Origins

Her verdict on herself is “a degenerate gambler.” As she sees it, that is no disgrace but a craft: what a gambler gets really good at is setting up her own action. Broke, she admits; bored, never.

“The great part about being a degenerate gambler is that you get really good at setting up your own action. Broke? Yes. Bored? Never.”

“当个堕落的赌徒有个好处，就是特别擅长给自己张罗赌局。穷？是啊。无聊？从来不会。”TL

Outsiders call Wraith's Organization a “little casino,” and she is not pleased to hear it. When Haze told her the OSIC isn’t concerned with her little casino, she corrected her on the spot: “little” is underselling her a bit. And yet a woman like this is never far from her ledger. Turning down someone’s errand, she said she had to go over her ledger: people always underestimate how important the organized part of “organized crime” is.

“Can't help, I need to go over my ledger… people always underestimate how important the organized part of "organized crime" is.”

“帮不上忙，我得核对账本……人们总是低估「有组织犯罪」里「有组织」的重要性。”TL

What she holds tightest are “markers,” the paper on debts and loans. Friends, she has said, are just acquaintances you feel bad for extorting. To Billy she sketched her ideal of companionship: share some laughs, bet on sports games, then hold markers when you can’t cover them. In her hands, every friendship ends up as an account.

“Friends are just acquaintances you feel bad for extorting…”

“朋友不过是你觉得敲诈起来有点过意不去的熟人……”TL

“So we can find common ground. Share some laughs. Bet on sports games then hold markers when you can't cover them. It's a whole thing but it all starts with building a connection, ya know.”

“这样我们就能找到共同点，一起开怀大笑，一起打赌体育比赛，输了就互相帮忙记分。这事儿说来话长，但一切都始于建立联系，你知道的”

The method serves her everywhere. Talking of her haberdasher, Jermaine, she mentioned in passing that she had a marker on him, so she wasn’t on his waitlist very long. She also told Apollo that his classmate Spencer Fontaine owes her money. Vyper even complains that she doesn’t get why Wraith won’t let her take out another marker, when she paid one off once.

“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

She has her own way of accounting for the lives on her hands, too. She has killed people, she says, but it’s not a recreational thing for her; nor is she any kind of professional, merely, quite often, “adjacent.”

“I mean I've killed people but it's not like a recreational thing for me.”

“我的意思是，我击倒过人，但这对我来说不是一种娱乐活动”

The nerves of the gaming table she has never denied. Anyone who says they aren’t nervous when the stakes are high, she says, is either a liar or a moron, and that is exactly why she does it: nerves let you know you’re alive. As for getting away, she trusts a single rule: always have an escape plan. And when it does come to a fight, she reckons she is better one on one.

“That's why I do it. Nerves let you know you're alive.”

“这就是我这么做的原因。紧张感让你知道自己还活着”

“Always have an escape plan.”

“永远要有逃跑计划”

Old Friends and Foes

Respectability: What She Wants to Be

Whether Wraith wants a respectable standing is a matter on which opinions differ; she herself has never owned to it. Billy sneered that she doesn’t want to be a crime lord, she wants to be mayor, and that while she is kissing babies the 7th Moon is going to eat her lunch; she asked whether he was a fan of the 7th Moon, and Billy hastily denied it. Billy has another verdict, too: Wraith wants to go straight, she’s not hard. Apollo is harsher still: she craves a legitimacy she will never earn, because at the end of the day she is just a goon with a gun.

“Whatever, Wraith wants to go straight, she's not hard.”

“不管怎样，灵魅想走正道，她并不难搞”

“You crave a legitimacy you will never earn, Wraith… because at the end of the day you're just a goon with a gun.”

“你渴望获得永远无法获得的合法性，灵魅… 因为归根结底，你只是个拿着枪的暴徒”

High society is even less impressed. Lady Geist smells new money on her, and says she will never be accepted in polite society. Wraith shot back in a single sentence: she worked for what she has; it wasn’t handed to her.

Mina, too, finds her money not old enough, and tells her not to try to rise above her station. But when Wraith brought up the connections she has, with fashion editors, models, and anyone in the Venn diagram of people with status who also have vices, Mina changed her tune at once and said they should be friends. Wraith’s answer was prompt: that sounds lovely.

“I am so sorry. We should be friends.”

“真是抱歉。我们应该做朋友。”TL

Mo & Krill: Friends, and Hers to Collect From

Mo & Krill are her friends, and also men she holds markers on. When she pressed them into service, she made no apology for it: of all the people she could call markers on, she chose them, and that should count for something. The pair, for their part, confessed that friends come rarely in their line of work, and that it is an honor to be counted amongst hers; her reply was brisk: the feeling’s mutual. She once told Mo she still loves him, and that when this is all over she will buy him a drink and say she’s sorry. Mo & Krill, in turn, have thrown it back at her: they thought they had a deal.

“Hey, of all the people I could call markers on I chose you, and that should count for something.”

“嘿，我本来可以把矛头指向所有人，但我偏偏选中了你，这应该算是一件好事吧”

“I thought we had a deal, Wraith!”

“我以为我们达成了协议，灵魅！”

Vyper: Old Scores and New Debts

Vyper once tried to rob one of Wraith’s poker rooms, and speaks of it as ancient history; Wraith says it’s not. She named her terms: complete the ritual, and they’ll call things square. Vyper’s answer: I’ll take it. Vyper has paid off one loan from her, yet is not allowed to take out another, and on hearing that Wraith had fallen, her first thought was that she wouldn’t have to pay her back. As for Molly Molenzo, Vyper asked whether she was a friend of Wraith’s, and Wraith said she’s not.

“It's not. But tell you what; if we complete the ritual we'll call things square.”

“并非如此。但告诉你，如果我们完成这个仪式，我们就可以说一切都圆满了”

“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”

Vyper praises her as the best-dressed crime lord in New York, hands down; Baba’s verdict is far more cutting: she is nothing but a C-tier crime lord.

Infernus: The Old Partner Who Won’t Admit He Misses Her

Infernus and she have had their days of working side by side, and she speaks of them with some nostalgia: feels good working together again, doesn’t it? She thought, she says, that he wanted out of the life. Now he works at a legal bar, which she finds boring; he says legal doesn’t mean boring, and that Hank is a good man. She wanted him to admit he misses her, and he flatly denied it; so she advised him to practice that line more, so that one day she might believe him.

“Feels good working together again, doesn't it?”

“再次合作感觉很好，不是吗？”

“I don't.”

“我没有”

His own position toward her is just as clear: you don’t own me.

Ivy and Mendoza: Old Scores in Spanish Harlem

Ivy warned her to her face to stay out of Spanish Harlem: just because Mendoza was run off doesn’t mean anyone gets to muscle in. Wraith said she was just visiting a friend, and that she is a big fan of anyone who makes Mendoza’s life hell. She has made threats of her own, too: keep coming at her, and she’ll make Spanish Harlem the next place she sets up shop. Of her, Ivy has only one thing to say: first Mendoza, now you.

“Just cause Mendoza was run off doesn't mean you get to muscle in.”

“门多萨被赶下台并不意味着你可以强行取而代之”

“Keep coming at me, and I'll make Spanish Harlem the next place I set up shop.”

“你们再来找我，我就把下一个开店的地方搬到东哈勒姆”

She has accounts to settle with the Mendoza Syndicate as well. She told Lash that Mendoza had said he was going to take a dive in that fight, and that she lost a lot of money. Lash’s answer was blunt: Mendoza says a lot of stupid shit.

“Mendoza said you were gonna take a dive in that fight.”

“门多萨说你会在那场比赛中故意输掉”

Holliday: The Sheriff Not on Her Payroll

Holliday said she was here for the Troubadour, not for her gambling ring. Wraith scoffed at her as a sheriff from Missoula and was corrected: Macomb. She turned to mockery instead: cops like that have probably just experienced running water for the first time in their lives. Holliday urged her to shut her organization down, or Murphy would shut it down for her; she said only, we’ll see about that. Wraith has always done her own arithmetic where the police are concerned: putting one down, what she remarks on is one less cop to bribe. Holliday’s stance is just as plain: I’m not on your payroll.

“Yeah we'll see about that.”

“对，我们将拭目以待”

“I'm not on your payroll, Wraith…”

“我不在你的工资单上，灵魅…”

Her attitude toward the federal government has two sides as well. She says she isn’t scared of the feds, yet she has also complained that heat with the feds is bad news. Haze, for her part, says she won’t escape the OSIC’s notice for long.

Yamato: The Neighbor Who Won’t Bow

Yamato fights beside her, yet neither will be beholden to the other. Wraith says she is fighting with Yamato, not for her. She proposed that afterwards their two operations needn’t be enemies; Yamato answered: I don’t need your friendship, you need mine. When the 7th Moon comes up, Wraith is firm: she doesn’t bow to the 7th Moon. Yet after watching her lift an enemy with her mind, Yamato remarked quietly that perhaps there will be a place for her in the 7th Moon.

Graves: Speaking for the Dead

Graves is the girl who speaks to the dead. Wraith sought her out over one small matter: she had a bookie who was dead, and she needed to know where he put the spare key to his apartment. Graves corrected her: she speaks for the dead, not to them. Wraith offered to be her friend, and Graves politely declined.

“I got a bookie who's dead and I need to know where he put the spare key to his apartment, can you help or not?”

“我有个死掉的庄家，我得知道他把公寓的备用钥匙藏哪儿了。你到底帮不帮？”TL

Graves later told her that she has talked to a lot of people who are dead because of her, and that they all say the same thing: none of them are mad at her. Wraith’s explanation: because she is fair, and when you treat people fairly, they know when the hammer comes down they have no one to blame but themselves.

“The point is that they all say the same thing: None of them are mad at you. I don't understand why.”

“重点是，他们说的都一样：没有一个人怨你。我不明白为什么。”TL

“Because I'm fair. And when you treat people fairly they know when the hammer comes down they have no one to blame but themselves.”

“因为我公平。你公平对待别人，等锤子落下的时候，他们就知道只能怪自己。”TL

Silver and Calico: Bounties, Poker and an Arrangement

Wraith calls Silver “Lilah,” and tells her to get her shit together. Silver is a bounty hunter, and Wraith has put her on notice: does she think she can turn Wraith in? Wraith is not one of her bounties. Silver, for her part, says Wraith should have put her on the payroll, and promises to see her at the poker game.

“Lilah, get your shit together.”

“莉拉，振作点儿。”TL

“See ya at the poker game, Wraith.”

“灵魅，扑克局上见。”TL

With Calico, there seems to have been an arrangement. Wraith says she thought the two of them had an arrangement, and adds: so much for professional courtesy.

Abrams and Grey Talon

Abrams was once a familiar face at her card games. She urged him to just sell the damn book already; he said he couldn’t. Her reply: he’s not the chosen one, just a guy who was dealt a bad hand; dump the book and get his life back. All he hopes, for his part, is not to get kicked out of Sunday’s card game.

“Yeah yeah wrong hands blah blah . Abe: you're not the chosen one. Your just a guy who was dealt a bad hand… dump the book and get your life back.”

“是啊是啊，运气不好什么的，等等等等。亚伯兰：你不是天选之子。你只是个运气不好的人。扔掉那本书，重新开始你的生活”

That Grey Talon retired with more confirmed kills than anyone in the Baxter Society is something Wraith knew from hearsay. She asked him whether it was true, and his answer was cold: if that’s all they’re saying, he is far more dangerous. She has also told him she is sorry about his family, but that it has nothing to do with her.

“If that's all they're saying, I'm far more dangerous.”

“如果他们只说了这些，那我比他们危险得多”

Anecdotes

Recruitment. She asked Vindicta whether she had ever considered killing people for money, because boy, did Wraith have a list for her. Vindicta answered only: I have not. She asked Bebop whether he was looking for work; if it’s honest, he said, and she said never mind.

“Have you considered killing people for money? Because boy do I have list for you.”

“你有没有想过为了钱干扰？因为我这儿有一大堆人名单等着你呢”

Friends. She told Celeste she had tried to warn Lenny: no one can help that guy. Celeste answered, I know. When Celeste said she had already got her money, Wraith still said she was glad Celeste was here, and that helping Celeste helps “him.” She also asked Celeste to tell Ted she says hi. Celeste laid down terms of her own: forget the marker on Dutch, and she’ll stop kicking Wraith’s ass.

“Tell ya what, Wraith, forget the marker on Dutch and I'll stop kicking your ass.”

“告诉你吧，灵魅，如果你忘了达奇身上的标记，我就不揍你了”

Students. Dynamo, having heard that his students frequent her establishment, warned her to her face not to take advantage of them. She shot back, “Ok dad.” He still left her with just one line: stay away from my students.

Four Arms. McGinnis, too, has joked about her four arms and her tommy gun: subtle is the last word anyone would use. Her reply: subtlety is on a spectrum. Of McGinnis, she has said: and she thought she was so smart.

“You have 4 arms and a tommy gun, subtle is the last word I'd use.”

“你有四只手还有一把冲锋枪，我是不可能说你低调的”

The Doorman. The Doorman has always kept a soft spot for her: he still thinks she’s a delight, and she was such a generous tipper too. Their enmity, as he sees it, is the Patrons’ doing: the Patrons will make enemies of us all.

“Wraith, I just want you to know that I still think you're a delight.”

“灵魅，我只想让你知道，我依然觉得你很可爱”

Open Questions