Chapter 7:
Memoria
✧₊⁺
There are several certainties in life, they say.
Death and taxes are the obvious ones everyone seems to bring up, but what about suffering? Failure? Before we die, we all must live, and in doing so we suffer to varying degrees. Some people struggle immensely, as my mother did growing up, and others have it relatively easy.
Well… as easy as one can have it with the world in the state it’s in.
Even so—for someone like me—a man whose own suffering was wrought by his lack of virtue and wisdom, it has never seemed to dull the pain of failure anymore knowing that fact. Even if everything that’s happened recently was my own fault, I just can’t seem to stop cursing at the sky. And wondering if the very world had its own way of passing down judgment if the suffering would continue.
. . .
I woke up drenched in my own sweat, seated in an uncomfortable chair, surrounded by an even more uncomfortable atmosphere. The air was heavy, yet sterile with the scent of medical disinfectant. I hated that smell.
My arms were restrained with leather straps, and a large plastic helmet with a visor covered my face. Due to my tendency to get claustrophobic, panic set in briefly but it wasn’t because I didn’t know where I was.
I was well aware of that fact.
“Doctor… help!”
I called out as best as I could for assistance, but my lips were awfully chapped, and I was experiencing cottonmouth on top of that. I never so badly desired a glass of water, even despite the IV pumping fluid into my veins.
They told me it was a side-effect of the stimulant they provided so I wouldn’t go into cardiac arrest during my first experience within the Digiscape, but it was one of many things I had brushed off, not being bothered to care. I just wanted the nightmare to end as quickly as it could.
“Doctor?”
Suddenly two large gentlemen in black sunglasses and suits were followed into my hospital room by my attending doctor through the automatic doors that open vertically into the ceiling. He was a lanky fellow with deep bags under his eyes and a white lab coat. He was Japanese, like me. His hair was greying in places and I could see the awkward smile he flashed through the visor I wore.
“Your heart monitor seemed to indicate you were in distress before resuscitation, and so we restrained you. For your own safety, mind you.” He said. “I’m Yamamoto-sensei, I work under Director Barnes. You must be Nagai Jiro-san.”
“Water…” I whispered.
“Oh, right, right. I’ll have someone bring you a bottle of water as soon as we get you unhooked from the atrium, it shouldn’t take but a moment, and then you can enjoy some proper provisioning...”
The doctor went to work unhooking my IVs and removing the helmet from my face as the men in suits glared at me intently as if to study my every move. They seemed like hired security of some kind, posting up by the door. Finally, Yamamoto-sensei pressed a button that leaned me forward in my hospital bed.
“Do mind the pain for a moment.”
I felt a jolt around the area of my brain stem as the man removed a long metal cable from my neck. My arms struggled against my restraints, and the two security guards scrambled to their hips for their guns. However, Yamamoto-sensei waved them off as he finished up.
“All done, Nagai-san.” He said, grabbing a clipboard from a nearby counter. “We’ll run a diagnostics report on the data gathered from the microchip in your brain, and in the meantime, you may visit the dining or recreation halls for free hours. You’ve been confined to this wing since your admittance, correct?”
I nodded my head tenderly as my neck still hurt.
“I think you’ll find the rest of our facilities to be a nice change of scenery.” Yamamoto-sensei continued, smiling unsettlingly. “Wait here for just a moment, and I’ll have your water and some paperwork I’d like you to fill out. Let’s go, gentlemen.”
A little awkward, but he seems a decent sort. At least, he doesn’t set off warning signals in my brain like his boss.
They left the room as quickly as they had entered. Sadly, and perhaps purposefully, Yamamoto-sensei failed to release my wrist and ankle restraints. When he did not return for upwards of forty-five minutes, and as I felt the intense urge to move my appendages, I struggled to free myself.
“Damn it all, those—!” I began to curse but then launched myself into a coughing fit for my trouble.
“That doctor must be quite scatterbrained to leave you restrained, would you not say so, Jiro?”
A familiar voice broadcasted itself directly into my mind.
“Wait, Archie…? What are you—”
“—doing inside your head? Excellent question. Do try to keep your voice down, and I will offer my assistance.”
My restraints were suddenly released.
“I am certain you’ve realized after your encounter with the other Hunter, but I am not like the other virtual assistants,” Archie said.
Yeah, the magical girl had a wristwatch instead of an annoying orb following her around.
“And that’s why you can speak to me out in the real world?” I wondered, stretching my aching shoulders.
“Part of me lives within the microchip directly connected to your brain stem, and the feedback loop allows for direct communication, even outside the Digiscape.”
Wicked… I guess that also means I’ll never have a moment of peace to myself.
“I could hear that thought, Jiro. As well as the ‘annoying orb’ comment. I would argue I am quite charming by industry standards.”
“Reading my mind is definitely not what I’d call ‘charming’, or ‘standard’.” I sighed, exasperated. “And I’m guessing you released my restraints too, didn’t you? But how?”
“Your curiosity is only human, and I have grown rather fond of you, but you do not have the security clearance to hear the particulars on that subject,” Archie said. “Just know that I could be considered something of an anomaly, a decommissioned version of the Supporter program.”
“So you’re outmoded, is what you’re saying? Peachy.”
“A harsh way to put it, but yes. Additionally, I would advise against alerting anyone else of my presence for now. It would cause you no shortage of grief, were they to find out.”
“And why is that?”
“They may elect to perform a surgical procedure to replace the microchip in your brain, starting with a small incision near your—”
“—you know what? I’m suddenly not curious anymore.” I said, changing the conversation topic. “But I’m parched to hell and back. I need to find this dining hall Yamamoto was yammering about so I can get the taste of iron out of my mouth.”
“Someone is coming.”
As Archie predicted, Yamamoto-sensei re-entered my hospital room, looking preoccupied with something on his clipboard. He seemed startled as his eyes settled on me.
“That’s odd, I don’t recall releasing your restraints, my mistake...” He said, scratching his chin. “But they did say you were a crafty one… In any case, I’ll apologize for the wait. There was a change of plans, and the Director summoned me to speak as I made my way back here.”
Yamamoto-sensei handed me a water bottle which I guzzled down as fast as humanly possible. It did little to fight my cottonmouth, but it helped my lips to not be so chapped. After allowing me a moment to drink, Yamamoto-sensei put on a serious look.
“You may be less than pleased to hear this, but before you take your personal time, Director Barnes would like to speak with you personally to congratulate you on your first successful patrol.”
Successful… I’m not sure that’s the word I’d use to describe what I experienced in those last few moments.
The thought of it made me ill, that hunt and speaking with the Director both.
“Well, that’s mighty kind of him, but I’m gonna have to refuse,” I said. “Barnes must have bigger fish to fry than talking to me, anyhow.”
“It’s Director Barnes, and you seem to be mistaken if you think it was a suggestion.” Yamamoto-sensei snapped his fingers, and the two security guards from before rushed in and grabbed me firmly by each shoulder.
“What the hell is this?”
“Let’s not keep our boss waiting, Nagai-san.”
“I would go along with it for now, Jiro,” Archie said. “This could be a rare opportunity to gather information from the man in charge of our whole operation.”
I considered it for a moment before clicking my tongue in resignation.
“If you say so, I’ll go,” I replied simultaneously to Yamamoto-sensei and Archie both.
But I can’t guarantee I’ll get along with the bastard…
I was led out of the automatic door, and into the Ueda Wing corridor, named after the man who originally helmed Project Memoria. I passed by dozens of rooms on our way, many of them empty. But some of them contained other Hunters enjoying their free time or speaking with their assigned physicians. I wondered why I was getting harassed by Barnes on top of everything else I had been through.
I happened to glance over at the window of a room as I walked by and saw my reflection. A frail, clean-shaven man stared back in my direction. It was a far cry from my appearance within the Digiscape, which referenced how I used to look by some strange coincidence. Before my rehabilitation period, that is.
We eventually came to the office of Director Barnes, Yamamoto-sensei, and I, along with the two pushy security guards. The automatic door opened to reveal a large control room with computer monitors lining every wall, and in the center of it all was a large desk with the man himself seated behind it.
Shiny blonde hair, blue eyes, and a charming smile. Just one glance made my blood run cold.
“Welcome back to the land of the living, my friend. I’ve been just dying to have a chat with you, Jiro-kun.”
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