After all that had happened, Kazuki still knew that the war was far from over. Reports had come in of a rise in criminal activity across the board. Not noticeable at a micro level, but at a macro level, crime has increased tenfold since pre-AGENCY statistics… On paper, there should be a conflict of interest, but Kazuki didn’t care to boost profit margins. He was here for revenge, and one head has been checked off.

But something was wrong.

Kazuki wasn’t ignorant, he knew that dealing with the smugglers would probably create a power-gap. Same with the Loyalists. But… they were simply an obstacle, one that must be removed. His head ached whenever he looked over the statistics; it only happens when something dangerous is present, or maybe it was just his brain being his brain…

His mind still lingered on that hand. He can’t forget it; even if he wanted to. Such an incident has never happened, even as he re-lived every death. From Victoria… the Initiates - even Riharia. All dead. He remembers them, where others do not.

And he must carry the burden… alone.

But he accepted the burden long ago. And he’ll keep holding it even now, even as his men look up to him as their saviour. A Contract-Breaker to defy Clandestine. For their sake, he’ll continue bleeding - be it mind or matter. Kazuki opened his eyes, the moment of respite for him was ruined as he felt a slight shake.

“Ugh?” Kazuki mumbled, exhausted from the constant worries of built up tension across the galaxy. He looked up to Eliza, standing in front of the couch, she was wearing a short blood-red nightgown, and rabbit-headed slippers.

She looked even worse for wares than him. The bags under her eyes were much larger, probably having to deal with orders for a dozen new warships… but Kazuki remained silent, hiding his tiredness as he rubbed his fingers up his nose bridge.

“Are you alright?” asked Eliza, “Sorry, I should have allowed you to rest up…”

“I’m fine,” lied Kazuki, tugging at his shirt collar as he looked towards the large holographic pin-board hovering above the coffee table. “I just needed a moment to think.”

Sitting down beside Kazuki, she sneaked in a glance at her revision-cards, before looking up at the board. Leon’s face was present, with an X marked over it, though the photo used was his dead corpse - there weren't any pictures of him when he was alive. But still, Kazuki thought, so much work to do.

“If you say so…” Eliza trailed off. She glanced around her condo. She didn’t seem comfortable as she tied her hair back into a ponytail.

But that was to be expected. Everything was where they left it. Except for the fact that there were now two guards stationed in the room, only present when they’re here. A necessary precaution. Enemies lie in shadows Kazuki is unaware of.

One good thing about being the underdog was not worrying about the shadows, but now: he must. Nihara and Cyrus were in the detail. Two out of three of the Eden Survivors, the one missing was still in recovery. He trusts all his men with his own life, but Eliza’s? That was a different story. If given a choice: these three would be those of which he entrusts her life with.

Looking back at the board, Kazuki skimmed through it again, he already knew what was on it. But he wanted to make sure he didn’t miss any blind spots. Once again, he most likely didn’t.

“Sorry for taking so long,” said Kazuki. “The investigation’s been slowed down for months.”

She immediately sprang upwards. “Huh? Oh, please! It’s fine, really!” Eliza blurted out.

He then chewed down a pill of Halolazil, ensuring he kept his nerves for the time being. Eliza’s used to Kazuki consuming them enmasse, even during High School. After all they are painkillers and stress killers. Since she studied cybernetics, she must have understood to some extent the pain of having them jammed onto you. And the stress? She knew that almost as well as him. Kaz knows Liz. She will not object to him cleansing his mind of such troubles.

Kazuki glanced over at her, slowly standing up. “Really?” asked Kazuki, uncrossing his arms as he scratched the back of his nape, feeling his cold, wet hair.

It had a flowery shampoo smell; it was weird. But whatever floats Eliza’s boat, he thought.

Eliza paused for a moment, before her eyes skidded away. “No…”

“Oh.” Kazuki didn’t even try to hide his disappointment. He stood up, before saying, “I don’t blame you.”

Eliza shot back, “Hey! I’m not trying to bismitch you, I just feel…”

Kazuki took a moment to collect his thoughts. Leon’s dead, but still their link to the Loyalists only proved one thing: someone was working behind the scenes, maybe it was isolated. But he couldn’t take that risk. Perhaps laying low for a little bit will reveal them, that is if they operate like Sato. But for once: he had an enemy not Sato or Archius knew of. It… uneased Kazuki.

The board wasn’t filled in enough to extrapolate any conclusive ends. Eliza stood up. “It just feels like we could have started it sooner…”

He lingered a little longer in thought. He could tell her now, but he can’t tell her everything. What she doesn’t know can’t hurt her, but Kazuki knows she deserves to have an answer: a real answer.

“Because we could have,” stated Kazuki. “There’s still a lot of information to disclose.”

Eliza paused, pouting in both frustration and anger. Kazuki didn’t need to look at her to tell she was pissed off.

“I worry whether you’re ready or not, Liz,” lied Kazuki.

He felt his ‘soul’ tarnish even more than before. It wasn’t a full lie, he didn’t believe she was ready, yes but there was a second reason. He knows it to be true, even if he tries to forget it - it will remain the only outcome for this. She will find out. She’ll find out everything, her sister’s death, the cause of the P-1 Incident, and how his cowardice killed them all… He maintained a calm face, but dread seeped into his frontal lobe, enveloping his mind.

“Kaz, I’ve spent a whole year preparing myself for this moment!” Eliza shouted, somewhat frustrated at hearing what he had to say. She did have a good point, this was her quest, and here he was: pridefully telling her that she’s not ready. It had merits.

“What do you think would have happened if I wasn’t there with you at the Dassant?” asked Kazuki - but he has his own points to make.

“I—”

Kazuki snapped in, cutting her off, “—Don’t lie. We both know what would have happened. I’m not doubting your belief, but are you really ready? Because the moment we step back in: there’s no going back.”

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Eliza fell quiet. She turned away for a second, pondering to herself. Then, she glanced back at Kazuki, before throwing him something. He caught it, easily. Looking at what he grabbed, it was a key-drive. The sigil of the Anagoran Metro Dept was present, a uniform head on a seal of blue.

“Where did you—”

“—My father. I spoke with him a bit ago, as you’d remember.” Eliza turned around, “That will give us ample leeway for the questions he has not answered for me.”

Kazuki looked at it for a second, memorising the key-patterns of its interlocks. Even if they lose the key of the drive, they won’t have to worry about losing access to its information. He was impressed, he didn’t think Eliza had it in her, but it wasn’t in her father’s interest to allow something like this. Was Frederick playing his own game? He pondered for a moment. Sticking it into the table-port, he twisted the drive on.

It sprouted up even more information. It was everything that the police had on the Ptolemy Incident. Everything. Every little detail was included. Whoever came before them did a thorough job. Kazuki was impressed. Though, sensitive bits were omitted from the details; that was to be expected.

“Do you think I’m ready, now?” asked Eliza, with a head-strong smirk. She looked determined, eyes blaring with flames. She had nothing more to prove; but still, things remained unseen… But this should clear things up to get support from his most valuable asset.

“It’s not clean,” said Kazuki.

“I know, but is that not what you wanted?” Eliza asked, crossing her arms, acting all smug as if she’d just one-up him. She did. “I’m not the same girl before the Dassant, Kaz, I’m not a quick learner. But dedication is quite a nice thing to have.”

That damned grin, Kazuki thought… He stared at her for a moment. It didn’t matter if it was one second or a hundred. His mind will always link the similarities, even if he doesn’t want to.

Kazuki nodded, placing a hand on Eliza’s shoulder. “Then let justice be done.”

Eliza quickly interjected as he finished, “Though the Eclipse falls.”

“I’m surprised you remember something so throwaway.” Why does she remember that? He felt somewhat cringy after saying that back then, because it never suited him. But, of course, she didn’t know that.

“Why wouldn’t I?” Eliza asked, “You’re not the only one with a good memory.”

Kazuki tried to smile, and failed. He turned back towards the board, slowly. Eliza did the same. The sound of aluminium slamming down on poor jura-wood caught Kazuki’s attention. Nihara was standing opposite the table, sliding two cans of soda across.

“I’m thirsty,” snapped Nihara, expecting them to provide something in exchange for that…

Even here, Nihara was quite feisty and aggressive. At least she didn’t sweat, swear and drink as heavily as Amyé… Kazuki mesmerised himself in thought for a moment.

“Oh, there’s some beer you can get from the fridge, don’t drink all of it…” Eliza trailed off. She walked off, immediately started rummaging through the fridge. “Wait! It’s the top compartment, top left.”

Kazuki grabbed hold of both cans of soda, passing one to Eliza. They cracked them open, clinking the cans together. Vapazberries, the soda had the taste of Vapez berries. He noted that down.

“Cheers!” said Eliza, in a jovial tone.

Kazuki let himself free of worries, for a moment, pressing the can against his lips as he drank. It was bitter, just as he remembered.

∗ ∗ ∗

Her eyes glistened crimson red, looking at Kazuki as she felt the carbonated drink fizzle down her throat. His dull, golden eyes said nothing, but she could tell that he was relieved, at least that’s what she’d like to believe she can see behind the mask. She paused, placing the half-full can down against the projector, she must be right, she lied to herself. Apprehending the true consequences is something that she naively denied, she knew that - even deep down.

“So then, it’s actually happening?” asked Eliza, almost as if confirming with herself.

He nodded, placing his half empty can beside Eliza’s. He turned towards the projector, scouring across the whole board. Yet within a matter of seconds, he spoke up, “Alright, seems like most are cold leads.” She wasn’t surprised that he had read it all, nor doubted the validity of his word.

“Most? So there’s some leads, right?” She asked enthusiastically, her head twisting on a dime towards him. Her voice then seeped into questioning, she wanted to know more - everything she could know. “Do you know any of these leads?”

“Cold ones, yes. I used some influence back in Clandestine to get hold of some old documents. Cold ends, they served zero purpose, probably just some cover-up documents. But a lot of the new information here is… It’s real.”

“Wait, really?!” Eliza’s eyes widened.

“Maybe,” commented Kazuki. “Either this is all new, or the police withheld information from me.”

“Probably the latter, I apologise…” said Eliza, she had no idea why her father was so against Kazuki; but it must be quite a rough ride for him - having to work, on paper, under him.

“It’s fine. I’ve memorised everything here, and there’s one lead. Matt Oria-Tessie’s death.” said Kazuki, taking out a revolver as his ear twitched. He started to clean the sidearm, before placing it down on the table. “He helps us in death, which is more worth to him than his whole life ever was to anyone.”

Eliza furrowed her brow, not questioning him. But Kazuki killed Matt. That much itself was known galaxy-wide, supposed philanthropist and alleged slaver murdered by one of his guards. Is that not why Kazuki Geminorum-Ryzaku became the Contract-Breaker? She was confused… But she couldn’t contain her excitement, things were finally getting back on track: for real this time.

Her face was invigorated with more energy, even with all the exhaustive debt her body has - she persevered it onwards. “Ah, sorry, I beg your pardon?” asked Eliza. “What about Matt?”

“We chased Matt for information, precisely in regards to possible connections to an entity within the Mischief Board and BCA. Ricochet-9.”

“I don’t recall,” said Eliza, confused. It felt so familiar, yet her mind was unable to remember it. “It just feels like that year’s Dassant was just… all a blur to me now.”

“I don’t blame you. With everything going on, you had far more pressing matters to attend to. It was the smallest nugget of information we had. Then we got bogged down with Matt’s bullshit,” said Kazuki, placing his hands in his pockets.

She was reminded of everything that had happened. The fleeting loneliness of being at the Dassant alone… Sato was right… Why must everything start and end with him? Is he really her only ally in all this? She paused…

“Eliza?” Kazuki twisted his head towards her. Without realising, she had started to droop down, she straightened herself, tugging on the collar of her blouse. “Are you tired? We can reschedule this to a later date.”

She felt like she should be asking him that. “No, I’m fine, really, please… just show me the leads,” said Eliza. Kazuki seemed unconvinced. She smiled, hoping that it would convince him otherwise. “Come on.”

Kazuki paused for a moment, before turning around to the board, dragging pieces around as Synthia helped him organise the collective mess. The information on the board was too much for even her to skim over in a timely manner - and she reads entire dissertations on the daily; he kept his face motionless, gleaming over the mess. “Sure.”

He took a step forward, standing just far enough that she could see his exospine, with pieces of it reinforced by her own hands. It didn’t look as prestigious as it did before, with mismatching components, but Eliza felt a level of pride in it. She did that, Kazuki needs her… But as she realised exactly what she thought, she fought back against her own mind. He… doesn’t need her, she convinced herself.

‘Miss Eliza, we have collated everything in neat rows. Labels have been added to them, along with additional labels - exactly how you like it,’ said Synthia, snapping Eliza out of her trance. ‘Very impressive, ascertaining all of this. Fret not, though, your father will not know of this.’

Eliza scratched the back of her head, feeling somewhat warm in her chest at having someone recognise her, whose voice was not filled with hidden agendas. The fact that Synthia was an AI tutor had all but slipped her mind. “Ah, thank you. I’m afraid that he’ll learn that I stole it…”

“How did you even steal it?” asked Kazuki. He was adding a few lines between various points and cards and lists.

“He wasn’t looking?” said Eliza, almost as if stating the obvious.

“No… Key-drives typically are magnetically locked in place by default - and these are police key-drives you stole.” Kazuki showed Eliza, trying to yank the key-drive out of the table’s projector. It did not budge.

Huh? Eliza was left confused, there must be a reason why she was able to, right? “It was probably not locked in, then? Or maybe my dad forgot about it?”

“I hope so,” said Kazuki. Silence fell upon him as his golden eyes thinned at the board.

Ignoring what had just happened, he propped up even more information, on one specific man. Obadiah Aaria-Carinia, she’s heard of that name before…

Eliza asked, “Promise you won’t kill him?”

“I’ll aim for his throat this time…” said Kazuki, staying away from her glance as he looked at the profile. The throat? That’ll definitely kill him! His eyes glanced towards her, as he iterated, “Only if necessary…” His face frowned further.

“Obadiah… do you know him?” asked Eliza.

“No,” stated Kazuki. “I know no vermin. At best, he’s a guy that wanted to get involved in philanthropy in war-torn regions. At worst, he’s the closest thing to Tessie’s successor.”

“I hope it’s the former,” said Eliza. “But… what do you mean successor?”

“So do I,” said Kazuki. “Matt was the Mischief Triarch of Slavery. Who else better to replace him than his old associate? It’s a hunch, though,”

“Oh…”

“Don’t worry.” Kazuki placed both hands on Eliza’s arms, as if trying to reassure her, she allowed it to reassure her. “We’ve got a lead, and this time: it’s definitive.”

Obadiah was linked to Matt, an old business partner of his. Yet they had broken off long before Matt’s death. But a lead was present, and to Eliza: that was enough. She has Kazuki on her side, and very little else. But that was all she needed.