What happened after you returned to the estate once ser Qian had recalled you?

Shirong visage saw traumatized, his pupils wide like he had gazed unto the face of the devil, ya it wasn’t far from the truth, I would later learn. Nay, for the moment he merely spoke of successfully acquiring the combot, yet it had come at the cost of ser Sato disposed. We pressed for details then, but he remained stone-faced, the details were vexing is all that he spoke. We heard that the Licenced District is mad and depraved, in excess of the conceptualizations we had formed on first passing there. He was contenting himself that we hadn’t come along, for he assured us it would have resulted in a scene.

I see. When did ser Sato return?

Oh, undeterred by the masses of wallowing gits being lax with our skins, Flow is quite good at doing its thing, and so, as daylight receded his nons would collect him from some cold facility or another; to the estate where he belonged he was conducted promptly. He chose not to speak with us that time, rather engaging himself with his calligraphy for reasons not understood. Yuriko spoke in private about what happened, and then to us likewise, so we knew four days of his life went lost to the wind. He cloistered himself into his calligraphy room much like a monk and many hours passed, us not wanting to exasperate him nay, for surely he needed care and recovery, and in fact, we were cognizant of how to his mind, trifling strangers the guests in his house foreshortened had become.

What did you do in the meantime?

We spoke, and indulged in tea and walking, the bay district a beautiful site sinful to be left untapped. About the casual things at the base we spoke, and about this world, about the Empire, and we searched for the deeper meaning of all we had witnessed for humanity as a whole. Gradually, like the lotus flowers we found in the ponds, Shirong opened what he had sequestered inside, and began to speak about the events befallen. We shared in disgust when the Ishari was revealed to us, and Mei and I began to speculate to the degree that this entity was behind all that transpired in the Licensed District. Oh, the possibility of humanity and its culture subverted as part of this creature’s plot, fueled its own twisted delectations and devious contrivances like a spider that ensnared its prey in its web?

And then there was the matter that ser Sato was branded a thief, one with a small fortune in Ishari tokens amassed through means dubious to us, ya very confused all of this left us. Before such conversation could be concluded, ser Sato suddenly emerged from his study. He did approach us, and bowing deeply and apologize he did, professing how ashamed he was of having upset his guests like he had. Us, aware of the place and polite as befitting of a guest to such a formal and well-mannered man, naturally replied that it was nothing, ya we were most grateful, for his earlier rescue and his continued hospitality both.

Then and there I descried the degree to which he had been restored to his regular self, how well he appeared to act the part in spite of his four days lost. I wondered whether he managed so well for the sake of politeness, or the conciseness of his non’s briefings, or whether it was his prior experience with memory loss post unsouled disposal.

You mentioned you noticed this behavior was unusual, but did not follow up on it?

To me, it was clear ser Sato valued propriety and was less than revealing about his own personal matters, so none of us were eager to probe him directly with such questions. We were his guests, and a guest should not visit displeasure upon their host.

I see. From your perspective, ser Sato just picked matters up again as if nothing had transpired?

Ya. Before long, he had a training session with Shirong. Subsequently, we had dinner, all kinds of small dishes of seafood, meat, and vegetables that filled the table. We had Yuriko play music, and good traditional songs she sang to us. Such was the sweet way in which she conveyed her voice, I felt a great sense of admiration for her, ya, even when knowing full well her talents were preternatural imprints, and yet I could not help but fall for the spell.

A part of me thought, ‘This will be a night of woe, if only for the three of us,’ for while ser Sato was a civil man, the events of the day past still laid fresh on our minds, ya there was much left unknown, his character full of uncertainties and potential peril. The knowledge that ser Sato had resumed Shirongs training and was dead set on pursuing the confrontation with Valeriya afforded little relief. I was afraid, that ominous night, and so we sat, while she played the biwa, us consuming the morsels on offer alike swines for the slaughter.

Yet ser Sato spoke kindly, more open to questions he was, and more freely we spoke, likewise.

That Shirong’s fight would be conducted against one of our own troubled me, ya it did, yet with a stern voice reminded we were that Shirong was merely carrying out the errant agreed. Now a matter of honor it was, a slight we had dealt to be stuck off against if only we could deal a blow that had fouled the man’s honor in days long gone. Ya, that much we had learned, sers Sato and EZdoR having a long and troubled history.

What have you discovered with regards to their history?

Oh, fundamentally, their quarrel was an ideological one. From ser Sato’s words I thought him to be the kind that wished to take the people of this world forward, advance in matters spiritual as well as mental. Indeed, the Provider technology afforded humanity with many opportunities, and yet, in the view of ser Sato, and likewise my own, many inhabitants of 96 Piscium chose to squander it, living their lives only for the short term gratification, using intelligent Provider creatures for the most banal kinds of entertainment.

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Sers Sato and EZdoR had clashed more than once about the matter, but over time, ser EZdoR had risen to become a figure of prominence with a large following that controlled vast swathes of the Licensed District, all the while ser Sato had faded to become the man he was, a disgraced shadow that lingered in obscurity alike a mouse in its burrow, nay the situation as it was, he would not suffer the embarrassment of interacting with his sats at length.

I questioned him then and there, why was it then that nons he likewise used? He did not answer directly, nay, instead he drew our attention to Yuriko with a swift, theatrical motion of his arm. Was it not that his nons enjoyed respect, practiced arts, and were well-versed in culture, indeed, being a part of a house and a family, he asked.

We questioned this, for we had not forgotten that what had happened mere days ago, where he had sent one of his own to perish futilely in an attempt to uphold the vestiges of vainglorious honor?

Ser Sato stared at us intently then, and he shouted “Kihei”, which was the name of the blue-faced non. Forward Kihei came, and on the ground, he began to disassemble his tachi. Inside the hilt, a device was revealed. A dogtag it was.

I realized the significance. The non had never perished in the fight. “You gave your nons a soul”, I spoke, and Ser Sato nodded quietly, as the non put his weapon back together and returned to his place.

Our meal was finished in silence, some nons clearing the table while Yuriko and ser Sato conveyed us to a side wing in the estate, the size of which continues to leave an impression on the mind, especially as we walked into a dark hall. It was then that it dawned on me that this place was unlike the other buildings.

Tell me what you observed.

The exterior of the building, the roof of the hall, the bronze-plated front doors, all these things seemed to exist in harmony with the remainder of buildings on ser Sato’s premises, yet the internal space was contrasting entirely. The minimalist and spacious furnishings abandoned here, this space carried an array of industrial equipment, ya, he had an entire manufacturing setup concealed within one of his outbuildings, alike a nest hidden inside a tree, the sprawl of pipes and machinery we saw.

Ser Sato displayed a holo then, and we gathered around, learning of the combot he had procured for Shirong to do battle with. Oh, what a magnificent machine it was, we all agreed, but to ser Sato it was something that was still much to be improved. Ya indeed, the combot he now possessed carried constituents now old, or so he would have us believe. Nay, better, more advanced components he would now manufacture and build, so that ser EZdoR’s champion would be defeated for sure.

Much alike our fabricator in the colony, his setup was. Busy on a job in progress, the machines whirred diligently in rhythmic motions in their efforts to produce the components ser Sato sought. Then we saw the small shipping containers that stood ready aside, some loaded already and others empty still, and when I walked over I noticed there were not combot components inside. Nay, there was stage material, and drums sized larger than a man.

I questioned ser Sato, and ain’t I the prying one, he spoke, and then he divulged that modifying a combot this late before the fight was something no longer allowed, nay, all modifications had to be evaluated and the time allowed for that had long passed, it had. But he knew a way ya, after all, he was like a thief in the night, he would sneak the parts in, but play our part, ya, that we had.

He outlined his plan then and there, brought up a map of the place on the holo, ya by aero we would ship in the drums and the material for on stage, but on the way there, a cargo elevator there was, and we would stop it at the floor below ground level and then sneak onto it the crate with the parts. Easily spotted would be that our crates were in number reduced, so from the bowels of the arena below, a similar crate would be readied and moved up to replace the one that we lost. Ya, the elevator I would control and the nons would take care of the rest.

I spoke ain’t this a crime, and assure me he did that of consequence it was not, these acts being a regular thing on this world and when caught punishments mild, they tended to be. The Empire won’t care, nay, that’s what was spoken, now I’m uncertain, tell me was it wrong what I did?

If all you did was partake in the smuggling of some combot components when prohibited under the arena regulations, you would not be here.

Ya, but then and there I failed to see where things would lead...

Ignorance is no excuse.

Ya, and in ignorance we agreed to abet in the plot, for invested in the outcome we were… No longer a matter of two contestants it was, nay like in the wars of nations of old, then and there we believed that a force of civilization and dignity ser Sato represented, pitted against the barbarism and inhumanity of ser EZdoR and his ilk.

Ha, reflecting on it now makes it all the more inane, as if a mere combot fight would alter the fate of the planet. We were held captive on top of our moral high ground, firm in believing our cause was a just one, and what of breaking a small inconsequential rule in the process, oh small rules made by mere mortals, so far beneath us those rules then would seem, for righteous and just, that’s what we wanted to be…

Valeriya, Guowei, and Casimir, their choices were made when they had stayed in that square, betraying the values we had come to hold dear, and now on our shoulders we carried the heavy burden of needing to correct that mistake, proving that justice was something that would prevail in the end, ya, that was what we had come to believe.

And so, the next morning we boarded the transporter, the containers already onboard, and out of the dome, to the arena we went. Besides Yuriko, his nons, nowhere to be seen, nay, already ahead they had gone in the night.

After arriving, I was led by Yuriko to the elevator I was to command, ser Sato and the others clumsily unloading the crates, stalling for time. When all was ready, down below the combot pits I first went, and ya, indeed, I heard the decoy container being loaded on top. Then up I went, to the floor below where the others were waiting, and again the doors above were pried open, and the switch happened quickly and cleanly. But rather than back down to the pits to deliver my charge, the elevator indicated it would first go up to answer a call.

Up it went, and in came a shirtless man with a skin of a young adolescent boy, and three female nons also, shirtless likewise, and clad in long black stockings and longer coats of white fur. There I was, and unsurprisingly they began to behave indecently, all the while staring at me, like what is a non-less one like me to do?

At ground level they left, and I looked out and saw ser Sato had already gone on, not waiting for me to return. So I went down to deliver my charge, and afterward, I returned to the transport and waited for events to unfold...