Small patches of sun broke through the clouds over the Eastern Strand. With them the rain slowed to a mild drizzle. This fortunate change nor the ambiance of the waves crashing in the small cove nearby was able to quell the anxiety Sarah had. Trying to distract herself, she looked into the dilapidated beach house behind her through the opening the occupant left without a door. Doing that made a part of her feel like the old man was basically goading thieves by doing that. Though considering the small details from the Vermin Encyclopedia Jimmy read aloud to her, she conceded that the "candy" in the bottles lining Abe's shelves may be better deterrents than anything she could think of.
Speaking of the devil, she thought it was time to let Jimmy back in. She opened her mental link. A slight static danced through her head.
"Sarah? A-are you ok?" Jimmy voiced his concern as the static faded out.
"I'm a real mess Jimmy," Sarah lowered her face to her hands. "I'm sorry."
"It's alright, a lot has happened in such a short time," Jimmy paused as he tried to figure out what to say that wouldn't make her go silent again. "Do you want to talk about it?"
"I- just need to know. How long have we been doing this?" Sarah questioned her overseer.
"Huh? What do you mean?"
"Just this. What we're doing now. I can't seem to get a grip on it anymore," Sarah sat down.
Jimmy thought about this for a moment. "It has been a while hasn't it. Let's see. There was the 10 years of training, 25 years of odd-job placement, untold amount of hours of procedural paperwork. And that was before our permanent placement. Why are you asking me this all of a sudden?"
"It's just that, I've been thinking. If I wasn't so absorbed in my work could I have stopped all this from happening?"
"There was no way we could have known how bad Eddy's mental condition was. I believe the last thing he wants is you blaming yourself," Jimmy consoled as Sarah laid back on the water damaged stoop. She winced as the hardness of the wood pushed against her still tender back muscles.
"I try to think that, but I can't help feeling that if I was around him more I would of seen the signs better. Instead of sliding into new places like a vagrant every chance I got," Sarah tapped on the wood. "What if- when he remembers me, he starts hating me for leaving him alone when he needed me the most?"
"Sarah, we were there for him when we lost Peach Creek. We were there for him when we were forced through the Void Lands. Joining the Company, the Trials of the Iron Coffin, Bora Bora, The ice cream social incident, the list goes on. If he is able to remember those times he will know you are doing the best you can. We have an opportunity for a second chance here, a lot of people never get that. Once he remembers you maybe we can start going back to the way we were back then. 3 randos chasing whimsies across time and space without a care in the world. Wouldn't that be something?"
"Yeah, it would," Sarah slowly digested her best friends words as she pulled her hand up. She silently dangled a thin chain from her fingers. Affixed to it was a silver ring. She covered her eyes with that arm. After a few moments she gave a laugh. "You had to bring up that damn ice cream party. That's not fair."
"I will until the end of time girlfriend," Jimmy giggled.
Sarah decided to go back to her tasks at hand. It felt easier to do now. "Did you hear anything from Ino again?"
"Not since this morning, why? Did the meeting fall through?"
"Ino never gave me the specifics, and when I called he didn't answer. Thought maybe he called you again," Sarah said.
Jimmy sighed. "So what now?"
"I'm at Abe's shack."
"That seems like a bad idea given what we believe he's doing."
"He's not here. And whether or not what we believe is true, he is the only guy that gave me anything in this town. If I can get in contact again, maybe I can pump him for more."
"Uh," A new voice murmured over the conversation. Sarah gazed up at the source. A teenage boy with brown hair and brown eyes was peering over her with a curious look on his face. He wore a uniform similar to the uniforms her spies wore at the coffee shop.
"Wha! Where the hell did you come from?" Sarah sputtered out angrily. This broke the kid out of his odd gaze.
He jumps. "S-sorry! I didn't mean to startle you! I- I need to talk to Abe-san. Is he here?"
Sarah stared at the boy with a vicious expression. "You could of asked me from further away! why did you come so close?! You nearly gave me a heart attack!"
"I-I tried but you were busy a-a-and-" The teen looked like he was fighting something internally as he started to shake. "P-please is Abe here? I n-need to talk to him. It's important."
Upon further examination Sarah was able to point out the exhaustion in the boys mannerisms. Sarah's anger gave way to concern as the teen placed a trembling hand on his forehead. "H-hey, are you alright?"
"N-no I- need the salt," the teen murmured. His face turned blank as he started to fall forward. Sarah panicked and got out of the way causing the teen to face plant onto the wood stoop. The woman recoiled when she heard the knock.
…
After some hardship looking through Abe's supplies, Sarah was able to find a jar of purple powder with the label "Salt". Hidden in a file cabinet near the kitchen sink. She dashed a little on her palm and brought it to the teen laying in a cot in the cramp living room nearby. Removing red-splotched tissues from his nose, Sarah brought the violet powder to take their place. The brunette jolted back to life with a low groan of pain. An ice pack was gingerly placed on his head in response.
"You really ate it outside, don't move too much alright?" Sarah said softly. She adjusted the pack and pulled up a chair.
"Did-" The teen murmured. "Did I leave a dent?"
"It's not noticeable," Sarah replied with a light smile. "Scared a few gulls though."
"Oh, great. My best friend always told me I had a hard head. I wanted to test it," The teen and the woman had a small laugh. He made a brief shuffle which caused him to become puzzled. He slowly lifted the blanket that was draped over him. The discovery of his nakedness underneath made his face flush.
"You looked like a drowned rat, so I'm drying your clothes," Sarah responded getting up from her chair. "Relax, you have nothing I haven't seen before."
"This is- not necessary though," The teen sputtered getting up. He immediately regretted it as a rush of pain went through his head. He winced and laid back down.
"I told you not to move so much," Sarah said nonchalantly as she walked deeper into the house. "And you already bashed your head in, the least I can do is prevent you getting a cold on top of that."
Through more searching of the old man's things Sarah found some pain reliever in a cupboard and went to check on the dryer in an adjacent room. When she returned to the teen he was staring pensively at the glowing bottles on a nearby shelf.
"I don't know how good these still are, but here," Sarah offered the teen a small blue pill and a glass of water.
"Thank you," The teen accepted the offering appreciatively. "-for everything."
"What's your name?" Sarah asked returning to her seat.
"Takeshi Sado, RMIN: Dens-ki," The teen answered when he finished his gulp. "You?"
"Sarah Winters, PCIP(Paradigm Call-letters for Integrity Protocols): MON-IKA," Sarah responded. "Nice to meet you Sado-kun."
Takeshi looked like he was curious about something. "Winters?"
"Something wrong with my last name?" Sarah asked playfully.
Sado became flustered again. "N-no no, it's just that- it sounds familiar."
This peaked the woman's interest. "Eh? How so?"
"Are you related to- Edwin Winters by chance?"
Sarah felt like her heart stopped. "H-how do you know that name?"
Sado shrugged. "He's the ambassador for the Veilreich. Everyone in town knows his name."
"I see," Sarah chirped. Internally she was skeptical. She thought it seemed very unlikely that her big brother would even be interested in diplomacy, let alone be an ambassador.
Her heart desperately wanted it to be so however.
She always wanted a second chance in more than one relationship.
One question was on her mind however.
"What's the Veilreich?" Sarah asked.
"Huh?" The boy looked at Sarah. "Y-you don't know?"
"I just got here a few days ago, I don't know very much about this town. Apparently you do, so spill it," Sarah was more intrigued than annoyed at the teens presumptuousness on the subject.
"It's a little hard to explain," Sado began. "But the town sits on this net of small rivers made of a strange type of energy. These rivers are called Leylines and supposedly they act like a sort of circuit moving this energy to and fro throughout the town and the surrounding areas. The mills call this circuit the Veil."
"Why's that?" Sarah encouraged.
"Well come to find out that deep under these leylines, there exists a civilization of monsters that use the energy from them," Sado took a sip from his glass and removed the ice pack.
"Monsters? Like skeletons and ghosts?"
Sado nodded. "An entire kingdom of them, directly under the "veil" of Palisade Town."
Now that sounds more up Ed's alley. Sarah thought.
"Did the people running the town know of this?" She piped up again.
"If they did they didn't say anything. The monsters just kind of showed up one day."
"So, they just showed up? No pomp and circumstance, they just popped out of the ground?"
"More like they came out of a mountain but yeah," Sado continued. "Like I said it's a little hard to explain. If you don't believe me they have a bazaar they set up in South Market on the weekends, and a lot of them live in the town south of us."
"I believe you, I think I saw a few wandering around earlier," Sarah exaggerated. She was kind of knowledgeable in Render culture but she wouldn't of been able to tell a "monster" from a Render on first glance if she was honest. "But- where does Edwin Winters come in?"
"The monsters say he freed them," Sado answered. "No one seems to know how he did it however. But again I'm just going with what I was told. All of that happened before I was born."
So, Ed might be here too. Sarah thought. I'd better keep this information away from Jimmy until I know for certain. Don't want to get hopes up too much.
A ding broke her concentration.
"That must be the dryer," Sarah pointed out. "I'll be right back, do you need anything while I'm up?"
Sado slightly moved his head around, then rose up. "No, I think I'm better now."
Sarah wanted to ask what caused Sado to conk out but something about his voice just then made her feel like it would probably be too personal for him to answer. Instead she gave a hum of affirmation and went back to the dryer. A few minute passed and she placed the teens clothes on the table in front of his cot and went to the door-less opening as Sado changed. "Will you be alright heading home?" She asked.
"Yeah I'll be fine, I just need to grab more of that salt," Sado replied scrounging around the papers on the table for the jar. "Did you find any orange envelopes by chance?"'
"Can't say that I have," Sarah shrugged. "I don't think he will mind if you take the jar for now."
Something else peaked Sado's interest. "Do you have the time?"
After a brief look at her watch Sarah looked back. "8:48."
Sado's skin went pale. "I was out for two and a half hours?"
Sarah turned apologetic. "Sorry, I didn't know what you meant by "salt" so I ended up taking time using different things in here that had salt. That purple jar was hidden so well I didn't find it until a few minutes ago."
Sado looked around the room and saw that indeed she wasn't kidding. Around the room were assorted containers filled with a variety of different colored salts all with a label with only one word: "salt". Most of them were cooking salts, and salts that were probably dangerous to inhale. As evidenced by the pile of bloody tissues in the bin.
Luckily this wasn't the first time someone had to experiment while he was in a trance, so he wasn't too shocked by any of this.
"If it's any consolation," The woman continued. "You are very durable. And my handler said the burning sensation in your sinuses should end by tomorrow morning- hopefully."
Sado certainly didn't feel durable at the moment. "I'll- take that as a compliment."
He tried to get up but the pain, while subdued still disoriented him. Sarah noticed this and got up from her chair. She helped Sado to his feet. "It's dark outside, do you want me to take you home?" She asked quietly in his ear.
The gray thing flashed blue as if to respond.
"I would like that," Sado squeaked out a moment later.
Sarah concluded. "Alright, I'm giving you the helmet then."
…
Sado felt regret in the form of the Sarah's fiery hair blowing around his visor. The metal frame barreling down the highway underneath him rumbled causing him to rumble as well. All this and the disorientation caused by the salt tests made him feel ill. Trying to keep the meager meal he ate before his odyssey down, he attempted to steady himself by wrapping his arms around the driver in front of him.
Sarah tensed up, she could feel a small vibrating sensation on her upper back. Other than that she felt nothing from her passenger. No warmth, no pressure, not even a pulse. She had no time to ponder why this was however, because the minute after she noticed the absence of sensation, she started feeling the teen's presence return. She silently rationalized this as the result of her back injury.
The ride continued without further incident after that.
…
15 minutes passed and Sarah made it to the neighborhood of South Market. Sado regained composure in that time and was able to give directions to his street. A few minutes later his house came into view, with a lone window illuminated on the second floor. The bike slowed to a halt and the two got off.
Sado spent a few minutes fiddled with the helmet as Sarah unlocked the hatch on the back of the bike. Sado slumped in defeat. "Can you help me take this off?"
"You're just having a time aren't you?" Sarah pondered. "Here, let me see."
Aside from his ears burning from the friction Sado was a free man after a few hard tugs. He bowed to the woman graciously.
"You seem better now all things considering," Sarah remarked.
"Yeah, m-must of been the fresh air," Sado added trying to hide the blush growing on his face.
"Sure, sure," Sarah mused grabbing the jar of salt from the back of the cycle. She placed the jar in Sado's hand and got back on the bike.
Sado jumped back to life and ran to the woman's side. "W-wait, I- I never got an answer from you."
"What about?"
"A-are you related to Edwin Winters?"
Sarah gave a small smile. "He's my brother."
Sado's eyes slowly widened.
"Thanks for the information about him," Sarah added warmly. "I really appreciate it."
Sado scratched the back of his head and smiled. "Please you did a lot more for me, it was the least I could do."
"See you around," Sarah lowered the visor of her helmet. Sado stepped back and with a wave, watched the woman drive down the street.
Sado stood there in the street for a few minutes, for some reason or another this was the first time in days that he felt any sense of good fortune.
Now if he could sleep through the night without having the nightmare he would be two for two.
Black Box Society Day 4 Night (Continued)
Meanwhile upstairs a battle raged, the combatants: an elf and a pink puffy creature with red feet. Both were equipped with nothing but fans and were senselessly striking each other with them in a colorful fountain for 20 minutes. Their controllers clicked buttons rapidly with differing reactions. Screaming and exaggerated movement from the boy who was laying on his belly at the foot of a twin sized bed, and laughter from the girl who was lounging in a computer chair next to the bed.
Fighter percentages:
Sayori: 138%
Eddy: 587%
"How are you so fast?!" Eddy exclaimed as his elf flipped away from the puffball for the 3rd time that minute.
"I keep telling you, the paper fan is my wheelhouse," Sayori giggled. "I have yet to meet anyone who can outsmart me with it."
"Oh yeah? How 'bout this!" Eddy challenged going right on the c stick. Unaware that Sayori already discarded her fan. The elf threw his fan at the puffball but was countered by an up-tilt dodge and the item was grabbed instead. Eddy deadpanned.
"Ehehe~ You were saying?" Sayori asked playfully. Eddy gave a small sweat than made a break for it. Down-tilt b then right-tilt a. A bomb was lobbed but it too was dodged. Sayori responded in kind, the elf became a star after impact with his own fan.
GAME!
"That's what you get," Sayori taunted as her character danced on the victory screen.
"I got desperate," Eddy grunted taking a sip of his soda can.
"If it makes you feel any better, you didn't resort to resetting like Takeshi does," Sayori smiled.
Eddy sighed and made a mental note to do that if the difference becomes too big again. He then asked. "What's the count now?"
"5 to 3, your choice again," Sayori chirped.
During Eddy's menu traversal the bedroom door opens and Takeshi entered the room.
"Hey guys, what's going on?" Sado asked entering the doorway.
"Hey hey," Sayori greeted standing up. Eddy raises his hand into a half-hearted wave. Sayori noticed Sado's disposition immediately. "Are you alright? You look tired."
"Y-yeah, long day. What are you two doing here?" Sado asked.
"W-well your parents invited us for dinner with Monika's parents. You didn't show up, so we decided to stay until you got back," Sayori allowed Sado to pass her, he sat down in the chair.
"Dinner?" Sado asked. Then he had a look of realization. "O-oh man, I- I completely forgot about that. Sorry."
"Don't worry about it Sado-boy," Eddy responded looking toward his rival. "You weren't the only one."
"Huh?" Sado asked puzzled.
Sayori's brows furrowed. "Monika's parents didn't show up either."
"We ended up getting a lecture on "Sticky Note Parenting" because of it," Eddy added with a cross look on his face.
"Wait, you both think Monika's parents are- ignoring her?" Sado asked.
"Certainly looks that way," Eddy accused. "They probably don't even care she's in the hospital."
"That a lot to assume though," Sado remarked.
Sayori turned angry. "They didn't visit Monika in the hospital last night or this morning. Your Dad tried contacting them multiple times and it all went straight to voicemail. They didn't even call back to check on her Takeshi. Why did they even have children if they are just going to choose their job over them?"
"I-I'm sure there's a reason behind this," Sado said trying to cool down the burning bun. "Remember when I broke my arm during our junkyard scavenger hunt, and it took my Mom 4 days to get back from her business trip. She said she couldn't get messages during her travel because the plane didn't have service. M-maybe it's like that. Just because they miss one dinner and a day, that's not a reason to assume they abandoned her."
"Sado-," Eddy began pulling out the sticky note and the folded "thank you" note. "I need you to compare something."
He held the notes up to his rival. Who felt something hard in the pit of his stomach.
"Is that your blood?" Sado asked looking at the dried splatters on the folded note.
"Yes, but that's not the point," Eddy clarified. "Does the handwriting look the same to you too?"
Sado drooped his head somberly a moment later. "It does."
Eddy crumpled up the notes and pocket them. Sayori sat down on the bed next to him.
"Do the others know?" Sado asked.
"Yuri found the note among others in Monika's bag," Sayori recalled. "There were so many of them we all just thought it was a little peculiar, and didn't push the matter further."
"That's what sticky note parents want," Eddy replied. "Overload the house with so many of those damn notes, do it for years, then stop. The kid will start creating their own notes, and since they will fill the spaces themselves no one would bother to question which handwriting belongs to the parent or the kid."
"Why would the kid start writing their own notes and then sign them as their parents?" Sado had a hard time dealing with this information.
"B-beats me," Eddy backpedaled. "I'm just saying what the Doc said."
"I'm really worried Takeshi," Sayori fidgeted. "I don't know very much about Monika's personal life, so I have no idea who we can have take care of her until she gets better."
"She can't stay with one of us?" Sado pondered.
"Once she's disconnected from that tower thing she will be Incoherent for about two weeks afterwards. She needs a safe environment and someone to watch over her in that time. Neither Sayori and I can do it because it's just us in our households. And Boss's is a can of worms that is best not to open," Eddy theorized. "So if we're going that route it's either you or Yuri."
"My parents work, and even if I didn't have school I'm not much of a caretaker," Sado rubbed the back of his head.
"You take care of me," Sayori replied.
"That's because I know you like the back of my hand. I don't know anything about Monika and it doesn't seem right to force her into the care of someone she had only known for a week," Sado explained.
"He's got a point there," Eddy added. The group pondered the dilemma through a round of coin melee.
"Oh!" Sayori exclaimed with a look of inspiration as her puffball was sent to oblivion on the side of the stage. "Shin and Eri are her childhood friends, if anyone would know what she's like outside of school, they would."
"That- you may be on to something," Sado nodded.
Eddy was unsure if he should respond to this. It's better she learns from them. He just nodded in agreement.
"Wasn't she a part of other clubs as well?" Sado asked.
"Well the only other activity she really stayed in was the badminton team, everything else she sort of stayed until she got the gist of how it ran, then left," Sayori explained.
"Why's that?" Sado was surprised in Sayori's knowledge on the matter.
"She isn't a fan of the Rasputin's way of doing things. If she found out they had the club wrapped around their finger, she would leave it for something else."
"And they influenced the Debate Club even with Shin running it," Sado concluded.
Sayori nodded. "Yeah, that made Monika want to start her own club, one that was actually about Literature instead of being another branch for the snakes. Her words not mine."
"Bet the snakes didn't like that," Eddy assumed.
"There's a reason why the club is so small," Sayori lowered her head. "And- why we wanted the festival to go well."
Believing Sayori's line of reasoning had started to turn to dark places, Eddy paused the game, rose up and wrapped his arm around her back. "Hey, hey, it's going to be alright. We did the best we could yesterday. And she's actually getting the help she needs now. Once she comes back we will focus on the club and stick it to the man like she wants to. Like we all want to," Eddy comforted. "Until then since we have a few leads to go on now; we can hash out a strategy with the club tomorrow and go from there."
Sayori softened up and slowly laid her head on the Ed-boy's shoulder. Eddy saw the blush forming on her face as she gave a light smile. "Oh yeah, tomorrow's your first day of school isn't it?"
"Y-yeah, it will be my first day in the monkey suit," Eddy smiled back nervously. He then felt eyes bore into the back of his skull.
"You should probably be more focused on that instead," Sado responded with a glare. There was a bit of fire in his voice as well. "Sayori and I will follow those leads and bring them up to the others at the club tomorrow."
"Ok, t-that works too," Eddy answered warily. He was silently glad that looks couldn't kill.
"Takeshi, Are you- feeling alright?" Sayori asked as she watched Sado stare at Eddy with a sinister look in his eyes.
Sado lowered his head apprehensively. He pinched his nose with a wince. "Yeah, sorry, it's- just my sinuses acting up."
"Too much salt?" Sayori inquired softly. She walked over and started rubbing the boy's head.
"That's part of it," Sado released his nose. "I didn't sleep well after I came home last night. I ran out so I had to go to Abe's after the club. Fighting the trance every time I stood still. I was able to make it, but Abe wasn't there. I couldn't fight it anymore."
"How long were out this time?" Eddy spoke up.
"About two hours," Sado said embarrassed.
"Takeshi!" Sayori replied in shock. "You should of said something after our meeting, I'm sure Yuri would of let you borrow some of hers."
"I-i wasn't thinking, I thought I had enough at home to make the difference so I didn't question it." Sado rubbed his face.
"Do you want to go to bed?" Sayori replied as a clack sounded off behind her. "We can leave you alone so you can rest."
Sado lowered his head. "I-I don't want to kick you out after you waited for me."
"Takeshi," Sayori lifted Sado's head to look at her. "Like I said before all this mayhem started, making sure my friends are happy is the most important thing I want to do. And part of it is making sure they're healthy as well. I know how bad these trances can get, just like you. It's really not a problem."
Instead of drudging up the reason behind her words the last time she brought that up, he just murmured. "I'll see you tomorrow, right?"
Sayori answered by hugging him. "Of course," She cooed. "I'll be here if you need me."
With that discussion quelled they said their good nights and they looked to find Eddy had already left the room with a note left behind. He had left the house in a blind fury a few minutes before. He had too many questions he needed an answer to and he wasn't going to waste time chewing the scenery.
Because the box gave him a memory.
Of an 8 year old Monika waking him up on a trawler.
And he was someone else.
A girl with different colored eyes.
BLACK BOX SOCIETY SEQUENCE END
"YOU GOTTA LOVE THESE FAMILY MOMENTS" SEQUENCE BEGIN