My Key, My Wrath

In the evening, Molly suddenly heard footsteps echoing down the corridor. Even without looking up, she knew who was coming.

"Molly!" Chiba leaned one hand against the doorframe. "I was only gone for a day, and another major news story breaks."

Molly ignored her, and Chiba walked straight into her office.

"Is she awake?"
"No."
"When will she wake up?"
"What do you want to do?"
"What do I want to do... naturally, to talk to her." Chiba pressed her hands onto Molly's desk. "What else?"

"The single biggest regret of my career thus far is letting you get involved in base affairs." Molly took off her glasses. "Stop coming in to muddy the waters, Chiba."

Chiba smiled. "In what capacity are you speaking to me right now?"
"In the capacity of the Order Officer of the AHgAs Third District Base—"
"Four districts, Molly," Chiba said slowly. "What I am doing right now has already affected four districts. If things go off track later on, can you bear the responsibility?"
"Are you threatening me?"
"How is this a threat?" Chiba tilted her head slightly. "If you want to interfere, you must take responsibility for the consequences of that interference."
"Then the reverse is equally true." Molly did not back down. "You are running amok by interfering with the daily management of the base... I see no benefit whatsoever in this for the entirety of AHgAs."
"Aren't you the Order Officer of the Reserve Base? How are you responsible for the entirety of AHgAs?" Chiba took a step back. "You can write an email to the superiors right now and report me for wreaking havoc at the base. I will bear the consequences, absolutely."
"Where are you going?!"

Chiba stopped at the door and turned around slightly. "You seem to have misunderstood one thing all along... I always come to seek your consent because I respect your opinion. Since this is your attitude, I will now exercise my original authority."
"You—"
"Don't be so serious, Molly," Chiba smiled faintly. "I told you long ago, I will always prioritize more civilized and moral approaches—as long as things haven't reached an irredeemable point."

Chiba reached out and grabbed the doorknob.

"Wait—" Molly leaned forward slightly. "Don't go today. Hester just finished surgery this afternoon and needs rest right now. You'd better not disturb her at this moment."
"Fine, then when is a convenient time?"

***

"It depends. Tomorrow, the General Directorate is sending an independent investigative team, and you can go with them." Molly pinched the bridge of her nose. "Two reserve-tier mercury needles triggered bullet-time simultaneously without proper justification... Do you really think this is a small matter?"
"Then thank you for your hard work," Chiba tapped her forehead with two fingers. "You must still have a lot of reports to write. I won't disturb you any longer. Bye."
"Chiba!" Molly ground her teeth as she watched her. "How much longer... is this going to last?"
"Hard to say. But you don't need to worry. I originally thought things were heading in a terrible direction..." Chiba laughed, "but the Goddess of Fortune seems to be standing on my side this time as well."

With that, the door slammed shut from the outside.

***

By the afternoon of the following day, Hester sat up in her hospital bed, subjected to the questioning of the investigative team.

First, they produced the surveillance footage from that day, asking Hester if the person continuously inflicting violence in the video was herself. Hester nodded.

However, when they pushed further for a reason, Hester's gaze lost its focus.

Wearing an oxygen mask, the mist from her breath waxed and waned with the rhythm of her breathing. No matter what the others asked, she merely stared at the foot of the bed, saying not a single word.

"Miss Hester, let me reiterate," the investigator's voice carried a hint of threat. "This may be your only chance to plead your case. Are you going to give it up?"

Hester still did not answer.

Chiba, arms crossed over her chest, had been standing not far away, watching the scene unfold.

The interrogation fell into a stalemate, leaving the investigative team with no choice but to leave temporarily. Before departing, they raised a hand in salute to Chiba, and she nodded in acknowledgment.

"Um," Chiba suddenly thought of something and called out to the group. "That device of yours, could you lend it to me for a moment?"
"You mean this tablet?"
"Yes." Chiba nodded. "I'll return it to you in a bit."

The men exchanged glances. "We suppose that's fine, but Miss Chiba will need to fill out some paperwork later. We'll write down the time and place you borrowed this item, and we'll need your signature. Is that alright?"
"Of course."

As the crowd dispersed, Chiba took the tablet and sat down beside Hester.

She tapped the screen to replay the silent surveillance footage. It began with Sean and Hester crossing paths in the corridor, the collision, brushing past each other, Hester turning back, and the onset of the violence.

Hester frowned slightly, turning her gaze to the side to avoid the impending images.

"Why aren't you watching?" Chiba asked.
"I don't like it." Hester answered softly.
"What don't you like?"
"I don't like... myself."

Hester's breathing quickened slightly. Her gaze drifted across the screen once more. The latter half of the ordeal had slipped into a surveillance blind spot, so everything began playing from the beginning again—on screen, she was savagely grabbing Sean by the hair and slamming him against the wall.

"Simply... like a hysterical lunatic." Hester stared at the screen, murmuring.
"Is that so? But I think it has a lot of power," Chiba leaned in to catch a glimpse of the screen as well. "You are angry."

Chiba watched for a moment, then looked up. "What are you angry at, Jane?"

The space between Hester's brows twitched slightly. She continued to stare at her entirely out-of-control self on the surveillance monitor. Her eye sockets slowly grew red, and her breathing began to tremble.

She opened her mouth several times, yet for a long while offered no reply.

Hester tried her utmost to force herself to calm down, but some emotions only surged more violently the more one tried to suppress them. A choking sensation rushed up her throat, nearly suffocating her.

"He... he took away..." Hester said with difficulty.

She forcefully swallowed a few times, attempting to force down this violent and piercing agony.

Yet, every breath was accompanied by tears. Large teardrops fell onto the back of her hand. Her lungs and her eyes were burning hot, and Hester's hands clenched tightly into fists once again.

"He... took away... my... keys."

Hester furrowed her brow tightly, her voice growing hoarse.

Through the hazy blur of tears, she suddenly recalled the faces of many people. Boheng, Sister Golding and Mother Alma, Old Charlie, and Mother.

She remembered the morning mist and morning bells of Mount Severn, the midnight of Epiphany when she and the nuns lit the remaining white candles in the chapel. She remembered every supply day, wrapped by Old Charlie in that dirty, old woolen jacket, riding horses out before dawn to scout locations in advance for hunting. She remembered Mother...

She remembered everything about Mother.

Fate was always niggardly when giving, and savagely exorbitant when taking back.

Everything from the past had become unrecognizable, and in the present, the pendulum of fate continued its endless oscillation, seemingly without end.