Siri continued, “You were so desperate to get her out of your life you started to sleep in a nightdress to persuade her you weren’t male. You’d heard the rumors that she only took the lives of men. And it probably worked for a while, but she followed you, even into the daylight hours and haunted you. So you began dressing as a woman all day, all night, afraid to let down your guard even for the briefest time.”

“This is a bad talk,” said Bpoo.

“Of course your friends and neighbors ostracized you. They thought you’d gone mad. And you got to the point where you had no friends. You weren’t homosexual or actually interested in cross-dressing, so those communities didn’t want you. And you’d never attract a wife looking the way you did. So you became a bitter loner: miserable and obnoxious.”

“No.”

“And there you are now in the otherworld, still petrified to let down your guard. Still unpleasant. Still looking over your shoulder all the time. Because you’re in their realm now, so there’s no sleep for you. No rest. And you know the funniest thing about all this?”

“Make me laugh.”

There was no scenery now. The spaceship was gone. They were facing each other in a green-screen room both dressed exactly the same in Siri’s unfashionable attire. They were sitting on plastic bathroom stools.

“The phibob have only one weapon,” said Siri. “All they can do is put their fear into you: the fear of death, of helplessness, of worthlessness. None of it is real. They plant an idea into you and sit back and watch you self-destruct. Ghosts don’t kill people. People are eaten from the inside by their own terror. You’ve been living this lie all your life. Still, in the afterlife, you continue to be afraid even though they have no physical control over you. You are drowning in your own imagination. You still shroud yourself in all this symbolism because you think it puts them off your trail, but they aren’t there, Bpoo.”

“Is this you attempting to take control over me?” said the transvestite.

“Ah, so that’s why you’re being so defensive about it all. I have never and will never have control over you,” said Siri. “But at least now I understand you. I’m sorry that you’ve spent so much of your life hiding and depressed. I’m sorry for all the times I’ve been rude to you. I’ve decided to go out of my way to like you. In fact, you’ve inspired me to put together a plan.”

“To save me?”

“No, you’re on your own. But I think I can save the boys your succubus has on her list. I might need a little help with that.”

Chapter Nine

Chapter Nine

Collateral Deaths

“Oh, Siri, you made me jump,” said Nurse Dtui.