Chapter 3

Sanae went to work making a pin. Human pin makers needed all sorts of tools and other irritating things, but Sanae could create designs with only his mind. He had to be particularly skilled at it to be chosen as Producer of course, but no one else had the passion for art that Sanae did. His artwork, under the name of CAT, was not required; he did it because he loved the art.

This particular pin, though, was for a more practical purpose. Sanae had etched onto it a simple four-letter word in red: HELP. Its psych was not one that would ever be helpful to the Players. This pin was for him. As a fallen angel, he had several enemies who would only be happy to see him dead. Not to mention the vengeful Sho Minamimoto, who might or might not be still alive, he also had the Angelic Council, and the new café across the street. RabidDog. He got the feeling that it, too, was more than just a simple café. But Sanae did not intend to find out how much more.

Thus the pin. If he were ever in serious trouble, the message 'HELP' would appear in the mind of Shibuya's Composer, the only person strong enough to defeat someone who could defeat the Producer. Actually, if someone could defeat him, Sanae doubted even Joshua could avenge him. Which is why he'd waited until he'd know the Pact between Joshua and Neku still existed before he made the pin. The message would go through the mental connection to Joshua on to Neku. If the two of them on a team couldn't defeat something, then it was undefeatable.

All right. There. All the preparations that were necessary were made. Of course, Sanae had already made sure he had the same measures of control over WildKat as Joshua had over Shibuya. At a moment's notice, if it became inconvenient, he could erase the café. That would have all sorts of negative effects throughout the RG and the UG, but the empty space would fill itself in. Soon enough it would be forgotten, passed off as a ghost or something by the living and as likely as not pinned on the Composer by the Reapers. Sanae glanced at his watch. Okay, he had time. Perhaps he'd drop into RabidDog. Scope out the competition.

"So explain," Neku told Joshua.

"I was just gonna tell you who Mr. H really was, besides CAT," shrugged Joshua. "He's the Producer. His job is to manufacture all sorts of pins and items that the Composer needs. He also is the brand Gatito, though he never shows his face to them either."

"No way!" Shiki squealed. She acted just like she had in the UG, but it was difficult for Neku to get used to her RG body. He was trying his best though, because he had promised they'd always be friends. And they were. "I love Gatito stuff. He designs all of that?"

"Yes," Joshua seemed a little relieved that someone else would acknowledge his existence. He seemed a little less cool and, well, composed than he normally was. "You must be Shiki Misaki. I'm Joshua."

"It's…nice to meet you," Shiki replied uncertainly.

"I'm Rhyme," Rhyme introduced herself.

"Appropriate, as your introduction rhymes. I suppose I should thank you for standing up for me. And I should apologize for the fact that you were a pin for several days," Joshua shrugged. "Though that actually wasn't directly my fault."

"It's okay," said Rhyme cheerfully. "It all worked out. But why did you change your mind about destroying Shibuya?"

"Hmm…" Joshua put a hand on his chin thoughtfully. "All of you. Mostly Neku, but all of you. Neku was the worst person in Shibuya before I entered him into my Game. Now he's changed. That convinced me of Shibuya's capacity to change. And the virtue of you four Players convinced me that you were the ones who could change it. You, Rhyme, though…It may comfort you to know that I was going to restore you whether or not the others won."

"What?" Rhyme was surprised.

"You saved your brother by sacrificing your own existence. I just love drama like that," smiled Josh. "You earned enough points in my book that I would have brought you back to life somewhere else, even if I had erased Shibuya."

"What the hell was I playin' for, then?" Beat shouted, talking for the first time. "Why didn't you just bring Rhyme back to life right away?"

"Beat… It would have been interfering in the Game," Rhyme tried to explain.

"Screw the game! We're not his toys, Rhyme!"

Minamimoto felt dangerous. He was jumping from rooftop to rooftop, occasionally erasing a Player in the current game just by shooting a blast down at them. "You factoring sons of digits!" he shouted. "I'll iterate you all! The world will reflect my flawless calculations! INFINITY!"