The Brain in a Vat

[Melancholic, World-Weary Psychopath Top x Deranged, Unhinged "Ghost" Bottom]

My boyfriend is dead, probably, but I can't remember how he died. It doesn't matter. After all, I might be joining him soon.

Oh, no, never mind. I don't have to go, because he's turned into a ghost and is haunting me.

I'm an investigator. Or maybe I used to be. Now I'm under investigation, and my former colleagues think my mental state is bad enough to warrant suspension. They'd already had plenty of complaints about how I handled cases. My supervisor kept saying it was dangerous that I empathized too much with criminals, and that I had too little regard for human life. But I don't see it that way. Compared to other people's lives, I care even less about my own.

When my lover turned into a ghost and started haunting me, I did tell people outside and ask for "help." I suppose that counts as asking for help. Actually, I don't mind that he's a ghost, but they brought in a psychiatrist, who diagnosed me with multiple personality disorder and paranoid personality disorder. I think they're talking nonsense. They're impossible to communicate with. Compared to my boyfriend, they're the ones who seem more like ghosts.

"Baby, you actually look kind of cute when you're tied up."

"Really? Actually, I think I'd be even cuter if I turned into a drifting ghost like you."

A suspense novella of over ten thousand words

The main story alternates between third-person and first-person narration (Ruila's diary is the first-person portion).

Theme: Live on in the face of death.