Melissa held the chair, grabbed it by the top, and pulled back. It made a horrid scraping noise as it caused friction with the floor, causing Hanako and the Director of finance to flinch, who were both on each side of the seat.
Vergil made his way over to his lieutenant, who had pulled his chair out for him. Reaching his destination, he raised a single brow at Melissa, who smiled and bowed her head in turn. She turned around and flashed a wicked grin at Valerie, who rolled her eyes and crossed her arms in exasperation.
Vergil then glanced at the person who had arranged the setup of the high council room; one Hanako Arasaka who was staring at him with a light smile and a slight lid to her gaze.
" I'm glad you can join us, Sparda-san." She greeted me in Japanese. He considered her words, his eyes traveling her form, and he held out his hand. She tilted her head in an amused fashion and lifted her hand up in response.
"Hanako Arasaka. A pleasure." He took her hand and gave a slight kiss to the back of it, as an old-fashioned European noble would. His disregard for the Japanese custom to add honorifics was noted, but he had made up for it with his sheer charisma. Oda glared at the interaction, but his attention was taken up by the pinkette who had entered his field of vision.
"Looks like we'll be guard buddies, Mr. Cyborg ninja…" Valerie smiled with a lopsided grin, idly fingering her belt. She walked forward and leaned against the wall, next to Oda. Oda scowled at her from the side, his single uncovered eye glaring at her with its eerie white glow.
"Watch yourself, woman. I am not your friend…" he whispered in a near hiss, but Valerie shrugged.
"...Meh. I'd give your glare a 5/10. Work on how your jaw tenses, and throw your other eye in the mix too, your hair kinda ruins the look." She commented and returned her gaze to the table in front of her. Oda nearly sputtered in affront, but reigned it in and refocused on his charge. He would not dare to embarrass Hanako-sama in front of her colleagues and rivals.
Vergil stood in front of his pulled-back chair, and Melissa pushed forward on cue. He sat down with grace and fluidity, which made the situation all the more absurd, his fancy and unique way of dressing clashing with the cheap piece of plastic that clashed with the rest of the high society atmosphere in the chamber. Melissa bowed her head once more and walked back right beside her fellow Counter-Intel guard at the wall, who scoffed at the display.
"Have something to say, Pondsmith?"
"Pfft. Yeah, I do. Lots. But I gotta follow the bossman's orders. So remind me later…"
A period of tense silence graced the table, with many shifting eyes and stares being directed toward the faction heads and certain members in attendance. Hanako opened her mouth to begin conversing with the silver-haired man next to her but was cut off when the holocall on the wall of the room they were all facing turned on. An aged Japanese man, with cyber lines running through his face and eyes a sharp, white glow surveyed the room. This was Saburo's trusted bodyguard and right-hand man. Intensely loyal, he was another man who could go toe to toe with Smasher, as he had Arasaka's best technology screwed onto every inch of his body.
The Perfect Corporate Samurai. Goro Takemura.
"Is everyone in attendance?" Takemura asked, eyes now focused on Hanako.
" Yes, Takemura-san. All heads are accounted for. We may begin." She spoke up, taking charge of the situation and placing herself as the foremost speaker.
" Then may I present the Emperor of Arasaka, and your CEO. Saburo Arasaka-sama." Takemura spoke in Japanese and bowed his head, before winking out of existence and being replaced by another man on the holo screen. A truly ancient man, with wrinkles covering every space on his face appeared. His eyes, though worn with age, had the edge of a man who had seen everything the world had to offer. He wore a traditional kimono of the finest silks, a testament to both his distant past and outrageous wealth. His eyes scanned the room, stopping at every face and nodding at random intervals. Every director had their eyes glued to the screen, unsure of what to do, and squirmed at the eye contact, save a couple of individuals. After a brief moment of tense silence, he exhaled and gave a smile that did not reach his eyes.
" Greetings, my friends. I'm glad you could all gather on such short notice." The wizened man spoke in his home tongue, and Hanako once again took the reins for the group.
" Yes, Otou-sama. We have waited in anticipation for your next words."
Saburo merely grunted in affirmation, then directed his attention to the man sitting next to her.
" Bajiru-sama, I'm glad you could make it this time around." Vergil tilted his head to the side and considered his next response.
" So he starts off the meeting by singling me out, and then insults me in the guise of a compliment…Hmm…"
"It's a pleasure to be here. Unfortunately, I was rather busy restoring order in your empire. May I remind you that through my efforts, Arasaka and its controlled areas are now the safest parts of Night City." He responded, unblinking as he stared into the eyes of the emperor. The tension was palpable, and many members were wide-eyed at the interaction. Yorinobu was hiding a smile beneath his hand, surprised at the gall of Vergil to speak back against his father at the center of Arasaka's power base. Any lesser man would have apologized and had his tongue cut out on the spot.
But not this man.
" Of course. Of course…" Saburo ceded, and was inwardly taken aback by the maneuver. It was time for some damage control, then.
" We all thank you for your service to my company. It would be nice to see you come more often, as such an important member of our esteemed family."
Vergil's eyes sharpened. A double-layered trap, hidden beneath the complements. Specifically "my company", and "esteemed family". To be in any way negative here, would be to ostracize himself more than needed. He was still an employee of the company, and needed their good graces to maintain his power base to further his own goals. Vergil nodded once in Saburo's direction.
"As long as the crime rate remains low in this city, I shall endeavor to attend more meetings."
A relatively vague, yet packed enough statement to spring said traps. It reminded everyone that it was due to him and him alone that crime was at an all-time low in Night City, and that he was indispensable. Yet, it was a promise of further cooperation, as long as he maintains his position of power. The statement could have ended with addressing Saburo with something like Sir, or Arasaka-sama, but Vergil had deliberately left it out.
The head of Counter-Intel could not be bowed in deference. The duel ended in a stalemate.
Hanako could only look on in admiration at the hidden wordplay.
" Hmm. Very well then. We shall continue with my next statement." Saburo changed the topic, and Vergil leaned back more in his chair, content at his performance.
" My friends. We are at a crossroads of destiny. We are at the very pinnacle of our power. Yet we can go further. Do not pretend I am not blind to the ongoing events that are outside of our purview. The enemies are at our gates, and our position is precarious. If I may be so callous, I would compare our position to the height of the Japanese empire, before the Greater East Asian War. We have the world as our oyster, and yet we find ourselves in deep water." Saburo monologued in a grave tone, his obsidian eyes boring holes into the directors in the meeting.
" Laying it on thick, Mr. Emperor?" Valerie inwardly scoffed, playing with her hair. Hanako kept her eyes glued on the screen, nodding her head at the talking points and Yorinobu rapped his fingers on his chair rests, uninterested in the spiel.
" Have I ever told you all of how Arasaka truly came to be? It was not in the many wars we have been through. It was not the financial decisions I took to bring this company to where it stands now. It was not even after we released the Secure your Soul program. No. It was the day of my nation's greatest defeat, in 1945 under my compound's cherry blossom. My tanto blade was two inches in my stomach, and I was ready to die for the name of our nation. Death, before dishonor." Saburo punctuated the last comment with his fist hitting his palm.
Before I could complete the ritual… I was struck with an epiphany. I was better off alive to serve my nation than dead. The dead could not move mountains. The dead cannot influence the living. It was this vision that drove me to remove the blade from my body and build Arasaka into what it is now. A grand monolith of technology and advancement that puts the rest of the world to shame! But my quest for dominance was thwarted by one thing all mortal beings must face. Time. My friends, I grow old. I am ancient. I am 156 years old. And yet there are many things I need to do. Even now, I am not sure any of you are ready to take over as my successor."
Hanako winced like she had been struck, and Michiko began to stare at the table, her expression unreadable. Yorinobu blew air out of his nose, almost like a chuckle but remained aloof in the proceedings. Vergil however…
" Is this how my father felt… before he disappeared?" He wondered.
So much to do. So little time… the boys aren't ready for the world to bear down upon them. But who decides when one is ready or not? You need to be able to perform. Or fail trying. Nothing is ever guaranteed…" The silver-haired man monologued for his late father, a contemplative air around him.
"That is why I personally commissioned the Secure your Soul Program. A way for me to personally guide the next generation forward, even though my flesh was long gone from the world. A form of immortality so that I know in good conscience that the company remains in good hands. My hands." Saburo continued to rant, his old age belying his talent at oration.
" Yet… I shall be honest with you all. The Secure your Soul copies are just mere copies. Shadows of the former selves. They are digitized pieces of data, with preloaded statements and phrases that are connected to a large data bank in our servers. Forgive my crudeness, but I have seen digital prostitutes more expressive and able to communicate personality better than some of our state-of-the-art technology that we peddle." Eyebrows in the room shot up at his comment. Smasher was even silently chuckling in the corner, his massive frame shaking as he took in the despair. Several people in the room had already paid for a subscription to the program, and to hear from the mouth of the Emperor that it was less than perfect…
It was disquieting, to say the least.
" We find ourselves in deep waters. Our backs are to the wall, forced there by our enemies. Our flagship product, flawed. Our power base, squabbling amongst ourselves. The writing is on the wall. Arasaka would face a decline, much like the olden empires of the past. It is simply nature, running its course. Time marches ever onward. But it doesn't have to be this way, my friends!" He paused, reaching a crescendo in his speech.
" I have poured my very heart and soul into the next step of our future. I have commissioned our very own scientists, who are the best and brightest that wealth and power could purchase, to continue research into the murky areas that is our psyche. It was not enough that our mere personalities would be copied and placed somewhere for safekeeping. No, we must be able to take the next step in "Securing your soul."
Saburo paused to take a breath, his labored body heaving at the effort.
"Originally, progress was slow. The original plan was to insert the personalities into a tiny chip, which we dubbed an engram. This engram would be able to sync with a neural network, and "download" the personality into a host. A new body, with a new lease on life. True immortality in a mortal body. But we did not have the means or technology to perform this task."
Many eyes were wide open at the implication. A new body? Then the flesh truly didn't matter in this day and age, as everything could be digitized and artificially produced, down to even the memory of a person. The moral, and immoral connotations of taking a "host" were not lost on people either. Would the host fight back, could they even consent to be overwritten by a piece of data? Hair began to rise at the implication.
Even Vergil, as seasoned as he was in supernatural and spiritual affairs, was taken aback.
" Possession of a human…by another human. Using mere technology? Ridiculous." His eyes widened when Saburo continued his speech.
"Until, in 2069, the Gods saw fit to bestow us with their miraculous energy. Our very own, Hellman-san, discovered the element which he named after himself. However, I have another …more fitting name for it, if I may be so bold. From the old Sanskrit texts, and in the religion of Buddhism, there is a miraculous elixir that the Devas, or the gods, used to make themselves immortal. Amrita."
The image on the screen shifted from Saburo to the Crater in Pacifica, and Vergil's blood ran cold. They were talking about demonic energy like it was the end all be all material. A disastrous mindset, if he knew anything about humans using otherworldly powers for their own benefit.
" It is here where even I lose myself in the details, so I shall let the good doctor himself explain." Saburo finished, and he winked out before being replaced by a blond-haired man with glasses.
"Hello, colleagues. My name is Anders Hellman, but let's skip the formalities and get right to the Knitty gritty. Hellmnium, or Amrita as the Emperor has taken to call it, is a unique element that is only found in one place on Earth. Its structure is unlike anything we've seen… well ever. Its molecules under the microscope do not follow basic conventions, and it has its own charge, neither negative nor positive. Yet it is a form of sustainable power that the likes of have never seen before. It outpaces Nuclear fission in energy output, and it is present mostly as a gas, but can coalesce into a liquid and a solid."
The video on the screen changed to one in a lab, and it followed the process of a container of "Hellmnium" gas being condensed into its liquid form. The liquid in question was a dark crimson red, almost like blood, and after a while it solidified, making what looked like orbs of red skulls and screaming faces in the mold.
Many were taken aback. They had heard of the wonder material and its scarcity in the world but had never seen it in its most raw form. To see literal skulls and contorted faces being formed out of nowhere…
"The element has a unique effect on humans as well. As you may all know, Hellmnium products have been only relegated to energy cells and weapon platforms. The use of the element in implants has been banned worldwide due to almost every interaction resulting in a form of extreme Cyberpsychosis. Apparently from our studies using criminals and prisoners of war, the element tends to make the human mind unstable, and hallucinations of…let's say otherworldly manifestations, causes them to go insane, regardless of any previous therapy or immunosuppressants."
Valerie's gaze shifted to Melissa, who was looking at the screen with intense focus. Valerie then glanced at Vergil, who was tapping on his chair with a single finger, yet also giving his undivided attention to the screen.
" I don't know what it is…But there's a connection between bossman and that element… and that crazy bitch over there."
"A clearly dangerous element, no? Yet we have found a use for it in our other research. Namely, the Secure your Soul program. Please, take a look at this footage of our earlier tests. And if you are weak of heart, or do not have the stomach for violence, I urge you to look away or leave the room." Hellman finished his explanation, and the screen changed to a man being strapped to a chair.
Another man in a lab coat approached him and held up what was in his hand to the camera. It was the aforementioned engram, which was a tiny red chip barely the size of a finger.
Yorinobu stirred in his seat, the color draining from his face.
Vergil's eyes narrowed in recognition. Even from here, even though the recording was in the past, he could feel the demonic energies swirling around that engram through the screen. Its malevolent energy surged at random, sending waves of its power outwards. Melissa began to shiver, and she grabbed her head, feeling an intense migraine.
The Son of Sparda had felt similar energies when fighting his brother Dante, and handling his own demonic weapons, like Beowulf . These humans…
They inadvertently had just created an artificial devil arm.
The lab man slotted in the engram in the other man's head, and Hellman reentered the call as a disembodied voice.
" Now, take notice as to what is about to happen. And do not worry for the man, he was a convicted criminal sentenced to the death penalty."
"... How quaint." Vergil thought to himself but continued to view the screen. The man began to shake in his restraints for around five minutes before he settled. His eyes then snapped open, and he tore himself from his restraints. He looked around the lab, his eyes ablaze with some unknown power.
"Yo u A ra sa ka b asta rds… Th in k you ca n t ak e me, p ris on er?" The man growled, and marched around the room, stalking the floor like an unleashed predator snarling at its prey.
" Y o u'll Nev er con tain me . No t th is Ro cker boy!" The prisoner slammed his fist against the wall and it broke immediately under his newfound demonic strength. Yells of alarm sounded, and a squad of Arasaka troopers surrounded the man before they took aim and gunned him down.
Yet, the body kept convulsing, contorting in impossible angles and breaking bones. Hanako reached out and grabbed Vergil's arm, using him as an anchor to make sense of what was happening on the screen, but he didn't feel it. Rather, his attention was sharply on the events unfolding, watching as the human began to shrivel up, his skin becoming like a raisin.
"AAAHHHHHHHHHH" Despite clearly being dead, and riddled with bullets, a scream of pain burst through his mouth. Suddenly, a bright flash of flame erupted out of nowhere, a few meters from his body, and out stepped… a veritable relic of the past. The man was wearing a dark black T-shirt, with the words "Samurai" emblazoned on it. The visage of a red Oni with a cybernetic eye snarled at the world, completing the shirt's dangerous and rebellious design. The poltergeist wore dark aviators, but the burning fire within the apparition's eyes was present for everyone to witness, miniature suns burning through the dark lenses. His hair, which was a long and unruly mess, rose with his anger, and he turned to face the camera. The left arm, which was completely cybernetic, was iconic to every single person in the room. Even Smasher was taken aback, as he uncrossed his arms and walked a few steps forward to glance at the screen to view it from a better angle. He couldn't believe what his scanner was telling him.
This was the rocker boy that had single-handedly changed the public's perception of Megacorps. This was the leader of the band Samurai, and a veteran of the Second Central American War. This was the man who had led an assault team into Arasaka tower and used thermonuclear bombs to level a few city blocks in Night City alongside his sworn enemy.
The Nightmare to every Megacorp, Johnny Silverhand.
" Hehehehe…You bastards fucked up. Allow me to demonstrate why you should never play with fire." After his statement, a wave of red-hot flames burst from the apparition and immediately turned the closest troopers into ashes. Other men began to open fire, but Silverhand disappeared in a flash of red and appeared behind one man, sending his bionic arm straight through the back and out the front.
"... Holy shit. You Gonks really fucked up this time."
The board was in disbelief. They had just witnessed what they assumed was some sort of hologram shoot fire and not only touch but kill a man with its arm. If this recording wasn't doctored in any form…
True immortality through this engram would be a possibility.
Silverhand spun around and flung the man into his compatriots, before picking up a D5 copperhead off the ground. He continued to gun down the soldiers, disappearing in a plume of flames, and reappearing in a different area, as needed to avoid incoming bullets and launched back waves of his fire to burn men to cinder. A minotaur mech lumbered onto the screen, but Silverhand rocketed forwards with his bionic fist outstretched and reduced it to mere scrap after one swing of his demonic empowered strength.
" Hahahahah! Cmon assholes, you get burned! You play with fire, you get burned! HAHAHAHAHAH!" He rushed toward two troopers who were fleeing, and ripped one apart with his bare hands, sending his innards scattering all over the floor. The other trooper pulled out his handgun and sent rounds toward Silverhand, who decided to test his durability. Taking the shots full force he stumbled, but then he stretched like a cat after recovering, watching as the spent rounds fell out of his ethereal, yet physical body. Cracking his neck, he flashed a rogue grin, and his right eye glowed with the intensity of the sun, his dark glasses tinting the light to a dark red ethereal glow.
" I'm a fucking demon sent to kill you, Arasaka! Ya hear me?" Johnny blinked forward again and grabbed the trooper by the throat, hoisting him up.
" Let it be known that Johnny Silv-" a sudden burst of flame and he was suddenly missing. The Arasaka trooper landed unceremoniously on his rear, and after a minute of glancing around aimlessly, he grabbed his throat and then his face, before laughing himself to unconsciousness at his situation. The camera panned around before it refocused the prisoner, or what was left of him. What was once a human being was now a simple bag of wrinkled skin, blackened by the ashes and carnage around it. Vergil stared intensely at the remains, his finger tapping his chin as he brainstormed, before coming to a hypothesis.
" The devil arm must utilize human blood to function. By harvesting the host's essence, it has enough power to manifest the soul encrypted in the engram…as a result, resurrection is surely possible, given enough of the host's life force is consumed, and the engram of the person itself is undamaged. After the host is fully drained, the devil arm no longer has the blood required for its processes, and the soul is presumably returned to the chip… curious indeed."
Vergil finally noticed that Hanako was grabbing his arm with such force that she was white-knuckling. Clearing his throat, she looked down and coughed as she withdrew her hand, a slight blush on her face.
Returning his attention to the screen, it faded away from the gruesome scene and back to Hellman.
"Excuse the horrid sight, but seeing is believing, no? With Hellmnium and this technology, we have unlocked the promise that religion could not give. True eternal life! Not only through a digital interface, but through the very soul itself. We still do not know how it truly functions, but rest assured we are still putting it through trials, and the results…are very promising. Are there any questions?"
Utter silence met his query. Everyone was still taken aback by what they had just witnessed. A single chip was slotted into a prisoner, and a man just came from being presumed dead, and killed ten people, before disappearing in a plume of flames. To say that the situation was absurd was an understatement. Save for one person.
Vergil stood up from his seat, the chair scraping against the ground.
"...How many of these prototype engrams have you made thus far." He asked, more of a demand, than a question. Hellman was taken aback, not expecting the enigmatic head to have any sort of question, as he was told the man was always a silent specter. Finding his words, he addressed the silver-haired man.
"Sad to say, but this is the only one that we could use for now. Silverhand's engram was the only one we could feasibly test, as we could not utilize other engrams in experimental functions under the contract they signed. Silverhand had signed no such disclaimer, and so we could use his as needed."
Vergil raised a brow at the answer, the implication that they had taken Silverhand by force glossing over everyone else. But he had more pressing manners to worry about. Namely the devil arm that was now being abused by Arasaka.
"...And where is it now? Such a…marvel of technology would be disastrous if it fell into the wrong hands in our current situation." He asked. Hellman blinked and his eyes shifted from Vergil to the right of the room. Vergil's eyes narrowed. He'd seen similar tells from his experiences in prying information from unfortunate victims when they would lie to him.
"I…it's under a secure facility. No need to worry, this is the first time we have disclosed this information to anyone other than me, the scientists, and Mr. Arasaka himself!" He spoke hastily.
The silver-haired man narrowed his eyes even further. The dodgy attitude, the quickened way he spouted out the last sentence, the slight stuttering… all tell of avoidance.
There was something amiss here.
He glanced around the room and took stock of everyone's reaction. Hanako was looking off into the distance, her expression still shocked from the affair she had just witnessed. Michiko was rubbing her arm with her hands, probably a nervous tic. Smasher was as still as ever, but Vergil could hear his cybernetic fists clenching and unclenching, perhaps he was in surprise that his nemesis had been resurrected in such an… explosive manner. Melissa was clutching her head, while Valerie had wrapped the woman around in an embrace, taking the smaller woman in her bosom, and rolling her eyes when Vergil's eyes met hers. The rest were still in a state of shock and disbelief. And Yorinobu…
Yorinobu looked like he had killed someone, his face as white as a sheet.
" Interesting…"
"...About the Hellmnium…is there a bottomless supply down there in Pacifica? I'd imagine that you would be running short of it after all these years and tests.'' Vergil had a sneaking suspicion about something, especially after the raw power that Silverhand had demonstrated for everyone to witness. The amount of demonic power in the engram could not have been drawn from the craters' residual energy. No, it had to be another source of "Hellmnium" that they were drawing from to make their prototype.
His pupils closed to daggers. There was only one way that they could have made such a tool…
"...Very talkative today, Mr. Sparda." Yorinobu rose from his steel throne, his gaze meeting the Dark Slayer's. He had apparently gotten over his previous vexation, and had sallied out to steer the conversation in his favor.
"You usually don't have much to say. Interested in my father's secret projects, hmm?" Yorinobu pressed, and Vergil turned his body to face the heir.
"...True immortality is a curious thing. Something that revolutionary would be world-changing." He reasoned. Yorinobu nodded, and then shifted the conversation once more.
"Why so secretive, hmm? You say nothing, you don't attend these meetings, and then when we finally have something that could change the world, you become a little chatterbox…"
The room's temperature went down a few degrees, and Vergil's glare intensified. Tanaka's eyes grew wide, re-experiencing the same pressure that he felt earlier in the day.
"What are you insinuating, Yorinobu Arasaka?" He stated, with a soft voice that hid an undercurrent of steel. Yorinobu was taken aback by the sudden change in the silver-haired man, and a cold sweat began to form. He had never felt so threatened by another human being like this before. Smasher walked forward a step, but Yorinobu raised his hand, wordlessly telling him to stand down.
His father was Saburo Arasaka. If he couldn't take these sorts of glares, he would not be alive today. Steeling himself under the head of CI's glare, he met his gaze head-on and questioned him.
"...What were you doing in Mexico? I know it wasn't a vacation. You left a veritable trail of bodies there. One hundred and seven dead, and still counting!" At Yorinobu's statement, Melissa hunched over, crossing her legs in a panic, and began to breathe heavily, her face red with…embarrassment?
"...Oh choom, you did not just…" Valerie whispered and further covered her fellow agent with her coat. Vergil looked behind at the scene and wondered if Valerie's advice on leaving Melissa behind was sound. Shaking his head in consternation, he turned back his ire to Yorinobu.
"If you think I was there to fuel my murderous appetite, you'd be wrong. Just the opposite actually. The locals requested I clear the local cartel in the area. You'll find that they are much more receptive to Arasaka now that I've cleared their rats out." He coolly deflected, pinning down the heir with his signature scowl. "What about you, Yorinobu Arasaka. I've heard of your past and disreputable reputation with the company. If we are to be pointing fingers, I'd say you'd be the very first to try and sabotage your father's work-"
"-Do not turn this around, Sparda! You came from nowhere, your name wasn't found on any database until two years ago. And you've killed more people than most here. You are an outlier, an outsider, a Gaijin-"
"-Enough! I will not have this aimless discourse in my presence!" Saburo ordered in Japanese, and winked back on the screen. Yorinobu flinched, before sitting down and fuming at the floor. Vergil glared at the heir, before scoffing and returning to his own chair.
"Apologies. I was just concerned about the security of the engram. Something like that is indeed… world-changing." Vergil stated, easing the flow of conversation back to his corner. Saburo's eyes tightened ever so slightly, but nodded in acquiescence. There was nothing to be gained from alienating one of his more useful branches in the company further.
Hanako shook off her trepidation, and stood up.
" Otou-sama, when will we expect the product to hit the market? Having the…proof of concept is nice, but when can we actually see results?" She asked in Japanese.
" ...As Hellman-san stated before, repeat trials still have to be taken. If you are looking for a specific date, I cannot promise anything. But for an estimate…perhaps a year or so." He explained, and Hanako sat down, her gaze in the air in contemplation.
The Director of Security stood up, and fixed his tie.
"That man…Silverhand…threw fire from, well…nowhere. Was that a real thing we just saw? And he, uh…teleported, too. Where's this tech coming from?" He asked, and Saburo only gave him a grim smile in return.
" Like I have told you all. Amrita is the elixir of the Gods. There are some things that just cannot be understood by human reasoning. The epiphany I had when I was about to commit seppuku, for example. Was it my shaking hand that stopped me? No. I was fully ready to die at that moment. Yet something stayed my blade… halted my actions. Gave me a vision for the future. And now the unknown has graced us once more, in that crater with their wondrous essence. My friends, we are destined for greater things in this world."
His voice reached another crescendo, eyes now filled with passion and vigor. Vergil had seen something similar, in the memories that the shards of Yamato held. His mannerisms and expressions were similar to the Order of the Sword Zealots, specifically their most "holy and glorious" leader, Sanctus.
The Director of Security tightened his lips in response to the answer, and gave a stiff bow, before sitting down. Vergil glanced around, studying everyone's expression once more. The room had an atmosphere of disquieting silence, with anxious glances and thousand-yard stares being sent to and from those in attendance.
"... What's the matter, never been subject to a religious spiel?...Hah."
He supposed not, as this society was fully materialistic. Godless. Worshiped the material, and scorned the immaterial. And when something finally cropped up that didn't conform with their worldview of nihilistic consumption? Something their world of science and reason could not explain?
Denial. Denial. Denial.
It was their world of rampant want that had turned them this way. When one had finally received all they dreamed of, all the wealth and fortune they've engorged themselves in, it was a matter of time before they turned on themselves, closing their hearts to their true desires. They force themselves to think that they matter. That being top of the world must matter, means something in their empty lives, but it was for naught. It was void of any substance or meaning. All this material must have value. It's all they've worked for. All they've bled for. All they've made others bleed for.But much like how one clenches sand in their fist, the tighter they hold on, the more pressure they apply, and the more of the grains leave. In seeking validation and pleasure in their comforts of technology and wealth, their souls were lost, adrift in the wind. It was no wonder many fell to Cyberpsychosis and other mental afflictions.
" To see a world in a grain of sand. And a heaven in a wildflower. Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand. An eternity…in an hour."
Vergil shook his head. Now was hardly the time to bash this failed society on its shortcomings, and drop some poignant poetry as an afterthought to wrap it up in a neat bow. No, he needed to see how deep the rabbit hole went. Before he could stand and ask more questions, Saburo cut him off with his last announcement.
" Unfortunately, my friends, that's all the time I have. We have much to do. We have a busy future ahead of us. But you may stay and continue using the room for your own "benefits". Thank you for your hard work thus far. Arasaka Banzai." Saburo said on the screen and nodded to the side of his room.
And just like that, the emperor was gone. Vergil cursed under his breath, and bit the bottom of his lip. Many got up and began to converse amongst themselves, but he saw Yorinobu and Smasher make for a straight line toward the exit.
" Rather evasive of the old man…what are you hiding? And where is the heir heading off to in such a hurry?"