Page 21 of A Mastery of Monsters

Corey leans back in the chair. “Dr. Weiss said that everyone has two shadows. The physical projection you see on the ground and the inner projection of your monster. We all swap shadows with the monster sometimes. It’s a grave mistake to assume that only the monsters you can see require mastery.

For each and every one of us, in the absence of control, our monsters can destroy one another as surely as claws and fangs. ”

I don’t ask Corey if maybe some monsters need to be set free.

If sometimes, destruction is better than the stifling feeling of being controlled by someone else.

Of having everything you do decided for you.

Isn’t breaking free of that worth a little damage?

Instead, I say, “Wow, all that wisdom, and he still couldn’t realize that shadow metaphors are both cringey and overdone. ”

She laughs. “It is kind of cheesy, isn’t it?

But I believe that it’s true. I also believe that what the Progressives could do, what Adam Shaw could do, is have more people acknowledge that truth.

In the early days, ‘monster’ wasn’t even a designation.

There were just Masters and their partners.

The title was a subversion of servitude, celebrating the mastery of a monster by both parties, an equal partnership.

One day, I hope people will remember that was the original teaching of Dr. Weiss.

But first, we’ll focus on helping Virgil. ”

I know Corey believes what she’s saying, and there is something beautiful about the way this society was supposed to be.

But at the same time, why not call both people in the partnership Masters if it’s so equal?

Why give one a title and the other nothing?

“And what makes Virgil so special? Why are all these people so invested in helping him?”

“Because we like him.”

My jaw drops a bit. “That’s it?”

Corey shrugs. “Henry knew his parents, so that contributes. And I think Dr. Liu would help anyone who needed it and loved books. But for me and Bernie, that’s it.

” She grips the edge of the desk chair. “I came to McIntosh Castle after I failed the initiation. My partner and I… It didn’t go well.

I lost some bits and pieces.” She lifts her prosthetic leg with a wry smile, and then lets it drop back to the floor.

“Everyone was disappointed. My parents. All the people rooting for me. The Master who nominated me won’t even look at me anymore.

I wanted to escape, and Dr. Liu was the only one willing to help.

I wasn’t… I wasn’t very nice to Virgil, not at first. Wouldn’t speak to or interact with him in any way.

I pretended he didn’t exist. Honestly, I was afraid of him.

I was afraid of all monsters…. Still am. ”

I think back to when Margot had Isaac transform. That was the reason Corey went to sit in the car. She couldn’t bring herself to be that close to a monster in that form.

“But Virgil was always kind to me,” she says.

“He has spent his entire life being treated like scum, and he’s still him .

He’s better than who he should be. I guess it’s hard not to want to protect someone like that.

And so I have no choice but to believe in you, for his sake.

You have the potential to achieve Bachelor.

I’ll help with societal knowledge and some of the physical training along with Margot, and Virgil can handle monster affinity. ”

“Why would I be able to do this if you couldn’t after training for it your whole life?” I ask, gaze on the ground. And what would she think if she knew my real plans?

Corey regards me for a moment before she answers.

“People act like this competition is only about skill or knowledge, but when you’ve been through it, you know that the most important part is the relationship between you and your partner.

Mine and I…Well, I was born to fight for him.

Literally.” She licks her lips. “My parents were invited into the society in the first place because their bloodline was traced back. There was a possibility of my mom having a monster child. We have testing for the mutation, but only for postnatal, so they couldn’t know ahead of time.

When my brother was born, his test came back positive.

He had the mutation. So they started trying for another baby.

One who could partner with him. It’s rare for two monsters to be born in a row, after all.

The odds were good. From the moment I came into the world, I had a specific purpose.

I was here to fight for my brother’s humanity.

I know you have a different relationship with your brother, so perhaps you can’t imagine what it might be like to grow up knowing you only exist because he does. ”

But Corey failed. So then… what happened to her brother?

Did they imprison him, or did he try to run away like Bernie’s son and get taken out?

Until this moment, I hadn’t even known she had a brother.

Not that it feels anywhere near the right time to ask.

“I’m sorry,” I say, because it seems like the only appropriate response.

She flattens her lips into a tight smile.

“You aren’t the one who should be apologizing.

What I’m saying is, I know you don’t see eye-to-eye, but you and Virgil are a good pair.

He doesn’t view himself as human, and I know that, strictly speaking, his isn’t, but he’s so willing to compromise himself for other people, maybe to prove that he is human.

Honestly, you’re kind of giving him a taste of his own medicine.

After all, you’re risking your life for someone else too, aren’t you? ”

I swallow. “You guys said that the chances of dying are low.”

“But not zero. And no one gets out of the candidacy unscathed.” She grips her left hand into a fist. The one with the missing fingers.

“You are actively putting yourself in danger. And I kind of feel like you like it that way. I see that in you because I’ve seen it in Virgil.

You two are more alike than you think, and that’s why you’ll work well together.

Instinctively, you understand each other. ”

“Work well together? All we’ve done so far is piss each other off.”

She grins. “You don’t know Virgil like I do.

He doesn’t go out of his way to follow girls he doesn’t know to learn more about them.

He doesn’t push against Henry, which rejecting his candidates and choosing you definitely counts as.

Virgil has spent most of his life passively accepting his circumstances.

But you, you make him fight. So yes, I do think you two have the potential to do well together. ”

I don’t know what to say to that. Virgil is wound so tight, and I let everything go a while ago.

It’s hard to think of us being similar in any way, but I can’t dispute what Corey said either.

And this is a competition. We’ll need to fight to win, and if that’s what I bring out in him, our chances are better.

I’m willing to do whatever it takes to help Jules, even knowing that this is the last thing he would want me to be involved in.

Corey stands. “Now, let’s make this bed so you can stop sitting on it. It’s giving me the ick.”