They steel their nerves before entering the possible death trap of an elevator, and hit the button for the seventh floor. The shaky doors slide shut again and the lift begins its unstable ascension. The men reach their destination and the doors open again to reveal a corridor that seems to be in even worse shape than the lobby.
The carpet covering the floor is thin and covered in various stains of uncertain origin, mostly darkened by age. Bits of trash are strewn about certain spots, mostly next to doors. Unlike the lobby, the walls are covered in wallpaper, but most of it has been scratched off from an innumerable amount of people and things through the passing of time. The fluorescent ceiling lights barely function, most of them either blinking or burnt out completely. The fact that no one else can be seen down the hallway makes it even more eerie and unsettling.
“Christ, they should just tear this place down already, maybe with some of the tenants still inside it. If this is the only place they can afford, it'd probably be doing them a favor,” Devin continues his merciless criticism of the state of the building.
“Assuming they're actually paying for anything,” Atreus remarks before leading the way down the repulsively unkempt corridor, scanning the passing doors for their room numbers, some of which are missing and only leave behind their faded presence on the wooden surface.
It doesn't take long for them to reach room 705, possibly the most obvious room that has a tenant in it because it's one of the few that doesn't have its door ajar. There's no eye scanner or fingerprint readers keeping the door secure, only an old fashioned locking knob and deadbolt, possibly a chain lock on the other side, too. Atreus knocks on the door with a reserved amount of force, out of consideration of Edward's slight paranoia regarding his situation. Faint footsteps are heard on the other side, approaching the threshold. There's a short pause, then a series of mechanical unlocking sounds, and finally the door opens.
“Hey, you made it,” Edward, still in his hoodie, comments as he peers out into the hallway for other people. “Come on, get inside, quick.” He beckons both of his visitors in, wasting no time on pleasantries before ensuring their privacy.
The two visitors enter the apartment, not surprised to discover that it's practically a pantry in terms of size. Upon walking in, there's a tiny entryway between the wall that serves as the edge of the apartment and the wall to the bathroom. A couple steps in, and they enter the living room/bedroom space of the small studio; the entire apartment doesn't even have a proper kitchen. All in all, the entire area is probably a total of two hundred square feet, which is likely a generous estimate. The wood floor seems rough in some areas, and also bears similar stains to the carpeted hallway.
With the apartment being Edward's temporary hideout, furniture is extremely scarce. There's a single inflatable mattress in the corner of the room with a pillow and blanket, a small folding table that's intended to be used for camping, and a sports bag full of clothes. Other than that, only a few electronic devices – particularly a phone, laptop, and their respective wireless charging stations – are seen. There's also a single window that leads out onto the fire escape, concealed by a black curtain, though it may be a blanket – likely Edward's.
“Sorry, I know this place looks like shit,” Edward comments after locking the door again. “But as you can imagine, I 'moved in' on very short notice. All the stuff in here, aside from the little fold up table, is everything I just happened to have with me in my car.”
“You've been driving around in your own car since the murder?” Atreus asks, surprised that Edward would imply such a risky thing.
“No, no,” Takiyama waves his hands defensively. “I took my car with me to the meeting with Billy – parked it around the block. After the murder happened, I took my stuff out and have been using Automas since then.”
“Alright, that's good. Anyway, this is Devin, also part of the Asano family. He's been helping me out since minute one, and is one of the few others I trust in this whole thing.”
“Yeah, I've seen you around. Nice to meet ya,” Edward extends his hand for a handshake.
“Likewise,” Devin reaches out and reciprocates.
“So, let's not twiddle our thumbs for too long. First, I gotta drop these off,” Atreus says as he reaches around the the small of his own back to retrieve the gun. “This is it, the gun that was almost used to frame you, and the presumed murder weapon.” He holds the pistol flat in his open hand.
“It... does look vaguely familiar,” Edward utters at he gazes down at the weapon with a blank stare, allowing for a lengthy pause among the men.
“Where do you want me to put it?” Atreus asks, breaking the silence.
“Oh, uh, just put it on that little table there.” Takiyama snaps out of his daze to point at the small camping table near the mattress.
Atreus complies and sets the gun down. “Remember to not touch any of this stuff with your bare hands,” he sternly instructs as he takes out the suppressor and magazine out too. He lifts the latter to show to Takiyama. “This magazine has six rounds of 9mm VF+ ammunition, which was likely the cartridge used on Billy. Make sure you especially don't leave your prints on this, okay?”
“Yeah, I won't,” Edward meekly responds, continuing a blank, but subtly fearful stare at the gun. It's as though he almost expects it to load and fire itself.
“So, do you have the USB drive on you?”
“Yeah, here it is.” Edward digs into one of his pockets, pulling out a tiny, two terabyte, low profile USB flash drive, small enough to fit under a person's tongue with room left over. He hands it to Atreus, who accepts it. “It's in the exact same shape it was in when I took it off... Billy's body... because I don't know how to access it. I'm not good enough with this programming stuff to even know where to begin decrypting it.”
“But you're one hundred percent sure that the alleged Zephir documents are on here?”
“I am. Billy said he was going to give it to me anyway, but I was lucky that the killer wasn't able to find it on his body before he took off from the crime scene. It should have every relevant piece of information regarding Zephir's project that Isaac Noah guy was able to grab.”
“And how much information is that? Do you know?”
“I think Billy mentioned stuff about proposed tests and reports on past ones,” Edward answers while narrowing his eyes and straining his mind to recall the relevant details.
“'Tests?'” Atreus repeats in confusion before a thoughtful pause. “Well, Zephir's a major pharma company. Maybe these documents are on some powerful but highly illegal drug or something?”
“Man, if it's a drug worth killing indiscriminately over, especially for a legit company, then it better give a heroin-like high that lasts your whole fucking life,” Devin remarks with a venomous tone.
“People have died for less,” Atreus comments as he pockets the tiny device.
“So, you guys know someone who can decrypt it, right?” Edward asks for confirmation.
“Yeah, we do,” Devin answers. “He's a friend of mine, met him on Black Iron VR. He was the one who was able to crack open your phone. I can't imagine decrypting stuff on a USB drive would take too long for him.”
“Okay, that's good to hear. The sooner you can access the documents, the sooner all this shit can be ov–”
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Edward is suddenly cut off by a knock at the door – three loud, purposeful thumps against the locked threshold. The three men freeze and instinctively turn to face it. A moment of uneasy silence passes. None of them noticed the sound of any approaching footsteps, which should've been easy to do, considering the lack of activity in the hallway.
“I don't suppose you were expecting anyone else?” Atreus whispers to Edward without taking his eyes away from the door.
“No, no,” Takiyama whispers back, shaking his head nervously.
“Maybe it's some tweaker who has the wrong door,” Devin interjects. “Just give it a moment, maybe they'll go away.”
The trio resume standing stone still, facing the shut door with alert, unblinking eyes. Their attempts to stay as quiet as possible have even led them to slow their breaths, if not outright halt them. The air grows thicker with tension as they wait for an opportunity to continue talking, but just as the sound of footsteps were not heard approaching, none are heard leaving, either. They eventually begin to turn to each other in confusion; surely they can't just stand there forever?
Knock, knock, knock; the same three thuds are suddenly heard again, with the same force and same rhythm. Whoever was there a moment ago, hasn't left. Edward, clearly the most paranoid of the three, is standing closer to the door, and begins to slide his feet back slowly to position himself behind Atreus and Devin as his breaths grow faster and less controlled. It becomes obvious to the two Asano family members that errant visits from drug addicts or drunkards might not be terribly common despite the shadiness of the building.
Deciding to finally take action, Atreus wordlessly signals Devin to keep his distance, and begins to slowly step forward, ensuring that his feet make no sound against the wooden floor beneath him. Devin wants to call out to stop him, but holds back. Atreus presses his body against the left wall of the small entryway, out of the way of the center of the door, fearing that he might be shot through it. Once he comes close enough, he leans inward to bring his face to the peephole, hoping to see out into the hallway. Unfortunately, all he sees is darkness, meaning something or someone is covering the other end.
He pries his face from the peephole, presses his back against the adjacent wall again, and looks back to the other two men in the apartment. He gives one more signal for them to step further away, and the comply slowly, sliding their feet backwards until their heels start touching the edge of the inflatable mattress on the floor. Atreus reaches across the door and begins to undo the locks on it, first the chain lock, then the deadbolt. After he unlocks the knob, he clasps his hand around it and take a deep breath, twisting it until the mechanisms click and the door is allowed to be pulled open. He does so, slowly, until it's ajar by a few inches.
Before he can pull the door open enough to allow himself to peak into the corridor, a powerful crash is heard, and immediately felt, as a sudden strong force pushes the door open with such strength and speed, it knocks Atreus's arm out of the way as it flings open. Devin and Edward nearly jump out of their skin, and the perpetrator of the sudden attack hastily steps into the apartment: an Asian man with short black hair, a square jaw, and athletic build, in all black clothes. The intruder walks in enough to see Edward standing on the opposite side of the room, and lifts his left arm, pointing a suppressed pistol at him.
“Fuck!” Devin exclaims and, thinking quickly, grabs Takiyama and pushes him down into the corner of the room, on top of the inflatable mattress, as it's the only thing they can do.
However, before the unknown man can fire a shot, the door swings back, and Atreus charges with the full weight of his body, pushing the killer into the opposite side of the entryway, while also grabbing his left wrist and pinning his hand to the wall. Using the immense strength of his prosthetic limbs, Atreus squeezes the killer's wrist until an audible crunch is heard.
“Agh!” the assassin groans in pain in a low, grainy voice.
The augmented man's grip prevents the killer from dropping the gun due to his fingers automatically contracting from the pressure, but he quickly slams the unknown man's hand against the wall again, causing it to go temporarily limp. The gun falls onto the wooden floor, and Atreus has the sense to kick it away, causing it to slide to the center of the apartment, closer to the two men sitting and spectating in confusion and fear.
However, the intruder doesn't just stand and take the punishment. His right hand is still free, and he punches Atreus in the side, just below the ribs. The powerful blow causes the gangster to reel to the side and loosen his pin against the killer, who gives a headbutt directly to Atreus's right eyebrow. The gangster reels back, and the killer becomes free enough to move again. He pushes Atreus's head further down and quickly knees him on the opposite temple, dazing him enough to make him fall to one knee, then kicks him away. Atreus hits the other wall of the entryway with a thud, winded by the consecutive blows.
Taking advantage of his moment of freedom, the killer turns with the intent of grabbing the gun, but as he steps towards it, Atreus shakes off his stupor and unleashes a weapon he has yet to ever use: a blade in his left forearm that unfolds out into a revealed but sheathed state, then unfolds a second time to bare its razor edge with a sinister gleam, even in dim fluorescent light. The gangster lunges forward and swings his left arm in a wide hook, slicing at the back of the intruder's right knee, hamstringing him.
“Rrgh!” the killer groans again while gritting his teeth in pain and falling to one knee.
Atreus isn't done with his offense, however, as he grabs the unknown man's right leg and pulls it towards himself, causing the killer to fall face-forward. He folds his blade back into his arm, places both hands on the killer's shin, and starts to apply force to two different spots, in different directions. Before the killer can even begin to kick the gangster off, a loud, grotesque snap is heard, reminiscent of perhaps a tree branch breaking in half.
“Aaaagh!” the intruder screams at the top of his lungs, trying to clutch his broken leg. The white of his tibia can be seen protruding from the broken surface of his shin.
Atreus drops the man's leg and lunges forward again to seize the assassin by the collar and turn him to make him face upward on the floor.
“Finally got a hold of you, you piece of shit,” Atreus utters with clear anger and hostility. “Who the fuck are you and who do you work for?!” he yells interrogatively.
The killer only stares up with equal disdain, refusing to speak. He clutches Atreus's hands despite knowing he doesn't have the strength to pry them off, and with his snapped leg, his mobility is limited.
Edward, still sitting on the mattress with a frightened and dumbstruck Devin, suddenly pushes himself up to his feet to quickly grab the assassin's gun, which had been lying on the floor the entire fight. The points it down at the intruder, who is still pinned to the floor.
“So it was my turn now, huh, motherfucker?” Edward asks, taking aim at the killer's head. “You killed my friend, and now you came to kill me, you fucking dickhead? You're fucking done.”
Atreus looks up and notices that Edward's grip on the gun is shaky. “Hey, Ed,” he calls out, “be careful with that thing, alright? I know you're pissed, but we don't want to kill him before we get some answers out of him, okay?”
“Yeah, I'm fine, alright?” Takiyama answers dismissively despite clearly seeing red.
While the two Sanada-gumi members speak to each other, the assassin slowly begins to slip his left hand down the side of his body and towards the small of his back.
“You just worry about beating answers out of this prick, and I'll–” Before Edward can finish his sentence, the killer brings his left hand back out, revealing a knife, much to the surprise of Atreus, who is still on top of him. The killer swings his knife in a wide arc with the intent of stabbing Atreus in the side, but he narrowly avoids it by reeling his body back, which unfortunately requires letting the assailant go. The assassin attacks again with a straight stab motion, which the gangster avoids by reeling back further, inadvertently giving up his advantageous position.
Now free of Atreus's weight on him, the unknown man uses his still-healthy left leg to quickly kick Atreus back, hitting him directly in the chin and sending him crashing against the door. Edward attempts to intercept the man by shooting the gun at him, but the trigger doesn't budge. He looks at the gun to make sure the safety isn't on, but the killer turns his body, gritting his teeth through the pain of his injury, and lunges forward, knife in hand, to stab downward, directly into Edward's right foot.
“Aaahhh!” Edward unleashes an ear-ringing scream as the excruciating pain sends him to his knee, and causes him to reflexively let go of the gun and let it drop to the floor.
The killer immediately reaches for the gun and takes it, and, with all the energy he can muster with his uninjured leg, jumps at Edward, tackling him to the ground. The assassin's hand on the gun's grip releases the ID-locked safety mechanism, allowing him to shoot. He points the end of the barrel directly at Edward's right temple. Atreus, slightly dazed, regains his composure after the kick to he head in time to witness the scene.
“No!” the gangster calls out, frantically trying to rush forward to stop the killer.
However, Atreus is too slow. The intruder shoots Edward in the head, and without an instant's hesitation, turns the gun to his own head and shoots himself, falling limply to the side. Atreus comes to a sliding halt, mouth agape at what he has just seen. The entire altercation – from the killer's entrance to now – must've lasted a mere thirty seconds or so. It happened so quickly, he isn't sure what to make of everything, as if his brain has yet to catch up with his body.
Devin, still sitting on the mattress, is equally in shock, if not more so. He stares at the two bodies, his eyes wide and unblinking. Like Atreus, he seems slow to process the violent quarrel. He remains frozen, as if the assassin's corpse could still reanimate and continue its rampage. The two men are stuck in a dreadful silence as they regain their bearings.