Valeria has moved into a room at the Zen Soul Headquarters after she was kicked out of the Brinstrone mansion by her mother-in-law. She has just accessed the second soul she will be reaping on that day, the third in her list. Another 97 to go.
The soul information she was supposed to reap:
[ Lex Lindi, female, 28 years old, suicide from overdose of sleeping pills, room 56, The Palace Hotel, 5pm ]
"You know what would make this whole soul reaping business more fun? If it comes with a system," she told Ari.
"You know, for example, if you reap 10 souls, you get to power up, or if you finish some task related to soul reaping, you get extra points, maybe even a chance to exchange the points for weapons and choices of reaping instruments, that sort of thing," she explained when he looked confused. This confused him even more.
"Just get ready to go to The Palace Hotel and reap the soul, I don't even know what you are talking about," he replied.
"You really have no interest in human entertainment, do you?" she asked.
She checked her every versatile designer tote bag. Wallet inside, checked. Cell phone inside, checked. Pack of tissues, checked. Lip gloss, checked. Sunglasses, checked. Hand sanitiser, checked. Soul reaping scarf, checked.
"Okay, let's go," she said.
They left her room and as she closed the door, she paused.
"How do I lock the door?" she asked Ari. He gave her a look of surprise.
"Why do you need to lock it?" he asked, genuinely surprised.
"Well, I have things inside, like my passport and bank books, I don't want people going in and stealing those," she said.
Ari laughed aloud at that. He found it so funny, he laughed and laughed till he clutched his belly and his wound and winced in pain. Valeria placed her hands on her hips and glared at him.
"What is so funny about that?" she asked indignantly.
"No other human can access these rooms without permission, they can't open the doors and don't even know it is there," he told her.
"Right, well, how was I to know, this is a yoga centre for humans with rooms for yoga retreats after all," she huffed.
She made her way downstairs to go outside and use the app to get a driver without waiting for Ari. She doesn't care if he couldn't catch up. So far he has not lifted a finger to help her in any of the past two reaping.
"Hey, wait up," he called to her as the car arrived and she got in.
He went over to the other side and opened the door and got in. The driver looked at them both. Valeria gave him the hotel name and address. The driver smirked knowingly but did not say anything. Wait. Does that mean he can see Ari?
He can see you? She asked Ari in her mind and looked at him. Ari nodded and grinned at her. She really needs to learn to distinguish between reapers that are in visible form and reapers that are invisible to humans.
"Easy, I will teach you how later," Ari said.
"It would have been useful if I learnt that earlier, don't you think?" she replied.
Ari shrugged.
They arrived at the hotel in silence. Valeria made her way inside, again without waiting for Ari, and went straight to the elevator. The room is on the fifth floor. She still doesn't know how she will get into the room. Or maybe she will just wait outside until the soul comes out. Like in Albert Chan's case.
On the fifth floor, she walked down the long hallway towards the room. She stood outside and stared at the door. Ari, who finally caught up with her, joined her.
It is now 4.55pm.
"Go on, why are you staring at the door?" Ari asked, leaning on the wall next to the door.
"What am I supposed to do? Break it down? Since she has probably downed a fatal amount of sleeping pills, obviously she can't open the door," she replied sarcastically.
Ari grinned at her in his infuriating manner.
"You are resourceful, think of a way," he said.
"I am being resourceful. I am waiting right here for her soul to come out," she said. She crossed her arms and leaned on the wall on the other side of the door.
Ari shrugged. "If you feel that works, who am I to say anything," he said cryptically.
"I can't break open a hotel room door, I am not that strong and last I checked, I can't pick locks so I won't be able to pick the lock of the door, how else do you expect me to get in the room? Are you going in there to open it for me?" she ranted at him. Then realisation struck.
"Wait! You can go inside! Go and open the door for me now," she ordered him.
Ari smirked. "Good effort, but too bad, I am not fully recovered yet to be able to do that," he replied.
She huffed. She decided to check Ari's memories in her head. It is like a directory in her head. There was nothing there that could help in her situation. Her problem is a very mortal problem that Ari the reaper doesn't face. If only she knows what sort of powers she has as a substitute reaper. So far, the only power she knows she has is the ability to see souls.
"What other powers do I have?" she asked Ari.
He shrugged. "Find out yourself, you will need to test it all out anyway," he said.
Maybe she has super strength, like Supergirl. She mustered up all her strength and pulled on the door handle. Nothing happened. Okay, so no super strength.
"Just focus, this is not some superhero movie," Ari commented.
She scowled at him. That is SO helpful. NOT. Annoying demon. Why can't it be like a system? She just press her chest or pull her ear or something and a whole menu of her powers, energy and points come up?
"Stop with that system thing, you already have all the information in your mind, you don't need to press any buttons," Ari drawled.
She concentrated in riffling through the memories in her head. If only it's like a file system where she can look up 'Powers', it would be easier. She searched her mind a bit more and then it suddenly became clear to her.
Her powers, her abilities and the number of souls she still has to reap, it is all there. Just that it was not easily found. It was hidden in between Ari's memories of 'tips to reap souls peacefully' and 'tips to avoid being bitten by hellhounds'. What a lousy way to store the system. Bad designer. She would definitely give it a zero star rating. She accessed the information.
Powers:
1. Unhindered access to souls
2. Strength - 2% (reap more natural death souls to increase)
3. Float - 1% (deliver souls within an hour to increase)
4. Healing rate - 2% (reap more violent death souls to increase)
5. Special eyesight - 2% (increases at every soul reaped)
6. Immortality - 0% (reap more than 1000 souls in 3 months)
Functions: Change appearance, voice & identity (only for one day at a time)
(redeem more appearances by completing weekly tasks)
Reaping instrument: 100 nos.
Soul counter: 2
Wow. She turned to look at Ari.
"I can actually gain immortality??" she asked. Of course, it is not like she can reap 1,000 souls in 3 months. She doesn't even know where to start. "Also, I can gain strength, float and heal?" she added. Well, she doesn't get paid but the perks in the system is good enough.
"It said here, unhindered access to souls, how do I use it?" she asked Ari. "And also, I can change my appearance??"
He grinned. "Yes, just focus and you will get the hang of it, you need to have more confidence in your ability," he said.
Okay, since he said it that way. She concentrated on changing her appearance. Maybe to a short, petite, pretty young blonde. Like the young woman Mark was fucking in the alleyway this morning.
Pretty sure that she has done it, she took out her compact mirror and looked into it.