe again, resigning herself to watching as the former’s shoulders shook. When a weak sob broke the silence between them, Mina materialised a katana in her right hand, took it with the left, grabbed its sharp edge with the right and pulled it with the left. The girl’s heart skipped a beat as the woman’s blood dripped onto the pavement. It was human crimson.

  “What are you doing?!” she came close to yelling, but instead spoke in a slightly louder tone.

  She looked around, but there were no other people nearby. Her street had always been quiet. The blade had vanished and Mina squeezed her injured hand, then let her arm drop next to her. When she faced Aurora again, her eyes were shinning and strands of white smoke were fading away from her eyes and cheeks. She wiped her face with her left hand before addressing the girl.

  “I’m sorry for startling you. I was shocked and couldn’t think properly…”

  “Um, okay, but what about your hand?”

  “Don’t worry about it. I’m used to it.”

  There was a pain behind those words that Aurora did not understand. For but a moment, her heart stung.

  “Should I…take care of it for you?”

  “Nah, that’s alright. It’s easier to think like this.”

  Then I guess she got shocked by what I saw? And she hurt herself to clear her head…

  “Well, if you’re sure…But what happened?”

  Mina smiled, but it was full of bitterness.

  “Right, I guess I owe you an explanation for putting you off. But honestly, I don’t really wanna go into details…Suffice it to say that when you touched the dagger, you likely resonated with me, which resulted in you seeing some of my memories. It never crossed my mind that it could be those memories, though…But I guess anything truly is possible.”

  Her words went through one ear and out the other, for the girl’s brain was too busy with another, more important, question.

  “Who did I see?”

  The woman closed her eyes for a moment and bit her lip.

  “They were…family. Those two were family.”

  Their bloody images flashed before Aurora’s eyes and she shuddered.

  “Oh…I’m sorry. I’m sorry for your loss.”

  Mina’s eyes widened for a split second, then she covered her face with her dark hand. Her body began trembling, but only a few seconds passed before she regained her composure, taking a deep breath to steady herself.

  I’m sorry,” she said again, “I’m normally a much calmer person. I don’t…know what’s going on with me today.”

  A seed of guilt was taking root in the girl’s heart.

  “It’s okay. I won’t pretend to understand your pain, but I at least know how it is to live with such a burden. You really don’t have to apologise.”

  “Well, thank you for understanding. Should we head to school now? I don’t know how strict it is, but I don’t feel like making you be late. We can talk again during recess.”

  Aurora fished out her phone and looked at the time.

  “Hmm. Yeah, let’s go. It’s gonna be close, but I think we can still make it in time,” she answered while walking away and putting her phone back.

  The woman started after her, but then stopped to consider an idea.

  “Wait!” she called out to the girl, who turned to Mina with confusion on her face.

  “I can take you there faster,” the latter clarified as she caught up to her companion. Dark energy swirled from her arm and formed a black wing, which folded as soon as it was complete. She pointed at it and stated the obvious: “We can fly.”

  Aurora’s confusion turned to skepticism as she eyed the other shoulder, confirming that there was no second wing. She was about to demonstrate her knowledge of aerodynamics when the woman wrapped an arm around her waist, unfurled the wing and jumped into the air, higher than the neighbours’ house. The girl’s heart instantly sank into her stomach.

  “What the hell are you doing?!” she screamed.

  The wing began to flap and to her surprise, they were really flying, albeit askew due to the weight imbalance. An unknown force compelled her to look down and she clung to Mina’s neck once she did, her body like a bow pulled taut. Her guts were beginning to churn.

  This is how she saved me, she recalled in the back of her mind.

  “Where is the school?” the woman asked, ignoring Aurora’s panic, amusement partially returned to her lips.

  When the latter did not respond, the former squeezed her waist tighter.

  “C’mon, I’m trying to get you there before the bell rings!”

  “W-What…? Uh…The school…Right.”

  Her directions were not as cohesive as they would have been if they were walking, but Mina still managed to safely land behind the school building a few minutes later.

  “Nobody saw us, right?” the girl asked, still shaking from the flight.

  The woman shrugged.

  “I’m pretty sure I avoided the windows, so I don’t think so.”

  Her words did not feel reassuring to Aurora, but the latter remained silent and prioritised regaining her composure. A realisation, then, hit her and she checked her clothes where Mina’s hand had been. Relief spread through her chest when she saw that there was nothing there.

  “I thought you smeared my clothes with your blood…” she said as if she was trying to defend herself and asking for forgiveness at the same time.

  The adult raised her right hand and pointed at the black cloth wrapped around her palm.

  “I would never be so careless.”

  “Huh. I didn’t even see you cover the wound. And I’m kind of surprised blood hasn’t seeped through.”

  “Well, it’s made from the same material as my clothes,” she explained, lifting her other arm to indicate her large-sleeved jacket. “Not much can go through it, whether from the outside or the inside. It’s like armour, but so much lighter.”

  The girl would have left the conversation at that, but her gaze became drawn to Mina’s abdomen, which was as bare as a newborn’s.

  “If your outfit is so protective…why do you keep yourself exposed like that? Did you run out of material? Or maybe you don’t have the money to get more?”

  The woman blinked, looked down at herself, then back at the teenager and blinked once more.

  Uh, no, not at all…” she waved her hands, then gestured at her belly like a connoisseur presenting a piece of expensive art.

  “This is what people like to see. This and my chest, but I can’t show that completely.”

  “Ah. How great. Anyway, I’m going to class. We’ll keep in touch?”

  “Oh, yeah, I’ll project as soon a—”

  Mina did not get to finish her parting words, for Aurora had already rounded the corner. Without anything else to do, she jumped over the school’s wall and left as well.

  Aurora did not know what she had expected, but she was not unphased the moment the strange, alien woman appeared next to her during first period.

  “Hi~ Pretend I’m not here, okay? Focus on the lesson,” she instructed, whispering.

  That was easier said than done because Mina kept wandering around the classroom and the girl was the only one who could see her. It was distracting, but she could not get up and yell seemingly into the ether. Her position in the class’s social bubble was already precarious, so an action so high on everyone’s scales for strangeness would have irreversible consequences. She tried to ignore the woman and pay attention to what the teacher was saying, taking notes often, but even if she avoided looking at the projection, her mind knew it was there, so she could not concentrate on learning. In the end, she gave up and let her thoughts wander.

  Ah, so we can talk to each other as well, she realised about Mina’s disembodied figure. She never mentioned that.

  “—ra. –ora. Miss Sora!”

  Her surname being called by the teacher shook her back to reality.

  “Uh, yes?”

  “Page 86, please. Read.”

  She let out an internal sigh of relief at the fact that she did not need to answer a question and did as asked, the pang of embarrassment she had felt at being caught not listening gone by the time she finished. The rest of the class continued without any other event for her or anybody else, but half of her welcomed the bell signaling its end. The other half wished she did not have to face her classmates. Fortunately, however, the teacher came back in shortly after leaving and beckoned her to go outside. She almost dashed to him, but remembering the dagger, she remade her bag and swung it over the shoulder before leaving the classroom. In the hallway, a middle-aged woman she did not recognise was waiting for her. She explained she was there on behalf of the principal, who wanted to see her. A lump formed in Aurora’s throat, but she only had one true choice. She agreed and a little over a minute later, she was before the principal’s door. She knocked and looked at Mina, who stood beside her. The woman offered her a smile she almost missed due to the “come in” from beyond the door.

  “Hello, sir…You wanted to see me…?” she said in the voice of a mouse after stepping in and closing the door.

  Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Mina phase through the wood, noting yet another detail about the projection.

  “Yes, Miss Sora. Please, take a seat,” the principal acknowledged her, indicating a chair before his desk.

  She walked as if on needles, then sat down. In a cartoon, her bones would have probably creaked.

  “I see you have your bag with you. Were you going somewhere?”

  The principal was a rounded, middle-aged man with short, gray hair and a dark beard. The girl could see he was wearing a shirt, a necktie and a blazer, and knew that a pair of jeans completed his outfit. He was the type who preferred a smart look over a formal one. Moreover, she knew he was quite tall, which made up for his physique enough to create an image pleasing to the eye.

  “Ah, no, I just take it with me to keep it safe.”

  He raised his eyebrows and leaned back in his chair.

  “Safe? What from?”

  “Um…my classmates.”

  Her reply caught both his attention and Mina’s, who was out of the girl’s field of vision.

  “I believe you had trouble with your classmates before, right?”

  Her head started to buzz, which caused her body to fidget, as her consciousness resisted recalling memories of that time. She only nodded in response.

  “I frankly don’t remember all the details,” he confessed, “but if anybody is causing you trouble, you should talk to someone.”

  She nodded again and remained silent. The principal glanced at the monitor to his right and sighed to himself.

  “Well, the reason I asked to see you today is your attendance. Your homeroom teacher told me a few times that you’ve been skipping classes. He’s tried to communicate with and help you, but you’ve been ignoring his efforts. How do you view the situation?”

  “I just…don’t feel very well a lot of the time. It’s hard for me to focus and learn.”

  “Have you seen a doctor about your issue? What symptoms do you have?”

  “I only feel tired, really…Like I’m walking through water…while being submerged up to my neck.”

  “And how often do you feel like that?”

  “Honestly…every day. But some days are worse than others.”

  “Hmm. Since you’ve used the metaphor of walking through water, have you ever been in danger of drowning?”

  “I think I came close to it, yes.”

  “How many times?”

  “…too many.”

  “You know, when there is an accident, for example, and people fall in the sea or a lake, they swim. Even if they’re not good at it, they swim. Have you tried that?”

  “Those who know how to swim will swim. Those who have swimming knowledge will swim. But those who don’t know anything about swimming will flail and drown regardless.”

  Both Mina and the principal were listening without even blinking.

  “I have never learnt how to swim,” the girl concluded.

  The man pondered her words for a moment.

  “If flailing causes someone to drown – and I don’t disagree that it does – what outcome does simply walking lead to?”

  Aurora shrugged.

  “So far, the water hasn’t crossed my neck.”

  “That may be so, but what if the water level stays that way? And what if your legs cramp up?”

  “Then I suppose I should pick up swimming, before it’s too late.”

  “I’m glad you think so. Your attendance can still be remedied, so I would like you to do so, alright? And if, at any point, the water begins to rise again, your homeroom teacher is there

  for you. Our school even has a councilor; I don’t know if you were aware.”

  The girl shook her head.

  “She’s there, on the second floor, whenever you need. Okay, now go back to class; it’s going to start soon.”

  “Thank you. Goodbye.”

  She rose from the chair and quickly made for the door. Her legs carried her at a steady pace until she came across two boys chatting in front of a classroom, at which point they came to a halt. Mina did not understand why she had done so, but remained silent, observing just as she had agreed to. Aurora’s heart fluttered as she watched the boy closer to the classroom door, her entire body turning into a radiator. The bell rang and the two students said their temporary goodbyes, then the boy she was mesmerised by turned to enter the classroom, two pairs of eyes meeting as he did. She raised an unsteady hand and waved at him, her lips twisting into a smile that betrayed the maelstrom of emotions inside. His gaze lingered on her for but a second before he shut the door behind him, leaving her in the company of only a ghost. Her chest ached as it cooled to an abnormal degree, her limbs instantly becoming cold. Despite her body’s reaction, however, her heart was still racing.

  The woman watched her, her mind making deductions she had no intention of verifying just yet, until the girl resumed making her way to her class without saying a word. She arrived at the same time as her teacher and she felt relief that she had not drawn attention to herself by being late. She settled in her seat and the second period went by without a hitch. In fact, it was looking like a normal day, but then lunch break brought a girl called Sabrina at the desk in front of Aurora’s and the latter immediately tensed. She regretted choosing to eat in the class instead of outside, the way she normally did.

  “I heard you were called by the principal. What did he say?” Sabrina asked, not trying to hide her disinterest in her classmate’s answer.

  The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

  Aurora ignored her and continued to eat her sandwich. Sabrina snatched the paper left face-down on Aurora’s desk and began examining it. The latter had forgotten one of the periods when preparing her bag for today, leaving its corresponding notebook at home, so she had been forced to write on a sheet of paper.

  “Hmm, I’m kinda jealous of your writing! It’s simple, but very clear; perfect for people who miss class and need to copy someone else’s notes. Too bad you’re the only one doing the copying these days.”

  “Give that back, Sabrina,” Aurora demanded, her tone like ice.

  “Oh, my, is there a problem? I’m just complimenting you! You could stand to say ‘thank you’ when somebody does that.”

  “Careful, Sabrina,” one of the male classmates interjected, snickering, “you don’t want the Rabid Monkey to pounce on you.”

  “Rabid Monkey?” Sabrina laughed. “You guys are so uninspired!”

  She paused and stared at Aurora.

  “Well, I suppose she does shriek like some kind of primate, lol.”

  Aurora lunged and grabbed her notes, but Sabrina pulled towards the aisle, causing the former to lose her balance, tear the paper in two and drop her sandwich. The students gathered around the event turned to statues, their breaths collectively held as they regarded the girl with the weariness of an animal about to be attacked by another. Aurora looked between the paper, the sandwich and Sabrina’s face, which displayed a mix of defiance, mockery and fear. A flame of vengeance ignited in her heart, but a blanket of snow settled on her mind soon after, keeping her thoughts clear despite the instincts in her blood. She remained still until the flame dwindled enough for her to drop the torn notes, make her bag and walk to the door in silence and without sparing anybody a glance. On the brink of a daze, she descended the stairs and exited the school. Only when she was outside did she allow her inner self to shatter, curling in a ball and shedding tears that not even Mina could see. When she eventually stood up, her face was wet and flushed, but she did not care. She walked away from the school with a purpose in her steps that intrigued the observer attached.

  It did not take long for Mina to discover that the girl’s destination had been a seemingly obscure karaoke business located on a side street connected to a main one. When she entered, there was nobody at the front desk. She was looking around for a sign of the person that should have been there when a girl close in age to hers showed up straightening her uniform, cheeks like a pair of tomatoes under the summer sun.

  “Aury? Hey, what’s going on?”

  The woman reflexively smiled at the nickname. The clerk appeared pleasantly surprised upon recognising Aurora, but her expression lost its light the moment she noticed the girl’s. On the way here, Mina had glanced at her companion from time to time and knew pain still lingered in her reddened, empty eyes.

  “What happened? Are you okay?” the clerk asked, the questions laced with concern, as she rubbed Aurora’s shoulders.

  Before the girl could reply, a young man appeared from the direction the clerk had and left the building, motioning his farewell to the clerk, who nodded in acknowledgement. Aurora took a step back and looked even more pained than before.

  “Hey, talk to me,” the other girl tried again. “What happened? Were you at school?”

  Sensing that Aurora was going to leave as well, or perhaps being unwilling to take the chance, Mina put her bandaged, human hand on her shoulder and lightly pushed. The girl raised her eyes to meet the woman’s, her touch feeling like the wind, who nodded towards the clerk. Aurora understood the message and after only a moment of consideration, admitted: “I don’t feel well, Camelia…”.

  Tears were threatening to spill once more, so Camelia took her to one of the rooms for rent, where Aurora explained what had occurred with Sabrina. From their conversation, Mina surmised that Camelia knew of Sabrina and that today had been far from the first time Aurora had had to deal with bullying in her class. In fact, ever since an incident from a year prior that the girls had not gone into detail about, the bullying had been a consistent occurrence. Camelia hugged her friend, rubbed her back, dried her tears and, in general, offered the best comfort she could, but before long, she had to return to the entrance and receive customers. In the meantime, Aurora was allowed to use the room she was in however she wished at no cost whatsoever. She could even get free drinks if she wanted, but she declined and instead lied down on the couch, facing away from the screen where all the songs were displayed, and closed her eyes. To Mina’s surprise, she fell asleep in a matter of minutes. Stuck in the dagger’s immediate vicinity, Mina sat next to the girl, on the nearby table, and let her mind wander.

  After only a short while, a thought started nagging her and she ultimately gave in to it.

  “Hey, Executor, can you hear me?” she asked the air in a low voice.

  A synthetic voice, as if heavily modulated, was projected into her head.

  “Hello again, Administrator. How can I help you?”

  “You monitor every single human on the planet, right?”

  “While monitoring the entire planet and all life on it, every human is monitored as well, yes.”

  She pursed her lips.

  “I genuinely can’t imagine who programmed these random, snarky replies. Anyway, do you have anything resembling a psych eval for this girl over here.”

  “A psychological assessment is included in everybody’s profile, although its accuracy varies from person to person. Would you like see the psychological assessment for the human Aurora Sora?”

  “Yeah, let’s take a look.”

  A soon as she finished her request, a digital window appeared before her with the girl’s image in the corner and multiple tabs marked ‘Genealogy’, ‘Genetic Make-Up’, ‘Development’ and so on. She pressed on the one labeled ‘Pysch. Assess.’ and the window changed to a series of graphs and text comments, then flashed and some of the information shifted. In addition, its background became red and a red exclamation mark popped over the tab title.

  “Hey, what happened? I didn’t do anything, but it’s different now.”

  “Apologies, but I assumed you wanted the most up-to-date information and reassessed Aurora Sora’s condition based on her most recent experiences. The original assessment is still cached, would you like me to bring it back?”

  “No, that’s fine. Up-to-date is good.”

  While skimming the report, her gaze stopped on a graph illustrating survivability across time. Currently, it was below the baseline. A click of the tongue rippled in the semi-darkness.

  “It says here she could die at any point. Is there any way her survivability can be raised to at least the level of an average animal?”

  “You know the possibilities are endless in any world, Administrator.”

  “Right, let me rephrase that: Is there anything I can do to raise the survivability?”

  “Aurora Sora requires psychotherapeutic or psychiatric help. Unfortunately, you are not qualified to provide that for her.”

  “Ugh. No shit I’m not! But I said ‘anything’. Like, I saw she has different stats and one of them is Luck. What if I increased that? Lucky people are less likely to kill themselves, right?”

  “There have been numerous cases throughout history where some of the luckiest people committed suicide.”

  “I fucking said ‘less likely’! C’mon, work with me here!”

  The Executor did not respond immediately.

  “There is a non-zero chance that higher Luck leads to positive survivability. However, Luck cannot be influenced by anybody in my database, including you.”

  “Huh? Why not? Didn’t you say I’m the Administrator?”

  “Indeed, there is, and there has never been, another Administrator but you. Nonetheless, multiple factors prevent you from altering Luck. I will list them from the least restrictive to the most: the make-up of this world, the type of your godhood and the origin of Luck. Would you like a detailed breakdown of each one?”

  “Sure,” Mina answered with a frown.

  “Understood. The Administrator role was designed to accommodate multiple forms of divinity, but divinity is a spectrum for which the Grand World System accounts when selecting an Administrator. Hence, Administrators may have their authorities limited depending on their divinity. Presently, your divinity does not grant you access to the complete authority associated with the Administrator role.”

  She was going to protest, but the Executor did not give her the chance.

  “However, scans have determined that it is constantly emitting a resonance signal to an unidentified object or force that does not exist on the planet. Therefore, the signal is transmitted into either outer space or a dimension other than the current one, neither of which accessible to the Grand World System. The frequency appears unchanging, which suggests compatibility of the highest order, a level that might only be achieved through cloning or temporary separation. Cloning a divine entity seems illogical, so the only conclusion I am capable of reaching is that your godhood is likely intentionally incomplete, but that its completion lies outside the world.”

  Mina had not expected such a deduction, but although her blood was rushing, she was not upset. In fact, she found herself smiling.

  “Heeeh. How curious,” she commented.

  “Continuing on,” the Executor resumed, “if it is to be assumed that you have left a part of your divinity behind, the only reasons for it might be deception or uncontrollable effects. In the time we have been in contact, you have not displayed malicious intent for the world at large and I have detected no lies in our conversations, which suggests that deception is not your goal. Then, perhaps you have instead acted with goodwill. There is a warning in my database about levels of divinity that cause disruptions in the physical realm. The mere presence of a god can break the laws of a world, although there is the possibility that some worlds are more resistant than others. If you suspected your godhood might be a threat to this planet and you reduced it enough to cause no disruptions at a macro level, then I can only interpret your course of action as predominantly benevolent, at least. Even so, if you were to complete your divinity and gain access to the full authority of an Administrator, the Grand World System would not be able to endure it enough for you to make use of the role.

  At the same time, my observations have led me to the conclusion that you are a god of calamity, as the people of this city have become more selfish, violent and overall malicious in the time you have spent in this world. You have not intervened in a significant manner, but that is the result. Moreover, the family you erased yesterday serves as enough proof on its own. As a complete Administrator, you would be unable to influence the world in ways that contradict the very nature of your divinity. That same nature might prevent you from even trying, but that is difficult to determine since you might have spared the planet your godhood, you have saved Aurora Sora and are seemingly seeking a solution to her mental state.

  As for the Luck parameter, it is impossible for even a being with the same divinity you might possess to modify it. It is entirely conjecture on my computational ability that Luck originates outside the Third Plane and was simply diffused for all living beings at the beginning of the universe, but it is the sole explanation I can formulate. Currently, Luck is the one aspect of a person that no Administrator can alter in this version of the Grand World System.”

  While listening, thoughts that the Executor would classify as malicious had been plenty in the woman’s mind, but she chose to act on none of them for now.

  “Can I ask a few questions?” she inquired, raising a hand like a student in school.

  “Of course.”

  “Why is cloning a divine being illogical to you?”

  “First of all, divine authority is the highest in the universe, so hypothetically, only a god could clone a god, but they would have no reason to do so. Any god capable of cloning would have to choose a lesser god as the subject of said cloning, but there is no benefit to duplicating an inferior being. Second of all, assuming gods are territorial due to the power they possess, it would be illogical to clone themselves, as they would invite a challenger to their reign. If you are curious why a god cannot clone a superior one, aside from it being foolish to create a second potential enemy, it is because of their natural limited understanding of the divinity of the other god. Just as ordinary life is not meant to fully comprehend the divine, so too are lesser divinities when it comes to superior ones.”

  “How can you tell I haven’t lied to you so far?”

  “I am unable to judge a god as a god, so I am forced to default to my analysis of human behaviour across thousands of years, which suggests that you have been truthful.”

  “But I have deliberately withheld information about myself by not offering any answer to some of your questions.”

  “Indeed, you have expressed that you did not wish to answer, which was honest.”

  “Right, so maybe I didn’t lie, but I’m not trustworthy either. Maybe my malicious intent is just hidden.”

  The Executor paused.

  “That is a possibility. However, there is not enough evidence to prove it as truth.”

  “There isn’t any evidence that Luck was introduced the way you concluded. There isn’t any evidence that gods are territorial either. In fact, there isn’t any evidence that gods are logical in their actions or if they are, that they cannot go mad and lose their reason altogether.”

  The Executor paused again, this time processing her words for longer.

  “You raise valid points,” it conceded. “I lack too many variables and likely the capacity to make any argument related to divinity.”

  “That doesn’t mean you’re not correct, by the way, just that your conclusions aren’t the only ones that reflect reality. But I appreciate you humoring me, even though my questions had nothing to do with where the conversation started. Also, learning more about the Grand World System was interesting. Still, it sucks I can’t actually help Aurora. Not in a meaningful manner, anyway. I wonder if she could…Probably, but she likely wouldn’t…”

  “Who is ‘she’?”

  “Hmm. You can think of her as a colleague of sorts.”

  She allowed herself to utter the first lie to the Executor since arriving on the planet, but made no effort to conceal the blaze of rage and murderous intent in her eyes as they lit up.

  “…I will not pry further, then. However, I have an unrelated query.”

  Mina’s eyes were already dimming.

  “Go ahead.”

  “I admit that my observations are ultimately inconclusive, but if you are untrustworthy, then how do you guarantee the safety of this world?”

  She chuckled.

  “Oh, I don’t guarantee anything. Your world means nothing to me. I’m just here for the girl.”

  She glanced at Aurora, who was still lost in the land of dreams, her breathing steady.

  “She is familiar and interesting,” the woman added, anticipating a request to elaborate. “And I’m gonna stick around until my curiosity is satisfied. Although, it’s really starting to feel like I’m shoving mud in my mouth…”

  Her remark brought the conversation to an end and after taking one last look at Aurora’s profile, she pushed away the window and stood up. For the next few hours, she wandered about, watching the scarce customers come and go, listening to them talk and checking out every room available multiple times. Just as boredom threatened to become deadlier than most battles she had been in, while coming out of the staff room for the third time, she stumbled upon Camelia in the arms of a boy a whole head taller than her, their lips barely concealing their intertwined tongues.

  “My, my, what do we have here?”

  She approached and studied them like they were a scientific experiment.

  “Hey, Executor.”

  “Yes, Administrator. How can I he—?”

  “I can’t alter Luck, but can I modify a person’s emotions?”

  The Executor took a moment to consider her question.

  “Emotional alteration is part of your Administrator authority, but I must reiterate that the Grand World System has adapted to your godhood, which means your influence is limited to emotions that lead to destruction.”

  “Right now, I wouldn’t have it any other way,” she stated with a grin. “So, how do I go about it? I wanna have some fun with Miss Camelia here.”

  A digital window labeled ‘Emotion. Cond.’ alongside the girl’s picture opened in front of her, displaying what she was feeling at the moment – happiness, lust and guilt being higher than everything else.

  “Access the emotional alteration function by long-tapping the tab title,” instructed the Executor.

  She followed its guidance and the window transformed into a translucent band wrapped around the left wrist.

  “You can now input your commands. Although I have to wonder why you required the Grand World System at all. If you can passively amplify the negative emotions of a person, you would surely achieve the highest results if you were to do so on your own.”

  “Oh? My ability is to amplify, not induce?” she probed, as she had done in their earlier conversation.

  “Perhaps it’s both, but so far, everybody who has been affected by you already displayed the resulting negative emotions in a consistent manner before.”

  “Huh. I see. Well, you’re not wrong, but right now, I’m largely focusing on maintaining my metaphysical state, which is constantly being pulled both by my body and the dagger I gave Aurora. As a result, it’s difficult to keep my influence stable. The Grand World System should help in that regard.”

  “…your existence is fascinating beyond words, Administrator.”

  “Heh, don’t I know it?” she chuckled, then pointed at Camelia and the boy. “Anyway, these two have been sucking face this entire time! Is air just optional to them? Ah, but now it’s too late to take a break, guys, because I’m not letting you go until you pass out or die!”

  A dial with ‘LUST’ written on it manifested in response to her authority and she cranked it to the edge of maximum. Immediately, Camelia started huffing, unbuttoned her shirt and put the boy’s hand on her breast. He was visibly taken aback by this change in behaviour, but did not step away. In fact, he stood still while she kissed his neck and rubbed his penis through his pants, her other hand busy with everything else it could reach. It only took seconds for him to abandon his self-control and join her in caressing and squeezing every part of her body, pressing against her as if trying to merge their bodies into one. Before long, she crouched, took his penis out and put it in her mouth – only sucking the tip at first, then shoving it to the back of her throat. Since his back was to her, Mina could not see his expression, but she imagined he looked like his head was about to explode, especially if he was a virgin, and relished the thought to the extent that she felt a tingle in her vagina.

  When the boy grabbed Camelia’s head, Mina pushed the dial further into its maximum state, causing the clerk to stop and take off her panties as she stood up. She leaned against the wall, lifted her skirt and spread her lower lips. The boy rubbed the clitoris, before inserting two fingers in search of Camelia’s G-spot. Once they found it, she only lasted a few moments until she demanded he put his penis inside.

  “What about the customers…?” he asked between heavy breaths. “And condoms?”

  “Hoooh,” commented Mina. “You’re still capable of rational thought?”

  With a final twist of her hand, she increased the ‘Lust’ value to its limit.

  “Fuck ‘em,” Camelia replied with a raspy voice. “I want you inside me and I want you raw.”

  Mina’s eyes burned crimson as she recalled herself speaking in a similar manner in the distant past. The boy hesitated for only a moment longer until he lifted one of her legs, entered her and immediately began moving, the sound of the intercourse bouncing off the walls of the back hallway in a way that could probably be heard from the front desk. The young couple was fortunate that nobody was coming in, but the idea that somebody discovered them excited Mina further. People drowning in lust would always taste sweet to her, but if that lust could eventually lead to embarrassment, shame, guilt, misery and other such emotions, it would be the equivalent of a normal person consuming enough sugar to cause diabetes with none of the consequences, especially if it would culminate in either self-destruction or the destruction of others. Fantasies of such kind were running through her head and prompted her to grab and squeeze her breasts with force, a flush heating up her face. She was likely being watched by the Executor, but she did not care, for despite its developing human personality and way of thinking, its interest was still scientific at its core. Thus, there was no need for her to feel anything about its watchfulness.

  It was close to 20 minutes since the start of their fornication when the boy rammed his penis into Camelia, now facing the wall and pressed against it, for the last time, ejaculating in the process. Initially, they had attempted to keep quiet for the sake of potential customers, but had stopped after just a few minutes, their moans and grunts filling the empty place enough to catch the attention of a sleepy Aurora, who opened the door just as the two reached their climax. A silence akin to a shipping container fell on the hallway as Camelia and the boy stared at her as if they were looking at the blurry outline of a person and she stared at them, recognition and shock clear in her eyes.

  “C-Camelia…? Will…?” Aurora finally managed as her gaze kept darting between their faces, their disheveled clothes and their genitals, still dripping with cum.

  Mina frowned at the second name, then studied the boy for the first time. A few dozen seconds passed before she remembered he had been the one the girl had greeted at school. The realisation caused her heart to involuntarily skip a beat, for it put into full perspective what her influence over Camelia had achieved. Nevertheless, her mind started buzzing at all the possible reactions Aurora might have. The corners of her mouth almost spread into a grin and she only felt a pebble of disgust towards herself. It was all the madness of destruction would allow.

  “I was just going to get some water…” Aurora said, offering an explanation not one of the people present wanted or cared for.

  As Camelia and the boy’s heads were regaining the complete breadth of their faculties, a single tear slid down Aurora’s cheek, unfreezing her from where she stood and prompting her to grab her bag and rush towards the exist. Mina was forced to follow close behind. While the door was closing behind them, the woman might have heard Camelia calling for her friend, but there was no time to verify. Her companion walked quickly for a while, sobbing loudly enough to be heard by anybody not lost in thoughts of home after a day’s work, then suddenly dropped to the ground in the middle of the street, head between elbows, and screamed. The pain piercing the monotony of their surroundings cracked Mina’s madness and caused her breath to freeze in her throat. Any sensation in her left arm would normally be significantly reduced, but this time, even it felt the chill triggered by the girl’s scream, vibrating at a low frequency in response. As she was considering what to say, Aurora took out the dagger with lightning speed and aimed it at the side of her own neck.

  The moment its edge made contact with skin, however, it wrestled itself out of her hand and into Mina’s left, whose body had materialised entirely, where it turned into dark particles, then absorbed by the alien arm. Not many people were on the street as evening was setting over the city, but the few that were had all stopped to watch the wailing girl who attempted suicide and the mysterious woman who appeared out of thin air to stop her. A boy around Aurora’s age was even recording them with his phone and Mina debated erasing him before deciding against it with a click of her tongue. She had been impulsive enough for today. Instead, she beckoned him over, prepared to kill him if he decided to run, but to her surprise, he complied, albeit like a rabbit hopping into a wolf’s den. She took his phone and deleted the video, then checked for any backup. Meanwhile, Aurora, who has stopped wailing but was still sobbing, stood up, ready to run, but Mina hooked her foot with her own and the girl fell back down.

  “The charm of a mystery is that only a few people are even aware it exists,” she announced to everybody present as she handed the phone back. “So treat what happened here as an anecdote to be shared around the dinner table and nothing more. Now scram!”

  As if shocked by electricity, the small audience turned and walked away with a bit more pep in their steps – tempted to look back, but not daring to. Aurora was still lying on the ground, so Mina went around her and pulled her up by the back of the collar. It was getting too dark to see clearly, but she assumed the girl’s face was as red as if she had developed a fever. She put her right palm on her companion’s neck, but did not feel any wetness. She sighed, lifted her to her feet and held her against the wall of a building.

  “What the fuck were you thinking?” she asked like a mother confronting her child about the weed under the bed.

  Aurora stayed silent.

  “Is this about what happened at the karaoke place? I can see it got you shaken, but how about we don’t make rash decisions, yeah?”

  “…what does it matter? You’re gonna kill me anyway…” she mumbled looking away.

  “Yeah. I’m gonna kill you anyway. If that’s what you want after careful consideration. You didn’t consider anything carefully a few minutes ago.”

  “But I have been thinking about it for months! I planned for it, a plan that you ruined! Now do you see what I have to deal with?! It’s just shit after shit and I can’t stand it anymore!”

  She was getting chocked up.

  “And what does it matter to you? You said you’d kill me if I want to, period. You never said anything about ‘careful consideration’.”

  “I…Haaah, you’re right, I didn’t. But I’m not so sure anymore. It would be sad if you were gone at such a young age.”

  “…were you not paying attention to what my life is like?”

  A pebble of guilt joined the pebble of disgust in Mina’s heart.

  “Her mental state is like shifting sands,” interjected the Executor in her head. “She has reached the point where she can no longer get out by herself.”

  She bit her lip, recalling her limited authority.

  “No, I can see it’s bad,” she answered. “I imagine you feel like you’re constantly sinking and that you can’t pull yourself out no matter what, but what if someone threw you a branch? Would you hold on to it?”

  “…I don’t know. Right now, I really don’t know. But nobody has done that in a while. At least, nobody I can trust.”

  “Okay, I understand. Can you do me a favour and think about it, though? What kind of help you’d like to receive and from what kind of person so that trust wouldn’t be an issue.”

  Aurora took a moment to reply.

  “I guess I’ll try.”

  The words were disappointing, but Mina had expected them. For her, performing good deeds was like trying to swim against the fastest currents in any world as a land lifeform. While not fully certain, she had long suspected that her status as Goddess of the End would normally prevent her from offering any substantial help, not unlike the Executor’s theory. It was not that she could not physically do it, especially if it did not involve using her abilities, but that there seemed to be a cosmic counterbalancing force that would undo all her efforts. Presently, it may have already been in effect, as the girl was neither dismissive, nor eager for help. Alternatively, she might have been her own counterbalancing force simply because she was trying to achieve something her mere existence would deteriorate. Either way, it would always feel demoralising and the most rational part of her brain would always argue that she should just fulfill her cosmic role, instead of making detours like in the past two days. Still, stories like the girl’s compelled her to try all the same. Otherwise, it would be like ignoring herself – an unthinkable possibility.

  “Alright, that’s good enough,” she said in resignation. “Now, let’s go get something to eat. You haven’t put a speck of food in your belly the entire day.”

  “I’m…not that hungry…”

  “I’m not fucking around, Aurora. C’mon, move your ass. You may not need it, but your body definitely does.”

  The girl felt like an admonished child and instinctively did as told, conditioned by years of living with her mother. They went to a fast-food joint that used a clown as its mascot, which Mina had always considered strange and silly ever since her arrival on the planet. Nevertheless, much like similar places on her own world, the meals were filling and tasty enough, considering their price. After they sat down to eat, she discovered with a mix of satisfaction and relief that Aurora was consuming her food much more eagerly than her protest had suggested she would.

  “Why do you have such large ears on your head?” the latter asked wholly unprompted. “And why are they gone right now?”

  Mina had kept her ears the entire day, but to not attract attention at the joint, she had re-adopted the usual human appearance of a woman with long hair. The reason was obvious, but the girl was not truly asking about ‘why’ – rather, about ‘how’. Mina debated whether to explain her origin and how she controlled her own divinity because that was information she had kept away from the Executor, which would almost certainly record it if she were to do so. To refuse was an option, but there was something about the fact that Aurora seemed genuinely interested in her for the first time since their meeting that made her want to respond in a manner that was courteous, truthful and concise at the same time. She signaled her decision with a smile.

  “Those large ears are my real ones. Or rather, they are my main ones.”

  She pulled aside her hair and pointed at her human ears.

  “Typically, these are secondary, but not when I want to blend with your species.”

  “My species…What is my species?”

  “Well, you guys call yourselves humans, right? Or homo sapiens. That’s what you are.”

  The girl munched on her food and the woman’s words at the same time.

  “As for how it’s possible to change my biology, it’s a bit more complicated, but to put it as simply as I can, by reducing my power, I inadvertently simplify my genes as well.”

  “So you normally have those ears. You were actually born like that.”

  “Yeah, that’s right. I’m from a civilisation where human and animal genes intermingled, resulting in a species that is mostly anthropomorphic, but also features zoomorphic traits such as ears, tails, fangs, claws, feathers, horns etc. Some people are even completely covered in fur. Or scales.”

  “Wow, I think I’ve only seen that in cartoons or anime. I take it you’re from outer space, then? An alien?”

  “Mhm, indeed.”

  Aurora took a sip of her drink.

  “I never would’ve imagined that aliens look so similar to us.”

  Mina chuckled.

  “Not all of them do. Some look exactly like you and some not at all.”

  “How many planets have you been to?”

  The chuckle evolved into a laugh.

  “I’ve long lost count. If I include uninhabited ones too, I’ve seen thousands. Otherwise, probably hundreds.”

  The girl’s eyebrows shot up.

  “Damn, there are thousands of civilisations out there?! I guess I shouldn’t be surprised, since the universe is infinite, but still.”

  The woman kept silent, only maintaining a smile. In truth, her universe, much like every other, was only a pocket of space of cosmic proportions. In other words, it was finite, and the real variety of civilisations lied in the rest of the Cosmic Structure, as some people had dubbed it.

  “Keep in mind, though, that not all inhabited planets actually have a civilisation. Plenty are just populated by creatures incapable of reason.”

  “Hmm, I guess that makes sense. Our own planet apparently didn’t have intelligent life until millions of years after its forming. But you know, I’m suddenly curious: What animal do you have the genes of?”

  For some reason, Mina felt self-conscious, but answered nonetheless.

  “A fox. You guys have foxes too, right?”

  “Oh! Yeah, of course. I just wasn’t sure because I’ve never actually seen a fox with my own eyes before. We don’t really get them in cities, even a smaller one like this.”

  “Right, I suppose that would be so. Can I ask a question as well?”

  Aurora shifted and pulled back from the table, but continued to eat.

  “Okay, go ahead.”

  The woman tried to smile in a way that would come across as reassuring, but she could not tell if it truly worked.

  “What happened to you at school? Not today, in the past.”

  A chill ran through the girl’s body, leaving only goosebumps in its wake. The eaten food churned in her stomach and she was afraid it might come back up, but after pouring more soda onto it, she switched to the potato fries, as they were light enough for the tale she was about to share.

  “Roughly a year ago, I had a fight with another girl, who no longer goes to our school. The boy you saw today, William – I was in love with him back then. I still am, if I’m completely honest, but anyway, that girl had a crush on him too. I didn’t know she did and only learnt after she confessed to him. He and I were pretty close already, so I also took my chance and told him my feelings. He did not answer to either of us right away, but made sure we both knew of each other, saying that it was only fair. I guess that girl took it as a challenge or something like that because she started harassing me soon after – mocking me in front of her friends and taunting me about how I felt. It didn’t help that she had better grades than me overall and that I wasn’t as pretty as her. Still, I thought I had a fair shot and was proud of William and I’s relationship, which we both had put effort into. So, I eventually confronted the girl. I was tired of her picking on me almost every day and told her so, demanding she stop. I tried to be as rational as I could, but I guess she didn’t wanna hear me.

  From then on, the bullying got worse, to the point that I had to worry about my bag, my notes, my lunch…I talked to the homeroom teacher at the time, but nothing changed. The girl only received warnings and she would maybe stop for a few days, but then she would resume later in the same week or the next. I did my best to ignore her, to play into it a little, basically everything that came to mind that wasn’t extreme, but going to school became like torture. So, one day I just snapped. I threatened her and when she didn’t listen, I hit her. We fought and by the time we were pulled apart, she was bloody all over. Meanwhile, I only had a few scratches. The days that followed were hell, as I had constant meetings with teachers, parents, councilors etc. They were going to expel me at some point, but my mom managed to keep me here. After a while, the chaos died down, but nobody forgot what I did; it didn’t matter that the girl changed schools. And now, as you saw, nobody will let me forget that incident.”

  Aurora had spoken with barely any pause, so when she stopped, Mina knew everything she was willing to share had come to a close. However, she was not going to move on from the topic without asking a few questions first, taking a break from eating to do so.

  “How bad did you beat that girl, really?”

  The girl shrugged.

  “I guess it was pretty bad. There were medical records and I never saw her again after the incident. I know my mom had to compensate for the medical bills, even though the girl was insured. Her parents were going to get the police involved if she refused.”

  “And did you receive any form of punishment?”

  “Officially, no, except for a warning that if I ever became violent again, I would really be expelled. But my punishment came from other sources.”

  The woman crossed her arms and pondered the newly-gained information.

  “Hmm, if that’s the whole story, I can’t really blame you. I mean, obviously violence is against the rules in a school, but so should be verbal abuse and property disrespect too. I would have done the same or even worse, lemme tell you.”

  Her admission lifted Aurora’s spirits before the latter remembered Aaron’s family, guilt and shame instantly gripping her heart. Nevertheless, this was the first time somebody did not dismiss her feelings or actions and she could not deny the comfort that had given her. Yet again, the fox lady sparked contradicting emotions in her, her brain too engaged with processing and comprehending them to notice the hesitation that had crept on her companion’s face.

  “Hey, listen,” Mina started after swallowing the knot in her throat, “what if I dealt with your bullies?”

  The girl looked at her and frowned.

  “Dealt with? What do you mean? Like, killed?”

  “Weeell…If you want them dead, I can definitely do it for you.”

  Great, more psychopathic behaviour. That’s exactly what I needed from you right now, she thought, rolling her eyes.

  “You know what? I wouldn’t care if they were gone,” she confessed. “Maybe it would even be good at first, but I’m sure people would eventually suspect I did it or I was connected to the culprit. That kind of headache is the last thing I want in my life.”

  The woman considered her argument.

  “What if I killed people unrelated to you as well?”

  Aurora’s mouth was agape as she shook her head.

  “Seriously…?”

  “It would mask the ‘connection to the culprit’!”

  “You don’t know that. All anybody would need is one seed of doubt and then it would snowball into an endless nightmare. No, I’m good. I’d rather change schools too or something than be an accomplice to mass murder.”

  “So why don’t you?”

  She sighed.

  “Because the school I go to is the best in the city and my mom would never let me go anywhere else. There was a reason she fought to keep me here, y’know?”

  “Sure, but it drove you to suicide. Isn’t that a good reason to reevaluate the situation?”

  “Yeah, maybe, except she doesn’t know what I’m going through and I’m quite sure she wouldn’t care. I haven’t told her anything particularly because I know what kind of person she is.”

  “Well, what kinda person is she?”

  “Ah, I don’t really wanna get into it because it just creates a bad taste in my mouth, but suffice it to say that she’s been extremely preoccupied with my future ever since Dad left us.”

  “Hmm, sounds like school is not the only place with issues.”

  “Yup, you can definitely say that again.”

  With her appetite returned, she resumed eating and absentmindedly checked the phone she had left on the table only to see about a dozen missed calls and messages from her mother. Her stomach fell into her bowels and sweat began trickling down everywhere on her body. Hot breath was scorching her throat and her head buzzed as if electrocuted.

  “Oh, no. Oh, no, no, no…”

  Mina watched her and frowned.

  “What’s going on? Are you okay?”

  Aurora looked up at her as if she had seen a ghost.

  “My mom was on a business trip and I forgot she would return today. I should’ve been home two hours ago!”

  She shot to her feet and with trembling hands, put on her jacket and swung the bag over her shoulder.

  “Oh, fuck, shit, goddamn stupid fucking idiot…” she mumbled as she did.

  “Whoa, can you calm down?! You’re stressing me out!” said the woman while rising to her feet as well.

  “You…You don’t understand! My mom is very particular about my schedule! I should have been home!”

  She was about to rush to the exit, but Mina caught her by the arm.

  “Just hold on for a damn second, okay?”

  She paused for a moment to organise her thoughts.

  “Look, you’re already late, so what’s it another 10-15 minutes? I think we should finish the food because it would be a shame to have thrown the money away for less than their worth, then we can go to your home together and I’ll cover for you. Alright? I’ll cover for you.”

  “…how?”

  “I’ll think of something. How much does your mom know about your school life? What classmates you have, what teachers etc.”

  “These days? Not very much.”

  “Great, then it won’t be that hard to come up with an excuse. Maybe I can pose as your teacher or something.”

  “But she can easily find out who my actual teachers are…”

  “Doesn’t matter, we just want to buy some time for now. We’ll deal with other bullshit later. Besides, she’s not gonna call the school for any reason at this hour, that’s for sure.”

  “…I just don’t want her to yell at me again.”

  While making her admission, the girl almost looked like a child who had just broken a precious family heirloom. A fire ignited in the woman’s chest and she pursed her lips.

  “Does your mother hurt you?” she asked, her words like ice.

  “What…?”

  “Does she hit you? Does she insult you? Does she abuse you in any way?”

  Aurora lowered her eyes and clasped her hands together. Only a nod followed, then her shoulders began to shake. Mina’s instincts were telling her to hug her companion, but her mind would not comply.

  She’s seen too much of your nature for you to still have the right to affection. Maybe in the future you will again, but not today.

  The woman bit her lip and instead grabbed the girl’s hand with her human one while rubbing the opposite shoulder with her dark one.

  “Then I think you could use all the help you can get and I offer mine. What do you say? I promise I’ll do my best.”

  Aurora slowly lifted her misty eyes to her saviour’s, then took the human hand in both of hers and placed it against her own forehead.

  “Thank you,” she sobbed and Mina’s body shuddered.

  Her entire dark arm vibrated in protest and she took it off the girl’s shoulder before the latter could notice, glaring at it as she did. It was nothing more than a polite reminder of what she was supposed to represent, which usually would not elicit any form of gratitude. However, despite being used to it, she always found it bothersome.

  Relax, you insufferable filth, she thought. Misery can even flow from benevolence. You should have understood this by now.

  She was aware attempting to reason with a mere force was futile, but the sentiment of anger, for which such thoughts served as kindling, would ultimately benefit both it and her. In addition, it was not uncommon for sentient life to curse the animate as well as the inanimate in moments of misfortune. Not even godhood could erase such a habit.

  Plan outlined, the two ate the rest of their meals in silence, the tense atmosphere hanging over them seeping into how they chewed and swallowed the food. They were done in less than ten minutes and after the girl went to the restroom, they were on their way. They continued to not speak until they arrived at the meeting point from this morning. The woman glanced at the girl and saw her parted lips shaking. While it had got too chilly outside to ignore, especially for a human, Mina knew Aurora’s nerves were playing no small part in her physical reactions.

  “Alright, listen up,” the fox lady commanded, hand on hip. “Since it’s your home, you go in first. I’ll be right behind you. If you see your mom, just greet her and say you’re sorry for being late, nothing more. I’ll take over from there. I’ll answer all the questions and provide all the explanations. You can just stand there and listen. If I make a suggestion – such as, ‘you can go to your room now’ – you do it. You listen to me, not your mom, understood? I don’t imagine she’s in a good mood, so it’s safer that way.”

  The teenager nodded throughout the adult’s instructions, trying to steady her breathing in the meantime.

  “Good, now get going.”

  Aurora fished the key out of her pocket and fumbled with the lock until the door opened. The inside was no different from the outside and she reached out for the switch on the wall. As the entrance became basked in a mild light, a figure appeared in the hallway, causing her to jerk back, bump into Mina, and scream. In a flash, the latter moved in front of her, left arm in a defensive stance. Fortunately, no immediate danger had been waiting for either of them in the dark. Unfortunately, a middle-aged woman dressed in a suit with disheveled black hair had.

  How silly of me, thought the fox lady as her body relaxed.

  Nevertheless, her gaze remained on the mother.

  “M-Mom,” the girl stuttered, coming out from behind Mina. “What are you doing with all the lights off?”

  When the addressed did not answer, she started fidgeting while searching for her words, then remembered what her saviour had told her.

  “Um…Sorry for being late. And for not picking up the phone or replying to your texts. I’ve been keeping it on silent and in my bag the entire day, so as to not cause trouble at school.”

  The mother continued to watch her daughter without uttering a word, then her attention shifted to the stranger in her home.

  “Who might you be?”

  A thick accent enveloped the question, taking the fox lady by surprise, for she sounded nothing like Aurora.

  “My name is Mina Kitsunegami,” she introduced herself. “I’m a substitute PE teacher at Aurora’s school. We ran into each other and have been together since. I wasn’t aware she has a curfew, but even so, I apologise for keeping her for so long. We both lost track of time, but it was my responsibility not to.”

  Kitsunegami? Is that really her last name? wondered the girl.

  “PE? What is PE?” the mother inquired.

  Mina and Aurora exchanged a look.

  “Uh…physical education? The class where students play a sport and do exercises that keep their bodies moving?”

  “Ah. Yes, of course. I wasn’t familiar with the abbreviation. What did you two do until now?”

  The “teacher” considered her response for a moment.

  “The answer to your question pertains to a delicate matter that I would prefer to explain in private.”

  The girl almost frowned, but forced herself not to. She judged it was best to maintain a neutral expression. She did not want to create issues for her saviour and, implicitly, for herself. Mina could feel herself being scrutinised, but kept her composure with mild annoyance.

  “Fine. You may come in. Aurora, go to your room and start your homework. We will have dinner after I finish with your teacher.”

  “Ah, since you mentioned homework, is it alright if I go with Aurora for a bit? There is something I’d like to check.”

  “About her homework? Did you not say you’re a physical-education teacher?”

  “That’s right, but I taught other subjects in the past, such as language and literature. We talked earlier today about a literature assignment she received recently, but I couldn’t help her then. However, I believe I can do it now, after thinking about it a little more.”

  Mina was convinced the mother would have scoffed if she could afford to be less polite.

  “Fine, but please be quick. It’s quite late. I’ll be waiting for you in the kitchen, through here,” she instructed, indicating the open space to the left of the hallway.

  “Of course, ma’am. I’ll be right there.”

  As the middle-aged woman evaporated in darkness, Aurora finished taking off her shoes and jacket and motioned for her “teacher” to follow. The fox lady dematerialized her boots and did so. Together, they climbed the stairs in front of them and went into a room to the right. The various trophies and medals lined up on a shelf instantly drew the adult’s attention.

  “What are these for?” she asked, squinting to read the inscribed text.

  The girl did not reply.

  “Did you hear me? What are—?”

  “Competitions. Musical competitions.”

  Mina turned to her companion, her brow furrowed and her mouth slightly open.

  “You can sing???”

  Aurora looked away.

  “A little, but those were for playing. Guitar and violin.”

  The woman’s incredulousness kept building up as her eyes shifted between the awards and their owner. She might have been less shocked by cosmic concepts and laws than what had just been revealed to her.

  “Guitar AND violin. And you can sing too? Holy fuck,” she muttered, but the girl heard her all the same.

  The latter hurried to her side.

  “Anyway, what do you want? Why did you come with me?”

  “Oh, right, sorry,” Mina said as she faced Aurora, then flicked her forehead with the left hand’s fingers.

  The girl’s eyes rolled into the back of her head and her body went limp, caught by Mina before it could hit the floor. The fox lady carried her to the bed and laid her in it. She watched her for a moment, then stretched her body, cracked her fingers and went for the door.

  “Now we can deal with the bitch downstairs,” she whispered to the Executor, affirming its complicity as if it had not been at her beck and call since she had arrived.

  She found the mother at the now illuminated kitchen table, still appearing as if she had been spat out by the washing machine. On her way over, she spotted a bottle of alcohol, around 50% full, and an empty glass on the living-room coffee table, the light spilling from the kitchen reflected in the glasswork.

  “I’m sorry for disturbing you at this hour,” she apologised without meaning it.

  The mother looked up from a point of interest on the table only she knew and blinked as if seeing her for the first time, then gestured at the opposite chair. The fox lady obliged.

  “It’s alright. I’m interested in this delicate matter my daughter was caught up in.”

  “Right, I’ll get straight to the point, then: Are you aware Aurora is being bullied?”

  The older woman’s expression was like a statue’s.

  “Bullied? Where? By who?”

  “At school. Plenty of her classmates mock her on a daily basis. We talked about it today and she told me she feels suffocated.”

  “And what is the reason for the bullying?”

  Mina narrowed her eyes.

  “Does it matter? Would the reason invalidate how she feels?”

  “When I was a student, only those lacking in diligence were bullied. Those focused on their studies never experienced anything like it. Perhaps she should do the same.”

  “Are you saying she isn’t conscientious enough?”

  This time, the mother did scoff.

  “I have no idea where that girl’s head is at, but it is not her lessons and homework. You said you are a teacher. Are you not aware of her grades?”

  “I’m a PE teacher and a substitute one at that. I teach whenever the titular teacher isn’t available.”

  “So you don’t interact with my daughter’s class all the time. Then why did she tell you about the bullying and not a teacher who is more present?”

  “What do you mean, ‘present’? Part of why she feels trapped is because there’s no one trying to help her!”

  The middle-aged woman watched Mina for a moment.

  “I have spoken with the school’s principal today. Do you know what he said?”

  Ah, shit.

  The latter shook her head, maintaining her composure.

  “Not only Aurora’s grades, but also her attendance, has been declining for the past year. He and other teachers have offered their help, but she chose not to rely on them every time.”

  “Okay, but why not talk to Aurora herself before drawing any conclusions?”

  The mother ignored her.

  “And do you know what else he has told me? While you were upstairs, I called him to ask about you. There is no teacher by the name of Mina Kitsunegami at the school.”

  As if in a play orchestrated by a god, a few knocks resonated from the front door, flashes of red and blue accompanying them through the window. While the young lady was processing this development, the older one sprang from her seat and rushed for the hallway. She managed to only take a few steps before she lost her balance and a long shadow sent her flying into the wall, shaking the whole room. Mina dematerialised her katana, picked up the half-leg she had cut and as the knocks were becoming more insistent, tossed it back to its owner, now slumped in a bloody mess on the floor. With a click of her tongue, she went to answer the door. Before the policemen could even explain the reason for their presence, she crushed one’s head against the doorframe, then impaled the other through the eye with a spear mid-manifestation. Shifting the spear into a bow, she sniped the lights on the car, bringing back serenity to the street.

  Back in the house, she glanced at the mother’s corpse and sighed.

  “Your fox ears have returned,” the Executor remarked.

  She reached up and, indeed, her fingers brushed against them, but did not see the point in changing her appearance again. She began pacing between the living room and the kitchen, hands on hips, thinking about what to do next.

  “Say, is there any way to bring people back in this world?” she asked after a while.

  “It depends on what your understanding of ‘bringing one back’ is, but the Grand World System does have the function to superpose the stored data of a person over the same person.”

  “What happens then?”

  The current data is overwritten by the superposed one.”

  “…does it work if the person is dead?”

  “If it’s done before the death becomes part of the status quo, yes.”

  Mina crossed her arms.

  “So, the Grand World System keeps a copy of every human in the world. Is that right?”

  “That is correct. In the event of a calamity, humanity can be restarted by bypassing the initial stages of evolution, provided the world is still hospitable to fully-developed humans and provided the Grand World System is intact following the calamity.”

  “What about the people’s memories? Are they erased or…?”

  “A superposed person will only have the knowledge they did when their data was saved. However, the Grand World System updates the data regularly.”

  “When was her data saved?”

  The fox lady pointed at the body with the mangled head. There was a pause.

  “Right at the start of your conversation.”

  She frowned.

  “Did you suspect something was gonna happen?”

  There was another pause.

  “As the primary source of data, all human life is precious.”

  “If you say so. Now, let’s bring the skank back. Unless I don’t have the authority to do this either…Do I?”

  “The superposition function is available to you, Administrator.”

  “Great, let’s do it,” she commanded, snapping her fingers.

  A glitching effect covered the mother’s corpse before it disappeared, leaving behind no trace besides the blood that had splattered on the wall, floor and the immediate vicinity. At the same time, another similar effect reconstructed the middle-aged woman on the same chair she had previously sat in. For a moment, she appeared like a doll, but then she blinked and looked around until her vision landed on Mina, standing at the edge of the kitchen.

  “Miss Kitsunegami? When did you move over there?”

  Well, I’ll be damned, the fox lady thought, sucking in her breath as her body trembled. If only my world had had a system like this…Maybe they could have already—

  Clenching her fists and gritting her teeth, she pushed the hope that was starting to take root in her heart into the void.

  No, I probably would’ve broken it…Fuck!

  She closed her eyes, inhaled deeply, then exhaled.

  “Never mind that, we’re here to talk about Aurora,” she replied, stepping back into the light.

  The moment she did, the mother jerked back, then slowly rose to her feet. At first, Mina did not understand her reaction, but once she remembered the fox ears, she could only roll her eyes.

  “Oh, please,” she said with irritation in her voice. “Have you never seen cosplay b—?”

  “Stay away from me! Where did that blood come from?! What did you do to Aurora?!”

  Blood?

  She looked down at herself and saw red stains on her chest. The image of the policeman whose head had exploded like a watermelon flashed in her mind. The older woman was moving further and further away from her.

  “Wait, this is not hers! It’s not, okay? You can go and see for yourself,” Mina placated, pointing at the second floor and taking slow and steady steps towards her.

  The moment she started running, the fox lady threw the spear at her, impaling her in the hallway wall through the head. After the weapon faded away, its owner examined the resulted hole, then the cracks where the mother had died the first time. She grimaced before going back to the kitchen to clean the blood off her. Once she finished, she snapped her fingers again and commanded the Executor to reset the middle-aged woman.

  “Miss Kitsunegami? What—?”

  “Yeah, listen,” she interrupted by raising a palm, exasperation coating her words, “time is short, so let’s speed things along a little bit, yeah? Do you know Aurora is bullied at school?”

  “I—No, nobody has told me she is.”

  “Okay. She said she was also bullied about a year ago. Did you know about that? Before the matter kind of became public.”

  “No, I didn’t. How much did she tell you…?”

  “What are you going to do now? Given the prior incident and what you’ve just learnt.”

  The older woman could not find her words for a second.

  “I’m not sure…I suppose talk to her, talk to the principal, then see how to proceed from there?”

  A flash of realisation settled on her face.

  “But why do I have to answer to you? I talked to the principal while you were upstairs and he told me there is no teacher called—”

  The rest of the sentence became lost to nothingness, for a red line appeared on her face, followed by half of her head sliding off as blood dripped around what remained of it. Disgusted, Mina kicked the chair, body and all, to the floor.

  “Arrrgh, she pisses me off so much!” she complained, dematerialising the katana.

  “Administrator, what is it you hope to accomplish?”

  She sighed.

  “Ideally, I’d like her to take accountability and apologise for being abusive, then mend her ways. But from how Aurora described her, she seems the stubborn sort, probably even more so due to the alcohol. Plus, she thinks I’m a criminal or some shit.”

  “…according to human law, you are indeed a criminal.”

  “Fine, I am, but she wouldn’t suspect me if she hadn’t contacted the old man! Who even calls at this hour?!”

  “You cannot blame her for being cautious.”

  “I fucking came here with her daughter! I’m not holding her hostage! And even if you see through my act, what possesses you to call the goddamn police? Like, are you for real?”

  “From the Grand World System’s observations, it seems that her obsession with control has led to paranoia in the past, which is most likely the case right now as well. Any assessment is going to be less accurate than normal due to the repeated deaths, however.”

  “Fascinating, but how does that help me?”

  Before the Executor could treat her question as an invitation to offer potential solutions, she continued: “You know what? Whatever. I have an idea.”

  After cleaning the chair and the floor, she moved to the left side of the table and snapped her fingers. At this point, she was used to the expression of confusion that would appear on the mother’s face, so she cut her off ahead of the latter even opening her mouth.

  “Look, I’m not here to waste my time, nor yours. What I said back there? It was a lie. I lied because I didn’t want Aurora to be punished. She didn’t go into details, but she confirmed when I asked that you have been abusing her. I wanted to shield her from more of it and reassure her that she doesn’t need to come up with excuses herself at the same time, so I pretended I’m one of her teachers. While I have taught in the past, I’m not a teacher at the moment. Rather, I would consider myself a concerned big sister who’s only met her recently. Her confiding in me made me happy, but I wanted to do more, so here I am. What do you think about just…having a talk – about you, her, the past, anything?”

  The mother looked as if she had been struck by lightning and it took her a few minutes to respond, testing the fox lady’s patience, whose irritation had grown almost palpable.

  “I’m sorry, but that is a family matter and you are a stranger. It’s best you leave, before the police arrives. I called it while you were with my daughter because I couldn’t trust you, but if that’s all you were after, then there is no need to complicate the situation.”

  Mina only stared as her face contorted with rage and her eye twitched. Then, she sprang to her feet and brought down an axe more than half her size onto the mother, cleaving her clean in half, splitting the chair’s backrest along with her. Unconcerned with cleaning anymore, she commanded the older woman’s reset and decapitated her with a scythe as soon as it completed. Once she returned, her head was hammered into her torso. Another reset led to her head being blown off by an arrow. Yet another to her being beaten to a pulp with a morning star. Mina went through a sizeable amount of her arsenal until she decided that dying too quickly was a luxury beyond what the middle-aged woman was deserving of and switched to torture using her bare hands – clawing her skin, crushing her bones, tearing limbs, smashing her like a ragdoll against every piece of furniture in the kitchen and shoving parts of her own body down her throat until death by asphyxiation. It did not take long for the pristine room where people gathered to satiate the cravings of their stomachs – a symbol of the endurance and prosperity of life – to turn into the scene of a massacre; not of many, as it would be expected, but of a single person.

  The fox lady’s bloodlust was only broken by a scream that matched the hellish painting she had created with the mother’s blood, coming from a spectator that should have never seen it. The painter was in the middle of choosing a different manner in which to splash the canvas, but upon laying her eyes on the girl, she merely snapped the middle-aged woman’s neck, then rushed to her daughter, whose legs had given out and had forced her to sit at the entrance to the living room, trembling and crying on the floor. When she had saved her, the saviour had looked like a fallen angel – beautiful beyond words with a mysterious, yet alluring, air. Now, drenched in blood with eyes to match and wisps of dark energy flowing around her left forearm, she was like the manifestation of a nightmare, a terror given form by humanity’s tendency for calamity.

  “Why are you awake…?” Mina asked as if under haze. “How long has it been?”

  The Executor was silent. Noticing, how violently Aurora was trembling, she reached to her, but the girl screamed again.

  “Stay away from me, monster!”

  Ah, the realisation washed over her like cold water, I am a monster, aren’t I?

  She retracted her hand, paused for a moment, then pounced on her companion, pinning her to the floor and trapping her arms under her legs.

  “No! No! What are you going to do to me?! Stop! Leave me alone! N—”

  The protests died in her throat as a tanto pierced her neck, the same blade Mina had lent to her in the morning. As the dagger dematerialised, tar tears began flowing down the fox lady’s cheeks. A part of her wanted to look away from the fear frozen on the girl’s face, but she forced herself not to, so the tears may not have ceased.

  When Aurora opened her eyes again, light was streaming through the window and Mina was levitating next to her desk – one leg crossed, one loose. Any other person might have been surprised by such a sight, but in her case, this might have been the least impressive feat she had seen from her saviour.

  “You’re here too?” she mumbled, sleep still tugging at the corners of her eyes. “What’s the time?”

  The fox lady opened her eyes and blinked a few times, as if she had been asleep as well.

  “Oh, you’re awake. Good morning!”

  She ended her floating and went to pinch Aurora’s cheeks.

  “Ow, what’s that for?!”

  “To get your blood going, of course. C’mon, get dressed.”

  The girl looked around for her phone, then grabbed it from the nightstand.

  “Wait, am I late or something?”

  It was 8:05. School had already started, sending waves of panic through her body. Mina grabbed the phone before she could spiral any further.

  “Forget about school for today. We’ve got more important matters to attend to.”

  She felt as if she had just been slapped in the face.

  “Huh??? What do you mean? What about my attendance? Mom is back too, I can’t—”

  The woman put her hands on her hips.

  “Are you saying you’ve never skipped with your mom around?”

  “I mean, she’s barely around, so I’m not sure right now, but—”

  “Either way, it doesn’t matter! Your mom is not gonna bother you today. You can relax for a change.”

  “What? How do you know that?”

  The fox lady clicked her tongue.

  “You’re starting to get on my nerves, girl. I tried my best to remove all the stress for at least one day and this is what I get for it?”

  Aurora’s heart skipped a beat.

  “Uh…I mean, that sounds great…but…”

  She looked up and saw the woman glaring at her.

  “…fine, I’ll get ready as fast as I can. Please wait here.”

  With her resignation declared, she chose her outfit for the day and went to the bathroom.

  Thank goodness the bathroom is upstairs too, the woman thought, sighing.

  About half an hour later, the girl was back wearing jeans and a sweater, her hair looking half-wet.

  “Why’d you wash it?” Mina asked as she scrutinised it. “What if you get sick? Dumbo.”

  Perhaps Aurora had been freed from her mother for the day, but it appeared motherhood remained inescapable.

  “I just didn’t like how it looked, leave me alone,” she muttered.

  “Hmph, whatever. Here’s your jacket and shoes. Put them on and let’s go already.”

  “You brought them here? Why?”

  Despite her growing confusion, she did as instructed. Meanwhile, the fox lady opened the window.

  “‘Cause we’re going out through here,” she explained, pointing at it.

  “Huh…? What? What do you—?”

  Without waiting for the girl to finish, the woman scooped her up, placed her foot on the window frame and jumped. Before the former could scream, the two were already flying.

  “Are you fucking crazy?!”

  “It’s not like you haven’t done this before,” the latter pointed out with a grin.

  She wanted to retort, but since no suitable words came to her, she buried her face in the fox lady’s bosom and kept silent. It took them no longer than a few minutes to arrive at Aaron’s house, their trip slightly steadier due to Mina getting the idea to continuously switch her wing between her shoulder blades mid-flight.

  “This is where we were two days ago…Isn’t it?” Aurora asked once solid ground was under her feet again.

  “Yup, this is little Aaron’s home.”

  “What are we doing here?”

  “Remember we promised we’d help him deal with his unfortunate situation? We’re here to do just that. And to give you a day off, I didn’t lie about that. Two birds, one stone.”

  “Yeah, a situation you put him in! And what do birds and stones have to do with any of this?”

  Mina chuckled.

  “C’mon, let’s get some breakfast. We’ll talk more later.”

  She rang the door and in about a minute, the boy opened it, half a smile on his face. He greeted and welcomed them, then reported to the fox lady, who still had not disguised herself, that the bathroom was almost clean. She offered a smile of her own, a hint of pride on her lips, patted his head and instructed him to join them in the kitchen after finishing. In the meantime, her and the girl would prepare the food. While cooking, the woman explained that she had been here once already today, very early in the morning, while Aaron had still been sleeping. It had taken a while to rouse him, but after, she had taught him how the basics of interior hygiene by making the kitchen spotless for the two of them to work in. Then, she had given him the mission to apply what he had learnt in the bathroom. She had figured he needed to become independent as quickly as possible, since there was now nobody to take care of him.

  “So you made him skip school too,” concluded the girl.

  “Some endeavours must take priority over school, such as learning a life skill or taking time to destress,” the woman replied with the air of an armchair philosopher.

  Aurora found herself smiling and the duo continued cooking. The boy returned as they were setting the table and offered to help, but the fox lady declined, arguing that knowing when to take a break was just as important as working hard, winking in her companion’s direction as she did. Once breakfast was over, she showed him how to wash the dishes, then left him on the couch with some cookies and a cup of tea, while she and the girl retreated to the steps outside.

  “I’m gonna leave today,” Mina confessed as they beheld the last sighs of autumn.

  The girl looked at her, unsure what she meant for a moment.

  “Leave? Where are you going?”

  Nostalgia filled the woman’s expression.

  “Well, my home doesn’t exist anymore, so I can’t say that…”

  “Oh. I’m sorry…I didn’t know.”

  “…but I’ve got some peeps waiting for me. I haven’t seen them in quite some time, so I think it’s time to change that.”

  “I see…”

  Aurora did not know what she should say, so she could only express her understanding.

  “However, before I go, I have…maybe a few surprises for you. The kid and I – we made a deal. I told him you need some space away from home and he accepted to have you as a house mate. In exchange, he gets half of the chores off his back, more time to himself and his studies and, hopefully, companionship. Also, I paid the principal a visit and he agreed to help you move to any school you’d like. He wasn’t very cooperative at first, so I left you some leverage in the Gallery on your phone, just in case he changes his mind. Aaand I talked to Camelia too. She is sorry for what happened and wants to properly apologise. If you’re willing to hear her out, she promises to help both you and Aaron from time to time. As for your mom…I left her a message, I suppose, so it’s best you don’t go home and let her process it. Eventually, she might reach out as well and at that point, it’s up to you if you wanna forgive her or not.”

  She paused.

  “Mmm, I think that’s all I wanted to say,” then concluded, rising to her feet and looking down at the girl. “Take care of yourself.”

  She waved and started walking away. Aurora’s pulse quickened as she watched the fox lady increase the distance between them, her mind struggling to accept the sudden development and everything that had been revealed. It was as if an invisible force was sucking the air directly out of her lungs. It took tears to get her to move.

  “Waaait!” she yelled, running after her saviour.

  The moment she reached the woman, she grabbed the dark arm with both of her own.

  “Please wait! Why must you leave so suddenly?!”

  Mina turned, amusement and a touch of sadness mixed in her eyes.

  “Don’t be silly. There’s nothing left for me here. Besides, didn’t you hear me? My…”

  She trailed off, searching for the most fitting word, but none of them clicked for her.

  “People are waiting for me and I wish to return to them. That’s all there is to it.”

  “So…you just come in and throw my and Aaron’s lives into chaos and then just leave?!”

  She pondered the words.

  “You’re right, I have thrown your lives into chaos, his especially, but I’ve given you the means to reestablish order as well. And I believe you can do it.”

  She was about to walk away when she was hit with another question.

  “And what about your promise?! You said you’d…You said you’d kill me!”

  The sobs were distorting Aurora’s speech.

  She faced her once more, crossing her arms.

  “But do you still want to die?”

  “I…I don’t know…” the girl admitted, shaking her head.

  She watched her for a moment, gears turning in her head.

  “Alright, I’ll kill you.”

  Aurora gasped.

  “But I won’t do it today. In ten years, I’ll be back and if then you still want to die, I will fulfill my promise. In the meantime, it’s up to you if Aaron should have someone to rely on.”

  She took a few steps, then turned to the girl one final time.

  “And if by then you’ve found enough reason to live, I’ll take you with me into the real cosmos.”

  There was no need for a formal goodbye, for the prospect of such a future went beyond what any farewell could express. It carried a hope, a wish and a challenge that made it feel like a whole cloud had been stuffed into Aurora’s heart. A luminescent red spread throughout her pupils like ink in water, causing her eyes to resemble bloody stars, as her saviour’s return kept echoing in her mind.

  Mina stopped in an empty field outside the city, struck by a sudden urge.

  “Hey, Executor. Can I see you before I go? You’ve never appeared before me and I want to know what form you take.”

  There was no response for long enough that she wondered if she was being ignored, but then a digital replica of her appeared.

  “I must apologise, Administrator,” the Executor spoke in a modulated rendition of her own voice, “but I do not have a personal form. This is all I can do.”

  Her neutral expression changed to fake revulsion, then settled on amusement.

  “Damn, don’t just copy me like that! Well, I suppose I can’t really blame you. I do look positively stunning, after all!”

  “Your natural beauty and sex appeal are indeed of the highest level, at least compared to the humans in this world.”

  “Hehe, you bet they are. Such is the privilege of being divine! Anyway, I didn’t ask you for a face-to-face conversation to compliment me. I wanted to thank you for your cooperation. You’ve always done what could be done of what I asked and it’s made my life so much easier. Goodness knows I couldn’t have tracked the principal and Camelia without your help.”

  “To the extent of the sleep they lost, I am certain they wish you did not.”

  “Yeah, well, they acted like scumbags before! Although, I kinda liked Camelia. Under different circumstances, I would’ve liked to play with her myself.”

  “Miss Camelia is heterosexual,” the Executor stated matter-of-factly.

  “Tsk, tsk, tsk, noodles are also straight until they’re wet.”

  “Hmm? That is correct, but what is its relevance in the current context?”

  “Geh, never mind. I always forget civilization don’t have the same expressions.”

  “I see. Then I must point out that your gratitude is unnecessary. The entire Grand World System was designed to obey Administrators. I simply followed my programming.”

  “Mmm. That may be so, but I think you’re more akin to humans than you might expect. So then, it was only natural to thank you. I once was, uh…more human than I am now, I guess? And we always showed gratitude for any kind of service, even if it was for granted.”

  “I see. It appears your civilisation was not that different from the one here. In addition, I believe you must receive gratitude yourself, for I have recorded important information about the abilities, behaviours and thought processes of a divine being. Since knowledge is my main directive in times of peace, I could call myself satisfied.”

  “So it was a mutually-beneficial exchange! I’m content with that. And you know, since you were good to me, and especially as thanks for saving Aurora’s data alongside her mother’s, I’m feeling generous. You can ask me any question and I will answer it to the best of my ability! Cross my heart.”

  “What would crossing your heart accomplish? And how would—”

  “Aaah, just ask the goddamn question!”

  The Executor lowered its eyes and held its chin in its hand for a few moments. The fox lady paced around while waiting.

  “If it is just one question, then: What is the fate of the people of this world?”

  Her eyes widened slightly in surprise before their eyelids covered them in their entirety as a chuckle escaped her lips. When she reopened them, they shone like two blood moons and a four-pointed star had appeared on each. Her mouth shifted into the smile of a sadist.

  “The fate of all that is is to be ground into nothingness by the chisel of time,” the reply came from behind an index finger.

  With a wave of her other hand, Mina vanished into the ether, only leaving behind a patch of wilted grass, marks of corrosion on the lives she had brushed against, but the means for change too – the bloody devastation and the warning in the mother’s kitchen, the twin embryos in Camelia’s womb, a prophecy of reunion for Aaron and a scandalously indecent picture of the principal in Aurora’s phone. The calamity had come and passed and until the hour of finality, the people’s fates had returned into their hands. As for the Executor, in spite of the fact that Mina had always viewed it as an artificial human in development because of its personality and expressivity, the clearest sign of its humanisation was that its first wish since gaining sentience was for the next god to answer its signal to be Lady Initia, for it seemed true salvation lied solely in her hands.