As Iris was leaving the first-year building, Viktoria was waiting for her and came up beside her. "Iris, I have been meaning to speak with you about something."
Iris kept walking, though Viktoria continued talking down the steps. "Kate tells me that you had a bit of a medical error with how Meteorology was transferred to you. Explain it to me."
Usually when this happened, Eva or Amelie would pull Iris out somehow. Both were out on contracts.
"Meteorology is fine." muttered Iris.
Mostly she was unsure how to handle this without violence.
"A medical error does not mean 'fine', Iris. If you do not wish to tell me, then I will simply find it out from another source; so tell me. Is that not the least you could do for Natasha?"
Viktoria had partitioned out Natasha and ascribed her flaws to Naomi & Olivia and the rest to herself, the minimization of identity so that she might pull the pride of creation from her, lest she be alone without an explanation for this all. Little doubt was there that she cherished a wild maliciousness against Olivia with tenfold the strength that she had against Iris, even as it was Iris who she more frequently harassed, entreated, and manipulated.
Iris saw Naomi exiting Urasaria up ahead. Her shirt read: PROTECT TRANS KIDS. Naomi glanced back, saw her with Viktoria, then walked towards her like this had been her original destination. "Hey, Kate needs to speak with you. She said she got a call from that lawyer you were working with a few months ago."
"We were busy having a private conversation about Natasha before your rude interruption." said Viktoria.
Naomi kept her eyes on Iris. "Kate won't be happy if you keep her waiting. Better than standing here and letting Viktoria fill your ear with a bunch of bullshit, right?"
Viktoria sneered. "Ah, see how she turns a conversation of two people grieving a beloved mutual friend into a sinister attempt at manipulation. There is little left of you I find surprising, Naomi: you and that disease-ridden swamp you call a protege are alike in that you have never cared for another without commensurate sexual reward, and so you mock my genuine grief because you cannot understand it. I only pity Iris for her inability to see this."
Naomi shrugged. "You wanna bring up Natasha? Because from what Olivia told me, you abused her and demeaned her to the point where-"
"I have nothing to say to the testimony of that fucking whore; only that you are even stupider than she is to trust it."
"And yet Natasha invested much more love into her than you ever did. Maybe I did push Natasha to you in some ways. I can accept the blame for that -- how she hurt Olivia still tints my judgment of her to where I thought maybe you two deserved each other. But I look at you now and I wonder: what happened to you, huh? What happened to the woman I met two years ago? You still hated me and Olivia, but at least you were dedicated to your work. Just the other day, Kate was telling me you haven't cleared a case since January, and now I see you out here harassing somebody who never had the choice of you in her life and wouldn't have asked for you if she did."
"Whatever it is you're attempting to say with this, I do not need your praise nor your disappointment." grunted Viktoria.
"I'm not disappointed in you. I'm disappointed in myself for ever letting myself think you were going to beat me. When I look at you, I don't see somebody who's on my level, and I don't even see somebody who's on the level below me: because you're a fucking bum. I'd tell you to leave Iris alone and go bother somebody who cares about you, but you don't have anyone like that left, do you?"
Iris started walking.
She used a good tailwind and left the city for a bit; when she was too pissed it was better to meld into the anonymous smells of new terrain. She felt that Naomi was again making Iris's dead mentor a discrete unit of narrative for her own rivalries, and she hated all of this interplay between Olivia & Naomi & Viktoria. It had all left Iris with the most objective view of Natasha, her closest friend, yet disconnected from the preceding year of bullshit.
To move to Naomi: it is true that she had occasionally used Natasha. She had disliked Natasha for what she did to Olivia, and like Viktoria there was the sublimation of her own protege's feelings on the matter to the privileging of her own. But she liked Iris; she despised Viktoria and had been alarmed when Olivia told her of Viktoria's harassment, and all the above she said was truthfully felt.
But her attempt to help Iris would deepen Iris's dislike for her and of Viktoria's disdain for Iris, for her defense of Iris had now linked the two in Viktoria's mind. Iris had betrayed Natasha by siding with Olivia, but at least before Viktoria could convince herself Iris was misguided. No longer now. With Naomi & Olivia she now actively plotted against Viktoria, and Natasha subsequently, in the deepening of absurdities in a mind affixed by narrative.
Presently and far up the city avenue, a hundred feet away, Iris saw a large whale speaking to a humanoid robot, its head shaped like a W with two vertical eyes, its body composed of an amber metal that slightly hid its cracked core orb.
Green electricity covered Iris's arm, and her anger swelled as she saw four orbs floating around her foe; crackling plasma and yellow electricity, dark purple and a small glacier. The whale retreated in her glare.
She rushed at the robot, and the robot at her; Kairos crawled upon her back as it transmitted the state of all objects within 75ft to her, and as the robot approached within 50, a wall of wind blocked & slowed it -
- but itse four orbs turned to four of crackling plasma and she dodged right just in time to avoid it shooting past her, a single electrical orb growing electrical tendrils and shooting towards her, tendrils gripping her tight as more orbs shot at her from the left -
- but the electrons in the air accelerated into her own countercurrent and nullified the electrical barrage, dispersing it from herself as she glanced left and saw her robotic foe 50ft away, its lack-of-a-mouth shouting: "DEFECT: BIASED COGNITION."
She launched herself across the street and onto a nearby building, rushing towards him 50ft ahead & below, launching herself up & down every roof per her usual run. A wall of snow rushed up and blocked her from being seen below; she rotted the ceiling below her and fell into the store below, but a sudden force yanked her back up -
- into a series of disembodied claws that grabbed at her, slashing at her skin -
- but a hyper-pressurized rain covered her body and dulled their attacks; she slipped out with little damage done, then blasted herself out & down into the street, passing by the robot on her launch and pitching a bolt of green lightning into it at her right -
"DEFECT: GLACIER."
- but four floating glaciers sprouted around it and blocked her electrical barrage; her wind curled herself around and she landed 30ft away from its back, and when it turned to face her its glaciers ate a geyser of lava that melted them into clouds of steam, an acceleration of heat transforming them into a scalding swarm -
"DEFECT: FORCEFIELD."
- but a sphere of blue energy shot out from the robot and blasted her away down the sidewalk, leaving her to roll & scrape for a few seconds there, catching herself up with a grunt and another layer of anger at her foe ahead. Another dark orb shot past her and its pull yanked her shoulder out of its socket, but the air pressurized beside her and dulled the pull of this black hole for now; wanting space first, she launched herself back until she was about 50ft away in the middle of the road, noticing that its orbs had grown far larger than before, their strength increasing commensurately.
"DEFECT: ECHO FORM.'
An identical replica of the robot appeared beside itself, and it rushed directly towards Iris, the original's dark orb growing larger by the second; she suspected the clone was for distraction and not offense, yet knew she must deal with it regardless, and as it came 30ft within range ahead, a barrage of its electrical orbs shot towards her -
- but a spot of the air twitched and the spin of its electrons accelerated into a magnetic pull beyond human instruments, yanking the electricity into itself; she pulled her working arm back and a hook of wind yanked it towards her, a wall of lava sprouting up in its path -
"DEFECT: GLACIER."
- yet its immense frost shields chilled the wall into igneuous rock; even the steam itself froze from the immense chill surrounding it. Her extremities began to numb as she tried to back herself away, lava coating her as it stomped towards her and the temperature continued to lower; she tried another geyser but it was similarly chilled, ice forming around her and threatening to slice her open as it came 20ft within -
- but the next scene was instant. A superheated wind cranked her broken arm into position to aim at her frost-laden foe ahead; her drill ejected hyper-accelerated from her hand and when it hit the glaciers it sent heavy fractures through each, yet even it could not breach it entirely -- but it was not this that Iris needed.
A tsunami of lava washed over the mass of glaciers and filled the tunnels & fractures & cracks her drill had carved out for her; their heat was far more easily dispersed with the increase in surface area and the mass of glaciers melted into a mass of steam; within that mist she saw its robotic arms raise for a force field -
- but another hook of wind pulled it into her and slammed it onto her drill-hand; she shouted for Kairos as it hyper-accelerated and carved through it in a mess of blood & gore, its body spinning like a helicopter blade around her bloodied weapon as gore & sinew & intestines spewed upon her in thick inside-out spirals, until she grunted and discarded to the side what little of its body that was not currently coating her.
She saw ahead the original form, and noticed now the enormous size its dark orb had grown around it, twice the size of its summoner -
"DEFECT: DUALCAST."
A second dark the size of the first appeared and the twin barrage shot towards her, their suction so heavy that her launch back only distanced her 30ft, and as the orbs pursued and their suction ripped at her limbs -
- a hook of wind yanked the wall off the building at her right and into the first orb; she repeated the same at her left and the twin structures plugged the twin orbs tight & full, their suction dulling. In the next instant she had launched herself over another building, caught up its roof in midair, then blasted it into her foe and buckled its forcefield under the weight; she launched herself over the robot and reverted the asphalt beneath it to tar, landing at its back as it sluggishly turned; she swept her left arm out and a superheated wind shot out of it that sliced its left arm clear off, and as she went for the final blow -
"DEF-"
- a desert eagle bullet shattered its second eyes into pieces as cracked as its core, yet a gust of wind blasted the robot away and left it to scrape & roll down the road 50, 60, 70, then 80ft away.
Iris threw her gun aside and shouted at it in a rage: "AGAIN!"
Its orbs had shrunk. She stomped after it as it confusedly arose, clutching its shattered eye as wires leaked from its gone-arm. She was 50ft away when she heard it intonate "DEFECT: METEOR STRIKE." as one made to strike her from above, but a swift wind dodged her forward and she launched herself again, catching up within 30ft and sending out a superheated wind that sliced its right arm off & left the robot to scrape & roll & roll & roll down the street, her guttural shout of: "AGAIN!"
More meteors fell upon her from above, yet the air itself paused below them and caught each as she launched herself in pursuit after the robot, its chassis thinning and heat ejected from it as these plasma orbs orbited around it, shouting for "DEFECT: HYPERBEAM." as a beam of superheated energy shot towards her -
- but her own super-decelerated beam of chill met it; at the center the difference in temperature dispersed an outward wave of pressure, yet the laws of physics reversed for Kairos and pulled both combatants in closer; as she launched towards it a gust of wind blasted it off to the side and through the high window of an apartment, and she launched herself up to the roof with her sadism rising.
She scanned below and saw where its host aura crawled, then repeatedly blasted jets of lava below, noting the steam that appeared in eternity at the result; its glacier shields were still active, yet far weaker than before. She had noticed earlier that its orbs had greatly shrunk from their initial size; if this continued they would soon no longer be visible. Had his cognition biased one way yet only temporarily, and was now in inexorable decline?
She crouched down and scanned a spot of the ceiling above her enemy, accelerating its electrons' spin into a field of magnetism; she heard its robotic head clang as it was yanked into the ceiling, a second glut of pressure hanging it there and choking it deeply; pained robotic groans came from it, ans this pleased her. Kairos repeatedly intruded against its host aura, then breached it utterly; she felt again that ultimate form of menace over another host as more meteors attempted to be summon, but were directly decayed in the screeches of agony below.
She stomped over to the other end of the roof, keeping it with her; another wind pulled it out and hung the robot like a toy caught in a claw game ahead of her, then blasted it down into a spot of the street below.
She launched herself across the street and onto another building, caught up its roof in midair, then blasted it at 10,000mph to her foe, but it returned at 100,000mph back at her; in microseconds the entire structure decayed and she saw the reason for the counter below; the robot had turned as a tall woman grabbed their hand, and as her thumb wrapped around their wrist they were fractured into several clones of themselves; one cried like a robot in horrific depression, one screamed like a robot in mortal agony; each in a panic as they could not reappropriate their former shards of selves and emotion, which she allowed to simmer trapped for a moment before its consciousness finished sundering into several hues of its shade and it crumbled into a pile of steel cubes.
In the next less than an instant Iris had launched herself left & back, but a bullet shredded her left arm into thin strips as a wind curled these steel cubes in front of the woman, reverted them molten and accelerated them solid; this blocked her sight for a moment as Iris covered herself in clouds and sent many scattering out in all directions, launching herself away in one and soon escaping back to Urasaria.
While you have already seen Iris's mobility in fights, let it be known that she is absurdly, ridiculously mobile outside of them; by next year she would stop driving anywhere because her wind pushed her there quicker than any vehicle. So she fled, rather easily at that.
As she landed at the front gate she muttered to herself that she did not feel like fighting that bitch today, as she went back to the infirmary. Serena Kunst (or Serena-kun, as she let a few students call her) was in the infirmary to heal her amputation. While she did so, Iris checked her phone for the number she did not recognize: it shifted on her screen like a steadily tuned radio dial.
(Iris) "I need information on someone who's been targeting me."
The mirage parted briefly for the reply.
(???) "The usual wall."
She texted Olivia to tell her she was back but would be doing some solo training for a bit, went to the wall beside Olivia's training room, and walked through it to a familiar office. She sat down across from his shifting, staring face.
"Kronos."
"I'd say your name, but I suppose I'm never getting to know it."
"Perhaps you eventually might. Before we begin, to follow-up on our previous conversation. Have you encountered any difficulties with Kairos?"
"None so far. I've got surgery scheduled in June with Dr. Yuruko, but I've told her to leave everything how she finds it."
"Hm. You might be interested to know that we have our own theories about its emergence; likely they match your's as well. But supposition cannot replace scientific evidence, and so we have no new questions until you have new answers." he said. "As for the primary matter... I take your message to mean that you have recently encountered someone."
"A tall woman who seems to specifically target me. Do you know anyone matching that description?"
He handed her a photo: it was the photo Salvatore's son had taken in ARC 27: A HOST IN THE FAMILY, only now Iris recognized the silhouette of the tall woman within it.
"That's her." said Iris. "She some type of hitwoman?"
He placed his hands on his chin as he began. "Correct. She is known only as The Norwegian. Some doubt her existence, although to offer my personal opinion; I find that many prefer to face denial than their own myriad failures. Had there been more resources devoted to her in her earliest emergence, perhaps she might have been prevented; she is far too savvy for that now. The number of kills she has been involved in is impossible to know precisely, of course, but estimates place it between 2000-4000."
"Hell of a range. That's including civilians?"
"That was the host number."
Iris frowned. "How the hell..."
"The civilian number is likely double that, if not more. She works internationally and through a series of intermediates, typically ensuring that she is never contacted directly. And yet here we see her with Salvatore; for what reason we have yet to surmise, although the death of the latter likely makes the former's reasoning superfluous. Perhaps a job where Salvatore requested proof and had the leverage to have it personally granted."
"Sheesh." she muttered. "Not like I've ever had any guilt killing a living thing, but still. Wonder how she even started. Was she ever a student?"
"It's highly unlikely. The year of her first known kill -- estimates range from 1990 to 2000 -- means she has operated for at least twenty years. That would indicate her age is 30-50 years, though many killers start younger than that. Of course, the path of the female host sociopath -- itself a trait of all great murderers -- has yet to be studied deeply."
"Any reason you specify female?"
"The operative word there was 'host'. If you'll allow me to wax on a personal criminological theory, I believe the female sociopath follows a different pattern than the male sociopath because biology sets obstacles for her that men's does not. She may learn at an early age that violence is a preferred method of solving internal discomfort; she may see it modeled in her parents' relationship. She is often mentally unwell and actively seeks intimacy, attachment with others, even as she will deny her own dependency underneath this pasteboard mask. Regardless of her reasoning or motive, the fact of her sex is that physical violence becomes a far less viable method of resolving conflict as she reaches puberty, when the strength difference between herself and men grows apparent.
Her use of violence is then diverted into attainable channels: she may abuse animals or her own children. She learns to emotionally manipulate others; she ruins the lives of the men she is with and sabotages their relationships. Once physical means are closed, emotional manipulation is her alternative. Often, in the cases of women abusing their male partners, she will use the police against him; she will tell him he cannot fight back without risking arrest or worse. False accusations are common with these women, but in many cases they merely expand themselves into whatever passages society has dug for them; their methods change with the evolution of culture, though the archetype does not."
"And the male sociopath?"
"His size and strength ensures violence is always an open channel... as with the female host."
Iris mused. "It's a theory. Can't say I don't recognize some of myself in it."
"There is a preponderance of gray in the world, but there is also much black and much white. Many in their attempt at nuance miss this, Kronos."
"So, what about The Norwegian? Any particular ethos?"
"The Norwegian is unique among assassins in that, to the best of our knowledge, she does not kill on behalf of any one particular side of a conflict. She has killed for many Families, most of them now extinct; killed for rebels and for governments, for workers and for employers, a crusading hitwoman whose only loyalty seems to be her own internal criterion or to money; the fulfillment of a personal crusade or loyalty to that opium of the people. Given all this, it would be unusual if we have not contracted her ourselves at one point, unknowingly or otherwise; but such matters are above even my office."
"Any idea of her involvement with the Marrivelli Family?"
"Do you have reason to believe this is why she targets you?"
Iris held up her scorched hand. "I do."
"It's likely that she contracts herself out to the Marrivelli Family for collection on those scorched, yes. Ironically, with each encounter with her you survive, you might be increasing her pay."
"Wouldn't mind making the next encounter the last I see of her, then."
"I say this as your future coworker and not your employer, Iris: I would highly advise against engaging her. You possess Kairos' wind and numerous other abilities to aid your escape. For now, this remains one host you are highly unlikely to defeat -- and that is by no means a diminishment of your considerable talent, merely an acknowledgement of present reality."
Iris sighed, though she knew he was softening her frustration. "Figure I can kill her eventually?"
"Or she will kill you. However, remember that your Revenant... Revenants... will grow their fastest over the next decade. She has likely already surpassed this phase... another few years and the gap between you and her will be much shorter than linear time suggests. I advise you again to not engage her."
"I won't. Might make sure she's distracted before I escape, but I can wait." said Iris. "Any idea what her Revenant is? Her bullets aren't from any civilian weapon. They created shockwaves in my flesh and split my muscles apart."
"If matters were as simple as a single discernible ability, then she would not be The Norwegian. While I shall review her file on your behalf and relay what is useful, I will note that much of it is autopsy, not first-hand report. That you have survived multiple encounters with her likely places you as a more accurate arbiter of her Revenant than tenuous linkages made by men far from combat."
"I suppose I'll let you know if I start noting a pattern."
"Good." he said. "With that, there is little other information we have for you, but I shall update you on potential work. Given you are still a first-year, we thought it best to delay any sensitive contracts until you are given your protege in late August, perhaps a few months afterwards. Offloading your protege for two weeks would certainly prove less difficult than evading your mentor, given confidentiality must be maintained."
"I'd prefer you not refer to Olivia as my mentor."
"Then I will not. But be cautious that such rituals to respect your grief do not instead further embed it."
"I've been handling myself well, all things considered." She glanced off to the side, and was starting to tear up. She tried to stifle it. "…end of the year's just been difficult for me."
"Urasaria's staff will filter out certain topics from your fanmail, if you request it. You can only fight as well as you feel."
"Might be for the best I ask. Thanks." she said. "Contact me once you've got work for me."
She left, and returned to Olivia's home. While out, she had gotten a screenshot message of a call Olivia was responding to; she decided to head out so she wouldn't leave herself alone. Olivia had headed out by train, so Iris launched herself up and took a few minutes to wind herself over to another state, hovering high above the avenue where she knew Olivia was.
There was a large man below wearing a thick black trenchcoat, bald but for a cybernetic jaw, wielding two enormous blades that when combined looked like shears. She noted several collapsed buildings around; below she noted burns around Baal's mouth, and attempted to barely intrude against Olivia's aura with Kairos; she glanced instinctively up and saw Iris landing beside her as they continued to run down this sidewalk & away from their foe.
"Found out more about that woman who attacked us last month." muttered Iris, her breath still a little hot. "Tell you more after."
"Okay, cool. He slices -- remote slicing -- I was about to burrow before you got here, but-"
- the building beside them was sliced in half and collapsed; Kairos slowed its fall, but within the ruins Iris saw him rushing at her with his pincer blades drawn; she shouted for Meteorology's wind as two hands of wind picked up two parked cars and hurled them towards him -
- but his blades slashed & sliced them away, pieces falling behind -
- but a dispersed cloud of their gasoline returned around him, though the next scene was instant. Six superheated red shields extended out from his back and slammed ahead of the cloud, igniting the gasoline into a line of fire that shot towards her; a line of snow shot back and barely stifled it back into steam, his figure in the mist rushing at her once more, her boil swelling and anger growing -
" - Baal!" shouted Olivia, and its maw vomited a single glob of metallic goop towards him that a green bolt of lightning followed -
- yet his shield caught it once more with no damage done; she was forced to launch herself & Olivia 50ft away and further up the avenue, her frustration flashing as his pincer blades slashed in their direction again; a deep gash appeared in the asphalt separating them and opened it into a massive wound, a melting gorge of collapsing street that threatened to pull their footing down & within -
" - Meteorology: Hail!" she shouted, and an enormous storm of hail & avalanche of snow (not stone) rushed into the gorge to plug the gash; but explosions & smoke burst out from within the wound and her own ice was blasted back into her face; she dodged back but her arms & torso were still heavily slashed, Baal's maw sufficing to keep Olivia's face beautiful at her side, chewing on ice like a demon with an iron deficiency, both staggering away and back with their foe still ahead.
"G-God damnit, f-fuck." muttered Iris; her snow was melting and she noticed, at the bottom, a line of superheated shields placed. "Had to have responded to pressure-"
"I'M FUCKING INVINCIBLE!" shouted their foe ahead.
"This guy is crazy." groaned Olivia.
"He's not just crazy. He's batshit insane." muttered Iris, relevantly.
Ahead, his blades traced a superheated circle in the ground around him and the same circle was repeated around themselves; Iris sensed he was ready or already had summoned shields in the ground below them to respond to the undue pressure of her launching wind; but she wanted some arrogant restitution for earlier embarrassment.
A microscopic layer of rain fell upon them and Iris accelerated it to the ground; she grabbed Olivia and jumped up, her manipulation of time pausing the gravity of the layer of water below; a second wind blasted them up & away and the water paused completely to absorb the counter-pressure, leaving them safe with no shield triggered; she laughed as she saw him confused ahead as she launched themselves towards him, a superheated glob of metal ejecting from Baal's maw that Kairos reverted solidified into him -
- but his shields sprouted again from his trenchcoat and an enormous explosion of shockwave & smoke occurred, no damage yet done; midair and curling themselves around him in a 20ft circle, Iris's wind drew the smoke into Baal's maw like a stereotype of a Middle-Eastern hookah smoker; it coughed & hacked out the smoke back seven-fold, covering him in moments as they continually curled around him, a constant cough & burst & vomit of clouds of smoke that Kairos disallowed rising away.
He was unable to see her but she able to see him by his host aura, patches of smoke randomly rotting and confusing him as the outline of his blades swung wildly; Baal's maw accelerated as it spewed out more & more, until Iris tapped Olivia on her moving back and asked for metal in the midst of their smoky & dizzying dervish.
Olivia considered as Baal examined her body for what metal was contained within; what offering could be made to its fetid lips.
Within the swarm of smoke there still stood the man, continuing to swing, his eyes barely opening and turning wildly as he felt her presence around; a repetitive trick of Kairos to make her appear to move through every layer of the miasma at once; until a blade of gold came through the cloud and one shield blocked it; he turned to its source as another swarm of golden blades came from ahead and his shields raised, yet his back was open and the smoke parted there to allow Iris to pitch her lightning into him; a red bolt of lightning shot out from her palm -
- and blasted a hole clear through his torso, still-beating heart hanging from his wound as he fell dead ahead.
Iris had involuntarily shrieked when she saw the red lightning and now felt embarrassed; even moreso she hated her vulnerability as she began to cry.
She turned away from Olivia. "J-Just a minute. Give m-me a minute, d-damn it."
She tried to hate this memory from her, but again it was there. She had not seen its color since Natasha's death; she had known it would occur to her own lightning eventually, yet had hoped she might somehow skip over it. She wished to shrink herself from sight; what had occurred did not match the avatarization of herself that she had tried to embody in previous months. As she looked to Olivia she felt no need to impart all this, but she allowed Olivia to hold her, and stroke the back of her head as she cried.