The New Normal

“Get up!”

With me lying on the hard rubber mat of the dojo, his cold voice’s sting never seemed to dull the pain, and it only helped in training my tolerance in frustration. I picked myself back up to one knee, only to realize I couldn’t go any further. But what alarmed me even more was him attempting pressing his advantage of me being on a knee

“WAIT WAIT WAIT….I think I busted my leg.…Shit!” I couldn’t see what had happened through my shoe, but the irritation was intense.

“You okay?” he said with the usually cold voice showing a sign of paternal concern, while offering his hand

I accepted his help “ I don’t know, it’s-”

But before I finished, I was only met with a violent pull and a knee to my gut, putting me down for the count… and my defeat was sealed by his blade being inches away from my throat.

“You think that your opponent will wait for you?” he returned to his cold tone.

“An opponent wouldn’t, but a father would” my eyes met his and he clearly noticed my frustration

I remember how shaky my relationship used to be with him, but it’s only later I realized how much I owed him in gratitude.

He points his blade away. “You are not wrong….but you are not right at the same time” he said, sounding sincere again. I dragged myself towards the low wall close to me and leaned on it.

He crouched right in front of me.

“There is nothing wrong with trusting people…as a matter of fact, it’s a key part in how this world functions…but do you know when you should be the most aware of a person even if you even know like the back of your hand?” he holds his blade and starts looking at it

“It’s when their common sense is shattered…..You see, a person’s ideals are who they are….what decides the line they are willing to cross, and how much they would care about the wellbeing of others even if they don’t know the other. In life or death situations, the peace they were once used to doesn’t exist anymore….they are made aware that one wrong move could either lead to terrible pain, or death. When the world a man once knew isn’t what he knew anymore, they become something that can’t be put into words...One whose main weapon is the lack of empathy and savagery. There was one word that our family has used for generations to define those kinds of people… It was called becoming human”.

He stabs the blade right into the mat next to my foot and continues while I stare in confusion.

“You put an animal in a place they are not familiar with, its primal survival instincts take over to ensure its survival. People are mostly the same…. but there is one crucial difference…humans are much smarter, and much more craftier, it makes their natural instinct much worse. When an animal goes rabid, the man has the resources and intellect to survive and in most cases, contain the animal, but when it’s the man who goes rabid. They won’t think twice about deceiving, using or murdering anyone if it gets them their way…..Even if it’s their own flesh and blood…. So this is my first bit of advice...When you fight, never see your opponent as a friend, or as family….because if that actually worked, there would be no such thing as conflict ”

He got back up and went towards the cabinet on the wall

“No matter how much one could deny it, we all share both sides whether we like it or not. The fighters who truly stand out from the rest are the ones who learn to control their human instincts…to be able to use its power, but not get lost in it.“

He comes back and takes my shoe off, revealing a swollen ankle which he started treating.

“You are sixteen… and very soon, life is going to throw a lot at you. So let me give you a piece of advice….not as your instructor, but as your father”

He finished patching me up and held my head close to his

“People might have two faced, but the ones you can trust the most are the ones who hold onto who they are no matter what they are put through…. but the ones who embrace their instinct as their ideals are the ones that will eventually stab you in the back”

I only wish I had listened to his advice much earlier, but it wouldn’t have changed much even if I did.

.

.

.

My new reality had caught up to me where my blurry vision gave way to the interior of the L-Train I was onboard.

“Guess that dream showed up a little too late….I wonder what Mom and Dad are up to” I said to myself

“Now arriving…Kaiser District….Helios Lower Sector”

It was near impossible to sneak out with a quest in hand without gaining attention from Makoto’s lackeys, so I had to settle for the player posted ones which I could get from the reception. While one would think that the train would be one straight shot to Mid-Sec, I found out that it only goes one way, so if I was to get to where I wanted to go, I had to wait till the train rotates past the undesirable Low-Sec.

The train stopped at the announced station…. apart from a few rowdy groups, almost no one got off into the chaos of Low-Sec….But where the problem came was from the one who got on.

A woman got onto the train and fired her gun into the roof of the carriage…Just another day in Helios I guess. But judging from everyone in the carriage being unphased, it was clear that all knew how this would end.

“Nobody move from your seat…do as I say and no one will get hurt” she said, flailing her gun at everyone around her.

Her hand wasn’t steady, eventhough she tried to stop her shaking with her other hand, and her aim was rife with fear and desperation “N…Now, put everything you have in your inventory in this bag”.

Desperation makes people blind to the dangers their actions might lead to, and this poor girl has unfortunately sealed her fate.

No-one was complying and she shot one more time into the air, and it didn’t change anything, except the approach of a man passing me towards her.

“Miss, please…calm down,” he said, approaching her. She pointed her weapon at him to threaten him off, but even I knew that was nothing but an empty one.

Four rounds left in the chamber but she didn’t even fire one at him….her trigger held back by the chain of innocence that has yet to be shattered.

The man inched his way towards her gun, had his hand on the barrel and hugged her “It’s okay…you have been through a lot”. Knowing fully well what was going to happen, I evaded my glance and closed my eyes. But as much as I didn’t want to witness it, I couldn’t escape the audible experience.

My hearing first caught a slow and soft weep, followed by what sounded like a quick and momentary shriek….and finally a loud cry only gave way to an ear-shattering shotgun blast, and finally the silence before it all returned. I opened my eyes and had my gaze fixed to the metal floor of the train and the smoking barrel of a bloodied shotgun walked past me.

A few moments of ignorance later, I had arrived…. “Now arriving…Helios Middle Sector….Decadence District”. Groups of people lining the doors, anticipating its opening. Some are covered in red but no one minded, unlike regular commutes, there was no fighting at the door to get out the quickest, rather there was only silence and order. Another moment later, I disembarked and went down to street level only to raise my gaze first at the timepiece overhead reading “ 08:23:52 15-07”. I didn’t even realize it has been three days since my failure….Felt like it was only a matter of hours ago.

I turned over my left hand to check where my navigation arrow was pointing towards and I started walking, taking in what I could about Mid-Sec. A few weeks ago, the streets were nothing but chaos, but now even in a place that I’m visiting for the first time, it looks like a fully functioning community. A couple of months of a trial by blazing fire, many of the naïve and unfortunate had been wiped out, and most if not all the survivors know their place in the chain of power which would better the odds of their survival….If only they knew the kind of savages that resided on the top.

Even though the storm of panic and desperation had weathered, the rivers of red and screams of pain were still present, but it is nothing but a part of daily life at this point. The stampedes of people were no more and even as I passed through the marketplace, people were lined up, waiting their turn with a safe distance in between each other. For a moment, I was relieved that maybe everything in here isn’t out to kill me after all. However, I ran into a bit of a stopgap as my route through the market was barricaded off by people wearing the guild’s outfit for some reason. I had to get through there so I guess I was taking the long way around.

I stuck to the boundary of the barricade and finally got around the cordoned off area. And a short walk later, I had arrived where I needed to be. The projection on my palm turned from an arrow to a prompt saying ‘ You have arrived at your destination- The Scarlet Knights Clan house’. I knocked thrice on the door, not knowing what to expect from the other side.

A few seconds later, the door opened partly and out came the head of a short-haired man looking like he was around my age.

“What do you want?” he asked in a cautious demeanor.

“You posted a quest….and I am answering” I answered bluntly.

“Oh…..never thought someone would actually answer” he came out of the building fully and closed the door behind him. “Hate the taxation that much eh?” his tone became much more calm and humorous, but I didn’t let my guard down

“Yikes…Tried to break the ice but it ended up freezing me over.” He took out a holo-note from his inventory and wrote down something on it and handed it to me. “I want you to go to this place, and tell the guy there a paying customer is asking for some guidance….and once he takes you to the back, ask him for everything he knows on the Shepard Clan in Helios….the guys who are taxing every world quest at the Guild”

He transferred a hundred thousand Rels to me “That greedy bastard would ask for 50k minimum, but just in case he gets in over his head, I’ll give you extra. Keep the rest as your payment and if he asks for anything over seventy, ask him to stick his price tag up where the sun doesn’t shine and come back here”.

He turned back and tried to go back inside, but I saw an opportunity here

“Actually…” he turned back towards me

“I might be able to save you a bunch of money and time in this case”

“Okay?”

But our conversation gets cut short for moment

“What the.....Aw come on guys, really?” said a man’s voice loudly from inside. We both managed to ignore it and continue

“I might have the information you are looking for. Might be even, more than what the broker can offer”

“You know him?”

“You could say that…you could also say that I might be the reason he would have all that information about what you are curious about in the first place”

“They-” my sentence was interrupted by that same voice now screaming, now with loud thumps getting progressively louder. The client had his eyes closed and he was clearly irritated.

“Anyways-”

“I swear, once I get my hands on you two little shits”

“Hey Onee, is it me or is the morning rooster sounding different than usual” And the interruptions still kept on going. The client was now acting restless, still had a frustrated expression, waiting for the atmosphere to calm down.

And suddenly, another comes out of the door covered in feathers. I couldn’t even make out his face through all that

“JUN!!”

“I am standing right in front of your face. You don’t have to yell” the client replied.

“Yeah try telling the difference between up and down after tripping down the stairs with feathers in your ears” he said trying to clear his eyes of the feathers that are clearly stuck to him. He blew his nose and it sent a clump of feathers into the air

He regains his vision and assessed the situation in front of him

“Oh…..Am I…. interrupting something?”

The client took a deep breath “What do you think, genius?”

“What happened to you?” I asked him trying not to crack a smile

“You don’t wanna know.” He then suddenly looked at the client

“Oh and Jun, they also-”

“They home alone’d the house….didn’t they?”

“Yes….They home alone’d the house ….and thousand yen says they have rigged the shower as well, I ain't walking in there until you clear it for landmines”

“Okay, look…I’ll be there in a couple of minutes, can you go back in and make sure you keep your poultry ass out of boiling oil?”

“There’s boiling oil?”

“There will be if you don’t give me a couple of minutes”

He glanced at me and then back “Alright, I can take a damn hint” He finally went in with his hands thrown up

He had his hand on his forehead and took another deep breath

“Sorry about those idiots in there, apparently two of them share a single brain and the other was born without one”

“Yeah….I think I know how you feel” as per my time with another similarly dysfunctional group.

“Right, now that is over…please go ahead”

“The guys you want to know about….they are called the New World Order. Started as a clan of six and got an early start in building up connections all around the place ever since the CGI. Their original goal was to act as a strong center for the effort to escape this place. But their leader had other ideas…. Till a few days ago there were two heads in the clan…One is Isaac, other is Makoto….Isaac is currently out of reach, which only leaves his lackey Makoto in charge”

“Sorry but…..I never caught your name.”

“I never threw it .”

“Right...I just want to ask, how do you know about all this? You also said this is information that even the broker didn’t have, why let me in on all of this?”

“If a girl’s to survive, she ought to have her own sources. And I told you all this because you asked…. not many have the courage to even do that, especially when it comes to those lunatics”

“You said this Isaac person is out of reach…you didn’t say he was dead, what did you mean by that?”

He’s observant…but I guess I can’t bullshit my way out of this anymore. I took a deep breath first

“A couple of days ago he was approached by the man who drew first blood. The one they call the Immortal Tyrant” Jun’s eyes started to widen by his surprise….it’s fair that anyone’s morale would drop after hearing that. “He offered Isaac a place among his group of elites, the ones he called The Immortal 10….and right now, only Makoto sits in the throne of the clan”

He closed the distance between us leaving me barely any room to maneuver, he looked around as if he didn’t want anyone to hear him “ Are you sure? Are you certain that it was…him?”

“Saw it with my own eyes, including them teleporting away. He called him a ‘supernova’ whatever that means”

He turned around and muttered “ So Tadashi goes ahead and recruits Taylor, he’s been busy”

However that alarmed me more than anything “I never told you his last name” I slowly slipped my hand towards my Karambit sheath

But he wasn’t alarmed by that, but rather still aloof “Oh right, Supernova…Isaac, was a bit of a known variable in my former line of work”

“Which is?”

“Look I don’t want to say”

“Like hell you don’t!” I exclaimed, he looked behind as if he didn’t want the people inside to hear “I gave you information that you can’t even get going to the biggest weasel in his place, I need to know”

“While this was my quest, I’ll let you in on this one as a freebie…..my work used to be related to this game, and lets just say many in my line would be aware of who Isaac is. The only player who his Supernova without a team behind him”

I can understand him wanting to be as vague as possible, but his explanation made enough sense for me to drop my guard….for now.

“Sounds to me like that you got history with that guy considering how desperate and on-guard you were. But who am I to judge”

He thankfully didn’t pry any further, but even I knew that I didn’t give him any reason to trust me. “Look, I know I am being secretive right now, but you can take what I am saying or leave it, I understand. I’ll go to the broker and get you a info doc with his stamp on it if you ask me to…but I can guarantee you that what you will get will be much less than what I just told you”

He didn’t even take a moment “You don’t have to do that. The easiest way to know if someone is bullshitting is if there are any inconsistencies in what they say…. contradictions, long pauses, those kinds of things. From how you told me what you told me, I know that you were there yourself….and besides, no one would be stupid enough to use the Tada….The Tyrant’s name, if he wasn’t there for real….and you can keep the whole amount. The less I have to depend on that illusive dickhead, the better”

The prompt of quest completion showed itself on my hand and it was time to take my leave.

“Pleasure doing business with you” I said as I turned around to walk away

“One more thing” my attention was diverted back to him as he said that

“I know there isn’t anything for you to answer this, but if you know anything, can I ask if you know about another one…”

I guess there was no harm in it at this point “Okay?”

“Yamori Nishigaki…. some may even know him as the Sheriff”

Well that was random…. eventhough I knew about him, it wasn’t enough to answer his question

“Had a couple of run ins with him, never met him face to face…or even heard of anything…..I wish I could’ve helped more”

However, my answer seemed to make him more tense than before. But I guess he forgot about it moments later.

“AAAAHHH! HOT!...HOOOOOT!” the screams leaking from inside the building

There was too much chatter happening at once all of a sudden, but if I had to guess, someone else walked into another prank. Jun’s restlessness returned once again but he held back until he was done with me.

Part of me was trying not to crack a smile through all of it, but this man gave me no reason as of yet to be completely on guard

“You need me to-”

“Yeah…yeah I….need to tend to those nutjobs in there”

He started to walk back towards the door but turned back

“Hey” He paused for a moment before continuing “Past few days made me think that everyone in this place has finally lost it…good to know that some still have their sanity in check. Also, thanks for trusting me…eventhough you had no reason to”

He turned around one last time and disappeared into the building, only to raise his voice to the maximum volume moments later

“MEGURU!, MAI!…RIGHT HERE!, RIGHT NOW!”

“You might want to try getting Lawrence-san out of the shower of death before you get to that”

“SHUT YOUR FLUFF AND PLANT YOUR AVIAN ASS WHERE YOU ARE. And you move an INCH until I say so, I’m gonna turn your ass into Karaage, Nakamura!”

“What did I do to piss your ass off?”

While I was eavesdropping on what was happening inside, I had involuntarily cracked a dumbfounded smile. Guess the Jun guy is the Haru of that group.

“If you only knew the truth” I said to myself walking away from the house. I wasn’t being trusting, I was only interested in using you. If by any chance they rile up Makoto’s feathers, it would serve as a distraction for me to deal the killing blow to him and his twisted followers…. And sanity?.... I lost that the day I escaped their clutches.

I was expecting to be out for a lot longer but I guess I lucked out today. I retraced my steps back to where I boarded the train, taking in everything in my surroundings and racking my brain over what my next move would be, and I had a few hours to come up with something. I was thinking about it on the station bench, waiting for the train to arrive and I was thinking about it even when I got on. So much so that I only noticed late that I had got into the same carriage I arrived on, as signified by the violent blood splatter on the seat on my opposite side, filled with holes from a shotgun blast. Evening arrived and I was back in Upper-Sec, and I still had not even a clue on how I was going to close my distance to that lizard Makoto.

My uneventful journey back concluded once I arrived at the doorstep where I was tased inches away from, and I entered only to be greeted with the unrelenting cheer of the kids playing board games with Tatsuo with a side of Hayato’s unwelcoming glare from beside them. I ignored both the phenomena and climbed the stairs to the room I was given, hoping not to run in Haru.

I entered the almost empty room and spared no time in tossing the little I had into my inventory and took a last look around before I left into the unknown, but my hasty departure unfortunately couldn’t go unnoticed, as I opened the room door to leave, only to be met with Tatsuo with his hand up to my door, trying to knock.

“Either you have inhuman awareness, or I just caught you on your way out”

“What do you want?”

He lifted up a bag of what looked like homemade-cookies

“Peace offering?” He instantly read my uninterested impression

“Come on, Mano-san…. it’s the least I could do after last night’s witches brew…is a couple minutes of your time too much to ask?”

“Fine”

I moved away from the door and let him trail me inside the room.

“Man, you are the complete opposite of Haru-san when it comes to room décor” He remarked after taking a look around the drab and lifeless room with nothing but the table, bed and closet adding some amount of presence in it.

“Is that all you have to say?” I said, having my bullshit tolerance pushed to its limit.

“Sorry, just trying to lighten the mood you know”

“Well, don’t…I’m not one of the kids downstairs, so cut the crap and get to the point”

He sat down on the bed opposite the workbench where I took a seat. He was grasping his hands and was looking down.

“We…I need your help” He glanced at me for a second and averted his gaze once more

“We’ve been trying to gather up some Rank Points and we are having some…reservations. I was hoping that, if there was any chance, you would be willing to help us out”

“Forget about it…I work alone” I said, attempting to storm out.

He paused for a second before hitting me with a brutal reality check.

“And how did that end for you? Out of a window of a New World Order building where you know you had no chance of surviving?”

I stopped in my tracks and looked back at him alarmed.

“Overheard the guild cleanup crews talking about it, and it doesn’t take a genius to realize those are the asshats who are strong-arming world quest takers….Ain’t exactly a closely guarded secret”

“What else do you know?”

“I also heard that there were a few clans worth of people in there, but that’s not the point….The point is, that you managed to outsmart that many people and lived through it…sort of. And I think we desperately need someone with skills like yours”

I stayed silent for a moment to think about it.

“Look it doesn’t take an all-knowing psychic to figure out you have it in for those New World Order assholes. I’m not going to ask you about that….but all I will say is that we are no fans of them as well. And I’d say that we share a common interest”

“What exactly do we share?” I inquired

“If there is one thing that the NWO fears, it’s people getting over them. They’re taxation is only in place to make sure that there aren't enough clans to participate in the Ascension BR….You want to really get in their head, you just have to beat them in the very thing they are trying to prevent. Surpass them, and their rule on Helios breaks. In the end, we get what we want. Get out of the bronze layer into silver…a step closer to getting out of here.”

I instinctively smirked “ I guess that is the one thing you do have wrong about me” I turned around to face him and closed the distance to his face

“And since you know so much about me, I’ll let you in on one thing. I’m looking to cut the heads of the two snakes running that sad excuse of a clan. That’s all I care about…I don’t care if I escape or not, I have nothing left in my life right now, except misery” I turn back around head back to where I was before, staring out the open door

“Mano-san….I’m not trying to force you hand, and I’m sure I can’t without getting my ass handed to me….but even someone like you would know that this is the best course of action you have-”

“Why?” and once again I find myself in front of his face “ Why would you go out of your way and try to recruit a miserable hack like me…and if you tell me it’s because I survived a siege alone, this conversation is over”

“Because this is exactly how one of us was the first time we met. And now, she is one of the few people I would risk my life for”

She? Does he mean Haru?

“Well…” he got up from the bed and walked past me “I said all I can, it’s up to you to decide. I’ll be honest with you….the main reason I wanted you is because I don’t want to risk the lives of the kids. You may have no reason to live. Mano-san….but I do” he started to walk towards the door

“Kanamori-san” I wanted to ask him a question that still baffles me, and he stopped him his tracks

“The kids…why do you do it? I know Akira is your cousin but….it doesn’t take much to realize that you care about their safety over yours”

He hesitated to answer but I could see he decided to trust me

“It’s because I’m the reason they are here to begin with. Me and Akira were much closer once…but his life got a lot harder soon after. The Psycho Index not caring about who’s lives it ruins as usual. Only kids who didn’t turn on him afterwards are the ones down there but, the change, the bullying….it affected him hard. So much so that he was having panic attacks even seeing another person” he slowly turned around, walked back and leaned on the door frame.

“He had been in therapy for years and now he is almost back to his previous self….I wanted him to pick up where he had left off and invited him and his friends to enjoy a day of CG in VR.” His voice started to shake all of a sudden “ And for his luck, the game we all practically lived on, happened to be turned into a death game. That is why I haven’t told them…his life was miserable enough before he got trapped. I don’t want the same to be in here as well”.

He turned back around and attempted to leave again, but he turns back one more time

“If you decide to say no….You’d still be a friend to us. So never think you are alone even if you choose to walk your path with only two feet on it.” And the last thing I see of his was his hand leaving the door frame he grabbed on his way out”

Throughout my entire trip from Mid-Sec and back, I had no idea what my next move was, and I was dead set on not having anyone joining me on my suicide crusade. But no matter what reservations I had, Tatsuo managed to beat me in all of them. I told myself once that I would never trust again.

But I guess I am about to go against my word.