InterGalaxia (On Hold)

1.27

Lei Yang cocked a brow, pleasantly surprised. "So, I've been rewarded despite my analysis not being 100% accurate. I recognise holes within my conjecture but if the basic framework of the conspiracy is there, it gets recognised. Interesting, I'll have to remember that". Lei Yang was silent for a while before a sound from his phone interrupted his inner musings. Opening his messages, Lei Yang noted a text from the star of his thoughts right now.

"Lei Yang, I want to apologise for my behaviour last night. I was being a dick to Sawyer and got you involved. I honestly don't remember stepping out with Sawyer, but Lei Chu told me that was in fisty cuffs and you had to break up the fight? I wanna apologise to your face, think you could meet me at the usual place?"

Lei Yang let his phone screen turn black as he tapped the top right corner of the phone against his chin in thought. Deliberating, Lei Yang decided to take the man up on his offer. [Host, why did you accept the offer? Especially after figuring out that it was Benson who helped set up the Original to die], Xiao Gou asked in confusion. Lei Yang paused from texting, his eye twitching. "Xiao Gou, don't actually take your name to heart and just sit around begging for meat. Why don't you think for yourself for once? I mean, if you stop for a minute and think, the answer is obvious". Xiao Gou hissed and retreated to the furthest part of Lei Yang's inner world where it usually resided. [Who shat in Host's cornflakes?]. Lei Yang was quiet before murmuring an apology to his System. 

"I'm sorry Xiao Gou, that was mean. It's just, this whole mercenary job is taking a toll on me. For fuck's sake, this is just the first World and I'm already getting frustrated with this mission thing. Like, it's hard to uncover conspiracies and figure out plausible and reasonable explanations to why Person A did this to Person B, as often, these machinations that the antagonists pull on the protagonist and side characters are just completely for no reason" Lei Yang paused and sat down on the edge of the couch, his hands together in a praying motion with the thumbs crossed over each other. This pose meant nothing, he just did it consciously to prevent himself from picking at his cuticles while talking, a habit he carried over from his past life.

 "I mean, let's take Lei Chu for example. As the main female lead, she has a golden halo that protects her no matter the shitty stuff she does. In the eyes of the inhabitants of this World, if you aren't her targets, all wrongdoing and bad public perception are absolved because she gets together with the Son of Heaven. But, she literally organises for someone to push her own brother to death, how much more of a bitch can't you get than that?" Lei Yang emphasised the last sentence as if Lei Chu was scum beneath his bare feet". Xiao Gou flew out from Lei Yang's glabella to directly confront his Host. [But Host, Lei Chu didn't kill Lei Yang, he committed suicide. You can't just call her a murderer because you don't like her] Xiao Gou pointed out.

"Good point, I'll get back to that, for now... Though she didn't directly kill him, she framed him and hired Benson to use his authority to make sure Lei Yang suffers. She inadvertently deprived him of his freedom, basic rights to food and safety, had his chastity forcefully taken from him; these series of events perpetrated by Benson's goons drove him to suicide as that was the only reprieve the poor bastard had left. All for what? What ungodly, despicable thing did Lei Yang do to the poor little flower that made him deserve all he got? Nothing, he was just a physical reminder of the hardships Lei Chu had to suffer while growing up. He was a manifestation of her insecurities and she thought that his presence would bring her back down to the slums she used to live in, that made him unsightly to her. In fact, they got along as children and even as teenagers, but Lei Chu refused to see herself amongst the company of someone who reminded her of her old self. She didn't send him home, didn't try to talk to him or even try to scare him off with words of rejection as she knew that it wouldn't work, Lei Yang was as stubborn as she is. But from what line of thought do you have to be having to frame your brother with a serious crime just because you wanted him to leave you alone? How does Lei Yang suddenly become someone who steals and sells private company information out of literally nowhere? He doesn't, he just was a sty in someone important's eye". Lei Yang finished his speech and stood up to walk to his balcony. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out one of Edris' cigarettes he nicked before leaving the man's apartment. Lighting it up with a kitchen lighter he kept next to the small gas barbecue on the balcony, he took a deep drag of the acrid stick of nicotine. Holding the puff of smoke in his mouth for a while before he let it escape through his nose. The smoke tickled the inside of his nostrils. Grimacing, "disgusting", Lei Yang stubbed out the lit end of the cigarette and left it out the balcony rail to head back inside.

 Coughing the putrid smoke out and dry heaving, Lei Yang shut the sliding door and plopped down on the couch again. [If you don't like smoking, why do it in the first place?]. Lei Yang paused before answering. "As this job irritates me and challenges me, I sometimes like to think back on my past life. Cigarettes are one of the few things I remember from my earliest memories of childhood, you know, before being stuck in the orphanage. My father, he used to be a chronic smoker. In fact, due to him smoking around my mother whilst she was pregnant with me and other health history issues, I managed to be born with asthma. I can't remember what he looks like but every time I smell a particular brand of cigarette smoke, I feel a little comforted. I even tried to take up smoking when I was in University, yeah, like hell I could actually keep it up as it's disgusting. But some of my friends were smokers and I would hang with them while they smoked and talked shit. It was a stress reliever, as stupid as that sounds".

 [What about your mother?] Xiao Gou asked. "She wore this really awful perfume that smelt like baby wipes. Other than that, I just remember that she used to sing a lullaby to me before I slept at night... And before you ask, I didn't have siblings. But I always wanted them, so when I found out about Lei Yang getting fucked over by Lei Chu, I just couldn't believe it. Like, at first I thought that maybe there was some real issue between the siblings growing up that caused an intense hatred of Lei Yang by Lei Chu, as nobody's first thought is to throw their brother under a burning bus for no reason. So, I spent a day sifting through the memories I inherited from Lei Yang and I could not find any kind of issue that could cause a falling out between the siblings. Then, that left me with a horribly executed justification for Lei Chu's actions: she was just disgusted with her past and didn't like Lei Yang being around her. That was her big, completely ridiculous reason to fuck over her brother. There's no motivation, no conflict, no build-up of justified reasoning– just because he was there" Lei Yang huffed in anger for the Original. 

[Host, I get that, but I just don't see how this is an issue for you. You've been doing extremely well so far, seemingly without difficulty, so I don't see why you're stressing out] Xiao Gou was still perplexed. Lei Yang hummed and took a sip of his water, wetting his dry throat. "Well, I'm not a genius. Heck, even a genius isn't perfect all the time. You say I've been doing this with ease, incorrect, it's hard. I'm an amateur sleuth who has a basic understanding of what he's supposed to be looking for but at the same time, doesn't. I have only been going about things by constantly thinking and overthinking about what I want to achieve and the objectives of my missions. I mean, those books I read in my past life about protagonists who were unbelievably smart, calculating and never seemed to go through hardships when setting their plans into motion are just fictional characters. There are many variables that you can't account for when you set up a multi-faceted plan. Especially if the plan includes people. People are unpredictable, and your plan will have to change while in motion, that is inevitable" Lei Yang waved his hand dismissively before lying on his back, knees bent with his right knee crossed over his left.

 "For example, I was never supposed to have contact with Edris Sawyer in the way I do now. The relationship wasn't supposed to be so deeply attached, we were supposed to be no more than casual acquaintances but then he became a mercenary and thus, became a person to be close to so that I can keep an eye on him. Then there's having to set up a marriage partner for Lei Chu to keep her occupied. I discover things I didn't know, such as Benson being a partner in Edris' Conglomerate. I learn things I wasn't supposed to in line with this character, such as having to learn how to do stocks for money or attend University to learn about Physics. I mean, none of this was in my initial plan but as I came to be ingrained in this world, it's become a compulsory necessity to do these things just to keep the ball rolling".

 [So, Host thinks the missions are hard? I'm confused about what you even mean]. Lei Yang folded his arms behind his head, laid his legs flat before crossing the ankles over each other and his eyes fluttering closed. "Nothing, Xiao Gou, it means nothing at all". He started humming softly before lightly singing. 

"Soft kitty, warm kitty, little ball of fur. Happy kitty, sleepy kitty, purr purr purr. Curl up in your bed kitty, it's time to close your eyes. Sleep kitty, dream kitty, until the sunrise". This melody overlapped with a memory of a high pitched and soothing croon in his head.

He drifted off to sleep, leaving a stuttering and confused disembodied voice to shout at him.