Oddity Specialist: Manifestor

by James Courneya

  “It worked.”

  “I can see that.”

  “Hm?”

  Neri raises an eyebrow at Quinn, as he dodges around.

  “She is slower, but he’s also moving faster. How come?”

  “...Ask him.”

  “Fine, I will. Later though, because he seems rather busy.”

  As Quinn darts around, he remembers his conversation with Neri.

  “I made sure to put the idea out there, that she wears no shoes for a reason. Mostly tying it to being immobilized because of it. At this point, I’m sure no how ever it develops, if you slide these shoes onto her, she’ll be effected.”

  Quinn takes a calming breath in. “She doesn’t move around purposelessly. In fact, she didn’t kick Lucifer once. That doesn’t mean that she won’t. If she really is constantly making the best movements, then I just need to get into a position where the best move would be a kick.”

  Making his move, Quinn ducks into place, wear a kick could easily hit him. When the woman’s leg comes up and starts to extended, his feint is put into use and he pulls back. This however, isn’t enough not to be hit. Blood trinkles down his smashed in nose, but his eyes stay on target. He grabs her leg, holding it steady.

  “The one athletic thing I can do, thanks to this body, is strength.”

  Neri rushes over and slips the slip-on, onto the Red Woman’s foot.

  “It worked!”

  Quinn says. He let’s go of her leg and it drops to the floor like a brick. The Red Woman tries to get away, but the two are able to knock her off balance and slip the other shoe on. They both then back up. The Red Woman stands there. They then attempt to move forward, which they are able to accomplish, but at a great deal of effort.

  “I guess my, she’s the spirit of a woman that had concrete poured on their feet and who was drowned in the ocean, post had the most effect.”

  “It’s scary, you know what that would look like on land, without having to even think about it.”

  “Thank you.”

  They keep backing away from the oddity.

  “We still have to keep it out till daybreak.”

  “I know.”

  “Anymore pieces to the puzzle?”

  “More shoes, perhaps?”

  “She’s out of feet.”

  “She has other limbs.”

  “I really don’t think it’ll work the same.”

  A large amount of time passes.

  “It’s getting close to just needing another hour to sunrise.”

  Neri states. During this entire time, the Red Woman just relentlessly continued pursuing one of the two targets.

  “Yeah.”

  Quinn says, still worrying about the last stretch of keeping her in place for sunrise. While the two watch the oddity, it does not make any type of odd movement different then what it has been doing this whole time. However, randomly, with in an instant, the shoes on its feet light up getting burned away, in a red burst of energy.

  “w-What?!”

  “My shoes!”

  Quinn narrows his gaze at Neri. She bops her head, while sticking her tongue out. The Red Woman charges forward, as fast as ever. Quinn heads out to distract it. When he engages, he is instantly struck a few times in a row. It takes a minute, but he readjusts to the Red Woman’s tempo.

  “Why is it as fast as before?”

  “Faster.”

  Lucifer says.

  “Huh?”

  “It’s power spiked up, even beyond the point you weakened it to. At least, marginally. Probably, Quinn wouldn’t notice the difference. He’ll feel it though.”

  “What happened?”

  “No clue. That thing didn’t make a move. It’s more like something happened to it. Almost like with what happened with the Bloodshed Serpent.”

  “It’s being powered up by something.”

  “No.”

  “What are you basing that off of?”

  “Because, they would have to be on my level, or higher, to do so without detection. Either, they are right on these tracks with us, or they are so far above me, that I can’t detect the ability they are using.”

  “So?”

  “No one is that far above me.”

  “I see.”

  Neri thinks for a moment.

  “Did the public opinion shift?”

  “That’s a good guess.”

  “Okay, so I just need to quickly shift it back.”

  Neri says, heading onto her phone.

  “Be quick, the boy only lasted five minutes last time. And well, we have already eaten a lot of that.”

  “Khe, can’t you help?”

  “...”

  He glances down at the girl and her worried eyes. His look softens.

  “If you think this is the worst-case scenario, that I should spend my limited ammo on.”

  Neri bites her lip, giving a frustrated look.

  “...No, tonight is under control. We will just try again tomorrow... Today.”

  “Very well.”

  Neri puts her focus on believing in Quinn. Amazingly, he is able to keep pace with the oddity for ten minutes, before being overwhelmed.

  “Hey!”

  Neri yells out running forward. She reaches her hand out. Quinn sees this, bleeding out, covered in bruises. He extends his own hand.

  “Tag out...”

  He staggers back, as the girl rushes past him slapping his hand. Using her entire body, she puts everything she has in getting ready to dart right. The oddity swings to that side. Neri however, actually heads left. Rushing past the oddity, it begins to track Neri instead. It swings its pole, coming within a centimeter of the girl. As they run, that gap doesn’t budge. “I kept it busy for twenty-five minutes. If Quinn doubled his, so can I.”

  “What can she do?”

  Quinn asks Lucifer.

  “Nothing, she can’t sprint for forty-two minutes. She would be lucky to get fifty-two seconds.”

  “Then what can we do to help?!”

  “Pfft, hope she has a real plan.”

  One-hundred percent of Neri’s brain is focused on maintaining her top speed for as long as possible. That is, until a ringing noises puts a thought into her head. She heads over to the newly moving train. The quick, telegraphed turn, leaves the Red Woman a bit further behind. Neri runs along side the train. She takes exactly four seconds to try to regain stamina.

  “Oh no.”

  “What?”

  “She isn’t calculating this right.”

  “How many times do I have to say what?”

  “She wants to match the train speed, getting on right as it out speeds the oddity.”

  “Okay.”

  “The time it would take to do that, not even mentioning the timing it would take.”

  “Yeah, but she’s super athletic and inconceivably smart.”

  Lucifer frowns at the boy.

  “Not that simple. I literally don’t think her body can do it. Maybe, if she was a man, or a few years older, or perhaps, an Olympic athlete? However...”

  They both watch as she attempts this, with the incredibly fast oddity matching her speed – no, catching up with her slowly.

  “By the way-”

  Lucifer reaches his hand out, grabbing the train getting pulled off.

  “-We need to get on as well.”

  “Huh, wait up!”

  Quinn scrambles up the side as well. The two go back to watching. “Come on, come on. I know I’m asking for a lot, but give me a little more!”

  “AH!”

  She grabs onto the ladder, as the Red Woman’s Cane extends towards her. The slightest bit of extra speed, keeps her from getting hit. She climbs a bit higher, then hangs off the side of the train with one hand and foot.

  “Sorry, my rides.”

  She gives the progressively falling behind Red Woman a two-finger salute, while breathing heavily.

  “She did it.”

  Quinn nearly collapses into himself, as Lucifer s
ays this.

  “What was all that worrying about?”

  “...I wasn’t worried. My expectations where that she couldn’t possibly make it. However, I wasn’t worried, that she wouldn’t surpass my expectations.”

  “...Hehheeahaha.”

  “Why are you laughing?”

  “I don’t know, relief, stress, a combination? Maybe, I’m just happy.”

  “I wouldn’t be.”

  “...Yeah...”

  Quinn focuses in on his memory of the shoes being blown off. That thought quickly leaves his mind, when he sees Neri jump off the train.

  “h-Huh~?”

  Quinn makes a very strange, questioning noise. Neri gracefully rolls out landing successfully. She leaps up with both arms out into the air.

  “Stuck the landing.”

  “...Hey, could I do that?”

  Quinn asks Lucifer.

  “This decade, or?”

  “Mh-hmm.”

  Lucifer gives an impish smile.

  “Good luck. And, this is going to hurt a lot.”

  Quinn jumps off a bit further then Neri.

  “Oooh, that didn’t look good.”

  Neri walks over the boy unmoving on the hard ground.

  “...It didn’t feel good either.”

  “Yeah, you would have to go to the hospital, if it wasn’t for your healing factor.”

  “Yep, I can feel that, in my bones, flesh, insides, just about my whole body is telling me that.”

  Neri helps him sit up.

  “Why did you jump?”

  “Because, if it started going faster, it would be to dangerous to get off. Which, isn’t even mentioning the danger of staying on. Most importantly though, we have to use our time to start weakening the Red Woman again.”

  “Fine... Fair... How did you know she wouldn’t come after us?”

  “Because the sun will be rising, between ten-to-fifteen seconds of her getting her.”

  “Thirteen.”

  Lucifer states.

  “Dang, I was leaning towards twelve.”

  “That’s because you’re naïve.”

  “How do you even know?”

  “Hm? It’s basic math, she moves at a consistent pace, so measure that against the distance to get the time.”

  “Sure. Awww, pain.”

  Neri lets Quinn lean on her, as they start walking back.

  “There’s a lot for us to still do.”

  “...How much sleep can you get this time?”

  “Probably none.”

  “...I see.”

  Once they get back, Neri research’s what might have accrued.

  “A bunch of posts where made, like, an insane amount, mostly supporting that the Red Woman exists and hyping up its power.”

  “That’s – incredibly unfortunate.”

  Neri moves the screen so Quinn can see, then points at it.

  “Here, it’s the main source of our problem. An incredibly well written, singular post was made in regards to why she doesn’t wear shoes. Tying it into a tragic story, that made her swear to never have shoes on again. To the point, where if one were to be on her feet, they would be instantly destroyed.”

  “Why would something that specific happen? Because we put so much focus on why she doesn’t wear shoes?”

  “That could be it...”

  Neri’s eyes narrow in.

  “Somethings not right here...”

  “What is it?”

  “There are a bunch of posts building the legend of the Red Woman back up. They came out in a particular timing away from each other. Adding them up, it’s literally one after another, posted on multiple platforms. Though, there’s something more than that.”

  She points out the post on the shoes.

  “This post would have easily pushed a lot of people to their literary limits. When that happens, patterns and biases begin to emerge. Some of the things that might be identifiable as how this person constructs a sentence, could also be somewhat traced to some of these posts. More then that, the account names, the dates on the available ones.”

  Neri keeps going over more information on her screen, while she speaks.

  “Then the very targeted approach and confronting my points without actually directly confronting any of my accounts. These aren’t the writings of a random internet denizen. They would each have to have a particular reason for speaking in the style they have chosen. The odds of a collective of people, all leaving independent posts, with the same goal, thought processes, styles, without interaction with others... It would have to be a once in life time- no, a once in the human race level of coincidence.”

  Quinn already knows what she is saying, he has known since she started talking, but he asks anyways.

  “Then what does this mean?”

  “That these posts where all made by a single person.”

  “Why – and what do we do about it?”

  “Why has to many variables. Though what we do is clear, we fight back.”

  “Fight?”

  “It’s one thing for them to get a leg up over us while we are away, but to do so while we are here to defend our claims, that’ll be far more difficult.”

  Neri begins fervently typing away. Her concentration continues to mount, as she pushes back against every counter concept presented.

  “Don’t push too hard.”

  Lucifer says.

  “You don’t want to accidently slip into the zone.”

  She gives an annoyed grown.

  “Got it.”

  “So, she has to try her best, but also not?”

  “No, she just has to come as close to her hundred percent as possible, without going over.”

  “I see.”

  Neri finishes her first barrage, right in time for the person standing against her to strike back.

  “...What?”

  “What’s wrong?”

  Neri is frantically typing, unresponsive. “...She’ll probably answer that question, right in the spot it was entered on the order of information she just got.”

  “They aren’t faltering at all. They expected this?”

  She keeps typing.

  “Expecting this? Like, push back, or they knew that they have a tangible opposition?”

  A couple minutes later, Neri answers.

  “Ladder.”

  “I see.”

  “I’m starting to pick up and become more familiarized with the persons mannerisms. They keep slipping through here or there. With that said, mine must be as well. Though, slower.”

  After a while, a certain blood lust enters into the girl’s eyes.

  “It’s time to take the fight directly to them.”

  She publicly replies to one of the accounts directly.

  “We’re locked in now. No more switching, no more ring around, a straight confrontation. That I’m going to win.”

  As they begin to go back and forth, observes start adding their own nonsensicall opinions.

  “Quinn, clear the addons.”

  “Got it.”

  Quinn gets onto some alt accounts and engages in conversation, mostly debate, with everyone who dares try to wedge themselves into the discussion. “People sure do easily distract, at the slightest thing. Most of them aren’t even talking on topic anymore. With that said... Wow, she’s good at this.”

  Quinn is blown away, by the girl and her debating ability. “Though, who ever this is, isn’t a push over. I know I certainly couldn’t take them...”

  “This is one of the main pushers of the Red Woman. If I win, that should manage to shake some people’s beliefs.”

  Neri feels confidence grow, that is clearly visible from her demeanor. However, each reply deeper they get, that demeanor shifts. “I’m being pushed onto the defensive?”

  She quickly erases what she had wrote. “I can change that. If I strike back with something potent, I can gain the lead once more.”

  She posts her most cutting reply.

  “.
..They blocked some of it...”

  Neri is stunned. Quinn watches as Neri face twitches around, moving in accordance with each new thought entering her head.

  “That doesn’t mean that it didn’t affect them.”

  Quinn states in a clear manner.

  “...You’re right. It wasn’t a full parry and I wasn’t left open. If I was, I’d been struck down already. We both took about equal damage.”

  The two continue to message back and forth, but the fire has died down. At this point, both are simply trying to disengage without having to sustain any more damage to their side. Then as quick as it started, it ends.

  “How do you think it went?”

  Quinn asks. Neri, with a puzzling look, slowly takes her time to reply.

  “We tied. Neither could do enough damage, to truly sway the debate and the complexity of it was far above where anyone could understand. It didn’t change a thing.”

  “Well, that’s better than loosing.”

  “Quinn.”

  She looks up worried.

  “I couldn’t beat them. Even if we keep going back and forth until the Red Woman comes tonight, her power won’t shift in any noticeable way.”

  “That’s not good, but maybe.”

  “And if we face off against the Red Woman, that leaves us defenseless to them powering them up further.”

  “a-Are we actually almost out of options?”

  “Almost?”

  “I mean, wouldn’t you normally say, you’re never truly out of options.”

  Her eyes shift around, she then gets up.

  “Yes, that’s exactly what I would say.”

  She gives a detirmened look to Quinn.

  “We just have to figure out their reason for doing this.”

  “Okay, well you’ve had to deal with them for a bit now, any ideas?”

  Neri places her hand on her chin, while entering deep into thought.

  “They must be getting some type of compensation for doing this. Either, fulfillment, monetary gain, or...”

  Neri’s hand leaves her chin and is held still in the air, while her mouth hangs open.

  “Perhaps, they are actually attempting to make the oddity stronger on purpose.”

  “You can’t mean that? Doesn’t that mean, the person on the other side is like an oddity themselves, or at least a specialist?”

  “But all the clues are pointing that way. They are being so careful, that they are even diffusing negative conversation on the topic. No person looking for self-satisfaction, or for their marketing to reach wider, would do that. The way they fight, the very direct way they are doing it, the timing of the oddity increasing power. How they specifically went out of their way, to give the oddity a new ability, that specifically cancels out the weakness we spent so much time giving them, this has to be the truth.”