Screams of the ones who were once close to me, the horrors I endured for every single day for that first month, and the rage that built up against everyone involved every passing day for the past 2 months…this is what I felt every time I rested my eyes out of need. After everything that has happened to and around me, proper sleep is one thing that I can rarely get.

“Helios Lower-Quarter, now approaching Helios Lower-Quarter”.

Those were the words that were announced loudly to wake me up from my moment of rest. The El train is minutes away from reaching where I needed to go, and I took that time to look at what lies outside my window.

Someone once told me that whenever life is treating you badly, always look at the better parts that remain, even if it is a sliver of it. But from what I am seeing from this window, the better parts I see currently is the sickness, sorrow, fear, and desperation of the people. The rest are things that I don’t even want to observe, never mind speak of. The train finally stops, and I finally take a look at what accompanied me in this metal box that travelled through blood. It was similar to what I saw outside, not a single face happy, and not a single step taken, or seat vacated without doubt. Me on the other hand, didn’t act the same as I had nothing to lose.

Stepping out of the train and down the stairs onto the street, I walked precariously through the dark and dreary street, following the directions I had on a holo-note. Into the stone paved alley I turned, and that is when I was where I needed to be. The doors swung open as I entered as per the common expectation of a bar, and in-came a sound barrage of loud patrons and thrown punches. However, there was a straight uncontested line to the counter, and I made use of that. I took a seat in front of the bartender and considering how calm he looks in the face of fresh horror and while people are losing teeth behind him, I assumed that he was a Spark and not a player.

“What can I get you?” he asked

“Something light and cheap”

“Lightweight or first time to the drink, if you don’t mind me asking” he inquired

“Don’t want to be drinking on while I got work to do”

He brings up his inventory and starts concocting

“I’ve never seen you here before, so I’ll make you something special just to make sure you don’t feel tipsy on the job… mind if I ask what you are up to today?”

He places a small glass of the clear and fizzy fluid on the table

“I’m looking for someone” I said while taking a sip from the glass while being cautious

“Well, you most probably have come to the right place, if the man is anywhere here in Helios, chances are he has been here or knows someone here who has… You know his name?”

“Isaac…Isaac Taylor to be precise”

Once I said this, the bartender’s smile turned upside down, and the whole noise filled bar started to sequentially quiet down from the table closest to be to the furthest until the whole atmosphere came to a standstill. I was now certain that I struck a nerve with everyone here.

“So, could you help me out?”

The bartender’s eyes started to dart around and finally towards me.

“I might… Mind if I ask why, you are looking for this, Mr Taylor?”

“I don’t at all, let’s just say I just want to pay him back for a personal matter…Ten-fold”

I took another sip from my glass of the bartender’s creation

“This is great, how much do I owe you for it?”

“It’s on the house, since it’s your last” said the bartender before he ran away.

Moments later, two guys sat on the stools on both my sides, and to cut off all my avenues of escape, their third approached me from the back, effectively sandwiching me between the bar counter and him. Well, it’s not like I had any plans of escaping anyways.

“So, we heard you are looking for Isaac for some…repayment” said the man behind me

He definitely wasn’t taking it seriously, as he was smirking alongside his comrades in the pause before his last word.

“Oh, and I’m guessing you just stepped up to help the poor bartender out, wonder if it was an emergency, he ran away in quite a hurry” I said finishing my drink and feigning ignorance

“That spark son of a bitch would have shared your same fate if he didn’t”

The 2 beside me got closer and the one behind me turned my stool around until I was facing him. I suppress my surfacing trauma by reminding myself why I was here in the first place.

“Let’s get a good look at who is looking for the boss” he said, ripping off my overcoat from the hood.

My face was revealed but it’s not like I had the intention of hiding from these scumbags anyways.

“Well, what do we have here, a chick, a brunette at that. The boss definitely will be interested in you”

I knew that this wasn’t going to end well, or peacefully for that matter, but I definitely knew that the advantage these guys had over me right now is in numbers. Isaac is a guy who only would keep the ones who had no chance of even challenging him under his foot, and most of these guys are piss drunk, which adds to my favor. The group was laughing at me

“Oh, we definitely will tell you where the boss is, but first, let me get a taste of that body of yours” he said while extending his arm out while closing in

This is where I snapped and did the exact same to him as I grabbed his arm and broke it by the wrist and knocked the screaming out of him by grabbing the beer bottle on the counter. The goon on my right tried to retaliate, but I was able to evade his attack and introduced his face to the counter. I dragged him towards the remaining goon of the 3 and rammed both of them together pushing the third back and giving me some space. I didn’t let go of my grip on the 2nd goon as I saw the 3rd going for his sidearm. I took cover behind the 2nd, of whom I witnessed a bullet going straight through his chest and out his back. I closed the distance towards the 3rd which was only centimeters away, and used the shock of him shooting his friend to get behind him. I unsheathed my karambit from my back and slit open his throat. The rest of the drunks caught on to what was happening and started to unholster their weapons, and before I was caught in the middle of a firing squad, I jumped behind the counter and took cover.

The counter wasn’t a solution, as some guns were tearing through it, and I have no way out against grenades, but they were throwing none. Either they don’t have any with them or they are too drunk to think about it. Me on the other hand, plan on using everything I brought. I brought up my inventory and handed a flashbang. I armed it and instead of tossing it at them, I tossed it straight up so everyone would be looking at it. I looked straight down at the wood floor and kept my mouth open until I saw anything that resembled a white flash just to make sure that I don’t end up eating the effects of my own flash. I still did get affected by my vision and I had minimal hearing impairment.

I knew the others were affected as their screams in agony of impairment were apparent. I readied my SMG and kept low while running towards the wall next to the toilets while spraying a whole clip towards the pack. I hit the mag release, loaded in another mag, and hit the bolt release as my gun was completely empty and I kicked open the door for a moment to see if there were any unwanted surprises in there, fortunately there were none and the one stall present was open with no one in there.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

Relieved that my back was clear, I focused on the fight on the main floor. As I was running, there was only one shooting me back. I’m guessing he is the only one sober enough to look away from a flashbang before it went off. The big pauses between shots meant that he was at the far back and was reluctant to hit his comrades, that’s my target. One of the drunks rushed at me with full force, and I readied my karambit and got low the moment I heard his yelling. I struck my curve blade at his lower thigh causing him to fall to his knee and put a bullet in his head. I still wasn’t able to peek to get some shots in as there were approximately around 10 guns firing at me continuously in bursts and they were using that suppression to circle around me for a kill. And before they caught me on the flank, the man I just killed gave me an idea on how to get the upper hand.

I slowly crawled onto the ground and along the man’s body as it was lying across the walkway from the wall I am at. I crawled up to his face where the blood leaving his head was staining a part of my face and soaking my hoodie. I only fired single shots since I couldn’t get my left hand on my foregrip from my awkward position and luckily, I caught them off guard and I took 6 of the impaired goons down with 6 well placed shots. 2 more were left and the guy flanking from behind the bar caught onto my trick and fired into the body. I took a bullet to the shoulder, and I moved back as quickly as I could back against the wall. I handed a Molotov from my inventory, lit it up and threw it at the bar, and with the aid of all the spilt flammable spirits, the goon behind the bar burned while screaming and flailing in agony. Only the one at the back remained and he started to back off towards the door while firing in a panic, was apparent since he started to fire in automatic and was hitting everything in the bar since he couldn’t control the recoil. Meanwhile I handed an HP potion and chugged it down. The bullet wound started to close up but the sharp sting while I was moving started to subside to a tolerable level.

The remaining goon left through the door and started to run, and I started to give chase. He was running through a straight alley, and I will definitely lose him if he reaches the main street. He was too far for me to get a shot in with my SMG but I already had him. I pulled back my SMG’s stock and folded in the vertical foregrip, and the front and back extended into its single shot repeater form. I switch to the medium range mode of my hybrid weapon sight and place my foot up on the low crate next to me. I rest my elbow on my thigh for support and the stock on the front of my shoulder and line-up the perfect shot. And just as I expected, the bullet goes through his ankle, effectively downing him. He was screaming in pain and for help, but that was a common hearing in this world that mostly falls into deaf ears.

I walked towards him with my weapon drawn and he was desperately trying to crawl away like I was a monster in a horror movie.

“Please, I don’t want to die, I have a family to support”

“Well, that all depends on you, Where’s Isaac?”

“I don’t know” he answered

I pointed my repeater towards his head ready to take the shot

“WAIT, WAIT, WAIT” he screamed

I pointed my gun away at his request

“Look, I don’t know where Isaac is right now, but I know where you could find him soon”

“I’m listening” I replied

“Building 76, Riviera District…it’s the biggest skyscraper in the area, you can’t miss it. He is scheduled to meet with his second in command at 10pm tomorrow, I was scheduled to run security”

“The Riviera District? That’s right below the upper city, I thought Isaac’s operation was limited to only up there” I inquired

“Yeah well, I don’t know where you have been for the past month, but Isaac has been expanding to every part of Helios. Do you think we were in this hellhole of a bar just because we liked it? Helios is Isaac’s backyard now”

“His second in command, who is he?”

“I don’t know, I’ve never met the guy… but from what I have heard, he is Japanese, Mako-something”

“Makoto…Makoto Sawamura?” I asked by grabbing him from the collar.

“YEAH, yeah that’s him…sounds to me like you know him”

“Oh, I know him alright, and he is also a bastard I would like a word with” I said after releasing him

I throw him an HP potion for the leg

“You might want to stay home tomorrow; things are not going to be pretty” I told him

“Yeah, and risk that lunatic Isaac gunning me and my family down? I’ll pass”

“You won’t have to worry about them after today, find yourself another job, be with your family” I said from the sliver of good left in my own heart

“And what if I do have to worry? You are but one lady, that building is going to be swarmed with guards other than me. What are the chances that you are going to get through all of them and free me from Isaac? And what are the chances of me taking your offer to find another job and having my wife and kids taken from me?”

His intense face was a sign that he was crying from help from within, but had no other alternative

“I never should’ve agreed to this, I never should’ve let my kids persuade me and my wife to take us to this…this death trap. Do you have any idea how much it hurts to see the one’s close to you broken to the point they are nothing but hollow shells”?

“I know that more than possibly anyone is stuck in this damn world, the hopelessness growing day by day, the struggle to keep your sanity together and the constant fear in the back of your mind that they might end up hurting themselves. So don’t talk to me like I had a more happy go lucky life than you.” I berated him while holding him from his collar again

I let him go

“One more thing, you don’t happen to use the services that Isaac offers, do you?” I inquired

“I am not interested in the slightest in anything that psychopath has to offer except my paycheck” he said with a serious look in his face

Fortunately, that was the answer I was looking for, and I turned my back to walk away, but I had a few partings words

“I can only give you but a warning, stay away from the building tomorrow, or you won’t receive the same mercy you did today from me again, even if you do have a family”

I took the time while I was walking down the alley to check myself for any hidden injuries…Pain dampening can be a blessing and a curse at times. My shoulder had healed up until only a bruise was left and only damage I had taken was to my right blood covered cheek and blood-soaked hoodie from the bar fight… Guess it was a good thing I chose it in black, so the red is not that visible. And as soon as I exited the alley onto a fork.

“From how you were desperate to buy that information off me, I was expecting you to leave no one alive” said a mysterious figure looking down and leaning on the wall with a long-hooded coat similar to the one I wore to the bar.

“He was a family man, working for a twisted piece of shit out of desperation. I aint a monster” I replied

"Color me surprised for now, but will you be the same if it was Taylor or Sawamura in that situation”

He got up and turned around to leave

“Till next time, Mano-chan”

Catching my interest suddenly.

“Wait, how do you know who I am?” I inquired

“In my trade, it is my job to know everything and everyone. Including why you want to get your hand on Isaac Taylor and Makoto Sawamura so badly”

“If you reveal that to anyone and I mean anyone, I’m going to make sure that you get added to that list alongside those two, you hear me?” I threatened him

“In all honesty, I keep some information for personal knowledge. Don’t worry, even without your threats, your secret will accompany me to my grave. And knowing your reasons, I won’t even have the heart to sell that information even for all the Rels in this world”

He slowly disappeared around the next corner leaving me with only hope that he would uphold his sentiment.

Another similarly downbeat train ride later, I finally came back to the inn. The innkeeper was a spark only a few years older than me, but she was the nicest person I have met so far, but after all that had happened, I did all I could not to get close to people.

“Welcome back Mano-san, I can bring dinner to your room if you want it”

“It’s fine Karin-san, I don’t exactly have an appetite right now”

“Oh well, let me know if you change your mind anytime”

A nice dinner was the very least of my concerns right now, as the thought of having both Isaac and Makoto in reaching distance, had me motivated to prepare early. I summoned and unsheathed both my Karambit and SMG, and after today’s scrap, they are certainly going to need some maintenance. I took off my blood-soaked hoodie into my tank-top and washed the blood off my face in the sink. And my exhaustion can be seen in my own reflection in the mirror. I return back to my desk and start to maintain my weapons. The Karambit doesn’t need too much work, but I clean the blood and any pieces of skin off it, and sharpen the tip and the edge, this is what I need in peak shape the most as it works seamlessly with my years of martial arts training.

The gun on the other hand is more complicated. Thanks to the inventory’s inbuilt system, there is an automatic disassemble function. After I used that, my single handed MP7 has been turned into an assortment of parts. It was also easy to know what to do as the hints and the HUD guided me on what to do, what to oil and clean and how to put the whole thing back together. I hand a magazine filled with 4.6x30mm rounds as the description says, slot it into the bottom and pull the bolt to load up the first round. Then out comes the magazine, the bullet removed from the chamber and tried again but this time with the bolt release button. I kept on doing this over and over to make my reloads as fast as possible but my timing improvements were minimal. A quick shower after my reload drills, I finally turn in for the day. Usually, my nights are plagued with night terrors, but today, the terror was different.

“Onee-chan”, the word that my little sister uses so often to grab my attention. Tonight, I was showcased on every time she called me that until that day, from the first time she called me that while crying and hugging me hard enough to choke me, to every time after that where she was extremely cheery, to the last time I heard her say that which sounded like a cry for help, but if she ever said that again after everything, I don’t think my heart could’ve taken it.

The next time I opened my eyes, it was in the morning. I woke up fighting my heavy body, put on my cleaned hoodie and made my way down before I died of starvation.

“Mano-san, just in time for breakfast. I have prepared extra for you since you didn’t have anything since yesterday morning.”

“Thanks, Karin-san. But you don’t have to, I’m relatively a light eater”

“Nonsense, you are still in your early age, a girl like you needs all the nutrition and energy you can get” she replies with a pep in her step and a smile on her face.

“Alright here you go, I made some clam chowder today and I would like you to have some” she says while placing a small bowl in front of me”.

Unfortunately, this went poorly as its appearance managed to cause a panic attack and I rushed to the toilets as I felt like throwing up, and I did. My empty stomach wasn’t helping as what felt like acid started to leave my body and down the toilet. I could feel the burn on my throat up to my mouth, but the pain dampening helped in not having me collapse in weakness.

“Mano-san, are you ok?” Karin-san asked me after entering the ladies room

“Yeah, I am fine. Karin-san, I would love to try your Chowder but some other day, I’ll have anything else today”

“Of course, dear, I’ll have something made that is easy on you today”

Which translated to what a basic Japanese breakfast looks like. A bowl of rice, miso soup, natto and grilled fish. After all the savagery of what lies outside, it’s nice once in a while to revel in mundanity.

“How’s the food, Mano-chan?”

“Tastes just like home” I replied with a mouth full of rice

“Well, you let me know if you need seconds”

The atmosphere of the inn was way more relaxed than what was outside, and taking a look around the place, I can see people of all nationalities having breakfast. It was apparent since all their meals looked entirely different. It did feel sort of weird that everyone around me was speaking Japanese due to the game’s inbuilt auto-localisation function, but I guess the chaos that the higher ups were expecting from their announcement was the more organized type or day-today would be extremely messy without the localization.

“So, you coming back late today as well?” asked the kind innkeeper

“About that, I might not come at all”

“So, it’s your last day here?” she inquired

“To be honest I don’t know, I’ve been looking for someone for a couple of people for a month now. Now that I found them, I will be done with my work soon, I don’t know where to go from there”

“Well, if you need a place to stay until you figure that out, you are always welcome here.”

I finished my breakfast, handed over my key and set out for one last time.

“Farewell, Mano-chan” she sent me off with a smile for the last time

“Thank you for everything and goodbye” I replied

The last words I spoke to her before I left on my do or die mission.