Emily's skin crawled as Shiyu's words pierced through her core. Her eyes gravitated toward the cobblestone and asphalt.
"Fuck my life."
"You seem troubled, Emily of Leonore. Why the sudden change of demeanor?" Shiyu asked.
Emily shrugged, leaning against the building nearby.
"Are you familiar with what Sages do?"
Emily shook her head.
"You're a horrible liar."
"And you're a horrible Sage. Whatever your dumb religion says about PRIME is bullshit."
"I admit a lot of us have lost our way. My visions and studies led me here, searching for a young woman who would bear a white mask."
Emily rolled her eyes. "And you think I am the next PRIME because of the color of my mask?"
"History shows the color of one's mask isn't random. The ENGINE doesn't do random."
Emily laughed. "I don't care about what history says, or the ENGINE. I care about not dying... every single fucking day. So save your stupid ass prophecy and your religious texts for someone who has the luxury to care about that."
"The ENGINE doesn't care if you believe or not. If I cannot reach you by words, then I will reach you through actions."
"And I still wouldn't give a fuck," Emily replied, walking away.
Citizens stepped out of her path. She could feel their stares. It felt like hot wax on her skin. Her head jerked around when she heard a pair of footsteps clicking behind her.
"There you are! Where did you run off to?"
Emily paused mid-step. Her eyes drifted towards Rachel and Elijah in the crowd.
"I just needed some air," Emily replied. "Have a lot on my mind."
"Are you friends with Sages now, kid?" Elijah asked, digging into his pockets for his cigarettes.
"What?"
Elijah pointed behind her, then lit his cigarette.
"Why the fuck are you following me!?"
"I thought I made that clear already?" Shiyu replied.
"Following... wait... doesn't that mean?" Rachel said.
Shiyu lowered her head and smiled at Rachel and Elijah. "Friends of Emily, I presume? I am Shiyu, Sage of the divine city of Xinhua."
Elijah's eyes fixated on Shiyu's electric blue mask. "And chosen. Go figure."
"Indeed, outside of the very first PRIME, only five other Sages have ever been chosen by the ENGINE. I am the sixth."
"˙ɹɐɟ os ʇǝʎ 'ǝsoןɔ oS"
"And four of those five ended up being the next PRIME," Rachel explained.
Emily groaned. "Ugh, I am not listening to this crap. Go somewhere else."
"You don't know what Sages typically do, kid?" Elijah asked.
"No... no, I fucking don't! Nor do I care."
"Well, you should, because this is a big deal."
"Couldn't care less."
"You want to explain this, or should I?"
Shiyu shook her head. "She won't listen to words, only to actions. She firmly believes that the white mask has no inherent meaning."
"˙ʞuı̣ɥʇ noʎ ʎɐʍ ǝɥʇ uı̣ ʇoN"
"Lei Zhou wore the white mask, and he was the first Prime," Rachel said. "Everyone in my family lineage who became Prime also had the white mask."
"Guess you give the black sheep of the family a whole new meaning then," Elijah jested.
"I guess so, but the black mask has the next highest statistical probability of becoming Prime."
Shiyu nodded. "Yellow only birthed one, and nobody has become PRIME with the brown mask."
Emily rolled her eyes. "Cute history lesson. Listen, lady, you may be a Sage, but you don't freaking know me. Statistics be damned, I am just an orphan."
"˙ssǝuǝɹɐʍɐ-ɟןǝs oN"
"It is you who don't know who you are, Emily of Leonore, and I will be by your side until you see what my visions have foretold."
"You religious people are all insane. Like, literally out of your fucking minds. I bet you would jump off a bridge if you thought it was part of some prophecy," Emily said. "I am done with this. I don't care about the math, the religion, or the ENGINE."
"If it were only that easy, kid," Elijah said.
"It is... because I won't be a part of this death ritual for some eldritch machine in the sky."
"You have no choice, Emily. Those marked by the ENGINE will become a Hollow if they refuse the call," Shiyu insisted.
"I don't know what that is and still don't give a damn. I am an orphan living on the streets. Nothing can be worse than what my life already is," Emily replied before she stormed off down an alleyway.
"Sick of this. What did I do to deserve all this?" she muttered.
Emily kicked over a trash can, then climbed a fire escape ladder.
"Stupid... stupid.... stupid!"
"I won't bow to the ENGINE. Fuck the ENGINE and fuck this mask!"
Emily yelled, pulling at the mask when she reached the top of the building. She glared at the ENGINE.
"Fuck you!"
The ENGINE did not respond.
"FUCK YOU!"
The ENGINE offered no response.
"Answer me!"
Silence.
Tears dripped down her cheeks.
"Hey, kid, nice mask," a rough male voice muttered in the distance.
Emily turned her head toward the voice, noticing the man approaching her. Her eyes fixated on his hands, which were in his dirty jeans pockets. She almost gagged when she smelled musk, alcohol, and desperation oozing from his clothes.
"You know you got a point with all that yelling. You may think that mask is a curse, but for me, that mask is a lottery ticket," The man explained, approaching her slowly. "How about I take that mask off your hands?"
"It doesn't work that way," Emily replied. Her eyes narrowed while she watched his hands digging for something in his pockets.
The man snickered, then looked at the ENGINE. "Oh, I think it does."
"By all means… take it," Emily replied. "You want to volunteer to die? Go right ahead."
The man pulled a shank from his pocket. He spat as his nostrils flared, clutching the makeshift weapon with all his might.
"You really need that for an orphan?"
"You're no damn orphan," the man muttered. His eyes drifted towards the fire escape, noticing the black-haired woman approaching.
"Sir, do you know what you're doing?" Shiyu asked.
"Back off or I will take your mask instead."
"You can't do that even if you tried."
"He thinks otherwise," Emily said.
The man lunged at Emily just when her eyes drifted towards Shiyu. The knife pointed towards her chest.
"You fool!" Shiyu yelled.
Emily's eyes dilated. She felt the knife briefly pierce her skin before it shattered, as if her body were made of titanium. Blood-curdling bass reverberated from the heavens, followed by a static-drenched scream from the man who attacked Emily. Mulberry crawled up the man's skin like an infection. His eyes were hollow, veins spider-webbing like cracked glass. The man's head jerked toward the ENGINE. A static screech ripped from his throat—BRRRZZZT. The sound tore through the air, vibrating in Emily's teeth. The man's veins blackened, spreading like ink through water, before he crumpled—a puppet with severed strings.
"Poor man… that happens to those who attempt to harm those chosen by the ENGINE," Shiyu said. She sighed, then knelt next to his body.
"What was that!?" Emily screamed. Her eyes bulged at the sight of what remained of the man.
"That happens to those who do not heed the call of the ENGINE or attempt to kill a chosen."
Emily blinked; her lips quivered. Dread oozed into her mind, dripping down her spine as she stared at the man. The man's face was etched in permanent terror. His eyes hollowed out, skin crackling with corrupted energy. She clutched her temples, rubbing her hands through her hair. She willed herself to look up at the ENGINE after it demonstrated its authority.
"If the ENGINE punishes those who seek to harm us, then why can I spar with Rachel and nothing happens?"
"The ENGINE can tell what's malice and what is not. Chosen spar all the time and stay safe from becoming a hollow."
Emily sighed, kneeling near the man. She closed his eyes and put a makeshift cover over his body.
"I don't like the idea of something like that judging what malice is and what is not. He tried to kill me, but what's stopping the ENGINE from doing that to me for punching someone in the face too hard?"
"Don't punch someone too hard then," Shiyu replied.
Emily bit her lip, then pulled out her notebook, scribbling down lyrics as they poured into her skull.
"Sewn in a bright star dress," Emily sang to herself as a tear dripped down her left cheek. "Stitched with dreams I can't possess."
Shiyu glanced at Emily while she walked over towards the edge of the roof.
"Chosen faces fade away."
"In a sky that never sees day."
Shiyu's eyes drifted towards the ENGINE, then back down to Emily.
Emily's voice crackled briefly like static, distorted and twisted, as if she were plugged into a vocoder.
"₴Ɇ₩₦ ł₦ ₳ ฿Ɽł₲Ⱨ₮ ₴₮₳Ɽ ĐⱤɆ₴₴."
Shiyu side-eyed Emily, then looked up at the ENGINE once more. She didn't say a word.