Origins

Ask her about her name and she will never give a straight answer. When Victor asked whether “Vyper” was a nickname, she said it sure as hell wasn’t on her birth certificate; asked whether she even had a birth certificate, she tossed back only: what are you, a cop? To Viscous she put it more plainly still: her mom didn’t name her Vyper; it’s a cool nickname, like snake. Viscous wanted to be called “sidewinder,” and she happily obliged, adding that snake names belong only to “the best ones.”

“It sure as hell ain't on my birth certificate.”

“出生证明上可绝对没有这名字。”TL

“My mom didn't name me Vyper. It's cool nickname, like snake, or cobra, or copperhead.”

“我妈没给我取这名。这是个酷炫的外号，就像蛇、眼镜蛇、铜头蛇那种。”TL

When Seven called her “worm,” she put on an air of injured dignity: Worm’s still in Cook County; the one standing here is Vyper. Yamato, too, has cursed her as a worm.

“I'm Vyper. Worm's still in Cook County.”

“我叫蝰邪。“虫子”还关在库克郡呢。”TL

Her trail runs far beyond New York. She did time in Cook County; in Tuscola they called her “Lady Shiv”; in Kenosha she has seen scarier vampires than Drifter; and in the cells of Oklahoma City, the legend of Drifter made the rounds.

“I've seen scarier vampires in Kenosha.”

“我在基诺沙见过更可怕的血族”

She has worked for Mendoza, and was convicted on thirteen counts of murder. When Ivy confronted her with it, she first said “allegedly,” then conceded it was thirteen counts, and added: the real number is way more impressive. Yet when talk turns to her present line of work, she is adamant: I don’t work for Mendoza. The business of the Mendoza Syndicate, as she sees it, has been thoroughly messed up by that “gargoyle,” and when she says so there is, of all things, a note of professional sympathy in it.

“Yeah of 13 counts. The real number is way more impressive.”

“是的，一共13次。实际数字远比这惊人得多”

“Mendoza barely works for Mendoza anymore, that gargoyle really messed up his operation.”

“门多萨自己都快没法给自己干活了，那只石像鬼把他的买卖搅得稀烂。”TL

Prison became her schoolhouse. Out of a toothbrush and a mattress spring she fashioned a crude blade, and she jokes that building shanks is a meditative thing; she holds the skill up, too, against her PO’s verdict that she has no “marketable skills.” With just such a blade she stabbed the hell out of Molly Molenzo on Long Island, and when Wraith asked about it, she first played dumb, then owned up.

“This is so much fancier than the tooth brush/mattress spring combo I used to stick Molly Molenzo back on Long Island.”

“这比我以前用来把莫莉·莫伦佐粘在长岛的牙刷/床垫弹簧组合要高级得多。”

“Cool, yeah I stabbed the hell outta her, not a fan.”

“酷，是啊，我狠狠地打了她一顿，我可不是她的粉丝”

She spins tales, too. She told Graves she had broken out during a parole hearing; when he told her she was full of it, she cheerfully changed her story: there was no parole hearing. Her words are always part truth and part invention, and her parole officer is no exception: she told Bebop she had killed him, then in the next breath said it was a joke — he probably survived. But when Silver speaks of her forever breaking out of Rikers Island, the impatience is real enough.

“You're right, there was no parole hearing.”

“你说得对，根本没有什么假释听证会。”TL

“I mean, I killed my parole officer so probably - that's a joke, I got jokes - he probably survived.”

“我的意思是，我击倒了我的假释官，所以他可能——开个玩笑，我爱开玩笑——他可能还活着”

Her identity carries one more layer: the legend of the snake-haired. She calls herself a Gorgon — “Gorgon’s gotta gorgon,” as she puts it; she offhandedly tells people to “enjoy the venom,” and her finishing blow is to turn them to stone.

“Gorgon's gotta gorgon, ya know what I'm sayin'?”

“戈尔贡就是戈尔贡，你懂我的意思吗？”

“I'll turn 'em to stone.”

“我会把他们变成石头”

Old Friends and Foes

Lash: Letters to an Idol

Lash is the star of her heart. She wrote him letters from jail, and asked whether he got them; he admitted, vaguely, that they were “very specific.” She herself never stops singing his praises: Lash is awesome, and he kicked Bebop’s ass. Her infatuation long ago crossed the line of ordinary fandom; her opening words to him are “You smell even better when you’re awake.”

“You smell even better when you're awake.”

“你醒着的时候闻起来更好闻”

Even as she brings him down she says “I love you,” calls herself a big fan, and allows that it’s probably a bad time to ask for an autograph. He, for his part, says maybe now she’ll stop sending him mail; some fans take it a little too far.

“I'm a big fan.”

“我是忠实粉丝”

“Maybe now she'll stop sending me mail…”

“也许她现在不会再给我写信了…”

Bebop: The Choir Boy and Her

Bebop is her opposite: a good soul who frets over an old lady. She offered to “move some of her medication” for the old lady in his care — the turn of phrase of someone peddling pills — and he refused outright. When she gets the better of him, she leaves him with a single line: “That was for Lash.”

“Want me to move some of her medication?”

“要我给她搬点药吗？”

“That was for Lash.”

“那是为劳什准备的”

Wraith: Money Owed

She owes Wraith money; she paid off one marker, and was refused when she wanted another. She once tried to rob one of Wraith’s poker rooms, too, and calls it “ancient history.” When Wraith falls, she is quietly pleased: looks like she doesn’t have to pay her back.

“I don't get why Wraith won't let me take out a marker, I paid it off once.”

“我不明白灵魅为啥不让我再借一笔，我可是还过一次的。”TL

“They took out Wraith, looks like I don't have to pay her back.”

“灵魅倒下了，看来我不用还她钱了”

Ivy and Infernus: Old Scores on Mendoza’s Account

Ivy once stopped her back when she worked for Mendoza, and neither of them has forgotten the score. She calls Ivy “the loyal pet of the Arroyos,” and needled her about her sister working for Wraith; Ivy, who knew nothing of it, pressed her twice, and she laughed it off, saying she stays out of family drama unless a will’s involved.

“I stopped you when you worked for Mendoza, and I'll stop you again.”

“你为门多萨工作时我就阻止了你，我还会再阻止你”

Infernus, by contrast, makes her nostalgic. She says he used to be the man, calls him “Fern,” and mocks him too: is he the serial arsonist, or the master of the Shirley Temple?

“Fern, you used to be the man in New York, now look at you.”

“炽焱，你以前可是纽约的风云人物，现在看看你现在这副模样”

Silver: The Hunt and the Bounty

Silver catches her again and again, purely for the reward. Turning her in after the ritual means a bonus payday, and Silver says so without a trace of shame. Vyper, for her part, longs to stab Silver to death with her own hands, her only worry being that Silver would die of cirrhosis before she got the chance. Silver says she can keep breaking out of Rikers all she wants; she’ll keep sending her back.

“No I am. It means after the ritual I get to turn you in for a bonus payday.”

“不，我是真的。这意味着仪式之后，我能把你送进去领一笔额外赏金。”TL

“It's true. When I was locked up I was really worried that you'd die of sorosis before I'd get to stab you to death, but I guess the patrons can work miracles”

“是真的。我被关起来的时候，真担心你在我亲手捅死你之前就先死于肝硬化，不过看来守护神真能创造奇迹。”TL

“You can keep breaking out of Rykers all you want, I'll keep sending your ass back there.”

“你想从雷克岛监狱越狱多少次都行，我就把你的屁股再送回去。”TL

Billy: The Old Friend Who Never Visited

Billy said he hadn’t seen her since she got pinched. That, she said, was because he never bothered to visit; then she turned to admiring his jacket, which she would like even better on the ground of a dark alley; his answer was prompt: he knew where they were going after the ritual. When she takes him down she is still complaining: that’s for never visiting her in Atlantic City. To others he says she thinks she’s hard because she did time, when really she’s a moron; yet face to face he still calls her “V.”

“That's cause you never bothered to visit. If I didn't know better I'd think you stop caring.”

“那是因为你从来没来看过我。如果我不知道真相，我会以为你已经不在乎了”

“That's for never visiting me in Atlantic City.”

“都要怪你从不来大西洋城看我”

Paradox and Calico: Peers Who Look Down on Her

Paradox mocks her for having spent more time in jail than out of it; she retorts that anyone with decent cardio can run from the cops, but escaping from lockdown surrounded by guards takes talent. Calico, for her part, says she kills for money, whereas Vyper does it for a pack of cigarettes and a hot meal, so they are not the same; Vyper fires back that this sounds a little classist.

“Lady, anyone with decent cardio can run from the cops and not get caught. Escaping from lockdown surrounded by guards? That takes talent none of you Paradox bozos ever had to show.”

“女士，只要体力过得去，谁都能甩掉条子不被抓。可在守卫环伺的封锁监狱里越狱？这种本事，你们悖论这帮蠢货从来拿不出手。”TL

“I kill people for money. You kill people for a pack of cigarettes and a hot meal, we're not the same.”

“我追猎是为了钱，你干扰是为了包烟和一顿热饭，我们不一样”

Rem: The Cool Aunt

When Rem heard her say that criminals aren’t exactly great, but are a lot of fun, he concluded that he must like criminals, then. Having bested her, he told her she could be his cool aunt.

“I mean. I'm not gonna lie to you kid, we're not exactly great. But we are a lotta fun.”

“这个嘛。我不骗你，小鬼，我们确实算不上多好。但我们特别好玩。”TL

“You can be my cool aunt.”

“你可以做我超酷的阿姨”

Anecdotes

Marrying Into Money. Her daydream comes in several versions. To Lady Geist she said she wants to marry into money, wait five years, then bump off her husband for the inheritance; to Apollo, that she would first bump off his dad, and once he had come into the inheritance, he would have an accident, and she would be living on easy street in Ixia. She also recognized the Blackmore Academy on Graves’s jacket, and asked whether he had any friends with a single dad. Graves’s only reply: please don’t talk to me.

“I want to marry into money, wait 5 years, then bump off my husband for the inheritance because this bird wasn't meant to be in a gilded cage.”

“我想嫁入豪门，等五年后，抛下我丈夫继承遗产，因为我这只鸟注定不该待在金笼里”

“Oh I have. We get married, I bump off your dad, you get the inheritance then you have an accident 3 years later when you're out fox hunting or whatever and them I'm living on easy street in Ixia.”

“哦，我有想过。我们结婚，我杀了你父亲，你继承遗产，然后3年后你在打猎什么的的时候出了意外，之后我就在伊克斯亚过上了安逸的生活”

Debts and Blacklists. The people she has to hide from: a loan shark, some cops, and another loan shark. The Doorman of the Baroness Hotel once kicked her out; she has announced she will rob the hotel, and asked him for a list of names and a housekeeping uniform, only to be turned down flat; Jezebel's, it seems, won’t let her in either. Violet once painted her portrait, and joked when it was done that there was a non-zero chance it would get used in a lineup somewhere; she bet, too, that Vyper would try to charge her for it.

“Non-zero chance this gets used in a lineup somewhere.”

“说不定哪天这张会被拿去做嫌犯指认。”TL

Borrowing and Stealing. She wants McGinnis’s gun and Mina’s purse; she asks Kelvin for ten bucks and Graves for that hand, announcing that they are on the same team for now, and that when she doesn’t need him anymore she’ll take his stuff and leave him for dead.

Self-Mockery. She calls herself a degenerate, says she is a work in progress, and also that she is a surprisingly useful girl.

The 7th Moon and Others. She would like a job with the 7th Moon; Yamato said flatly that she would fall on her sword before working with her. She would also like to work for Fairfax Industries, for an expense account she could abuse. Venator is, in her words, a silver fox man of God; she flirted with him first, and later asked whether he planned on praying for her; he said he lets other priests worry about lost causes.

“You think I could get a job with the 7th Moon.”

“你觉得我能在第七月找份差事吗？”TL

“No, I let other priests worry about lost causes.”

“不，无可救药的人，我留给别的神父去操心。”TL

Open Questions