Woes of the Knights

Morning arrived and I found myself in front of Yamori’s office just as he requested me to. And as soon as the clock struck six, the man himself unlocks and opens the door to the start of another day. Predictably the first thing he sees, is me outside his door.

“It’s six o’clock” he said to me

“It’s six o’clock” I repeated

“L-Train only starts running at seven”

“Who said I took the L-Train”

“It’s a five hour walk from here to the Upper Sec”

“Yeah well, I once walked from Typhon to Helios….I don’t think this was anything compared to that”

“How are you still even alive?” He leaves the door open and walks towards the counter. I followed him into the building.

“Let me give you the most important piece of advice for you right now….You keep torturing yourself like this and the stress will kill you long before any bullet will….Speaking from experience”

“I’ll keep that in mind”

Another thing I noticed is a hidden entrance open behind the counter. Which I point out

“You might want to close that” I said, pointing at the clearly open hole in his wall

“Hm?...Oh, right” He reaches down under the counter and the wall just closes on itself, leaving no visible opening behind.

“What’s down there?”

“Not exactly a place to store files and evidence here…so I fashioned up a little bit of extra space in the office. Got my lab down there as well”

“What you cooking down at the lab?”

“You know, couple ounces of crystal meth, some crack on the side” I could sense the sarcasm in that

“It’s a lab in a police precinct, what do you think, brainiac?”

“Ah”

“Actually now that you mentioned it…I have been discovering some stuff on my own down there”

“Like what?”

“Ok…here me out” he leant forward on the counter “This place…renders stuff to down to the individual cell”

I chuckled on impulse as he had to be pulling my leg “Fuck off”

“I never lie. Besides, if the sole peacekeeper in this place ever lies, there is truly no hope left in this place”

“Actually, I didn’t believe it as well, until I saw it for myself” he continued

“Where the hell did you find yourself a microscope?”

“This is humanity far in the future isn’t it…having microscopes to buy easily shouldn’t be that surprising…. It’s like even cellular activity is coded into the game, everything has a logic….Why players have innate shielding and can use gear while Sparks can’t, even cell death, everything has a code…and that code, feeds into a much bigger code”

“So it’s a code-ception”

“A….what?” Yamori inquired

“Not into retro movies?”

“Are all you professional players love to mess around like you do?…I remember Junichi being the same back when he started competing”

He stood back up from leaning on the counter

“Right, back on track now. I’m guessing you are feeling alright after last night”

I paused for a moment “I tried not to think about it”

“That’s good…. It’s always the first time that’s difficult. Now I know you are completely against taking lives. But next time, it won’t weaken you…..And the next time you kill, it won’t be on impulse. It would be someone you know that deserves it.”

“You tell that to everyone who completes The Trial of the Wolf?” I asked in a sarcastic tone

“Damn…. You are good at reading others”

“Crucial tool of the trade…players are two completely different beasts in-game and out of it. Knowing to read both is one of the steps to beating them.”

“Huh…never really thought about it that way. Now that we are on this topic…. Might be the best time to bring it up. I…. need your help with something”

“Right…if that's the job offer from when we were first here. I’d have to respectfully decline….I can’t help others if I can’t even help myself” I finally gave an answer to it after giving it some thought on my long walk this morning.

“I understand and I respect your decision on that…. But this is something else”

“Something else?”

Yamori vaulted over the counter and sat on it

“Usually, the Trial of the Wolf is something I charge Rels for….And after I found out who you are, I decided to do it for free….but in exchange for some information on the big case I’m working. I never got the chance to bring it up and…. Now I am”

“Information? From me?” I chuckled “ I guess you are misinformed if you think that I can offer you anything that you already don’t know”

“Tadashi Chifuyu” I froze for a moment when he said that name

“I’m out” I turned back around, attempting the leave

“You are the only person I can ask…. No one knows him better that you do”

“There is nothing…. I can offer you, Nishigaki-san. Because even I don’t know who that person is any more”

“Then let me know everything you do know” He runs ahead and cuts me off, making me stop in my tracks

“Look, I haven’t got a clue about this guy except the fact that he used to be your teammate for the longest time. There is something, that you should know that could help me out….The sooner we get him, the sooner we get out of this place”

“Why does it matter?!” I exclaimed

“For some fucking reason, he is just looking down on everybody from Morpheus with that bastard Izanami Sato….What difference does it make that I answer a couple of questions?” I continued

“He was seen here in Helios…..Reliable source”

I looked at Yamori dead in the eye “Stop fucking with me”

“Trust in the Sheriff…..All hope is lost the day that trust break”

I suddenly felt lightheaded, and I nudged myself towards the seats in the lobby. I don’t know what I was feeling…was it rage, was it desperation for answers….. Was it something more sinister?

“Where?”

“I don’t know. But if I manage to figure out how he thinks, and what he is doing here in Helios….. We can put an end to this”

“Nakamura-san. This is it….this is the break we’ve been looking for. I just need your help to bridge that gap”

This sounds too good to be true, and I know it is. Even if it doesn’t have us escaping this place, even getting a few minutes with the man who was once my best friend was something worth going all in for. Even so, the opportunist in me saw another chance to get a bit more out of Yamori this way.

“How long would you want me for?”

I could sense a bit of Yamori’s tension disappearing. “Five minutes, that’s all I need”

“In that case, I have a condition….an equivalent exchange if I was to put it into words. You get five minutes to ask me about Tada…about him. I get five minutes to ask about a person who was involved in the Tadano incident”

“You never told me about that”

“Because you already know about him, and won’t do anything against him”

After a short pause, Yamori knew exactly who I was talking about

“What does Isaac got to do with any of this?”

“Your guess is as good as mine. You let me know on what I want, you got me for your 5 minutes”

“Nakamura-san…. He’s the last person I want people knowing about. Going against him at this point is like trying to walk up a wall of knives. You are not going to get anywhere, but it will get you killed”

“That’s the deal on the table…..take it, or I leave through this door”

He did give me an answer after a while of thinking, but I still found myself outside his office and on the streets, as I had one more thing to take care of. I found myself retracing my steps back from a few days before, and with minimal effort, I was staring down the door that saved me once again.

I knocked on the door and a few moments later, I could hear an evenly paced set of footsteps approaching the door. Whoever was approaching was on guard, the door opened slowly and a more than familiar face appeared.

“Holy shit…how give us a warning next time before you appear out of thin air” said the mighty big brother Kanie

“Nice to see you too” And in came the next surprise appearing from behind Jun

“Nii-chan, thank god you are safe” said the timid but deadly Meguru

“Oi Meguru, move over so I can get take a look” And in came her hyperactive counterpart, stacking her head on top of her younger sibling like one of those smaller stacking dolls.

“Akio Onii-chan…hello there” said the schemer of the duo

“Great to see that you two are still up to no good”

“Alright, both of you…back inside”

Jun looks at me after the duo gets out of range

“Thought about it?”

“I’ll get to that later…I need to talk to you about something. Something more important”

“Okay….come on in”

We all head inside and Jun closes the door behind him. And turns out Mai and Meguru had already claimed two seats for themselves.

“So what’s this all about?” Jun asked while he took a seat alongside his sisters.

I first brought them up to speed about the events of the past few days. And like when I told Yamori, I left out the part about Isaac and my unique ability.

“No offense intended…but it’s like your life just keeps dropping from one pit into another ever since we got here. Damn….and I thought we had it bad”

“Damn Akio Nii… I just might have grown a little bit of respect for you compared to before, considering all you went through”

“Does that mean I’ll be able to open a door without being covered in flour?”

“Maybe” and Mai tell showed…the fact that she looks away while answering is a clear sign that she is up to no good. Oh well…guess a change in realities hasn’t exactly taken away the prospect of the Kanie Duo’s Festival of Pranks.

“Alright, that’s enough you two, give us a few minutes will you?” Jun asked

And both of them listened without any hesitation, Mai got up and dragged Meguru outside, eventhough she didn’t want to….. I still don’t know how Jun does that. Wish I was able to get Yuito in control as much back in the day.

“You don’t have to send them away, you know. We were all in the same team together and they are in this with us as well”

“Yeah, well. Leave the heavy lifting to the oldest in the bunch….let them have the little fun they can”

“They are not as little and carefree as they used to be, you know. You got to have a bit more trust in them”

Jun stayed silent for a bit and changed the subject

“Well…my offer from before still stands by the way. We could really use your help with all this, especially we are to get to the ascension BR…whenever that will be”

“Ascension BR? What’s that?” I inquired

“Remember when I said that everyone has to play a BR game to promote to the next rank. Turns out there was a little bit more than that. Turns out the BR game is like a final screening, to get to the next rank. Only the top ten teams remaining get to go into the Cathedral City.

“Ah yes, Cathedral City. Place was so bright back in the day, it used to hurt my eyes. Wonder how it is now”

“Well, we are willing to find out. First thing’s first….Ascension BR….Every competing team has to have 1000RP...nothing less. Ascension BR’s are publicly announced for when there is enough players who is close to RP cap….but I don’t see that happening anytime soon unfortunately”

“Why is that?”

“That bastard Shephard clan that is taxing everyone. Even though we are barely staying in it in terms of Rels, we managed to rack up a fair amount of RP with PvP matches. Problem is, that even if we all enter for a PvP match, the other three on our team are randoms. And we all know how cooperative they can be.”

“Ah”

“We won’t get into Elo Hell after all we’ve played but….that’s not the case for others. Some try to get RP through quests but with the taxing, many are put through insane efforts to make profits everyday.”

“Well, back on topic. You said you wanted to talk….Well?”

“He’s here…somewhere in Helios.”

“Who’s here?” he inquired.

I stay silent for a second in case Jun picks up on it. But not this time

“Well it’s not like we are going to figure it out just because you stare in silence. Come on out with it”

“It’s Tadashi”

And now, Jun was the one in struck in silence

“Akio, he can’t be. He is too smart to show his face down here, especially knowing that people know his face, and won’t think twice before either torturing him or massacring him.”

“I don’t want to believe it too Jun. But it’s from Nishigaki-san, and he was dead confident about it. I don’t know what to believe”

“From Yamori-senpai?” Jun reconfirmed…he then put his elbows up on the table and was deep in thought

“I want to give him a chance. Because even now, I don’t believe that it was the Tadashi I knew that was standing up there that day….. But the past few weeks, I saw kids stabbing people and a good man slaughtering his own family…. I’m afraid to accept the same with him too.”

“Personally, this sounds way too fishy. But if Yamori-senpai said this was the case, chances are, it is real…. He let you go, and there is no way he could know you are in Helios….So chances are, he is looking for something else….or someone…else”

“This guy…Nishigaki…. How much do you trust him?” I inquired

“I might even say I admired him. Law enforcement was extremely difficult to get into ever since the Psychosis Index was implemented. I was in the same dorm as him, and I would’ve quit a whole lot earlier if it wasn’t for his guidance. But the selection standards just kept getting unreasonably strict and I didn’t see any hope of me even getting into the police academy…. that’s when I started competing. But Yamori-senpai never gave up….he ended up achieving the dream that I gave up on….The point is, I’d trust him with my life.”

If Jun trusts him that much

“Senpai is a trained detective, Akio…. If he gets on Tadashi’s trail, he is going to get him. I’d say be the one who makes first contact, because I’m certain that you could get through to him more than Yamori-senpai can.”

Now that I got the answer to my main question, I changed the subject

“How are you guys holding up?”

“To be honest, we are quite miserable. We won’t starve and we are managing to pull our own weight as much as we can but…it feels like it never gets any better no matter how much we struggle. That one big Shephard clan being a thorn in everyone’s side. I think they were called”

“The New World Order?” I filled the gap for him

“Looks like you are aware of them?”

“Something like that”

“So…what’s you plan now?”

“Two things, I give Nishigaki what he needs, and wait till he reels in anything about Tadashi. And while I wait. I think I’ll give PvP a shot”

“Well, if you want to PvP…or get any sort of progress done, you need a clan. Soloing in here is pretty much the definition of asking to be killed”

He doesn’t even hesitate to send me an invite to his clan. The name of the clan showed on the prompt that popped up in front of me

“Scarlet Knights….Wasn’t that the hero group from Matsuri’s web novel?”

“The one that she made us read after long days of scrims…Yeah. It was Misha’s idea though…. We name this clan ‘Zero’ as well, it won’t exactly keep us unnoticed for long.”

“Misha did have a unusual sense for thinking ten steps ahead”

But bringing her name up is clearly throwing Jun further down into the dumps, so I dropped the topic

I accepted the request he sent and became the fourth in their clan. But I wasn’t fully sold on sticking around.

“I might have accepted your invite….but I’m still not going to take the reins like you want me to…Not yet at least. I need to see this Tadashi situation through, and then you’ll have my answer”

I get back up and walk towards the door

“Akio” Jun grabs my attention

“Thank you…for not pushing me about it” , play a game on the world stage for long enough, and you start to notice small things in people. Guess this was a moment where Jun was able to read me

“I know you are still tormented by her passing. But it’s just like the old days….You could do a mistake that cost you everything, but what makes you grow as a player is living with your mistakes, because one day…it will define who you are….That’s what Misha told me during the whole Absolute Zero scandal….and I’m pretty sure that if he was here, she would tell you the same”

I turned around to leave but I left him with another bit of advice for him

“You might want to be the big and tough as nails brother to everyone. But you should trust the others you are trying to protect to share some of your weight, because one day. It might end up crushing you”

He chuckled and added a remark that “You might want to try listening to your own advice once in a while” and the last words between us for the time being, ended in laughter.

I left through the door without getting the chance to run into Mai and Meguru, and found myself back at Yamori’s. But this time, it was sitting on a table in a room of bleached walls and a one way mirror . Moments later, Yamori entered with a bowl, which he set up in front of me.

“If I was to guess, you haven’t eaten anything since The Tadanos…. It’s not much but….beats starving.”

I humored him and had a spoonful from the bowl of ramen, then another, and another, until I cleaned up the entire bowl.

“Tasted like instant”

“Junichi did mention his team had an acquired taste for ramen….and besides, instant ramen was my best friend in college…guess that remains true even in here”

“Before we go ahead, I want to slightly change a term on our agreement”

“What’s this about?” Yamori inquired

“I spoke to Jun, told him about everything, about Tadashi…..One thing I learned is that they are under a lot of pressure due to the New World Order’s taxation….I want my end of the bargain upfront”

“This is not what we agreed on”

“Doesn’t make a difference now does it. I am already here in this room, so even you know I am willing to cooperate with that you want….Unless you were not planning on fulfilling your end of the bargain to begin with”

Yamori froze for a moment…guess I was right

“What happened to the trust in the Sheriff?”

“Nakamura-san…..I am trying… to protect you”

“Look around you Nishigaki-san, look how much your protection has made this place safer. You save one person but does that really mean anything when over hundreds die…. Why are you so hesitant to make Isaac’s threat known to others? What are you so afraid of?”

“What am I supposed to do then, Nakamura-san?….Walk into wherever he is holed up and arrest him? How long do you think I would survive in there?” He said while quickly standing up

“You are not afraid of dying, or else you wouldn’t have taken this job in the first place. Only reason you are letting him roam free is because his presence lessens your workload…That maybe true but let me ask you something Nishigaki-san”

I get up from my chair and lean on the desk, only a few inches away from his face

“How many people suffer more, just because he is doing what he pleases?” I continued

Yamori was lost for words, and he left the room for the moment. So I guess this is what’s called a reverse interrogation.

A few minutes later, the door opened once again and he stepped through with a file in his hand, which he then slid towards me on the table.

“If you are that willing to throw your life away, so be it” he was clearly not pleased with this

I touch the file and it disappears….a moment later and it prompts that it was added to my inventory.

“Going after Isaac is a fool’s errand…. I don’t think there is anyone as protected in this place as him right about now.”

“I’m not looking to go after him” I corrected him

“Come again?”

“I meant what I said….I only want to know what I am dealing with here. If anyone is to hit RP cap and qualify for the ascension BR, his system needs to be beaten. I just want to be ready for the wave that’s going to wash over us when we step on that beach”

Was that a sense of relief I sensed on Yamori’s expression?

“Everything I had researched is in that file I gave you, but to assure you I am not bullshitting….I’ll tell you everything I know, and you can check the file in your own time” he said while taking a seat opposite to me

“The guys you are interested in. Started off as any other normal clan….according to the guild records, they started off with only five people” while he was saying all this, I was cross-referencing it with the file he gave me, and so far, it all checked out”

“Isaac Taylor…I’m sure you are aware of him. American born, but he had logged in from an Arctus site in Japan…if I had to guess, he transferred from overseas. He was the only outlier of the five in fact….at least in the terms of nationality. The others were Japanese. One was Makoto Sawamura and the other was Sayuri Sonozaki. It’s the other two that had me interested for a moment”

“Why is that?” I inquired

Yamori leaned forward on the table, putting his hands together

“Ever heard of the Mano Conglomerate, Nakamura-san?”

I slightly nodded no

“Wouldn’t blame you. It’s one of the government’s closely guarded secrets. After the psychosis index was implemented, every weapon’s manufacturer in the world was given a cease and desist.

“The Inmate War after they abolished the prison system 25 years ago” I added

“All of the world’s most despicable criminals put out on the street in one day, chaos ensued soon after all over the world. No-one believed in the psychosis index back then….Inmates, civilians…got their hands on any weapon they could, looted or stolen. After the countless casualties of that three month war…The world said no to firearms”

“Nishigaki-san… I appreciate the history lesson that literally everyone who has been to school knows about…But what is the point in this?”

“The Mano Conglomerate was the one defense manufacturer, the Japanese government didn’t provide a cease and desist to. Their secret trump card in case another war happens…..The last two founding members of the New World Order?”

I flip the page on the file along with what he is said, and then I saw the point of the history recap

“Minami and Yulia Mano”

But that sparked my memory suddenly

“Wait….wasn’t that?”

“The two on the missing person’s case that Isaac brought to me? If that’s what you were going to say, I’d say the memory and attention to detail of a professional esports player is as sharp as a trained detective…..I’ve had countless run in’s with people under Isaac’s ‘employment’ but the one thing that I found interesting among all of them, is that they always throw the names around of two people among the five…Isaac, and Makoto”

Yamori leaned back on his chair away from the desk. “So that had me thinking, even if they had gone missing, why was it that Isaac came into my office, and asked me to find two of them…not three? As a matter of fact, the people of the NWO that I had interrogated never knew all three of them. There are only two possibilities I can think of…one… Isaac doesn’t consider her as necessary, which means whatever she wasn’t, the Manos were, if he was eager to look for them…two… he knows exactly what happened to Sayuri Sonozaki, and doesn’t want anyone poking into that hornet’s nest”

He leaned back in again and continued “Something happened, something big…happened between the formation of the New World Order, and till Isaac came to me for that missing person’s case…..and if he wants the Manos that badly, I believe that maybe the key I need finally put an end to Isaac’s regime”

I stared at him like a deer in the headlights

“What?” he inquired

“Jun wasn’t kidding, you are really good at your job”

“Do it for long enough and it becomes second nature to you” he said leaning back again and crossing his legs

“So to answer your big question. You are already aware that Isaac’s skill in the game is the real deal, but I am ninety percent sure that he won’t come down to personally deal with you if you go against his rules. The people under him are scared, I don’t think they have any advantage to them except strength in numbers but…that is an advantage you don’t want to underestimate. His second in command, Sawamura…is more like a shadow. He never does anything he could just use his men to do”

“Word of advice? You go against him, you might want to make progress fast. Hit that RP cap as soon as possible, since the moment you slow down, the moment you get overwhelmed” he gave one last piece of advice

“So…anymore questions?”

“Nothing on the current topic…but I do have a favor to ask”

“You are adding too much conditions to our de-”

“It’s not a part of that, it’s just…..” I hesitated and pointed my gaze towards the table, but it’s the least I can do for them

“The Tadanos….what happened to their bodies?”

“I conducted post-mortem on them, they are still here”

“How the hell did you get their bodies here all the way from the Upper Sector?”

“Perks of the job…. Services that I have from the Guild that no others have” he answers

“Could you use those services again and give them a proper sendoff at the Upper Sec cemetery? Their youngest is also buried there under Scarlet Glaze”

“How did you know that?” he inquired

“I might have taken Yuri to see his brother in secret. He was begging me for it”

“How much more things are you hiding from me, Nakamura-san?”

“What difference does it make?”

He got up and slammed the table and got up in my face

“It makes all the difference! Small details like this can either make or break a case. If this was the real world I would’ve CHARGED YOU FOR THE OBSTRUCTION OF JUSTICE!”

I didn’t take any of his shit and stared into him, and he immediately disengaged

“I’m sorry I… I went too far”

I let it go for the time being and leaned back on my chair and got comfortable. “So…you want to know about Tadashi or what?”

And I guess it was my turn to uphold my end of the bargain.