The two fugitives and the cat familiar were no longer running. Lily looked somewhat flushed, but her breathing appeared steady. D_Light struggled to stop panting so loudly. Next to her, it was embarrassing.
Lily twisted her hand, and D_Light reluctantly let it go. He spoke to her in bursts between great gasps of air. “You can swing a sword…kick a crotch…and run all day…Will you marry me?”
She rolled her eyes and did not answer, but the corners of her mouth turned up ever so slightly.
D_Light decided that this girl might ditch him at any moment, so while wanting nothing more than to just curl up on the spongy ground in the middle of this thoroughfare, he decided he better cash in on his prize.
He allowed himself to indulge in a moment of exhilaration. What a long shot, but I beat them! I beat the Divine Authority! Damn, I’m good, and now I’m soooo going to get paid! Smorgeous, open a line to the Divine Authority.
The blink went through. A voice on the other end, conspicuously absent of gender, greeted him. You have reached the Divine Authority Triage Center. You are citizen #AZ324082394829, common alias D_Light. Please be advised that your legal status has recently changed. Your status of “citizen, level eighty-three” has been updated to “suspected demon.” All correspondence between entities of your status and the Divine Authority will be monitored. D_Light, please state your business.
Although not surprised, D_Light felt a rock thud down in his stomach when the disembodied voice referred to him as a “suspected demon.” He figured it would not take long for the Authority to link him to the girl; nevertheless, he did not like to hear his expectation confirmed.
I wish to provide valuable data to your enforcement division, restore my previous status, and apply for a merit award.
The voice replied, This appeal will require a legal hearing. Would you like to schedule a hearing now?
Yes, I would like my hearing immediately.
Very well, if you have a legal representative, you may add him or her at any time.
The blink cut out for a moment, and then the voice returned. D_Light appreciated that the Authority did not even try to pretend that he was blinking with a living thing. You, the defendant, D_Light, are charged with aiding and abetting a convicted demon. This charge is a sin under Article #35631 and may result in a status demotion to “demon.” Do you plead guilty or not guilty?
Not guilty. D_Light could not help but send some emphasis with his words even though he knew the court would not be swayed by sincerity of tone-real or feigned.
Your plea has been noted. Do you have an opening argument? As a reminder, legal representation is recommended at this time.
Yes, D_Light answered. I wish to submit my full archive of the time in question, between the time of 05:12 this morning and the present.
Very well, please upload your archive now.
D_Light took a deep breath as he gave Smorgeous the order to upload. The archive being sent was a deep archive, which meant that it included all brain activity, including thought content. It would prove conclusively that although D_Light did help the demon escape immediate capture, this was only to test the Authority’s search algorithms. By beating the system and then telling how he did it, they could improve their protocols. This sort of out-of-the-box opportunistic thinking was what got D_Light to level eighty-three at only age fifty-four. How may sermons had he attended where the theme was “Calculated Risks Are Divine”?
Of course, now that he had achieved this objective, he needed to turn the girl in. That would be necessary; otherwise, there would indeed be a case against him. This fact settled uneasily on him. After all, he had nothing against the girl, and to betray her trust was not something he relished. However, she was a demon, and although he did not know her sin, she must deserve her fate. Besides, she would have been caught with or without me, he thought.
It would take a while to get his verdict. The archive included a huge amount of data, so the upload time alone would take several minutes. D_Light would have had Smorgeous hook into a nearby data socket to speed up the process, but he did not want to raise any suspicion with the girl.
“You know what? You smell great,” D_Light said to Lily nonchalantly. He wanted to start up a conversation, and this was the first thing to pop into his head. He hadn’t really noticed her scent before, at least not consciously. Maybe because there was too much else on his mind until now. But since they had been running so long, the enticing aroma was now excreted in her sweat. Perhaps her sweat was enhanced by a chemi skin product, or maybe her blood contained nanobots or a virus that excreted the perfume through her pores. Whatever the case, it was absolutely intoxicating.
Rather than react the way he expected-laughter, a smile, or even one of those eyeball rolls he had seen her do earlier-Lily started to cry. She cradled her face in her cupped hands, her shoulders shuddering gently with each sob.
“Er…what I just said? That’s a compliment, you know.” D_Light spoke feebly. He was not sure how to react. He was not even sure if he should react. He had scarcely seen any grown man or woman cry. Members of his family and of any other house he knew of would never show such a sign of weakness.
He looked around to see if anyone was watching. Fortunately, there were only a few people in sight, and they appeared to be in their own remote worlds; their eyes scanned their surroundings as though blinded in a fog. This has to stop, D_Light thought. If someone sees her acting this way, they will surely investigate. She would probably get scanned, and then… He was not sure what would happen.
Perhaps coaxed by a video feed he had once seen, D_Light placed a hand on her shoulder. She did not remove it, but the action seemed to only intensify her weeping. D_Light then slid an arm around her and tried to steer her toward a deserted arterial tunnel, but she pushed him away with surprising strength.
“Why did you help me?” she demanded. Her voice was nearly normal, only a bit throaty. Her eyes were bloodshot and her face wet with tears, but she was no longer crying, as though she had simply turned the faucet off.
D_Light did not answer. Instead, he motioned for her to follow him to the side tunnel, but she did not move. “You let him be taken, but not me. Why?” she demanded.
“I’ll explain, but not here. Please, this way.” D_Light mechanically repeated his coaxing motion to follow.
Lily shook her head in refusal. “Why?” She breathed out the word with such ferocity that D_Light felt compelled to answer, lest she escalate into shouting and make a scene.
D_Light tried to mix just enough truth with his lie to sound convincing. “I already told you, my friends and I did not come for you. We were sent to get him. We didn’t need you. You seem nice, like…like a good person. I feel bad about your friend, but I had no choice. Now I want to help you.”
She stood silently for a moment, regarding him with a long, penetrating look as though trying to peer into his heart. “Forgive me if I don’t thank you,” she finally said. She then straightened up and started to walk away.
“Where are you going?” D_Light asked quietly. He followed behind her, took a quick glance over his shoulder, and whispered, “They are still looking for you.”
“ They? ” She turned and faced him. Her vulnerable countenance had been replaced by something that looked slightly dangerous. “From what I can tell, you’re one of them.”