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“Accidents happen, and your beloved gilded city is no exception to this rule. If the frequency of these events has gone up recently, it’s much more probable that there are several things wrong with the infrastructure of this city, both physical and societal, that are beginning to show their age.”
Gallagher takes a nonchalant sip of his drink. “Hmm… call it a detective’s intuition.”
Ratio looks wearily at the man before him. Between him and Gallagher is a table littered with several scattered folders and files, each detailing a report of some injurious incident or another, ranging in severity from inconvenient to tragic. The relationship between many of these is hazy at best, other than a pressing suggestion that the citizens should stop putting unsecured potted plants on their balconies.
“If I have been summoned all the way here for something as fickle as one man’s fanciful guess, I will be taking my leave now.”
“My, my. Giving up on the case before you even start?”
Ratio crosses his arms. “I was told there was an unsettling and unnatural phenomena afflicting the residents here, hence my expertise was required. What you are showing me reveals nothing of the sort. I am not averse to doing a modicum of charity work and assisting with say, perhaps, one of these cases before I depart, but expecting me to waste my time here doing petty investigative work is futile.”
“It’s not like we’re not fairly compensating you,” the detective sighs. “Think of it as an expenses paid vacation in good ol’ Penacony.”
“Funds are not an issue for me. My time , detective.”
“Look, I already told you. There’s something odd about these cases, especially those without a clear perpetrator. Maybe some of these are a result of pure coincidence, but I’m not buying it. Years of solving reports like makes these stand out more to me than they do to you, most likely.”
“Is this not an indication that some reflection is due on how poor your hounds’ culprit catching capabilities have gotten?”
Gallagher laughs drily. “Maybe. You know what, I’ll take you up on that charity offer.” Ratio looks at him expectantly, and he picks out a single folder to hand over to him. “Take this single case, and if your interest isn’t piqued after doing a little bit of digging, you should go home. It’d mean you wouldn’t be of any help to me anyways.”
Ratio is above getting frazzled by his provocations and cooly takes the file. He has already seen this case, though largely only the details of the accident. The victim is a young and aspiring businessman who had been gruesomely crushed to death in some construction accident or another. Once again, it is brutal and unfortunate and preventable with proper safety protocols, which does aggravate the good doctor, but nothing odd particularly stands out about this scenario.
“Let’s meet back here with your verdict in one week, same time. I do have to go back to headquarters for a while, because our mayor is a clingy and paranoid kind of guy.” Gallagher collects the rest of his papers together. “Of course, feel free to let Siobhan know if you need anything from me before then.”
Ratio stuffs the file into his briefcase and also makes to leave as well. “Very well. If I find this to be an even bigger waste of time than I initially budgeted for, I will leave before then.”
Gallagher barks out a laugh, but he does not respond further. Once he has left, Ratio puts the alabaster head back on. Their meeting place was a small office above a lively tavern run by the aforementioned SIobhan, after all. Ratio had no interest in mingling with the drunken partygoers that openly giggled and wept at her counter.
When he also makes his way up the stairs back down to ground level, there is a commotion in the narrow hallway leading back to the venue. Irritation rises in his head as both the pounding music and the unintelligible shouting reverberate in his ears, and though he can only faintly see a couple of silhouettes roughhousing in the dark, there is an obvious aggressor. There is the startling sound of breaking glass, and the adrenaline kicks in. Ratio puts down his briefcase, and in one sweeping motion, he grabs the assailant by the back of the collar, pulling them away from the other person.
“Get out.” He roughly shoves them in the direction of the bar, and they stagger backwards slightly.
Now that the light of the tavern is illuminating some of the assailant’s features, Ratio can see that it is a very livid and a very drunk man.
“It’s his fault, all his fault—”
“I don’t care,” Ratio spits out. “Settle this like civilized humans, or don’t. Get out of my sight.”
“—that golden haired devil, he ruined everything—”
“What’s all this,” a voice suddenly calls from behind the man. Though the drunk man is still raving madly, Ratio catches sight of Siobhan with her arms crossed gravely. She is flanked by a silver-haired young man, who suddenly grabs the drunk man by the underside of his arms and starts dragging him away.
“I was just going to the washroom, before this guy came at me swinging a bottle, shouting a bunch of nonsense. ” A smooth voice speaks up from behind Ratio, emerging into the dim light. Only now does he get a good look at the other person involved in the altercation. The first thing he notices is that, sure enough, this man is blonde. The man in question suddenly turns towards Ratio, and though most of his expression is hidden behind the shadows of his hat and sunglasses, he smiles at him. “Oh, but this plaster-headed gentleman came to my aid, do go easy on him.”
“Is that so,” Siobhan says, and she takes a good look at the drunk man, whose attention is still fully on the blonde man despite futilely struggling to wiggle out of the bouncer’s grasp. “I don’t know what made you two disagree, but we can’t have guests endangering each other in here, so I’m going to have to ask you to—”
He suddenly shifts his gaze towards her, and something in his head seems to turn. He starts shouting again, “Y-you, you’re the devil, too! There’s two of them!” Ratio lets out a deep sigh, and the blonde man beside him chuckles.
“I really don’t know this man, promise. I’m a good guy who doesn’t get into trouble.” Somehow Ratio doubts that, though he has known this man for all of three minutes, but he does not speak up. “I think he’s just going after anyone blond, so you be careful too, eh, boss?”
Siobhan shakes her head, and the bouncer shoots her a questioning look. “Just check his ID so we can charge his tab and throw him out for me, Caelus.” He nods, and forcefully pulls the guy out of sight. She looks apologetically at the other two. “I’ll have someone clean this mess up. Neither of you are injured, right?”
“I am not.”
“Don’t worry about me, I’m quite lucky.”
She gives a sigh of relief. “Well, it’s our job to make sure patrons aren’t wasted to the point of misbehaving, so if you guys would like a drink or two on the house as an apology for this I’d be happy to brew something up for you if you don’t mind waiting for me to settle this.”
“There is no need. I will be leaving posthaste.”
Siobhan peers at him closely, before she nods sagely. “Oh wait, I recognise you now. You must have been Gallagher’s guest. How convenient that he leaves right before something happens… well, I won’t keep you. How about you, then?”
“Mmm, I appreciate it, but I’ll be going home tonight as well. No hard feelings, but that did kind of ruin my night, so I’d rather spend it somewhere more peaceful, you know?”
“That’s fine, the next time you stop by, the offer is still up. Take care gentlemen,” and Siobhan has already redirected her attention elsewhere.
Ratio takes this chance to gather his briefcase and set out, but about twenty seconds out the door he realises that the blonde man from the bar is following him. He abruptly stops, and turns to face his pursuer. “Who are you, and what do you want.”
The man just barely stops himself in time to avoid crashing face first into Ratio. “My bad, I didn’t have time to introduce myself.” He is about a half head shorter than Ratio, and though his eyes are veiled by his tinted glasses, Ratio can tell he is peering up at him. “You can call me Aventurine, just your friendly neighbourhood businessman. And for that second question, it shouldn’t be you asking me. Since you saved me back there, I’d like to see if I can return the favour somehow. What do you want?”
Ratio thinks he should have left this guy to fend for himself. It’s not hard to see a scam in works coming from a mile away, and even if this man was being honest, he never liked businessmen, especially those who tried to squeeze profit out of every meaningless interaction. He turns around again, briskly setting off. “I’m not interested. Leave me alone.”
“Wait, plasterhead—” Aventurine gasps out as he jogs to catch up to Ratio’s side, clearly not expecting to have been turned down that quickly. “Alright, I get it. Can I at least put a name to my benefactor’s face? I told you mine, so it’s only fair, after all.”
Ratio is taller, and his strides are especially long. It’s a little bit gratifying to see the blonde exerting extra effort to keep up with his pace, so after a couple wordless moments of listening to their desynced footsteps, Ratio finally relents and rewards him for his persistence. “You can call me Dr. Ratio.”
“Doctor? No offense at all intended, but you don’t look the part.”
“I have eight doctorates.”
Aventurine gives a low whistle. “In picking up grown men by the collar?”
“If you don’t stop asking facetious questions, I can perform it on you next.” Ratio is wondering how long this stranger plans on following him. Perhaps a couple minutes more of this pace and the man will tire out, and Ratio can go back to his lodgings undisturbed.
“I can’t tell if I should take that as flirting or as a threat.”
“Come to that conclusion yourself.”
“Well, my answer also depends on what my benefactor looks like beneath that funny little mask he’s wearing.” He is still keeping pace by Ratio’s side, and winks coyly. “Come on, doctor, isn’t it hot under there?”
“I designed it myself, so there’s a functional and efficient self ventilating feature. There’s no need to feign worry for me. After all, it was expressly made to keep a physical barrier between me and any unwelcome nuisances for prolonged amounts of time.”
“I’m not an unwelcome nuisance, though?”
Ratio scoffs. “Soliciting a stranger for vague and nebulous wishes you have no guarantee of being able to grant isn’t being a nuisance?”
Aventurine laughs. “Most people would call that ‘returning a favour,’ mind you!” He makes an exaggerated motion of licking his lips, which he immediately seems to regret as he almost bites his tongue mid jog, of which Ratio has to suppress the urge to laugh at. “Ow! Uh, anyways, that second part though. It sounds like you have a really ambitious wish you don’t think I can grant. You know, despite how I look, I can do a lot of things. You can tell me, you know? Maybe I can really help you out.”
“Absolutely not. I barely did anything of consequence for you anyways, so there’s hardly anything I can ask for that would be fair. Even had I not been there, you could have easily slipped out. Don’t think I’m too foolish to notice you playing meek.”
Aventurine pouts, having been caught. “It’s the intent! You stepped in between me and a crazy drunk guy like a good samaritan, so you should be rewarded for it. Hey, haven’t you heard of something called karma?”
“A colleague of mine did write a dissertation on casualty, so yes. Souls that live nobly are rewarded in their next incarnation. It’s quite intrinsically tied to religions that believe in the concept of reincarnation.”
“Then, doctor. Do you believe in it?” Aventurine looks up at him with a curious glint in his eyes. There is something shrewd about the way he presses him for an answer as well, though Ratio ends up not paying it more mind than he has to.
Ratio continues looking straight ahead impassively. “I believe first and foremost in human will and tenacity. Perhaps the actions of your current self can shape your future, but there is no moral compass worthy of weighing a soul’s destiny upon.”
“That’s a more forgiving opinion than most people have,” Aventurine says thoughtfully. “Most say good people deserve good things, and bad people deserve to burn in hell.”
Ratio clicks his tongue. “It is not forgiving. It just does not align with my beliefs. Imagine the most morally reprehensible person you know. Now imagine them climbing a cliff face. They do not deserve to fall any more than the kindest person you know, provided both have sufficiently trained for this life-endangering endeavour. How many puppies they have kicked in their spare time has nothing to do with how well they can survive a ninety degree climb.” Ratio pauses quite deliberately here, and Aventurine chuckles drily.
“How cynical.”
Then, he concedes, “But, if the kind person falls, they will have a community waiting with a net below to catch them. In that sense, yes, being a kind person is directly causal to reaping the benefits later on. However, I do not believe that this is a deterministic event dictated by some greater laws of fate. It is the efforts of everyday humans trying to look after their own kind. Do you understand?”
Aventurine is noticeably wearing out now, and though Ratio initially meant to simply outpace him, he finds himself also inexplicably slowing down to stay in step with the other man. “I have to say, I didn’t foresee that my plans tonight would be getting harassed at a bar and getting lectured in philosophy by a statue head,” he breathily says, wincing slightly. “All while on this torturous jog! Hey— wait a minute. Doc, you wouldn’t happen to have seen this mascot character lamppost for the third time already, have you?” Aventurine finally stops, panting heavily. Ratio, against his better judgment, also stops and waits for him to recover his breath.
“Hm. What makes you say that?”
“No, I’m pretty sure I’ve seen this just now. Have you been running me in circles ?” Aventurine’s tone is accusatory, though there is an incredulous grin on his face.
“I was waiting to see how long before you noticed. You must be mad or an idiot if you’d think I’d let a complete stranger blindly follow me back to my quarters.”
Aventurine starts laughing in disbelief, though he is doubled over in exhaustion and clutching his hat in his hand. “Ha! You’re quite fun, but also so very vexing to speak to, doctor.”
Ratio’s heart rate is slightly elevated from the jog as well, and perhaps the lack of blood in his brain at the moment is making him feel a little less in control than usual. “I could say the same for you.”
“So you think I’m fun,” Aventurine gloats, though Ratio does not humour that particular accusation with a proper response. “You said it yourself though, humans like helping each other out. I like helping people out, especially people I like. Can’t you accept my goodwill as goodwill? Maybe the shady businessman with obvious ulterior motives really does have a heart. Come on, bet on it.”
His blonde hair is disheveled from the run, his cheeks reddened from the bite of the wind, and though he still has not taken off his glasses, Aventurine smiles at Ratio with perhaps the most sincere camaraderie he’s shown for the night. He is still leaning slightly forward with one hand propping his weight up on his knee, but more importantly, extending a hand out to Ratio. The doctor takes Aventurine’s hand on his own, but he does not shake his hand. He pulls Aventurine forward, hauling him back up to a standing position, and though he gives the doctor a look of surprise, Ratio’s alabaster head gives him no hint of what the doctor is thinking at the moment.
“I am a scholar. I do not take bets. However, I am nothing if not thorough. Therefore, I will walk you back to where you need to be. You will not be following me anywhere. Is that clear?”
Aventurine blinks owlishly at him once, before bursting into laughter. “And what if I pull a Dr. Ratio special? I lead in you circles, so you never make it home tonight?”
“Go ahead and see if I really dare to leave you by the roadside to fend for yourself.”
He gives an exaggerated shrug and sighs, though he starts walking in a certain direction. Ratio trods along slowly as well. “You drive such a hard bargain. You’ll know where I live, but I won’t know where you live. Therefore, this is an unfair deal to me; I am still a businessman. Ratio, you’ve got to sweeten the deal. Just one more concession…”
“What happened to being magnanimous and full of goodwill,” Ratio says, but he does not leave Aventurine as he threatened. With a sigh, he flicks a button on the back of his plaster head, and the helmet collapses into something easy to hold and store. Aventurine looks very pleased with himself and his bargaining skills.
They talk a bit more, with Aventurine mostly prodding for details on Ratio’s doctorates, though Ratio also finds out a little about Aventurine’s life and hobbies as well. He had not had official schooling when he was young, hence all the curious questions he had on Ratio’s life as both a professor and student. However, Ratio was hardly a regular student even in his youth, so he felt like his anecdotes were fairly unhelpful to someone like Aventurine who liked hearing the more ordinary tales he could tell. Aventurine is also a self-proclaimed avid gambler, and when he finally shows up to a casino resort, saying that this really is where he eats and sleeps, Ratio has to stop himself from rolling his eyes.
Aventurine holds open the door with a coy grin on his face. “Come inside for a bit, doctor? I can show you my magic.”
Ratio crosses his arms. “I think it’s quite past time for us to part ways. There’s no need to show me your parlor tricks, especially not tonight.”
“Don’t be like that. Who knows if we’ll ever see each other again?” He says it facetiously, though, as if he knew for a fact that they would cross paths again.
It is not as if Ratio is particularly distressed at the thought that they wouldn’t. Tonight was an entertaining distraction at best. He didn’t particularly hate talking to Aventurine the way he tired quickly of most other people’s drivel, but he is well aware of the truth that people come and go as they please. It was just a gut feeling, one that he could not quite name, that reassured him that this would definitely not be the last he would be seeing of this man anyways. He just has a feeling he has to draw a line somewhere, lest he gets swallowed up in the lazy and indulgent atmosphere of this place. He is here on a job, after all, and he did not forget.
“Then let us part on a pleasant memory, and not on one of you humiliating yourself in front of me. Good night and good riddance, gambler.”
In the privacy and solitude of his hotel room, Ratio pores over the case file on his desk while he runs the bath. He also pores over the case file inside the bath. By the end, he has a pretty good picture of the sequence of events recorded in this file.
The victim’s name was Trayvor. He was a resourceful and ambitious guy, but everyone who knew him gave similar accounts: he liked to do things on his own, and he had a tendency to go above and beyond for gifts. As for the accident itself, it seemed to have been the unlucky marriage of several uncharacteristic coincidences all at once. The last employee on the site also forgot to close and lock the gates that day. Trayvor, usually a sensible person, wouldn’t have walked through a dangerous construction site. And yet, no matter how many times they rewatched the security video, nothing changed. There was no one else there, it took Trayvor stumbling in one particular spot to cause the land beneath him to cave in and bring all the steel beams above tumbling down after him. It was too impractical to have been set as a trap. A safety hazard, sure, but who would have known? That piece of ground had stayed solid with years of heavy machinery rolling over it. To have been the pin to break the camel’s back was an astonishing stroke of bad luck.
In the weeks leading up to his death, he seemed to have become extra secretive. He liberally helped others with favours, but strangely enough, he had called in a bunch of debts he was usually content to let marinate longer. He even updated his will, leaving most of his assets to his wife who survived him, almost suggesting that he knew he was at risk of dying. There was an obvious motive here, so Gallagher had investigated some of the people who he had asked for money back from and also the beneficiaries of his will. It’s not as if any of these people could have been lying, but he was generally quite a well liked guy. And, all of their alibis were solid.
His wife, Allegria, in fact, was so distraught and in grief, that Gallagher had clearly started to regret going down this line of questioning, considering how vague some of the answers were when it was clear he had pressed for more thorough clarification on the other suspects. He did however, note that the woman had been extremely ill for over a year, and her prognosis was not good. Her recovery was nothing short of miraculous, but only shortly after she overcame her sickness enough to go out with Trayvor again, did her husband suddenly perish on her.
Ratio believes he understands what Gallagher saw in this case: the extremes of good and bad luck for this unhappy couple. As soon as he entertains the thought, Aventurine suddenly comes to mind. Although it is a little silly, Ratio sees the rubber duck floating carelessly in the water by his side, and it reminds him of that golden-haired gambler. It convinces him to entertain the vision of a dutiful Aventurine attentively listening beside him, and that he is explaining this concept to him.
“It is a gambler’s fallacy after all to believe that good and bad luck take turns. It is a willful misunderstanding of how statistics works. Suppose there is a one percent chance of drawing the winning lot, with replacement after each draw: there may be a 63% chance that you will draw the winning lot within the first 100 draws, but that does not mean you have a 63% chance of drawing the winning lot when you are on your 99th lot and have not won anything. The chance of this happening is still one percent, regardless of any events that have happened before it, as they are events that are not causal— they are independent of each other.”
A streak of bad luck does not precede the arrival of good luck, nor vice versa. With enough time, it will happen. That is just the rule of large numbers.
The duck bobs gently in the waters, as if nodding along respectfully.
“Of course, if the causal relationship between the wife’s sudden recovery and the husband’s untimely death can be proved, then this postulation is thrown entirely out the window.”
Ratio picks up the duck and sets it gently onto the rim of the bathtub, before he stands up reluctantly and drains the bath. As the warm water washes down the drain, and the duck looks on impassively as ever, he thinks back on the topic Aventurine had first questioned him on.
“Tell me, gambler. Do you know something?”
Ratio has a strange dream that night.
He is sitting in a vast and dark room where he cannot tell where the walls end and begin, though there are hundreds of small little lights in the perimeter. There is also a woman sitting before him. She is quite elegantly dressed, though perhaps her most defining feature is the wide brimmed and feathered hat perched upon her head. Her legs are crossed, her hands are crossed thoughtfully, and her head is tilted in a way that makes her wavy pink hair cascade gently down the side of her face. She wears a kind smile, but Ratio thinks she has the gaze of a predator.
“Good evening, Veritas Ratio. Or, do you prefer being called doctor?”
“Who are you,” he brusquely replies.
She laughs, though it is closer to a hum than any real expression of amusement. “Does that matter? I’m just here to ask you what you want.”
“This is the second time tonight a stranger has asked me this question. My answer will not change.”
He tries to stand up and leave, and though he is not physically bound, there is a weight in his limbs that makes moving feel like an impossible feat. The aggravation must have shown on his face, because the woman gives him a pitying smile.
“Alright, you can call me Jade. We’re no longer strangers, I hope.”
Ratio stays silent.
Jade uncrosses her legs, and then crosses them the other way. “Being difficult, are we? I do usually like to let people tell me in their own words, because I like to see what their perspective on their life is.”
Ratio narrows his eyes. She lazily gestures towards the space around them. “I can easily see for myself if I’d like to. Do you really not want to tell me?” Jade waits for a moment, studying Ratio. He does not answer still. Jade sighs, and stands up. “Hmm, I don’t take pleasure in being the big bad witch at these times. Let me see…”
She wanders around the room searchingly, and what Ratio initially saw as lights, he now realises look more like floating crystal shards. Jade passes most of them by, but a particularly bright one catches her eye, and she reaches out for it. Though Ratio already has a vague inkling what is about to happen next, it still makes his breath catch in his throat when she palms the crystal in her hands with a look of detached curiosity in her eyes.
“How cute, you want to join the Genius Society?”
Ratio glowers at her. “What do you want from me.”
“Nothing,” she says, the cloying smile never leaving her face. Jade walks over to Ratio, and though he watches her warily, he is powerless to do anything in this dream. She leans down and gently brushes a stray lock of fallen hair out of his eyes, setting it neatly back into place. “I just want to understand you a little better. Perhaps by doing so, I’ll understand why the society passed over such an outstanding prodigy with a thousand and one accolades under his belt.”
It is like he is talking to a caricature of a loving mother, Ratio thinks. His expression must be very sour right now, but she makes no comment on it other than narrowing her eyes in amusement.
Jade pats some imaginary dust off of his shoulder and stands straight again. “Do lighten up, dear doctor. I’d love to help you out, but if you say no, there’s nothing I can do. I might be able to see into your heart with this little magic trick of mine, but it’s not like I can unfairly force you to change how you feel.”
“Whatever you’re looking for, I won’t entertain you. Unhand me already.”
She gives him a cryptic smile. The scene in his dream does start to bubble at the edges of his vision, and as he slowly watches it dissolve before him, Jade speaks up once more. “You can try to hide your desires in the depths of your heart, but you can’t deny yourself forever.”
Ratio wakes up abruptly at 4:27 AM, sweat droplets cascading down his forehead. There is no trace of anyone else having been in his hotel room. Everything is exactly as he left it when he fell asleep the night before. He has no desire to fall asleep again after what he just experienced, so he cleans himself up and gets ready to set out.
Now is a good time as ever to listen in on the daily gossip of the residents he passes by on the streets and inside public venues. Perhaps he might learn something interesting.
Night falls, and Ratio retraces his mental map to navigate his way back to the casino resort the gambler had led him to.
Ratio finds him, not at the slot machine, not at the poker table, where he can easily envision the gambler boldly throwing every chip onto the table with a mad grin on his face, but with a blank expression, gazing absentmindedly up at the glittering night sky from the unimpressive view of an outdoor pool chair. It is late, and there is no one else here by the pool, not even a lifeguard. The clamorous din of the casino fades out as he walks onto the pool deck and hears the door click shut behind him. He knows the other has noticed him approaching, perhaps has been expecting his presence even, from the way the rise and fall of his chest pauses from a suddenly held breath. However, he does not look in Ratio’s direction.
“Aventurine.”
The man properly acknowledges Ratio finally, and though he has a welcoming smile on his face, it does not quite reach his eyes. “It’s a pleasure to meet you so soon again, doctor. That is the first time you’ve used my name, though. I assumed you might have forgotten after I told you. What’s the special occasion?”
“Explain to me how karma works.”
Aventurine frowns. “I was under the impression the illustrious scholar already knew.”
Ratio gives him a hard look. “I am aware that your luck is more than a manifestation of one of your parlor tricks. What you call karma is behind it.”
“Luck is a form of karma, isn’t it?” Aventurine stands up, meeting Ratio’s unblinking gaze. He pulls five dice out of his pockets, and throws them onto the floor. “I must have been a really great person in my past life,” he says drily.
Six, six, six, five, six.
“Oh, I must be having an off day today,” he sighs, picking up the odd die out and eyeing it closely in disappointment. Then, he gathers the rest, and cheekily looks Ratio in the eyes. “If you want to see more, we can go inside at the slots. I can’t go for jackpot though, or they’ll stop letting me use them entirely,” Aventurine smiles.
Ratio is no longer in any mood to beat around the bush. “I’m not interested. It looks like the fabled witch of miracles people hinge their hopes and dreams on is a gambling addict who draws people in with cheap parlor tricks and likes to dress like a peacock.”
Aventurine doesn’t look surprised at all to see that Ratio had long put two and two together. “Well, doctor, I’m quite sorry that I don’t live up to the visuals you were expecting, but I assure you my little parlor tricks are real.”
“The rumours must have crossed your existence with the woman who appeared their dreams.” Ratio remembers Jade’s imposing figure, accentuated in all the right places by her dark, form-fitting fishtail skirt and her bulky hat.
Aventurine studies Ratio’s expression for a moment and laughs. “You don’t look pleased. Most people let her whisper everything they want to hear in their ears. Wasn’t she supportive? Soothing? There’s a lot of people who never get to hear those kind and encouraging words when they’re awake, so they let themselves get swallowed up by her voice.”
“Hardly anyone would be pleased having been the subject of an invasive mind-reading procedure,” Ratio says coldly.
Aventurine looks sympathetically at him. “Well, you’ll have to forgive me. She’s something like a mentor and a business partner to me, and that convenient little trick of hers really streamlines things for me. But,” he takes a step to the side, and then another, circling slowly around Ratio curiously. “You must have come to see me for a reason. Okay, you found out my little secret. Now, what are you going to do with that information?”
Ratio cooly stands his ground, his eyes trailing after Aventurine’s lazy gait. “There’s been an uptick in incidents where people have experienced an unexpected windfall, followed by some misfortune or another.”
“And so you think it must be my doing,” he concludes. Aventurine stops pacing right in front of Ratio and peers up at him through his lashes, leaning forward ever so slightly. “Now, are you here to capture me and turn me in?”
“As if I even have the grounds or proof to do so. The moment I say anything, you’ll disappear in the wind.”
Aventurine smiles coquettishly. “How kind of you. Or, have you also been convinced into taking a sip of the forbidden nectar? I’d be happy to follow up on my previous offer for my benefactor anytime. I can give you everything you want, and— everything you don’t want.”
Ratio doesn’t know when the gambler had started to sneak his hand near Ratio’s chest, but he sternly swats the other’s away, ignoring his pout. “You misunderstand. I am not here to threaten nor indulge you. I am a scientist, faced with a phenomenon I’m not familiar with. Naturally, I desire to understand what I’m dealing with before I put any potential decisions into action.”
“...You really just want to know the details?” Aventurine wrings the hand Ratio had struck absentmindedly. Ratio wonders if his control had faltered and he used too much strength, or if this was just another one of the gambler’s attention seeking tricks.
He closes his eyes briefly and exhales. It is absolutely not out of guilt. “If you are so insistent on fulfilling one of my wishes, consider that my official request. As you know, I have a vested interest in the conflict between human will and the existence of a deterministic power, that apparently, you seem to be able to manipulate. What I would like is an explanation from you. Or, you could allow me to observe and deduce what I can on my own.”
Aventurine laughs, doubling over. He laughs and laughs, as if Ratio had said the funniest thing in the world. When he finally collects himself to speak coherently again, Ratio is busy wondering if he’s made a mistake, contemplating to himself if he should just throw the gambler into the Bloodhounds’ basement.
“Ah, if it were anyone else asking me that, I would have instantly been convinced they wanted to lock me away in a lab and dissect me for answers. But you— Ratio, you make it so easy for me to believe you really want answers just out of curiosity. Like you value what I say.”
Ratio frowns. “I am a proper intellectual. Dissecting a living sapient species for information is ridiculous and beneath my ethics.”
“See, you have the incorrigible ego of a scholar. I really thought you were pulling my leg, when you said you had eight degrees. But now? I really do believe it. You’re a really strange guy,” Aventurine says, and he wipes a tear from the corner of his eye.
“If you’re done making light of me, I’d like to know your answer to my proposal,” Ratio says thinly.
“Just keep in mind that I would only do this for you, doctor,” Aventurine smiles. “It will be easier to explain in practice, so meet me here tomorrow at twilight.” He walks inside, leaving Ratio to ponder exactly what the gambler meant in slipping that first sentence in.
Ratio spends his daylight just as diligently as he did yesterday. The wish-granting witch is something of a local urban legend that people take in varying degrees of seriousness, and though Gallagher’s case files went only a couple months back at most, they almost seem to speak of it as if the witch has been around for perpetuity. Granted that one of Aventurine’s acquaintances can do something as fantastical as visiting people in their dreams, he wouldn’t be surprised if she or someone else had the ability to alter public perception and memories like this either. These are questions he tucks away for Aventurine later tonight.
When the appointed hour comes, Ratio walks out onto the deck, not a minute too soon to see the last golden rays of the setting sun disappear under the encroaching twilight. Aventurine is perched on the pool chair as promised, watching the sight with a strange expression on his face. This time, though, he acknowledges the doctor’s arrival on his own.
“I like the colours of dawn. I liked watching the sun rise,” he says, his gaze still trained on the horizon. “But I never wake up in time to see it anymore. I’ve never been a morning person. So this is the next best thing.”
“The diffraction of sunlight at these edge-case angles is indeed a fascinating thing to behold,” Ratio concedes.
“Has anyone ever told you that you can make anything sound unromantic?” Aventurine sighs dramatically. “Here, you should say something like, wow the view is so gorgeous. But O lovely Aventurine, it could never be more mesmerising than you. Or something.”
Ratio coughs, trying to hide the strangled laugh that caught in his throat. When did he become so easily amused by the gambler’s flippant jokes, he wonders. “The size of your ego truly is impressive. Your physical build could use some catching up.”
“We can’t all have the physique of men’s underwear models,” Aventurine snaps back. “Well, the other person we’re waiting on isn’t here yet, so why don’t you take a seat and enjoy the view with me?”
Ratio sits down in the chair next to Aventurine’s, though he sits on one side with his hands in his lap instead of lying back as the gambler was. “It’s very odd that no one else comes here. Not even management.”
Aventurine shrugs, shaking his head. “You know how it is. For some reason, I took a liking to this place. Thought it would be a great place to kick back and relax. Conveniently, people stopped coming here whenever I felt like dropping by, unless I wanted them to see me.”
The implications of that sink in quick. “So, you were expecting me yesterday.”
“Maybe I was, maybe I wasn’t. Who knows, doctor. You’re always full of surprises to me, too.” Aventurine smiles. “Do you think your ‘will’ can overpower my ‘luck’?”
“Those are two different characteristics, so the outcome depends on the parameters of the challenge.” Ratio looks sternly at him. “Or, are you saying that they are the same.”
“I call it karma, because that’s what I was told it was when I was young. To me, though, it has manifested consistently as luck. Throwing dice, drawing cards, I’m sure you have all the probabilities calculated in your head in seconds. Ratio, can you really call those odds a result of ‘fate’?”
Ratio frowns. “It is highly improbable, but a person can theoretically hone their throwing hand to the degree of precision that they can increase the odds or even guarantee that the dice all land on the highest value. It is not luck, but the result is the same. Is that the amount of ‘will’ necessary to face the level of luck you possess?”
Aventurine claps his hands, as if he is pleased that Ratio has solved one of his riddles. “How astute. A person’s fate as a whole is divided between things within their control and things that are out of their control. As for karma, let’s call it a marriage between luck and will.” He looks coyly at Ratio. “So, you and me. You like analogies, don’t you?”
Ratio absolutely does not feel his heartrate rise.
“Now, imagine the two of us are guiding someone through a dense forest, and there is a five-way fork in the road. The wanderer is scared that he will choose the wrong path, and so he must turn to one of us. Of course, luck is the easy and effortless way out. But he is scared of failing. There is an eighty percent chance he won’t pick the right path, and though it does not necessarily spell immediate doom for him, he is tired, he is thirsty, he does not want to suffer anymore.”
Aventurine smiles blithely. It is quite clear on Ratio’s face, that he thinks the man in the story must be lazy and stupid.
“He doesn’t want to pick you, either. He knows you will work hard, but he is afraid that you will fail him as well. So, I tell him, I can fly to the end of each road ahead of him, and when I come back, I can show him which path will lead him out of the forest. However, doing this feat requires a lot of energy, so I’d really like to have enough provisions to sustain myself for the journey. Glad to be rid of any prospective doubts, he gives me the provisions. I—”
The door suddenly opens, and Aventurine cuts his anecdote short. There is a mousey man scanning the rest of the pool looking for something, and he does not seem to find it. “Erm, hello gentlemen,” he greets sheepishly. “Has a lilac haired lady dropped by here?”
“Ah, Jade told you to come here, I see,” Aventurine quickly hops out of his seat, his expression the picture of an oppressive friendliness. Ratio wants to wretch a little at seeing how quickly that gambler can change his demeanour. “She couldn’t personally make it, but I can assure you she filled me in on everything I need to know.” He extends a gloved hand out to the man. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Gardner. I will make your wish a reality.”
The man looks unsure, but politely accepts his handshake. “Uh, sorry if you take offense, but if Madam Jade’s not here, you’re the real deal, right…? I seriously really need this to work out for me, or I’m screwed.”
Aventurine smirks. “I am the real deal. If anything, you can think of Jade as my PR agent. But hey, if words can’t convince you, friend, how about this?” He takes the same dice out of his pocket to the man’s confusion. Then, he throws them carelessly.
Five sixes.
Gardner’s eyes widen. “Oh, uh. Quite impressive…?”
Ratio thinks to himself, the gambler really only keeps those in his pockets to dazzle the everyday layman with his cheap parlor tricks.
“I can do it again, if you’re not convinced. You’re looking for consistency and certainty, right?”
Aventurine’s voice is uncannily smooth and reassuring in a way that in fact, does remind Ratio of Jade. He can see how the gambler learned to talk like that from his supposed mentor.
The man flushes a little, and hurriedly shakes his head. “No, sir, it was my mistake for doubting you. Uh, how are we doing this…? Is the other guy here in line before me, or…?”
“Something like an intern. Don’t pay him any mind. Just lie down and relax.”
If Aventurine notices Ratio’s indignant glare, he doesn’t noticeably react to it.
Gardner acquiesces and lays on the chair, still quietly fussing about something or another. Aventurine finally takes off his sunglasses for the first time. Ratio’s breath hitches when he catches sight of the concentric purple and cyan rings in his iris. Ratio is of course, well versed in the global history of the planet, and though it is just a faint recollection of an isolated tragedy buried in the ever growing annals of history, he makes a connection between Aventurine’s gift and what must have been his resulting fate.
The gambler is oblivious to the growing turmoil in Ratio’s head though, his attention solely on Garder. As he sits on the side of the chair and leans in to make eye contact with the other man, it seems to paint an incredibly intimate Gardner goes limp. Aventurine goes quiet, very quiet, his gaze focused on the unconscious man before him. It is an intimate position to hold himself in, his body leaning in so close to a complete stranger, but Ratio supposes that he has done this enough that it barely even registers on Aventurine’s mind.
After what feels like an eternity, Aventurine finally lets out a huge sigh, leans back, and stretches his arms. He lazily grabs his sunglasses and puts them back on, yawning as he does so. “Ahh, what a pain. Sorry I couldn’t show the rest of that to you. Don’t know how to bring you into an inner space or anything like that.”
“It’s done? What did he even ask for,” Ratio asks, still wondering if he should bring up Aventurine’s unique eye pattern or not, or if it was a question better saved for a different moment.
“Take a guess,” Aventurine replies drily. “It’s almost always money. He made a poor investment, and desperately needs it to bear fruit. He’s not a good businessman though, by any means, so it took a pretty big effort to sift through every possibility for that one.”
“And is he going to wake up anytime soon?”
Aventurine chuckles. “Nah. We’ll get out of here before he does, and he’ll have no memory of the incident. There’s a bit of operational security we have to keep up, you know. Once the deal is done, people forget. I’m sure you already know this, doctor, but in most cases, the human brain is quite good at filling in the gaps for those days they don’t remember quite clearly.”
Ratio looks at the man sleeping peacefully before him. When he wakes, he won’t remember what he traded away for that banal wish. “You were talking about a metaphorical traveler, before we were interrupted. Do tell me how that story ends.”
“I faithfully find him the correct path, but when he reaches the end of the forest, you and I have both starved to death. After all, I took all the provisions in that first flight.” Aventurine shrugs. “You could guess the rest.”
“Thus, the traveler has no guide left, neither luck nor will. Now, the next forest he runs into has another five branching roads. He cannot deduce for himself which is the correct route, nor can he rely on luck being on his side.”
Aventurine smiles back at him grimly.
Ratio comes back the next day, a little earlier than before, so that the sun still has perhaps a quarter of an hour or so left to shine.
“Why’d you come here? I don’t even have anyone for you to meet today. The romanticism of the sunset is growing on you?”
“I just fancied the novelty of seeing the world through your perspective.”
Aventurine hums in consideration. “Better than last time.”
“I wasn’t aware I was being graded.”
Aventurine is quiet for a moment. “Have you thought of something you wanted? I’ll grant you whatever you want, doctor. I’ll even loan you some of my spare luck.”
Ratio takes the seat beside Aventurine again. “Are you an idiot, or trying to irritate me on purpose? You know as well as I that I couldn’t stomach being a beneficiary of your little gift.”
“Well, doctor. If you keep coming back without an excuse, I might really start to think you enjoy my companionship.”
It is a loaded statement, and to directly address any part of it feels like a landmine Ratio is not ready to toe. “I had a few questions on what exactly it is that you do in the consciousness of others.”
“It’s hard to explain without showing you, I mean it. And, well, you mentioned before you didn’t like the invasiveness.”
Ratio sighs. “Even if I made up some bogus wish for you to grant, as soon as it’s completed, I’ll lose all memory of this interaction. Doesn’t that sound extremely nonsensical?”
“Well, that hinges on the completion of the transaction,” Aventurine shrugs. “If you’re that curious, I can try to show you directly, as long as you think you can turn down any temptation you might come across in there.”
“Do it, then.”
“I get why you wouldn’t trust me, th— wait. Huh?” He blinks at Ratio, clearly not having expected him to so easily agree.
“I’d like a first-hand account,” Ratio says impassively, as if he hasn’t just invited Aventurine into sending him unconscious to pick at the corners of his brain.
For the first time, Aventurine seems too caught off guard to reply with anything clever. “Like, now?” he says dumbly.
Ratio is already lying down on his pool chair. “What was it that you did yesterday? Does direct eye contact with you have a sedative effect?”
“You make me sound like some kind of criminal! No, eye contact is a way of establishing a mental link. Intent matters! Agh, you’ll see. Hold on,” Aventurine says in a hurry, and he scoots over, hovering slightly over Ratio. He locks gazes with Ratio and freezes for a moment. Ratio stares back at him.
“Well?”
“You really just reminded me of the sunrise for a moment there,” Aventurine says rather absentmindedly.
Ratio wants to ask for elaboration, but Aventurine takes off his sunglasses, and Ratio suddenly feels like he is upright again and walking down an endless corridor. Gradually, crystals like the ones he saw in his dream a few days back begin to sparsely populate the space around him.
“These are the reflections of every possible future you might face.” Aventurine materialises beside him, as they dutifully walk down the winding path. “I can redirect anyone’s karma to point towards one focal point in due time.”
Ratio does not “see” so much as “feel” the contents of each shard. He can feel the mundanity of many such crystals. Much of them seem like a small deviation from the norm at best.
“Some wishes are very easy to fulfill. If you had wished for something as simple as a refreshing drink, I could find an endless number of shards here that fulfill that criteria. The karmic price in exchange is negligible.’ Aventurine smiles coldly. “Ah, but I don’t fulfill meaningless and harmless requests like these. There’d be no end to the thankless role that would get thrust on me, wouldn’t you agree? Only the truly desperate are willing to bet their all for the one in million chance that I find the future where they get what they want.”
They walk silently along for another minute or so. Ratio knows, somewhere in here is the world where he finds a spot in the Genius Society, where he gets his due recognition, where he finds that global cure for ignorance and never has to talk to a dimwit again in his life; but he is unwilling to trade his will, nor his connection with the man that walks three steps behind him, giving him agitated glances all the while.
“I see. Thank you for showing me,” he says.
“Was there not a single shard in this collection that tempted you, even a little?”
“No,” Ratio replies. “Will you be there when I wake?”
Aventurine gives him a sorry smile. “Do you really think I have anywhere better to be?”
On the fifth day, Aventurine looks a little more lost in thought than usual. Though he makes his wisecracks with the same usual frequency with Ratio, he has a feeling that the gambler’s thoughts lay somewhere else. Of course, the final and cruelest puzzle piece falls into place soon after. When his guest arrives, alarmingly, Ratio recognises her. This can’t possibly end well, he finds himself thinking. What even is Aventurine planning?
“You’re… the witch?”
Aventurine’s expression is unreadable. “Welcome,” he says casually, though with none of his usual jest or flair.
She takes one shaky step forward, then two. Then, she runs toward Aventurine. Ratio instinctively steps in front of Aventurine to stop her, but she does not try to strike him, as he initially thought he would. Instead, Allegria collapses to her knees and clings to Aventurine’s coattails. It’s clear he’s unsettled by this position, but he is frozen in place, and does not dare to move. “Please. Please, just bring him back. There’s no point in me living if he’s not there with me.”
Aventurine moves his hand forward, and though Ratio can’t tell if he was originally trying to push her off or comfort her, but he suddenly stops himself midway and clenches his fist hard.
“The past is the past,” Ratio says suddenly.
Aventurine looks up at him with a shocked embarrassment in his eyes. But it seemed to have given him the courage or willpower to speak for himself. “Yeah,” he says softly. His voice is hesitantly kind, but defeated in tone. “No one can change what’s already happened.”
Allegria looks pleadingly at him, looking for a sliver of hope. She clenches onto his clothes tighter and sobs. “No, no, this isn’t happening, this is just a nightmare—”
Even the cold-hearted Ratio feels endlessly sorry for her. How could anyone not? But he is a man of rationality, and he knows that weeping at Aventurine’s feet is a fruitless endeavour. Nothing will bring her love back. For the second time, he finds himself trying to pull someone off of Aventurine, but the gambler this time looks at him with a tired smile and with a cautionary hand urging him to let go of her. Ratio does let go.
When she has basically cried herself to the point of exhaustion, Aventurine finally drops his helpless smile, instead looking blankly at the woman curled up at his feet. “You know, I didn’t care when people came back to me blaming me for their misfortunes. Because they greedily asked me to take their gamble, and they lost. But sometimes, I really do feel sorry. I guess I am too different from you, doctor.”
Ratio says nothing, but he picks up the unconscious woman gently and tries to hoist her on his back. Regardless of what happened here, they couldn’t just leave her lying here on the cold pavement.
“When you said, back when we first met, bad people don’t deserve bad things happening to them any more than good people do. I wanted to agree, because I’ve seen it happen. Again, and again, and again. Good people suffering. The worst people taking it all for themselves. But deep in my heart, I couldn’t let go of the wish that I lived in a world where being good means the world will be good to you.”
Ratio stays silent, but he fixes his gaze on Aventurine, who is still staring at the floor, as if he couldn’t bear to look anyone else in the eyes right now.
“I should take her to the infirmary,” he finally says. Aventurine looks up at him.
“I’ll go with you.”
They say nothing more as they tread back inside, the hustle and bustle of the casino drowning out the gloomy atmosphere between them. As the one who brought in an unconscious, Ratio is forced to stay behind for a round of questioning. Of course it looks bad, the situation being what it is, two strange men finding a lone woman passed out by the poolside. When he finally comes out, having thoroughly explained the situation, Aventurine looks at him sympathetically. Aventurine starts walking somewhere, and Ratio follows. He doesn’t ask where they’re going, because something in his gut tells him he cannot leave Aventurine alone at this moment. They shuffle into the hotel elevator unceremoniously, standing silently shoulder to shoulder.
Aventurine looks straight ahead, an unreadable smile on his face. “This is why people hate being good samaritans. You’re a good person, Ratio.”
Ratio gives him a sharp look. “You…”
“Ah, I don’t care about being a good person, so spare me any of those hollow reassurances you’re probably thinking of right now, doctor.” He laughs hollowly. “I’ve wanted to watch the world burn too much for that ever to be the truth. I took people’s dreams, I made them come true, and then I crushed them up. And they don’t even have the consolation of knowing they tried and failed.”
Ratio thinks of the brief moment, when Aventurine had showed him the many shards of possibilities in his dreams, and how fragile they all looked; had he given Aventurine the order, thousands of them would have been crushed to nothingness. The Veritas Ratio that struggled in vain for the recognition of the Genius Society, the Veritas Ratio that failed and learned a new lesson through humility, the many Veritas Ratios that could have been, had he chosen to be, would all be turned into dust. Ratio, who believed in the strength of human will and hated the idea of losing that agency, wanted to vomit at the thought. It is true. Aventurine took something precious from a lot of people in exchange for their miracles. He can never give it back to them, and he will have to live with this forever.
The elevator dings. They step out. Aventurine wanders down the hallway, presumably to his room. “Tell me why you did it. What you were thinking,” Ratio says cautiously, keeping in step. He offhandedly thinks, this is like the first day they met, but in reverse.
The gambler laughs drily. “Where do I even start?” Aventurine finally brings himself to return Ratio’s gaze. He smiles a little mischievously. “Hey, food for thought. Do you have anyone you’d want to save so desperately you’d throw away your life for them like these people would?”
“No, I can’t say I do.” Ratio closes his eyes. “Even if I did, today has been perhaps the most telling lesson on why you should not do that.”
“Haha, right? But, what if I told you there was someone like that for me?” Aventurine smiles smugly at him. There is no light in his eyes. Ratio’s breath hitches.
Aventurine stops before a door; he waves a card, and it opens. He steps inside, and Ratio follows. It is a standard hotel room, and Ratio observes that there are clothes strewn about, but no food, or anything resembling a hobby or interest anywhere inside. It looks barely lived in, as if Aventurine only came back inside to sleep and shower and spent the rest of his time wandering the streets, looking for people with that same despondent look in their eyes as he did. When Ratio is fully inside, Aventurine shuts the door behind him, leaning casually on it with his hands behind his back.
“What if I told you… she’s been in a coma and kept in stasis for years, and I was thinking about harvesting enough karma to wake her up one day? Would you stop me? Would you tell me what I’m doing is wrong?”
“I would. You’re stupid if you think you can trade your life for someone else’s happiness.” There are no personal feelings involved in this. Had it been anyone posing this question, Ratio would have said the same.
Aventurine raises his eyebrows in surprise, and he stares back in silence, seemingly searching for the right words to say. “You’re making a very ugly expression right now, doctor.” Ratio does not know what his face looks like, but he glowers a bit at the comment. “Don’t take what I said so seriously. I lied. She died a long time ago. And I know there’s no coming back. I…”
Aventurine’s voice is level all while saying this, as if it’s something he’s long accepted and been resigned to. He sighs, and lets himself slide down, and he sits slumped against the door out of exhaustion. “But I never stopped chasing after hope. I handed out people’s dreams, their wishes like cheap candies. Maybe I just wanted to see a happy ending. Maybe I wanted to be proved wrong. I don’t know anymore. Once I started, I couldn’t stop. Why should I? It’s fun. It’s exciting. That brief moment people see their greatest wish come too, I think I feel a bit of it vicariously each time.” Unspoken, but understood: for a second, though I knew it was just a fleeting delusion I had to quietly carry, I liked feeling like a good person .
Ratio is still standing, and Aventurine looks so very small, sitting on the floor with his knees to his chest. There is nowhere else in the room to sit really, as Aventurine has covered the chair and couch with a heap of worn but not laundered clothes, and Ratio would never sit on his own bed, much less someone else’s, with his dirtied street clothes on. Thus, he finds himself sitting down beside Aventurine, resulting in the ridiculous picture of two grown men struggling to find space for their long legs in the narrow entrance hallway.
Aventurine does not smile, but he still has the energy to joke around, it seems. “Doctor, it brings me to tears seeing someone like you sit on the dusty floor like this.”
“Someone like me,” Ratio repeats bitterly. “Explain. How are you and I any different. We are both on the floor.”
“Well, that’s easy. I can just get us a mirror. For starters, our hair colours? Our height? You hate the casino, I love it,” Aventurine answers drily.
“You know what I meant.” Ratio glares at him. “As people . No matter what foolish things you choose to do or say, we are entitled to our dignity, our autonomy, and our future.”
“But—”
“Make a deal with me,” Ratio leans over, and Aventurine’s eyes widen in disbelief. They are sitting shoulder to shoulder against each other. “Not with your ridiculous karmic sorcery, mind you. I’m looking for an honest effort. From you .”
He’s so thrown off guard that Aventurine can only weakly joke around. “Well, no promises but what do you want, and how are you going to pay, doctor? I don’t take cash. There’s a bed here, but— ow!”
Ratio knocks his head into Aventurine’s in a bid to shut him up. There is a dull sting where their skulls connected, but the pain helps him clear his own thoughts.
Aventurine gives Ratio a pained look and rubs his head indignantly. “What was that for?”
“Try using that winsome personality of yours to make someone else happy without peering into their head,” Ratio says impassively, holding his gaze steady. “I know you’re capable of it, without relying on your little tricks to tell you what they want and the guarantee that you’ll find it. Taking shortcuts reflects your poor work ethic as a student.”
Aventurine is quiet for a moment. “Someone else,” he repeats. “You sound like you have my next victim in mind. Do I know him?”
“Correct. Five points,” Ratio answers lightly. “And he will be learning alongside you. Consider him your partner in this collaborative experiment I’ve assigned. Try to care for each other through the art of camaraderie and companionship, instead of using a facetious transaction as a veil.”
The irony of it is not lost on Aventurine either, and he chuckles. “He doesn’t deserve very high marks at the moment, I have to say.”
Ratio clicks his tongue. “I did imply he and you both have much to learn.”
There is a pregnant pause in the conversation that hangs between them, as Aventurine perhaps, truly makes an effort to consider Ratio’s suggestion. Ratio watches his expressions with much interest. He studies Aventurine quietly now that they are up close, close enough to count every golden lash surrounding his eyes if he so wished. Aventurine keeps very still while contemplating, and Ratio notes that is a starkly different side to him from the theatrical and expressive flair he has in the casino. The hedonistic and reckless gambler that seems to leave everything to fate in the thrill of risking it all, and the quietly sentimental, reticent, and cunning young man that resigned himself to being used and never treated as another person are both facets of his true self, Ratio thinks. One is not lesser than the other.
Aventurine suddenly lets out a little sigh, and lets his head fall onto Ratio’s shoulder. His soft locks of golden hair tickle Ratio’s neck, but he wills himself to stay very still, as if one unexpected move would startle the immensely shy bird he has finally coaxed onto his shoulder into flying away, never coming back. “I think that sounds like a nice idea, doctor. It does make me feel better knowing I’m not the only student lagging behind. When are we starting?” There is still that typical teasing lilt to his voice, but Ratio likes to think he can hear a naked kind of earnestness through it as well.
“Now is a good time as ever,” Ratio answers thinly. “Lest you start slacking and fall behind again.”
“Heh. I invited him to my room in the middle of the night, and instead of trying to decipher what could have possibly been my intent for doing so, he lectures me on all my life choices. I think I’m doing much better than him on that end.”
Ratio does not justify the accusation with a defense. They stay awkwardly pressed against each other in silence for a while, until Ratio delicately moves his arm to Aventurine’s far shoulder, gently pulling him closer and into a more natural and intimate lean.
“Five points,” Aventurine says lightheartedly.
-
To the esteemed Detective:
I found nothing unnatural within the circumstances of the case you gave me. As agreed, I will be taking my leave.
However, I have encountered an unrelated problem in the process. Consider yourself lucky that I have taken this problem out of Penacony's hands.
Dr. Veritas Ratio
-
"That impulsive bastard..." Gallagher chuckles, picking up the note laid neatly upon the desk where they had agreed to meet.
Aventurine peers over Ratio’s shoulder, holding a steaming mug in his hand. “What’s this new project about?” He takes a sip from the mug, makes a disgusted face, and sets it down by the busy professor. Ratio gives a slight nod as an acknowledgement and thanks.
“Resuscitative measures that can be taken post cryogenics.” Ratio doesn’t even look up as he continues doing calculations on paper.
Aventurine frowns deeply at this. “You know, the story I told you a while back, forget about it. It really was a joke.”
“Don’t be so self-centered. It’s not related to you,” Ratio waves off, but the both of them know that he is lying.
“Just like how the slot machines you put in that fancy virtual simulation you made with your colleague wasn’t related to me?”
Ratio sighs, and finally turns his head to level a frown towards Aventurine. “When I was young, I assembled a bicycle for myself from scratch. It was in an effort to teach myself about real life applications of torque.”
“Wow,” Aventurine cuts in. He goes along with the flow so easily, it almost upsets Ratio that he didn’t object more to the tangent. “You don’t need to rub in your prodigious background that much, you know.”
“Quiet, I didn’t get to the point. I was in fact, quite proud of it, and I used it often. One day, someone stole it.”
“Ouch. Did you find the guy?”
“I did. At the time, I rationalised to myself that the person who took it must have been in dire need of it. Of course, theft is a criminal act, but for someone to steal a handmade bicycle, they must have been desperate. To my surprise, it was a pawn shop owner trying to upsell it as some collector’s item. I was furious.” Ratio’s eyebrows scrunch, remembering the incident.
Aventurine starts guffawing. “Ah, that really is so much like you. I can picture it vividly in my mind, a smaller and cuter little Veritas, fuming over the revelation that there are truly people in the world that are bankrupt in morals. My stomach hurts.”
Ratio feels his ears redden slightly, but he does not falter. “What I was getting at was, it is the same with you. If someone took my will, and wasted it all on feeling sorry for himself, blaming a preconceived notion of futility, I would have beat it right back out of him. But, I would have let you take whatever you wanted if you needed it for yourself,” he admits quietly.
This stuns Aventurine into a stony silence. He doesn’t laugh, or smile. Finally, he sighs. “Doctor, the way you think scares me at times. Sometimes, I wonder if you’re too secretly softhearted behind that cruel and cold exterior. Most people, if they found out someone had stolen from them and were enjoying themselves handily, they’d be angry beyond belief. They’d do anything to drag them down to hell with them. Misery begets misery, right?”
Ratio hums in agreement. “It is a concession I make only for people whose potential I recognise. Are you implying I’d let any fool off the side of the road take advantage of me?”
“Well, I made a lot of mistakes out of mental instability and selfishness. If that doesn’t make me the lowest grade of fool in your book, I’d say you’ve been getting too soft.”
“Animals plunder each other all the time for sustenance. No one calls a lion feeding on a gazelle evil. In that sense, taking things carelessly for sport feels like a uniquely human evil. Perhaps consider that your capricious nature is what continuously fascinates me about you.”
Neither of them are improving at an acceptable rate at this sincerity thing, but Aventurine has not called himself a witch or a tool in front of Ratio for quite a long time, which is good enough for Ratio. He knows that Jade is still occasionally whisking the gambler away to fulfill one of her requests, as his obligation to her is a lifelong debt that he perhaps does not know how to ever pay back on his own. But he has grown past that being his sole identity and sense of self.
Instead, Aventurine now very seriously looks at Ratio. “I have to raise a counterargument. Cats absolutely love to hunt and steal things for the love of the game. Then, that must also be why you spoil our three little menaces so much?”
Ratio flicks Aventurine sternly on the forehead.