File 12: The Brander (Part 1)
I opened my eyes.
The ground was moist and wet. It was as if I was on grass where it had just rained. The sky looked clear and bright, as if I had just woken up from a nap. Getting up, I shook off the grass debris off of myself and looked at my clothes.
I was dressed as Sakaido again.
What's going on here?
Not far from me, there were a few bodies laid on the ground. A girl was near them, as if in prayer. She seemed to be mourning for them.
I went over and checked to see who the bodies were.
It was my wife Ayako and my daughter Muku, both with their throats slit from side to side. Their hands were placed in a position as if to signal something.
"Sakaido, there is something on their hands."
Kaeru-chan pointed at their fingertips, which had now turned black from liver mortis. I went over to check again, being careful not to mess with my own family's bodies.
There was a small but visibly shaped mark on their hands. It was shaped like a V but cut in half.
It looked like it was placed there after death.
I looked back at Kaeru-chan and my family's dead bodies. It felt vaguely familiar.
"Kaeru-chan, what are you doing here?"
She looked back at me and smiled helplessly. A butterfly suddenly appeared around her.
"Awaiting my death."
Immediately, two figures came out from the grass, as if Kaeru-chan's words caused them to appear. One of them was wearing a top hat and carrying a cane while the other looked like an average person. Each of them was carrying a weapon, which resembled a scythe.
"Wait, no! Kaeru-chan!"
John Walker came closer towards Kaeru-chan again, this time with a scythe around her neck. I tried to rush forward towards her but got stopped by the other man. He covered my mouth and held another scythe near my neck.
"Don't interfere."
I felt a slash on my neck, followed by dizziness and blood gushing out of my mouth. I struggled to breathe as I tried to reach out to Kaeru-chan, who was getting slashed in front of me.
More butterflies were coming out of her, engulfing the place again.
I was losing consciousness as I watched in horror, unable to do anything. Nothing made sense yet seemed so familiar.
Who are you, Kaeru-chan?
Akihito opened his eyes from his nightmare. He quickly rubbed his neck, making sure that he didn't get any injuries or cuts from the dream. He looked around him, hoping he hadn't made any noise that would startle Ayako, who was sleeping next to him. Her warm body was next to his, trying to keep him close for comfort.
Her hands were snuggled close to his own, as if grasping them for life.
"Aki-kun, please be alright. We'll be there for you…"
Akihito gasped, thinking that she was awake. He turned around to face her, expecting another scolding about him not telling her anything. But she was still asleep. Just sleep talking while she held his hand gently.
He rose up from the bed and looked back at Ayako. He gently removed his hands out of her grasp before patting her on the head. Her hair was long and messy, leaving bits of hair on the pillows and part of the bedsheets. She seemed to be exhausted, working all around the house and making sure that he didn't do anything strange or mischievous.
"I'm fine, Aya-chan. I'll protect you two with my life."
He checked the time.
6:30.
Guess I woke up earlier this time. Maybe I can prepare something for them before work.
So, Akihito got up to prepare some breakfast for Muku and Ayako before they woke up.
"Dad? You're cooking this time?" Muku said as she came into the dining room, "Usually, Mom would be in the kitchen right now. What are you doing here?"
Akihito was in the kitchen, preparing some egg toast. He knew that Muku loved them. There was some rice and miso soup on the side along with other small dishes. Muku came over towards the dining table and put some of her school supplies and backpack to the side.
"What's wrong with a change once in a while, Muku?" Akihito muttered as he brought out the rest of the food, "You don't like my cooking?"
Muku looked up at her Dad before answering, a bit worried.
"You usually don't get up so early like this. Where's Mom?"
Akihito smiled back, trying to reassure her. His constant nightmares over the past few months probably made his family worried sick, trying to give him different remedies to make him feel better.
"She's still sleeping. I'll save some food for her so that she will have something to eat when she wakes up."
Muku then chomped on her egg toast and her face lit up. It seemed as if she liked it.
"Seems like you like it," Akihito said as he smirked, "How about a compliment?"
"It was good, okay?" Muku muttered back, hiding her embarrassment, "I need to catch the train soon."
Akihito checked the time. Muku's high school wouldn't start class for a few hours. Did it have to do with club meetings and activities? She could be staying at school until late at night again.
"Muku, is it club activities again?"
Muku looked back at him nonchalantly.
"Of course, it's club activities, Dad! You saw me come back home late many times already. I'll be safe, okay? I'll be with my classmates and friends."
Akihito suddenly felt uneasy. It was as if a sense of sheer terror overcame him. It felt familiar yet strange. It was like he had this feeling before. Like a sense of déjà vu.
"Dad?"
He snapped out of his daze. Muku had finished eating her breakfast and was organizing her school supplies before leaving the house. She was waving her hands around his face, trying to make him pay attention to her.
"I-I'm fine. Will you seriously be alright? Stay at school while you're doing your club activities."
Muku seemed annoyed by her Dad's remarks. She sighed as she changed her shoes before going out the door. She then took her backpack and put it on her back.
"Well then, I'll leave before you, Dad! See you later!" Muku said as she went out the door. Akihito looked back in shock as she left quickly, not letting him tell her anything.
Confused, Akihito quickly cleaned up the dining table and the kitchen before leaving himself. He left some miso soup, rice, and an egg toast for Ayako on the dining table, leaving a short note for her to eat when she woke up.
"Maybe I worry too much," Akihito muttered to himself as he prepared his own suitcase for work, "Hopefully, Muku won't be in danger in another city. We already left that place…"
But what's with the constant nagging feeling he had since Muku left?
What's this feeling? Why am I having it again? It feels like something horrible might happen to our family…
Akihito closed his eyes and sighed. He didn't want to think about it. This couldn't be another repeat like the Challenger and the Face Lifter right? But he just had that dream, it was different but seemed awfully familiar.
His wife and daughter were dead in his dreams again…
No, not this again. I'm probably tired. The nightmares might just be messing with my head, giving me sleep deprivation and hallucinations. I just dived too many times during testing and the Mizuhanome might just be messing with me. Everything will be fine.
And Akihito quickly went out of the house, rushing to work as he tried to not think about it.
Akihito walked towards the Kura Building as he arrived for work. He looked around him, feeling as though he had forgotten something. Checking the time, he made sure that he arrived early. But it seemed like the front entrance didn't have many people at the moment.
"Did I arrive too early?" he muttered, "Where is everyone?"
Not far from him, Wakashika came out the front door, as if taking a breath of fresh air. He immediately noticed Akihito looking back at him, dumbfounded. It looked like Akihito didn't know what was going on and wondered why there weren't many people during the early morning hours.
"Narihisago-san!" Wakashika said as he came forward towards him, "Did you come early to investigate what happened to the Face Lifter as well?"
The Face Lifter? What happened to him this time? Isn't he just sitting there, rotting in Kura Prison right now?
"What are you talking about? What happened to him? Did he cause any trouble?"
Wakashika seemed shocked by Akihito's remark. He scratched his head before explaining what happened to him.
"Haven't you heard? The Face Lifter was found dead a few days ago. We don't know what caused him to kill himself like that. These past few days, we have been doing an autopsy on his body to see if he took any poison or something beforehand."
Did he actually kill himself? Did he actually take my story seriously?!
"Narihisago-san?"
Wakashika was looking at him, confused.
"S-Sorry about that, Wakashika-san. I'm still feeling drowsy from getting here so early," Akihito explained, trying to sound reasonable, "Did you manage to deduce any reasons as to why he would do that? We failed to interrogate him after all."
"You do have a point," Wakashika answered back, putting his hand to his chin, "He may have wanted to take the secrets of John Walker to the grave. We might not know the true reason. Guess we're in for a long haul to see if we want to find more information about him."
Akihito tried to remember what he had forgotten. Then it clicked.
"Wakashika-san, did I forget to call Momoki-san?" he asked, rubbing his face, "I didn't come to work with him today."
"I'm not sure, Narihisago-san. I know that you two normally come to work together. Did something happen between you two?"
Akihito put his hand to his chin and tried to remember. That night after he talked with the Face Lifter, he waited for Momoki to come back from his meeting. They weren't able to talk about anything that night when they went back home together. It was just a silent trip.
I wonder what Momoki talked about with the Chief. He won't tell me anything. Maybe I should ask the Chief to find out what was said during the meeting.
"I don't know, Wakashika-san. He probably just wanted to spend more time with Togo-san…"
Just as Akihito finished his sentence, Wakashika seemed to react a bit annoyed, especially after hearing Togo's name. It caused him to immediately change the topic.
"I-I understand now, Narihisago-san," Wakashika muttered, trying to hold back his envy before looking back at Akihito, "Since Momoki-san isn't here right now, can you show me the cockpit room this time?"
Oh, that. We were stopped by Momoki and Togo-san last time.
"Sure," Akihito replied, looking around again, "But what about Habutae-san and Shiratake-san? Aren't they with you?"
Wakashika smiled nervously before answering Akihito's question. He quickly grabbed one of Akihito's hands and dragged him into the Kura Building. They had been talking outside for some time, and other people could have overheard them.
"They're busy setting up the Wellside Room for the case we're getting today. The other Kura staff members are preparing their positions to capture him as well. There's plenty of room inside Kura Prison anyway. Too bad it's empty again."
Akihito shook his head at Wakashika's explanation and accepted it. There was still time before they got briefed on the official case, and Momoki hadn't arrived yet. They couldn't begin their missions until they got more information from the Chief.
"Very well. I'll lead you to the cockpit room real quick, Wakashika-san. Just don't try to touch the cockpit too much."
"No problem, Narihisago-san. I'll help you out if you have any issues."
And the two of them went towards the cockpit room, making sure that no one was following them.
A few hours later, Momoki and Togo arrived at the Kura Building. They were discussing the Face Lifter's death and what to do about it. But Momoki also seemed concerned about another topic: The Chief's story about the Man with Many Faces. What did that signify?
There were also preparations for the upcoming case that they were getting today, followed by a briefing by the Chief himself before they started their operations.
"Togo-san, was there any abnormality with the Face Lifter's death?" Momoki asked, while they walked around the building, "It seemed so sudden and strange. He had us in a stalemate and had no need to do this."
"It could be due to his loyalty to the man, Momoki-san," Togo answered, "There are killers who won't reveal anything to the very end. We are back to square one to find out who John Walker is."
Momoki remained silent on that answer. Ever since that meeting, he had felt wary about the Chief, and was unsure about what to do. Even though he seemed suspicious, he had no evidence and proof against him. It would be strange to suspect one's own boss after all.
"Togo-san, do you know about the Chief's story? It's about a Man with Many Faces. Does it mean anything?"
Togo looked back at Momoki, surprised but not shocked. She giggled a bit before answering him.
"You don't know? The Chief tells that to everyone. You create your own ending from that story. Momoki-san, you are the Director yet don't know that?"
Momoki felt embarrassed. He and Narihisago arrived at Kura later than the other main Kura staff members, so they hadn't known about the Chief's other habits until later. He hadn't heard about that story until he went to the Chief's private meeting a few nights ago.
"Togo-san, do you have your own ending to the story?" Momoki muttered back, "I don't think I have one yet. I'm curious on how this whole thing works."
"Well, if you are really that interested," Togo answered back, thinking to herself, "I let the man find a lover so that he could be able to handle the stress of making masks for the criminals. Although later on, he stopped doing it so that he could spend time to make a family."
That's kind of sweet. Togo-san cares more than she lets out.
"Momoki-san, aren't you forgetting something?"
Momoki looked at her, wondering what she was going to ask.
"What do you mean?"
Togo shook her head in dismay before she responded.
"Narihisago-san? Did you forget to call him to come together for work? Did something happen between you two again?"
Momoki remembered the silence when he and Narihisago left the building that night. He didn't want to tell his best friend the bad news so soon. They didn't talk to each other the whole trip going back home. It didn't feel right but he didn't want to make that day even worse than it already was with the failed interrogation.
"Nothing much happened, Togo-san. We just didn't talk much…"
Togo looked back at Momoki, questioning his answer. She then pushed Momoki in front to lead him to the cockpit room.
"Momoki-san, go check up on Narihisago-san. He could be in the cockpit room already. Make sure that he is stable enough for our first official case today. I'll see you back in the Wellside Room."
And then Togo quickly left Momoki alone inside the hallway, leaving him dumbfounded and confused.
"She really knows how to get her way," he muttered, scratching his head. He slowly walked towards the cockpit room on the 5th floor, unsure of what to expect when he got there.
If the Chief told this story to everyone, it's possible that Narihisago would also have his own ending to the story…
Momoki made his way to the cockpit room, expecting only Narihisago to be in it. But he was shocked to see someone else sitting in the cockpit.
It was Wakashika, who was inspecting the cockpit. Akihito was standing next to him, making sure that he didn't touch any of the buttons on the side of the cockpit.
"This is really amazing, Narihisago-san!" he exclaimed, looking over the features of the cockpit, "It makes you feel like you are going inside a video game."
But before Wakashika could talk more, he immediately saw Momoki standing by the door of the cockpit room, looking at them. Akihito seemed unsurprised at their encounter, scratching his head from his embarrassment.
"Did you let Wakashika-san into the cockpit room?" Momoki asked, seeing the two of them inside the room, "I saw the two of you were about to go in last time, but didn't expect that you would do it again!"
"Sorry about that, Momoki," Akihito answered back, "He really wanted to see what the room looked like and there doesn't seem to be any harm in knowing. It's already strange that we were the only ones that saw the room in the first place."
Momoki shook his head at Akihito's remark. The main Kura staff had not been able to see the cockpit room for themselves despite being here earlier than them, yet only he and Narihisago were allowed in.
It could help to inspect the machine personally than from just outside sources when it was also in the building in the first place. Momoki turned around to find Wakashika trying to tell Akihito something about the cockpit.
"Narihisago-san, why isn't there a name on the monitor sometimes?" he asked, pointing at the screen in front of him as he was seated on the cockpit chair, "Does the Mizuhanome always know whose well it is or is it kept vague?"
"That's a good question," Akihito answered, looking at the monitor from his side of the cockpit as he leaned forward to check the screen, "We don't always know the wells we get, but some of them do have names on them."
"Like does the well say Sonoda Hitoshi or the Face Lifter?" Wakashika muttered, trying to be specific with his question, "Guess if you don't know their names, their naming could end up being blank. We only know whose well it is due to other outside information with the police."
Momoki continued to look at the two of them, still talking. They seemed to be ignoring him, despite just being caught in the room. He looked down in dismay, unsure of what to ask.
Should I ask them about the story now? It seems too sudden for me to ask, and I just caught them in the cockpit room together. We're going to have our case briefing soon, so I'm going to get called to the Chief's office any moment now…
"Narihisago-san, are you touching your neck again? Is it itchy there or something?"
Akihito looked back at his hand. He had been cupping his hand around his neck a few times while talking with Wakashika. Ever since that dream, he felt a sting from that neck slash. It felt too real to just be a dream.
"I'm fine, Wakashika-san," Akihito muttered back, trying to sound normal, "There's nothing wrong with me. Do you have any more questions before we get our mission briefing? I'll have to dive soon."
Wakashika closed his eyes before he thought of anything. He looked around the room before he remembered something.
"Oh, Narihisago-san," he said as he talked with Akihito again, "Weren't you going to ask Momoki-san about how large the cockpit room is? It looks like it can fit more than one cockpit inside. Maybe two or three more…"
Momoki was surprised by the sudden question, but he was too distracted to ask them about the Chief's Man of Many Faces story and their own versions of the ending. He might have to ask them after the case was over.
"Momoki-san, are you going to let us stay here or not?" Wakashika said, confused by his reaction, "You would have kicked me out of the cockpit room by now. Is something on your mind?"
"I-It's nothing," Momoki answered back, looking at them sternly, "I'd like to ask you some questions after the case…"
After a few minutes of silence, Wakashika broke it so that he could leave the room and not try to delay their mission briefings for the new case. While still sitting in the cockpit, he tried to get up, only to get hit by the top monitor.
Bonk.
"Ouch! I forgot that it was there," he cried out as he rubbed his head, "I guess I underestimated how low the monitors can get."
"Are you okay?" Akihito asked, as he adjusted the screens, "I guess I didn't notice it much myself due to all the testing, so I got used to it."
Wakashika then got out of the cockpit and slowly walked out of the room. But before he left to go back to the Wellside Room, he gave Akihito some encouragement for some friendly competition as detectives for the upcoming case.
"Since you're the detective of the id well, I'll be the detective of Kura," Wakashika said as he went out the room, "Let's see which one of us gets the most clues and solves the case first…"
Afterwards, Momoki and Akihito had another awkward silence. Akihito thought that he was in trouble for showing Wakashika the cockpit room, but Momoki had other matters to worry about.
There was still the mystery of the cause of the Face Lifter's death, and in the Chief's story. But right before they had more time to investigate, they were given a new case. He also had no proof or evidence against the Chief, so there wasn't much that he could do. For now, it was best to ask questions and investigate on the side.
"Sorry about all the trouble, Momoki," Akihito exclaimed, "We weren't able to talk these past few days, so I don't know what's wrong. The Face Lifter interrogation probably took a toll on you…"
Momoki looked back at Akihito and sulked for a bit.
Should I tell him about the truth about being a Pilot? I really don't know…
"N-Narihisago…"
But before Momoki could say anymore, there was an announcement for him and the field analysts to come to the Chief's office for the case briefing.
"DIRECTOR MOMOKI, PLEASE COME TO THE CHIEF'S OFFICE TO GET THE MISSION BRIEFING FOR THE NEW CASE AND THE KURA STAFF."
"Looks like the announcement is asking for you, Momoki," Akihito said, "Maybe we can talk after the case. Let's not fail our first official case."
"…Alright, Narihisago. I'll still check up on you and give you information on the new case later."
And then Momoki went to the Chief's office to get his mission briefing before their case began.
"Welcome to the mission briefing, Momoki-san," the Chief said, as he organized some papers at his front desk, "The field analyst leader Matsuoka-san is also here with us today to know their positions on catching the serial killer as well."
Momoki and Matsuoka were standing near his desk, waiting to get news on the official case that they were getting. The Chief gave each of them some papers and documents on their next mission.
The Brander. A serial killer known to brand his victims after slitting their throats.
"There seems to be a commotion in Tokyo about his appearance lately. The Brander has been spotted on many security cameras near the victim's homes as well as schools. He seems to target a mix of male and female victims, so we're not sure if they're random or not. You two are to check from the latest victim's location and inspect the areas around there."
The Chief then gave Momoki and Matsuoka different documents based on their positions for the case.
"Matsuoka-san, you and the field analyst team will patrol the nearby areas near the victim's location while looking for clues that could help lead us to capture him. There are a few police teams for us to use to estimate his location."
The Chief then looked at Momoki for his mission briefing.
"Momoki-san, we have managed to find an id well from the Wakamusubi from the latest victim's location. This is the 6th victim, so let's hope we don't have another death during the investigation. From what we find, let's see if it can help us in finding where the Brander is hiding."
After the Chief finished discussing and preparing the other documents for the other Kura staff members, Momoki and Matsuoka went their separate ways for the Brander case. Hondomachi was waiting for Matsuoka to come out from the Chief's office before they departed to find their next serial killer.
But before Matsuoka left the Kura building to help with the investigation that was going on in real time, he gave Momoki some encouragement, seeing that he had failed the Face Lifter interrogation not too long ago.
"Momoki-san, let's do well on this case," Matsuoka said as he patted Momoki on the shoulder before they went their separate ways, "Don't let the Face Lifter failure get to you. There's still much more we need to learn from other sources."
"Thank you, Matsuoka-san," Momoki muttered back as he spotted Hondomachi, "Oh and Hondomachi, please take care of Matsuoka-san. Sometimes drastic situations call for drastic measures…"
Matsuoka glared at him before laughing it off. The Brander case would be split into two teams that would be communicating with each other based on information that was found at the scene, clues to next potential murder and clues found from the id well.
Momoki was the leader of the Kura team as they would be investigating the Brander's id well with Akihito as the Pilot. Matsuoka was the leader of the outside investigation and were the field analysts that were given clues based on the previous murder on how to capture the Brander since his escape.
"Is everyone ready?"
Momoki was inside the Wellside Room, with all preparations set up for the Brander case and his id well investigation. They would be getting outside information from Matsuoka's team in real time while they tried to help each other in capturing him.
Everyone from the main Kura staff nodded, as they were already in position for their duties. Momoki sighed and hoped for the best for Akihito, hoping that nothing would go wrong like before. He still had many things to investigate, but they were dealing with a new official case this time. There was no time to look over old cases right now.
I'll have to try to ask everyone after this case is over. Hope it doesn't end in a disaster like the Face Lifter case. There's still so much we need to learn about the man…
"Narihisago, are you ready? This will be your first official well dive for Kura. Get as many clues as you can inside the Brander's id well. And try not to die so much…"
Akihito's voice got muffled through the communication system. After the signal re-connected again, he answered Momoki's question.
"I'm ready, Momoki. We can start the dive at any moment now."
Momoki let out a sigh of relief and looked at everyone in the Wellside Room.
Wakashika. Togo. Habutae. Shiratake. Kokufu.
"INJECTING SAKAIDO."
.
..
…
….
Sakaido opened his eyes and found himself with a group of people around him. They were all grouped together in some area that was filled with grass and manure. They were surrounded by grass walls as high as a building. He covered his nose at the stench nearby.
"What's going on here? Who am I?"
He looked around and found himself next to a dead girl. Her name was Kaeru. Sakaido immediately remembered who he was. Afterwards, he looked over her body for clues and to find anything that could have caused her death.
"What's this around her neck? It looks like her throat got slit."
He noticed a very thin line along her neck, as if she were sliced there. The blood looked dried up, as if the death had happened many hours before he woke up. Her neck had definitely been sliced by something. He then noticed a purplish mark on her back, which showed a small blood pool under the skin going to that certain location.
It looked like a mark that had been branded into her after death. It was shaped like a small dot.
"I wonder what this means. What does this mark stand for?"
He then noticed a few piles of grass around her that were barren.
Too much iron could affect the pH of grass. What weapon could leave an iron residue?
Sakaido looked around to find a group of people surrounding him. They were panicking about being stuck here, with a few trying to escape to no avail. A man near Sakaido seemed to be scratching in a specific area, as if he just got burnt by something.
"I'll check up on you after I ask that man, Kaeru-chan," he muttered, while gently putting her body on the ground, "I need to ask these people some questions and get them some help."
The man was still scratching himself when Sakaido approached him. He looked more like he was clawing his skin the more he tried to relieve himself.
"No! Don't do that! You will just keep hurting yourself!" Sakaido said, grabbing the man by the arm, "Tell me where it hurts."
The man pointed towards his left arm, which had turned red from all the scratching. Sakaido slowly took off bits and pieces of torn clothes that the man had managed to rip through to see where the pain was coming from.
There was a mark on his arm, which looked like a circle that was not filled in. It looked like someone had branded something into his skin. The man was crying from the pain, unsure of what to do.
"This is strange," Sakaido said as he inspected the arm again, "How did these marks suddenly appear?"
And he turned around and noticed the other people were starting to scratch different parts of their body, as if something had burned into their skin. Sakaido felt uneasy about what was going on.
I need to look at everybody's marks in this place. They all seem to have the same reaction as that man did.
And Sakaido began to inspect everyone inside the well.
"Look up the information of the man that Sakaido talked to, Togo-san," Momoki said, looking at the hologram that was in front of him, "We might get some insight on the Brander from those people there."
"Yes, Momoki-san. The man's name is Ryuu Hagisaki and he was the 5th victim from the Brander serial killings," Togo answered, looking at the monitors nearby and checking up on information, "Seems like the place where he was scratching from is in the same place where the corpse was found with the branded mark."
"Interesting. Let's observe Sakaido while we wait for more information from the field analyst team," Momoki replied back, "We would need some information at the crime scene to connect the well evidence together and give us a hint on where the Brander's next possible target is."
Matsuoka and Hondomachi arrived at the latest crime scene from the Brander not long after leaving the Kura Building. Their team had been split again so that half of them would patrol the nearby area while the others went in to check the crime scene for more clues that could lead to where he was hiding.
"The 6th victim is Tsubaki Hara," Hondomachi said, reading some of the documents they had received about the case, "She was found dead a few weeks ago with a slit throat by some sort of weapon. Her body was found with a mark over her right thigh, which was clearly visible by the clothes she was wearing."
Matsuoka looked over the corpse line that was inside the apartment unit. There were bits of residue around the area near it. He put on his gloves and went over to get a sample of it.
"Get the police team to inspect this substance, Hondomachi-san," he muttered, handing her a bag, "Looks like we would need to re-examine this murder scene to get us a clue on where this serial killer is hiding, or looking for his next target."
Hondomachi quickly took the sample bag and went outside to give it to one of their team's substance analyzers. Matsuoka looked over the whole apartment unit to look for anything that could be used.
"Momoki-san, give us some time to get information," Matsuoka said, calling through a radio device, "We need to get more samples taken from the crime scene to estimate where the Brander is headed."
"Roger, Matsuoka-san. Let's just hope that he hasn't targeted anyone yet…"
Sakaido finished inspecting the people inside the well, checking for their marks. They all seemed to be different from each other, apart from their different locations around their bodies. He took a break by resting on one of the grass walls that was lower than the others, but also had a better view from the top to count the number of people around him apart from Kaeru.
There were six people apart from him and Kaeru.
"If even Kaeru-chan has a mark on her, is it possible that I have one too? All the other people I inspected had a mark on them…I wonder what that means."
He tried to inspect himself, but he figured that he wouldn't be able to check his back. He would need something to reflect on so that he could check if he had anything on him. As he looked around for anything, the well started to shake and change its form.
The grass walls were rearranging itself and forming into many different routes and paths. Everyone inside the well was screaming from the movement, while Sakaido was clinging to the grass wall by gripping on its roots.
The well then suddenly stopped moving, revealing a maze. There were many different paths that led to dead ends, with some monsters guarding some areas. The people seem to be panicking over the sudden changes and some tried to escape.
"What just happened? Does this maze lead somewhere?"
Sakaido climbed up one of the grass walls again to check his surroundings. There were a few warehouses around the area, with an end goal in sight. It seemed far away from where he was standing. Squinting his eyes, he saw someone at the end goal. The person seemed to be waving and calling for help.
"I need to go check what's going on over there, but there's also a lot of dangerous obstacles here. I need to be careful…"
But before Sakaido went into the maze, one of the people yelled at him to come back, fearing for his safety. He grabbed one of his arms and tried to persuade him to stop.
"Don't go over there! You would get slaughtered by those monsters if you're not careful!"
"It will be fine," Sakaido muttered back, trying to free himself from the man's grasp, "I'm a Brilliant Detective. I can handle it."
The man seemed scared, but he let go of Sakaido's arm. But then he whispered into his ear about a possible path to get to the end of the maze using the warehouses around the area as stopping points. Sakaido was already interested in checking out the warehouses, so this was an excellent idea.
"Thank you for the advice. I'll consider it."
Is it possible that the warehouses have any tools and weapons to protect myself from those monsters? There could be something I could use to check myself for any possible mark.
And then Sakaido went into the maze, prepared for the dangers surrounding him.
"The id well has turned into a maze, Momoki-san," Togo said, observing the monitors, "From everyone that Sakaido has talked with, they were all the past victims of the Brander, matching their mark to where the corpse mark was found."
"Interesting," Momoki muttered back, looking at the newly adjusted id well, "Examine all the warehouses around the maze. We can't see the end goal from here, so we'll have to wait for Sakaido to reach it."
"Momoki-san, those monsters look strange," Wakashika exclaimed, "They seem to resemble those farming tractors that people use for agriculture. Do you think the brands of the farming tractors and brands that the Brander use are related to animal branding?"
"Animal branding?" Momoki said, putting his hand to his chin, "Habutae-san, how deep were the marks from the corpses? How were they branded that left a clear visible mark on their body?"
"From the photos that we had gotten, the marks look a bit uneven due to a heating component," Habutae answered, "It seems likely that the killer could have branded his victims after they were killed. There is a slight purple decompression from where the mark was made. There were no signs of healing around the areas that were branded."
"The way the marks were made also shows clean precision," Shiratake said, adjusting his glasses, "The Brander is no slouch, and isn't sloppy. His way of killing is clean, and his marks look professional. This man seems experienced in whatever he is doing."
"Then could the marks be related to marking animals?" Wakashika muttered, "There must be a reason why every single victim has a completely different mark instead of all of them being the same."
"Probably a form of tracking his victims," Togo said, thinking to herself, "Momoki-san, are you checking up on Matsuoka-san? How is the investigation going over there?"
"Not sure," Momoki said, trying to call through the Wellside Room system, "I'm giving him some clues that we had gotten from the well so far and our own deductions. It could be worth something."
Hondomachi came into the apartment unit again to give Matsuoka the data from the substance he found. The other members of the team were trying to look for any possible recordings that could be inside the house. So far, there wasn't much to look for, due to a police investigation that had examined the place beforehand.
"Matsuoka-san, the substance that you found near the corpse line was an iron residue," Hondomachi said, giving him the results from the test, "How did it get so close to the corpse?"
"I'm not sure, Hondomachi-san," Matsuoka answered back, looking at the results, "The iron residue did match where the brand was found near the body. Was there any security footage around the area?"
Hondomachi quickly took out a few more papers and some photographs. There wasn't much that they could find. They could find the ones near the apartment building, but the victim herself hadn't seemed to have installed any security cameras inside her home.
"We'll make do. Let's check the footage that we do have."
They went to another building near the crime scene to play the copy of the security footage that they received nearby. It showed a man coming to the door of the victim, carrying something. It looked like a guitar case that he was carrying. He wasn't knocking on the door but checking through the peephole if anyone was there. Then he scrambled through his pocket to take out a key, followed by a click as he went inside.
A couple hours later, he came outside and left.
There wasn't much else left from the footage.
"Not even a scream," Matsuoka muttered, "Does the Brander know these people?"
"She was only found due to being a popular local school teacher from a nearby high school and didn't come to school during an important event. I wonder if she had some relationship with the killer…"
After a while, Matsuoka received some information from Kura. There could be some clues in the small kitchen. Hondomachi immediately put on her gloves and went to inspect the stove counter.
"The gas stove looks worn down," Hondomachi said as she looked over the dials, "There's still no fingerprints that we can find on here. He probably used gloves to hide his fingerprints."
"Hondomachi-san, check for any iron residue in the kitchen. Based on the information we got from Kura, it's possible that he used the stove to heat up his branding tool after he killed his victims. It would explain the slight uneven marks on the victim's bodies."
"Then that means the guitar case could be hiding his weapons," Hondomachi exclaimed back, while collecting some samples nearby, "It won't seem suspicious to be carrying a case into a home. People could be mistaking him for being a musician or someone who plays music as a hobby."
"Excellent. We could be getting somewhere," Matsuoka said, looking over the possible deductions and clues that seemed to match up, "This could help us track him to see where he is hiding or looking for another target…let's give some intel back to Kura."
Sakaido dragged himself into a warehouse, one of the stopping points towards the end goal inside the maze. He was holding onto his shoulder, which had gotten injured from dealing with the monster tractors that tried to run him over. Thankfully, the advice that the man had told him turned out to be right.
"I hope there's some medical supplies here. Otherwise, I'll have to make do with what this place has…"
He opened the warehouse door, praying for no more horrible surprises. He didn't want to get killed just when he had reached a temporary haven inside this dangerous environment.
Inside, it looked wide, yet sparsely filled. There weren't many objects inside the warehouse, except for a couple of farming tools on the walls of the warehouse. There were a couple objects hidden around the corners of the building, as if waiting to be found. But the lighting wasn't that great, with only partial lighting coming from the maze environment.
"Let's see if I can find something to deal with this injury first," Sakaido said as he adjusted his eyes to the partially lit warehouse, "I seriously need something to protect myself from those tractors and look for more clues about this place."
He went towards some of the drawers that were scattered on one side of the warehouse, looking for any clean clothes or alcohol to help with his wound. Unfortunately, there was barely anything inside the drawers.
Only a few dirty rags and some half-filled bottles of a clear liquid. It was marked in an unfamiliar language.
Sakaido took one of the half-filled bottles and sniffed it. It reeked of alcohol and had a strong licorice smell. It was definitely not sake, but it clearly had a high alcohol content. It could be used to sterilize his wound.
"Better than nothing. Guess I can rip out a part of my scarf to have something to cover this injury. I'll have to take a risk if it does anything to me."
After Sakaido bandaged his wound, he began to explore the warehouse. In the corner, there was an odd item that seemed out of place. Although there were a few random items here and there, this item looked cursed.
It looked like a worn-down guitar case, blackened by dust and decay.
Sakaido felt uneasy looking at it, feeling a need to get something to protect himself with. He looked around and found a dirty machete not too far from him. He raised his machete in position as his curiosity got the better of him, wanting to see what was inside the case.
"What's inside this case? Would this help me or hinder me?"
He tried to poke the guitar case, but it didn't budge. After taking a deep breath, Sakaido slowly opened the case, expecting the worst. He was holding up his machete in case there was something hiding in there.
It revealed to be a few long iron thin bars with strange symbols on them. It looked worn and used, as if it had been used many times before being locked away. Sakaido looked closer upon the items and tried to inspect them.
"This looks like something used for branding animals. But I don't know what these symbols mean…"
But then he remembered inspecting everybody's marks on their bodies before he left to go into the maze. They did look vaguely familiar. It was because he had seen them before.
"They look like the same marks that I saw while inspecting everyone…"
"Momoki-san, doesn't that guitar case look familiar?" Wakashika said as he pointed out the similarities between the case shown in the well monitors and the footage that Matsuoka sent, "It could show us what is possibly the Brander's weapons."
Momoki looked up from the virtual 3-D id well to check the monitors again. So far, Sakaido had managed to open the guitar case, without setting off any traps or anything dangerous. The objects looked like branding tools, but there wasn't anything else inside.
"The branding tools are very rudimentary, despite looking professional," Momoki said, looking at how uneven the burn marks were, "Japan doesn't brand its animals, so it could either be someone from another country living here that used to be a farmer or someone who learned to brand animals from other people."
"But doesn't Japan brand its mascots in food?" Wakashika muttered back, "Maybe it's a trend related to human branding. It works similar to tattoos…"
The rest of the Kura main staff looked back at him, in shock. Tattoos already had a negative stigma for the public, due to its connections to the yakuza. They didn't want to believe that the yakuza could be involved. It seemed too out of left field.
"L-Let's not get too ahead of ourselves, Wakashika-san," Togo said, looking back at him sternly, "We shouldn't jump too far from what we have so far."
"You're right. Sorry about that," Wakashika answered back, scratching his head, "Guess we would still need to find more clues that can lead us to a better result than jumping to conclusions…"
They looked back on the monitors to find something strange going on with the guitar case. It started to emit some sort of black smoke. Something clearly wasn't right. Sakaido was in danger.
"This isn't looking good," Momoki muttered under his breath, "Don't die on us now…"
Sakaido suddenly felt a strange presence coming from the guitar case. Small puffs of black smoke started to pour out of it, making the warehouse murkier and darker. He was still holding on to the branding tools that he took out of the case, which made him believe that the being might want them back.
"I knew something was up with this guitar case," Sakaido said as he positioned his machete in front of the case again, "Why did I open it? But this item looks too out of place for farming equipment…"
Little by little, something started to form out of the smoke. Inside the already dimly lit warehouse, it made the figure appear invisible. All Sakaido could see was a shining gleam of a weapon forming around its hands.
It looked like a scythe. A giant scythe. A Grim Reaper-like figure appeared, with a large smoky hood covering its face.
Not good, not good. I should not have done that.
The cloaked being started to swing its scythe at Sakaido, almost knocking out his machete. Its movements were swift and steady as it flew around the warehouse, trying to kill him. After a few knockbacks, Sakaido decided to head back to the maze, taking some of the farming tools that were laid out in the corner near the entrance.
"I have to get out of here. I haven't even reached the end goal yet…"
But before Sakaido could move, the figure quickly sliced at his scarf, cutting it into many pieces. The only remnant of his scarf left was from a piece of it that was used to treat his wound. His black undershirt started to show underneath his clothes.
His clothes would get sliced apart if he stayed here for too long.
Quickly grabbing a few of the farming tools on his way out, Sakaido ran out of the warehouse into the brightly lit maze environment. A few monster tractors were around the area, looking for people to run over. The creepy figure was nowhere to be found.
"Maybe I can use those tractors to help me reach the end goal faster…I don't know if that thing disappeared or not…I can't take any chances…"
The main Kura staff was observing the id well when one of them noticed something on Sakaido's back. It looked like a mark, similar to the others inside the well. It had been covered up by his clothes all this time.
"The mark looks like an upside down V," Momoki said, checking screenshots of the other people's marks they had gotten from inside the well, "It doesn't look like any of the other's marks either."
"I mean, even Kaeru-san has gotten a mark on her right?" Habutae said, showing an image of Kaeru's back being shown with a mark on her corpse, "It could just probably just be part of the well's features…"
"I don't know," Wakashika said, putting his hand to his chin, "We're still not sure if John Walker is part of the Mizuhanome's features either. He didn't show up in most of the wells that Narihisago-san was tested in so there's that."
"That's not what I'm talking about, Wakashika-san," Habutae muttered back, "Let's see if Sakaido can figure out who that strange being is first. He looks like the Grim Reaper."
"Scared of it, Habutae-san?" Shiratake said, grinning at him, "You don't have to admit it."
"Focus!" Momoki shouted at them, clenching his fists, "Sakaido could die at any moment now. That strange figure could definitely attack him again. Be prepared to get as much information as you can!"
And the main Kura staff stayed quiet for a while, going back to watching their monitors again.
Sakaido climbed up on the grass walls again, using his farming tools to make his climbing easier. Looking around, he spotted a monster tractor nearby. It was going in the direction of the end goal, so he could jump from a few grass walls to get there.
I'm not too far from the end goal. I hope I can make it.
After a couple of deep breaths, Sakaido sprinted on the grass walls, trying to catch a monster tractor that was heading towards his destination. Taking a rake, he positioned himself to throw it while using bits of the damaged scarf that he had managed to grab while running.
"HERE GOES!"
He jumped and landed on top of the monster tractor, barely holding on to it. The tractor seemed to not notice him right away, but it did try to shake him off. Using the rake as a bit of a lever, he tried to control the monster to navigate around the maze.
This is harder than I expected. I hope this will work. The grass walls weren't that hard to climb, but going through them is going to be a hassle…
Sakaido continued to control the monster as best as he could, but it kept trying to shake him off. Focusing on the path and speeding away from the other tractors inside the maze, he needed to concentrate.
The end goal was in sight, with the person that looked to be waving near it. There seemed to be a slightly blurred out building near the end goal as well.
"Almost there, come on…"
He tried to concentrate but was suddenly hampered by some black smoke. The figure was on top of the monster tractor and was trying to help it kick him off. Holding onto the rake that he used as a lever, Sakaido fought with the hooded figure.
After a while, he noticed that the cloak could be removed, due to bits and pieces of it flying around after he fought with it with his machete. The being tried to hold onto its cloak when he tried to attack it a few times.
Let's see if I can remove that cloak and see its face. This thing's weakness could be the light intensity inside this maze.
Grabbing onto the figure's cloak while he positioned himself on the monster tractor, Sakaido jumped at its scythe handle. It distracted the being for a bit, so he quickly jumped off and landed back on the tractor's back.
"Let's see who you really are…"
In one fell swoop, it revealed a man with a top hat and a cane hiding underneath the ghostly cloak and black smoke. The man's face was blurred, so Sakaido wasn't able to see anything past its top hat.
The Kura staff stared blankly at the screen, unable to say a word.
John Walker was back.
He had been inside the Brander's well all along.
He had been masquerading as the hooded figure to hide his identity.