by N. Heller
However, Mrs. Manas couldn't be blamed for this time around as Lin Sanjiu had the same sentiments. It is rare that a guy that doesn't wear many accessories would notice what his sister usually wears. Let alone Rena who had more than 100 accessories all over her body. It was quite unbelievable that he could even remember that his sister doesn't have any starfish ear studs and that he made up that statement.
Reno began to feel anxious, he gave a quick glance at Lin Sanjiu and defended himself, "Bullsh*t! I... I am your brother! I…"
But after he repeated "I" for a long time, he couldn't find any words to explain how he noticed that his sister didn't have a pair of starfish ear studs.
Rena harrumphed and leaned against the wall. She narrowed her eyes and stared at him.
"Honestly speaking, brother. Ever since we entered this building, I feel that there's something wrong with you. Even though you like playing pranks on others, you shouldn't make that sort of joke in the corridor!"
Reno looked up with a puzzled face, "A joke?"
"What's wrong? I tried to act as if you were possessed when you stuck your head out in the corridor and scared me! You forgot?" Rena frowned. The look of distrust on her face became more obvious.
"When did I…" Reno immediately replied. Before he finished his sentence, he changed his answer stiffly, "Oh. Oh. You mean that. I know…" Even though he said that, anyone could see from his pale face that he did not know what Rena was talking about.
The corridor fell into a complete silence. After some time, Reno suddenly stood up and broke the silence. "I'll go wash my hands," he said softly. Rena appeared slightly guarded as she shifted from the door. She watched him closely as he entered the apartment unit. Following that, Lin Sanjiu and Rena heard the sound of the bathroom door closing.
"This Reno doesn't know about the prank." Lin Sanjiu thought to herself.
After a few seconds, Rena woke Lin Sanjiu from her bewildered state using a soft voice. "Lin Sanjiu, I need you to help me," the girl bit her own lips as she planned. "I think my brother is acting really suspicious. I don't think he was playing a prank in the corridor. I think he is really possessed…"
Lin Sanjiu was stunned.
"I mean, that explains why he can't remember what happened. If he is possessed, I am not sure if my ability will work on him. So, can you help me?" Rena sighed softly.
"When he comes out from the bathroom, we can try to make him fall. Then, I will try to tie him up. If we meet any trouble, we can just adapt to the situation."
Chapter 210 - Damn it! We finally Got One!
"Maybe, he doesn't have his guard up now. This is our best advantage." Light reflected off Rena 2's black round eyes. Lin Sanjiu couldn't tell if the girl was nervous or whether she found it fun. "You can wait at the side of the bathroom. When he comes out, just ram yourself at his ankles. I am sure he would fall after a few times. I will ambush him from the other side. Once he falls, I have my way of subduing him…"
After hesitating for a moment, Lin Sanjiu nodded and spelled, "Okay".
Lin Sanjiu didn't trust this Rena, but to her, Reno 2 was more suspicious than Reno 1. If they just subdued him and tied him up, it might be easier to find out the truth. After Reno 2 entered the bathroom, it had been silent. They didn't hear any sound of water. It was fairly reasonable since Reno would expose himself to black matter if he really washed his hands—if he was an imposter, he certainly wouldn't make such a rudimentary mistake. On the other hand, Lin Sanjiu was certainly undaunted when she tried to bathe her body.
If she didn't hear the occasional footsteps, Lin Sanjiu, who was hiding at a corner of the wall, would think that he had disappeared from the bathroom. After some time, they finally heard the door of the bathroom opening with a click.
Rena 2, who had pressed herself tightly to the wall, looked up and 'exchanged a look' with Lin Sanjiu. Since Lin Sanjiu was just a brain, Rena 2 was probably just trying to console herself. For their plan to be a success, Rena 2 had already removed all her accessories.
The door opened slightly and Reno 2 peeked out. He was not in a rush to get out. He looked from the left to right and back again with a single eye. After looking a few times, he finally opened the door a little wider.
Lin Sanjiu could see everything clearly from where she was hiding as she was using her higher consciousness to 'see'. Just when she thought that Reno 2 would step out, and while she gathered her strength, she suddenly heard him calling out softly, "Rena?"
Rena 2 bit her lips but didn't make a sound. She shrunk closer to the corner of the wall.
"Rena? Lin Sanjiu?" Reno 2 was probably getting suspicious as it was too quiet outside the bathroom. He came out from the bathroom, but he didn't take a step forward. Instead, he stood at the door and yelled, "Where are you two?"
"If we don't make a sound, he will come out to check the situation eventually." Rena 2 and Lin Sanjiu had shared the same thought as they waited quietly at their hiding places. They didn't move as they were afraid that they would make a sound.
"Rena! Lin Sanjiu!" Reno 2 stuck his head out and took a careful step forward, "Gosh. Did they disappear again? What's wrong with this goddamn place?"
"Huh?" a thought flashed through Lin Sanjiu's mind. Even though she didn't really capture its significance, Lin Sanjiu trembled a little. But before she could think it through, she saw Rena gesturing vigorously to her with an anxious face.
Reno was walking swiftly to the end of the corridor, heading towards the living room. Lin Sanjiu could already see the tip of his shoes. Almost instinctively, before Lin Sanjiu could even react, she had already rushed out and rammed herself against Reno 2's ankle. As she had gathered her energy for some time, the impact of that collision far exceeded the other times. On top of that, Reno 2 was caught unaware, so he was knocked over and the momentum pushed him in Rena 2's direction.
"Bro, don't be scared! I'm just going to punch away that thing that is possessing you!" Rena 2 said sharply, due to her emotions. Next, she used both her hands, which were wrapped in something black, and grabbed Reno's b.a.r.e arms which were not protected by his short sleeves. She pinned him to the ground.
Just then, Reno 2 suddenly let out a painful howl. His body shook violently like a fish out of water. Mrs. Manas, who had been observing everything from Lin Sanjiu's mindscape, could help blurting, "There's something wrong with him!" Lin Sanjiu rushed forward. She drew all her higher consciousness towards her front and lunged forward...
Rena 2 couldn't react in time and took that blow from Lin Sanjiu head on, her whole body flew backward. Before she could land on the ground, a few vague wisps of smoke rose from her face. She held her face and sprinted toward the main door without saying a word.
Before she could catch her breath, Lin Sanjiu quickly turned around, afraid that the circ.u.mstances would change if she let her guard down. She launched another attack at Rena 2. Lin Sanjiu hit "Rena's" singlet and the imposter let out a sharp shriek. Her upper body started to change indistinctly.
At that moment, a yellow paper whirred around the air. Lin Sanjiu turned behind and saw Reno. Enduring his shivers, he stood up. Unfortunately, 'Rena' had already sprinted to the main door. She seemed to know that the ability was very powerful so she crouched and hurried out of the door and slammed it behind her. In the end, that imposter slipped out of the range of Reno's ability.
"Don't… don't worry about me. I'm fine. Just chase that thing!" Reno roared. His teeth were still chattering. Lin Sanjiu stretched her body and slipped through the gap of the door. However, when she reached the corridor, bathed in yellow light, it was silent. She didn't see 'Rena' anywhere.
"What happened? How did you know she was an imposter?" Mrs. Manas was obviously startled by that rapid battle which didn't leave any time for any breather that she didn't even check Lin Sanjiu's subconsciousness. "And, why can this Reno activate that almanac ability too? If that is the case, both Renos can use that ability!"
In her higher consciousness form, Lin Sanji
u didn't need to breathe. However, at that moment, Lin Sanjiu looked as if she needed some time to 'catch her breath'. After that, she replied, "I nearly believed her… But, did you see how Reno reacted when she pinned him to the ground?"
Mrs. Manas checked a few images in Lin Sanjiu's mind and suddenly exclaimed, "Oh!"
Lin Sanjiu flew back to the living room and continued, "Yes. His face turned green and he started shivering. It was like he was feeling an intense cold… His sudden hypothermic like reaction, added to something I remembered. So, there can be no other reason."
Before Mrs. Manas could ask Lin Sanjiu what she remembered, Lin Sanjiu added, "If I'm right, 'Reno 1' upstairs isn't the real deal…" As she said this, Lin Sanjiu slipped back into the living room. There was a black figure on the sofa and the person was breathing.
"You're back? Did you catch that thing?" Reno sat up and asked urgently when he saw Lin Sanjiu. Before Lin Sanjiu could answer 'no', a suddenly dim light from the window flooded the room. She saw a small "X" on Reno's wrist.
Chapter 211 - The Siblings Finally Reunite
Lin Sanjiu clearly remembered that Reno 2 (without the mark on his wrist) was on this floor. Even though she didn't constantly check his wrist, she was sure that before Reno entered the bathroom, his hands were clean, and he didn't have an "X" mark.
"But that explains things…" Mrs. Manas mumbled as if she had already figured out something. "Reno 2 is also fake. Even though we don't know how Reno 1 managed to come to this floor and replaced Reno 2, Reno 1 did step out from this bathroom. Thus, he could activate his almanac ability…"
"Is that really the case? The fake Rena had already expected Reno 1 to step out from this bathroom so she devised that plan? But, how did Reno 1 come to this floor... " There are too many points that don't make sense..." Lin Sanjiu kept feeling that there was something wrong. She had just managed to get some clues, yet the situation was immediately messed up by reality again. She thought silently for a very long time. In the end, she still couldn't come up with a reasonable explanation to convince herself.
The worst thing about this situation was that she couldn't use her [Consciousness Mimicry] to mimic Nüwa's thought process. Mrs. Manas had emphasized this to her many times, "Don't keep thinking about it. You might think that you theoretically have enough higher consciousness to activate the ability, but you don't have a body right now. If you used up all your higher consciousness mimicking Nüwa's thought process, you might really disappear from this world! Those two siblings aren't in any lethal danger right now. But, even if they're about to die, I'm not going to let you take that risk!"
Lin Sanjiu understood where Mrs. Manas was coming from. When she was killed, she could have become a duoluozhong of Kisaragi Station if not for that little bit of higher consciousness which protected her consciousness and thoughts. When she was alive, using up her higher consciousness just meant that she would enter a deep slumber. When she wakes up, she would recover her higher consciousness. However, now that she was dead, she could only recover and grow her higher consciousness because of the primary source from the 'nucleus' of her body. Mimicking Nüwa required an incredible amount of higher consciousness and if she accidentally used up her primary source in that 'nucleus'...
"Oh, you mentioned that you remembered something?" Mrs. Manas interrupted her thoughts, "How did you figure out who was real and who was the imposter?"
"Forget it…"Lin Sanjiu replied disappointedly, "I think I'm wrong. It's ok even if you don't know. Let's talk about it some other time. While she spoke with Mrs. Manas in her head, she slowly flew toward the Reno who was on the sofa. "Should I call this Reno with the mark on his wrist, Reno 1?" Lin Sanjiu thought hesitantly.
Since he had proven that he could use his almanac ability twice, this should be the real Reno. Since living humans can't hear Mrs. Manas, Lin Sanjiu didn't find it necessary to be cautious about that.
"Where is that spirit?" Reno asked. When Lin Sanjiu flew closer to Reno 1, she noticed that he was still shivering. He must have been badly affected by that attack. His teeth were still chattering when he asked, "Where is my sister?"
From his reaction, he just stayed in the apartment unit. He probably didn't notice that he had been shifted down a floor. Lin Sanjiu found the situation a little hard to explain.
"No, if Rena 2 was fake. Rena 1 (who has the dirty socks) is real." Considering this, she had already figured out how to identify the real Rena and Reno. Lin Sanjiu couldn't help sighing a breath of relief in her mind. Even though there were still many mysteries surrounding their situation, her priority was to find for the both of them and make sure that they were fine. Next, they must leave this dangerous place at once.
"Let's look upstairs," she spelled out to the Reno 1. The teenager seemed a little less worried. Without any delay, he stood up, still shivering, "Lead the way, let's go."
Lin Sanjiu thought that the weird situation with multiple 15 floors would happen again and even prepared herself to search the entire building. However, when Reno 1 and Lin Sanjiu climbed up one floor and walked out of the stairway, they met Rena coming towards them unexpectedly. She was visibly alarmed and showed a guarded expression.
Since the girl's white socks had streaks of dirt, just as Lin Sanjiu remembered, she was probably Rena 1. After that incident with Reno's almanac ability, Rena 1 did not wear her accessories. At first, when Lin Sanjiu saw the accessoryless Rena 1, she almost thought that she was that imposter spirit that she had nearly destroyed.
Lin Sanjiu's current form (a brain partially covered by half a skull) was too eye-catching and Rena 1 immediately recognized her. When the girl saw Lin Sanjiu, she called her with a sobbing tone, "Lin Sanjiu! You a**hole! Can you stop running away without telling me!" While she said this, she put down her fists and wiped her eyes.
Meanwhile, Reno 1 walked out from the stairway. Rena 1 heard that noise and looked up and found herself facing him directly.
"Rena? Are you okay?" Reno 1 looked at her suspiciously. "Since that spirit was hurt quite badly, it shouldn't be able to recover quick enough to scare us again." Thinking about this point, he walked over to her hesitantly.
Somehow, Lin Sanjiu suddenly remembered a matter. Just moments ago, the same Reno said that he found Rena 1 suspicious and that she wasn't like his sister. Even though that spirit she hit was almost killed, how could they confirm that there was only one spirit here?
Even without considering other possibilities, other than that spirit who posed as Rena, there was another one posing as Reno. If that thing wanted, it could change its appearance to look like Rena so that it could get closer to them. "Is it that hard to create the appearance of a few dirt streaks?"
But if Lin Sanjiu continued spiraling through her what-ifs, things would get too complicated. Lin Sanjiu looked at the Rena in front of her and decided that she was overthinking things. After all, Reno 1 might have made a mistake.
Both siblings seemed a little guarded. They only relaxed slightly after they exchanged a few words cautiously.
"This stupid place is too creepy," Rena 1 sounded a little aggrieved as she mumbled. "It is so spooky, but there is nothing around. I've already been scared a few times… Getting scared in Kisaragi Station World isn't something good."
"Why?" Lin Sanjiu spelled out midair, feeling puzzled.
"The more frightened you get, the easier it is for dark matter to invade your body," Rena 1 replied Lin Sanjiu. "We have anti-dark matter outfits and we can also see duoluozhongs, nothing scared me much since we arrived in this world. However, I can feel that I am gradually being corrupted by dark matter…"
"Huh?" This was the first time Lin Sanjiu heard about this matter. That explained why she was corrupted by dark matter in just one day. After thinking for some time, she tried her best to shorten her question, "Protected. But your eyes?"
"You're stupid! We can't protect any part of our bodies not covered by clothes," Rena retorted, "It isn't some protective shield. They are just generic items
produced by The Munitions Factory."
From the kids' outfit, it must be summer in Red Nautilus. Since Rena was wearing a Tulle dress, she actually didn't have much protection. Even though Lin Sanjiu had many unanswered questions about this place, she felt that they should leave immediately now that they have found Rena. Lest, more problems arise.
However, Lin Sanjiu needed to do something before they left.
While the siblings chatted, Lin Sanjiu slipped away when they weren't noticing... Following the edges of the ceiling, she quickly flew one floor up, back to the floor where she fought with the spirit. She flew to the end of the corridor and floated to one of the corners. Then, she reached for something in that corner.
"Don't do this again. In your current form, you are using your higher consciousness every time you use your ability. If you use up all your higher consciousness, there is no telling what will happen to you…" Mrs. Manas naggy voice sounded in Lin Sanjiu's mind once again.
"I know. I did this because I had no choice. I can't be in two places at once," Lin Sanjiu replied. A white glow appeared at the corner of the corridor and it disappeared into her 'body' once she touched it. "Yes, yes. And I won't try to bathe myself again…"
While she said this, she looked at the Diary Card she just retrieved. Originally, Lin Sanjiu thought that all her cards were kept in her body, so she assumed that she couldn't use her Diary Card and her Nostradamus's Card. A few days ago, Lin Sanjiu didn't even think about them. When Lin Sanjiu sighed and commented today, "Too bad I don't have my Diary Card", Mrs. Manas immediately began to stammer. That was when Lin Sanjiu forced the truth from that teacher.
Lin Sanjiu's Diary Card and Nostradamus's Card are not converted from tangible things. They are abilities which branch out from her [Planar World] so they are not bounded by her body. Mrs. Manas hid this from her because the effect of Lin Sanjiu's Diary Card lasts for 3 hours. She was afraid that Lin Sanjiu would use her abilities successively and without restraint and use up all her higher consciousness in the end.