Trust and Deception (Volume 2)

"..."

"You really 'don't beat about,' do you?" the wise speaker chuckled, playfully pretending to be confused. "I believe that's how you say it, right...?"

Kaito replied faintly, "Uh, maybe...?"

"!"

The wise speaker’s demeanour suddenly grew solemn. In a firm tone, he asked, "Has anyone ever told you that you shouldn’t ask too many questions?"

Startled by the abrupt change, Kaito instinctively stepped back, his throat tightening as he gulped.

"..."

"I’m kidding, I’m kidding," the wise speaker said with a playful tone, his voice softening. "There’s no need to be so tense, please, be at ease. I am more than happy to answer any questions you may have, but all I ask is that you listen closely. Does that sound fair?"

Seeing the wise speaker return to his usual demeanour, Kaito leaned forward, eager to continue their exchange of questions and answers.

"Right then," the wise speaker added, his tone steady. "Let us go back to your question. So, you have asked me, why am I here? Then listen well, Kaito."

"..."

"Remember when I mentioned there was a perpetrator behind this deadly virus?" the wise speaker asked.

Kaito nodded, recalling their earlier conversation. Seeing his response, the wise speaker continued, "Right. So this perpetrator has somehow managed to bypass the AI-encrypted firewall of this world, or more specifically, the firewall of this dome. Not only that, but they have also entered this world, or let's say server to make it easier for you to understand. And we do not know their exact motive, but we are very certain that they take pleasure in seeing the suffering of wealthy individuals."

"Wait," Kaito interrupted, pausing briefly before continuing, "How long have you known about this?"

The wise speaker hesitated, visibly uncomfortable. "More than a year," he finally admitted.

"More than a year?!" Kaito exclaimed, his voice rising with anger. "If you have known for that long, why didn’t you do anything? What were you all doing? So many people have 'died', well I don’t even know anymore. But they could have been saved!"

"..."

"I’m sorry, I truly am," the wise speaker said, looking at Kaito apologetically. "I know this may sound like an excuse, but would you lend this old man an ear?"

Kaito, grief flickering across his face, reluctantly nodded.

The wise speaker continued, "We tried, Kaito. We really did. But the perpetrator has made our job a nightmare. Every time we tracked them, they would suddenly change their form in this server, making it impossible to trace them."

He paused briefly before adding, "Once, while I was strolling through town, just before massive boulders started raining from the sky, I caught a glimpse of them. A light red hoodie, their face obscured, smiling erratically, screaming  'liberation, victory to the people!' in Scythian-"

"Couldn’t you stop them right then and there?!" Kaito interrupted, his emotions getting the better of him.

"Stop them?" The wise speaker’s tone grew firm. "How? Do you think they had a remote to start or stop everything with the press of a button? Even if I had screamed for them to stop, they would have simply vanished, erasing their trace once again. We finally have a lead, do you think we should just throw it away so easily?"

"But sacrificing millions of lives for a lead, is that really justifiable?" Kaito shouted, his frustration boiling over.

"Then what would you have done?" the wise speaker countered fiercely. "Screamed at them to stop, expecting the world to be saved? Tell me, Kaito! What would you do? Tell me!"

"I don’t know!" Kaito shouted back, his voice trembling. "I don’t know!"

The wise speaker sighed, then placed a firm, compassionate hand on Kaito’s shoulder. "It’s fine," he said gently. "I understand your heart is in the right place, you want to save people. But this is the miserable reality we currently face. I promise you, we are doing everything we possibly can."

"..."

Realizing his outburst, Kaito lowered his gaze and muttered an apology. After regaining his composure, he asked, "Since you said they spoke in Scythian, does that mean they’re from Scythia?"

"Most likely," the wise speaker agreed. "It’s highly probable they are in the Scythian dome. We do not know who it is yet, but I can say with certainty there is a mole among them. That said, we have a good relationship with Scythia, but there’s a mole among them. I can only share this information with trustable people within that dome."

"So then," Kaito asked, "is that why you came to this world?"

"There’s another reason too," the wise speaker said with a smile. "I’m here to recruit, no, that sounds a bit wrong," he chuckled. "I’m here to awaken like-minded people like you, those who are open to different ideas and eager to understand more than what this world can offer. That is why I have been travelling, from one place to another, hoping to make it a reality. As I have mentioned to you before, people who do not think beyond this life are prone to a 'Reset' or falling into a deep slumber."

"But," Kaito said sceptically, "how do you know I’m an open-minded person? Why me, specifically?"

"Well," the wise speaker said, clearing his throat nervously, "we reviewed your records and we were very surprised to discover that you were not even equipped with those brain implants despite your lofty background. Yet, you exhibited remarkable traits and scored exceptionally high on our self-developed metrics. That of course, prompted us to dig a little deeper, which ultimately led us here."

"Hey!" Kaito interrupted, his voice rising. "Isn’t that a violation of my privacy?"

"Please don’t sue me," the wise speaker replied in mock shock. "So, does that satisfy your curiosity?"

"I still don’t trust you completely," Kaito said, brushing a hand through his hair. "But I guess I’ve got no choice but to believe you, for now."

"Excellent choice," the wise speaker said with a grin. "Now, will you help us take down this perpetrator and save the world?"

"Generic," Kaito scoffed. "But I guess I’ve got no choice, do I?"

"Great," the wise speaker said, his smile widening. "Now, can you go jump off the building?"

Shocked by the sudden request, Kaito shouted, "Wait, what?!"