95. Something of a Conscience

The first thing Isaac did when he left the Inferno was head to Solonell City. He needed to find Rosalinde and see what evidence had been gathered. Instead of sitting down, he paced around the rocking train car, only pausing to grip a poll when the train jolted particularly sharply. Even then, he’d continue to drum his fingers along the cold metal and shift his weight from leg to leg. Stillness seemed an impossible task.

Isaac kept glancing down at his tablet, where the list of victims was pulled up. During the time he’d been speaking to Sharil, Fable had finished filling in the rest of the names. There were no others that he recognized, but he still committed them to memory.

“Twelve victims,” he muttered under his breath. Eleven in the Inferno, one in Solonell City.

He didn’t have access to the victims’ stat sheets, but he remembered from the tournament that Villard had been Level 23. The perpetrator had to be at least Level 30 by his estimate, considering how quickly the killings had occurred. There hadn’t been any struggle.

Isaac’s grip on the hand rail tightened as the car lurched again.

Or maybe the murderer was closer in level than he thought. They could’ve spent longer fighting Villard if the other victims were all low level. Level 25 and above remained a possibility.

Olzu had been Level 11. Isaac’s jaw tightened. He would’ve been one of the quick and easy deaths. Probably insignificant to the murderer. Collateral damage at the wrong place and time.

Isaac kneaded his forehead. No, maybe it wasn’t random at all. Maybe there were specific targets, and Olzu had been one of them. The perpetrator could have sought the victims out, maybe even purposely killed them like that to send a message. He shuddered at the thought.

Did they kill them first, he wondered. Knock them out, deal the finishing blow, then continue their mutilation. Or were they alive when—

“Hey.”

Isaac nearly dropped the tablet with how quickly he jerked around. He automatically stumbled backwards only to hit the edges of the plastic seats, but he ignored the immediate stinging in his legs, his attention laser focused on whoever had appeared in the formerly empty car with him.

Standing a foot away, eyebrow raised, was Fable. They were wearing their usual clothes, sunglasses and hat obscuring most of their face while their bright red scarf trailed limply behind them, the ends brushing against the car floor. In the darkened tunnels, the bright color of their scarf and gloves almost seemed to glow, gleaming in the faint flashes of light just like the pool of red had on the pavement.

For a second, Fable simply stared at Isaac with an inscrutable expression. Finally, they said in their usual drawl, “Damn, you’re already starting to lose it.”

Isaac didn’t bother responding to the observation. “What’re you doing here?”

Fable raised a placating hand. “Chill, dude. I’m just heading back from the identification stuff. Gotta take a break, you know? Then it’s back to helping Lilith with System maintenance.” They shook their head and released a dramatic sigh.

The other Traveler’s behavior was perfectly expected by their standards. If anything, they were even being a little less annoying than usual. Despite Isaac being logically aware of that, he couldn’t brush aside the flare of anger at the sight of the other Traveler, whose casual, drawling voice seemed irreconcilable with what had happened.

“Okay,” he said curtly, not wanting to waste time saying more. He turned away and drummed his fingers faster against the metal pole, eyes fixed on the passing tunnels and willing the silver line station to appear soon.

He wondered if the train ride had always been so long; it felt like he’d been waiting for ages. His finger stopped abruptly and he hurried to check the tablet again, but the screen lit up as normal. He sighed in relief. The System was still functioning.

“You’re investigating the deaths, right?”

Scowling, Isaac spun around to face Fable again, who remained standing in the same spot. Despite not holding onto anything, they looked perfectly at ease balancing amidst the bumpy ride.

“The murders,” Isaac corrected automatically. “And yeah, I am.” He frowned. “Do you want to help or something?”

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“Oh absolutely not. I got other stuff to do.” They hummed and cocked their head to the side, scarf swaying with the motion. Once again, a lapse of silence passed. Isaac could feel the other’s eyes observing him, scrutinizing. They reminded him of the way scientists studied their test subjects. Distant, detached, and calculating.

“Be careful.”

Isaac blinked, taken aback.

“Excuse me?”

Fable snorted and shook their head. “Wow, I’m hurt. Look, I might not have a soul, but I do have something of a conscience. Sort of.” They released an exaggerated sigh and plopped down on one of the benches, kicking their legs up and swinging them around as they continued to speak.

“Take it from someone who’s seen a lot of things go to shit. Things’re really starting to go to shit now, and it’s probably not gonna stop.” Their voice and body language remained perfectly casual, as if they were simply commenting on the weather.

Isaac tensed. “What do you mean?” Was the System going to keep malfunctioning? Even after maintenance? Would more deaths occur? His mind raced with possibilities.

Fable shrugged. “What’s that saying? Once a stone starts rolling it doesn’t stop until it cracks? Something like that.”

“Why’re you so convinced? Lilith—“

“Lilith’s got good intentions, but everything goes to shit eventually, you know. Honestly kind of impressed it took this long.” Fable snorted, casually twisting the fabric of their gloves around. “Just face it. You don’t honestly think things’ll go back to normal after this, do you?”

Isaac remained silent. He hadn’t really thought about what would happen afterwards, after the murderer was caught. It wouldn’t bring anyone back, wouldn’t erase what had happened. His eyes drifted out the window.

Olzu would still be dead. He’d never get a chance to continue practicing flying, even though he’d worked so hard, had already made great strides in such a short period of time. Sharil and Lucius would never see him again, nor would he see them. He was gone forever.

Isaac clenched his fist.

After Lloyd had died, he’d had the discovery of the Underside to distract him. If he’d spent all his time alone in his apartment, constantly surrounded by the lingering ghost of his brother at every corner, living a life so similar and yet so far from what had once been, he didn’t know how he would have handled it.

The residents of the Underside had no other place to turn to. The demons lived in the Inferno; every one of them who knew one of the victims would have to confront their passing every second of the day. Isaac himself had barely been able to stomach being inside the realm, brief as it was, and he hadn’t really known Olzu compared to Sharil or Lucius. And he would never get a chance to become closer, either. All they could do was seek vengeance and whatever satisfaction it brought. And all he could do was help that happen.

In the end, it wouldn’t matter how securely the System was reinforced, Isaac realized. The Underside would never feel the same. It would never again be a whimsical, safe retreat from “real” life.

He swallowed, and when he looked up again, Fable was staring directly at him, eyes sharp behind those dark sunglasses. After a few seconds of silence, they smiled and rose languidly from their seat.

“Anyway,” Fable said, “I’d watch myself if I were you.”

The train jolted to a halt. Blinking his eyes, Isaac turned to the window only to see the flowering fields and rising lights of the Golden Lands. Fable strode to the door, waving casually behind them as they made to leave.

“Wait!”

Fable raised an eyebrow and glanced back. Isaac inhaled, reminding himself that this was his best shot if he really wanted to find the murderer.

“I need you to find the old stat sheets of the victims,” he said. “They were erased from the tablet.”

Fable was quiet for a few seconds. “That’s a lot of work, you know.”

Isaac grit his teeth and pushed down an instinctive retort. “Please,” he ground out.

The other Traveler’s eyebrow raised even higher. They threw their head back and laughed, the sound echoing throughout the train car, and it took every ounce of Isaac’s self control to remain standing where he was.

“Sure sure,” they finally answered between snickers. “It’ll take some time though, so don’t wait around for them.” They paused, grinning. “Not that I expect you to, anyway.” Turning away, their scarf flared out behind them.

“See ya,” Fable said with a final wave. The door slid shut and they vanished from view.

Isaac’s eyes lingered behind him as the train resumed its travel, as if he could somehow catch a glimpse of the departed station if he simply tried hard enough. This train wasn’t supposed to stop at the Golden Lands, he noted distantly—it went directly from the Inferno to Solonell City.

Turning away, Isaac shook his head and forced himself to focus back on the murders, to ignore the creeping unease clawing its way into his mind. Every now and then he thought he could see a hint of golden lights, a splash of red, in his peripheral vision, but every time there was nothing there when he looked.

He spent the rest of the ride memorizing the victims’ names, trying to wrack his memory for their stat sheets, their faces.

Soon the train slowed to a halt, and the doors slid open. Tucking the tablet back under his arm, Isaac quickly stepped out the open doors and exited the station. The sight of the familiar unchanging red sky provided no reprieve. It was a similar shade to the Inferno’s scarlet glow, he thought.

[CURRENT LOCATION: SOLONELL CITY]

Clenching his fist, Isaac strode forward down the dark, empty streets and beyond narrow alleyways, eyes flickering to each and every one as he passed by.