A Hunter At Rest

✧₊⁺

A cloud of butterflies floated over the vast landscape of the Digiscape. Sparkling and blue against a lavender sky, they made their pilgrimage. Deep within the heart of Memoria, they ventured where, at the top of the crystal spire, a cloaked woman awaited their arrival warmly.

“You all did good.” She smiled.

The butterflies flew around her playfully. She took notice of a few stragglers who were not the shade of blue she was used to, but blackened with corruption.

“A shame she has twisted you to be like this… Using the people’s heartfelt desire to spread suffering and malignancy.” The woman balled her fist in front of her face and bowed with eyes closed. “Now rest in peace, little ones. Your journey is at an end.”

The butterflies—black and blue alike—all flew into the woman’s embrace, disappearing upon impact. The Songbird of Memoria, Autumn, looked upon the world from a balcony at the top of the tower. Her face was otherwise shrouded, but wisps of her white hair were swept in the breeze.

She could see everything from her perch, including a certain three Hunters as they emerged victorious from their life-or-death struggle some kilometers away.

“Had it not taken yet another avatar, I might have had more reason to celebrate. However… I can take heart in knowing that you and the other Hunters are safe and sound, Jiro.”

There was a noise somewhere behind her, and Autumn turned around abruptly.

“State your business please.”

“Together we fight for our dream of a freer Memoria—“

A voice sounded through the door.

“—To eternal light, our world of second chances. Welcome, feather. Please come in.”

A man opened the door to the small room and stepped inside. He wore a black tabard and a blue volto mask that completely concealed his face. He knelt down before the songbird in reverence.

“My lady, I bring an urgent message from the other feathers.”

“Speak plainly and with haste, feather. I can blot out the Director’s surveillance for only a few moments.”

“Of course, my lady. In the information gathering around the city and LiveRite headquarters, we have confirmed Barnes’ intent at global expansion.” The feather said. “If our informant is to be trusted, the coming cataclysm draws nearer. We must consider taking direct action to expedite ‘Plan J’ if we’re to succeed in our subversion.”

“No, feather. While I understand your concern, as I share the same desire you do, you must trust that fate will guide us to victory in the proper time.” Autumn smiled sagely. “And what of my shadow?”

“Blackheart still targets the outer settlements with her corruption. It’s only a matter of time before she comes to claim the rest of your essence, along with the key.” The feather sighed, exasperated. “And we suspect she may be privy to our plans as well... With all due respect, are we sure we can trust this man with such a tremendous responsibility? There are many other Hunters to call upon—”

“—Yes. In fact, I would venture to say that he is my, our last remaining hope to make right what has been wronged.” Autumn reaffirmed her trust in her vassal. “Now, please return to the cabaret club with a message to the rest of the flock, if you will.”

“What shall I relay on your behalf, my lady?”

“Tell them to prepare the nest for visitors. The day we’ve been waiting for is almost upon us, and we must make a good impression at all costs. He hasn’t always been the easiest one to convince…”

. . .

Several days passed by without another large-scale incident like the one at the ByteCoin mine. The Hunters who participated in the raid were rewarded with bonuses to their pay, and an extravagant dinner of real meat instead of the mush we usually ate. I had to admit, however, that I still preferred Yuna’s digital meatloaf.

Predictably, no Hunters were made aware of the dangers they really faced. Barnes threatened me through Yamamoto-sensei not to speak of the incident to anyone, loosely citing my NDA and other legal nonsense. Only Kururu, Barrel guy and I were privy to the details. I had not seen them within the Digiscape on my uneventful patrols since. Speaking of Yamamoto…

He can play dumb all he wants, but I know it was him who was really controlling the admin account as Thresh during the raid, the coward.

His solution to my questioning, of course, was outright denial.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about, Nagai-san. I’ve been tending to Hunters in the lab as usual, and I’m not exactly cleared for fieldwork. Perhaps we should give you some head scans since you seem a bit confused. Just to be safe.”

It almost felt like talking to Barnes himself with the gaslighting, but I could sense a bit of guilt behind his words as well. And part of me understood where he was coming from. If I was a pair of glasses who spent all day in a lab coat, I’d be hesitant to put my ass on the line too. Assuming I wasn’t already less than thrilled with the state of things, which I am.

“So, what is the plan for today, Jiro?” Archie broke my concentration on a glass of whisky by subtly asking when I was going to find something to do.

I was at a cocktail joint in Castella, waiting for my next assignment. The place was plenty busy with Eternals, many of whom were gawking at me from all corners of the room, but I sat by myself at the bar.

“What a fine question,” I replied, taking another sip. “Seeing how you haven’t alerted me of any danger in a couple of days, I figured I could take things easy for a change.”

“You have been ‘taking things easy’ for almost a week now. Have you not heard of Newton’s first law? An object at rest tends to stay at rest.” Archie nagged, floating within eyeshot. “You will become complacent before too long, and numb to the dangers of your job. And that makes my job harder in the long run as your guiding force.”

“Well, what am I to do if there’s no work?” I finished off my drink and crossed my arms. “It ain’t like I know where the next bug infestation is gonna spring up or anything.”

“Jiro, a Hunter's work does not end at eliminating bugs, I should have you know. There are many Eternals in need around the Digiscape who rely on the generosity of Hunters.” Archie explained. “There’s any number of services they can trade credits for, and completing jobs can earn you an increase in pay as well. Certainly that interests a greedy human like yourself, does it not?”

“I prefer the term ‘opportunistic’, my sarcastic friend.” I corrected him before sighing, realizing that the nagging would only continue if I let things play out. “Where do I find these jobs?”

“Proprietors post job boards outside most drinking and eating establishments in major towns. There should be one just outside to browse.” Archie flew to the door before turning back in my direction. “Well, are you coming with me?”

“You know, you’ve gotten pretty pushy recently…” I huffed.

“There is a rhyme and a reason for all that I do, Jiro.”

“Yeah, yeah…” I stepped outside only to have the wind blow some trail dust in my mouth. After spitting off to the side, I strolled up to the digital job board, scratching my chin. “Let’s see what we’ve got to work with here…”

I scrolled through the selection for jobs I could reasonably complete on my own and within the day, but there were slim pickings.

“Most of these are for exterminations of abnormals, and recommend multiple party members to complete...” I muttered to myself. “So there’s boss-tier enemies just walking around, waiting to attack towns and villages?”

I regretted not finding some way to contact Kururu and Barrel guy for future instances. Even I had to admit that we made a pretty good team in the mine, though I was used to working alone.

“If the danger were not present, your services would not be in such high demand. Cases like what happened in Placita are common.” Archie said. “I only receive alerts if the threat is in range, but the Digiscape is vast and rife with tasks to complete.”

“What I don’t understand is why Barnes does things the way that he does. It’s inefficient, relying on mercenaries to take out threats one at a time. Especially when you consider our fixed schedule and inexperience. Instead of uploading a program to do it all at once.” I thought. “It’s almost like he wants this whole thing to fail, or maybe...”

He doesn’t have as much control over this place as one would assume.

I had considered that Project Memoria might simply be a passion project for a rich asshole—the asshole being Director Barnes in this case—and that all the people involved were suffering from the gross negligence of the people at the top. A far cry from the vision Ueda Akito had when he launched it.

However, I also got the sense that Barnes was no idiot when it came to capital. He hardly seemed like the type to throw his time and money away to watch a bunch of digital existences suffer on his myriad screens in his office. No, my experience thus far had led me to believe that everything was deliberately planned. But for what purpose, I had no idea.

I wonder what direction Aki would have taken this place if she were still alive. There’d be no ad breaks, I’m sure of that.

“Have you come to a decision?”

“Uh, yeah, this one looks promising. An escort mission to the big city.” I nodded, weighing the idea in my head. “I haven’t gotten a chance to see it yet, Memoria.”

The project's namesake, and the shining beacon in the center of the Digiscape. I had only heard from Eternals about how incredible it was, and how the upper crust of digital society all made their homes there. That all mattered little to me, however. I had a job to do.

And so, I flashed my keycard at the screen as the listing prompted me to do, and my name appeared beside the job as having claimed it as my own. A simple process.

“Very good, Jiro.” Archie sounded pleased. “Shall we go meet this client of ours?”

“Yup, sure beats standing around here.”

The listing directed us to the far edge of town, and to an area that I recognized. The town's buildings became more sparse and gave way to patches of farmland.

Wait, isn't this where…

“Jiro-bo, is that you!?”