Chapter 18: Chapter 18 - Viruses
Suzanne's words, bluffing some fools and church members may be helpful too, bluffing the average sane person may think she is crazy, bluffing Middendorffi and Eli well ... can only be regarded as farting.
Eli, who was sitting quietly on the sidelines, didn't even think it was worth a snort.
Middendorffi, on the other hand, broke this almost awkward atmosphere only after Suzanna had finished her speech and had been quiet for two minutes, "You said you're a god, so how did you get here?"
This calm tone, as if the question was not about the origin of the "gods" but where the stray cats and dogs were picked up.
"You wouldn't understand my way of descending." Although Suzanne was unhappy with Middendorffi's watery attitude, she still answered Middendorffi's question, "I came here when the members of the Meditation Society gathered when they began to crave for me and call out to me intensely."
Her divine tone didn't infect Middendorffi's rhythm at all, and he went on to ask, "Where is 'here' on Creator?"
"His spirituality is the strongest and calls to me the most, so naturally, I respond to him the most and with the most clarity." Suzanne returned, "But there are other members who will show me a strong desire to communicate, and I will respond to them as well."
"'Respond' as in attach to him?"
"Of course not!" Suzanne denied decisively, "It's just that I've given him a projection because I favour him. If he loses his loyalty to me and is no longer wholeheartedly devoted to me, I will be just as unlikely to respond to him."
"'Just as unlikely'?" Middendorffi asked, "A member of the Underworld Revelation Society ever betrayed you?"
"Just plain people with no spirituality. Even if they join the Hades Revelation Society, they do not know how to believe in and concentrate on me. These people will never be able to become the core of the Underworld Revelation Society, and I will not respond to them easily." Suzanna smiled slightly and touched her heart, Creato's heart, "Unlike Creato, who was able to be promoted from a peripheral member to a core member in just a few months, how powerful his spirituality is, isn't it?"
Middendorffi still needs to pick her up on any of this.
"So, are you responding only to the core members of the Underworld Revelation Society?" Middendorffi continued, "Were all those who went to the villa that day core members?"
Suzanne had a look on her face that she had expected, "You're going to start asking about fires?"
"I'm just asking about 'people'." Middendorffi said, "So, they are?"
Suzanne answered, "Mostly."
"Are there any other core members who aren't there?"
"There are."
"Are there any other core members who aren't dead?"
"..." Suzanne snorted softly, "And say you're not here to investigate the case?"
"If you knew, why didn't you say so?" Middendorffi said, "And I'm asking about your believers. Can't you answer, or do you not know the situation?"
Suzanne didn't answer positively whether she knew, but she returned, "I was unawakened when those things happened."
"I didn't ask you what you did when the case happened." Middendorffi commented blandly and sharply, then asked, "But how would you feel if your followers were rubbing each other the wrong way or even killing each other?"
"Me? I certainly disapprove of such violence!" Suzanne returned, "People should unite, unify, and share, not divide, monopolise, and exclude."
"What about those outside the church?"
Suzanne narrowed her eyes, "... What do those people have to do with me?"
"Then why are you declaring your existence to those outside the Church?"
"What?"
"Why did you give your name to the doctor, the police, and me on the other end of the phone?" Middendorffi asked slowly, "You just said you don't care to descend to a congregation that doesn't crave you, so why did you show up?
"If the goal of the Hades Revelation Society is to expand and draw more believers to you, why does Creato, as a core member, not want you to come out again?"
Suzanna seemed confused by his barrage of questions.
Her eyes involuntarily turned away and unconsciously met Eli's eyes. Eli's cold gaze seemed to carry sharp edges as if he could completely see through Suzanna in the next moment. Suzanna almost unconsciously and instantly fled from the confrontation.
But soon forced herself to calm down again and returned, "Creato is in bad shape; I came out to help him, to give him a chance to breathe. I don't hide my presence from the public either; I welcome people to know me and communicate with me. If a person is spiritual enough, I am willing to care for them as much as I care for Creato. As for Creato not wanting me to come out ..."
She slowed down deliberately, perhaps to drag the dialogue back to her preferred pace. She smiled and said, "I don't know why that is. But his sanity is overstimulated, and perhaps he just has the wrong way of expressing himself, so you have misinterpreted his thoughts."
As she finished speaking, the ward fell silent once more.
Several moments before, Middendorffi tossed out a bashful, "Finished?"
Suzanne frowned slightly as she realised something, "You don't believe me?"
"You're not telling the truth." Middendorffi was expressionless, but her attitude was like an adult who quickly saw through the lies of a childish child, "From the beginning to the end, your words were full of holes and contradicted Creato's behaviour. You're lying, but you haven't even figured out the logical thoughts of the average human."
Suzanne said, "What exactly are you trying to say?"
Middendorffi was dry, "You're not a god."
Suzanne's tone of retort couldn't help but rise a bit, "You have no idea ..."
"Of course I know." Middendorffi interrupted her, "In human perception, gods call the winds, create things, are omniscient, and gather the power of faith. Can you? You cannot."
His self-questioning connected so smoothly that Suzanne couldn't even interject if she wanted to reply.
But Middendorffi still needs to be done; he continued, "You cannot survive on your own; you are dependent on humans, you spread by name. You are-
"An energy-stealing 'virus'."
Suzanne looked at him fixedly.
As Middendorffi said the first words, Suzanne still looked more and more frozen with each sentence he popped out. But when Middendorffi's definitive statement was made, Suzanne was confused for a few seconds, then thought of something and laughed with mockery.
"You call me a 'virus'?" She laughed, "You think I'm a virus, hahaha ...!"
"It's just a metaphor, a common one used by humans." Middendorffi said, "I say that because you can't get away from humans, you infect them, but then again, you probably killed your 'host'."
That seemed to choke Suzanne for a moment, and she opened her mouth but couldn't find the words to retort.
Middendorffi added, "And how dare you call yourself a god when you can't even perceive the others you've infected?"
As he said that last half-sentence, he stood up as he spoke, looking down at Susanna condescendingly and oppressively.
Eli stood up after him.
Susanna subconsciously leaned back, not knowing whether she was startled by the words or their actions, "What do you want?"
"Not doing anything." Middendorffi said, "Just wanted to remind you of something you haven't realised yet."
Suzanne unconsciously followed up, "... What?"
"He and I, knowing you, have 'seen' you." Middendorffi pointed to his brow, "But you can't 'infect' us."
"What?!"
Suzanne's eyes widened, but Middendorffi would no longer continue communicating with her.
He inclined his head, and Eli exchanged a glance. They then reached a silent understanding and headed for the ward door.
Suzanne, on the other hand, as they expected, didn't make a move until she had watched them exit the ward. She didn't even stand up, just sat there slightly stiff, her expression shifting.
***
On the other end, as soon as Middendorffi and Eli stepped out of the ward, Henry and the police officers rose to meet them.
"Well?" Henry was the first to speak, "How is he?"
"Still the same. Couldn't handle that thing straight away, I don't think." Middendorffi finished, then turned to Eli, "... right?"
With this complementary question, Eli returned a natural, "Right."
Henry's face stared for a moment, "Can't even you guys handle that ..."
"Not being able to 'deal with it directly' doesn't necessarily mean it's unmanageable." Middendorffi glanced at the policeman beside him, "Keep talking here?"
"How about that?" Henry said, "What are your plans now? What's the appropriate arrangement for that Creator?"
"Whatever." Middendorffi thought momentarily, "That thing he ... has on him won't talk. It doesn't have much truth in it."
"It's pretty much the same as what we've been communicating. He, the second personality, has been answering ambiguous things." The police officer responded next to him, "So we keep taking him? Is he still in any potential danger?"
"Not at the moment, she's not that vulnerable." Middendorffi returned, "You may continue your interrogation; she... is not that bright. But as soon as she starts introducing herself, you guys interrupt her and don't let her introduce herself."
"Huh?" The cop was a little confused, "What do you mean don't let her introduce herself?"
"Any information about herself, ye don't listen to." Middendorffi said, "I think that you guys will just continue to call her 'Creato' and think of her as Creato and just do everything the way you were doing it."
"We wouldn't have called it anything else." The policeman returned, "It's in the process standards that all this has to be evidenced on video. Call him anything else, and the prosecution will come whacking us."
"Hmm. He should be okay for a while when he's a normal person." Middendorffi nods and looks to Henry again, "I'd like to see Creato's psychiatrist."
"Huh? You want to see a doctor?" Henry asks, "For what? To talk about Creato's illness? Let me remind you that psychiatrists often don't readily divulge information about their patients because of the rules of the trade."
"It doesn't have to be about Creato." Middendorffi said, "It's okay just to look, right?"
Again, that last "right" was added toward Eli, who responded, "Yeah."
"That simple? What exactly do you want to see?"
"I can say a lot. First?"
"... Why don't we see the doctor first, then go back and talk about it in detail." Henry had a feeling that what Middendorffi had to say would have to be discussed back at The Collector, so he decided and then looked at the police, "Do you have a moment? Would you mind taking us to talk to the doctor? Or you can talk to the doctor, and we can see him ourselves."
The policemen looked at each other, "Then we'll say something to the doctor, and you guys can go and chat by yourselves."
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