[Author’s Note: Because the last two episodes (and this one) are a bit slower, as a bonus — for paid subscribers only — I decided to release the much-faster-paced Episode 11 today as well. It should arrive a few minutes after this one. Enjoy!]
“It’s still murder,” Daryl snorted. Rin wondered whether this bout of self-righteousness was revenge for rebuffing his earlier amorous advances. After all, nobody could be that naive. It would pass. It better pass.
“You’re one to talk,” she laughed. “Besides murdering that baby downstairs, you were perfectly willing to murder an innocent woman to test if it was me. For all I know, you did murder several innocent women before finding me.” Rin slowed down to over-enunciate each ‘murder’. She pressed her face close to his. “Maybe you did other stuff to them too. Are you secretly a thug? Methinks he doth protest too much.”
This reminded Rin of something important. Innocent women or not, he eventually had found her. For various reasons, she had refrained from asking Daryl about his journey to her door. One day she would have to. That a human could find her remained inexplicable. In Rin’s experience the explanations behind inexplicable things never were to her liking. She could not afford to remain ignorant of this one, but it could wait. That said, it was a useful skill the man had.
Daryl’s face was a mixture of confusion and annoyance, and he pulled away from her. However, his reply was a desultory, “That’s different.” It was clear he recognized his hypocrisy even if he did not acknowledge it. Rin smiled at this.
“It couldn’t possibly be less different. Why do you think I like you?”
“It’s not the sex?” He sounded so earnest that Rin almost felt sorry for him. Was that what he really had come to her for? It would be disappointingly prosaic. Maybe he just was seeking affirmation. In her experience, most men had ego enough without needing it stroked. Well, maybe something else stroked. She smiled before answering.
“Don’t look so shocked. You and I have very similar purposes and very similar methods. The difference is that I admit what I am.” Rin stood and pointed. “If you’re not man enough to be honest with yourself, there’s the door.”
She stepped aside. “Mind you, please do watch your back or you may not make it to the door.” After a brief pause, she added with a smile, “Come to think of it, you probably should watch your back afterward too.”
Despite the threat, Rin had made up her mind to let him go if he decided to storm out. So far he knew nothing that would be problematic, and she really didn’t feel like killing him. He’d probably return anyway, though she wasn’t sure she would take him back in that case. Maybe she would kill him only if he did return; Rin never had patience with indecisive men. Most likely, he just would acquiesce while barely disguising his resentment. That was womanly behavior, and she didn’t respect it. But as long as it didn’t get in the way, Rin could live with it. He already wanted to kill her. What trouble could a little resentment add?
To Rin’s surprise, Daryl did none of these things. Instead, he gave her a sad look.
“Yes, I guess we are.”
Well, that was a breath of fresh air. Rin briefly was suspicious but decided he wasn’t bright enough to pretend. Apparently, he could be taught.
She briefly studied him before explaining, now in a softer voice. “Affinity aside, there’s a practical reason I took you as an apprentice. And no, it wasn’t for sex.”
“Though I have no complaints there,” she added with a smile before continuing. “You managed to track me down, and that’s no easy feat. I’m sure you had help.” Rin put up her hand to stem any possible objection. “It doesn’t matter. You should use all the tools at your disposal. I’m better at avoiding detection than most, but for very different reasons.”
Rin thought for a moment and gave a wry grin. “Though perhaps not as good as I thought. I think you will do well helping me find Proteges.”
Daryl pondered this for a few seconds, or at least she assumed he was pondering it.
“I still don’t see why you have to kill innocent people,” he replied.
Rin’s eyes flashed. “So you’re taking the door then?”
“Why do you do all that to test whether somebody can’t be killed? Can’t you just try something simple and harmless the second time so an innocent person wouldn’t be hurt?” Daryl demanded.
“Oh, say like firing two whole magazines into them when they open the door?”
He appeared a bit flustered by this, and Rin grinned. “But you’re right, a good hard slap would tell me all I wish to know.”
Daryl leapt out of range before the swing could connect, and she gave a sigh. The kid certainly was getting quicker.
“It’s more fun this way,” Rin explained. “What was the reason you gave? It felt good.”
She gave him a mischievous smile. “I told you we’re alike.”
Seeing the look of disgust on Daryl’s face, Rin rolled her eyes.
“You do need to lighten up. Yes it’s fun and creates an atmosphere of suspense, but there actually is a good reason. It helps me discreetly probe their specific protections.”
“Discreetly?” Daryl gasped. “By having them attacked or irradiated?”
Rin looked at him for a moment. It was clear the boy did understand her words. Maybe he was smarter than he seemed. That could be good or bad. She would have to make sure he didn’t do anything troublesome.
“The Radu just was an example of what didn’t work. But yes, that’s the basic idea. ‘Discreet’ does not mean to you or other people. It means the Protege in question would not suspect I was behind it. A nuclear explosion would be discreet if it had a plausible explanation.”
“And it would kill a lot of people,” Daryl observed coldly.
“Says the guy who shot a baby and has shown a delightfully callous disregard for the well-being of his own kind in general.” Rin smiled at him. “That’s a compliment, by the way.”
For a minute, Daryl struggled with something. Whether because he reached a resolution or simply decided to defer the matter, he finally appeared to recover himself. When he finally ventured a question, Rin was relieved that it did not involve further moralizing.
“What about when you find this person? If you cannot kill them, what do you do then?”
“I told you already, there are things I can do.”
“Like what?” Daryl insisted.
Rin smiled. That would be the part of interest to him. He had managed to find Rin but was unable to kill her. He had stayed on as her apprentice specifically to learn how, though she hoped there was more to it than just that. Naturally, it stood to reason that the answer to this question would be of great importance to him.
Poor child. Hadn’t she explained that she was different from her quarry? One cannot learn to kill a lion by watching it eat gazelles. Or perhaps one can, if clever enough. Regardless, the boy’s question was a good one. He would need to know a bit about this to be useful as her assistant. Besides, she owed him an answer; it was his payment for serving her. She just didn’t owe him a correct answer. Or a complete one.
“I also said you didn’t need to worry about that.”
Daryl’s skeptical look elicited a groan. “Fine. I had planned to keep things simple and short. That way my frayed temper wouldn’t lead me to accidentally do horrible things to whoever was responsible for it. But since you insist, I’ll be happy to risk your life.
Rin took a deep breath. “If a Protege is sufficiently protected to make killing them infeasible, I find a way to encumber them.”
“Enkomper? What is this word?” Daryl asked.
Rin couldn’t fault Daryl for being confused. Even in English, it was an ambiguous term. In fact, one could say that her real purpose was to suitably define it in each case.
“They cannot be killed,” she explained. “But depending on the specific protections involved, it may be possible to trap or damage or otherwise incapacitate the person. My job is to make sure they cannot interact with the world or remain part of it in any meaningful way.”
Without warning, Daryl began loading stuff into his duffle bag. Rin stared at him in disbelief. Why hadn’t he pressed her for more information? He had seemed intent on knowing everything a moment ago but now showed no interest. Had he assimilated her earlier threat and decided not to press his luck? Maybe he was less curious about broad principles than specific details. But why then hadn’t he asked for any?
After steeling herself for a proper explanation, it was disappointing. Rin suspected he simply lacked the attention span for a protracted lecture when there was a real target and real danger to be had. Though she approved of his zeal, it would be a liability unchecked.
“Hold your horses, amigo,” she laughed and gently sat him back down on the bed. “We’ll get to the fun stuff soon. Right now, you need to know certain things.”
In response to Daryl’s restless fidgeting, Rin adopted a less genial tone. “If you’re that anxious to get yourself killed, I’ll save us the trouble and just take care of it right now.” She looked away. “Frankly, I find this lack of basic discipline surprising in a man such as yourself. I am disappointed.” The contempt in her voice had the desired affect, and the fidgeting stopped.
Rin lightly cuffed Daryl on the back of his head. “Now listen up. You can’t kill me if you’re dead.”
She surveyed him. “Not to mention you wouldn’t be any good in bed. There are things you must know. You want to learn how to kill me, and you believe that being my apprentice will help. This seems plausible, but I won’t give you false hope. I’m really hard to kill. You won’t find a way by dicking around and complaining and rashly leaping into action. Your only shot is to pay very close attention, learn everything I know, and then figure out something I don’t. Even then, you’ll probably fail.”
Being honest with the boy made Rin feel better. Besides, there was no real risk in doing so. He would hear what he wanted to hear and believe what he wanted to believe. But she did need to make sure he wasn’t inopportunely overzealous about it. Or failed to take her seriously. There was no choice but to make sure he did.
“What is certain is this. I’m happy to teach you, make a real man out of you, give you all the tools to try. And you are welcome to try. As much as you like and most of the time. But not all the time. If you interfere with my job, if you sabotage me, if you decide that the middle of a mission is the right time to take a stab at me, I won’t be happy. If my prey escapes because of you, I won’t be happy. If you’ve been lying to me this whole time because you plan to warn my target to spite me, if you’re really after revenge and think that will do it, I won’t be happy. It won’t work, and you will accomplish nothing.”
“At most you will inconvenience me, and for that inconvenience I will do things to you. Things I haven’t done in a very very long time and possibly swore never to do again. But rest assured, I am far from rusty. It’s like learning to ride a bike. I will break that promise just for you. I always can forgive a broken promise to myself.”
“Nor will you even inconvenience me much. I have all the time in the world. I will find my quarry, and I will encumber them. But you won’t be here to see it. You will be somewhere else and very unhappy. All because you made me unhappy. You haven’t seen me unhappy. I have no problem taking as much time off from my mission as needed to assuage my unhappiness. And I really do know how to assuage it. I say this from experience. Got it?” Rin’s voice was neither ominous nor angry. There was a quiet instructive quality to it.
Daryl nodded his understanding.
Rin’s face had remained completely blank while she expressed her thoughts on this matter. Now she lit up. The necessary preliminaries covered, she nimbly leapt to her feet and launched into a description of the business at hand.
I think Rin is starting to fall for Daryl. Of course, she'd probably kill me for saying that...