Chapter 259: Infiltrating Anew

Yeah, there was a reason why I found this body familiar. I had seen pictures of her in the condo I lived at when I was possessing Ashwin’s body in that bizzaro Earth, although the reason it took me so long to recognize her was because the girl in the image was about 10 years younger and didn’t dress like she belonged in some underground metalcore after party. If the family photo was any indication, then this was Ashwin’s sister… but what the hell was she doing in Toronto of all places? Ashwin himself should be in the States, and he’s got a Middle Eastern background, so Canada was the last place I expected her sister to be in. 

“I can explain that part, my Host,” Noe said, “The body had died when the initial invasion started in the United States of America, but a random fluctuation caused by your divinity had caused a wormhole to open up, transporting the girl closer to this location.”

Damn, how much Luck Charges did that cost? That couldn’t be cheap.

Noe chuckled. “A negligible amount, my Host. Remember, the Absolute Luck Skill works, at least in part, off your own abilities. Just as I can cause muscle spasms without using a lot of resources, I can now use your own divine abilities with minimal expenditure. It is only expensive when influencing situations outside our immediate control.” 

And no one noticed? I mean, having a body randomly disappear seems like it’s the sort of thing the Overseer and his lackies will be on the lookout for.

“Hardly, dear Walter. With so many divine beings watching the Earth, with all of whom having different and opposing natures, many such minor anomalies will occur. Having a few humans disappear is a common occurrence, and this particular one just so happens to benefit us.”

How lucky of us.

“How lucky indeed, my Host, although I believe that you should stop questioning the improbability of current events, because your brother is getting increasingly concerned about your well-being.”

“Aisha, your hair,” He frowned. “No, never mind, that can wait. Are you okay, hurt anywhere?” 

I didn’t answer.

Ashwin shook his head quickly. “Stupid question. Rob, how’s her condition?”

The guy who dragged me into the shadows frowned. “Her vitals are low, and there’s some superficial trauma on her body, but I think she’s just in shock. Nothing life-threatening.”

Ashwin nodded quickly. “Take her somewhere safe- no, somewhere quiet, and get someone to check on her. I don’t know how she made it here, but it couldn’t have been easy.” He turned back to me and squeezed my hand. “Sis, I’m not sure what you’ve been through, but it’s me, Ashwin.”

I stared blankly at him. I didn’t want to give too much away at the moment.

I saw the shadow of a frown creep up on his expression, but he stifled that quickly and squeezed my hand harder. “Relax and get some rest for now, I’ll come see you when I’m free. I know you must have a lot of questions, but please just… just wait a while. Just wait for me.”

I nodded weakly. 

“I’ll be quick, I promise.” He let go of my hand and turned back to Rob. “Get her something to eat and drink, and keep her safe.”

The other man nodded. “Will do, boss. Now, if you’ll follow me, miss.”

He gestured for me to follow, and I did as instructed. We walked past a cascade of different military personnel mixed in with neatly uniformed Aspirants. Although there was a general sense of chaos among the rushing bodies, I could see a sense of purpose behind the movement. Everyone had their own individual tasks to perform, and from the looks of things, no one was slacking off either. From what I knew of Ryan, and from prying into the brains of his minions, I knew that he did have some kind of ability to influence people, so perhaps the fervor with which everyone worked was his ability at work.

I wasn’t sure if this Rob was being considerate or just for the sake of pleasing Ashiwn, but he did show me around the underground complex while we made our way through the maze-like structure. I didn’t reply, barely even showing that I was cognizant of the whole thing, but he was kind enough to chat away, explaining the general situation of Toronto and what my “brother” and his allies have been doing as of late. 

I got the filtered version of events, but the general gist was that Earth was facing a trial of an unprecedented nature, and that Ashwin was chosen to help defend the place. He said a whole lot of other gibberish that I didn’t pay attention to, and I was starting to get irritated by his nonstop chatter by the time we had made it to one of the quieter quarters. I believe Rob said that this was the suit that Ashwin was staying in, but aside from a desk, a sofa, and some files, it could have been any random office. 

“I’ll go get a doctor,” Rob said as he placed more food on the table. 

Right, let’s not have anyone else I didn’t know check up on me. I’m not sure how far my divine abilities go, but I’d rather not test my limits by having a medical professional do a check-up on someone who was just resurrected from the dead. 

“I- I’m fine,” I said weakly, my voice sounding horribly alien to my ears. “I just want to be left alone for now.”

“But your brother-”

I put some of that Charisma to work and pleaded. “I need some time to digest things, please…”

“Well…”

“Please?” I said again, lacing on the charm.

“Yeah,” he muttered, “If you’re not hurt anywhere, I suppose we can skip the doctor, they’re busy enough as is. I’ll be waiting outside the door, just holler if you need anything.”

“Thank you. And do you know when Ashwin will be here?”

“A few hours at most,” he answered, “We’re almost finished with the cultists; it’s just a bit of clean up left.”

“I see, thanks again.”

“Anything else?”

I shook my head.

He gave me a curt nod and closed the door behind him. I could still feel his presence outside, but this Rob guy was doing exactly as he said he would. He took a chair and sat down a few feet away from the door, staying on guard but otherwise not paying attention to what I was doing. That just gave me a few hours to figure out what the hell I just got myself into and how to navigate the situation. 

Let’s get some of the facts straight: I was now in the body of Ashwin’s sister, and from everything I’ve gathered, living as Ashwin for a good few months, they weren’t especially close. I think I saw a few texts from her when I scrolled through his phone, but those were dated months back, and only consisted of things like congratulating him on making it to the Olympics or things like that. 

Still, although they weren’t close, they didn’t seem to be estranged or hostile. Kind of just how normal siblings distance themselves once everyone leaves to go their own ways, which means that he still cared about this woman. Or more importantly, this was someone whom Ashwin trusted impeccably. If I played my cards right, I could dig up information about him and his new organization without issue, but that’s only if he suspects nothing. With the whole world flipped over, and illogical superpowers running rampant, I would be at least a little suspicious about a relative appearing randomly out of nowhere if I were in his shoes. 

Plus, all indications pointed that Ashwin wasn’t a fool. He knows that he holds a high position of power, and that means that there were bound to be people hostile toward him. If I were in his shoes, I’d be on the lookout for people disguising themselves as friends or family, or using some kind of mind control powers on them. He’d be an idiot not to suspect foul play.

Which leads to my current predicament… how should I gain his trust…? If he questioned me, I knew enough about his life to get by, but it wasn’t like I inherited Ashwin’s memories of his youth when I was in the Trash Matrix’s fake world. I didn’t even know how his sister acts, although I suppose small inconsistencies could be waved away due to the passage of time. Plus, no one who’s wearing this kind of outfit would be the shy type, so at least I had a basis to work on.

But even then, what if-

“Dear Walter, while it is nice to see that you are thinking of every situation under the sun, I believe there is an easier solution to all of this.”

I can’t use Absolute Luck to get through every social situation, Noe. We already tried that with the Overseer back then, and it didn’t work. Just trying to Luck through a few sentences will take up all of our resources.

Noe sighed. “That is not what I was going to suggest, my Host, although I suppose a healthy dose of luck wouldn’t hurt.”

What do you suggest? 

“You have more Charisma than any Aspirant in the Trials, my Host, I suggest that you use that to your advantage. All indications point to the fact that Ashwin was not especially close to his sister, so you have some room to maneuver. I believe that you are adept enough to navigate this new role successfully. Just do what you always do.”

Yeah, no point overthinking things. It wasn’t like I had a real plan when I infiltrated the Trials originally. 

“Exactly.”

I shook my head and forced the extraneous “what-ifs” out of my head. I didn’t have the time or the luxury to bother with all of that. Instead, I’ll focus on the main reason I was here in the first place: to fuck Ryan and, by extention, the Overseer over. Now how would I do that…?

I felt a smile grow. Well, assuming my bullshitting skills don’t fail me, I was now in a position of trust, at least for Ashwin. With my sky-high Charisma, I was positive that I could manipulate events in such a way that I could get the two Anomalies to turn against each other. I’d have to find out more about the situation and how on earth Ashwin even made it here of all places, but that was work I could figure out later. 

Yeah… a clear line of attack was formulating in my mind at the moment. The only tricky part would be to circumvent Ryan’s time warping ability, but once again, that was something I’d have to worry about when I knew more. But just because I had to be careful didn’t mean that I couldn’t sow the seeds of distrust among Central’s Anomalies.

I took the next hour going through the finer details of the plan with Noe, and I couldn’t help but smile when I finally heard the knocking on the door.

“Aisha, it’s me, Ashwin,” I heard a familiar voice say, “Can I come in?”

Okay, Noe. You got the voice and tone down for what we need to do?

“Already prepped and waiting, my Host.”

Then let’s get this show on the road. 

“Come in…” I said. 

And oh boy, did Noe not disappoint. Just hearing my own voice pulled at my heartstrings, and that was the filtered version. I sounded equal parts pathetic and vulnerable, like a poor puppy suffering in the rain. 

Ashwin couldn’t hide his worry when he heard me, but to give the guy credit, he didn’t appear to outwardly freak out. 

He tried to sound confident and in control. “How are you doing, Aisha?” 

Ashwin approached me closer, but I deliberately flinched a little when he got within touching distance. It was slight and subtle, something that might not be noticeable to a normal human’s perception, but there was no way that the Anomaly didn’t perceive it. He frowned slightly, and I could see the first signs of concern and anger creep in. 

“S-sorry, I’m just a little wound up. I’m fine, really.” I whispered, but while my words might indicate that all was well, my expressions hinted at something worse. I was all nerves and fear at that moment, and as I shifted a little to the side, I deliberately revealed the side of my arm that was normally hidden by the ragged band tee I was wearing. 

Thanks to Noe’s perception shard, Ashwin should be seeing a pretty nasty bruise, and if he looked further, he should see that there were other small injuries that littered his sister’s body. There were hand-shaped bruises around her neck, some raw patches of skin on her wrists that looked like rope burn, and other bits of abuse that told a very deliberate story. These injuries weren’t caused by the aliens. Oh no, they were from other people, and Ashwin came to the same conclusion.