Chapter 29: Moulting Cicada, Speared Men

  Though the cicada’s clicking was getting feeble, Siren was able to hear it all. “You’ve done well, my child,” she closed her eyes and severed the connection. “Rest well.”

  She had heard everything she needed to hear. Straightening her spine, she savoured the sea breeze that caressed her face. “It’s rather romantic, isn’t it?” Her hand found the cool surface of the mental barrel standing next to her. “Too bad you aren’t alive to enjoy a bit of nature with me.”

  Siren puckered her lips in mock disappointment and pushed the barrel into the sea. It bobbed and floated for a bit before the waves swallowed it whole on her command.

  With a wave of her hand, Siren summoned her harpoons, which speared the barrel, anchoring it to the sea floor. They were the same type of harpoons used to hunt whales. She had stuck ten harpoons into the barrel at once, a mere fraction of the number of harpoons hunters bought every hunt.

  Good thing you picked Yokohama. It’s a nice place to dump bodies, she mused as she blew at her freshly painted nails. They were as black as her core.

  Just as she was about to leave, Narcissus’s voice blared in her ears, “What are you doing, Siren? This is worse than MY plan!”

  “This is called casting a long line to lure in a big catch,” she replied simply and tapped her ear to cut off his whining.

  She had to figure out how to get the Aberrant to show his face and provoke him. They had to give him a slight nudge down the path of no return to set their plan in motion. She could do it personally, but given that he was under very watchful eyes, it paid to be cautious.

  Phantoms were not enough for her mission, for they merely served as a diversion. What she was seeking was someone who could manipulate Cursed Essence.

  Much to her disappointment, none of the men she had encountered so far was diabolical enough to wield any power. Siren had listened to their innermost desires and amplified them, but their bodies ultimately crumbled. She had tampered with the minds of at least five men over the past week. The homeless, the average salarymen and the privileged; all were not spared, and all had died before they acclimatised.

  Most men were good at their core. It seemed she would have to be patient.

  Siren decided to lie in wait at a bar, patiently sipping on her drink. A bartender attended to her. “Miss, you have been here every day for the past week,” she said while making a drink for another customer. “Is everything alright?”

  “I like the service here,” Siren said with a coy smile. “Perhaps I could also find my Mr Right here if I come here often.”

  “Oh, are you looking for a partner? Fuck that,” the bartender remarked crassly. “For someone as pretty as you, you should consider looking somewhere else. This place is full of slime balls. If we give average men a chance, they’ll think that they rule the world. I wouldn't want to date anyone here, to be honest.”

  The bartender was about to continue her diatribe when a man plonked down in a vacant seat next to Siren. He signalled to the bartender and placed an order for two trays of vodka shots. The bartender slid him his order. “Bad day at work?” she asked.

  “I don’t want to talk about it,” the man grumbled.

  Intrigued, Siren pricked her ear and listened.

  “If Elizabeth had not insisted that we move to Japan for her career, I would have succeeded back in Germany! I’m so tired of this. I’M TIRED OF THIS! Ethics this, ethics that. Brainless sons of bitches can’t even see the value of my research!”

  Siren tapped the edge of her glass and started to make small talk with the bartender. “What do you envision the world to be in… let's say fifty years?” she quizzed.

  The bartender raised her eyebrows and shrugged, “Dunno, maybe there would be more technology. Flying cars, y’know. I don’t pay much attention to science lessons, but if they can make phones, they should be able to stick wings on cars.”

  Siren wagged her finger and smirked, “You must be the cheeky one in class. But of course, flying cars are possible; my team is close to getting a prototype ready.”

  “I would love to talk about how flying cars would make my life so much better, but my manager is looking at me,” the bartender blushed and eyed her boss nervously. “Have a nice night, the two of you!”

  As the bartender busied herself, the man turned towards Siren. Siren turned her body to face him. He had a ruggedly handsome appearance, characterised by a chiselled jawline dotted with salt and pepper stubble. His dark, wavy hair hung slightly tousled, the kind of disarray that comes after a day at the office. “You are a researcher?” the man asked.

  It took less than a minute for the fish to latch onto the bait.

  “I’m an engineer, what about you?” Siren raised her hand, shushing him before he could answer. “Let me guess, you’re a doctor.”

  “I’m a surgeon working at a nearby hospital,” the man replied. “How could you tell?”

  “I guess I have good judgment when it comes to discerning distinguished men,” Siren said and held out her hand. “My name is Gretchen.”

  “Dr. Johann Faust,” he took her hand and shook it. “I moved here two years ago. Used to live in Germany.”

  Siren studied Dr. Faust keenly. On the surface, he came off as a rather good-spirited gentleman; no one could tell that underneath was a man who harboured so much resentment. The perfect candidate had come knocking on her door, and she had to lure him in.

  “Care to talk to me about your research?”

  Dr. Faust stopped midshot. He had blitzed through four shots of vodka, and pink had begun to bloom on his cheeks. “I haven’t had anyone talk to me about my work, not even my wife,” he said.

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  His heart spoke otherwise, “Like hell women know anything about science.”

  Siren let out a small laugh, “You shouldn’t underestimate women. I’m rather knowledgeable about the human body, even though I may not specialise in it.”

  “Oh?”

  “The human body holds infinite possibilities. Only people who are willing to push the boundaries can come up with revolutionary ideas. Ideas that even you cannot comprehend.”

  “What are these possibilities that you speak of, Miss…”

  “You can call me Gretchen. You can drop the formalities around me.” Siren touched the tip of her finger against her wet tongue. Glass sang under her moistened finger as she ran it across the rim of her cup.

  “Alright, Gretchen,” Dr. Faust leaned in, “Care to enlighten me about these possibilities?”

  “That life can exist even after death.”

  “I think listening to fantasy stories after work is rather refreshing,” Dr. Faust remarked.

  “Telomere degradation, all these little processes that lead to death, are reversible under laboratory conditions. So does the premise not hold? Reverse it, and life can be breathed into the person once more.” Siren explained. “As a doctor, you should know these. I am merely an avid researcher. Unless you are telling me that an amateur knows more than a trained professional?”

  Dr. Faust scoffed, “Even if a human is dissected into pieces? Impossible! We aren’t living in the world of Frankenstein.”

  “I can prove it to you,” Siren said.

  Dr. Faust narrowed his eyes. Siren could hear his teeth gnash and grind against one another. It was the face of a man who did not like to be challenged. He slammed the shot glass onto the table, and his spine snapped straight.

  “Alright, let’s test your hypothesis, shall we?”

  ***

  Dr. Faust brought Siren to his residence. “Elizabeth and her kids are out of town, so we’ll have plenty of time,” he said as he took a small fishing net and scooped out a betta fish.

  This man has no qualms when it comes to experimentation, thought Siren as she played with the ends of her hair.

  Using a small fruit knife, Dr. Faust cut the squirming fish cleanly into three parts: the head, the body and the tail. “The fish is dead and cut into pieces,” he said. “So tell me, how is it possible that you can bring this back to life?”

  Dr. Faust opened the suture set that he had prepared beforehand and stitched the fish back together in no time. He gestured towards the corpse with a smug smile on his face.

  “This woman doesn’t even know what she’s talking about.”

  Siren studied the fish carefully, watching as the last of its Essence trickled out. “Do you believe in the supernatural, Dr. Faust?”

  “No.” Not once did his voice waver, but that was going to change.

  She was going to change it.

  Siren smirked as she put a finger on the cold body. Immediately, the fish started wriggling. Dr. Faust’s eyes widened at the extraordinary sight that played out in front of him. “How?!” he exclaimed.

  “Life exists after death,” Siren answered coyly. “Did you not know? They are rather close friends.”

  “You act as if you know everything, Dr. Faust. But in reality, you know nothing,” she went on, enjoying the look of pure disbelief on his face.

  “Perhaps you just need to see for yourself,” Siren said and held his face. She stood on her toes and kissed him, transferring a bit of her Cursed Essence into him. She let loose a little and summoned a phantom that had been plaguing the poor man. It was a deformed shark with jaws that opened too wide. Razor-sharp teeth hung over its lips, ready for its next prey.

  Dr. Faust gasped and stumbled backwards, overwhelmed by what his new eyes were able to see. “This can’t be… What is this?”

  “Products of your imagination,” Siren explained as she pointed out the shark. “I presume that you have watched Jaws?”

  “But that was so long ago!”

  Siren scoffed. “Such a portrayal of innocent creatures warped perceptions of them. It lingers and sticks, infesting this world with such phantoms.”

  She raised a finger and pointed at the aquarium. The shark’s body compressed with a delightful crunch so that it was small enough to fit into the tank. It tore apart the aquarium, leaving nothing alive. Dr. Faust looked at the aquarium filled with shredded fish, eyes wide but expressionless.

  “Who… are you?” Dr. Faust asked incredulously.

  “I am as human as you are,” she replied. “But my knowledge far surpasses yours. So what if you have figured it out? You barely saw the tip of the iceberg.”

  Dr. Faust remained silent, but Siren heard him loud and clear. “What do you desire, Herr Dr. Faust?” Siren whispered into his ear, her fingers tracing the light stubble that peppered his jawline. She could hear his blood course through his veins and his synapses connecting as he brought himself closer to her.

  Siren’s hands slid downwards, tugging at the lapels of his suit jacket. She lowered her voice into a sultry drawl. “Women? Love? Power and influence? Revenge or perhaps the ability to transcend all beings?” she asked as she pulled him closer, waiting for him to take up her invitation.

  Dr. Faust tentatively raised his hand and let it hover next to her head. Siren clasped his wrist, bringing his hand away from her. Not yet, she thought as she placed it on her waist.

  “Would it be too greedy to ask for everything?” Dr. Faust asked.

  “Never. It is never too greedy to ask for something from a person who has everything.”