Insanity

We walked all alone on the hazy streets while the rainfall insistently pounded us to our wit's end, or rather Nari’s anyway.

“God I fucking hate this.” She muttered from under her raincoat, soaked to the brim and clearly pissed off.

“Hey it's just there and back. I’m stuck doing this too yet you don’t hear me complaining.” Nari gave me a glare before slightly speeding up her pace. Yeah, I walked into that one.

The streets gained a yellow tint as we passed under one of the Fides corporation billboards, a simple black eye with the bolded words “Fides Corp: we got the truth.” printed right under the eye. Despite how often I saw the sign, it was impossible to miss.

Lightning flashed repeatedly on the horizon, illuminating the skyscrapers that cut through the clouds. To me they were glowing beacons that looked down on all of Tokyo, a watchful eye to protect us from the heavens above.

“You still wanna live up there?”

“Who wouldn't Nari? Living up there and protecting the Truth for a living sounds like a dream. Not to mention not having to worry about things like money or your safety. There aren't any downsides.”

Nari lowered her voice. “You only lose your freedom.”

"I didn't say it was perfect. Sure, maybe you lose a little freedom, but how much freedom did they really have before The Truth? We're people really free if they couldn't make a decision because nobody was telling what was true?“

“You can dream all you want Makoto, won't change the fact you got a negative chance of ever living up there.”

“That's where the Corruption Checkers come in. The second I turn eighteen next year, I'm going to march right to the first recruitment office I see and put my name down before you blink.”

Nari paused for a second. “Have fun getting shot in the head by whatever rebel faction decides to partake on their annual suicide mission while you’re on duty.” The falling of raindrops became the only sound my ears perceived for a split second, neither of us sure what to say.

I cleared my throat. “You really have no faith in me. Just wait, I'll get promoted and get out of the line of fire before Kono even dreams of finishing the fixes on that rich dude's hover car.” I said, trying to break the tension.

“I’d be shocked if you lasted a week in training anyway, say goodbye to that long hair of yours.”

“Crap, you're right! All my life plans are going down the drain!”

She laughed, the only time she’d smiled since we got forced into this typhoon like storm, and seeing it made me a bit happy as well.

Flashing lights in the distance started to break the wall of rain, a kaleidoscope of colors against the blue walls of Tokyo.

“The parade!” Kono’s words earlier today suddenly popped into my mind. It had completely slipped my mind with how the weather was, not to mention Nari’s complaining.

“Thank god, means we're almost there. I’m sure you're shaking with excitement for the glorified light show Makoto.”

“How old do you think I am?”

“Physically or mentally? Because the latter’s a lot less.”

“Shut up!” My mind turned towards the now soaked to bits list in my hand. With the Utagai Market, it was fifty-fifty that everything would be easy to find, but if I looked hard enough it would all be there somewhere.

We finally broke through the clearing as the chatter of hundreds of voices filled the rows of stalls, lined with tents colored black and gray. No amount of bad weather would keep this place empty. Tokyo could probably collapse in an earthquake and this place would be lively as ever.

Sellers promoted their computer chips and chunks of metal to the passersby as Corruption Checkers, dressed in their all black suits with guns settled in leather holsters stood by, scanning the crowds. Black helmets covered their faces, making it impossible to know where, or at who they were looking.

Next to the market, we could see the parade in full force despite the weather. Spotlights shifted back and forth, shining pink and yellow into the sky as music blared from the floats, losing out to the thunderstorm to the point I could barely hear anything from it.

“Makoto, you got Kono’s list?”

“Yeah right here.” I unfolded the wet rag of a list. “It’s not too bad, he only needs around five things or so.”

“Five of the most obscure parts on this planet with our luck.”

“Not true.” I smiled and pointed towards one of the nearby tents with a red cover. “Just found our first stop.”

“What can I get you?” The shopkeeper asked, seeing us walking toward the stand.

“Uhh two Iridium Spark Plugs if you got any in stock.”

“You're just in luck, only got two of those left. I don't get much in stock when it comes to anything gas related these days.”

“With electric hover cars coming in full force it's only natural that old parts will only get more obscure.”

The shopkeeper reached down and pulled out two small boxes. “True that. Next thing I know this stand here will be banned from selling anything of the sort. That's 400,000 yen for both.”

“Kono’s gonna be so excited when he hears this,” Nari muttered under her breath as she pulled out a few bills Kono assumedly gave her.

“Happy doing business with you!” The shopkeeper happily took the bills and waved us on our way.

“Only four more things to get until we're back out of the rain. Right Nari… Nari?”

“You got any idea what that is Makoto?” My eyes followed Nari’s towards the battered wet crowd watching the parade. A black platform was lifting itself off from the ground with a man dressed in a pale white jacket and black pants.

The crowd’s eyes were all turning to the man, who pulled out what looked to be a miniature megaphone from his pocket.

“This isn’t going to end well,” I muttered under my breath. Corruption Checkers around the market were standing to attention, masks pointed at the man.

“Testing… testing… Hello Utagai Market, I’m a simple traveler from down the road, where the markets are barren and seven cameras watch every corner.”

Everyone’s eyes were on the man now, the parade a forgotten distraction. What did he want? Was this a protest of sorts? No way, no one would be insane enough to protest so openly on a day like this. But what else would this be?

“I wanted to ask everyone a few questions, give them a bit to think about for the day. When it comes to the truth that Fides proclaims, I’m willing to bet that not many of you have questioned it, what reason would there be to do so. Does anyone disagree?”

No one said a word, doing so would be suicide. Professing your disagreement with the Truth was practically treason after all; admitting you wanted the chaos and war that came before.

“About what I expected. After all, Fides protects us from the turmoil of the outside world, where anyone can form their own opinions, decide what the truth is on their own, even if it's incorrect on every metric.” He got a few nods out of the crowd and some verbal agreements here and there. Heck, I was almost ready to join them. Nari looked around nervously at the crowd as if she was looking for escape routes.

“In exchange, Fides went on a valiant mission to find what the objective truth is, eventually creating the Truth, an infallible machine which created the objective morality we all follow today, a machine created by humanity for humanity.”

He cleared his throat. “But, have any of you thought about what is it exactly that makes that machine objective, what gives it that infallibility that gives Fides its complete control over Japan?” Wha.. what? Was he ok? Part of me couldn't believe what I was hearing. I wasn't exactly sure what to expect, but to criticize the truth so openly like this was a suicide mission.

The Corruption Checkers all started running towards the man; guns pointed right toward his head. “Sir! Get off the platform or we will open fire.”

He burst into laughter. “Please! I’d like to see you try.” He smiled at the Corruption Checkers as they frantically ran towards him. "This little platform here has a pretty competent force field around it if I do say so myself. You guys will just have to wait until my little speech is over, then I'm all yours." His kind demeanor completely evaporated as the figure of a rebel took its place.

“Any answers out there? Come on, what gives Fides the objective truth? Nothing! That's the answer. What gives any man the right to decide what the only truth is? What puts that man above all others? Nothing!

Now I know what everyone is thinking. Fides has never claimed anything of the sort; in fact, their so called machine goes above anyone in the organization, sure there's no way to verify that, but it's not like they would lie or anything, right?

Let me ask you then, same question I just asked, what makes that machine objective? It's a machine created by a flawed, subjective man! Subjectivity combined with subjectivity doesn't necessarily create that objectivity they claim to have! If a group of us created a similar machine, there's no guarantee it spits out the same shit Fides’s Truth loves to say.”

Bullets flew through the rain filled air towards the insurgent, only to sizzle out as the air shimmed near his face like waves on a stormy night.

“There can be no such thing as objective truth if there's not an objective standard to base it on, and the existence of such an objective standard is no guarantee, but I assure you that if one exists, those fuckers up at Fides Corp don’t have it, and neither does their little machine, it’s all subjective!

It's that subjective perspective masquerading as the complete truth that's keeping us all down here, where food is scarce and safety is never a guarantee while they hide up in their giant skyscrapers looking down on us like we're nothing more than livestock. All I can do is plant a little seed in your mind, but even the tiniest of seeds can grow into enormous trees, not that there's many of those around here.”

He bowed as his platform lowered itself to the ground. “And that's all the time I got folks, I’m all yours, you mindless corporate drones.”

Corruption Checkers surrounded the man while he just smiled. I couldn't move. Who was this moron, thinking he could just waltz in here and try to discard everything that Fides did for him, for all of us. If anything I was scared for him. What had to have happened for him to truly believe that. Sure there were people like Kono, but even he didn't reject the Truth.

Did that man want another generation of war? A world where no one was trustworthy and everyone was against each other?

Before I knew it, Nari was tugging at my arm. “Makoto, snap out of it!”

“Huh?” I’d been walking towards the commotion unconsciously, wide eyed.

“Let's get out of here ok? I don't want to get an all expense paid vacation to a Fides prison cell for listening to this.”

My mind relaxed as the shock faded. He’d be taken to one of the many reeducation centers around here soon, out of sight and mind. For now, letting the corruption checkers handle this was probably the best move.

Nari guided me through the now jeering crowd as I watched the man just laugh, laugh, and laugh before he got knocked out by the handle of a gun and tied up before they carried his body out of my sight.

We ran through the narrow alleys between the main streets, ignoring the junkies and homeless hiding in their rags away from the cameras; not like it did much.

Nari didn't take a glance anywhere unnecessarily, staring straight ahead through the twists and turns. It was a familiar path, one only me and her knew of.

A rusty ladder hung from one of the buildings, hidden in its own shadow. We climbed the rungs in silence before getting to the little alcove above, looking down on the market and the slums below.