Status Quo

Days passed in a blur, like the sands of an hourglass.

The disconnect between 'Asher' and Sophie's souls grew larger and larger with each passing minute. Their mental communication had ceased completely.

Each individual focused on building their names and reputations rather than attempting to communicate.

Sophie had given up on communication.

Having observed Asher's new personality for a few days, she knew who was controlling Asher's physical body now.

Somehow, Asher's future self had managed to take control of his body and seal Asher's consciousness.

But despite the obvious shift in personality, Sophie was surprised by just how well Asher's future self managed his body.

There were no raging outbursts from him like during the fight with Stella; he was far more focused than back then.

He got along with Little Red, too.

They were two peas in a pod. Or at least, Little Red obeyed him without complaints.

It was uncanny how they worked together.

Between jobs, Sophie often found herself longing for some explanation from the System. Yet it did not, or could not, say anything to her.

She felt a burning desire to talk with 'Asher' in person, to ask a few questions that she needed answers to.

Such as, why could he take control now, when previously the System's seals were strong enough to ward him away?

And Asher's soul was still alive, right?

'I can't sit around like this.'

In a single movement, Sophie stripped the blankets off herself, shaking the sleepiness from her head.

Her mind was made up.

Today she would go there and check up on them. In person.

Mei was already out of bed, preparing some breakfast for the two of them. For someone whose son was gone for days already, she was faring pretty well. Most likely because Sophie was with her every night.

Sophie greeted Mei with a quick hug before whispering beneath her breath.

"I am meeting with Asher today."

Mei whipped her head around, ignoring the food on the stove.

"Really?? Where is he?"

Sophie smirked. Mei's reactions were always cute enough to crack her expressionless face.

"Thirty-or-so miles from here."

"Thirty miles… So when is he coming back?"

However, Sophie could only shrug. She was going to talk to the remnant of Asher's future, and that person hadn't made any plans to return yet.

Mei deflated, turning back to the sizzling pan on the stovetop. "Well, when you see him, tell him to come back soon. Breakfast before you go?"

Sophie didn't even need to answer. Her mouth was already watering with anticipation.

After breakfast, the girl switched out of her pajamas and into her work clothes. She donned her unique ash-stained dress, inhaling in the flakes of char that ceaselessly shed from its white fabric.

Over centuries, the smell of char had become a habitual scent, able to suppress her emotions at a dime.

An internal pep talk in the mirror later, and Sophie was ready to go.

Off she went, to faraway lands.

Or at least, for a light jog.

Sophie leapt off the railing. Upon her landing, she had already broken into a skipping gait.

The City's scenery blurred past her surroundings. Sophie's pace, at nearly thirty miles per hour, could hardly be described as light, at least for an average person.

Yet coupled with her [Puppet Movements], this much was hardly an issue for her.

As she weaved through the streets, she distinctly noticed the attentive gazes that followed her every move, every expression.

Through her meteoric rise in these past days, every Fixer and Syndicate in her part of the Section recognized her.

The burst of fame had even gained her the title 'Marionette', a name clearly influenced by her unnatural movements.

Her previous Abnormality name, Scorched Girl, had not resurfaced in this life.

…

"How interesting…"

Asher mused to himself, observing the corpse in front of him.

His gun ravenously consumed the blood of a Grade 6 Fixer that he had killed seconds ago.

Despite the 'mark' he had placed on the man during the hostage negotiations, the battle was surprisingly close.

He thought that, yet his body was woundless. With the combat experiences of an Impurity, these weak foes were all too easy to kill.

The environment reflected the mayhem. Smashed desks and tiles lay strewn across the floor, and bullet holes were riddled in the walls.

However, the state of the corpse was even more pitiful. Drilled into its eyes were ten, twenty bullets, aimed with deadly precision. Then, after it was completely blinded, a single blade wound to the neck.

The deceased Fixer spewed smoke and blood from its mouth, and the heron tattoo on its neck fizzled away.

The hostages, a family of four, began to writhe desperately in their rope binds as their supposed savior gushed blood from his cleanly slit neck.

"What's interesting?" Little Red questioned.

The woman's tone had mellowed significantly, something she did not realize herself. There was a certain quality about the way Asher spoke and acted that gave Little Red an unfathomable sense of pressure.

And, like a wild beast, her instincts told her to smoothen her outward edges to avoid clashing with it.

"Look."

Under the exceptional blood offering, the gun quickly morphed, twisting and molting into a greater form.

It had been upgraded.

"So that 'System' isn't the one that allows for upgrades…" Asher's lips flicked upward.

With a bit of his old friend Pluto's non-complicit help, Asher had successfully rid both his younger soul and the System into the shackles of a handy orange pentagram. He hadn't received one of those 'prompts' for three days already.

To be affected by Yesterday's Promise, the System's authority was still low enough to be suppressed for now. Soon, Asher knew, that would not be the case.

Which was why it was so lucky that he met Pluto, and that his old friend's curiosity was sparked by Little Red and her cloak.

Little Red remained silent. The family behind them lay gagged and writhing and forgotten.

"What a beauty." The gun was now sleek with blood. Ruby lines snaked along its sides.

Asher grasped the handle in his palm.

"Since there're no more prompts now, we need to make our own name for this… Red, do you have one?" The heavy yet carefree placement of Asher's words filled Little Red with the strange urge to bow subserviently.

The only thing that stopped her was the lack of control she had over her limbs.

She thought about it for a moment, pushing the uncanny feeling she had to the side. She wasn't scared, she couldn't be.

"How about 'Ruby Extract'?"

Asher's eye gleamed with approval. Little Red let out a breath.

"I guess that'll do for now. And-!" He whirled around, drawing his gun.

*BOOM*

A haze of blood filled the air as fragmented metal shards tore through the hostages behind him.

The family died before they could even utter their last words. Asher let out a cackle of contempt as he blew away the smoke rising from the barrel.

"Pretty good, no?"

Little Red took in a sharp breath of sickly humid air. Even she wasn't so cruel, at least not when the Wolf wasn't present. Which it wasn't.

Speaking of the Wolf...

A small seed of doubt was planted in her mind.

The boy she knew in the Punishment Mission, who fought with her against the Wolf... was not this person.

She remembered the hallucination that appeared behind Asher for a fraction of a second back in the Punishment Mission. The throne of skeletons that appeared right before the boy's arm was torn off. When the sky blackened with malice.

This presence was far too similar to that.

Far too similar to be a coincidence.

Asher let out a snort of amusement, and Little Red quickly hid her intrusive thoughts.

"Man, you're a riot, Red." He let out a noise of surprise, "Oh, it seems a little girl's searching for us."

Asher shared his vision with Red. The Scorched Girl had reached a nearby block of apartments, one that they were fairly close to. The girl pace dwindled as she slowed to a walking speed, panting lightly under her breath.

Little Red's mind was still focused on the first half of Asher's words. What did he mean by that? A riot?

Asher's cut her off with a brusque tone.

"Stop overthinking stuff. Let's go."

...

Sophie stopped in front of a street lamp post, brushing her hand on the flyer taped onto it.

The flyer was one of Little Red's advertisement posters. It contained not only her name and contact information (Sophie assumed that was what an 'email' meant), but also a horizontal selfie taken by phone.

In the selfie, Little Red posed herself in front of a facedown, mutilated corpse. Even a poster with this much gore was taped here, in public?

"Pretty neat, huh?" A coarse voice smirked behind her.

Sophie nodded faintly, turning around to face her co-soul.

"Mm. Little Red," she bowed. "...Asher," she bowed again.

Little Red growled. Asher grinned.

"I see you've already noticed, huh? No need to be so polite."

Sophie blinked, before nodding in silence.

Little Red was left in the dark. She tapped into Asher's thoughts, looking for an explanation yet finding none.

Asher's mind kicked her away.

"Hey." Asher's voice sharpened with frost. "Don't test my patience, worm."

Little Red shrank back, muttering a timid apology.

Asher glanced back at Sophie. He knew what the girl was here for.

"So! What's on your mind, 'partner'?" He spread his arms, the unhidden half of his face filled with geniality.

His eye was sickly sweet, like spoiled candy.

It made Sophie's stomach churn.

The girl wrinkled her nose. Little Red, contrary to what she first believed, was more frightened of Asher's presence than friendly to it.

And now they were face to face, Sophie began to waver as well.

Asher's expression morphed into a twisted grin.

He loved how easy it was. To make lesser beings cower beneath him.

In the City, who could completely resist an Impurity of the City's aura? Perhaps less than the fingers on a hand.

Sophie pushed past her uneasy premonitions, sucking in another breath of flaking ash from her dress. Calm. Calm.

"What did you do to Asher?"

"Hah-?" Little Red barked contemptuously, yet froze soon after. She realized what Sophie was implying. And just moments ago, she had those exact same doubts.

A period of tense silence passed as Asher matched Sophie's gaze. But the girl didn't look away. Sophie's soul was too far sewn with Asher's to back away from this opportunity. They were each other's halves now.

Asher looked at Sophie with a little more respect.

"He's alive, in a sense. Sealed like how I was." The way he shrugged his shoulders so nonchalantly flipped a switch inside Sophie that she didn't know she had.

Little Red flinched as the truth was so casually revealed. Yet, the way her body was enslaved didn't let her run away.

'So this person really wasn't Asher-!'

Sophie's joints popped and snapped, appearing behind the boy.

She whispered in Asher's ear, her voice soft yet frigid.

"[Nostalgic Room]."

Asher grinned as his surroundings faded into blinding light.

He stared back at the girl's murderous expression, relaxed. The efforts of such lesser beings were adorable.

Though, he had to give her some credit.

"Nice move, rat."

His vision faded to blinding white.