Syd turned his laptop to face the two girls.
"Today, I'm going to tell both of you what we're really doing—and who we're working with."
"Hmph? ... This guy's not from, like… the FBI or something?" Seraphina turned and asked, but Jody just shook her head.
"You know when the witch hunt era happened?"
Jody furrowed her brows. What did that have to do with anything?
"...Somewhere around the 1400s to 1700s, right?"
Seraphina answered.
"…Whoa, you actually know?"
"I skimmed it somewhere before."
"Exactly. The witch hunts happened in Europe starting around the 1400s—maybe even as early as the 1200s. It was a time when all of Europe went mad. Hundreds of thousands of innocent people were executed and burned, all under the rising influence of the Church. The issue of witchcraft was taken so seriously that it was written into law..."
"That happened in America too, though..." Jody added.
"But the real point is the aftermath of those beliefs."
"Huh?"
Click.
Syd clicked to the next slide, showing the same looping triangle symbol he had shown Father Peter.
"..."
"Back in those days, while everyone was caught up in the hysteria of hunting down 'witches,' there were a few who thought the whole thing was nonsense. They tried to reason with logic and evidence, claiming black magic didn't exist. But they didn't get far. They were hunted down, one by one, and forced into hiding. Eventually, though, they began gathering. They found others who shared their rational beliefs in science—and they formed a secret society somewhere in Europe. They realized they had to act. The world needed order and oversight, or else another witch hunt era might rise again."
At this point, both Jody and Seraphina were starting to realize where this was going…
Sweat began to bead on their foreheads.
No… It couldn't be. Could it?
They had heard stories—legends—about something like this before. But that was impossible. Those were just conspiracy theories…
"As time passed, their numbers grew. Not everyone bought into the foolish superstitions of the time. Their members came from all walks of life—merchants, artists, progressive politicians, scientists. They began sharing knowledge, gathering influential allies from all corners of the world. Until finally…"
"Thrak was born."
"..."
His voice and expression made it clear…
This wasn't a joke.
It was real.
"We believe in humanity. We don't believe in the supernatural. We believe in reason and logic. Thrak was established with that core belief. We accept only those who share the same ideology."
"…I-Is this for real? Something like this actually exists…?!"
Even if they didn't want to believe it, at this point, they had no choice but to accept.
"And with that shared ideology, it wasn't long before Thrak positioned itself to control Europe. Then we spread—to America, to Asia, Russia, India—branching out through members who brought our ideas back to their nations."
Syd advanced the slide and continued.
"Our job is to maintain balance. To keep the world gray—not too dark, not too bright. We stay in the middle. After Thrak stopped the witch hunts, we started reshaping the world. We laid the foundation for a New World Order. We were behind the abolition of slavery in America. We incited conflict between Chinese warlords. We burned London. We launched the French Revolution. We spread the Spanish flu. We tore down the rot our ancestors left behind. We reset everything. Wanna know how we reset it?"
"...How?"
"World War."
!?!?!?
Jody and Seraphina's eyes widened.
"Both World Wars. Even the Vietnam War. We wiped out outdated economic systems and started from scratch. And that includes the power user issue too. We regulate the chain—making sure the top doesn't gain too much power and the bottom doesn't rebel too far."
"..."
"This is the reality. You may be shocked—but from today forward, all those 'conspiracy theories' people talk about? They're your reality now."
"..."
"…So, Syd, what's your role in all this?"
"I carry out missions ordered from above. Me and the others in the organization clear paths so the world can keep moving."
"…What about the members—who are they?"
Seraphina asked.
"I can only tell you the ones who've died."
"Such as?"
"Newton. Archduke Ferdinand. Kepler. Emperor Meiji. Mozart. Da Vinci. George Washington. And a bunch more. Too many to name. You wouldn't believe it anyway. But I can't tell you the names of the living ones—it's classified."
"Well, at least now we know the Barrett family is part of Thrak."
"Go write a tell-all, if you want. White people love publishing exposés. Just know I'll come for both of you. For real. This feels like babysitting new recruits."
"In your organization, do you often recruit regular people like us?"
Seraphina asked a pointed question.
"Not often. But when we do, it's only the high-quality ones. So be glad. If you weren't that good, I wouldn't have asked you to join."
"Thanks, boss," Jody said, hands together in a Thai-style wai to mock-impress him—but her stiff form and deadpan tone made it hard to tell if she was being genuine or sarcastic.
"You tryna get your legs disassemble?"
"By the way... how did Jody end up working for you?"
Seraphina asked. To be honest, she'd wanted to ask ever since she walked into the house, but only now had the chance.
"..."
Jody paused for a moment… Syd Barrett looked at her, silently asking with his eyes—Should we tell her?
Well, since we're all in the same boat now...
Jody decided to explain everything to Seraphina.
"What?! You have brittle bone disease?! And that martial arts stuff too?! W-wait... this is insane! Why didn't I know any of this before?! Wait, wait—I can't even process this!"
She let Seraphina take a moment to mentally catch up.
"...You? You have brittle bone disease?! (high-pitched) Jody, I seriously couldn't tell at all!"
Seraphina swept her eyes down to Jody's legs, like she couldn't trust her own eyes.
"That's why I made a deal with Syd. His martial arts technique is the only thing that can help me live a normal life again."
"R-right... thinking about it now… it makes total sense. That's why you never hang out with anyone, always going places alone… It must've been really tough."
"I managed."
"But still… with a condition like that, and you can still fight like that?"
"My ability is long-range. Having an advantage isn't that strange."
Syd Barrett, sipping his strawberry milk while listening to the two girls talk, seemed bothered by something. He'd been holding it in, but now he couldn't anymore.
It was something Jody had never mentioned. How could she? Why didn't she tell Seraphina? Didn't it bother her?
"...Hey..."
He suddenly cut Seraphina off. The two girls turned toward him.
Syd pointed his middle finger—the one holding the glass—at Jody.
"Do you even realize… all that time you were obsessed with dragging her down from being the school's number one? I don't know how badly you two wanted to tear each other apart back then, but from what I've seen… Jody never gave a damn about your stupid school ranking."
"...What do you mean?"
Seraphina turned back to Jody.
"Oh, Syd… you mean that? You really didn't have to bring that up. Or were you trying to defend me or something?"
"Hmph."
Syd turned back and chugged more milk.
"Jody… what did he mean by that?"
"It's nothing. Let the past be the past, Seraphina. All that matters is that we start fresh from today."
But Syd Barrett chimed in again.
"It's kinda funny, isn't it? I heard you always saw 'limpy' here as an enemy looking down on you. But you know what's actually funny? She never once looked down on you. In fact, behind your back, she even admired your skill."
"....."
At that, Jody said nothing, but she smiled faintly.
Didn't want to say it out loud, huh, Syd?
"...Is… is that true?"
Seraphina looked like she couldn't believe it.
"Out there… in the underground, there are still tons of people way more skilled than we are, Seraphina. Syd's already proof of that. The place we live in… the school, the titles—it's just a surface-level society. This… is the real deal."
This was a true eye-opener for Seraphina.
Today was the first time she'd really gotten to know Jody.
And she had to reset her mindset all over again.
"Thanks a lot, Syd. Huh. Didn't think you were capable of doing something nice."
"What part of what I've done wasn't nice?"
"..."
"Hey."
"...No, it's fine. You're nice enough, really."
"Hey, don't just brush it off like that, you white-bread freak. Tell me right now—what wasn't nice about it, huh?! I taught you martial arts and you're still being a cripple by choice?!"
"I'm already doing work for you with the martial arts thing, aren't I? Besides, you haven't even started teaching me anything yet… and I haven't complained once."
"...Ah."
Right… that's true.
"No, but seriously—tell me what I did wrong. What kind of person do you think I am?! Huh?! You'd better tell me now or I'm gonna sweep your damn leg!"
"You're… how do I put it? Kinda cute, maybe? Hah… You know, I always wanted a little brother."
"...And?"
"Now I've got one."
"There it is. There it is, you sh*t. You circled it right back to the age thing. Real funny, huh? Come here. Come here right now. Gimme your temple—I'm gonna slap you like a mafia boss."
"Nooo! Syd, hahaha! Stop! Nooo! I'm kidding!"
Jody burst into laughter as Syd fumed beside her.
It was such a bizarre sight for Seraphina.
Because from the moment she first met Jody Johansson—aka The Killer Queen—she'd never seen her like this. Not once.
Actually, she never even imagined Jody had a side like this… not in the slightest.
"You're the textbook definition of white trash, you limp-legged psycho."
"Yup."
"Syd, why are you so offensive like that?"
"Calm down, Seraphina."
Jody patted Seraphina's shoulder gently.
"That's just how he is."
"That's normal?! Jody, don't tell me he's been throwing hate speech at you this whole time?!"
"Hate speech? I don't know, it doesn't bother me."
Suddenly, Seraphina reached out and grabbed Jody by the shoulders, shaking her.
"Jody! You can't just sit there and take this!"
"You can't just sit there and take this—blah blah blah. Shut up. You sound like some Twitter feminist. This is my house, I can say whatever I want. Deal with it."
Just then, Syd's black laptop chimed. Someone was trying to contact him. No name. No profile picture. And the program that popped up didn't even identify what app it was.
"...Oh. It's here."
"What is?"
"The next mission."
"...It's starting already?"
Seraphina asked.
"Yeah… but before that…"
Syd pulled something out. It was a black Amalgam-cased iPhone—Seraphina's.
"Hey?! When did you take that?!"
"When you were busy staring at the screen."
He tossed it back to her.
"You jerk… You don't even have powers and you still do stuff like this? I can't imagine what you'd be like if you did..."
"Why'd you take it, anyway?"
"I made some modifications."
"Modifications?"
"I installed anti-surveillance measures. Right now, you're 'invisible' on the citizen network. And don't complain about privacy—Jody got it too."
"Huh?"
Jody frowned.
"You snuck my phone too?"
She pulled out her phone… and noticed something had changed. She hadn't noticed it at all until now…
In the interface, near the battery icon… there was a rotating triangle symbol.
When had that gotten there?
"Syd, when did you take my phone?"
"Since the first day you moved in. You didn't notice. I went in while you were showering, grabbed it, installed the program, and put it back. Easy."
"Wow… you're a straight-up criminal."
Jody said.
"Well, I'm just talented, can't help it."
To be honest, the program also allowed Roxy to monitor their phones too… but he didn't mention that.
"Jody, you live in the same house with this guy?!"
Seraphina exclaimed in disbelief.
"Yup."
"....."
She was speechless.
Living together? Just the two of them?!
"Let's focus."
Syd accepted the call.
{ Syd. I've analyzed the CCTV footage from the school and the surrounding areas. What the priest said was true. That Mr. Lake might actually be Palmer Lake Jr. }
"Send me the data."
Suddenly, all three of them saw an image appear on the screen: a middle-aged man with purple hair, wearing a suit, looking quite respectable.
{ This is Palmer Lake Jr., the sole owner and CEO of London Westfield Mall. }
"W-Westfield?! That's the biggest shopping center in all of London!"
Seraphina said.
The boy turned back toward the figure on the laptop.
Guess that's their version of Siam Paragon…
{ I dug a bit deeper and found something interesting. Mr. Lake has been secretly in contact with Headmaster Collins of your school. }
"Headmaster Collins?!"
Both Seraphina and Jody knew him. Collins was the head of their international school. They didn't know him personally, but he'd always seemed harmless.
{ So your next mission is to investigate Headmaster Collins and then Palmer Lake Jr. Get everything out of them—what they've been communicating about and how it's related to the Disk. }
"Understood."
Beep.
"You heard that, right?"
"..."
Both girls nodded.