Hajime: She’s a MercSecure humandroid, like me. This must be the reason for the absence of Gorira.
Ryuk: Are you saying Kodai got a humandroid?
Hajime: That appears to be the case.
Ryuk takes a step back and peeks over Hajime’s shoulder at the droid. Her eyes flash as a curt smile paints across her face.
“Go in,” Hajime says, “I’ll keep my eye on her.”
“You can sit in reception,” Satomi tells Hajime.
“I’ll stand.”
The tension in the room palpable, Ryuk slips past Kodai and stops before a large door made of bulletproof motoglass. After a decompression sound, the door opens, and after one more sidelong glance at the mysterious female humandroid, Ryuk steps in.
“You’re late,” his mother says instead of hello.
Ryuk gets the sense that she’s had some work done. He doesn’t remember his mother’s eyes being so wide, nor does he recall her ever having a large chest. The next emotion is one of shame – did I just check out my own mom? He chastises himself, but then again, she’s wearing a low-cut blouse and clear, clearly, she’s had work done.
Kodai turns to him, and when his face is clearly out of his mother’s pane of vision, he gives Ryuk a sinister grin.
“Yeah? Fuck you too,” Ryuk says, surprising even himself. He feels adrenaline burst through him and quickly subside once Kodai doesn’t say anything back.
“Ryuk!” His mother snaps her fingers, something she did when he was a child that always got his attention. “What is going on between you and your brother?”
“He attacked me,” Kodai says as Ryuk approaches them. “He pushed me through a glass table.”
Their mother narrows her eyes at Ryuk as he steps up to her big mahogany desk. “You did what?”
“He came over to intimidate me,” Ryuk explains, “and I did what I had to do.”
His mother looks in horror from her youngest to her oldest son. Her face hardens. “Kodai, you weak, stupid boy.”
Kodai gulps, and runs his hands along the front of his suit.
“You let your brother, practically ten years younger than you, push you through a table? You’ve had training! Your father paid for that training and to hear that you’re … ” She steels herself. “I can’t believe that you are as weak as you are. I have one son who is an utter failure, one who is a weakling, and I don’t know which is which at times!”
She returns her focus to Ryuk. Next to him, Kodai fumes, his head bowed and his fists clenched tightly together. “Why would you push your brother through a glass coffee table?”
“Like I said, he attacked me first. He beat me up outside the hostess bar in Shinjuku. Hajime saved me.”
“Oh, that,” she says flatly. “I’m aware that he roughed you up a bit. I told him to beat some sense into you and, apparently, he took this literally.”
“You told him that was okay!?”
Their mother ignores him. “But now that you’ve both gotten your revenge, petty as it is, it is time for you to bury your aggression towards each other. What is done is done. There is no need for this matter to continue any longer and what I need you both to do, Kodai, Ryuk, is to realize that this family business hinges on three people, you,” she points to Kodai, “me and you,” she nods to Ryuk.
“I don’t want any part in it,” Ryuk grits.
She exhales audibly. “You’ve told me that before, and I’ve told you before that it isn’t really a choice. But I believe you’ll understand this with time. For now, I need to make it crystal clear to you that you will enroll in university this summer.”
“No.” Ryuk stands defiant, his chest slightly puffed out.
Kodai glances at him out of the corner of his eyes. He tries to contain his shock by clearing his throat.
“What … did you just say?” Their mother narrows her perfectly manicured eyebrows at him.
“I’m enrolling in a Proxima trade school. I’m going to tell you the same thing I told him.” He nods to his brother. “I want you both to leave me alone. I want nothing to do with what our family does business-wise. And if you cut me off, I’ll just apply to the JUBI program. That’ll cover the costs of me being permalogged in.”
“JUBI?” Kodai scowls at his younger brother.
The Japanese Universal Basic Income program is partially run by the Proxima Company. It keeps people logged in permanently and performs various tests on their bodies as they’re logged in. They can log out if they’d like, but the funds for the program are set so they just barely cover the cost of domicile at one of the Proxima facilities.
“You heard me! I want to be left alone,” Ryuk seethes. “This, all of this,” he says, waving his hand around the room, “has come from blood money or money built on the backs of … backs of other people, mostly women! It is not a business!”
His mother lets him finish huffing. Finally, she says, “You poor, stupid boy. Were you always this daft? Was there ever a time that you sounded less educated than you sound now? I cannot remember you ever speaking to your brother or me in such a way.”
Ryuk starts to bow his head but stops. No, he thinks, be a man.
“This little fantasy of yours, that you’ll live your life in a make believe game world and that you will be of no concern to society will end as you get older.” Her voice thins. “I am highly disappointed in you, Ryuk, and you will do as I say. Understand? This isn’t a negotiation. Summer. If summer comes and you aren’t enrolled at Waseda … ”
“What will you do? You can’t kill me! You can’t intimidate me like you do your business partners. There is nothing you can do!” He carefully enunciates the next words, even though his voice quivers: “You have no power over me. None. I will live my life my way and there’s nothing that you,” he points at Kodai, “or you,” he turns the finger to his mother, “will do about it.”
She stares him down for a moment and as he keeps his finger in the air, pointed right at her, he suddenly feels like she’s looking through him, and from that feeling, he gets the notion that she’s actually proud of how he is misbehaving.
Proud? Even lightly acknowledging the way he’s reading her visage throws him off guard. How could she be proud after what I’ve just said? He swallows hard as he lowers his finger.
“If you aren’t enrolled by the summer, I’ll take Hajime away from you.”
“Hajime?”
But how does she know? he wonders. How does she know about our relationship?
Kodai grins cheek to cheek. He starts to say something, but stops and waits for his mother to speak.
“You enjoy Hajime’s company, do you not?”
“Yes,” Ryuk says softly.
“He’s your only friend, admit it!” Kodai blurts out. “Especially now that your girlfriend is dead.”
“Enough,” their mother tells him, not at all concerned by the death part of Kodai’s statement.
“Fuck you,” Ryuk hisses.
“You’ll need to learn a better way to tell me off than that,” his older brother says out of the corner of his mouth.
Their mother folds her hands together on her desk. “Ryuk, you may go now. Remember what I’ve said: enroll, or lose Hajime’s services. I could use a humandroid; it seems everyone is getting one,” she says, again focusing on Kodai.
Ryuk turns and he’d slam the door on the way out if it were the type of door that slams. Instead, he waits for it to open, turns, and kicks it once it has closed behind him.
Chapter 19: Imp Melee
Ryuk can’t log in fast enough.
He’s so consumed by anger on the way home that he hardly says anything to Hajime, who seems to be in a very reflective mood as he stares out the window at the city below. The city is suddenly dead to him, suddenly empty of its millions upon millions of inhabitants, all going about their lives oblivious to his own personal drama.
Ryuk smirks at this thought. How is it that so many things can be happening all at once, most of which will never aff
ect the person one room over, or walking across the street, or in a different booth at the same coffee shop.
It’s amazing we keep it all together, he thinks, as the vehicle lowers into a different airlane. In the aeros immediately to their right, a woman in a little sailor hat sits in the back seat using her reflected image on the seat in front of her to put on makeup.
To the left of their aeros, two teens dressed as characters from a popular anime make a beeline to Harajuku, famous as a place where anyone can dress in any way and not be judged for it.
Harajuku. Ryuk wishes he could simply step out of his apartment, take the subway, and arrive at Harajuku Station. What a day that would be! He’d have some coffee, walk the back alleys that lead to Omotesando, have some okonomiyaki at Sakuratei, head to Yoyogi Park, and hell, walk a mile south to Shibuya and take in all the sights and sounds.
But for someone like him, someone that can barely get out of the house without security – and for what? Why all the security, especially as of late? – the best Ryuk can do is park his ass in his bed and log in.
Some life, he thinks bitterly.
Hajime finally speaks up as the Uberyota lands. “I will assume that the meeting went poorly.” He clears his throat, a very human gesture for an android that has no reason to do such an act.
“I hate them both.”
“Hate? What did they say that made you hate them?”
“She threatened to take you away if I don’t enroll in university.” Ryuk swallows hard. “She threatened to take you!”
Hajime considers this for a moment. As he does so, the vehicle informs them that they are now clear to exit the cabin. “Well, is university that hard?”
“It’s not that; it’s that I’m not interested in going there, it’s not me, it’s not who I am. I told you what I want to do.”
“What if you enroll and don’t go to any classes and fail? What would happen then?”
“She didn’t say.”
“Did she say what you needed to study?”
“She didn’t, but I assume it’s business, like before.”
“We’ll continue this discussion in a moment.” Hajime exits the vehicle. Once he’s checked the surroundings, he opens the door for Ryuk. They both ignore the thugs in the lobby as they make their way up to the top floor.
“If I were you, I’d enroll,” says Hajime, “and this isn’t about job security for me. To me, higher education is something that I can get in an instant, yet a human takes years to fully appreciate and comprehend. That said, if it weren’t for those years of comprehension, and the subsequent writings that came from them, I wouldn’t be able to enlighten myself as quickly as I’m able to. It’s important that you go. There’s a reason to get smarter and you are looking at one of the many reasons.”
Ryuk shakes his head. He’s not in the mood for riddles, or double entendres, if that is indeed what Hajime is hinting at.
“Anyway, we can discuss this later. My guess is you are interested in logging in. Before you do so, are you hungry?”
“Not in the least bit,” Ryuk says.
“Good, eat anyway.” Hajime’s eyes flash black. “It’ll make you feel better.”
They enter the apartment, Ryuk slips into his house shoes, and after he’s done so, he immediately moves to the kitchen, where he toasts himself a piece of bread with a slice of cheese on top. “I forgot to ask you … ”
“What’s that?” Hajime’s eyes dilate and return to their normal color.
“What happened between you and Kodai’s humandroid?” The toaster oven dings and Ryuk slides the bread out onto a plate.
If the look on Hajime’s face is generally indecipherable, it becomes more so after Ryuk asks his question.
“What is it?” Ryuk asks as he chews the toast.
“Her name is Tesla and I believe that your little conundrum with university enrollment may be solved by her.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, it is clear that your brother has hired her to see to it that I am eliminated.” Hajime says this in a calm way, a way that is totally at odds with the implications of the statement. “So you may not have to choose between university and me.”
“She can’t … ” Ryuk shakes his head. “She can’t take you out. You’re the best humandroid there is!”
Hajime’s face softens. “There is no way for you to actually know that.”
“You’re the most enlightened one I’ve ever met.”
“I was designed by the creator of humandroids, Richard Hewman. The others are replicas of me, but many, especially newer models, have been highly tweaked. She is faster than me, deadlier, and stronger.”
“She can’t be stronger.”
“Yes, she can be.” Hajime takes a seat at the table. “But don’t worry about that for now. If she comes for me, I will meet her with extreme force. If she attempts to disable me permanently, I will make sure that it is the last thing she does.”
Ryuk swallows hard. “Did … did you two say anything to each other?”
“Not verbally, but there are other ways to communicate, especially for my kind.”
(0)__(0)
When in doubt, escape.
Ryuk’s avatar takes shape at the entrance to a large cave. Hiccup is reclining on a lawn chair, which could have only come from FeeTwix’s list. Across his chest is a copy of House of Holes, and two empty healing potions aren’t far away.
Across from him, Zaena talks with Enway, while FeeTwix stands near them, petting Wolf. The pony-sized beast has taken a liking to FeeTwix, evident in the way he wags his tail.
As if on cue, Hiccup lets out a low rumble from his nether-cheeks that forces him awake. “Shit!” he says, looking around angrily. “Keep the racket down, Marbles.”
“I didn’t make any noise. It was you,” he says sternly, “you woke yourself up, again.”
“Like fick I did!” The goblin yawns. “It’s about goddamn time you showed up. We’ve been sitting at the entrance to the catacombs for like three hours now. Fick, am I glad DD’s BBQ delivers.” He tosses his finger at a series of greasy sacks. “Good eating. Twixy can attest.”
“It didn’t give me any buffs, but it wasn’t bad!”
“Twixy here wouldn’t try the deep fried cat tail, but I won’t hold it against him. Fick if cats aren’t good eating. Kittens are better though, and don’t tell me you need to go to your safe place after hearing that.”
“I didn’t say anything.” Ryuk turns away from the goblin, hoping that will shut him up.
“Hey! I’m not done telling you about eating cats. Fick, I bet Lassie over there would love himself a nicely marinated slab of feline meat.”
FeeTwix approaches Ryuk and puts his hand around his shoulder. “Everything all right in the real world up there?”
“You two are some real poofters,” Hiccup chortles. Wolf approaches the goblin and they both growl at each other for a moment.
“It was … fine.” Ryuk smiles briskly.
“Well, you’re developing quite a good number of fans.” FeeTwix points at his black eyes. “Say something to them!”
“Hi.”
“Fick me, Marbles, you really need to figure out how to turn up the charisma. I used to have a copy of How to Make Friends and Influence People, but I loaned it to Spewy. Anyfick, it’s no wonder Tammy never let you get past first base.”
“Leave him alone,” Zaena says, interrupting her conversation with Enway.
“You’ll have a chance to see some of your fans tonight at the concert,” FeeTwix says. “And from what I heard, there will be close to a thousand Fickers there.”
“How many people are going again?” Hiccup asks.
“Usually these concerts have up to thirty million people in attendance.”
“Well, it sounds more like there will be up to thirty million fickers there. Ha! See what I did there?”
“No, Fickers,” the Swede says, “your fan club. Lots of people are coming out!”
&n
bsp; “Do they have drugs?”
“Maybe?”
“Good, come on over here, Twixy, so I can give them a piece of my mind.”
“Okay, but after this it’s time to head to the catacombs and kick some ass! One more thing–”
“Twixy, let me say my piece before you start doing an ad read.”
FeeTwix stops in front of Hiccup, giving his viewers a nice, downward looking view of the chubby goblin sprawled out on a lawn chair. Hiccup points a dirty finger at FeeTwix’s blackened eyes. “Listen, Fickers, all thousands of you that are coming. Drugs and booze, capiche? Not necessarily in that fickin’ order, but bring what you got and pay tithe to your favorite cantankerous goblin. I’ll bring the Wizardous, ouch!”
Hiccup dives for cover as Zaena whops him again on the head with her konoshlo.
“Don’t encourage people to do drugs,” she says as she approaches.
“What the fick are you, the T-DEA or something? Fickin’ shit, Liz, nothing wrong with experimenting!”
Enway laughs. She has Yangu in the backpack slung over her shoulder. The dragon sleeps, as always, and Ryuk wonders if the dragon will be this somnolent when he’s older.
As Hiccup and Zaena bicker, Ryuk approaches Enway and thanks her for looking after the baby dragon.
“Ahem!” FeeTwix announces, but everyone's too busy holding their own conversations to hear him.
“Really, thank you,” Ryuk says, bowing his head. “And thank you for looking after Oric. I believe he will be a great addition to our group.”
“What makes you think that?” she asks.
“Just something I’m intuiting, I don’t know, we were pretty badly betrayed, like I sort of explained on the way to Katiyana, but we can’t let that stop us from adding new members.”
“Hiccup had me fill out a stack of forms, by the way, so extreme vetting is apparently in full effect.”
“He did?” Ryuk shakes his head. That damn goblin.
“It’s fine,” she giggles. “The questions were pretty easy, stupid too.”
Fantasy Online Polynya: A LitRPG Saga Page 19
