Uncertainty Looms

✧₊⁺

Blackheart promised an army, but to think that it would come knocking only one day after our fateful encounter was unthinkable. Upon Yamamoto breaking the news to me, my first thoughts went to Yuna and Shizuka who were still inside the city visiting their friend.

If they had already left the control tower, who knows if I’d be able to find them in the vastness of Memoria’s neon skyline. But no amount of worrying could help me in that regard, and they weren’t the only ones who were in danger. Thousands could be at risk if the response wasn’t swift.

I felt the familiar twinge of pain in the back of my neck as my consciousness floated into limbo. Soon after, I was tumbling from a dark sky, a vibrant cityscape surrounding me. I had discovered that I could slow my descent by pointing my feet straight down at the ground and I landed, no worse for wear, and avoiding a manure bath this time. However, my relief was short-lived.

“Surely, that ain’t good...”

The sky had blackened with miasma, though daylight should have broken in the Digiscape. Thunder rolled in the distance, following flashes of scattered purple lighting. Rather than the city’s version of the overworld theme, an echoey remnant played in its place. I was reminded of the mine’s atmosphere, but I would have preferred that silence over the current selection of diegetic music that deeply unsettled me.

I was dropped right outside the control tower where the scene was chaotic, to say the least. Eternals stood in the streets, gesturing towards the sky and making nervous conversation, many pacing around.

Hunters of all shapes and sizes also dropped from the sky, preparing to do battle. Though none had been given direct orders just yet and they stood around like those they were summoned to protect. The sense of uneasiness persisted until we finally heard a voice over the broadcast system.

“Hello, is this thing on? Great, this is your Director, Connor Barnes speaking.”

Barnes?

“Certainly you’re wondering what’s going on in the City of Memoria. The skies have grown dark, and Hunters arrive by the dozens outside of regular hours.” I narrowed my eyes as the man spoke. “But please, for the sake of your fellow citizens, remain calm and composed. Our security drones are mobilizing to meet a small enemy force at the south gate of the city, nothing to concern yourselves about…”

“Somehow I have a hard time believing that…” I muttered under my breath. “Archie, what’s the threat level looking like, really?”

“Incalculable, Jiro. The enemy waiting is no small force. The Director likely intended on keeping the panic to a minimum.”

“Figures.”

“However, in order to ensure your safety, please take shelter indoors until we give the word.” The Director continued. “We have a perfect record of no casualties within city limits, though there have been attempts to breach our security checkpoints. We will remain committed to your safety through this current ordeal, you have my word.”

As the Director spoke, the Eternals around me seemed to take his words to heart and the mood gradually improved. If nothing else, he was a charismatic voice capable of rallying the people. If only they saw the sides of him I had, they might not be so trusting.

“Hunters, please take your positions near the southern city exit to form a vanguard. You may be diverted to other roles and areas by request, but please follow the directions of LiveRite staff who have courageously made the dive with you. Listen, we will get through this together, but only together. Right? Keep yourselves safe, and may the light of Memoria guide you for all eternity.”

The broadcast cut off, and everyone mobilized almost immediately. Eternals began to take shelter in the nearest buildings while Hunters sought transport to the other side of town. Meanwhile, I was still left standing and considering my available options.

“Are you going to follow the Director’s orders, or do you have other plans to attend to, Jiro?”

“Other plans? What are you gettin’ at?”

“You are worried about Miss Yuna and her daughter, are you not?” Archie saw right through me, for what felt like the hundredth time. “Miss Autumn will know for sure whether they left. We might try conducting our search there to start.”

“But the vanguard, Barnes said—”

“That won’t be necessary.” I heard a voice behind me and flipped around to find a familiar face.

“Yama—err—Thresh, what a pleasant surprise. I thought you didn’t like fieldwork, and shouldn’t you be monitoring everything from outside?”

“I don’t, Nagai-san, but the Director instructed me to dive with the Hunters as a guide and to divert resources as I see fit,” Thresh said. “Wouldn’t you say that affords us a perfect opportunity to check in on Autumn-san, and see what needs doing? We might also find time to discuss other matters at hand…”

“Right…” I caught his drift.

He was throwing me a bone, but also pressing the matter of what was discovered in the documents. I had to admit, I was mighty curious myself.

“What about Barnes though? He has eyes and ears all over the place if the monitors in his office are any indication. Though I ain’t much for following orders, he won’t be too pleased if he finds out I’m working behind his back.”

The risk of him having me arrested is still very real.

“I wouldn’t worry too much about that.” He replied with a smile. “ I let loose a secret or two to a friend of mine in the press about Project Memoria’s data insecurity, and the Director is currently putting out that fire by addressing stakeholders via press conference. That should keep him plenty distracted until we’re done.”

“How… resourceful.”

“I shared the files you extracted directly with Autumn via her program subfolder. No doubt, she’ll want to discuss them. Haven’t even seen them myself yet.”

I thought Yamamoto a coward, but he had displayed some serious backbone by running interference on his employer yet again for the sake of his and the Songbird’s mission.

“So, are you with me, Nagai-san? Or is it off to join the vanguard?”

I felt like I was being given a choice you would see in a story RPG. With Barnes distracted, my decision was an easy one to make, however. Archie was correct, I had to determine whether Yuna and Shizuka were safe and see this though.

“Let’s go see the Songbird.”

. . .

Many had gathered in the crystal spire’s lower floor to take refuge. Travel to the outer reaches of the Digiscape had been indefinitely suspended, and those who lived outside the city were effectively trapped. While they weren’t at risk of starvation or anything dire, I pitied them for the uncertainty they must have felt.

“You know, I’ve been thinking…” I spoke to Thresh as we entered the hypersonic elevator. “Barnes sure mobilized quickly when it came to the city. Why doesn’t he treat threats in other places with the same level of urgency?”

“I’ll be honest with you, and this may come as little surprise, but the Director sees all Eternals as no more than fodder.”

“And he’s said that? Out loud??”

“Several times over drinks at an izakaya, but that’s beside the point.” Thresh continued. “He knows what they are, the Eternals.”

As I thought about it, it started to make sense. The Director’s flippant attitude around Eternal deaths felt perfectly appropriate for someone who saw them as no more than NPCs, for lack of a better term.

“But the reason he’s mobilized you outside of regularly scheduled hours has more to do with the city’s critical infrastructure than the people living here.”

“What do you mean?”

“Both Blackheart and Autumn-san are something akin to a virus, made for the purpose of ending this place, as she’s told you. Autumn-san uses her programming conservatively, however, trying not to upset the balance, but Blackheart…”

“Much in the way meningitis invades the brain, if Blackheart were to take Memoria’s central control tower—the heart and mind of the Digiscape—the entire world would experience cascading failure and corruption.” Archie weighed in on the discussion.

“Your Supporter friend is correct. There would be no data to salvage, and all Eternals would meet their end as the monsters you’ve been made to fight since you arrived here. Their suffering would be enormous.”

“Suffering…huh?”

Despite what some may say, I had seen enough humanity in the Eternals to want to prevent that with whatever effort I could muster.

There are good people here.

“Though fault for her all-out attack might rest on our shoulders, it pains me to say.” Thresh sighed, catching my attention. “Blackheart’s consciousness is intrinsically connected to Autumn-san’s. You share information with one, and the other is bound to pick it up. Which is why we need to find out what in those documents has made Blackheart so desperate to take immediate action against the tower.”

“Well, whatever it is, it can’t be good news.”

Just as the elevator had started to move, it abruptly stopped a few floors up, nearly sending us through the ceiling. It had never done that in the several times I had used it.

“Geez, what the hell?” I rubbed the spot on my head that slammed against the white paneling.

The doors opened, and two figures waited to step in.

“Well, I’ll be damned.” I scoffed at the sight of Kururu and Tǒng whose appearances were almost too coincidental for me to believe.

“Cowboy, we have got to stop meeting like this.” Kururu shook her head.

“What are you guys doing here? I thought everyone was meeting at the south gate.” I asked.

“I could ask you the same, but you see, there was this weird wind and we accidentally landed on one of the crystal terraces. We were just waiting for an elevator to go down so we could join the vanguard, and this one happened to stop.”

“But we were going up?”

“Indeed, that’s odd,” Thresh muttered. “Hypersonic elevators aren’t supposed to stop under any circumstances, certainly not for passengers traveling in the opposite direction. Maybe she intervened.”

‘She’, does he mean the Songbird?

“Wait, Thresh!? I’m not one to judge people for the company they keep, Cowboy, but what’s this bastard doing with you?” Kururu rolled up her sleeve and stepped in the direction of the man. “I oughta clock him for leaving us in the mine to fight alone. Tǒng hold me back, 拖住我!”

Tǒng, though clearly confused, held the girl back with his burly arms.

“Wait, magical girl-san, there’s a good explanation for this! You see, Thresh here is actually—“

“—I’ll handle this, Nagai-san.” Thresh suddenly bowed his head. “I sincerely apologize for my behavior in the ByteCoin mine, Kururu-chan. Though I called for the help that ultimately led to your rescue, I realize now that my actions were unbecoming of a member of staff and I deeply regret them.”

“Whatever, dude, I didn’t say you had to do all—wait, staff??” Kururu tilted her head, panning her gaze to me. “So is this the guy you were working with? Ooh, I see now! This is top-secret, Memoria-saving business, isn’t it?”

“More or less, yeah.”

“Well, count us in.” Kururu threw her arm around Tǒng. “The vanguard will be alright without a couple of bodies. My gamer senses tell me the lore we’ll learn will be a lot cooler with you guys, anyhow.”

“I like it!” Tǒng added, tapping the chest of his barrel armor.

“I thought it was magical girl senses you had, Kururu-san?” Archie sounded genuinely curious.

“A girl can have both.”

“Humans, such fascinating creatures.”

“I suppose I don’t mind the company, but we’re bound to stumble into some classified info when the discussion starts. Thresh?” I cut in on their banter.

“If it’s what Autumn-san wants...” He sighed deeply. “The more the merrier. I’ll brief you two on the way with the need-to-know. We’re going to see the Songbird at the top of the control tower.”