I woke up, a small ray of sunlight bounced against my face, I sat up on the bed. "Ash, what time is it?" I said "Good afternoon Ren, it is 01:20 in the afternoon of January 25, 2087, the weather is twenty-two degrees, rain with snow is expected throughout the day" said the computer. I got out of bed and went to the bathroom, first washed my hands, then my teeth, then I undressed and went into the shower, I set the water temperature to thirty-seven degrees, set the pressure to level four of six. I gawked at the wall, the water fell on my head and ran over my body, I lowered my head to look at the floor, took a deep breath, then looked up and continued with the shower. When finished I dried off, got out of the shower, put on a t-shirt, some pants, some boots, I also grabbed a temperature regulator, some gloves and my jacket.
I went into the workshop, the door was lifted and I went out. I walked a few blocks to the station, the world around me was awake. I got off at the third stop, exited the station and walked four blocks up, turned right and walked three more blocks, arrived at "Suzuki dinner-cafe" I entered and sat down at the usual table. From the holographic screen on the table I ordered eggs, rice and a Miso soup, five minutes later one of the Suzuki robots brought the food to the table. I started eating and soon after I saw a woman enter the restaurant, she was dressed with a jacket, a temperature regulator, a hat and gloves, she left a holo-image storage device on my table, I grabbed it and put it in the pocket of my jacket, I got up from the table and by passing my cell phone in front of the screen I paid for the food.
I left the restaurant. I entered one of the alleys near the restaurant, took out the holo-image device and turned it on: "Narukami, Kanto - twenty-six years old. Position - Creator of Ash Technologies. Influence - Key developer of The Plague" said in the image, I looked at it for a while, then threw it on the ground and stepped on it hard to break it, picked it up from the ground and threw it into the restaurant's trash can. Then left.
I went back to the station, this time I got on a different line, got off at the third station, a residential area. I exited the station and walked two blocks down, up some stairs to the second floor of the neighborhood, walked five blocks straight and then turned into an elevator, went up to the fifth floor of the neighborhood, arrived at a building and went up to the second apartment on the third floor, I opened the door with my thumbprint. From my jacket pocket I took out an air purification mask, entered the apartment and closed the door, went to the kitchen, took out two glasses, went to the drinking water supply and poured water into the glasses, walked through the dining room and the living room and arrived at the first bedroom of the house, opened the door and entered the room. On the bed lay my mother and father. My father needed a breathing support device as his lungs had collapsed and an IV to give him painkillers for internal and external pain, my mother who was by his side was not yet in such a state but needed a thermometer to indicate her temperature in real time at all times and an especial temperature regulator to wear at all times, painkillers, medication for severe headaches and a special inhaler in case her lungs tried to collapse.
"Ren... You are back..." said my mother, "Yes, I'm back" I answered "it's good to see you again son" said my mother with a smile, I just smiled too. I walked over to the table and put my mother's painkillers into the water so they would dissolve and she could swallow them easily, “Thank you son... You now you don't have to do the, right? I'm ok, I still young...” she said, “I know... I'm sorry” I answered, “It's okey son... I still appreciate your help, I love to see you come in every time... Without you I will feel lonely all the time...” she said, I just smiled again. “Drink this“ I said while handing the glass to my mother, I can't touch her so I have to watch her struggle just to be able to sit up in bed, she took her medicines and then threw the glass in the trash, after all it can't be used again. I left the other glass on my dad's table and said "Mom have dad take the water when he wakes up, he needs to hydrate" I said "Don't worry Ren, we will be fine". After that I left the room and sat in the living room, I turned on the TV and started watching the news, waiting for them to say something about Noboru Yonezawa, the founder of Life Laboratories and the man I had murdered along with his family not too many hours ago.
Two hours went by, I didn't really pay attention to what the news was saying, I just thought why are my parents the ones who have to agonize if they haven't done anything that deserves this punishment? They had me when they were both seventeen, my mother was kicked out of her house because of me, so my father took her in, they were never apart, they did their best to make sure I was always happy, they did their best to make sure nothing was missing for me, they sacrificed their lives so I could live mine, twenty five years have passed since the moment they both decided they would not give up the chance to redeem themselves. They are still young and do not deserve to die, that is why I will do my best to avenge them and give them back their lives, that is why anger consumes me and I wish to kill everyone who has participated in the creation of The Plague. I do it for them, just as they did everything possible for me.
I left the apartment, I took the air purification mask of, then I realized it was raining with snow, I looked up at the sky and then my watch was 05:12. I walked all the way back to the workshop. When I got there I stood in front of the door "Ash, open the door" I said. As I walked in I took off my jacket and put it on a table, also took off the mantle I had on the bike, went into my room changed my shirt, then went back to the workshop and lifted the bike to take the tires off. Before leaving I grabbed a jug of gasoline and put the tires on my shoulder. I walked with the tires on my shoulder for about twenty minutes until I got to a dumpster, put them on the ground, opened the jar of gasoline and poured some on the tires, then I took a lighter out of my pocket, lit the tires and waited for them to melt completely, “This smell is horrible...“ I took the air purification mask from my pocket and put in on, Then waited a while. When the fire dissipated and the tires were destroyed I said "I should have brought my jacket" it was still raining with snow and I was cold. Then I just went back to the workshop to replace the tires with ones of a different model and pattern. I arrived at the workshop, Ash opened the door, I went in, grabbed two tires off the shelves and got to work, it wasn't much work I had to do. When I finished I sat down with a sigh in an armchair inside the workshop, I looked at the bike, I took my cell phone out of my pocket and made a call, the cell phone rang a couple of times and then it was answered: "Killer, there is a new target" I said, "Kanto Narukami, Asuka gave me the information" I said again, "I'm on my way".
I went to the room for the temperature regulator, I went to one of the shelves and grabbed one of the helmets, I got on the bike and started it, before leaving I went to the table and grabbed the jacket, put it on, the door opened and I went out.
I passed streets full of lights, dark streets, dangerous and devastated streets. Killer's house is far from the workshop, I don't even know if it's the right thing to call it home, it's more like his untraceable lair of which only three people know about: Kid, Killer himself and me.
It was one of the busiest areas of the neighborhood, I rode the bike through the alley and arrived at some doors, the one under the stairs was the entrance to Killer's lair. I slowly went down the stairs with the bike, I beeped and Kid opened the door for me "That was fast" he said, "Can I come in?" I replied. Kid stepped back and let me pass, then he closed the door and locked the seven padlocks Killer has on the door. "Killer already accessed the cameras in the area where Narukami lives, it looks like things are about to get complicated and he's only the second one" said Kid, "I expected nothing less from the creator of Ash Technologies" I replied.
Kid opened the garage door, I turned off and then got off the bike. We left the garage and took the elevator. We got to the top floor of the building, got off and walked to the apartment at the end of the corridor. Kid put the password to the door, "That's a very stupid password Kid" I said, "It's the only one Killer remembers...", Kid opened the door and we went through, as we entered there is the living room with the kitchen and dining room on the right, on the left there is a corridor that leads to three rooms, Killer's control center, a bathroom and a bookcase full of manga and Yukio Mishima novels. We passed through the corridor and arrived at the door to Killer's control center, Kid opened the door and we both walked through, "It took you long to get here Ren" said Killer, "I crossed the neighborhood in fifteen minutes" I said, "Yeah it was pretty fast" said Kid, "It felt like hours..." replied Killer, "Killer are you on drugs?" asked Kid, "Maybe..." replied Killer, we all fell silent, "Well, Killer, I pay you for something" I said, "Yeah, uh.... I already have the address, the location of all the security cameras, the safest routes, blind spots of the security system of the area and the house and his calendar for the next three months with commitments and days off included. It would only be necessary to go with Kid to Osaka and study his routine for three weeks, maybe less maybe more, so you know the exact moment make the attack" said Killer... I looked at Kid and then turned to see Killer, "You should get high more often Killer..." I said, "I only do it when I get good news, so thanks Ren, you made my night" said Killer, "No problem, we will have at least one night like this once every two months for the next ten years" I said, "Good to know that" replied Killer.
I walked over to Killer and put my hand on his shoulder "Thanks Killer", Killer smiled and nodded his head, I turned around and walked out of the room next to Kid. "I'll buy the tickets to Osaka tomorrow" he said, "Buy them today, we leave in three days" I replied, "See you Kid". Then I just walked to the door and left.
I got off the elevator, got to the garage, walked to the bike, got on, started it, grabbed the helmet, took a deep breath, put the helmet on and started the bike.
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