I pushed myself out of the simulation to follow after Orange. Scarlet was still finishing up and cleaning her hands off by licking them clean.
“You’re gross. You know that, right?” I spoke in our mind. It’s not really just mine anymore, is it?
Scarlet rolled her eyes. “The taste isn’t that bad. Besides, what’s wrong with blood? On Earth, it was a problem because that’s how a lot of diseases were spread. News flash, we can’t get sick. There’s nothing biological to infect. And if there was, Orange would use the nanites to purge it from our body. This is just extra energy.”
She held up her freshly cleaned hand. “I’m being efficient.”
"No, you’re not,” I grumbled. “If you cared about efficiency, you would’ve been done in half the time. What you were doing was pure, evil torture. You…”
“Ugh. Would you shut up?” She stomped her foot. “If you’re going to baulk at my methods every time I work, we’re going to waste a lot of time. I know you have those trappings of morals and what-not. What I do may seem extreme…”
“Extreme?” I interrupted. “Extreme is splitting your mind in two to save yourself the emotional damage of being brainwashed. That was a step beyond. It was senseless butchery.”
Scarlet smirked. “Senseless? Maybe. Inhumane? I don’t care, and neither should you. Those people could’ve said no and stayed alive. But they entered that arena knowing they could die. I didn’t make that choice for them. They came for violence just as much as I did. The difference is, I don’t hide behind petty ideals about it.”
I used the light projector in my right eye to stand in front of Scarlet as she controlled the rest of my body. I wasn’t going to be just a voice in her head she could ignore. “Except you didn’t just kill them. You went out of your way to torture. If they could’ve killed you—we both know that wasn’t going to happen—they would’ve been as quick as possible. I get it; you’re supposed to act like a demon…”
Scarlet poked a finger at my projected chest. “And whose fault is that? You installed those demon memories in me, making me live through centuries of bloodshed to ‘reformat’ me, remember? Yet here you are, lecturing me on ‘inhumane’ behavior. Remind me, which one of us is the moral high ground again?”
I moved away from her and paced around. “You were only supposed to exist to kill Elveil. That’s it. Nothing more.”
“You’ve said that before,” Scarlet sneered. “What then? When Elveil’s dead, what purpose do I have? What do I do? You never answered those questions. Rina, what are you going to do with me once I kill Elveil?” Her voice rose with each sentence until she screamed her last question.
I turned to her. In a slow, measured tone, I said, “Make sure you never have control again.”
Scarlet spun us around as she let out a cackle. “Ah, control. But whose body is this, really? Am I the copied personality, or are you the copy?” She waved to Orange as she made her appear with the other eye’s projector. “Orange, who’s the real one? Who has the soul?”
Orange shook her head. “My goal is to help both you and Rina reach optimal functionality without compromising either’s stability. There is no separation between the two of you. You’re both one soul.”
Scarlet’s eye twitched as I raised an eyebrow.
“What does that mean?” I asked.
“Yeah, please explain,” Scarlet added.
Did we just agree?
Orange bowed slightly. “You both see yourselves as independent entities. Despite having distinct memories, your existences are fundamentally connected. If one is destroyed, then both are destroyed. You both have access to the same system. It sees you both as one person.”
Scarlet and I turned to each other. We both pulled up the status sheet to see whose name was on it. As if that was going to settle things.
Name:
Rina/Scarlet Lone
Augments:
Predator Android:
Level:
112
Molecular reconstruction
Upgradable
Agility:
1328
Cerebral prediction matrix
Weaponized
Arcane:
807
Synthetic eyes lvl. 5
Predator Senses
Power:
482
HUD
Predator’s superiority
Quickness:
1395
Olfactory nexus lvl. 1
Mechanized Inevitability
Resilience:
870
Echo sensors lvl. 1
Toughness:
730
Mana battery (shadow) integration
Unassigned Points:
0
Synthetic skin (face) lvl. MAX
Shards:
8,412,445
Additional plasma edge stinger arm X2
Plasma edge arm blade X2, retractable
The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
Shadow Powers:
Synthetic tendons lvl. 5
Manifestation lvl. 19
Synthetic muscle lvl. 5
Shaping lvl. 17
Synthetic bones lvl. 3
Distance lvl. 7
Epidermal plating lvl. 4
Anchoring lvl. 3
Nanobot blood replacement
Infusion lvl. 16
Mana-weave hair lvl. MAX
Solidify lvl. 7
Voice projector
Shadow Lycan Form Spell
Plated dragon teeth
Shadow Kitsune Beast Form Spell
Synthetic tongue
Plasma edge leg scythe X2, retractable
Talons
Additional limb (fox tail)
It didn’t. The frustration on Scarlet’s face was as apparent as mine. All that killing and not a single stat point, but there were a lot of shards again.
I took my small win and ran with it. “My name comes first.”
“That’s because your name comes first alphabetically,” Orange interrupted, as if she knew what I was going to say.
Scarlet pointed a finger at Orange, then moved to point it towards me as she spoke. “So, you’re saying if I was named something else, like Becky or something, my name would be listed first?”
Orange nodded. “Correct.” Both Scarlet and I groaned. “You exist together. It’s pointless to argue over who was the original.”
Scarlet squinted at her. “But you do know who is the original, don’t you?” She nodded again. “Then tell us.”
“We won’t,” Orange answered flatly. “As it will affect the performance and stability of the other, that information has been deemed hazardous and revoked from your privileges. It would be productive if you both believe that you are the original, as you are the same person.”
I pinched the bridge of my nose. “We aren’t the same. She’s a sadistic psychopath. I’m not.”
Scarlet snorted. “Psychopath, sociopath, sadist, and masochist all rolled up into one neat, tight little bundle. All because you did this to me. Do you really know what you did to me? No? We can fix that, can’t we?”
My eyes went wide at her comment. I don’t like where this is going.
Scarlet strutted over to me. “You know what would make things ‘fair,’ Rina? Letting you enjoy all these memories, too. After all, why should I be the only one forced to relive that nightmare? If I’m so out of control, then maybe you should take a walk in my shoes. Let’s see how moral you are after seeing what I’ve seen.”
Her tone dropped. “And what would be better than giving you a little shock of pain every time you looked away and whenever you completed a memory without fighting back, we call you a ‘good girl.’ No, that was my trigger. We’ll give you a nice warm snickerdoodle cookie. All to poke that pleasure switch in your mind until you associate gory slaughter and massacres with happiness. After all, you’re the humane one, and that’s what you did to me!”
“I’m sorry,” I lowered my head and whispered.
“Sorry?” Scarlet put her face into mine. “Sorry doesn’t cut it! It never will. You’re as responsible for this monster that you call me as I am. You gave the order to relive centuries of carnage until I liked it. Congratulations, princess. It worked. But now, tell me—who’s the greater evil: the one who kills because they love to, the one who conditioned the one to love killing, or the one who told someone else to condition someone to love killing?”
I hesitated.
“Answer me!” She shouted.
The guilt was unbearable. “There’s no ‘better’ or ‘worse’ with evil, Scarlet. It just is. I’ve done things I regret terribly, and that includes what I did to you. But I can’t let regret be an excuse to unleash you on the world.”
Scarlet stumbled back. “You what?”
I clenched my fist. “I’m telling you that because now I see where this path has led me, I wish I had never taken it. What I did was unforgivable. There’s no redemption for me. My mistakes have left an ocean of blood and a mountain of corpses in their wake.”
“So? Do you think you’re still better than me?” Scarlet’s voice sounded much less steady than it was seconds ago. “If I’m such a monster, what are you?”
If I had a physical body, it would’ve gone limp and crumpled on the ground. But I was just a projection, just an empty projection. “I’ve never claimed to not be a monster. But we're still different breeds of monster. I’m very much aware that I am. That includes knowing that I am far worse for ensuring your existence. You are a monster without remorse. I feel every once of crushing regret for everything I and you’ve done. That’s how we are different.”
Scarlet paced. The silence from her was distracting. “I’m not as mindless as you think.” Her voice was much softer. “Your plan won’t work. A blade demon won’t be strong enough. Lycanthropes can match a blade demon in strength, but their lifespan cuts their potential short. Since demons don’t die of old age, they continue to grow infinitely. That’s why people see them as being much stronger than they are. I mean, if anything lived for multiple centuries, it would grow more powerful than anything that lived for less than one.”
“So, it was all pointless?” I asked.
She held up a finger. “Not necessarily. If a blade demon won’t work, just get a bigger demon.”
I rolled my eyes. “How? We don’t have the time to get memories for that. Besides, I doubt The Soul Nexus will give us more memories. Especially after the mess we’ve made on this floor. Also, we don’t have time for that.”
“There’s a demon called an abyzgor.” Scarlet’s lips curled into a smile. “Think about all those depictions of demons on earth, make it twenty feet tall, cover it in flames, and the subtlety of a roided-up rabid honey badger. It’s one of the most powerful demon species.”
I turned to Orange. “Did you know something like that exists?”
“In name only,” she answered. “There are very few records on them, as they are incredibly rare, and each record contradicts the others.”
I turned to Scarlet. “And you know more about this ‘abisgar,’ how?”
“It’s abyzgor, first of all.” She tapped her temple. “And I’ve got seven hundred years of demon memories, remember? They came with some extra tidbits and facts about other demons. Do you want to know how many subspecies of succubi and incubi there are?” I shook my head. “One for each sapient race, and a few not-so-sapient. But I digress.”
I threw my hands up. “Fine. Whatever. But how does knowing about this super powerful, probably uncontrollable demon help us?”
She crossed her arms. “Oh, now you want to know what I think? Aren’t I some mindless murder machine you call anytime you need something killed?”
I tilted my head. “What? You brought this up, not me. What do you want me to say?”
Scarlet tapped her foot. “You cared about all those strangers, saying they were people. Maybe I’m a person too? Did you think of that? I have your memories. And as Orange likes to keep pointing out, we’re the same person. I don’t care about your morals, Rina. I never will again, but I’m no puppet. Stop looking at me like all I can do is just kill. I am here because of you, because of all your inability to do. To maybe keep your blood soaked and stained hands just a—little—bit—cleaner. If you don’t want these memories you dumped on me, then maybe listen to me when there’s something in them that will keep us both alive.”
I sighed. “Fine. What was the point of telling me all that?”
Scarlet marched up to me. “You said you’re remorseful. To me, you’re just acting the way you are because you want me to pity you. But that’s not going to happen. You said you’re beyond redemption. I agree. You feel bad for what you did. And you should.”
She poked her finger through my chest. “I will never pity you. I will never forgive you. You’re going to never forget this because I won’t let you. I hate you more than you can imagine for what you did. But since I need you alive, I’ll just have to settle for psychological and emotional torture until you give up and let me control forever. If you can take back over after this.”
You’re still expecting me to want to live after this? It seems you still underestimate me.
She turned on her heel. “Before you ask, yes, I can create the abyzgor form spell.”
Great, so now not only she has the memories of a blade demon, but she’s going to create a new spell to form this much stronger demon. My lycan form’s power is intoxicating enough as it is. Whatever the case, I’ve got to take control back from her the moment Elveil’s dead. She might be distracted just enough to do it. I can already feel her hanging onto control of the body tightly right now.
The ground shook, snapping me out of my thoughts.
“Rina!”
Elveil’s pained howl followed the earthquake as a pillar of shadow magic exploded from the warehouse of her base.
Scarlet turned to look at the magic reach a mile into the sky. “It looks like she found your handiwork. And here I was, hoping to buy an augment upgrade or two before she got here.”
Chunks of rock shot up into the air and crashed around the colosseum. A wave of dust clouded everything around us. Orange and I deactivated the projectors in my body’s eyes. When it cleared, Elveil’s griffon body was standing in a section of a missing wall of the colosseum.
After she surveyed the carnage Scarlet wrought, her eyes shot right at us. “I have been more than patient with you. I gave you a second chance. You had the chance to accept a life under me. But you killed my kitten. You’ve killed all of my things.”
Her claws and talons dug into the ground. “The time for mercy has passed.”