Chapter 2: No Longer a Drill
That night, he had a vivid dream. He had the other golden apple in hand, but nothing else besides his clothes. Not even his comp, which he found a little strange. It was his dream and he used that comp so much. And, this was a dream. Kazuya walked along wavy blue halls, making the mist swirl behind him. He felt like he was going somewhere, but wasn't sure where. Maybe to find Yuka? He wanted to find Yuka.
"Halt!" A wall suddenly appeared in his path, bearing a stern but nearly featureless face on it. It was like a death mask. The wall's lips moved as it spoke. "Those who wish to pass must speak their name. What is your name?"
"Kazuya," he replied. Although this was strange, he didn't feel worried.
"And you wish to establish who your soulmate is?" the wall asked him.
"Yes, do I need to speak her name?" he asked.
"Not yet," the wall said. "When you find her, speak her name. Before that, you must find two others who have been cast into these halls of fate. They will assist you in the future, but take heed: the balance of the world now lies in your hands and these two will seek to tip the balance in favor of those that sent them here. Know them to know the balances, then decide for yourself where the future of humanity lies."
"Wait, I'm deciding the future of humanity?" Kazuya asked. When he agreed to the old monk's offer, he'd done so thinking he'd help others. Not that he'd be making such a massive decision for the whole world.
"That is the meaning of accepting those golden apples," the wall said. "It is too late for you to go back now. And unless you wish to lose your beloved to the actions of fate, you will complete this rite of becoming soulmates with her."
He looked down at the golden apple left with him. It hadn't seemed that vital. But then, now that he was in this position… he ought to make the best of it he could. "All right, I understand. I'll look for the others chosen by fate, and for her."
"Good, then you may pass," the wall said as it vanished into the mist.
He continued on, with the dream awareness that he needed to keep moving. No indication of why, he just had to be moving. The hallways wound around, seeming like they should cross paths that he'd already walked over. Despite that, there was only one way to go.
Then he was stopped by something else: a large cross in his path. When he blinked, the white soul of what seemed to be a man was there, nailed onto the cross. That seemed awful to do to somebody. The wall's voice spoke to him. "This soul has been accepted as a sacrifice to God, to be honored by Him with powers beyond normal people. Speak his name."
Who was this? The white soul had no face, nothing that made it recognizable. But, there was music here. Kazuya closed his eyes and listened deeper to the song in his mind. Law… "Allen," he said.
"Then he is free to join you," the wall's voice said.
The cross disappeared and Allen's soul dropped to his knees as Kazuya looked at him again. "Huh? I'm being called?"
"Allen," Kazuya said, going forward and helping him to his feet.
"And you are Kazuya," he said, sound mystified that he knew that. "This is strange. Am I dreaming? Are we dreaming?"
"We're both dreaming together," Kazuya said. "Fate has brought us together."
"I see, then I am being called," Allen said, his soul flickering. "I wonder, what does God want of me?" He then vanished.
But there was a connection made on some level. Kazuya had a feeling that if he ran into Allen in the waking world, they'd recognize each other somehow. The melody of Law was fading now, so he moved on.
After winding about some more, he came across another white soul of a man. A horned demon had its foot on his back, seeming like a master subjugating a human. "This soul is weak, but seeks power that the demons are waiting to grant him. Call his name."
There was another song to this, sounding more primal than the vaulted song of Law. This was, Chaos. "Jin," Kazuya called.
That made the demon scuffle away through the wall. Jin's soul pushed himself onto his knees. "Damn, I, I won't be beaten down like this again. I..." he punched the floor.
"Jin, you don't have to be," Kazuya said, trying to help him up too.
Jin brushed him away. As a result he was more unsteady than Allen had been. "No, I'm not a kid, I can do things myself, Ka… Kazuya?" He looked at him, trying to get a grip on himself.
Nodding, he put a hand on Jin's shoulder to steady him. "We have been drawn together by fate; we'll see each other again."
"Fate? What kind of absurdity is that?" Then he clasped Kazuya's arm. "Huh, I've got a good feeling about you, somehow. I'll get stronger. you'll see. Right?"
"Right," he agreed, as Jin's soul was flickering too. And then he was gone as well.
He continued on, hoping that he'd run into Yuka next. After what seemed the right amount of wandering, he came across a door finally. There was no other way to go, so he entered. A warm humid air greeted him, along with the steady trickle of a small waterfall. The floor had changed to a dark rocky surface right in front of a hot spring pool.
And, there was a naked woman in there with her back to him at first. But that wasn't Yuka. She turned and smiled at him. "Hello Kazuya," she said, not even trying to cover herself.
It was that woman from the cafe, he realized. Yuriko. His tongue moved, but he stopped himself. He had a gut feeling that he did not want to say her name here.
She stood up and started coming towards him, water dripping from… he glanced aside to not look at her. "Do not be afraid. This too is fate. I will always be at your side."
"No," he said, and the dream world shattered.
His alarm was going off. And for once, he didn't feel like trying to drop back into his dreams again. She could still be there.
The sharp bangs of gunfire could be heard through his ear covers. Kazuya finished off his reloading action, something he didn't have to think of anymore. The target was moving this time, a human silhouette with rings denoting lethal and non-lethal damage zones. Aiming for non-lethal, he fired at the target's hips, three shots in all. They all hit within the target zone, although one was off from the way it was moving.
A buzzer sounded the end of his firing exercise. Flipping the safety on, he set the handgun down. That too was important to grading. He also made sure to step out of the firing range's booth before pulling his ear covers off. "Good improvement, Kazuya," the supervisor said, patting him with some papers as he walked by. "You have a sharp eye."
"Thanks, I've been working on it when I can," he said, nodding in acknowledgment.
"All right, now you have drills for sweeping a potentially dangerous area," his instructor said as he went into the next room, a meeting area outside the target range. "You're leading these two."
"Yes sir," he said. This was all practice for street cop work, although these drills were on the 'might not be needed' side. If a situation that was truly dangerous did come up, the local police district would call in a more highly trained team. But for his position, it might be that he was first on a scene.
These were familiar narrow winding halls with tiny rooms scattered everywhere. Over the course of his training, he'd been through them many times. It had been disorienting at first, with few clues on where they were in the drill area. Now he was familiar with them. Due to that, the complex layout seemed to be the ideal place to test the auto-mapper for Steven. He activated that before the drill got started, then took a second to check on his demons. There had been a lot more today just getting from his house to the academy. As a result, he now had a pixie along with the preta.
For this exercise, they were searching for a suspect who might be armed. There should be one of the other rookies moving or hiding out in here. Possibly others; at this point, they could have similar actors as civilians or allies of the suspect in these rooms too. As the squad leader this time, Kazuya was responsible for split-second decisions on what role those encountered were fulfilling. Even if it was one of his squad mates who made the decision, he'd be called out as well if something went wrong.
He glimpsed the shoes of someone under a desk. They were heeled shoes, more indicative of someone who didn't intend on a lot of running today. This time, there was a soft tune in his head. Maybe it was connected to a non-threat? "This is the police, who's in here?" Kazuya asked. "We don't mean you harm."
"What?" one of his squad mates asked, as normally they waited until they fully saw the person and spoke with them.
"Shh," he replied quickly. To him, the shoes were enough of an indication to treat this person as a civilian.
Once she crawled out from the desk, it was clear that this was an office worker in the academy. She had some training for active duty, but it might have been from years ago. She had her hands out in spite of not being asked to. "Sorry, I was hiding out from some punks that were barking orders everywhere."
"Are you injured?" he asked.
"No, thankfully." She even moved in front of her desk but not too close to him, very used to the procedure.
"About these punks, how many of them did you notice?"
"I saw just two in my panic, but I heard three distinct voices," she said. Usually a civilian would be more shaken and need to be calmed down before questioned like this. If they couldn't be calmed down quickly, getting them to safety or telling them to stay in place was the plan.
"And were they armed?"
She nodded. "Well one of them had a club and another seemed to have a taser, but that's all I noticed."
"Thank you, m'am," he said, then did a mental assessment of where this room was in relation to the exit. "Would you go back to hiding and stay until things are sorted out?"
"Sure," she said, giving him a bow before returning to her position under the desk.
Down one of the side halls, he spotted another pair of shoes from hiding under a desk. Those were either sneakers or boots judging from the heel, jarring with the office setting. In agreement, the tune in his head was more tense; there was a way to interpret it after all, if he had more chances like this to feel the music out. This actor was sloppy, leaving the taser out on the desk where he could see it from the doorway.
"Come out with your hands up," Kazuya ordered, keeping his pistol at ready. These weren't actual guns, more akin to laser tag mocks. Although, that would be an authentic taser, on the lowest setting.
"Hey, don't be so forceful," the guy said, coming out from under the desk as instructed. He wasn't dressed for office work either, most noticeably with the black armband over his jacket's sleeve. The gangs he was aware of used those bands, with colors, symbols, or positions, to indicate which gang or position they held. This black one didn't mean anything.
"What is your purpose here?" Kazuya asked, remaining firm with him. He wasn't the pictured suspect, but there was enough else to suspect him. When one of his hands started to drop, he was quick to add on, "Keep your hands up and move away from the desk."
"Geez, I'm just..." a male's scream in a nearby room cut him short, making him look that way and reach for where he should have a gun on patrol.
The tense music was stronger too. Kazuya glanced at his squadmates and called out, "This is no longer a drill, what's going on?"
"What…?" the officer monitoring them started to say.
"Monster!" one of the other actors shouted in fright, running out of his room and brushing past them.
Something bashed through the thin wall into the room Kazuya had confronted the first actor in. it was the top half of a teenaged boy and the bottom half of a young horse, his arms carrying a huge sledgehammer that pulled him forward in the force of the back swing. Although the actor was another rookie cop, he screamed as well and ran towards the wall in spite of there being nowhere to go from there.
"Calm down!" Kazuya ordered, running for the taser on the desk. As a practice drill, this might be the only actual weapon in here. Though there might be something that could be improvised. "Commander, it's a demon." He quickly shifted the taser to a higher setting.
The teen centaur snorted. "What do you expect to do with that toy, moron?" he said, the synthesized voice distinctive on the channel.
"What the hell do we do about a demon?!" the actor said, still panicked.
"You get out of here," Kazuya said, since he wouldn't be of help like this. He then struck the centaur with the taser as he was trying to lift his sledgehammer up for another swing. The demon yelped, then snarled and gnashed his teeth although the shock was slowing him down.
"Uh, leader, what do we do?" one of his squadmates said, trying to keep calm but barely managing it.
"Go in nearby rooms and grab something that could be used as a weapon, not these mocks," he said, moving back with the centaur stunned to call out his two demons. "Go together and beware of any other demons in here."
"Do you need backup, Kazuya?" the drill commander asked, his voice tense with worry.
"Yes, please get a crew with real weapons in here," he said. "And if you can see the centaur from there, you should be able to see any other demons about."
"Got it, we'll send a group to you asap," the commander said.
"Hah hah hah, trying to punch above your weight class?" Pixie teased when she came out and saw the young centaur getting a hold of his hammer again. "What a loser."
"Try laughing when you're squashed," the centaur said. This could get confusing with voices coming from the program and the drill line.
Glancing around this room again, Kazuya didn't spot anything right off that could be useful for long. He grabbed a glass paperweight and threw it at the centaur's head. It broken in half on hitting, but forced the centaur to drop his hammer (which made Pixie laugh again). As the demon was unable to wield his weapon well, a slash of claws from Gaki and another strike of the taser was enough to drop the centaur for good.
"What are you doing with those demons, Kazuya?" the commander asked.
"They're also my squadmates, sir," he replied, moving to glance into the other room. "I'm using the demon summoning program that was distributed yesterday."
"Go ahead with that, since it seems effective. We've spotted two more of the centaurs; rejoin with your squadmates, the human ones, and start moving back towards the entrance. Be sure to pick up the secretary on your way."
"Yes sir. Are there any more actors in here?" There was a golf club in the next room; it was an odd item to be left in the training area, but Kazuya grabbed it in case the taser's battery got tapped out.
"No, just the four. Two of them are already out of the training zone, she's still hiding, and the last joined your squad."
"Got it." He retreated back out the doorway he'd come in through, keeping a eye out until the three others returned to him. "We're pulling back to the entrance, stay wary."
A crash from another broken wall emphasized his orders. The three nodded and fell into place with him. When they came back to the secretary, she did as well, keeping to the center as she wasn't prepared to fight as they were. As they got close to the hall with the entrance, the commander spoke up. "One of the centaurs has come out in that hall and will spot you if you come around the corner. He's already watching that way, so act as though he's expecting you."
If they didn't show, it might come after them. Kazuya quickly reviewed who he had with him. His demons would stay with him, but they were small ones that might be taken out quickly by a centaur. Of the humans, the secretary had to get out of here as the least ready. He also didn't want to keep around the one who had questioned him on the quick assessments. While it was reasonable, he'd get lectured in a normal drill for doing so. Of the two left, the actor was a brawny man who'd not bothered with an improvised weapon.
"You," he said, pointing out the actor, "Stick with me, we'll draw the centaur's attention away. You three, slip out behind us through the exit as quickly as you can. Once you're through, we'll drop back to limit opportunities of attack to the third centaur around."
Once they confirmed his plan, Kazuya and the actor moved ahead to put it into action. The centaur snorted smugly on seeing them; it was another male teen centaur, also clumsily wielding a sledgehammer. "This base is ours!" he bellowed, bringing up the hammer and stamping his hooves in ready for a charge down the hall.
"Pixie, bait out his attack early," Kazuya ordered quietly, hoping that she got the idea.
"Mmm, okay!" She flew ahead as the centaur charged and blew a raspberry at him.
For a brief moment, a glare showed on the centaur's face before he swung the hammer at Pixie. She was easily able to dart out of the way when he was committed to the attack, sending his hammer into the wall nearby. It was enough that the centaur stumbled and crashed onto the floor. Immediately, the actor kicked at the centaur's arm to disarm him and grab the hammer away. But the sledgehammer was too much even for him; he had to weakly swing it into the new hole in the wall to get it away.
"You're going to pay for that!" the centaur shouted, his actual voice a distorted screaming mix of a human and horse. But the centaur was in no position to be fighting well fallen over; he had to roll his horse body around to get all four hooves on the ground first.
By that time, Kazuya got in an overhead swing of the golf club; these halls were too narrow for any other swinging of it. The door had shut behind them. He waved the actor back after a follow-up punch, getting him to drop back as planned. On the other hand, Gaki remained, swiping at the centaur's legs as best he could with his bone-thin arms. The centaur kicked him away; Gaki hung in there, backing up until Pixie could heal him.
"May I have your mock gun?" the actor asked, holding his hand out.
Kazuya nodded and passed it over. His fellow rookie then hurled the mock gun at the centaur; it had some weight to it to match an actual handgun. And that just happened to be enough to defeat the centaur. "Good one," Kazuya said, since they seemed to be clear for the moment.
"You've got some guts yourself," he said. "I'd be scared to hell right now if you didn't take charge."
"It's what we're meant to do," he said, although he couldn't deny being afraid himself. These were stronger demons than the ghosts and odd fairies he'd encountered on the streets this morning.
When the back-up came, it was three more experienced officers, wearing fully body armor rather than the partials that they were using for drills. "You can drop back," the one in charge of this squad said to the actor. "We have the rest of the building secure. Kazuya, would you stick with us to track down the last centaur? We have no experience with these demons."
"Yes sir," he said as his peer hurried back to the still open exit. "I can communicate with them through the program and headset I have, but the centaurs have been too aggressive to negotiate with."
The new squad leader nodded. "Good to know. Tell us if it says anything worrisome."
"Yes sir," he said, then fell in place and moved carefully ahead with them to clear the damaged areas once again.
Given that the other cops had actual weapons, the third centaur was easily dispatched. The commander then asked them to retrieve the dropped weapon for examination, something that took two of them to get back to the rest of the building. The teen centaurs might have been scrawny and barely able to handle the sledgehammers, but they clearly had more strength than they appeared to wield them at all.
Once back in the meeting area, Kazuya recalled his demons and glanced at the clock. Just past twelve. If he hurried, he would make it to the station to pick up Yuka. But this debriefing would definitely take longer than normal. He had a moment, so he opened up his comp to send Yuka a message. However, there was a general message that deflated his hopes. The scheduled train runs had been canceled after all. She wouldn't be coming today.
There must have been a lot of outrage over the announcement, as comments had been disabled for it. While that anger was justified, he felt concern about Yuka most of all. He went ahead and gave her a message, saying, 'Just heard about the trains not running today. Are you okay? I've been worried about you and want to hug you.'
He felt a tap on his shoulder after sending it. Biting his tongue to keep silent, Kazuya glanced over the instructor (discussing matters with the older cops), then glanced back. For some reason, the old monk that he had met yesterday was there. He was out of place here with the police recruits and officers. And yet, the supplies officer to the side hadn't noticed the old man even though he should be in full sight of her.
"You will need to speak the truth about the music soon" the old monk whispered to him. "No matter how you may feel about it, it is important to gaining someone's full trust."
The suggestion made him feel so nervous it nearly made him sick. "I can't do that," he whispered. Oddly enough, his fellow students next to him didn't react at all. "It's not normal, I..."
"If you wish to keep the peace and defend others, it will be more important that you are honest with your abilities to your superiors," the old monk said. And then he completely vanished, stepping to the other side and not making it to the other edge of Kazuya's sight.
There was a shift that he noticed then, like he could be noticed again for talking. Kazuya took a deep breath, considering this. As much as he didn't want to be shamed on being odd, there was a feeling that the old monk was right. But who was he? There was something bizarre about that old monk. Perhaps about himself too, no matter how he tried to be normal.
"Kazuya?" the instructor said as he came over.
"Yes sir?" he asked, returning to his normal calm for dealing with these proceedings.
"Excellent work in there," he said, giving a nod of approval. "Even before it turned dangerous, albeit your assessment seemed rather quick."
"It was their shoes, sir," he said. "She had inappropriate footwear to getting in a fight while he had boots ill-fitted to the scenario. And he left the taser out in full view."
"Good, then it was quick for the right reasons. But enough of that." He then passed over three cards. "This is your gun license; keep it on you at all times, even when you are not armed. You've also been given a special exemption to be equipped with one right away, so speak to the supplies officer before leaving. Later on, you also need to go by the survival store in the underground mall to pick up body armor like those officers have and a melee-weapon of your choice. This card is for that purchase, and only that purchase, so make your choices wisely."
"Yes sir," he said, surprised at this. Why the survival store? There was an armory in the police station for use to all on-duty policemen.
"You also need this last card to get into the police station to meet with the chief," the instructor said. "She was informed of what was going on and immediately wanted to meet with you. Please go as soon as you pick up a gun and bullet case. You're dismissed for that."
"Got it, sir," he said. And a meeting with the chief? He had a hunch that it would be what the old monk had warned him about. He'd technically met her at his swearing in ceremony earlier this year, but that was it.
The supplies officer already had his weapon and bullets ready for him. He offered to turn the taser back in, but she said to keep it since it was effective against demons. While it was more typical for his rank to be issued a taser instead of a gun, it still felt odd. Still, it would be better to be prepared and fully equipped, so he thanked her and put the two weapons in place on his work belt. The bullets could be put into electronic storage once he had the gun loaded; that didn't take long.
Even better, this should work like the paper clips from last night. Steven had sent him a reply this morning, acknowledging the bug and noting that so far, it was only affecting items that were inside a container and only if both the item and container were non-organic materials. It meant that the paper clips, and these bullets now, were effectively infinite as long as he made sure to bring out and recall the containers regularly. But it wouldn't work for the pet food he had. While Steven said that he had an idea of what was going on, he was going to keep it as it was (although he was disappointed it wasn't working with organics, because then food shortages could be effectively overcome).
Kazuya still felt nervous as he left the training facility, especially as he passed by the metal detectors. They always beeped as he went by due to his comp, but the security officer usually on duty was used to that. As such, he got waved through as usual and left the building with his new equipment. He made a note to see about the survival shop later, then hurried over to the police station next door.
There was higher security getting in today, but he got passed through once they confirmed the equipment he was meant to have. Kazuya had to use the new security card to get into the area of the chief's office. In here, there was a lot of activity. Snatches of conversation showed that they were monitoring the demon invasion in the Kichijoji district, but that communications were weakening due to a satellite blackout and cell towers getting attacked. He would have liked to hear more of those meetings, but duty stated that he had to go immediately to the chief's office upon being called there.
Of course, he had to wait once he got there. He could hear some talk from a nearby office that had its door partly opened. "It hasn't been that long since you assigned me to look into this thing."
"You keep boasting that you can crack into any code, viral or programming," someone else said.
"Right, but give me time for this. I've actually heard of this Steven guy before; he was involved with the Echo Telecommunications Terminal Project. His coding work has always been incredible to examine, but this is… well it's on a whole other level from his old stuff. It hasn't even been a day, but he's already got two updates put out! At least this second one made the HUD easier on the eyes, though the font could stand to be larger."
It had to be about the summoning program… which had changed to a white text on black background when he dared to take a moment to peek at it. That should help, and he had a secondary input so he didn't feel like a nag for picking on that one element to change again. At least Steven was courteous in his correspondence; Kazuya hoped he was sincere in it.
As he was shutting the comp's lid, he was called into the chief's office. She was away from her desk at the moment, looking over a markerboard with notes written all over it. Some people said she didn't seem like much of a police chief as she dressed in a feminine manner and kept her black hair up in a bun. Yet even those people admitted that once she started talking, her mannerisms and presence made it clear that she was in charge.
Kazuya bowed to her; she acknowledged him with a bow of her head. "Officer Kazuya, you've been able to keep yourself together remarkably well in today's emergency. I've just reviewed some of the security footage from the training facility. You reacted to the demons like you've dealt with them many times before."
"I haven't, sir, not since before yesterday," he admitted. "But I find it little different than the regular conflicts we train for. You have to keep yourself calm and collected to deal with the demons."
She twirled the marker in her hand, a thoughtful look on her face. "I see. That is how we should be handling this, but many in our force find the shock of actually encountering demons too much to take calmly and rationally. How did you first encounter the demons?"
Be honest, all right. "It was at the old shrine in the park late afternoon yesterday, the gaki I recruited and a nekomata. At the time, it all felt natural in that setting. The gaki was a spirit you'd expect to find at a shrine like that, and I had known the nekomata to be an old calico cat with a long tail before then. Looking back on it, it does seem strange. It might be that relatively peaceful first meeting has kept me calm in the face of more aggressive demons like the centaurs."
"That could be, but you've also got the demons following your commands," the chief said. "We have been aware of the free summoning program that went out. So far, those who've reported downloading the program are teenagers who think it might be fun, paranoid individuals who believe their conspiracy theories are proven right, and some who are simply crazy. You don't fit any of those molds. Did something that happened when you visited the shrine yesterday convince you to accept it as real? Given what's going on, it would be reasonable for spirits to be emerging."
She had always seemed like a rational woman herself. But then, these were strange times and the rational thing to do was actually start reexamining what was irrational. "I did speak with an old monk who claimed to be working at a second shrine that hadn't been in the area the day before," Kazuya said. "But I had already downloaded the program and was messing around with it when I met him."
"Then what led you to accept the download?" she asked.
"I..." Despite the nearly knee-jerk reaction to cover it up, he caught himself from doing so. Having the trust of the police chief would be valuable. "This isn't something I usually disclose, but I hear music in my mind sometimes. It's alerted me to important events in my life, like deciding on this career path and knowing when my father died before anyone told me. Yesterday, I heard an ominous version in the middle of the afternoon, and then a more supportive tune when I got the message about the demon summoning program. That's why I accepted it. I don't fully understand it, but it has been occurring more frequently today and yesterday."
"Psychic abilities are nothing to be ashamed of," the chief said, not skeptical at all. "We employ a few psychics in our force."
"We do?" he asked, confused some but relieved she accepted it.
The chief nodded. "All of them have reported that their abilities have sharpened or changed within the last twenty-four hours. Whatever led to demons appearing in large numbers has also empowered them, presumably yourself as well. Did this music have any influence over your snap judgments in the drill area just now?"
"Some, although it became more clear to me what some of it means," he said. "Being able to compare the music with context clues I've been trained to notice has been a help. Like with the secretary, I could tell by her shoes that she was unlikely to be an aggressor and the music seemed to fit that. I mean, I've never worn high heeled shoes, but my girlfriend says if you get in trouble and that's what you're wearing, you're better off taking them off and whacking the perpetrator with them."
She chuckled at that. "Your girlfriend must be quite an interesting woman."
"That she is," he said, smiling fondly. But was she in trouble now?
"That aside, Kazuya," she took on a more authoritative air, "you're a rookie in our force, but you're already used to the demon summoning program and you have proven more capable of keeping your cool in the face of demons. Therefore, I am trusting you with an important assignment. I am aware that you were to have a few days off after today, but I must cancel that. The situation in Tokyo must be dealt with quickly so we can assure the people of their safety."
"Yes sir," he said, taking a more serious tone himself. And there was the music, something like what he heard around the old man. "What would you have me do?"
"I need you to assess the situation in the streets directly. We will be encouraging others in our force to try out the summoning program and find ways to defeat the demons. As you are ahead of us in that regards, you will go out into the thick of things and report what you find: the spread of demons, how civilians are handling the situation, anything unusual like that second shrine you saw yesterday. I would advise that you help people whenever you can, to keep up their trust in the police force even as we are also coming to terms with these events."
"Yes sir, I understand," he said. They could get a lot of information from city cameras and larger networks, but having first-hand accounts from one of their own would show things they couldn't see as well on a larger scale.
"Good," she said. "For this work, I am trusting you to operate independently. As for general orders, scout out the Kichijoji district today, then attempt to cross into other districts afterward. We are most concerned about the hospital and the Echo Communications Building in our district. Give those two priority. The hospital is obvious and our tech workers seem to think that there's a valuable asset within Echo called a terminal there. It should be the results of instantaneous matter transferal research that had been going on there."
"Like teleporters?" he asked, surprised to hear of it. "Did they have them working?"
"Apparently so," she said, taking this like she had hearing about his odd music. "If it is true, we need to keep that information secure. We don't want Gotou's forces to clamp down on our every means of movement. Already, we are having difficulties keeping as a neutral force. They've repeatedly demanded our full cooperation despite oppressing the citizens of Japan. Other stations have simply sworn allegiance to him, or even the Americans now in the city; we've recently had the militia requisition much of our gear and supplies for not doing the same. Otherwise, they claim they would call more powerful demons onto our streets and let them do as they pleased."
"Does that mean they're responsible for this demon invasion now?" Kazuya asked. That was not going to win Gotou any favor, just fearful obedience or enraged defiance.
"Yes, their claims do appear to be true," she said.
The police chief then gave him a lot of other information that the force was aware of, on various factors that could affect his scouting. For a lot of it, he couldn't speak of the information freely with civilians. They had evidence that the Americans were considering nuclear options against Japan, although the reasoning behind the sudden escalation was suspect. As long as they had troops here, it shouldn't occur. But if he noticed the Americans abruptly leaving, that would be a dire sign.
As for Gotou's forces, they were truly making everything more difficult than it had to be. There was no indication that they meant to lift the blockades or respond to international criticism. They were trying to win over the loyalty of the police by offering better pay should they swear allegiance to the militia. But, they were doing that by cutting funds to groups that didn't, even those like Kichijoji who didn't state any opposition either. The chief here wanted to focus on protecting the people instead of completely policing their lives, something Kazuya could agree with.
And there was something else the militia was doing, something that made him personally afraid: they were kidnapping any girls or women named Yuka. The stated reason was that a group trying to sabotage Gotou's stolen authority was supposedly led by someone named Yuka. The chief didn't have any further information on the reactionary group, but she told him to use his own judgment should he encounter them.
"Lastly, don't put yourself in unnecessary danger on this assignment," the chief said. "If you have to pull out of a situation for your safety or that of others, go ahead and do so. We do need people out on the front lines, so to speak, but we don't wish to lose those who can effectively fight back against the demons."
"Yes sir," he said.
It was a lot to take in as he walked home, even with the disruptions of demons trying to fight him. There had always been a sense, to him, that Gotou's coup was doing far more harm than good. Putting demons into the equation, it was far worse than he had thought. Would his mother be okay while he left to go investigate the whole city? Her previously playful beliefs would be serious now and could protect her from demons. However, she had a lot more to worry about than just demons.
A/N: I know it's sure to be mentioned, so I do know of the names used for the Law and Chaos Heroes in one of the artbooks. I have reasons behind naming them Allen and Jin here, though, so it's intentional. And a small cultural note about the shrine cat Nan: she's based on a more traditional nekomata than the catgirls that the SMT games use. It's a belief that a regular cat with a long tail can become a nekomata when the end of its tail splits on growing old. That's why Kazuya thinks it's natural for Nan to have turned into one.