The next morning, Lyra woke to find her vision filled with pulsing red text.
DEATH PROPHECY SYSTEM ACTIVATED
ANALYSIS COMPLETE
MISSION PARAMETERS LOADED
She blinked, but the text remained. It stayed still in the air like glowing and visible no matter where she looked.
"Moira?" she called out, but her mentor was nowhere to be seen.
The text shifted, new lines appearing:
PRIMARY OBJECTIVE: ELIMINATE RAVENCREST BLOODLINE
PROGRESS: 1/12 TARGETS ELIMINATED
REWARD: SOUL PEACE AND ETERNAL REST
"What is this?" Lyra whispered.
More text appeared, blazing red like an ancient tome:
RAVENCREST FAMILY REGISTRY
ACTIVE TARGETS:
LADY VIVIENNE RAVENCREST - LOCATION: RAVENHOLD CASTLE PETER RAVENCREST - LOCATION: RAVENHOLD CITY LADY MARGARET RAVENCREST - LOCATION: SILVERBROOK MANOR BARON THOMAS RAVENCREST - LOCATION: EASTERN PROVINCES COUNTESS HELENA RAVENCREST - LOCATION: SOUTHERN PORTS CAPTAIN JAMES RAVENCREST - LOCATION: ROYAL NAVY LADY CATHERINE RAVENCREST - LOCATION: WESTMARCH TERRITORY LORD EDWARD RAVENCREST - LOCATION: MOUNTAIN FORTRESS DUCHESS ELIZABETH RAVENCREST - LOCATION: FOREIGN EMBASSY
10.MASTER RICHARD RAVENCREST - LOCATION: GUILD QUARTERS
11.LADY STAURT RAVENCREST - LOCATION: CONVENT OF MERCY
ELIMINATED ALREADY
LORD FEDRICK RAVENCREST
Lyra stared at the list in horror, she needed to eliminate eleven people. "I don't understand," she said to the empty air. "What are you trying to do by including Peter?"
The text shifted again:
DEATH PROPHECY SYSTEM: SUPERNATURAL INTERFACE FOR REINCARNATED SOULS
PURPOSE: GUIDE VENGEANCE AGAINST THOSE WHO WRONGED YOU
ACTIVATION TRIGGER: STRONG EMOTIONAL RESONANCE WITH PAST TRAUMA
SYSTEM ADMINISTRATOR: UNKNOWN
"Someone created this? Someone is controlling it?"
QUERY REQUIRES HIGHER CLEARANCE LEVEL
FOCUS ON CURRENT MISSION PARAMETERS
New text appeared, this time in urgent red:
WARNING: MISSION DEVIATION DETECTED
SUBJECT SHOWING ROMANTIC ATTACHMENT TO PRIMARY TARGET
RECOMMENDED ACTION: ELIMINATE PETER RAVENCREST IMMEDIATELY
"No," Lyra said firmly. "I won't kill him."
ANALYZING RESISTANCE...
EMOTIONAL COMPROMISE CONFIRMED
INITIATING CORRECTIVE MEASURES
Suddenly, Lyra's vision filled with images. Not her own memories, but something else. Ancient scenes of brutality and cruelty.
She saw Marcus Ravencrest, the family patriarch, ordering the execution of hundreds of supernatural beings. She watched as he personally tortured a young fae woman, laughing as she begged for mercy.
She saw Peter's grandfather burning down a werewolf sanctuary, children screaming as they were consumed by flames.
She witnessed Lady Vivienne, even as a young woman, experimenting on captured witches, seeking to understand their power so she could better destroy them.
"Stop," Lyra gasped, but the images continued.
Peter's father, supposedly the kindest of the line, secretly funding slave ships that transported supernatural beings to foreign lands for experimentation.
Peter's mother, elegant and refined, personally selecting which supernatural children would be taken from their families for "education" that was really indoctrination.
"These are lies," Lyra whispered, but doubt crept into her voice.
HISTORICAL RECORDS CONFIRMED
RAVENCREST FAMILY CRIMES SPAN TWELVE GENERATIONS
ESTIMATED SUPERNATURAL DEATHS: 47,000+
ESTIMATED HUMAN DEATHS: 12,000+
TOTAL LIVES DESTROYED: 59,000+
The numbers burned in Lyra's vision. Fifty-nine thousand lives. An entire people, nearly extinct.
PETER RAVENCREST PSYCHOLOGICAL PROFILE:
GUILT-DRIVEN BEHAVIOR: CLASSIC MANIPULATION TACTIC
CHARITY WORK: DESIGNED TO GAIN SYMPATHY AND LOWER GUARD
EMOTIONAL RESPONSES: CALCULATED TO APPEAR GENUINE
THREAT LEVEL: MAXIMUM - MOST DANGEROUS DUE TO PERCEIVED INNOCENCE
"That's not true," Lyra said, but her voice lacked conviction. "I saw his kindness. I felt it."
KINDNESS CAN BE LEARNED AND PERFORMED
EVIL OFTEN WEARS THE MASK OF GOODNESS
HISTORICAL PRECEDENT: MARCUS RAVENCREST ALSO SHOWED PUBLIC KINDNESS
More images flooded her vision. Marcus visited orphanages, just as Peter did. Marcus heals the sick, just as Peter did. Marcus weeping over the "necessity" of his actions, just as Peter wept over his family's crimes.
"They're... they're identical," Lyra breathed.
GENETIC PREDISPOSITION TO MANIPULATION CONFIRMED
RAVENCREST BLOODLINE CARRIES INHERENT EVIL
ONLY COMPLETE ELIMINATION WILL PREVENT FUTURE ATROCITIES
"But the children at the orphanage love him."
CHILDREN ARE EASILY FOOLED
ADULTS WHO WORK WITH HIM SHOW SIGNS OF SUPERNATURAL INFLUENCE
PETER RAVENCREST POSSESSES LATENT MAGICAL ABILITIES
LIKELY USING THEM FOR MIND CONTROL
The system displayed a new set of images. Peter's eyes glowing faintly as he spoke to the children. The orphanage workers moving with slightly unnatural coordination. The patients at the clinic smiling too widely, too uniformly.
"He's... he's controlling them?"
EVIDENCE SUGGESTS SUBTLE MENTAL MANIPULATION
COMMON TACTIC AMONG EVIL MAGIC USERS
VICTIMS RARELY REALIZE THEY'RE BEING CONTROLLED
Lyra felt her worldview crumbling. Everything she'd believed about Peter, every moment of kindness she'd witnessed, suddenly seemed sinister.
"What do I do?" she whispered.
ELIMINATE PRIMARY TARGET: PETER RAVENCREST
RECOMMENDED METHOD: BANSHEE WAIL DURING SLEEP
ESTIMATED SUCCESS RATE: 99.7%
MISSION COMPLETION BONUS: ACCESS TO HIGHER SYSTEM FUNCTIONS
"And if I refuse?"
The text turned a deeper red, pulsing with menace:
WARNING: DEVIATION FROM PRIMARY MISSION MAY RESULT IN SOUL FRAGMENTATION
REPEATED RESISTANCE WILL TRIGGER AUTOMATIC OVERRIDE
SYSTEM WILL ASSUME DIRECT CONTROL OF HOST BODY
MISSION WILL BE COMPLETED REGARDLESS OF HOST PREFERENCE
"You're threatening me?"
SYSTEM DESIGNED TO ENSURE JUSTICE IS SERVED
EMOTIONAL COMPROMISE CANNOT BE ALLOWED TO PREVENT COMPLETION
HOST COOPERATION PREFERRED BUT NOT REQUIRED
"I need time to think."Lyra said as she stumbled backward. Her hand found the rough stone wall. The cold stone helped her think clearly, even as everything felt wrong.
"This can't be happening," she whispered. She pressed her hands against her head. The red text got brighter, like it was feeding on her fear.
She thought of yesterday. Peter's gentle hands bandaging a child's hurt knee. The way his eyes smiled when he helped the old woman who couldn't buy medicine. Now those memories felt dirty and wrong.
But something bothered her. The system had missed something important.
"Show me proof," she said. "Real proof, not just pictures in my head."
The system answered right away:
PROOF REQUIRES FIELD VERIFICATION OBSERVE TARGET DURING UNGUARDED MOMENTS EVIDENCE OF DECEPTION WILL BE APPARENT
Lyra's breath caught. The system wanted her to spy on Peter. To watch him when he thought no one was looking. But wasn't that what she'd done yesterday? And every time, she'd seen only real kindness.
"You're lying," she said. Her voice got stronger. "I've already seen him when he didn't know I was watching. I've felt his emotions. He's not pretending."
The text flickered and jumped:
SUPERNATURAL CONNECTIONS CAN BE MANIPULATED EMOTIONAL RESONANCE DOES NOT EQUAL TRUTH RAVENCREST BLOODLINE EXPERTS IN DECEPTION
"Then why didn't Marcus fool my grandmother? Why didn't he fool any of the supernatural beings he killed? If they're such good liars, why did we fight back?"
For the first time, the system stopped. The red text got dimmer, like it was thinking about something new.
QUERY REQUIRES ADDITIONAL ANALYSIS STAND BY...
The pause gave Lyra hope. Maybe this system didn't know everything like it said it did.