YF planted one leg on the ground and one on the seat while pressing his hand against the pod ceiling to prevent himself from flying out through the broken window. Tatori involuntarily slid across the faux leather toward him, his shoulder locked against YF’s leg. After a few moments, YF pushed his knee into Tatori to hold the latter against the seat, reaching to the other end of the pod and grabbing with both hands onto the handlebar. The pod started to slow down after what felt like an eternity, which allowed YF to relax the pressure on Tatori and stand on the ground. The pod then came to a stop.
The pod door crept open followed by the door at the other end sliding halfway before it jammed. YF pulled the door apart by shoving his pistol in the gap and prying it open. When he stepped out onto the ground he realized they were next to a street; it was quickly apparent that the street was on ground level. YF’s eyes followed the vines and plants that snaked across the metal panels, still fascinated by how they could not only survive, but thrive, in the lower levels. From above, dripping moisture from air conditioning units, generators, and all sorts of other machines came down in trickles to the street on which he stood. In the suffocating heat of late summer, the ground level was comfortably cool, causing YF to shut his eyes for a second and feel the draft against his face.
He turned back to see Tatori climb out from the pod with a sack fuller and heavier than before, no doubt having relieved the headless body of his burden. YF hoisted the latter up on his shoulder, starting to walk toward the nearest ascension ramp. There was a motion among the vines. YF stopped and squinted at the shifting spot along the side of the road. After a few seconds he could make out what looked like thin emaciated versions of the runners from before weaved into the vines. Some of them were twitching or crawling, but most seem to have been deceased. Upon further inspection, there were many of them scattered throughout the flora complex, their skin having turned a dark green, blending in with their new restraints. Tatori seemed too weak to react as they continued along the road.
When YF made it to the top of the second level ramp there was a man leaning against a car blocking the way. He was wearing a long blue trench coat with the rose insignia on his breast pocket. It was a face YF recognized; the man had come to his apartment before looking for Reina. YF remembered disliking him.
“Are you not going to tell me your name this time either?” asked YF. He raised the pistol that was still in his hand with an extended arm, pointing toward the man’s center of mass. “I have somewhere to be. And I need you to get out of the way.”
The man was not fazed. “I think it’s best if you come with me, Mr. Sakai,” he said. “Hayashi-san assured me I did not need to bring any muscle, and that you would come of your own free will.”
YF turned to Tatori, who looked like he was in much worse shape than before.
“We can take care of his wounds,” said the man.
“No hospitals…” Tatori muttered.
The man went to the back seat and opened it casually. “I can assure you Hayashi-san will provide our most excellent doctors. Free of charge, private, and discreet. There will be no record of it.”
Tatori hesitated, looking from YF to the man. “And what about Ito?”
“Unfortunately your friend is in a holding cell inside the complex. Hayashi-san dispatched our lawyers to deal with the situation. You will be reunited with him soon.”
Tatori clutched his sack.
“Now that is something you will have to part with I’m afraid. National security and all,” said the man.
Tatori pushed off from YF and staggered backward, shifting his eyes to the edge of the platform.
A projectile flew in front of YF and latched itself onto Tatori, shocking him until he fell on the platform unconscious.
“It’s almost pitiful to watch how desperate scrapers can be,” said the man.
While YF had his differences with Tatori, the way this man spoke and the way he stood now staring at Tatori’s body really rubbed YF the wrong way.
“You can tell Reina to go fuck herself,” said YF, making his way toward Tatori. YF grabbed the latter’s arm and threw it across his own shoulder, lifting him up.
“And what of the information you so desperately seek? The reason for your incessant suffering?”
“I think I figured out enough of it on my own,” said YF, pointing the gun at the man. “Whatever’s left won’t take too long.”
“And your friend?” asked the man. “That wound is not from something the local hospitals will recognize. And if you don’t get help from a…a specialist…well. I’m afraid to say he might not be completely himself when he wakes.”
YF clenched the grip of his pistol, slowly moving his finger toward the trigger. After several seconds, he exhaled deeply and lowered the gun. “I want to see him treated first.”
***
YF stared at the machines displaying Tatori’s vital signs through the observation glass. With the operation on Tatori’s arm concluded, a nurse was adjusting his pillow and checking his intravenous drip pouch. Though the color was off, YF was sure that the pouch contained a good amount of daywalker blood.
“Satisfied now?” asked the man.
Without replying, YF turned toward the elevator and began walking, the man following closely behind. When the door closed the man swiped his wrist and then pressed the button for the top floor. The two of them stood in silence as the elevator ascended rapidly, the pressure in YF’s ears indicating how quickly they were rising. Almost as soon as the elevator began accelerating it began to decelerate, finally coming to a stop.
The door opened and the man only nodded slightly, his feet planted firmly in position. “This is where we part ways. Goodbye for now, Mr. Sakai.”
YF stepped out of the elevator and the door closed behind him, whirring as it descended back down the shaft. There was a set of wooden double doors between him and the executive suite, which looked like they had purposefully been left open before he arrived. At the large, heavy mahogany desk sat Reina, poring over her terminal. Her bodyguard was noticeably absent. YF knew that real wood furniture was prohibitively expensive but he was sure it was also illegal to possess in the villages. He didn’t want to imagine how much this set of doors, the desk, and the meeting chairs in the generous space at the front of Reina’s suite cost.
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
“Something came up, but I’ll be done shortly. Please, have a seat,” said Reina.
The image of Reina laying in the morgue flashed through his mind. “If it’s all the same, I’ll stay right here,” said YF.
Reina was thoroughly engrossed in whatever she was reading. It was strange to see her so serious. The contrast with her outfit, however, was jarring: she was dressed in the same gray T-shirt as the one she wore when they met on the roof of their apartment building in Gochome. When she looked up she seemed annoyed that YF had not moved. “Come here. I can’t hear you over there.”
YF found himself complying, walking until he reached the suite and standing in the center of the open space.
“Raids on corporations, raids on government facilities. Quite the outlaw aren’t you?” she asked, putting down her terminal. “At first I thought your antics could do little to disrupt my plans and so I humored you. But you’ve proven more resourceful than I anticipated,” said Reina. “And so I’m offering not only an explanation but a chance to help me, which I suspect you will do so of your own free will when you hear what I have to say.”
“I’m here for Tatori’s treatment. You can say what you want and I will pretend to listen, then be on my way. I don’t need, nor want, your help in finding my answers. And frankly, I would love nothing more than to plant a bolt between your eyes.”
“You know how in over your head you are, don’t you?” she asked.
“I have some idea,” said YF.
“If you figured that much out, why did you keep doing it? Why keep digging a hole so deep you can’t climb out?”
“I’m not dead, I’m not in jail. You want something. What is it?”
“You didn’t complete our last transaction, though I’m not upset because it turned out for the best.”
The image of Katayama flashed before him. “You found him?” asked YF.
“No, but during your little deal with Uwada I was able to negotiate for aid from the Kita family.”
“By giving up Mori,” YF murmured. That’s how Uwada knew where she was.”
Reina flashed her fangs as she smiled. “I don’t know anything about that.”
“You’re really fine with letting Uwada run things in the villages now? You think he’s loyal to you?”
“Sakai-san, the activities of criminals do not concern me.”
“So what am I here for?”
“I don’t want you to get the wrong idea of what’s happening. I also don’t want you to do something rash.”
“Then what’s happening?”
“What do you think it takes for our country to exist between Ard and Xian?”
“We’ve been doing all right so far.”
“Have we?” asked Reina. “Now that your child is soon to be born you should consider what type of country you are leaving for him.”
YF realized he had missed all of the doctor’s appointments and did not even know the gender of his own baby. Though it was no surprise — and no less infuriating — that Reina did.
“Do you want to have a country where young men wait in lifelong lists for employment? Or an actual prosperous nation?” she asked.
“It’s easy for people like you to say, from your high towers.”
“Sakai-san!” she gripped the side of her desk. “Even if we created jobs with what little money reserves we had, we would be paying people to sit at a desk and do nothing. Desks we do not have as I’m sure you’ve seen from the limited space on our small island. I am not sure sitting at a desk and sitting at home will make such a big difference.”
“What homes?” asked YF. “At least they could afford to get out of the slums if you paid them.” The naivete of his own voice grated on his ears.
“The Prime Minister and I have decided that it would be a better investment to simply rebuild and renovate the slums. Since you’ve chosen to go back to Itsugo rather than stay here in the Ward, you will find your apartment much more comfortable than when you last left it. I’m sure Erika and the baby will appreciate it as well.”
“The…Prime Minister and I…?” YF repeated.
“Take a look around you, Sakai-san. There is no more space on this useless, mountainous rock. The daywalkers keep their technology hidden from us, the money is running out. Disorder is spilling into the Wards.”
YF chuckled. “So disorder is fine in the Villages, so long as it doesn’t reach the precious Wards.”
“Sakai-san, you’re being short sighted.”
“Ard and Xian have been the two biggest countries since anyone can remember. If we wanted to do something about it I think it’s far too late now.”
“You think they will leave us alone?”
“They haven’t invaded us since Triarch Enellen Revir.”
Reina nodded slowly, smiling a dangerous smile. “Enellen Revir. Fires, I do love her.”
YF frowned. “What did—”
“She was a visionary woman,” said Reina, stirring her coffee. “A truly, visionary woman.”
YF could see the blood swirling with the milk in her cup. Reina’s hand shook slightly as she raised the cup to her lips. After she sipped it, she let out a sigh of relief, her hand stabilizing. When she opened her eyes again her pupils had grown more narrow.
“And you think that doing some some…experiments…with our bodies will help fend them off? Was it worth killing those thousands of villagers marked as numbers on your spreadsheets? Was it—” YF clenched his fists, the desire to reach across her expensive desk and strangle her overwhelming him.
“You have no idea how desperate of a situation we are in,” Reina whispered. A tear dripped from the side of her eye to her chin, followed by a steady stream of tears. “You think I’m happy about this?”
“Are you even alive,” YF found himself blurting out. “I’ve seen the pictures.”
Reina looked convincingly confused. “What?”
“You died,” said YF slowly. “Don’t you—” a sudden realization came over him. “Hayashi Tohei planted you—”
YF heard a loud clang, causing him to jolt up but feeling himself suddenly restrained. He looked down to see that two contraptions had risen from the floor and bound his legs.
“You’re here for two reasons,” said Reina, baring her fangs, the tears now gone. She smiled a vicious smile as she stood up and walked over to him. When she arrived, Reina raised her arm and stuck a needle in his neck faster than he could raise his arm to deter her, causing him to instantly relax. She then tapped along his arm, rubbing two fingers up along his forearm before inserting a second needle. With his blurry vision YF could see that she was drawing blood.
“What Yui-nee-san did to you was very interesting. I’ve been waiting to have a look,” said Reina. When she was done she withdrew the syringe and flicked the needle. “The second thing is—”
The sound of an explosion rocked the building.
“Ah, right on time,” she said with a hint of glee. Reina walked over to her wardrobe and pulled her shirt over her head so that she was only wearing her undergarments, opening the door and pulling out a bodysuit made of some tough, stretchy material. She struggled to get into it and then removed a thick, armored vest, donning it. She next slipped on a pair of equally padded shorts, then strapped on shoulder, knee, and shin protection. Lastly, she pulled a pair of shoes that seemed to be made of the same flexible material as her suit over her feet. When she was done, Reina squatted and leaned over to stretch her back, a low crack echoing through the office. “It’s been a while since Yui o-nee-san and I had a go.” She stood up, pressing a button on her neck band to engage her full faced helmet.
YF could feel the restraints releasing his legs, causing him to collapse in a heap. He reached out to plant his hands on the ground, but he did not have enough strength to get up. YF then felt himself being lifted up and swung over someone’s shoulder.
“Come on, the show is about to begin,” he heard Reina’s muffled voice