He swayed, his lips trembling. “That was an accident… It had nothing to do with me…”
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“An accident?” I laughed. “There are no accidents. Let me tell you the truth, Ryan. I have a ‘Truth System.’ Any lie told in my presence comes true in the worst way possible. You said you had renal failure, and you got it. Colby said she had a heart condition, and now she does. That doctor swore he didn’t fake a report, and a madman killed him. These weren’t accidents. They were your own lies coming back to kill you.”
“That’s impossible!” he shouted. “Colby has always had kidney problems! She wasn’t faking it! She needs this! Stop making things up!”
I raised an eyebrow and grabbed Chunk by the arm, pulling him forward. He stumbled, nearly falling. “Hey, Ruby, what gives?”
“The truth,” I said, looking back at Ryan. “You say Colby’s been sick this whole time? Let’s ask your boy here. Ask him if Colby, just a few days ago, while you guys were all out for drinks, told everyone her ‘kidney disease ‘was a sham and that she was going to marry you as soon as she got my kidney.”
Ryan glared at Chunk, his eyes murderous. “Chunk. Tell me. Colby has always been sick, right? When did she ever say something like that?”
Sweat beaded on Chunk’s forehead. He glanced from Ryan to me, then finally, he broke. “Ryan… man… she… she did say it. A few nights ago. She said she wasn’t really sick, she just needed Ruby’s kidney… and that you two were getting married after you broke up with Ruby…”
“You’re lying!” Ryan screamed, pointing to another friend. “You! Tell me what happened!”
The other friend pushed his glasses up his nose. “Chunk’s telling the truth, Ryan… You weren’t there. Colby had a few drinks and told us everything. She told us not to tell you…”
One by one, his friends confirmed the story. Not a single one of them backed him up.
But Ryan covered his ears, shaking his head. “I don’t believe you! You’re all lying! Colby would never lie to me!
She loves me!”
He suddenly grabbed my arm again. “Stop trying to turn everyone against me! Come with me to the operati- ng room. Colby is waiting.”
He tried to drag me, and I fought back. As we struggled, he let out a sharp cry and collapsed, clutching his stomach. His face turned a ghastly white, sweat pouring down his face, soaking the collar of his shirt.
His friends stood frozen in shock.
I watched him writhe on the floor. “You seem to have forgotten your own words,” I said calmly. “Just a mom- ent ago, you said, ‘I’m not sick at all.’ My system, however, has a perfect memory.”
He was in too much pain to speak, only able to make guttural, choking sounds. A passing nurse saw the co- mmotion and called for a doctor. They loaded Ryan onto a gurney and wheeled him into another ER.
A few minutes later, the doctor who had examined Colby emerged with Ryan’s chart, his face grim. The frie- nds crowded around him. “Doctor, how is he?”
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The doctor sighed. “The patient’s renal failure is in the final stage. He needs a new kidney immediately, or he won’t make it through the day. You need to find a donor now. If you can’t, you should start making arrangem- ents.”
The friends looked at each other, silent. They all knew the truth. Ryan had faked his illness to get my kidney, and now that his lie was real, I was the only match.
Just then, Ryan was wheeled out, still conscious. The moment he saw me, his eyes lit up with a desperate hope. He fought to get off the bed, ripping out his IV. “Ruby, save me! Give me a kidney! I’ll never bother you again! I’ll pay you! Anything you want…”
I stood my ground, a cold smile on my face. “Save you? Do you honestly think I can donate a kidney anymo- re? Two weeks ago, I was diagnosed with a kidney condition. A doctor told me I needed immediate treatm- ent before it turned into renal failure. You had my medical report forged so I could give my kidney to Colby. Do you really think mine is still usable? Besides, you seem to forget about my little ‘system.’ Anyone who takes my kidney now… well, let’s just say they’d be signing their own death warrant. Do you want to take that
chance?”
The light in his eyes died. He collapsed back onto the bed, all the fight gone out of him.
At that moment, the doors to the other ER opened, and Colby was wheeled out. She was still groggy, but she
saw Ryan and started to cry. “Ryan, I feel so awful. My heart hurts so much… Am I going to die?”
Then she saw that he, too, was a patient, hooked up to machines. She struggled to sit up. “Ryan, what happ-
ened to you? Are you sick, too? My kidney… what about my kidney?”
Her doctor approached, his expression weary. “You have severe renal failure, but your heart condition is just
as critical. Your heart is on the verge of total failure. Even with a new kidney, your heart wouldn’t be able to
handle it. All we can do now is manage the pain with medication. You need to prepare yourselves.”
Colby’s face went slack with shock. She turned to Ryan, her eyes wild, trying to crawl off her bed. “Ryan, give me your heart! You promised you’d always take care of me! You said you’d give me anything I wanted! I’m dying! Give me your heart! If you don’t, I’ll haunt you forever!”
[LIE DETECTED. COLBY’S HEART CONDITION WAS NOT SUDDEN. COMMENCING REALITY-ALTERATION.]
The system’s voice was the last thing I heard before Colby suddenly clutched her chest, her body seizing violently. Foam bubbled at her lips, and her skin turned the color of ash.
Doctors rushed to her side, performing CPR, but it was no use. The heart monitor flatlined.
“Time of death, 11:42 AM,” the doctor said, removing his mask.
Ryan stared at the white sheet being pulled over Colby’s body, mumbling to himself. “Impossible… how could she be dead… She was just using me… how could she be dead…”
He suddenly looked at me, his eyes wide with terror. He scrambled off his bed and crawled toward me on his hands and knees, grabbing at my pant leg. “Ruby, I was wrong! I shouldn’t have lied to you! I shouldn’t
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have helped her trick you! Please, let me go… I don’t want to die. I’m too young.”
“Let you go?” I kicked him away. He cried out in pain but didn’t dare come closer. “When you and Colby were plotting to steal my kidney, did you think about letting me go? When you locked me in that windowless room, did you think about letting me go? You’re scared now? It’s too late.”
He was about to beg again when my mother came running down the hall.
She saw me and immediately started screaming. “Ruby, you ungrateful wretch! Ryan is dying, and you won’t save him? Do you want him to die? If you don’t save him, who’s going to give our family money? Who’s going to buy me my gold bracelets?”
“Mom, I can’t save him,” I said, feeling nothing. She had never once been on my side.
“You have to save him!” She grabbed my arm. “This is Ryan! His family has money and power! If you save
him, we’ll be set for life! If you don’t, I’ll kill myself! I’m already not feeling well. If you upset me any more, you’
Il give me a heart attack, and then you’ll be a murderer!”
[LIE DETECTED. MOTHER’S HEALTH IS FINE. COMMENCING REALITY-ALTERATION.]
As the system’s voice faded, my mother gasped, clutched her chest, and collapsed, her eyes closing as she hit the floor. She wasn’t breathing.
Everyone panicked. Doctors rushed over and began performing emergency procedures. After a few tense
moments, one of them sighed with relief. “We got her back. It was just temporary cardiac arrest. A few minu-
tes later, and we would have lost her.”
I knew why she was okay. It was the family connection. I had noticed it before. No matter what lies my mot-
her told, the effects of the system were never permanent for her. She was the only one.
After they wheeled my mother to a room, Ryan sat on the floor, his head in his hands. “What do I do? I don’t
want to die. I have to save myself.”
He suddenly looked up, a manic gleam in his eyes. “Ruby! That system you talked about… if I tell the truth, it
will be fine, right? So if I say I’m not sick, then I won’t be sick?”
He had completely misunderstood. I had only ever said that lies come true in the worst way. I never said
anything about what the truth would do,
Seeing my silence, he took it as confirmation. He struggled to his feet and shouted at the top of his lungs, “I’ m not sick! I, Ryan Hayes, am perfectly healthy! I don’t need a transplant! I can run, I can jump! There is noth- ing wrong with me!”
[LIE DETECTED. RYAN IS SUFFERING FROM RENAL FAILURE. LIE WILL BE MADE TRUE. COMMENCING REALITY-ALTERATION: RENAL FAILURE WILL VANISH. DEATH WILL BEGIN.]
The moment the system finished, Ryan gasped and clutched his chest. He staggered backward and fell hea- vily to the floor. He stared at the ceiling, a trickle of blood spilling from his lips.
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His friends stared in horror, too afraid to move.
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A doctor rushed over, checked for a pulse, and shook his head. “He’s gone. Make the arrangements.”
As a white sheet was pulled over Ryan’s body, a faint chime echoed in my mind, followed by the mechanical
voice one last time.
[MISSION COMPLETE. TRUTH SYSTEM UNBINDING. PERMANENT DEACTIVATION INITIATED.]
I waited, then mentally called out to the system. There was no response. It was truly gone.
My mother recovered and was discharged. She never mentioned Ryan again. It was as if she was truly terrif- ied of me now. She would cook for me in silence, but his name never passed her lips.
Ryan’s friends never contacted me again. I heard they handled the funerals for both him and Colby. Ryan’s parents came, cried, and took his ashes home. Colby’s parents were devastated, but after Chunk told them the whole story, they left me alone.
I quit my job and moved to a new city. A new life.
