“What’s your name?”
The brown-uniformed policeman, named Joko, repeated his question, eyeing Xynth with an odd expression. Xynth, Fori, and Rigel were all gathered in the police station that night due to the sexual harassment report Fori had lodged against Xynth. Antares had mysteriously vanished after everyone underwent a urine test.
“Xynth. My name’s Xynth,” he responded.
“Full name according to your ID card?” Joko inquired again.
“Just Xynth,” replied Xynth arrogantly, reclining without sparing a glance at the policeman. His gaze remained fixed on Fori, who was now half-awake from his drunken haze.
“His name used to be Sega Adrian, sir, but this guy changed his name to Xynth when we were kids,” Fori said, leaning halfway across Joko’s desk as he typed.
“His family is strange too,” Fori continued. “You know that mansion on the hill? Well, he and his family live there. They hardly ever leave the house, and rumors say they’re like a satanic cult family. People in our area say many maids have gone missing in their house, and they believe his family drinks the blood of those people like vampires.”
Joko was stunned to see Fori, who didn’t stop blabbering and seemed to be on fire.
“Satanic cult? Vampires?” the policeman repeated in a frustrated tone. He then turned to Xynth, who glanced irritably at the girl.
“Why did you change your name?” he asked Xynth again.
“My previous name brought bad luck,” Xynth replied simply. However, his eyes continued to glare at Fori. He didn’t cease spraying expensive perfume onto his pajamas, which had been cleaned of Fori’s vomit.
“Your place and date of birth?”
“Kiklios, 10 million years ago,” Xynth replied casually.
The policeman immediately buried his head in the table, then lifted it again with a miserable expression. “Young man, are you messing with the police? I’m here doing my civic duty from morning till midnight, not to entertain your wild fantasies!”
“Sorry, sir,” Rigel said politely, touching Xynth’s shoulder as a signal for him to be quiet. He then handed Xynth’s ID card to the policeman. “Please take the information from here, sir!”
Joko read Xynth’s data from the ID card and then typed the contents into his laptop. “You’re only twenty years old, and Fortuna is still seventeen. She’ll only be eighteen in two months. Well…”
He suddenly turned in exasperation toward Fori, whose face was still flushed from the residual effects of alcohol. “Minors under 21 in this country shouldn’t be drinking alcohol. You know that, right?! And you…”
The policeman looked back at Xynth. “You’re not intoxicated! Young men like you should learn to be respectful to your elders and answer police questions seriously!”
“That’s right,” Xynth said, this time casting a sarcastic glance at the policeman. “The younger ones should show respect to their elders!”
Joko growled in annoyance at Xynth’s arrogant demeanor and struggled to contain his emotions, clenching his hands tightly. “Young man, do you realize how serious the accusation against you is? This girl said you harassed her. You could end up in jail for this.”
“You too!” Joko snapped at Fori. “You got drunk, but you’re not old enough to drink. You could end up in jail tonight too!”
“I—I don’t—” Fori’s words trailed off, interrupted by Xynth.
“I can’t possibly harass this girl. You can see our differences, right? Why would someone like me harass a girl like her?” Xynth shouted, pointing at his own face, then Fori’s.
“A man like you? A girl like me?” repeated Fori, her tone starting to rise. “You think you’re the most perfect, huh?! Do you consider yourself a prince or something?”
“Indeed,” Xynth replied lightly, stating a fact.
“What?! You narcissistic psychopathic man!”
“You have to look at reality,” Xynth continued. “I’m handsome, rich, and smart too. I can get any girl I want; why should I harass an ugly, stupid, and a criminal like you?”
“A criminal?! What-the….” Fori shouted hysterically, rising from her chair, still staggering. “You harassed me! And now you’re saying that I’m the criminal?!”
“Where’s the proof that I harassed you? You even threw up on me! I should’ve filed a complaint with the police!”
“I—I’m ….” For a moment, Fori appeared confused. Then she turned to Joko. “Ah, there must be CCTV on the street, right? The footage can prove my words, sir!”
“Exactly, there’s CCTV on the road, and there’s one in our car too,” Xynth hissed. He then glanced at Joko, who listened to their argument with a tired expression. “Right now, my other friend is retrieving the memory card from our car’s camera. Soon, we’ll find out if I really harassed this girl or not!”
“You obviously undressed me and touched my back!” shouted Fori again angrily. “You perverted man!”
“Stop it!” Joko intervened, attempting to break up the heated exchange while forcing a smile.
“Me? Pervert?!”
“Pervert, psychopath, and a satanic cult freak!”
“Stop it!!!” Joko shouted afterward in a fit of rage.
Rigel swiftly moved to touch Xynth’s shoulder and calm him down before the man could become enraged and potentially blow up the entire building.
“I will definitely kill that girl,” Xynth whispered into Rigel’s ear, his voice barely audible. He took several deep breaths to calm himself. “This is why I hate humans!”
“Xynth, calm down. She’s just drunk. Antares will be here very soon,” Rigel reassured him.
Antares, who had been in the parking lot, suddenly walked into the room just as Rigel predicted. His smirking face only added to Joko’s annoyance.
“I’ve brought our car’s camera recording card,” Antares announced, handing Joko a small card. After a deep breath, the policeman immediately inserted the card into a card reader and played the recording, projecting it onto the laptop screen for everyone to see.
Fori approached to take a closer look at the contents of the recording. She was shocked to see that the footage showed the exact opposite. In the footage, Fori somehow appeared as a crazy drunk, chasing Xynth and attempting to forcibly kiss him. Xynth seemed to be resisting, but Fori ended up slapping his face instead.
Seeing this, Fori was completely stunned. She was certain she had never done such shameful things. However, the footage clearly showed her face and movements in detail. In shock, she slumped into her chair.
“Aren’t you tweaking the recording a bit too much? I look like a wimpy loser in that video,” Xynth whispered into Antares’ ear, gripping his shoulders tightly.
“Ouch!” cried Antares, rubbing his shoulders, which were turning blue. “We gotta make this look real, right, Xynth?”
Rigel shot Antares a look as annoyed as Xynth’s. “Real, my arse!”
Joko himself could only shake his head at the situation and now raised his thick eyebrows at Fori.
“I—I’m not …” Fori stammered nervously. “T—they must’ve edited it. I’ve never done anything weird like that!”
“They edited a video with crystal-clear pixels in just an hour?” the policeman quipped. “That’s what happens when kids who don’t usually drink force themselves to chug too much alcohol.”
Fori’s face immediately turned bright red. “Why would I try to chase and kiss him? I was never even interested in him!”
“Earlier, you kept calling me Sega, like you were mistaking me for someone else,” Xynth chimed in innocently.
“I did that?”
Joko watched Fori’s dazed and embarrassed expression as he sighed.
“Are you really going to pursue this case?” he asked reluctantly.
“I’ll file a counter-report against this girl,” Xynth answered, his expression serious.
“We’re going to make a counter-report?” Rigel asked in a whispered voice to Xynth, looking surprised.
“That girl will beg for mercy later, and I’ll lay down some conditions. Let’s just wait,” Xynth said.
Sure enough, after a long period of stunned silence and holding back tears of embarrassment, Fori suddenly knelt before Xynth, pleading.
“Please forgive me,” she said timidly. “I really didn’t realize what I was doing. If I had known, I would’ve never done it. I’ve never even kissed any man before. I don’t understand how I could be so stupid to chase after you just to kiss you.”
“I’m begging you, please?” she continued, “I can’t afford to have a criminal record right now. My scholarship at Immaculata University could be revoked by the foundation if they find out. Please, I’m begging you.”
“Just a few minutes ago, you called me a pervert, a satanic cult freak, and a psychopath. Now, you’re begging for forgiveness?”
Fori looked at Xynth’s face with tears welling up, seeming desperate. “I—I’m really sorry. I realize I’ve gone too far. Please forgive me. I’ll do whatever you want in return! Please?”
“Anything?” repeated Xynth, his smile lines disappearing as he glanced at the grinning Antares and Rigel.
“A—anything, as long as it’s not illegal,” Fori replied with puffy eyes. “Please! I can’t have a criminal record.”
Xynth pretended to ponder for a moment before finally addressing Fori, “Alright, I’ll think it over and give you an answer tomorrow morning.”
“What about me now?” asked Fori, panicked.
“You’ve committed a crime, so you’ll have to spend the night in a detention cell as a consequence of your actions: making false reports, harassment, and slanderous remarks. I’ll withdraw my report if you manage to change my mind by tomorrow morning!”
Joko smiled. He knew Xynth was just bluffing and didn’t truly intend to jail the girl. He could also see that Fori wasn’t someone likely to break the law.
The girl had simply made the mistake of drinking too much at her school prom. Therefore, he approached the sobbing Fori and escorted her to the temporary detention cell in their office, right after Xynth and the others left.
“Would you like me to contact one of your relatives?” the officer asked Fori gently.
Fori weakly shook her head. “No, sir, Sister Elsa will panic if she finds out I’m being held at the police station. If it’s okay with you, let me send her a quick message on my cell phone. I need to tell her that I’m staying at a friend’s place tonight so she doesn’t worry.”
“Go ahead,” Joko replied with a smile.
As soon as Fori went to the cupboard where her belongings were stored, the officer immediately approached his colleague in the crime section, who had been busy checking something in another room.
“That famous mansion on the hill…,” Joko mentioned, “Isn’t there a commissioner at the Bogor police station investigating the residents for missing persons?”
The young man at his desk glanced up at Joko. “You mean Lingga?”
“Ah, yes, Lingga. He’s looking into the woman who owns the house, but he’s never managed to meet her or the others, right?”
“That seems to be the case. What’s wrong with that?”
“No, it’s just that… I wanted to inform him that the son of the woman who owns the house was here earlier.”
___
“So she really is number fifteen? Betelgeuse didn’t lie about that?” asked Rigel and Antares in shock as they rode to Xynth’s house after returning from the police station because of Fori’s case.
“There’s my silver mark on her upper back. But strangely, this time the mark is not in the shape of a line, but an ellipse,” Xynth replied, his eyes still fixed on the passing scenery outside the car window.
“What does that symbol mean?” Rigel asked again.
“I don’t know. Betelgeuse should be able to shed some light on it or find out,” Xynth answered.
“I can’t believe this. Even though I joked about number fifteen yesterday, I still wasn’t sure if she was going to be your next body. Turns out it’s true,” Antares muttered, sounding serious this time. “If everyone in Kiklios finds out about this, it could be dangerous. Xynth, you should tell your mother about this right away.”
This time, Rigel agreed with Antares. “Yeah, only your mother would probably be able to handle it.”
“Not now, she’s in the middle of a conflict with the Andromeda Kingdom,” Xynth said with a nervous look. “In the meantime, we must first find out many things about Fifteen. How did a pure human become my fifteenth body? It’s still very strange.”
“Is she not a pure human? Could she be from somewhere else in the universe, besides Kiklios?” Rigel asked, still puzzled.
“No way. We’ll all know she’s not a pure human from her body rays. One thing’s for sure… Betelgeuse will also know right away and tell us if she thinks Fifteen isn’t a pure human.”
“You’ll release Fifteen tomorrow morning?”
“I think so,” Xynth replied reluctantly.
“Poor Fifteen. She doesn’t know that we doctored the footage,” Rigel said solemnly. “Have you thought about what you’re going to ask her for according to your agreement?”
“Not yet, but it’ll definitely come in handy someday.”
“By the way, if we’re going to keep an eye on number fifteen, won’t the human police eventually become suspicious of us?” Antares muttered, suddenly struck by a thought.
“To that end, I’ll make our closeness with Fifteen seem natural,” Xynth replied to Antares. “She mentioned she’s going to Immaculata University, right? Find out which department she’s in, and we’ll apply there. We’ll try to keep a close eye on her from now on.”
“Sure thing,” Antares replied enthusiastically. “I can’t wait. Hasn’t it been ages since we attended a human university, like since… Xynth’s eighth body?”
“We’re pretty much experts in Earth’s education system, and Xynth used to utilize one hundred percent of his human brain capacity,” Rigel chimed in. “That’s why we opted for homeschooling instead of formal education like other humans. It’d be interesting to blend in with regular humans again.”
“We also need to find Betelgeuse again. She must still be here, because if she’s in Kiklios… she must be dead,” Xynth reiterated. “We really need to find a way so that I don’t have to inhabit the fifteenth body. For that, Betelgeuse must be here.”
Rigel nodded. “I’ll try to track her down.”
“Xynth, it’s just my suggestion; you can disregard it if you want,” Antares said carefully. “Although it may sound harsh… to prevent any potential issues in the future, shouldn’t you approach Fifteen as a man? After all, if you’re going to inhabit her body, shouldn’t you first learn everything about her daily life?”
Rigel remained silent, indicating he didn’t disagree with Antares’ suggestion. Meanwhile, Xynth didn’t react to Antares’ advice, implying he was already considering it. The man with the highest position in the universe would begin to try to get closer to a human named Fori.
Optimized by Seraphinite Accelerator