Episode 9

(New York, June 12, 1994)

The explanation had been going well, if slowly. Or at least Rin thought so. It was hard to tell what was going on in Daryl’s head. Did he understand any of what she was saying? Well, unless she wanted to quiz him the only direction was forward.

“But back to the things that matter.”

“Killing you matters,” Daryl observed.

Rin put her hands to her cheeks. “Aw, you know just the right thing to say to a girl.”

Her face hardened. “But killing me lacks immediacy. The knowledge I’m trying to impart to you has immediacy. The things I will do to you if you don’t shut up also have immediacy. Got it?”

Daryl nodded.

“Back to the tests. I perform these to ascertain whether somebody is a Protege. As I said, I begin by having someone administer a pin-prick. Typically, the pin will snap or bend or fail to draw blood. Sometimes it may even melt. If performed correctly the test will go unnoticed, whatever the outcome.”

“What if it doesn’t?”

Rin shrugged. “That’s always a risk. I hire well but only can do so much. The test result isn’t always conclusive either. The pin could snap for other reasons. Even if the pin penetrates, it may fail to draw blood or the blood may get wiped off on the way out. Usually, I lace the needle with poison. Not enough to kill but enough to make the person sick. Either way, a more conclusive test sometimes proves necessary.”

“Why not always do another?” Daryl wondered aloud.

Rin shrugged. “Each test carries a risk. If the Protege suspects they are being tested, it could scare them away. Then I’d have to find them all over again. Sometimes a whole gamut of tests is needed. I like to be sure.”

“Wouldn’t they notice a bunch of tests?”

The Vivvett that Rin knew wasn’t particularly clever or cautious, but that was before their little run-in a few years back. A near-death experience could be sobering, especially to someone who fancied herself immortal. She may have grown more cautious as a result, if not wiser. And wisdom could be hired if one knew where to look. It was quite possible that her tactics had evolved, and Rin felt extra vigilance was warranted.

“The whole thing is a delicate balancing act. It’s a bit like fishing.”

“I’ve never been fishing,” Daryl observed.

This surprised Rin. She assumed anyone from a backwater like Daryl’s would know all about farming and fishing. The usual alternative was theft. She would have to ask him about that sometime.

“It’s a bit like fishing would be if you knew how to fish.”

Daryl gave her an annoyed look.

“It comes down to a simple risk assessment. If I wait too long trying to make sure, the Protege can disappear on a whim. You never know what their plans are. The risk of detection also increases significantly with every test. On the other hand, if I act prematurely I could alert them to the proximate danger.”

From what Rin had learned, Vivvett was well-established in the city and showed no obvious sign of leaving. But that didn’t guarantee anything. After millennia of existence, most Proteges had grown unreliable and self-indulgent.

Rin could understand this even if she did not subscribe to it. They were like schoolchildren. The diffidence of the freshman, plunged into new and uncertain environs, yields to the cockiness of the sophomore, who thinks he has found his footing, and finally gives way to the casual familiarity, oft mistaken for poise, of the upperclassman. After that, a mortal graduated. But what if he didn’t? It was not hard to imagine the self-assurance that would result if such a trend continued unabated for thousands of years.

Fortunately, the world worked to forestall this by constantly changing. There always was something new, something unknown, and that prevented unchecked familiarity. Yet despite this, most Proteges still behaved in a capricious and self-centered manner. They had another source of confidence, one which did not rely on familiarity. Without the sword of consequence, there was no reason to act like anything other than spoiled children.

It would be unfair to characterize them as sybaritic— though, to be sure, each had gone through such a phase and some did exhibit general tendencies in that direction. On average, they were more like the idle rich. Most would pick up and leave without the slightest notice if they suddenly fancied being someplace else. Not because they had a reason to but because they could. Vivvett was worse than most in this regard. She had been the idle rich, even in her own time.

“Of course, some are more skittish than others. It’s inconvenient to uproot suddenly when they don’t want to. If something otherwise explicable happens, they generally will persuade themselves it was harmless and take no precipitous action. The more paranoid ones will, though. So I have to be extra careful. The trick is to give them an excuse to rationalize whatever happened.”

“But when do you know it is time to act?” Daryl asked.

Rin ignored the question completely and barreled on. She realized her speech had acquired a didactic quality and was surprised Daryl could follow it. Was his English comprehension better than she thought or was he just pretending? Well, if he was too ashamed or prideful to seek clarification it would redound on him soon enough.

“For the second test, I usually arrange a beating by local thugs. They aren’t told anything, just that the person owes money and to work their magic on them. My people provide a false name for the target and a picture of somebody who looks similar. They’re also told where to find the victim. This way, if the thugs end up talking it won’t seem suspicious — just a case of mistaken identity. The last thing we want is for the target to know they are being tested. It’s also possible that they are employing a decoy.”

“What’s a decoy?” Daryl asked.

So much for his impressive grasp of English. The boy showed surprising facility with complicated words but was ignorant of something like “decoy”. It had been a while since she learned a new language, and Rin wondered if her comprehension had seemed equally erratic to others when she did.

“You know, like in duck hunting?” she began before realizing that, if he didn’t even know how to fish, a hunting analogy probably wouldn’t work either.

“Never mind that. If they’re clever and know they may be targeted, they could hire somebody who looks like them. The decoy may be unwitting or they may have been briefed. Either way, they are closely watched. If I attack the decoy, the Protege will be alerted to the danger.”

“So how do you decide?”

“If it wasn’t for the danger of a decoy, the decision would be easy,” Rin explained. “You may have noticed that I strongly favor action.”

As a General of her acquaintance used to quote: “The best time to strike is always now.” He was an idiot, completely misconstruing its meaning. Taken literally it was terrible advice, favoring rash action over sound strategy. And the man had taken it literally. That was what happened when people quoted such drivel.

Rin had earned a sound beating for saying as much. Oddly enough, it wasn’t from him. He wasn’t the sort to strike a little girl anyway, or at least not her. She wondered if this stemmed from some misguided sense of chivalry. If so, it seemed rather perverse in light of the things he did to other women and children. Possibly the man wasn’t a complete fool and instinctively steered clear of her. Or maybe there was a more practical reason. It was hard to remember the intricacies of petty court politics, especially after so long. It even was possible that the man fancied her, though she was very young at the time.

Later, she had come to know him quite well in his professional capacity. He kept spouting the same nonsense, passing his idiocy to his subordinates. Nor did she correct him, though it was difficult not to at times. A fool could not learn, however talented his instructor may be. Besides, the General was a useful fool. As long as he continued to be, there was no need to change him. Rin had no doubt that one day he would get himself skewered or hanged or something equally grisly. He wisely was too foolish to entertain such thoughts, so she entertained them for him. An idiot was an idiot, and all idiots ended the same way.

As it was, the beating came from a completely different quarter: the mentor who had well-nigh raised her. Beatings were part and parcel of Rin’s education, but usually they were well-deserved. This one caught her off guard. She had said much worse about grander people without repercussion.

The problem was that her comment about the General made her teacher laugh so hard that others stared. She probably had no choice but to make a show of disciplining Rin. Was she afraid of the General? To the young Rin, that woman seemed unafraid of anyone. She had visited Rin’s room to comfort her later, even kissing her gently on the head.

“You show some … facility of thought.”

Despite the gentle tone, Rin was unsure whether her teacher still was upset. A sudden frown didn’t help.

“Yet you apparently lack the wit to keep thoughts from becoming words.”

Rin was unsure whether she being complimented or criticized.

“But you said it’s dangerous to show wit,” she pointed out. “So shouldn’t I use lots of words?”

“Don’t make me laugh again or it’ll mean another spanking.” The woman gave Rin a mischievous grin. “Unless that’s what you want.”

Rin had no idea why anyone would want such a thing but said nothing. She felt a certain pride. She had kept the thought from becoming words. She was learning.

Her teacher smiled. “I expect that difficult head of yours may serve you well one day … if it stays on your shoulders.” She stood to leave. “At the very least, don’t make me be the one to separate it.”

If only the woman could see Rin now. Well, she could see her now. She just wouldn’t recognize her. Sadly, that was true in more ways than one. Her teacher never really had understood her. To Rin, words were merely a material like any other. Their power derived not from beauty or information but from what they could command of the world around her.

Perhaps it was this affinity of nature that led the gods to choose her. This and as punishment for what she had done. After all, wasn’t that what gods did — bless and punish? And she had strayed far from any path which could earn their blessing. But it didn’t really matter why the gods had chosen her. All that mattered was the fact of being chosen. That and the burden it conferred.

The saying itself was apropos to Rin’s current decision. There was nothing profound or difficult in it, nothing that could not be grasped by a young girl. It was quite trite really, similar to the newer saying, “strike while the iron is hot.” The relevance of information decayed with time. Like almost everything in the world, it reflected the existence of entropy. But “almost” didn’t include Rin or those she pursued. That was why it didn’t matter if she was reckless. There always would be a next time and a next time and however many more next times were needed until they weren’t.

“Won’t a sudden beating alert them?” Daryl asked. Rin realized her mind had been wandering, and it took a moment to regain her train of thought.

“Not if there is an obvious reason for it. They may kill the thugs, but they probably won’t think anything more of it. If the victim actually is the Protege, they’re no stranger to random violence and will brush it off as such. If it’s a decoy, the Protege will see it as an annoying and unfortunate coincidence. Then they’ll find a new decoy.”

“What happens if it’s just a person?” Daryl asked. “I assume the thugs stop when they see blood?”

Rin gave him a sour look. “I told you, they don’t know anything. They carry out the beating. Most likely they would grow angry when the victim refuses to pay or doesn’t seem to know what they are talking about. If they realize it’s a case of mistaken identity, they’ll certainly want to clean up the mess. And they’ll be pissed off they screwed up and probably won’t get paid. It generally doesn’t end well for the victim. If it’s a woman, they’ll probably do other stuff to her too. They’re thugs and will do what thugs do.”

Seeing that Daryl was about to object, Rin put up her hand. “I used to try other methods, but those all proved inadequate. A swipe of skin-absorbent Anatoxin, a puff of stroke-inducing gas. Have you heard of the Radu?”

Daryl shook his head.

“They used it in communist Romania. If somebody was a nuisance but too well-known to be disposed of directly, the government arranged for a bar fight. Then they’d throw the guy in the drunk tank for the night. Only, the troublemaker’s cell would have a little something extra sewn into the mattress. A few months later, he’d mysteriously come down with a particularly aggressive and incurable form of cancer.”

In response to Daryl’s blank expression, Rin sighed. “Radiation poisoning. They put radioactive material in the mattress. Cobalt 60 or its ilk.”

“The problem with all those methods is that they’re either contrived or take too long. Not to mention that Cobalt 60 is really hard to come by, especially these days. Despite what they say in the movies, it’s pretty obvious when somebody has been poisoned. The Radu would work, but sudden cancer in a decoy still would seem suspicious. And it takes a long time. It’s great if you’re a government seeking to spread fear while maintaining deniability, but not so great if you want to avoid suspicion altogether.”

Daryl seemed shocked. “But if they’re innocent, you’re killing the person.”

“At least we know they’re not a witch,” Rin laughed. Daryl just stared at her, and she rolled her eyes.

“Oh lighten up. It’s a small price to pay for valuable information. I said their luck had run out. Of course, I could confine myself to the pin-prick. But I prefer certainty. Besides, they’re a lot better off being killed than mistaken for a Protege.”

Rin placed a greater premium than usual on certainty this time. Vivvett was difficult. Rin still was embarrassed about last time. Losing her was frustrating enough, but the rest had been so … noisy. She did not relish a repeat, even if she cared nothing for what others thought. Though maxims did not appeal to her, simple rules did. And one was to avoid anything which would end up in the history books.

There was no profound reason for this, and she could not satisfactorily explain it to herself. Histories were short-lived, and her injunction to stay out of them didn’t even make sense when she troubled to think about it. Why fear notice or opprobrium or anything else, especially when she was unrecognizable? But it didn’t have to make sense. It just felt important.

Rin long ago had come to the conclusion that wanting to do something was reason enough to do it. She simply didn’t want another incident, and that was all that need be said. This time would be a lot quieter. Rin would make certain of that.