Chapter 1.2

Weil unsere Welt sehr grausam ist

"Taylor mentally speaking to Ragyo."

"Ragyo mentally speaking to Taylor."

"Ragyo speaking."

A sudden spray of ice-cold saltwater wakes me.

"What happened?" I wonder, looking around. I was still at the same wave-breaker where I had -

"That thing!" I remember picking it up, why did I even do that?, and then it exploded in my face and burrowed … into … me …

Panicked, I look at my body, noticing for the first time that I was wearing not my running outfit, but a weird, white and skintight bodysuit, seemingly created out of one piece of cloth. I felt my body for injuries; judging from the deep black night-sky I had been out for several hours, but I couldnt find anything wrong. Actually, I felt great. Unharmed. Full of energy. In fact, I couldnt remember a time when I had felt better.

Wait a minute.

I could remember something happening in those desperate, painfilled moments. A sense of something greater. Had I triggered? That thing definitely fit the bill for a trigger-event. But that theory had a drawback. Apart from feeling good, I didnt feel like I had powers. Something had definitely happened, but what?

"Could someone please explain this!" I exclaimed frustratedly.

"Yes."

"What? Who? Where?" I turned, but there was literally no one there with me. Where -

"Here. In your head, your mind."

Great. Now I was hearing a female voice. Lucky me. After torment, who gets mental disturbances instead of powers? Taylor. Yippee.

"Don´t be melodramatic, foolish girl. Do you not remember what you picked up just a few scant hours ago?"

"That ball of yarn?"

I suddenly felt a change in the emotions of the voice: terrible wrath.

"A BALL OF YARN? Girl, that `ball of yarn` is so, so much more. One thing, it was me."

My couriousity was aroused. So it was a parahuman thing.

"You? You mean to say that you are a sentient mess of threads? Are you a cape or something? What do I call you?" I said, deciding to humor the voice in my head. No point in antagonising it.

"Ha! Let me finish, girl. The real power that just fused with your body is something completely different from those capes. Something vastly superior. I am but a chosen one, gifted with aspects of it. As for my name, you may call me Ragyo. I do not believe in the giving of silly codenames capes bother with. And one more thing: my part of this conversation is entirely mental, while you give the impression of talking to yourself. If am to stay here, which it seems is unavoidable for now, you might want to get into the habit of thinking to me. I can read your mind anyway. Humoring me. Very funny."

Oops. Ok. "Like this?" I asked, trying to focus only on that thought while trying to hide my embarresement. Unsuccessfully, judging from the quiet mirth I could sense across our link. Attempting to reach into her mind, seeking to understand what she meant with the `not parahuman` thing.

What I found was – ecstasy – highly disturbing. The impressions were – rapture – hard to understand, as every memory regarding the ball – Primordial Lifefiber – was literally drenched in a sort of brainwashed – enlightened – devotion – worship – that was warping my perception of it. However, I had the suspicion that Ragyo was making it easier to understand, evidenced by the simple fact that I was understanding everything. I wasnt exactly a mind-travelling veteran. But slowly, I came to understand the – Primordial Lifefiber – as she did. The implications were mind-blowing.

Alien parasites facilitating human evolution to feed on us? Very unbelievable. But Ragyo believed it with all her soul, and I was peering at her mind. Quite the believable source.

If she wasnt batshit insane.

"Yes, exactly like that. I see you have begun to use our connection to inform yourself. Good."

"I understand bits and pieces, but not everything. What did you mean with you having to stay here in my brain?"

"Have you percieved the nature of the Primordial Lifefiber? What our purpose is?"

"We are cattle." I said dryly. I didnt truly believe that though. I was still preoccupied by the whole `Aliens made humans evolve` bit.

"Yes, exactly. But we have encountered resistence. I had just been gifted with Life Fibers, the Primordial Lifefiber had just awoken from its sleep, when Leviathan attacked my mansion."

"Leviathan attacked specifically your mansion?" I asked disbelievingly. She was certainly self-important.

"It attacked Japan. My mansion was either a unlucky coincidence, or the Simurgh saw something in the future and tried to prevent it."

Self-importance in spades. But …

"Why the fuck did you attack me, why did you stop, and what was that about you staying here?"

Ragyo somehow gave me a mental grin.

"So many questions. Very well. Here is what happened: Leviathan attacks the Kiryuin mansion. To protect itself, the Primordial Lifefiber converted my human shell into a protective net across its core. And, although it is infinite in its wisdom, it needs an interpreter of sorts to truly interact with our world on a smaller scale. As we were fleeing the ruins of my mansion, Leviathan ruined my flight system. We crashed. We floated for a long, long time. A few hours before you came, we were washed into a crack here. You foolishly touch me. We tried to consume you for your energy."

"You were eating me." I asked stunned. "Why are you even telling me this. Im not going to help you on your mad crusade."

"SILENCE!"

I winced in pain. Ragyo evidently still had the ability to hurt me.

"Do not interrupt me please. I am not finished. Yes, I was eating you. But imagine my suprise when you triggered. You know, it is truly fascinating what you can learn if your metaphorical fingers are in the middle of a triggering girls frontal lobe during said triggering. Well, long story short, the Primordial Lifefiber, and by extension me, are now leeching of the thing that would otherwise have given you powers. How lucky you are. You survived."

I just sat there, stunned. I had triggered. I could have been a hero, helped protect the world. Finally, I would have had a measure of power, could have led a life beyond the bullying, beyond the shadows of my past.

Now, this lifeline had been hijacked by some madwoman, who used it to sustain herself. I couldnt help myself; I started to cry. All the feelings that had been bottled up inside of me came welling up. The apathy that marked the connection between Dad and me since Mom died. The walking heart-wrenching betrayal that was Emma. The pure hate and contempt that I felt from Sophia. The uncaring attitude of Principal Blackwell and the rest of the staff. The Locker.

Why?

For what?

The parasites that I carried around in my body didnt even do anything for me. What did I get out of it?

"Give me something back!" I mentally screamed at Ragyo. "Give me something, anything, please..."

She just laughed.

So absorbed was I in my mental world, that the shove to my back came totally unexpected. I fell forward on my face, to the delighted jeering of a group of joung men and women.

Gang colours.

Fuck.