Chapter 2

All was quiet in Quindecim.

It had been shut down temporarily because there were no Arbiters to take over its management at this time.

The only lights were the ghostly blue strobelights which surrounded the jellyfish tank, and those floor bulbs along the walkway.

Only a couple of hours ago, Clavis had rushed up to the top floor of the tower where Nona and Oculus had stood over their pool table; he had shouted about urgent news. When Oculus had been told of Decim's actions, his first reaction had been to laugh. His second reaction had been to envelop Nona with his orchid beard, forcibly rooting through her memories. "This is another experiment of yours, isn't it?"

Nona had twisted and removed the flower from her, angrily retorting, "No! It isn't." She had seemed distant, then. "This...this was Decim's independent decision."

The tall old man had narrowed his eyes and folded his arms. "Those who do not possess the ability to live most certainly do not have the opportunity to be reincarnated," He had growled, "and from what could a doll be reincarnated, if it never owned a soul? If it was never human? Decim has sealed his fate: he will end up in the void."

Nona had sighed, her gaze sorrowful as they fell upon the elderly heir to God. "Such a shame. He made an interesting Arbiter to have in my employ."

But now, hours later, Nona sat in Ginti's bar along with Ginti himself and Clavis, all of whom were taking swigs of their respective poisons.

"So he just...threw himself in the elevator?" Ginti began.

Shaking his head slightly, Clavis replied, "No. He seemed...resigned, when he stepped in. As if he was content with his decision." He put his glass down. "And...he smiled at me."

Both Nona and Ginti frowned.

"Decim…" Ginti began.

"...Smiled?" Finished Nona, her large earrings reflecting the dim light.

Clavis nodded. "I hadn't known he could do that, I've never seen him do it before."

"D'you think it had something to do with that dark-haired woman's judgement years ago?" Ginti offered, wiping down the countertop. "He's been hooked on that since forever."

"It is possible," Nona conceded, "but why would Decim send himself to the hangman's noose if he missed her that much?" Her eyes widened. "Unless -"

"Unless he thought he could meet her again," Ginti interrupted, his stern expression softening. "That idiot."

Nona remembered her words to Decim on that day, her obligation to tell him that his most treasured memories and emotions would have to be terminated if he was to remain at Quindecim. That must have spurred his decision.

Clavis bit his lip. "Oculus said reincarnation for an Arbiter would be impossible; it would break the laws of this place."

"It stands to reason that non-living beings cannot be rebirthed," Stated Nona. "And Arbiters cannot have an experience of life for it would bring them too close to being human," She pursed her lips, "but we haven't detected any extra souls entering the void; that is, no more than those judged to go there."

"We don't have souls." Said Ginti.

"So where is he?" Asked Clavis.

I would rather not know, thought Nona as she drained her drink. "He's not in the void, that's for sure. We must not tell old flowerhead of this until it is absolutely necessary." Decim may have just started the revolution we have been waiting for.

Pale eyelids fluttered open to reveal paler eyes. The scents that overwhelmed Akise consisted of a strong antiseptic odour and that of his own sweat.

Akise noted his attire was now a simple open-back medical gown; the covers of his bed were drawn up to his chin and someone was -

Someone was sitting by his bed. Eyes widening, Akise brushed his dark hair back to clear his vision further. He would have to get used to having dark hair, he thought quickly as the other person noticed he had awoken.

He could not tell who it was because they were wrapped in a hospital blanket, but as they lifted their head and blurted, "Thank goodness, you're alright!" Akise recalled that it was Chiy - Chiaki.

"Miss Kozuma?" She had placed one of her hands over his covered arm, her shining violet eyes adding to the intensity of her happiness.

"S-sorry!" She let go. "I do get a little carried away, sometimes. Uh…" She scratched the back of her neck in embarrassment.

Akise sat himself up straighter. "How long have I rested here? What happened?"

"You've been here for a day. The doctors aren't sure, but...they think you passed out from heat exhaustion. You hit your head pretty hard - don't worry though, no internal bleeding. Just a bruise." Chiaki chuckled lightly and Akise felt compelled to smile. She even behaved similarly to Chiyuki. "That is fortunate. I suppose I have been feeling...odd."

"There we go, admitting it is the first step to recovery," She chimed, "Mrs Murakami agreed for you to take some time off work and rest. After all, she said, you've been working so hard for the students lately."

"How kind of her, I shall give her my gratitude."

"They noticed, you know," Chiaki told him, her voice quieting, "your students. Today, they saw that something wasn't right. They were telling me all day about it, about how different you seemed. So I thought I would come visit you."

Memories of Akise Nakamori's class filled his head: calm yet cooperative lessons, occasional bouts of tension before exams, fun day trips and getting to know his students; all the images and sounds were laughs or Akise's voice mentoring the pupils. It appeared that he got on well with his class, and that the simple affection was reciprocated.

Akise frowned. Still...they weren't his memories. But they had to be. Then he realised: this was the perfect opportunity to play the amnesiac and find out more about Akise Nakamori.

Looking to Chiaki, he tried to appear concerned. "I'm afraid I do not recall my class."

"What? Not a single student?" Akise shook his head in reply.

Worried, Chiaki fetched some nurses and a doctor. The doctor checked Akise's pupillary reflex and sound reflex. "Not a concussion," She concluded. "Can you remember your name?"

"Akise Nakamori."

"The date?"

"Uh…" He genuinely had not checked the date today or yesterday, but the month he knew. "Sometime in early June."

"I see. And your address?" Akise struggled to recall the information about his apartment's exact location, but managed to give details nonetheless.

"Do you remember your age and profession, Mr Nakamori?"

"Twenty-six; history teacher at...at…" He had never lied like this before! Much less about having amnesia. Did one simply omit certain aspects of their lives when asked about it?

"But you remembered me," Chiaki commented.

Oh dear. Evidently first-time liars failed to consider everything. "Yes I did. But my memory beyond yourself is lacking," Akise gulped. "I cannot even remember the name of the Academy at which I work."

"But you remember it's an Academy?" Chiaki questioned, eyebrow raised.

"I'm confused," Akise admitted. Anybody could see that that was no lie.

"Alright, we don't want to crowd him," Said the doctor as the nurses were dismissed. "Sir, you'll be allowed to rest here for a while longer, however I deem you healthy enough to go home and continue your respite. Please ring the hospital if any more symptoms arise or if your memory does not improve."

"Yes. Thank you, Doctor." With that, he was left in the company of Chiaki once more. "Akise," She began, "what's going on?" Sensing that his doomed charade was up, Akise averted his gaze from her's. "I am terribly sorry, I am simply feeling very unwell at the moment. I believe the time off work is much needed."

Minutes of silence went by. It was not until Akise looked up,that he found Chiaki studying him discreetly. "May I ask why you study me so?"

Chiaki blinked, somewhat upset. "Sorry, I - look, Akise, you've been acting really strange today, and if I'm being honest it's kind of creeping me out. Your speech is unusually formal, your posture is rigid, and I swear that your eyes look different." Sighing, she stood up and pulled her coat around her body. "We've known each other for years; I can tell when something's bothering you."

This was new information to him. "H-how long have we known each other?" He asked, knowing that the question would hurt her but needing to understand anyway.

"What?"

"How...long have we known each other?" He repeated slowly, watching as Chiaki's eyes narrowed.

"You really can't remember stuff?" Sitting on the edge of his bed, the dark-haired woman tilted her head at him. "We've known each other since high school - we went to the same University!" She finally answered, frustrated. "Only recently we've actually gotten to know each other properly, but - seriously, did I mean so little to you back then?"

Akise knew he had offended her, but had no solutions to his predicament. "If it is any consolation, I cannot remember anyone with whom I attended high school or University. Please do not be offended. I am sure that the memories will return shortly," At her curious expression, Akise elaborated, "seeing as I hit my head."

Chiaki rubbed her forehead, clearly exhausted.

"I apologise for worrying you. You must be quite tired."

"I'm fine."

"I should be able to make my own way home -"

"Like I'm going to let someone with amnesia wander around the streets at this time of day," Chiaki stated. "It's already 6pm, I'll help you get home. For my good conscience, if anything."

Akise released a shallow breath from between his dry lips. "...Very well."

The clack of planets against each other rang out and echoed in the space that was the 100th floor of the Arbitration Tower - otherwise referred to as Oculus's billiards room.

Nona leaned over the table, carefully arranging her hands before pushing the cue to knock Saturn and Neptune into different pockets.

"Damn," She heard the old man curse behind her. He had seemed different lately, more defensive, but one thing certainly hadn't changed. He was still rubbish at this game.

"I want to change my request I made all those years ago, Nona," Oculus muttered, taking his turn. The cue hit the sun, but the sun only bumped the planets around it. "Go easy on me."

"Sorry," Nona began, a smirk on her porcelain features, "you only get one request. Besides, I'm not used to restraining my abilities."

Dark, snake-like eyes peered at her over half-moon spectacles. "I am aware of that. How many Arbiters in how many different departments have you been bribing?"

The question took Nona off guard. "...What -"

"It's not just you I've had my eye on, girl," The older said as he stood to his full, crooked height. "I have been observing Quin and Castra, seeing as they've given this tower trouble before. There've been several reports and complaints of muddled, semi-concentrated memories arriving from Quin's area, and Castra I know for a fact had been sending most of the tricky cases to your boy Decim before he proceeded to bite the big one."

"He can't die if he's not alive," Nona countered, "and I did what I had to do to ensure my experiment ran smoothly."

"But it didn't, did it? You ruined that poor boy. Gave him human emotions. Altered his existence to encompass suffering he was not prepared to deal with. I just want to know exactly what you've been doing, so that I may undo it."

Guilt showed on her face, but she continued to deter him."Undo it? I've already pointed out that we need a change around here, Oculus. I did not enjoy Decim's suffering, but you saw how it affected his judgement: it made the judgement meaningful."

Oculus sneered. "Why do judgements have to mean anything? That's the beauty of it: they simply are. They have no bias and they have no semantics. Once everything is back to normal you will understand that suffering only decreases the validity of a ruling."

"Of course judgements have meaning! In this case, their meaning is to decide whether a human's soul goes for reincarnation or to the void. It is an incredibly important decision - one can argue it is the most important decision one can make," Nona set the cue down, ready to storm off, ignoring the old man's look of contempt, "and one other thing: as long as judgements are made by sentient beings, they will always be biased in some way. The change I'm hoping for will at least put this bias to good use in a justice system."

She started to march toward the elevator, but a cold, bony hand gripped her forearm. "Wait."

"I'm not going to discuss this further with you."

Oculus sighed. "Then discuss something else. Concerning Decim."

Pulling away, Nona backed toward the edge of the platform, which was surrounded by flowers and vines. "I don't know where he is. As I've said, no anomalous souls have been detected around here."

Oculus chuckled. "Why are you searching for a soul? Arbiters have no such thing of their own."

Nona pinched the bridge of her nose. "Yes, but consider it. After Chiyuki's judgement, Decim had human emotions. He acted as a human would. Would that not make him human? Would that not grant him a soul?"

"Souls aren't gifts; you don't just acquire one, you're born with one."

"Then maybe he was born!" Nona yelled, making him flinch. "Maybe, in that moment, Decim was born. Therefore, it equates to actually being birthed with a soul."

Evidently, Oculus had not thought about this, as his grip on his cue loosened, it clattered to the floor, and he gulped. "...He would still be a dummy."

"Only physically," The pale-haired woman stepped closer. "If this is accurate, then Decim has been judging with a human soul for over twenty years already."

"...No…" Oculus gripped his temples, grinding his teeth.

Nona grinned. "That would mean…"

"No."

"...that your system of arbitration is already corrupt, old man!" Oculus lunged, pushing Nona against the cobbled wall; she hissed as her head hit the stone. Regardless, her finger found and pressed the button to call the elevator up.

"Mark my words, Nona, I will have you decommissioned and dismantled for the dummy you are!" He spat, his obsidian eyes boring into hers. Still, she did not relent. "The seed has been sown. If you end my existence, others will take my place," Nona panted, "and we will keep pushing for this change. Oculus, please, Arbiters need to either work with or own human emotions for their judgements to be sincere - otherwise we're just impassive observers!"

"Impassive observers are ideal," He stated, fingers pressing into her collarbone. "They cannot be unstable or bribed, and they bear no human traits. You said yourself, Nona, humans can't judge humans."

"And under what logic can dummies judge humans? I've been working for over one hundred years, and you know what the obstacle about being a simple observer is?" At his silence, she amended, "That we do not understand what we are judging."

Oculus frowned. "Why would Arbiters not understand -"

"Because we go by human laws! 'Ok, this one's killed someone, therefore he deserves the void'; 'ok, this one's lived a full life helping others, therefore he deserves reincarnation' but we never understand our own judgements. We don't get why killing someone is a bad thing because we can't feel grief, we have never lost loved ones because we cannot love, so we go based on what humans feel. We don't even know exactly what counts as 'doing good' so we make subjective deductions." Glaring at Oculus, Nona's expression was one of determination. "Back to Decim, as I've said, I don't know where he is. But he's not -"

The ring which announced the arrival of the elevator interrupted Nona's speech. Before Oculus could dismiss the messenger, Clavis appeared, hunched over, wheezing and flustered.

"Oc….Oculus, sir, I...I found -"

"Spit it out, Clavis."

Clavis leaned against the doorframe. In his arms, he cradled parts of a mannequin, all connected through strings and wires. "I...I realised that no one had checked the elevator Decim left in," He began, "so I called it down and opened the doors. And, this was there."

Oculus released Nona. She hurried over to the bleached collection of hollow limbs, examining it. On a thigh piece, something was inscribed: MDL 010. *

"How strange," Commented Oculus.

"Decim…" She murmured. What had become of him?

"This makes no sense," Clavis continued. "We have his dummy, but no sign of him."

All that was left of the rookie Arbiter was indeed, a husk.

Nona paused. A...husk?

Just as Clavis turned to leave, Nona turned to face the heir to God. "I have a theory as to where Decim is," She said, "but I doubt you will like it."

* I chose the number 10 for his mannequin because Decim sounds close to decem, the Latin word for 'ten'. Ergo Quindecem would be 'fifteen', for the 15th Floor.