Chapter 10: Transactional

In most places in the world, with few exception when you purchase real estate, the property technically doesn't belong to you. If you must continually pay a recurring fee or else forfeit the bought property, can that really be called ownership or is simply a lease from the government in other terms? And so it remains true here. From a simple outhouse for taking a dump all the way to an entire city, speaking of which, some islands are for sale and yet when it comes to cities let alone a district?

The man at the other end of the table passed the sheet of paper. Looking down at it, the middle aged woman present could see they were a list of terms and conditions, limitations to which her employer would be subjected to.

Unless the city in question is a ghost town, you typically would have to buy each piece of a city in order to claim it. Certainly a district would be easier to buy since there is less of it.

The middle aged woman carefully reads the terms as presented.

Of course there is a much easier, if it can be achieved, method by which all the property in a district could be bought off in one fell swoop. Whether or not this purchase would be legal is another matter but if you have the money…

The middle aged woman frowned, took out a pen and crossed out a few lines and phrases. Afterwards she added her own. Changes to the agreement. She passes the terms of agreement back to the judicial scrivener on the other side of the table.

But sometime people need more than just money to persuade them.

The judicial scrivener at the other end table shakes his head.

"I can't accept these terms. If they found out I agreed to it, then-"

The middle aged woman snaps her fingers. In walk 2 men carrying briefcases. They open the latch revealing them to be full of yen. The judicial scrivener breathes.

Judicial Scrivener: "Even still I can't accept it. I especially can't accept it now."

Middle aged woman: "Because it will leave behind a trail?"

Judicial Scrivener: "Yes, especially because it will leave behind a trail, a money trail in this case.

The middle aged woman shrugs her shoulders.

Middle aged woman: "So? All you're really being offered is a whole bunch of cash. Why would your peers be interested in where you got the money from if they don't know you've got it?"

Judicial Scrivener: "Where would I hide the money first off!"

Middle aged woman: "Whoa there! Calm down."

Judicial Scrivener: "How can I remain calm when-

Middle aged woman: "It's not though we don't understand your apprehension about being caught."

Judicial Scrivener: "And you have a solution for this?"

The middle aged woman nods her head. From her breast pocket she presents a small purple capsule.

Judicial Scrivener: "Sorry. I don't take-"

Middle aged woman: "It's not what you think it is."

The judicial scrivener isn't paying attention.

Middle aged woman: "It's a little substance that if you take it, will cause all those around you who haven't taken it to complete forget about whatever it is that your doing depending on the dosage."

Judicial scrivener: "Yeah yeah. I'm not interested in tripping."

Middle aged woman: "Then would you be interested in being buried 6 feet under in pavement?"

The judicial scrivener breathes.

Middle aged woman: "How about your wife, son or dog? Perhaps any of them would be a suitable sacrifice."

Judicial scrivener: "Are you trying to threaten me?"

The middle aged woman shakes her head.

Middle aged woman: "Please. I much abhor killing and bloodshed, but if you aren't willing to make the transaction, I'm afraid I can't offer you much protection from my employer."

Judicial scrivener: "Your employer doesn't even offer much protection to those who agree with her terms anyways!"

Middle aged woman: "I have no ideal what you're talking about?"

Judicial scrivener: "A likely story. Kanon may be a professor now but I still remember the days when she used to run her own gang at Yabaize. Do you know what she does to her own men? She kills them and has them brutally tortured for her own pleasure even if they performed their task adequately."

Middle aged woman: "Those are just rumors and besides. How would you know?"

Judicial scrivener: "I-"

Middle aged woman: "It sounds like you enjoy making stories up. It's not nice to talk behind gentle and charitable lady's back."

Judicial scrivener: "Charitable and gentle my ass!"

Middle aged woman: "Enough small talk. Just accept our terms and all this money will be yours. We'll even give you a nice cover story so that the police don't question it."

Judicial scrivener: "I… "

Middle aged woman: "I see. You won't be persuaded then."

The middle aged woman snaps her fingers and immediately 2 men rush and tackle the judicial scrivener.

Middle aged woman: "Frisk him. I want you to remove all articles of clothing from him. Make sure he has nothing to hide on his person."
Judicial scrivener: "You!"

The judicial scrivener is struggling against the two men who are stripping him down.

Middle aged woman: "Don't look at me like I'm some pervert, you feckless fool. When you've been in my work for as long as I have, you learn to minimize the possibility that your target has something up your sleeves. Besides. I think these pictures will sell quite well."

Snap!

The judicial scrivener instinctively closes his eyes as the flash of the camera hits them.

Judicial scrivener: "Blackmail material? Go ahead. Sell them for all I care. Photoshop them if you want."

The middle aged woman sighs.

Middle aged woman: "You're making this very difficult. I very much hate killing and causing unnecessary pain but if you won't be convinced, I'm afraid you leave me with no choice."

The middle aged woman motions to a third man who walks up and injects a syringe into the judicial scrivener's neck. Pulling it out, the judicial scrivener's eyes start to flicker, his breathing slowed down within moments he had passed out.

Some time later…

Kirito: "Ugh. Wha- where am I?"

Kirito, not to be confused with a certain dual wielding blackswordsman as this was his actual name as opposed to an alias, groggily rubbed his eyes. The last thing he remembered was-

?: "So you're finally awake."

Kirito's eyes widened as he felt his body being tossed around. That voice. It definitely was female and it bellowed everywhere. Just where was he? Kirito felt something drip on his head. It was slimy.

Female voice: "Ah, right. You must have no ideal where you are-"

The light turns on and Kirito's face pales as he briefly settles into position.

Female voice: "or your current position."

Kirito: "Miyako! What are you doing? Spit me out already! Turn me back to normal."

Miyako closes her mouth and shakes her head.

Miyako: "Mm mm. I can't do that. I gave you so many opportunities before and now you've pushed my hand."

Kirito: "Wait. How can you still hear me?"

Miyako: "That's because in addition to that size reduction compound my men gave you, you were also injected with a device that allows for communication with shrinkies, which is what you are right now. Now. If you want to live-"

Miyako begins to raise her tongue.

Kirito: "What are you doing?"

And places the shrunken Kirito on one of her molars. Kirito could feel his heart pounding as he felt Miyako's upper molars press into him. With her teeth holding him in place, Miyako continued to make her demands.

Miyako: "Now obviously I can't have you returning back to normal. Maybe I'll keep you as a little pet. Behave and I'll show you how merciful I can be."

Kirito squirmed as he desperately tried to escape his captor's mouth but to no avail.

Miyako: "Here's what I want. Originally I was hoping you would just sign the papers and agree with my employer's terms but now that we've gotten in this situation, I apologize but there is only one solution right now."

Sweat pours down Kirito's face as he feels his throat tighten.

Miyako: "You're going to give us the password to your computer, to your account and your cellphone. Oh and while we're at it, I'll need to know both yours and your wife's bank account information."

Kirito: "Wha- what for!"

Miyako: "Well how else am I going to give your loved ones this hush money? Now-"

Miyako slowly presses down with her teeth. In a panic Kirito began shouting.

Kirito: "Okay! Okay! I'll tell you."

Miyako nodded her head and began writing down the information that the shrinky named Kirito who was being pressed between her molars had relayed to her. Repeating the same information back to confirm she hadn't missed anything Miyako handed the sticky note to one of her henchmen present. Her underling begins rapidly typing on Kirito's computer and frowns. Because he is wearing gloves, he won't leave any fingerprint evidence behind but that's not why he is frowning.

Henchmen 1: "It's not working. This password's a dud."

Miyako frowned.

Miyako: "You're lying."

Kirito: "Aaugh! Oh- okay so I lied. Just-"

Miyako: "Shut up. I dislike liars."

Miyako's 2nd henchmen begins fiddling with Kirito's phone.

Henchmen 2: "It's fingerprint activated."

Miyako: "I see. Then forget trying to access the bank account information. If our little guest here is feeling very selfish, then it's sad to say but your son and wife will never receive all this money. And to think you could have spent the life if only for a little bit. What a waste. Now tell us your password!"

Miyako began to roll the shrunken Kirito between her molars while pressing up and down with them. The friction caused Kirito's skin to burn, figuratively and all the while he screamed in agony. Pretty quickly he began whimpering and between his sobs he whispered out an answer.

Miyako: "You better not be lying cause if you are, I might consider going to your wife and son next. You aren't a terrible man to do that, are you?"

Kirito: "Uh…"

Miyako: "Is something the matter? You already know the answer. If you want me to stop, you're going to tell us the truth or so help us, I'm going to find someone who can, like either your wife or son for instance."

Kirito: "I… "

Kirito's voice waivers. Miyako hands the male grunt a third sticky note paper. This time the password is correct. With a few clicks, their job here is done. If you want to buy a city or at the very least a district, then take control of the real estate registry database. With this, the purpose of each building can now be defined, but Miyako isn't interested in claiming more territory. That's just Kanon has assigned for her. No, for her…

Miyako: "Took you long enough."

Kirito: "Am I free now?"

Miyako: "Just one more thing. Have you heard of the Divine Son of Destruction?"

Kirito: "Dd-d- who now?"

Miyako: "Information pertaining to the Son of Destruction is scarce, almost like a rumor or a story. All that can be said about him is that he is sort of like a hero to you shrinkies."

Miyako's voice sounded threatening. Well, it already because she was so much larger than he was now but this time Kirito noticed Miyako's voiced carried a hint of-

Kirito: "Do you have a grudge against him or something?"

Miyako: "Oh, very so. 5 years. Well actually it's been 5 years and 3 months and 15 days if we include today and I've yet to catch that bastard. That-!"

Nope. He hadn't misgauged it after all. Miyako was definitely pissed off.

Miyako: "I swore that I would find him and that I would kill him and my sisters who died that day at the Society will be appeased. I've yet to find him and I don't know what he looks like or if he's even still a- how does he do it though! All my sisters. Taken out by- killed by some stupid shrinkies!"

Even though Kirito couldn't see it, he knew that Miyako's lip had curled up and that she was smiling bitterly.

Miyako: "And so that is why I now treat every shrinky as the threat they can be, certainly more so than those reckless fools at the Society."

Miyako kicked her feet onto the desk while one of her men puffed a cigarette.

Miyako: "Entertain me for a moment here, will ya? Listen to what I have to say. After that day when my coworkers and friends died at the Society, we were barely scraping by. Even our Director Hatsune seemed perplexed by what had just happened, as if the events of that day weren't supposed to happen at all. Well I agree and so for the next 5 years till now I've been on the hunt for this elusive hero of the shrinkies. I was transferred to many branches but could never quite find him. Eventually word gets out that our Society has been dismantled and still I lack my prey."

Kirito: "I see."

Miyako: "Yes. Well, seeing that it's obvious you have no more information for me, I guess it's time for us to say goodbye."

Miyako begins to release the tension on the shrunken Kirito only to then flip him on his back with the tip of her tongue.

Kirito: "Wha-"

Miyako: "Oh no need to worry about me. My body's been modified significantly to neutralize all sorts of poisons and pathogens and parasites. It's not like you're some sort of sorcerer."

Kirito wasn't paying attention. He was too busy trying to clamper up on Miyako's salivating tongue to mind the giant bitch's words.

Miyako: "That was a joke. Now that you know my mission, I can't have you live. Hmph, even if I didn't tell you I still would've gotten rid of you seeing how I can't have any witnesses."

Miyako sighs as she continues to toy with the shrunken Kirito with her tongue.

Miyako: "And to imagine all of this could've been avoided had you just signed the paper. You would've all been rich but no. And now look where your morals have gotten you into."

Miyako swallows and as she does so, she can hear Kirito's screams in her earpiece as he plummets through her trachea, down the esophagus and into her stomach.

Miyako: "Into the belly of the beast."

Miyako rubs her belly as she stands up. Such a simple meal won't take long to digest and even if by some chance this shrinky had blades on him, it wouldn't matter in her stomach. The linings of her intestines had been modified to become blade-proof. Sure that meant certain forms of surgery were no longer available but when you have the recovery technology of the Society…

Well that's sort of a moot point.

Miyako claps her hands.

Miyako: "Let's wrap up everyone. Did everyone remember to bring their amnestics?"

Miyako held the purple capsule she had tried to offer to Kirito the judicial scrivener who was now digesting away in her stomach. All around her men pulled out theirs.

Miyako: "Excellent. Let's make like haste and disappear."

Elsewhere Kanon had reappeared and was making her way to the backside of a dark alleyway where 3 hardened criminals smoked.