Chapter 28
The marked area was at an entrance to an underground passageway a little off from the Northern District, with a broken barricade in it. And Haga-san was there; ready to hand over a remodeled type of stun gun to us in order to protect ourselves. He told us that this underground passageway used to be how construction materials for Platinum Jail were transported.
Originally, Platinum Jail was planned to cover the entire island, and the Old Resident District built a passage way to transport materials over. But the plans were put to a halt and the passageway was abandoned. Mostly everyone has forgotten about it, but it's still a way into the gates of Platinum Jail.
The three of us made our way through the barricade and went down the rotting staircases. The inside of the tunnel is pitch black, and it seems to go on forever. We go along the long pathway and come to a staircase. We climb it and end up in a place like nothing we've ever seen before.
A giant white gate towers before us.
So this…is the Platinum Jail gate.
…Is it really okay for us to continue on?
Maybe this really is a trap.
All of us felt the same way, but that didn't stop our feet from carrying us forward.
The gate opens, and we're greeted by a showy fanfare and the sound of fire crackers around us.
"Wah!" I jump back in surprise by the sudden noise.
"…What was that? Where did that sound come from?" Virus said in a bit of shock.
"Who knowns." Trip said.
"Welcome! To the worlds' greatest place for love, dreams, and amusement to take all those worries away, Platinum Jail!" A surreal looking panda trots out from the side of us. I can see six white doors behind him. "This is the upper paradise where only the chosen are let in! Please enjoy yourselves as much as you can!"
"Upper paradise?"
"…Is this thing supposed to be cute?"
"Looks suspicious."
Without caring much about us, the panda presses a button on the wall in high spirits. "Now! Which entrance will you three take? Fun-Fun roulette, start!" The monitor above began to flash different places before coming to a stop. "Ohhh, your destination is Night Time Wonderland! This is an area where you can be set free by your darkest secrets. If you let your true self out you'll enjoy yourself even more! Please, do go inside! Have a nice trip!" The panda wiggles over and presses a button by the third door from the right.
"This thing is really starting to get on my nerves." I murmur.
"Do you think we get in trouble if we break it?" Trip asked.
"Let's not find out." I told him with a sigh. Well… if this were a trap, we'd be jumping right into the enemy's hands. And the possibility of that is pretty high.
"Across the door, there's a confirmation monitor that you must show your ticket, or your invitation to!"
The confirmation monitor next to the door lights up.
"Invitation…" I open up the invitation on my Coil and walk closer to the monitor.
"Platinum ID confirmed. Aoba-sama and guests, welcome to Platinum Jail. The admission formalities will now begin. Guests have been granted Guest ID. Guests, please show your Coil to the monitor."
Virus and Trip held out their Coils to the monitor.
"Confirmed, Guest ID now being transmitted. All jurisdictions belong to the Platinum ID holder. The Guests ID has restricted uses only, so please practice caution. Please read the detailed support section in the full Invitation Card. Please enjoy."
When we pass through the door…it was like stepping into a monochrome wonderland. The buildings were dark with some light colors mixed into it, and the atmosphere here feels unrealistic and almost similar to Rhyme. The people around here were mainly my age and a handful of older people. If it wasn't for the way the area looked, it would be like I'm back in the Old Resident District again. But everything feels much more polish than the Old Resident District.
Like it's all just superficial.
If you look up, there are countless stars twinkling in the sky. One could never even dream of this in the Old Resident District. Platinum Jail's weather and time zone are all controlled, and it's usually set to night time. The idea behind it was so that guests could party any day, any time, apparently…
Looming in front of us is the tower symbolizing Platinum Jail.
"That's Oval Tower..."
I'd heard rumors about it, but this is my first time seeing it in person. This is the world Toue produced...
With that thought, everything here looks fake to me in an instant. No matter how beautiful it is, I hate this splintered off area without a hint of greenery. This homogeneous, perfect, unreal place... It really makes me sick.
"So what do we do now?"
"Aoba-san shouldn't there be something written on the invitation?"
"Uhh…" I snapped out of my thoughts when I heard their voices. "Let me check." I operate my Coil and check the invitation. "It looks like there is an attachment."
"It's a map of Platinum Jail." Ren sticks his head out of my bag.
"What's this marking?" I asked noticing a red arrow on the screen.
"It might be a facility for us to stay at."
"So the invitation also tells us where we can stay at? Let's go check it out. It might be a good place to rest for a bit." I suggested to them.
"That might be wise to do so, but it could also be a trap." Virus said.
"…" A strange, uneasy feeling has hung over us ever since the beginning of this. But we can't just stop moving because of it. "We knew we were walking into a trap even before we went into Platinum Jail. We have to keep going. Ren, could you navigate us there?"
"Understood."
We began to follow Ren's directions; we arrive at a sort of residential area. Gorgeous, regal-seeming buildings line up and down the street. It looks like they're all ranked, and out place to stay is a smaller building at the end.
"This is it…" I said looking at our place.
Compared to the other buildings, it feels somewhat old. Above the door is a plate with 'GLITTER' written on it. There's a plate with a different names on the neighboring building, so this is probably the nickname or this building.
I hold my Coil to the authentication monitor next to the door and try twisting the retro door knob. When I step inside… I'm instantly in awe. I thought it was old-fashioned just from the exterior, but the interior makes it feel even more so.
"Not a bad place." I said in awe looking around the area.
"It definitely has a comfortable atmosphere to it." Virus said.
"Yeah." Trip said.
The interior has a classical feeling to it. It doesn't have the quirks of Platinum Jail, and it's almost like we just stepped into a different world. A short distance away is a staircase that goes up to a second floor, and in the front are a table and a sofa.
We began to tour around the building, while Virus and Trip headed upstairs I stayed down.
"Aoba-san."
I turn around upon hearing my voice and spotted Virus looking down at me from the second floor handrail.
"Yeah."
"There are some rooms up here on the second floor."
"There are?" I asked.
"Yes. It may be a good idea for you to get some rest. We'll be doing that soon, but there are somethings we need to do first."
'Somethings we need to do first.' What does he mean by that?
Virus must have notice the confusion on my face and smile "You might be wondering what I meant by that. It's pretty simple really."
"We're going to have a look around the area, so we can familiarize it if anything comes down." Trip said walking up next to Virus.
"Correct. While we're doing that we'll try to find some information about Toue."
"If that's the case then why not let me come along." I told them. Wouldn't it be wise if we all try to go look for some information about Toue or the Oval Tower. We don't know how much longer till Toue puts his plan in full effect so it's best to get this done as quickly as possible.
"It would be better if you stayed here Aoba-san." Virus said walking down the staircase, Trip following behind him. I notice that he had a small white box in his hand. "Out of the three of us, you're more exhausted from running from the police longer than the two of us."
"But…"
"Aoba-san." Virus cuts me off his sharp blue eyes looking at me making me freeze in place. "I get where you're coming at, wanting to stop Toue as quickly as possible. But we can't do that if we're all exhausted."
"…"
"Now before we go, I would like to treat that cut on your face."
"Cut?" I asked confused. Did I cut myself? I think back of the events that happen today trying to remember it I had injured myself. "Oh…" That's right; I did get grazed by a bullet. Everything that had happen today made me forget about it, even the wound itself hardly even hurts; just a dull throb from it every now and then but it was so faint that I barely even felt it.
"That's right. If you could please sit down over there, I could start treating your cut." Virus pointed over to the couch.
I went over to the couch and sat down followed by Virus sitting down next to me. Trip was already sitting down on the couch watch the scene before him. Virus placed down a small plastic box that looks like a first-aid kit.
"Where'd you get that?" I asked.
"It was in one of the cabinets near the bar counter." Trip answered.
"Bar counter?"
"Yeah there's one on the second floor."
Is that so? I thought. Virus opened the box and inside it was some bandages, sterilization sheets, and different sized adhesive Band-Aides and such.
"This might sting a little, but I'll try to make this quick Aoba-san." Virus told me while he took out the sterilization sheet.
"All right."
Virus quickly treated the wound with ease and I only felt a slight sting from the sterilization sheet but it was tolerable so it didn't hurt as much. Putting the bandage on, Virus closed the box and stood up. "We'll be taking our leave now, remember what I said and get some rest Aoba-san." He said "If we find anything important we'll let you know."
"Ok…" I murmur still not like the fact that I can't go and help out.
"See you, Aoba-san."
"Bye-bye Aoba."
Virus and Trip headed out leaving me alone in the building. I let out a sigh getting up from the couch and headed up the staircase to the second floor.
The first thing I see upon reaching the second floor is something that looks like a living room. To the side of it is a small bar counter. "Looks like Trip was right about that bar counter." Next to it is a long hallway lined with doors, I check out one of the rooms.
The room is small and minimalistic with a refined feeling. I lay down on the bed flooding my arms behind my head looking up at the ceiling.
"…" I let out a deep sigh from my nose. I know that Virus told me to get some rest, but I don't like the idea of just sitting here while Toue could be closer to achieving his plans. I should be out there looking for information, not just laying here doing nothing.
"Hm…" I notice that my body began to sink into the bed. It's feels reeeeally comfortable, and my body is now feeling a bit exhausted. Maybe I am tired. Thinking about it now, running from the police getting into a fight with them and had to carefully make our way here…
I should sleep a bit, just to get some stamina back. Once I'm fully rested I'm going to head out to find some information.
Sitting up and taking my jacket and shoes off, I check on Ren who was in my bag still in sleep mode. Seeing that I crawled into bed and closed my eyes.
Deep down you know it, don't you?
Who you really are.
What you're capable of.
But you just refused to admit it.
Why's that?
If you just admit it.
It'll make things easier if you do.
Everything will be exactly how you want it to be.
So, admit it.
Admit and accept it.
Then everything will be more fun.
You know that, right?
