The violence of the system

We had climbed 125 floors and still the end was not in sight. Some floors seemed normal, some felt just slightly off, and in others reality seemed to be falling apart at the seams. The building got more and more labyrinthine the further in we got.

It was clear as day. She was trying to get in our heads. To show us she was in control.

Still, we couldn’t afford to slow down. Time wasn’t on our side, especially with those two on our tail. I should have known Aki would pull some shit like that. All that talk about beating me fairly, what a load of bullshit.

Floor 125 was similar to floor 100. There was hardly anything other than the black voice surrounding us. Just barely enough of a path for us to make our way through. And, just like before, there were monitors floating in that empty space, unaffected by the pull of gravity.

The similarity to the place Aki last showed her face in made my blood run cold.

Those nerves were not remotely settled by the distant sound of an explosion somewhere far beneath us.

“Ryou…” I came to a stop in the middle of the room. I tried to think of ways she could have possibly survived, but the more I dwelled on it, the more apparent the truth was. Against both of those monsters? I doubted even she could get out alive.

My fears were confirmed by a powerful and mocking voice echoing around the space that shouldn’t have an echo.

“Four little Ronin, leaving trails of red. One left behind, and now she’s dead.”

Just as she had done on floor 100, Aki materialised from the void above us. A smirk on her face, a cat on her shoulder. God, I wanted her dead.

“Aki…” I had to actively restrain myself from drawing my sword and going after her then and there. “...you’re gonna pay for what you did to Ryou.”

“What I did, she says,” Aki chuckled. “As if you were not the ones who chose to leave her to her fate. A girl who loved and trusted you so dearly, left to die at the hands of your enemies. And yet, you attempt to shift that shame onto me. You know who’s really responsible, don’t you, dear girl?”

“Hey, only she’s allowed to call me that, you bastard.” My hand gripped the hilt of my sword. I had to keep my composure. But man, she was really pushing my fucking buttons. “Ryou was killed by the violence of the system you created, Aki. Even if you’re not the one who killed her, her death falls on your shoulders. I could never forgive that.”

“The violence of my system, you say? Yet, who is it that has provoked such violence, really?” Aki hovered around the floating screens, each one switching on as she passed it.

The first showed the train car where Ryou killed the MPs the first time we met.

The second showed the electrically fried corpse of the colonel killed by Fujiko.

The third was the boardroom massacre.

The fourth, footage from the crumbling of Kurogaisha tower

And the last showed the thing that truly kicked everything off. Me, burying my sword in the heart of the Komono Corp CEO.

“For someone on such a righteous crusade against violence, you certainly seem to do your fair share of it, wouldn’t you agree, my dear?”

“Yeah, against the people causing all that suffering in the first place.”

“You mean the squalor of the ground plebs, yes? A pitiable affair to be sure, but not one without its purpose,” she said, hovering right in front of my face. “With the masses so weak and struggling, none would dare raise a hand against the state. At least, none who provided a legitimate threat. Only the fools who didn’t know how to pick their battles, and they were easy to make an example of. But you… you changed that, didn’t you?”

The feeds on the screens changed. Some now showed murals of cloaked figures. Some showed civilians in bandanas firebombing office buildings. And some showed a painted red circle with a capital R inside.

“The peace between the powers that be and the feeble majority was fragile, and you knew this. You shattered that peace with your public displays of violence and resistance. And now, those very people you swore to protect are suffering as a result.”

The feed changed once again, this time to swarms of protesters being herded like cattle by riot police. Civilians being forced to the ground by cybercops. MPs opening fire on people holding molotov cocktails. Everything I had hoped to avoid when I discouraged direct action.

Though, I think part of me knew this would happen.

“I won’t claim to be innocent,” I said, desperately trying to keep my composure, “but this all happened because people suffered and died under your system. If not me, somebody would have eventually taken the reins.”

“Certainly, I agree. And that’s why you were so necessary to prevent future suffering. When I obliterate you, and your little revolution fails, the people will finally truly understand how futile it is to resist. And then, for good measure, I’ll butcher all the fools who continue fighting. Not that they’d constitute any sort of threat. That one will just be for my pleasure.”

“Oh, you fucking bitch-” I took a step forward and began drawing my sword, but a steady hand on my shoulder stopped me in my tracks. A small hand. One that I knew well.

“Keep it together, Toki,” said Fujiko. “You can’t let her get in your head like this.”

I didn’t look back, nor did I say anything in response. I simply sighed and resheathed my sword. I was really about to lose my shit.

“Ah, how boring,” whined the tall bitch in white. “I suppose we’ll have to continue our discussion on the roof. Don’t be late, dearie.” She began floating away, passing the screens as she went. “Oh, and I suppose I ought to leave you a parting gift. To tide you over until the time comes, of course. I’ll see you soon, dear Tokiko.”

She ran her hand over the closest monitor, and the screen lit up with a figure I had hoped to never see again. A woman in a dazzling green dress and heels, gracefully ascending a staircase in total silence and isolation. Graviton.

“Shit… come on, we need to g-” I turned to face the girls behind me, but something put me off. Nabiki stood a fair ways back, a sad smile on her face. “...no. Not you too.”

“I’ve the only counter for her power, no? Of all our foes, Graviton is the one we can least afford to allow close to you.”

“You have no idea what else they might send, this is suicide!”

“I told you, didn’t I? I would rather die for your cause than live to see it fail.”

“I-”

I tried to argue, but I couldn’t think of a damn thing to say. In a way, she was right. If Graviton made her way up to me, it would all be over. Her approach had to be stopped.

“I’ll stay with-”

“No, Ms Denka. That is not an option.” Nabiki cut Fujiko off. “Somebody must stay with Tokiko and Time to the end. Someone must anchor them. None fit the role except you.”

Fujiko also looked like she wanted to argue, but just like me, she had nothing to say. Dammit, Nabiki. Why are you making your own death so hard to argue against?

“...I can never repay this debt, y’know.”

“You needn’t. Just see your mission through to its end.” She smiled and turned away from me, though she looked back one final time before descending the stairs. “Do not say farewell, my love. You and I will meet again. In this life, or the next.”

A moment later, Aino Nabiki’s back disappeared down the stairs. For myself, and my cause, she was ready to make her final stand.