21st September
19:27 GMT -5
I smile through the rain at Jade as she spots me in my car parked outside Miss Inzerillo's home. She hesitates for a moment, then heads towards me. The door oozes open as she reaches the passenger side door and she slides herself in.
"Going my way?
"
She glances at me briefly, then turns her head away so that she's staring out of the windscreen. "Is it working?"
"Somewhat. Initial indications are that you can't resurrect people who've reincarnated, which… Makes sense, if you think about it.
"
Mr Bantowa and Mr Megat turned to dust just as their employer did. Mr Ganguly still hadn't calmed down when I dropped him off with Ambrose, but he was
physically fine. Mr Karokaro and Mr Gohain came out of it pretty much as Captain Gwak did: fine in mind and body but something they experienced after their deaths horrified them. Hopefully, horrified them into becoming decent people but… Eh. As long as Jade isn't the one who sends them back it isn't my problem.
"So… How many people I killed are walking around again?"
"Four out of the seven we've attempted so far.
"
She wiggles back in her seat a little, still not meeting my eyes. "What have you been telling people?"
"As little as possible. I told the North Rhelasians that it was an experimental medical procedure. The bodies of the other six I took covertly.
"
"If people who used to be dead turn up in their old hometowns,
someone's going to notice."
"Captain Gwak is in the custody of the North Rhelasian military, but he was clearly distraught with guilt about his prior behaviour and they.. had already.. basically executed him.
"
"I don't think Double Jeopardy works like that. With the League of Shadows gone they might decide to execute him
properly."
"He
was a traitor.
"
She wiggles her head a little, presumably not sure what to think about it. "What about the rest?"
"Ambrose is keeping hold of one who came back a bit incoherent. The other two, I dropped off in their home towns with a thousand dollars in cash. Neither of them knew who any of us were.
"
"I'm fairly sure they can do an internet search."
"If anyone asks, it's an experimental medical procedure. Medium to long term, I wouldn't mind incorporating Lazarus Pit alchemy into something that could be used en masse.
"
"How many times
can you do this?"
"Don't know. Ambrose estimates there are probably about fifty sites worldwide, minus any that have been used for what we're using it for. Enough to resurrect the people you killed and still have a few left over to emergencies.
"
She gives a small nod. "What happens to the ones who don't come back?"
"They're stuck in whatever body they reincarnated in. It…
Might be possible to find their new bodies, but they might well not have their past life memories and I'm… If they're Human then they're only going to be a few months old.
"
"
If they're Human?"
"Hinduism holds that a bad person gets reincarnated as something
lesser. An animal.. or a plant. And given the people involved, we could be looking for a seedling or something.
" I make an amused snorting noise.
"That's what I love about this world: death just
isn't that big a deal.
"
"Not everyone gets Lazarus Pits."
"No, but you get
souls. Gods build afterlives specifically to house you after you die. And if you don't want to do that, just pick the right religion and read the right spiritual literature and you can come back with a lot of your memories intact. Death isn't so much 'death' as it is a temporary physical disadvantage. It's a
much better deal than what we Earth Primians usually get. Where
I'm from, people
die if they're killed.
"
"Mm."
Jade's.. actually looking away from me.
"What?
"
"Killing these people was a big deal for me. I wasn't.. as involved in the sort of
magic that you know about. I thought we
were like Earth.. Primians."
"Do you.. feel differently about it now?
"
"I feel
worse. It might just be my
brain thing going back over my memories. I remember.. stabbing them, shooting them… I remember the feel of the blade going in, their faces, then… The smell… I'm not a.. total psycho. I didn't keep playing it through my head for
fun, but it never…
Bothered me."
"The fact that you feel bad about it now is.. is a good sign.
"
"Because it means I'm not evil?"
"Because if you're genuinely repentant that means that I probably won't have to invade Hell.
"
She makes a quiet amused snort, and glances at me for a moment before looking back at the street again. "I thought I had to ask God to forgive me?"
"It's not
my religion. If you want to ask Father Mattias about it-?
"
"No, I-." She shakes her head. "I don't even know if bringing them back really.. matters."
"I think that the ones we've brought back so far will appreciate the opportunity to straighten their lives out.
"
"And their families?"
"Captain Gwak was being spat on by a thousand generations of his ancestors, so…
"
"Hah! Guess I probably shouldn't convert to
Dao Mau then."
"There's no real advantage unless you have your own children, so I'd say 'no'.
"
"Why's that?"
"Oriental shamanistic religions usually involve dead ancestors playing an ongoing role in the lives of their descendants. So if you wanted to do that, it's not a bad religion to pick. In Hellenism, they'd consider the idea quite.. creepy. Despite there being a literal physical pathway down to Erebos on Themyscira, hardly any of the Amazons have ever used it.
"
"Even if I
did have children, I'm not sure that I'd want to put up with being constantly spat on for a chance to speak to them once a week."
"Is this a serious thing? Do you.. want to know what your ancestors think of you? Because loyally serving a master and killing in his service probably wouldn't have been regarded as negatively during their lives as it is now. You haven't broken an oath or committed a great act of betrayal, so the situation isn't the same as Captain Gwak's at all.
"
"Let's put a pin in it."
"Okay. Um, I.. thought about it? And I think that Hades would probably be okay with having an assassin as a worshipper?
"
"
No, I mean… The whole 'religion' thing. I…" She finally turns to face me. "I killed a lot of people, and now I feel
bad about it. I..
should feel bad about it, and… I don't think dealing with it
practically is really going to fix things."
"Do you want me to..
stop resurrecting people? Because we haven't got to the innocent people yet and I'd-.
"
"No. No, worth doing, but… It isn't going to fix things for
me."
"Okay. Well.
" I reach over and place my right hand on hers.
"If there's anything I can do to help, tell me, alright?
"
