Kazin

I join Hazgal after I shut the front door. He's ripping off his boots. He greets Akato as he steps up onto the floor.

"You have my thanks for your earlier favor, Akato. But still, I have my pride as an ex-mercenary. I thought this place was untraceable."

Akato gives a smooth smile. "All things can be traced, my friend. You just don't know it."

"Friend or no," Hazgal says. "I don't like being surprised at a safehouse without warning."

Akato nods knowingly. "Understood, and I offer you my apologies. But there was something urgent I needed to speak to you about." He notices me for the first time, and he peers at me curiously. "You must be Kazin." He gives my hand a firm shake. "You're the best of both worlds, aren't you? Got your father's build, but your mother's looks. Thankfully."

Dad bursts into laughter. "That he does. Kazin, this is Akato. Commissioner Akato, I should say. He's no longer a mere constable, this one." Dad pours a finger of whiskey into a glass and hands it to Commissioner Akato. "Didn't know you were the political type, Akato. Or should I say, I didn't know you'd be so damn good at it."

Akato shrugs as if the weight of the world is on his shoulders. "We all must adapt to our environments, whether we will it or not." He clinks glasses with Hazgal and Dad, and the three of them drink together.

"You sure you weren't followed, Akato?" Hazgal grunts. He's still bitter that his safehouse wasn't as safe as he had hoped.

"One hundred percent," Akato answers, quickly finishing his drink. "Now then, I'm afraid that Kazin should leave us now, if we're to begin our discussion."

As Dad gazes at Commissioner Akato, his brow begins to crease. I know that look—it’s the look Dad gets when he's indignant, when someone encroaches on his boundaries. I think he's not happy that Akato is telling me what to do.

"My son's a part of our affairs now," Dad says. "He can listen in on anything we're going to be talking about."

Akato's eyes widen in surprise. "Are you sure, Kashniro? This is dangerous business we are going to be discussing."

"He'll be no less safe than if he was kept in the dark," Dad insists.

Akato sighs, then gives me a tired look. "Alright, then. Have it your way." He seems very unhappy about my presence, and I am suddenly aware of this fact: that I am unwelcomed by someone so high-up in the ranks. I am still a child, and he believes me such, no matter what my dad insists. I begin wondering if I was foolish to remain.

We all take our seats on the couches surrounding a center coffee table. It's Akato who speaks first.

"Shora was wondering where you were, Kashniro. She's extremely concerned."

"It couldn't be helped," Dad says. "I wanted to remain under the radar for as long as possible. I'll contact her at a later date to let her know I'm safe."

Akato nods. "As anyone would, in your situation, I think. You're wanted by the whole city, Kashniro—a Joryoku clan, a powerful conglomerate, and a popular Councilor. That is no easy task." Akato smiles. "It is always go big or go home with you, isn't it?"

Dad gives a crooked grin. "It wasn't supposed to go that way. Well, at least we now know that the Kargu clan's main benefactor is the Shampai Group." Suddenly, Dad's face is overcast with a grim shadow. "So, what is it you came to say, Akato?"

Akato sips at his cup with a concerned look in his eyes. "You must stop what you are doing."

Dad's cup freezes midair, halfway to his mouth. "You're kidding."

Akato shakes his head. "I am not."

Dad places his cup down onto the tabletop, the overly calm of his manner betraying his anger. The air in the room is taut with tension. "Who put you up to this?"

"No one 'put me up to this' Kashniro," Akato says, now his turn to be angered. "You are my friend. I am Commissioner. I know things you don't, and I can tell you that things won't go over well for you if you do not step back from what you are doing. You have enemies everywhere, my friend."

"You're Commissioner," Hazgal grunts. "Do something about it then. Help Kash out, instead of just telling him to back off."

Akato’s jaw flexes as he attempts to retain his civility. "Your enemies are much too powerful for me to do anything about it, Kashniro. I am powerless. Warning you is the most I can do."

Dad's face hardens into one of contained rage. "Did the Crystalline Towers put you up to this? Or have you sold out to someone at Chunzanten Hall? You really have become a political snake, haven't you, Akato?"

Akato stiffens, and his eyes are as hard as amethysts. There's a glint of indignation within them, but also a shimmering light of desperation. "I am your friend. I am trying to protect you."

Dad and Akato stare long and hard at one another. A sweat breaks out on my forehead as I watch the two men. It feels like ants are crawling over my skin. Finally, Dad sighs, and falls back into the couch. "You know how important this work is to me, Akato. And for Hazgal too. I thought we had your support in trying to keep Handata City free from the control of the Kargu clan."

Hazgal nods "I won't have Nera's death be for nothing."

Akato's face softens into one that borders on pity. "This is far bigger than you realize. You cannot even begin to fathom."

"Then use your power to actually help us," Dad pleads. "Don't just do the things you have been doing, like informing us of a constabulary raid, or…or keeping your patrols off our routes for a day or two." Dad takes Akato by the hand. "You're the damn Commissioner, Akato. The three of us, with Shora, would be unstoppable. Not even the Shampai Group could do a thing about it, especially with the data we've gathered."

"You've lost that data," Akato says hesitantly.

"We can retrieve it again," Dad replies, his eyes alight with resolution. "We did it once, we'll do it again."

Akato looks down into his refilled drink, as if he's searching for some answer within the swirling whiskey. The silence in the room is deafening. Not one of the three men seem to even be breathing. My stomach ties itself into a knot.

"I can't," Akato finally says. His voice suggests a gnawing at his soul, though I can’t pinpoint he reason why.

Dad sighs and leans farther back into his seat. "I see. That's a damn shame, Akato."

Hazgal makes to stand. "Then I guess it's time for us to part ways for now, Commissioner Akato. The door's right there." He points in a manner that is commanding, bordering on threatening.

When I look at Commissioner Akato, I'm shocked to find that his eyes are glistening with tears.

"Yes," Akato says quietly. "Yes, it is."

As Akato quietly stands, I hear the sound of a photonBlaster being discharged. Dad looks at Akato in confusion, and time seems to stand still. Then, there's a loud crash against the wood as Hazgal crumples to the ground, a gaping hole smoldering in his left arm.

"Kaz!" Dad screams. "Get behind the couch!"

I'm frozen for what feels like an eternity—only a couple of milliseconds could have passed. Dad dives and covers my body with his own. There's a burst of rapid fire—the room is alight with green and red and blue and yellow as photonBlasters of all radiation levels are discharged into the room. Dad drags me behind the couch. I spot Akato walking slowly towards the door, his shoulders sagging.

Suddenly there's a loud hiss and then a constant buzz. Hazgal's somehow climbed back onto his feet, and his energyShield is out before him, shimmering a transparent pink and purple and blue.

"GET BEHIND ME!" Hazgal roars through clenched teeth. Dad and I crawl behind him, and he guides us slowly towards the back wall, where a door takes shape out of the shadows. There's an electric lock on it.

"My cTab is on the couch," Hazgal grunts. "We'll need to break the door down. Take my crackler, Kash! My other arm's useless."

Dad takes the crackler from Hazgal's belt. When he turns it on, the black bar shivers and quivers—Dad fights to keep the bar under control in his grip. Suddenly, blue bolts of lightning zigzag all through the length of the crackler, then leap furiously from the tip of the bar, until the weapon is increased to twice its original length—half black bar, half jagged shafts of electricity.

Dad runs to the door and strikes at the handle.

Nothing.

Shadows begin emerging from behind corners and stairways and furniture.

"They're coming!" I yell.

"It's stone!" Hazgal shouts over his shoulder. "You need to go for the door itself!"

"Damn it!" Dad screams. He sticks the crackler into the door and waits as the wood begins to slowly blacken. Sparks are flying everywhere. The energyShield flashes blindingly white each time a beamShot finds its mark.

Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.

Hazgal laughs wildly. "Burn the whole damn cabin down, Kash! Die, you bastards!"

I'm cringing behind the energyShield. The waves are starting to grow in size with each successive shot that makes contact with the plasma. I know the shield will give out soon. I turn to Dad.

"Dad, hurry!"

Dad looks behind him and sees the urgency of our situation. The stratTroopers are nearing. From the beamShot and the deflections of the energyShield, it is like fireworks are going off in the room. It is absolute chaos. In the corner by the front door, Akato is watching, waiting. Roaring, Dad backs up, then hurls himself against the door—it’s about sixty percent blackened now. The wood begins to give way. Dad batters himself against it again, again, and again. Finally, with an earsplitting crack, the door shudders and gives way, and Dad disappears down a dark stairwell. The shadowy stratTroops rush us. I see them running, ushering us towards our imminent deaths.

"Go, kid!" Hazgal screams. "Go!"

I obey Hazgal's command and run down the stairs. Dad is sprawled out at the bottom, his head bleeding.

"Shit!" I try to shake Dad awake. "Dad! Dad!"

Dad's eyes flicker open. "Hazgal," he mumbles. "Where's Hazgal?"

I glance up at the stairs. Lights are flashing there still—Hazgal is still alive. I think Dad must have dropped the crackler at the door as he fell—I can hear bursts of electricity accompanied by screams as Hazgal repels the invaders.

"We still have time, Dad!" I shout. "We need to find your weapons!"

That seems to wake Dad up. I help him pick himself up off the floor. Dad leads us towards the far wall of the basement—there are all manner of weaponry hanging there—photonBlasters, shotguns, blastRifles, the whole shebang.

"YES!" I scream in triumph. "YES!"

Gathering what strength he has remaining, Dad stumbles quickly to the wall. He tosses me a photonBlaster. I know how to use this thing. Dad taught me in secret when I was young, without mom’s knowledge. The weapon is easier to work than a kinetic VR set.

But something's wrong. Dad notices too. Then I realize what it is. It's too quiet.

Hazgal.

"Get behind me, Kaz," Dad whispers.

I do as he says, my photonBlaster held at the ready. Dad hoists up his directEn railgun onto his shoulder. I'll have to cover Dad if he fires a shot on it—it takes between five and ten seconds to recharge the energy before he can pull the trigger again

Together, we creep forward. It's dark. We can't see very far. I hear a sudden scrape against the floor, so I look down. Dad has stumbled. I kneel beside him. He’s been hurt—he's been shot, to be more precise. He's missing a chunk of flesh on his thigh.

Dad curses under his breath. "I don't know if we can push them back, kiddo," he explains. It hurts to hear him say that, but I understand. As difficult as it is, I know we must leave Hazgal behind. It is now a luxury to believe he's still alive.

Dad looks around the basement. On the far side, just beside the weapon's rack, there is a door leading to the outside. Dad points, and I nod. We both begin creeping backwards, as fast as we dare in the tense darkness. I can hear my breath shaking. My limbs are weak, and the photonBlaster feels a thousand pounds in my arms.

We're almost at the door. There's a slight scraping noise against the concrete stairs. Dad pulls the trigger of his weapon, and a blazing bar of purple screams from the center of the three prongs of his railgun. There's a deafening explosion, and that part of the house begins collapsing in on itself. I see several stratTroops falling together with wooden beams and blocks of concrete. Their bodies are buried beneath the debris, and I see arms and legs protruding from gaps in the rubble.

From behind us, there's an explosion. The door that's supposed to be our escape has fallen in on itself. There's only smoke, dust, and a cool, foresty breeze.

Everything seems to happen in slow motion after that.

I'm turning to face whatever threat may come through those doors. I see the blue lightning of the cracklers, and teams of stratTroops rushing into the basement. I'm able to fire off several rounds, but I don't know if I made any hits.

I feel a heavy thud against my left leg, and excruciating pain shoots up it and streaks into my side, then my arms, then my head. It hurts so much that I can't even scream. I collapse onto the ground.

"Kaz!" I see stratTroops in forest-green body armor throw Dad to the ground; the sleeves of the uniform of one of the stratTroop's slides up. His skin is all ink and bioEnhancement chips and plates. These aren't stratTroops, I realize. They are Joryoku. I see the orange and black tiger on the mobster's arm leap and pounce as he pins my Dad against the cold concrete floor.

My vision is blurred, and my eyes are watery; my head is roiling with the aftershocks of the crackler hit, as if it’s moments away from splitting in half. I try to shift my head so that I can see my dad. I see three pairs of legs walk through the door: two are wearing slacks, one of them is wearing jeans. I roll onto my back so I can look up.

Commissioner Akato is at the front. I can't speak, so I only moan. I thought he was Dad's friend. If I could, I would stand up and take him down to the ground, gouge his eyes out, and shoot his face with the photonBlaster until it's a pile of red mush. I am on fire, and not just from the pain. He's escorting some guy with greying hair wearing techSpectacles and a business suit. But there's another person behind the two of them.

It's Sangsum.

He's not wearing his customary smirk, nor is he sauntering in that cocky manner like he always does. He looks reduced and tired, like he doesn't want to be there. When we lock eyes, his gaze retreats, as if he’s a timid mouse. I think I catch a glimpse of tears in his eyes.

"Kaz!" Dad yells. "Kaz, you okay?" Dad looks up, and he bellows. "Akato, I'll kill you for this! I'll kill you!"

"No you won't," the man in the business suit says, pushing up his techSpects. "Pull him up. And someone hold a gun to his son's head so he stays quiet. I have a headache." The Joryoku guys haul Dad onto his knees. I feel the cold circle of a gun barrel against my temple.

Akato speaks up. "Is it really necessary with the boy, Chairman? He's only a child."

Chairman Gato yanks Akato by the collar of his shirt. "Never question me again," he hisses. "You've caused enough trouble tonight by allowing that Councilor to sully my home, setting your men loose to crawl like cockroaches on my property." He releases Akato with a shove.

"Please," Dad begs. "Please. I'll do whatever you want. Just let my son go."

I shut my eyes. I don't want to see him like this. My proud dad; my fearless dad; the man who would do anything for his family. It breaks my heart to pieces.

Chairman Gato sighs. "There's nothing you can do, Kashniro, except die. Unfortunately, I might add. Your talents might have proven useful under different circumstances. Regrettable, I assure you." The chairman draws an antique silver pistol from his pocket and hands it to Akato. "Prove your loyalty, Commissioner."

Akato pales. "I proved my loyalty upstairs, with Hazgal."

Chairman Gato shoots him a venomous glare. "I want to see you do it this time. How do I know you didn't just order one of your lackeys to do the deed for you?" He dangles the pistol in front of Akato like it's poison.

"With a bullet gun, Chairman?" Akato croaks. "A photonBlaster will do."

Chairman Gato smiles, then looks down at Dad. "A fitting end for the Gunman, isn't it?"

Akato swallows, then takes the gun into his hand. He holds the weapon against Dad's forehead. I try to scream, but the crackler hit still messes with my faculties. I can only moan and groan in unseemly ways.

Dad looks at me. His eyes are dark and full of fear. He tries his best to comfort me with a smile and a lie. "You'll be alright, Kaz." He turns to Akato. "Please, Akato."

I try to scream. Damn, but with all my might I try to scream, to make even a single, loud sound to voice my rage, my indignance, some sort of desperate protest.

I fail.

Akato looks away, and he pulls the trigger. There's an earsplitting bang. I feel warm liquid splatter across my face, and when the Joryoku release Dad, he drops to the ground. I lock my eyes with his lifeless ones, and the tears come pouring from mine.

I hear a whimper. Hatred fills my entire being, and I look towards the Chairman and Akato. It was Sangsum who made the sound. He'll get no sympathy from me. If I make it out of this, he's gone too. I'll rip his entire world to shreds before I do the same to him.

But maybe I won't get that chance.

Chairman Gato takes the pistol from Akato's limp hands. "Well done, Commissioner. Now I know I can trust you in our future dealings." He turns to Sangsum and shoves the pistol into his son's hands. "Now you. And if you cry this time like you did with the Kanbar boy, the fear he"—the chairman points to me—"is feeling right now won't be even half of what you'll know later. Now do it." He forces Sangsum to stand right in front of me. Tears are streaking down Sangsum's face too. He closes his eyes.

"Wait, Chairman," Akato says dryly. “The—"

"Have I misjudged you, Commissioner?" Chairman Gato says in a low voice. "Will you be joining your friend Kashniro tonight?"

"No, sir," Akato says quickly. "Your pistol." He pulls the barrel down towards the ground, away from me. Sangsum willingly obliges. "It's bullet based. Too easily trackable in this day and age."

"You've just killed Kashniro with it, Commissioner," Gato says.

"Kashniro is a known Joryoku," Akato says. "His death won't cause much surprise. The death of a civilian by such a weapon, however, will spark a media circus, and your friends at City Center will not be happy." Akato draws his own photonBlaster and hands it to Sangsum. "Here. Do it with this. They are common. No one will question his mode of death when we lay the blame on a Joryoku feud facilitated by his father.”

"I know for a fact that they will never track this pistol," the Chairman says calmly. “You are on my side, after all.”

"Will you risk the optics of the affair on your son?" Akato demands.

Any hope I had slips out of my body. All hatred melts away. There's only fear now. A small, unseemly fear that these men before me do not even notice, a mere worm wriggling in the mud.

Chairman Gato roars in laughter. "Very well, Akato! And this is why we have you on our side, Commissioner." He turns back to Sangsum. "Do it," he says coldly.

The barrel of the photonBlaster gleams in the beams of light emanating from the headlamps of the Joryoku soldiers. I can see it trembling. Sangsum screams. Akato looks away. I close my eyes, and then—