Chapter 1 – A Normal Day
The test must have been flawed in some way. The expected results should have been easy to reproduce, but the tables in front of him showed what seemed like the data from a completely different experiment. Rikriel double checked that they weren't, and after confirmation he took another sip from his coffee.
"This just doesn't make any damned sense." He grunted to himself, before sighing deeply in frustration.
It had to have been a mistake with the equipment, or a miscalculation. The facilities in the laboratory were state of the art - but that was to be expected from Esthar, and Rikriel was certainly no prodigy. A miscalculation, then. Rikriel typed into the computer terminal and sighed again. A second attempt needed. More funding required.
Rikriel took off his glasses and rubbed his stinging eyes before taking the paper cup to his lips. The early hours of the morning was not a preferred time for paperwork, and he found it notably difficult to get used to. He saved the document and turned off the computer, before sitting back in his chair and deciding to finish the rest the next day. He would quit at the end of the week.
Pulling out the drawer of his desk, Rikriel eyed the photograph. There had been an unusually high number of successful SeeDs borne his year, and they stood in rows with large accomplished smiles. Rikriel tutted quietly, before closing the drawer and spinning around in his chair.
"What would you be doing now, Rikriel?" He thought aloud, imagining himself with his old edgeblades, liberating a town from an invasion of monsters. Perhaps he should have lost his conscience before joining the mercenary force, and not just believed he had lost it.
"Hmmm..."
Excitement must have been a daily blessing for his fellow graduates. How they would react if they saw him now, fleeting between laboratory and office, precise work and then paperwork. It had been too long; perhaps in their hectic lives they might have even forgotten him. Only a few emails kept Rikriel connected with his past.
Finishing his coffee, he turned off the light, opened the door and entered into the Estharian night. Living on the city outskirts meant a long journey home, but as long as it was a quiet journey then Rikriel had no place to complain. That night was quiet, just as it had been for weeks, and Rikriel could even have started to enjoy this time of reflection, if his mind would slow down enough to allow it.
Rascal was quick to reply as Rikriel turned the keys in the door. Rikriel stepped inside, trying not to step on the dog that was now curling itself between his legs. The papers on his desk were already laid out for him as he sat down on the chair in his bedroom, even if they were haphazard in their arrangement, and Rikriel began to scribe with increasingly difficulty, before slumping over his work and stuttering into sleep.
It took a tap on his shoulder to wake Rikriel up. He blinked at his desk a few times before realising that he wasn't alone, and he immediately sprang to his feet and used his legs to push back the chair. A crash, and Rikriel wiped his eyes to clear his vision. A masked man lay sprawled against his bed. He was silent for a moment, before beginning to groan, his voice bubbling through his throat.
"Okay, fair enough."
Rikriel's head spun to face the doorway. Another man. His face wasn't hidden like the other; instead it was clearly showing a smile. That smile was the second thing Rikriel saw, after the gun barrel. His insides screamed; it had been far too long since he was in this position. Whirling his eyes around him, Rikriel inwardly cursed. That door was the only way out, unless he jumped through one of the windows. Jumping was out of the question; there was no way Rikriel would give this man his house. His edgeblades were downstairs, unreachable, and he'd forgotten where he'd put his handgun. Diplomacy was the only option, unfortunately.
"What are you doing?" He spoke to the man, who had now advanced towards him, his face still plastered with a self-assured smirk.
"You're sneaky, you know that? Pretty damn sneaky. Means that you'll be useful."
"I'd be even more useful without a gun pointed in my face."
Rikriel kept his gaze on the intruder. He stayed rooted as the man continued to advance step by step. Rikriel would have sighed if he didn't think it would kill him.
The man stopped suddenly, dropping his smile.
"You're right. I apologize."
Rikriel's brow tightened, the rest of his face soon following, as he watched the man lower his gun. Rikriel would have thought it strange for a moment, before seizing the opportunity to attack, had he not just been stabbed in the heel of his left foot. A sharp pain ran up his leg and it instinctively buckled, sending the navy-haired man collapsing ungraciously to the floor. The first assailant crouched above him and removed his mask. The image of two smiling men faded to a blur, and finally to darkness.
