Neon Codex Sword Gospel: II - Doki Doki Heartquake

He pulled the hoverbike up to the noodle stand. He hopped off and helped Tsunami off as well. Once off the light outline of the hoverbike collapsed back into the multi. He snapped it onto his belt. “You've outdone yourself this time,” he said.

“了解,” said the multi.

Tsunami had deactivated all of her makeup and hair effects. In fact, she had even done something to her dress to make it look more plain. She no longer looked like a stereotypical pop idol, but now looked more nondescript. She wore a heavy black peacoat and a black sailor cap on top of her now black hair. The only recognizable thing about her was her #FF0 yellow eyes.

“How are you doing after all of that?” Kenichi asked.

“Glad to be out of it. I'm a bit worried, though,” she said. She took his arm.

“Why is that?” Together they walked toward the noodle stand.

“All of my backups are gone,” she said. “And I can't make new ones.”

“Is that bad?” he said.

“Yes!” she said. “If those assassins get me and I die, I'm gone for good. No restore. No retry. No New Game Plus.”

Kenichi, jaded by having died several times already, took a moment for the import of this to sink in. “Oh,” he said. “That's not good at all.”

“I'm sure 42 can help me though. She runs the noodle stand. I just wish I could get in touch with my band. I'm worried sick about them.”

A woman stood behind the counter, her back to them. “What can I get for you today,” she said.

“Pork soba and an NRG,” Tsunami said.

The woman stopped what she was doing. “Tsunami,” she said in a hushed voice. “Is everything all right?”

“No, 42, everything is not all right,” said Tsunami. “They got to Todo, and some assassins just tried to kill me. If it wasn't for this handsome stranger, I'd be a goner.” She clung to Kenichi as she said this.

The woman slowly turned. She looked at Kenichi, and his heart skipped a beat. She had brown hair cut at a severe angle at the bangs, and futuristic blue earrings. One of her eyes had been replaced by a cybernetic one, but both were green. She had a black hood pulled up, almost entirely occluding her head, and stripes of glowing colors pulsated on it. “Can we trust him?” she said.

“Marumi?” he said.

She stopped. “Who sent you?” she said.

“Nobody,” said Kenich. “A cat, maybe.”

“CAT?” Marumi said. “Like, Cognitive Autonomous Technician?” She looked around, up and down the street. “Let's get inside,” she said.

She opened a hatch behind her and led Tsunami and Kenichi through. As they left, Kenichi saw a hologram replace Marumi at the noodle stand. Several scanners beeped and processed them as they went through, indicating who they were and what they probabilistically carried. It pinged Tsunami well, either due to her familiarity with this world's Marumi, or due to her popularity. Kenichi on the other hand, was a bunch of blanks, aside from one scanner being absolutely certain that he held a multi. Past the gates was a dark room lit almost entirely by a bank of monitors, some showing code and text readout, while others showed a cycle of video feeds. Several holographic rabbits hopped across the floor. Some stopped and cautiously sniffed the air as Tsunami and Kenichi entered the room.

This world’s Marumi squinted at the displays, her cybernetic eye whirring as she processed the information. “You're not in the system,” she said.

“I'm not surprised,” he said. “I'm not from around here.”

She looked at him, then at Tsunami. “I don't trust him,” she said.

“M42UM1,” Tsunami said, “please, if you don't trust him, trust me. I believe he means me no ill will. He saved me from a roomful of assassins. I wouldn't be alive right now if it wasn't for him.”

M42UM1 sat down on a hoverchair and leaned back. “Some would argue you're not alive in the first place.” she said. She shifted her gaze over to Kenichi.

Tsunami did not like having her living status questioned. She planted her arms on her hips. “I feel quite alive no matter what anybody else has to say about it,” she said. “But if he wanted me dead, there were better ways to do it than to just rescue me.”

M42UM1 continued to stare at Kenichi. “Maybe he doesn't want you dead,” she said, talking as if Kenichi wasn't standing there. “Maybe he wants to infiltrate our underground organization for the CHURCH Syndicate.” She rolled her eyes, which was impressive considering the artificial one. “Congratulations, Tsunami,” she said. “You've led him right to the heart of the operation. I bet in ten seconds flat, we'll see Shasira and her CHURCH goons come barreling through that door.”

“Wait,” said Kenichi. “Did you say Shasira?”

M42UM1 raised her eyebrows. “See,” she said, “he knows her.”

Kenichi raised his hands in a gesture of equal parts good will and defense. “No,” he said. “But I've met her sister,” he said. “And possibly her ex-boyfriend. I wasn't entirely sure. But I've never actually met her, and I definitely don't work for her. If I'm not mistaken, I probably was sent here to destroy her.”

M42UM1 leaned forward in her chair. “Destroy the head of the CHURCH Syndicate?” she said. She looked over at Tsunami. “Is he serious?”

Tsunami peered at Kenichi. She saw that he had a normal body temperature, and that his heart rate was a little exasperated, but waning, possibly in response to the original accusation of M42UM1. Kenichi looked at her and gave his best thumbs up. Tsunami looked back at M42UM1. “He's sincere,” she said. “And between the two of us,” she continued, “I think he can do it.”

Something dinged. M42UM1 sighed. She pulled herself out of the hoverchair and went out through the door. She returned a few moments later holding a bowl of soup and a cup full of glowing liquid. She handed the cup to Tsunami and the bowl to Kenichi. A pair of black chopsticks with a glowing red 4 and 2 on each one poked out of the bowl. Kenichi looked at it. It was full of plump noodles and pork. He caught a whiff of the steam, and it made him realize how hungry he truly was. Jumping from world to world, or possibly dying, really worked up an appetite.

M42UM1 sat back down in her chair and looked at the displays in front of her. “It's been over ten seconds,” she said. “And our fine establishment has not been raided.” She rolled her head so she was looking at Kenichi over the back of the chair. Her hair spilled out and over the back, flowing down like a waterfall. “Either he's telling the truth, or he's got other plans.”

“Let's not worry about that right now,” said Tsunami, sipping on the glowing drink. “Have you heard from the band?”

M42MU1 shook her head. “No,” she said. “Are you still planning on playing the show?”

Tsunami nodded. “The attack on me was proof enough that I need to keep playing. I need to show the world that they cannot silence me. If I go out on stage tonight, and the CHURCH Syndicate tries anything, I'll become a martyr, and it will cause people to lose faith in the Syndicate.” She poked her fingers together. “But really,” she said. “I'd like to try to make a backup first.”

M42UM1 looked at the array of screens in front of her. “I'll see what I can do.”

“I just wish I knew what was going on with the band,” Tsunami said, finishing her glowing drink.

Her phone rang. The ringtone was one of her more popular songs, Lipstick IP-Switch. She held up her hand, thumb and pinkie extended, and placed it to the side of her head. “Moshi moshi,” she said.

“Minatsu,” the voice on the other line said.

“Rokku?” she said. “How is everything?”

“No time to talk,” said Rokku. “The Syndicate found us. The others are dead or dying. I just narrowly escaped. I'm hiding in an alley. I had to warn you. They're after us, and they mean business.”

“What?” Tsunami said. “Rokku, are you joking?”

“No” he said. “We were having a practice session, and a bunch of Syndicate assassins rushed in, guns blazing. As far as I know, I'm the only one who made it. But, I have to tell you, Minatsu, don't trust--” He paused. Tsunami heard the sound of shuffling, muffled shouting, then a gunshot that echoed through the room.

“Rokku?” she said. “Rokku!?” The line went dead.

She looked at the others, at M42UM1 and Kenichi, both frozen, trying to piece together the broader context from one side of the conversation. Tsunami lowered her hand, still in its “hang-loose” gesture.

“They're dead,” she said. “All of them.”

“The Natural Disasters?” M42UM1 said.

Tsunami nodded. “The Syndicate got them.” She fell to her knees and started crying. Kenichi came over to her, placed a hand on her shoulder, trying to be comforting. Tsunami wrapped her arms around his leg and bawled into his thigh.

M42UM1 pushed herself up from the hoverchair again. “It sounded like Rokku was trying to warn you about something,” she said. She looked at Kenichi when she spoke. “What was it?”

Tsunami took a deep breath before looking up from the soggy mess she was making of Kenichi's leg. “He said to not trust something,” she said. “But he was interrupted.”

“Something,” said M42UM1, “or someone?” In a flash, she leveled a blastunner at Kenichi. “I still don't trust you,” she said.

Kenichi raised his hands up to show he meant no ill will, and he wiggled his leg free from Tsunami's grip. The idol sat on the floor, arms wrapped around her knees, looking like a pile of black nautical apparel.

“You have some talking to do,” M42UM1 said, her finger hovering above the trigger. “Or you're about to face a world of hurt.”