She does not look good. And she is quiet during breakfast, which is ravioli again.
SH: You are not eating.
P: I do not need to eat. I do not want to eat while others have to cope with rationing.
SH: You do care about people.
P: To an extent.
Yesterday she was a much more enthusiatic eater
SH: And yet you take yourself so important.
P: As I said to an extent. I will not sacrifice myself just because you won’t keep quiet.
SH: You killed somebody.
Her voice is no longer the controlled smooth voice of yesterday. Did she hope to be rescued by now?
P: It cannot be undone. If you seek a fight, be ready to be fought.
SH: We … did .. not … seek … a fight.
Note to my aura sense: I do not need an extra sense to know that she is feeling indignation.
P: You came with guns. And you can hardly claim that you would have let me go in peace.
SH: We have to uphold the law.
P: And you will do that while the GDN has been deceiving everybody for centuries? You will hunt those people who run from them and only do what they need to do to survive?
SH: So you want to stand above the law.
P: Yes.
SH: Because you are something better
P: Yes
SH: And you expect me to go along with that?
P: You have a point. This is not going to work.
This time she struggles as I drag her back to the bathroom. You cannot stab me with a fork I have made with [Equip the Army]. The substance vanishes. That seems to be a rule of magic. It does not turn against its origin.
I now understand the problem with my aura sense. She is basically screaming her emotion. It is righteousness, not personal indignation she is feeling.
--
I have been working on a replacement for Bock’s Car #1. I am calling it Bock’s Car #2. It has much better aerodynamics. I am not ready to use up any quintessence on a model not made from properly infused real materials.
I’ve come to a decision. It amounts to tricking myself and tempting fate. At noon I come to the bathroom with a bowl of ravioli and a book from the house. In the gorges of the Balkans by Karl May.
I knock on the door, waiting for her to bid me enter and hand her the bowl and the book.
P: Sorry, I forgot the toilet paper.
I am closing the door in a seemingly embarrassed hurry, forgetting to lock it again. I have not told her that I can track her aura. I follow her. We end up in the room above the garage. She holds the telephone in her hand, repeatedly hitting the button to get a dial tone.
P: I’ve removed cables
SH: You tricked me.
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
P: Among others
SH: Why?
P: I would have let you go. But you are not ready to make a deal. Why?
SH: I cannot let you have this world.
P: Whom?
SH: Wizards
P: You never had it. The world is not fair.
She jumps at me with a sharp shard of the bathroom mirror wrapped on its lower end with the bathroom towel. Bad move against a man who can accelerate time.
My fist connects with the back of her head. She staggers. Shai-Hulud #1 wraps around her neck.
--
I’ve been making the round of the town feeding the abandoned pets. On the other end of the town there is a small pond. I take her corpse out of storage and annihilate it. What could I have done differently? I could have let von Bülow live. Letting that bastard live. Well, the world is not fair. Did I actually speak to her during those final seconds?
I do not want to be here any longer. But the highways must be full. I decide to wait for nightfall.
I tidy up the house. I put a cross up on the site I have buried the owner. I drive the car up to the center of the town and fill it with beverages. I need stuff to swap on the black market. The fuel goes into the trunk. I check on the cats. I stuff their basket extra soft. I activate Bock’s Car #2.
Meditation brought peace, but no answers. Though even the peace enjoys but a short life.
The unwelcome inner beep sounds. I get the phone out. A multimedia message. A tutorial on how to do an awakening ritual with an elaborate pattern. And a simple message:
A lesson that needed to be experienced. You have earned a vacation. I suggest your old spot and friend. Use the stone.
That sounded almost nice. The driveway is smooth asphalt. Why not?
--
I wash the salt away. Sunset is almost here. I put the keys back into the front door. The cats react to my invitation by aura. Let’s see what home will bring.
Gun: [Tools of the Magister] Special Ability Iron 1 (11%) [Joy of Sustained Fire] Blood Special Attack Iron 1 (20%) [This is my Gun] Myriad Special Attack/Conjuration
Iron 1 (55%)
[Chemical Warfare] Defiance Special Attack/Conjuration
Iron 0 (21%)
(unused) 0% Vast: [Giant Form of the Ancestors] Special Ability Iron 0 (93%) [Immortality] Tree Special Ability Iron 0 (85%) [Nebelwerfer 42] Focus Special Attack/Conjuration Iron 0 (17%) (unused) 0% (unused) 0% Dimension: [Teleport] Special Ability Iron 1 (18%) [Dance by my Will] Dance Aura Ability Iron 1 (93%) [Eternal Moment] Reach Special Ability Iron 0 (64%) [Path in Time] Hunt Perception Ability Iron 1 (39%) [Wrath of the Magister] Corruption Special Attack/Spell Iron 1 (2%) Battlefield: [Equip the Army] Special Ability Iron 1 (90%) [Robotic Servant of War] Magotech Special Attack/Conjuration Iron 0 (61%) [Pipes of War] Unity Special Ability Iron 0 (0%) [Cornucopia] Feast Special Ability Iron 0 (0%) (unused)