Control Delusions

MF’s message was loud and clear, and it taught Mond something he hadn't considered before in pretty much any capacity. People like him and Sonne can talk philosophy, theory on the intangible all they want, concepts the edges of their mind like to dance on but never quite fully grasp.

 But plain old life will always be the best teacher, a simple experience that changes the way you think, the way you understand. He got it now, he understood MF, understood all of this, and why he was here.

They stood in silence for a beat, but no awkwardness was felt between the two, and MF seemed more confident in himself than he had even before.

 Mond didn’t have words for the man, but the understanding was felt in the air, static and sturdy. He only nodded with a smile, “You make a habit of spilling your tragic past to every rando you meet?” “Life’s too short not too make a show of yourself inni’t?”. The two men's laughter filled the ever shifting tunnel.

A sterile buzz hummed from Mond's pocket, which he gestured too, “Hey MF, mind gettin that for me?” He raised up his energy filled fists holding their lives in tact, “Kinda got my hands full here”.

MF fished the flip phone out of Mond's pocket and swung it open, setting it to speaker mode, “Hey! M and M, you guys hearin’ me ok?” Mahou's voice rang out of the phone, compressed due to the doctor undoubtedly being way too close to the receiver. “Ow, yeah doc we're hearing you, move back from the phone a little will ya?” Mond poked a finger into his ear as if feeling for any physical damage.

“Oh yeah of course, sorry “ his voice got a little too quiet now, but it was easy enough to understand that the two let it go. “Listen to this, Me and Sonne came upon a sort of blackbox for all the data regarding the station.”

Mond spoke into the phone, “Something like that sounds like it would be kept pretty secure dude, you’re a doctor not some superhacker.”

“No I don’t actually have to read any of it Mond I just sorta know what-” the line went quiet for a minute, until a fuzzy sigh filled the silence. “Look just trust me yeah? A pretty much total stranger, hah” He laughed a little to himself under his breath, before getting back to the topic.

 “ Uh, ahem, anyway, there’s just one document in here about number nine itself. Everything else is just tentative plans the company pitched to the government about actually getting the thing under control but man… is it a doozy of a read”

Mond and MF looked to each other for a minute, before turning their attention back to the phone, “Well, don't keep us guessin’ mate, what’s it say?” For a moment, only the hum of static floated in the atmosphere, until Mahou's voice lifted up once again.

“June 6th, 2002, Director Oda introduced me to the new guy, bit of an odd ball, quiet. But quiet is good when he does his job well. Supervised his maintenance on eighteen, kid definitely knows what he’s doing, wonder what university he went to? Anyway’s all went well, no major issues to report.”

Quiet, dead silence that almost drowned out the white noise of the phone itself, Mahou continued. “July 1st, Ito officially took over as managing engineer for metros one through ten, kid really proved himself a master with machines just a month in, hell I felt like he was mentoring me at times. 

Still though, if he wasn’t such a whiz with the engines im sure his ass woulda' been out the door by now, the station master seriously has it out for him. If he was just blatantly disrespectful it would be one thing, but the kid refuses to show up to any drinking events, anything social, and just hits us with a sorry the next morning, I can tell it really pisses off the other guys too. Me though? Hey as long as he just keeps getting those beasts running in the mornings he can do whatever he wants with his life for all I care”.

“Sounds like our buddy Ito here was quite the sociable little buggar huh?” MF scoffed. Mond nodded with an interested spark in his eye, “ For real, did you hear that though? The guy was put in charge of trains one through ten, that includes number nine, so he would be the one responsible for its recovery wouldn't he?” MF nodded back, a low rumbling had begun to vibrate the violet dust, an ambiance that built so subtly it wasn’t initially noticeable.

“August 11th,” Mahou interrupted himself, his whispered breath almost tangible through the phone speaker, “The day the reports came in about the train.” The Doctor read the final document.

“ Junpei Ito was officially terminated from Shinjuku Stations engineering and repairs team, and a warrant for his arrest has been put out.” Mond was taken about by the sudden change in tone of the document, but also by the broken scattered stone at his feet, that appeared to be rattling gently against the rails. He thought he heard Sonne’s deep graveled voice groan on the other side of the phone, probably considering what they had learned.

“Oh what's the point, I'm gonna be nabbed for questioning too at some point, might as well get everything put down here” Mahou kept reading, the stones rattled more against the rails. “Security footage found Ito tampering with a control car after hours, number nine” MF looked down and then at Mond, noticing the disturbance now too.

“I let him in right before I left ok? Gear heads down here stash the back key in a crack at the west side wall in case we ever gotta get in before or after hours, but it's always just to grab something we forgot or to use the office computer to finish up last minute paper work or whatever!” 

A faint whistle resonated at the frequency of death itself, sliming its way though the air like wet cold sickness. “I don't know what the hell that kid did down there, but number nine and Ito both have been out of contact and uncatchable, untraceable. Any attempt to activate forced breaking or rerouting always has something go wrong, it’s like the damn things cursed”

Out of the deep pitch indigo, inky black curtains of hyperviolet parted to reveal the skeletal divo of this underground stage. “Even the dead man's switch hasn’t done its job, hell maybe the bastard’s still inside”.

______________________________________________________________________________

“Im a man, not a deer” Mond tried to convince his eyes, but his eyes wanted to stare. The insectoid skull that led the segmented mechanical body invited his attention like an enchanting thespian.

“Im a man, NOT, a deer” Mond tried to tell his body, but his body wanted to stand still. The pace felt slow, polite, but the distance simply hid its rapid and deadly approach.

“Im..a man, not-” brightly lit darkness poured from glaring deadly eyes, headlight, sockets. Wet , damp auditory torture flooded the underworld.

Until MF's voice finally broke through, “Mond! For the love of god get moving now!” Mond shook his head as if waking up from a horrible last lullaby, a chorus conducted by death itself. “Oh for the love’a - fine!” Before Mond had the chance to respond, MF tossed him on his wall of a back, “Roses would never lemme’ hear the end of it if I let the rookie die first day, literally".

“Number Nine thinks he’s all big and bad, edgy looking mo’fo”

 Leg lined with leg, his body naturally took the optimal position for covering as much distance in the fastest pace possible. “ But he ain’t the only engine down here.”