neo_tokyo

 After descending the mountain for half an hour, we finally reached the city sewers. Silence was prominent throughout the whole trip down. Uncomfortableness stems from Hayami herself, whose motive is unclear for now.

With only our footsteps being echoed, I put on the hoodie that Hisa gifted me. Activating it via the same chip that controls the gloves and Lorentz, a visor like the shinobi from the castle’s entrance appears in front of me. Tainted black from the outside, clear vision from the inside. Cool.

Reaching the exit of the sewers, a blinding light welcomes us to a corridor of the city. Walking for some moments and we are now ones with the immense crowd.

Neo-Tokyo. A concrete jungle. Filled with people coming and going like ants. Drones plague the air as mosquitoes, the advertisement signs with kanji and english translations at the sides to allure customers to buy, rent or even sell belongings for profit.

Cartoon characters are also prominent as a form of mascots for every business. It is a smart strategie, as it allows for an innocent and more human connection between individuals and corporations.

 Unlike New Athena, the streets vary in size and are not in a grid-like structure. Many passageways with the wideness for a vehicle to go through serve as a way to efficiently use the space in between the buildings.

Speaking of which, the verticality in this city is outstanding. Towering buildings are the norm for every district in the city. Houses in the more traditional sense are a rare sight, as they were all replaced in the face of more homes being available for everyone. As such, colossal apartment blocks have their own communities inside of them.

According to Hayami -who is only speaking to me for God knows what reason-, Neo-Tokyo suffered a housing problem since its inception. To accommodate the large number of people migrating from their native countries to Britannia for the chance of a better life, the solution was a program in which the space of the properties to the maximum efficiency possible.

Cubicles of living, more so than apartments or houses, are incentivized alongside the rental of pods, which are only beds in a cylindrical enclosed space. To combat the depression that it meant for the people to not own a proper house, several green spaces were created for people to go and share moments and intimacy. One of those being the Innsperta Association Park.

In there, a mansion stands tall amongst its plains of grass and trees. Inside the mansion lives the Innsperta founding father: Clyde Warden. Subsidised by the Imperator itself, Clyde conducted the association to its glory. Pioneer in many fields, they wanted to be known as the jack of all trades of the scientific community.

Farming equipment, construction bricks for architectural wonders, telecommunications and quantum teleportation are all products of the minds inside the Innsperta Association. Half of its members are from the Lideriann Empire, while the other half are an amalgamation of development programs in schools in the entirety of Britannia.

“You know a lot about this.”

“Of course! If you are doing a job, do it right.”

“Getting along with your partners is also important, you know.” Poking her a bit to spill the beans, she is seemingly annoyed, but lets it slide.

“I used to practise with them. They were friends of mine until one day, they just went up and disappeared. Without notice. And for what? To work for Gramma and Rhetoria as mercenaries. Where is the honour that we were preached about for so many years gone?” So they knew each other. That is why she is disturbed by their presence.

Currently, we are ahead of the twins, and with the noisy atmosphere of the city, I assume they can't hear us. Taking advantage of this, I pry more into the matter.

“They abandoned you and their morals. Your reaction is normal, I would be the same.”

Blushing a bit, she cuts my response with another completely unrelated comment. “Look at the advertisements. Isn’t she your friend?”

By her remark I look at a building covered in promotional signs. One of the billboards that stands out, far above our heads, is saying ‘Agent White, a new reinforcement in the Imperator’s forces, now visiting the Innsperta compound!’

I will be able to see her, then? That is absolutely comforting. A known ally in all this fog of uncertainty. How will she react to me? Does she know that I’m alive? Will she know where Murph is? Ughh, I need to stop. The mission is first, they can handle themselves better than I ever could.

“Yeah, she has made advancements in the operation, that is nice.” A slight smile escapes me, but the visor of my hoodie doesn’t let it be seen.

Some hours later, after traversing the many passageways, ramen shops, convenience stores, blue collar employees and the neon bombarding my visor, we finally reached our destination.

The Innsperta Association Park. What I had envisioned of the place to be like is nothing compared to the reality in front of me.

In order to save space, they challenged the vertical limitations of construction technology. The park’s occupying area is not that spacious in itself; only a quarter of what the parthenon is. What makes your jaw drop onto the floor is the green areas being allocated throughout various layers one on top of each other.

Floors and floors of gardens with fountains and mini lakes, benches to sit down and various shops to buy souvenirs and coffees from, people enjoy their time in the various flooring offered by the park.

The mansion where we have to go is at the top of this structural behemoth, beyond the reach of the common men. From afar, it seems like the only way up is through elevators in the middle of each floor.

“Let’s get to the upper park area, and from there we’ll just manage to get to the mansion.”

 From my orders, the only response I get is a simple nod. At least they’re not opposing me.

Now at the entrance of the park, a rally of sorts is happening. Not many people are in it, though. Thanks to augmented reality, their signs are easier to read and understand. The matter at hand seems to be the disappearing and possible kidnapping of homeless people from the streets to conduct experiments on. And the main perpetrator, according to the rallies, is Innsperta itself.

“It is a matter that we are investigating too. Hisa has a good heart in some regards.” Hayami exclaims, but she doesn’t seem to care much about it right now. Priorities, I guess.

It is heart wrenching what they might be doing to these people, but there is not much I can do for now. Maybe I’ll look into it later.

To enter the park, we have to pay a fee per hour that we’ll be at the place. As I have no way of paying, my eyes divert to the members of my team to see if there is anyone with a soul. With a slight grunt, Hayami pays for our entrance.

Traversing the various floors, the gravity technology from New Athena makes its way onto here too. It is more common than I thought. Why is my glove so precious to Leonard? Remembering some of his words, this equipment was the peak of his skills. Maybe a gravity user is not something that is researched in the current scientific industry. Which is weird, since it could actually help many workers and -although I’m ashamed to admit it- mercenary groups too.

Could we use these gravity fields with my glove…?

It might be our ticket to the top. Since an invitation is required, maybe I could get us there by force-fielding our way through. We don’t necessarily lose much time trying, so I’ll test this method when we reach the top.

All this thinking is cut short by the sudden paparazzi storming through the entrance of this current floor. Rumbling to get closer to someone, now I get why the commotion. The silver haired girl has arrived as foretold from the advertisement.

The sun shafts encapture her figure of importance as her attire is as white as the clouds. Her hair has changed, too. More ‘production’ has been put to her image. The sad part about this is that Murph is nowhere to be seen. He really is out there, still.

“Could you get ahead? I’ll check out something. It will be only a minute.” My proposal shocks Hayami, but the twins silently accept once again. It is getting kinda creepy now.

“No, no. I’m coming with you, Kingslayer. Whether I like it or not, my other mission is to protect you.” Hayami then stays by my side, meanwhile the rest focus on getting to the top. I’m not going to argue with her, it would just be a waste of time.

Getting closer to her, a crowd of people is circling around her. It makes sense, of course. By the ad from earlier, she seems to be a super start now. Hell, she even has security by her side -although she doesn't really need them-. Screams of ‘agent White!’ disturb the quietness of the park from before.

Now in the inner circle of her ‘fans?’ I shout at her to get her attention, but she isn't even looking at anyone around her. I’ll have to deploy the big guns, then.

“Princess! It’s me!” While yelling this, Hayami’s mouth opens in surprise. Yeah, I’ll deal with the consequences later.

She then instantly stops, looking all around her to see who said it. After some analysing, she stares directly at me. A faint tearing from her eyes is only visible if you pay close attention as her pale skin covers it easily.

Being pushed by her security guards, she then tells me quickly “See me at the mansion!” a brief exchange and yet, it seems to have illuminated her to a brighter state of mind. That’s comforting.

Now that she knows I’m here, maybe things will get easier down the road.

“Let’s get going.”