Say Hi To Your New Leader

‘But—I did everything you asked..’ Chief Goda backed across his office, his hands held up. The back of his legs hit the edge of the desk and it jerked across the floor.

‘Yes, you have been most accommodating.’

The vanguard’s words issued from its humming like waves from an ocean. Which one was this? The one who had spoken to him before.. or a different one. Perhaps it didn’t mean anything with them.

‘I-I can help,’ his mind raced, ‘Kurama!’ He shouted. ‘He knows all about you… we have him… ’

The vanguard advanced toward the Chief, standing a few inches in front of him. The Chief leaned back over the table. The vanguard’s head tilted as though the Chief’s words were some strange substance it had come across. Whatever intelligence had possessed it a moment ago had gone. And then it was back.

‘You have reached your limit.’

He fell to his knees. The vanguard stood over him, that awful humming filling his ears, pouring inside them like he was drowning in it. He put his hands to the sides of his head.

In that moment, many things arose in the mind of Chief Goda. That he should have given them more information, or false information, or stuck with ARPol all along - half of his men were fighting the other half right now. But most of all, he remembered watching a news broadcast, and seeing one of his officers waving a half eaten burger at the president.

Kurama. You really are an asshole.

***

‘Ritsuo!’ Kurama grabbed the old man by the shoulders.

‘Alright, alright…’ laughed Ritsuo, then leant back wincing.

‘What is it? Are you ok?’ Kurama looked him up and down.

‘It’s nothing… more to the point, are you intent on getting us caught?’ He spoke in a lower tone.

‘Where are we?’ Rinako asked.

They were in a narrow red-lit tunnel behind and below the wall, just high enough to stand in. The walls were covered in pipes and cables.

‘Maintenance access spaces.’ He looked around. ‘Been out of use for a long time. No one really knows they exist anymore.’

‘Except you.’ Beamed Kurama.

‘Yeah, well.’ Said the old man, rubbing his balding head with a hand.

Ritsuo took them through the maze of access tunnels, flashing a micro-light along the way. He told them the vanguard had occupied both exterior wings so they’d have to take a very particular route. They hadn’t yet managed to enter the depths of the central lower building. Rinako was impressed.

On the way, they heard the occasional flurry of footsteps. Rinako’s blood ran cold when they were accompanied by the sound of mechanical humming.

Eventually, they reached an old access pipe with a turn-crank, and a ladder running into darkness inside. The pipes didn’t appear in any of the modern floor plans according to Ritsuo.

‘How come I’ve never heard of them?’

He got no reply.

As they climbed into the pipe, Ritsuo handed something to Kurama.

It was Six, the old-style filter tube he had been working on before. Kurama looked up at him, frowning. ‘Aren’t you coming?’

The sound of footsteps ran along the corridor beside them again. Ritsuo looked back. A dark blue stain was showing through his shirt at the waist.

‘Ritsuo…’

Ritsuo covered his side with his hand, looking annoyed he’d slipped up. ‘I’ll be fine.’ He said.

Kurama reluctantly withdrew his eyes from the old man’s side. ‘But what are you gonna do?’

‘Oh, don’t worry,’ he said, holding the pipe’s hatch open above them. ‘I have something I need to do.’

In the red light, his moustache twitched as a smile spread across his face.

***

‘Ugh!’ Cried Rinako.

The ladder had stopped some way up in the air, so they’d had to drop into the darkness below. Straight into the building’s waste system, judging by the smell and the water running up to their ankles.

‘Didn’t mention it was the sewer, huh Ritsuo.’ Kurama flicked on Six.

It was almost pitch black. The device beeped and several green, red and blue lenses extended from its body and lit up. Skit flew down and started to circle it, beeping distrustfully.

Kurama held up the cylinder. A holo-polygon projected in front of them. Through it they were able to make out the detail of the tunnel.

‘It was better before.’ Said Rinako.

All around them were piles of sludge, and the floating corpses of some rodents she didn’t recognise. They started off, taking every corner they came across, flashing Six around and hoping Skit could come up with something useful as he scouted ahead.

After several corners, Kurama held up a finger.

‘Wha-‘ said Rinako but he waved his hand at her.

There, in the distance, she could hear a faint sound. Skit had returned and flew closer to them, his lights illuminating the fetid water around them.

At the end of the tunnel, a shape stirred against the wall. They heard a groan.

Kurama held up Six.

‘What are you doing?!’ Hissed Rinako, her hand on his arm.

Through the holo-polygon, they saw the slumped body of a man. He was wearing a prosper unform.

‘Hashimoto!’

They rushed over, their boots splashing through the water.

He looked up, his eyes heavy. ‘Great. All the people I wanted to see when I’m about to check out in a sewer and I get you.’

He looked down. Hashimoto’s shirt was covered in dark stains. His left arm lay still and one of his legs was bent at a sickening angle.

‘Come on..’ said Kurama.

Hashimoto laughed and broke into a cough. Blood leaked from between his lips. ‘You asshole. You think I’d be here if I could.’ He wiped his mouth. ‘Besides, you think I’d go anywhere with you.’

Kurama looked at him.

Suddenly, Hashimoto’s expression changed. He reached up and grabbed Kurama’s shirt. He felt something in his hand.

‘Listen. You have to get out of here. Warn them. There’s a doorway….’ He looked to his right, and his eyelids dropped again.

‘Wouldn’t have made it this far if it wasn’t for him.’

Rinako looked across the water and saw two huge bodies projecting like islands from its surface. She recognised one as one of the other Alters they had come across with Salamon.

‘Calibrai..’ said Kurama.

‘He held them off as long as he could.’ Hashimoto stared at the body of the giant half-alter, then looked back to both of them. ‘But they’ll be back soon. You got to get out of here. Now.’

‘Hashimoto…’ said Kurama.

They heard footsteps coming through the water behind them.

‘I won’t forget.’

‘Yeah, yeah.’ Said Hashimoto.

As they ran between the two half submerged giants, a voice echoed in the tunnel behind them.

‘You always were a prick.’

***

‘What did he give you?’ Asked Rinako.

‘Looked like a key.’

They skidded to a halt.

‘Ok, now which way?’

‘Why are you asking me?’ Said Kurama.

They had reached a junction with three different turnings. Kurama looked between each of them. They could still hear the footsteps somewhere behind them.

‘Come on!’

‘Alright, alright…’

As he scratched his head, Skit rose up into the air, his sensor array lit up, and rotated between the turnings.

‘What’s up with him?’ Said Rinako.

Kurama looked up at the skimmer, his mouth open.

All of a sudden Skit stopped rotating and shot off down one of the tunnels. Kurama started after him when Rinako grabbed his arm.

‘How can we trust it?’

The footsteps grew louder and they looked back to see a swarm of blue lights in the distance behind them.

Kurama raised his eyebrows.

‘Fine.’ Said Rinako.

***

They had followed Skit through several junctions, the little skimmer making peculiar strings of beeps and blips as he flew, when they reached a turning with dazzling light shining into it from the corridor beyond. The metal walls gave way to moss covered brickwork.

Skit fell from the air, the light of his sensors and whine of his engines fading. Kurama caught him in his arms, where he made a pitiful whine. ‘It’s ok buddy you worked hard.’

Ahead of them a figure stepped gracefully into the light of the tunnel.

‘Salamon.’ Said Kurama.

Rinako’s eyes adjusted to the light and she saw the golden scales of the Alter they had met earlier. She’d probably have felt better if at the time he hadn’t been feeding on a Geist’s corpse.

‘Kuramaaa.’ Said the lithe Alter. ‘Followwww.’ He turned back toward the light.

‘Wait, you’re not—‘

Salamon let out a long hiss. ‘Never sssstay at one workplaccce too longgg. I get bored.‘

Rinako looked up at Kurama.

‘Up to youuu.’ Said Salamon and disappeared around the corner.

***

Salamon took them to a large underground chamber with a couple of iron barred gates at the back. It looked like the frontage of a castle. There were floodlights set up in the courtyard so that Kurama and Rinako could barely see it was so bright.

Salamon leant against a wall. ‘I havvve themmm.’

From the back of the chamber there was a whirring mechanical noise. After a few moments a silhouette swung out of an archway on a floating platform.

‘Chizuru!’ Shouted Kurama.

‘Took you long enough.’ She said.

‘It was you that was guiding Skit?’

Chizuru remained silent.

Rinako looked around. People were coming out from archways and gates in the far wall. Some wore enforcer uniforms, some prospector. Rinako recognised the gum-chewing woman from the office. In the middle of the courtyard she noticed a small gazebo, beneath which was a fold out table covered in maps and what looked like a ham radio.

‘What is this?’ She said.

‘Welcome to the resistance.’ Said Chizuru. ‘Say hi to your new leader. I have to go now.’

A long haired woman strode out of the central arch in silhouette. Her boots clipped against the stone flooring.

Kurama stared at the scene before him. It looked like a school photo, everyone standing in front of the camera. The clip clop of the woman’s boots grew louder. Then something caught his eye. Standing on one of the upper ledges, a man with a diamond-shaped tattoo on his face.

‘MasterCell—?’

He felt the present Hashimoto had given him digging into his leg. The Key. He reached into his pocket and took it out.

In his hand was a straw doll, its head bent to one side. As he looked, it dissolved in a wave of sparkling dust, leaving behind only the palm of his hand. He looked up. The scene before him had started to dissolve too, its lines breaking into swarms of sparkling lights.