AN: This is the Writer. Been out of the game for four years. I apologize, but I never quit and this story's been nagging me. Here's the next chapter, with my outline ready and my motivation set, you will see the end of this story by...let's say this year. Enjoy, and if you need to re-read it, feel free to do so. I hope you understand and thank you in advance for your endless patience. The Writer.
Session 7 -A Second Introduction-
Taichi woke up, disoriented and in pain. It would go away in a while. He stood up and listened. The house was silent. That was odd. He took off his clothes, they were drenched in sweat, his bed was soaked, he stepped into the shower. Let the hot water relax his muscles, he had plenty of time. He stood there, wondering what would happen today. The house was silent, but it was not empty.
He stepped out of the shower, got dressed in the most generic clothes lying around, sat down on his bed. He had the strangest feeling his phone was about to go off. That had been happening a lot. He thought about last night. That hadn't turned out so great. Everyone was still skeptical, he didn't blame them. He couldn't.
It was a lot to take in. None of that mattered now.
His cell rang. He knew it was Bruce. He clicked the phone.
"Hello, Bruce"
"How'd you sleep?"
"Not great"
"That'll change soon enough"
"Yeah right" said Tai as he smiled a little.
"Ready for work?"
"I guess"
"I'll see you in a while"
Tai sat on his bed and thought about it for a while. He didn't know anything about his life. Where he had been. What he'd done. The possibilities were endless, but he had an idea. The scars, they told a story, a story he wouldn't tell anyone for now. He smiled, it was no use to invent complex scenarios. Eventually, he'd know.
He left the room. He was hungry.
He sat down and poured himself some cereal. He'd eat and wait. Enjoy the oddity that was his life.
T.K came out of Kari's room, pajamas all wrangled up. It been a rough night.
Tai knew this. He showed no outside emotion. His face was blank as he ate his cereal and stared into space.
He should be mad. He wasn't. He wondered why. Maybe it had something to do with his former illness.
He'd ask Bruce later on.
It wasn't like him to be so calm.
T.K poured himself a bowl, sat next to him. Just two guys eating breakfast. Tai smiled. This would be fun.
"Hello T.K" he said slowly.
"Hey, Tai, how'd you sleep?"
"Pretty well, you?"
T.K hesitated for a fraction of a second. It was a flash in his eyes, a dilation of his pupils that occurred so fast, anyone else would have missed it.
But not Tai. Tai knew exactly what it meant and it was all the more reason he should proceed.
"I slept alright, hey I want to talk to you about something"
"Last night?"
"No, I mean, we'll talk about that later on, but it's not that"
"Oh"
"I think you're taking this pretty well"
"I've always known you liked my sister" Tai responded, as he ate another spoonful of cereal.
"That's not what I mean, some guys aren't so cool about this"
Tai turned around to face T.K.
"I'm not my sister's keeper, she does what she thinks is best, and she's got a good head on her shoulders, I trust her"
"I'm glad you're OK with this"
Tai smiled.
"You think I'm a cool guy?" he asked, no emotion, a smile on his face that seemed to only indicate pride.
"Yeah, you're taking this very calm, your Mom and Dad freaked when they caught us the first time"
"Did they now?" Tai asked, still no tone. No indication of any emotion in his voice.
"Yeah" said T.K and smiled. He ate spoonful of cereal.
Tai got up and walked towards the sink. He threw away the remaining milk and rinsed the bowl.
"That's nice" he said, as he eyed a large, razor-sharp knife with a red handle. He turned around to see if T.K was watching him. T.K was still eating his cereal, telling some story that didn't really seem to matter to him at the moment.
Tai grabbed the knife, and quickly and hid it out of view, pressing the cold blade tightly against his wrist, T.K none the wiser.
"So Tai-" said T.K but was startled when Tai grabbed his hand and twisted it. He pressed the knife to T.K's throat,hard, and held him from his back.
T.K couldn't breathe as Tai dragged him and placed him facing the wall.
"You think I'm a cool guy, T.K?" said Tai, in a calm, collected voice, yet a slight hint of anger and something else seeped through.
T.K couldn't answer. Tai relieved his hold on his throat.
The knife was covered with blood. Not a lot, but just enough.
"Why?" he said hoarsely.
"Just listen... I'm not going to kill you, T.K. That would be foolish"
He continued,
"A few days before I was here, I saw Davis, do you know who Davis reminds me of? Do you know who you remind me of? I don't think you fully understand just who I am and what kind of person I've become, so don't presume, just don't. Yesterday you saw what I did to your brother and how easily I did it, so you've seen a fraction, a glimpse. I am a man who is willing to do what is necessary. I think you know what that means. It was in your letter. All we are doing right now is having a simple conversation, like civilized people. Do you understand that? Thumbs up if you understand"
T.K managed to raise his other hand, his right hand, with a thumbs up sign.
"Good" said Tai, "do you understand why I'm doing this to you?"
T.K said nothing. He still couldn't speak...
"I'm doing this because...words mean nothing. They mean absolutely nothing. My empty whispers, my cries for help went unanswered as the rest of the world went on. I asked for her...and nothing happened. It is our actions, T.K. Our actions define us. I could have easily told you, just now, as we ate breakfast...but words are meaningless. My knife to your throat, that means something. Now, T.K, I like you. I meant that, but I like my sister just a little more. If you should cause my sister pain, if you should ruin her life..."
His hold increased. T.K blood's started to drip. Tai could hear every single drop fall with crystal-clear clarity. He could smell the cold sweat, he could hear T.K's heartbeat and it's frantic palpitations. Tai was enjoying every single second.
He didn't know whether to be scared or not. It wasn't important.
"Understand this, T.K, if you should ruin her life, this knife will be the least of your worries. The funniest thing is, you'll never see it coming, so..."
Tai's phone began to vibrate. He tossed T.K onto the floor.
"Hello?"
"Did you eat breakfast?"
"Sure, why?"
"What a shame, well, come on, you're not going to make me wait forever are you?"
"No, I'll be right down"
Hung up.
"Clean yourself up, T.K, you look awful" he said, as he washed the knife and put it back into it's place.
T.K got up, his pajamas all smeared in sweat and blood. His blood. Tai meant what he said. He was sure of that. He watched as Tai got his keys, his phone. Grabbed his jacket and took off, leaving the door slightly ajar as he left.
He placed his right hand on his neck, his fingers were covered in blood.
"T.K, oh my God, what happened? You're bleeding!" said Kari as she rushed to his aid.
"Your brother...your brother is insane"
"He did this?"
"He could have killed me"
Kari's face changed. She relaxed. She ran towards the closet. Got the first aid kit. Came back and began to treat T.K.
"I know why he did this"
"Why he nearly killed me?"
"Look" she said as she cleaned him up, "we'll talk with him, together"
"How am I going to explain this to Matt?"
"Forget Matt, how are you going to explain it to your mom?"
"Accident at school or something, I don't know"
"Where's my brother now?"
"He got a call, and left"
Kari nodded. She kissed him.
"How do I know he won't kill me next time?"
"He's my brother, he's not capable of that"
"Everyone is capable of murder, Kari, even us"
She sat next to him. She could smell the stink of blood off his clothes. The sweat.
"Come on" she said, "let's go get ready"
Tai reached the ground floor. Saw Bruce leaning on a car. The same car he'd seen yesterday. The Chevelle.
Bruce was eating a wrapped up sandwich.
He enjoyed every bit and licked his fingers as he finished it. He threw the foil and the papers on the otherwise clean back seat.
Tai opened the passenger door and sat down.
Bruce opened his door. Sat down. The car seats were comfortable.
The kind of seats you could sit on all day, no discomfort at all.
Bruce grabbed the other sandwich from the dashboard.
Unwrapped it.
"You want it?" he asked.
Tai shook his head, slowly.
His hands were still trembling.
"OK" said Bruce and began to eat it.
"We going to sit here all day?"
"No" replied Bruce, his mouth half full with roast beef, he swallowed ,
"We'll leave in a little while, I didn't eat breakfast today, so if you don't mind..."
Tai nodded. He was in no rush.
"What's with the shaking?" asked Bruce, his mouth full.
"Shaking?"
"Shaking, your left hand, as you opened the door and sat down, that's not normal, not for you"
"How would you know what's normal for me?"
Bruce smiled.
Swallowed his food, said,
"What's normal for you is normal to me"
Tai watched him as he ate the sandwich. Wondered if what he said was true.
Still lost and without purpose.
He could have killed him. A few more inches.
He came very close.
It was simply an urge. An indescribable urge.
'T.K will be alright, but me? What if next time I can't control myself? What if I do something worse?
There's simply no way of knowing what I'm capable of...'
Bruce was halfway through his sandwich, he wiped his mouth clean with a nearby napkin, asked,
"How'd it go last night?"
Mouth still full.
All his thoughts, his fears, his emotions, vanished, turned around to stare at Bruce.
He said nothing. His features revealed nothing.
"That bad?"
He nodded in response.
"Things will get better, believe me"
"If you say so" said Tai, no tone.
He turned around to see Bruce finish off the sandwich. He threw the wrapper in the back.
Started the car. It was a sound unlike anything else on the streets of Japan.
Genuine American muscle.
Bruce knew his way around Japan. He had no need for a GPS and no need to ask Tai for any directions. He knew exactly where he was going.
To Tai, it seemed they were headed for the docks. As to what purpose, he didn't know.
Perhaps this was his job all along. Perhaps, Taichi Kamiya worked at the docks.
No, nothing in his world was that simple.
There were things here, aspects of the story he did not possess.
They quickly got there, stopping short of the steel gates. As a child, he had always been told to stay away from this area of Odaiba.
Now he would find out why.
The guard outpost was to the left. They sat there in the car. Waiting for something. For someone.
Tai was quiet. He was alert. He didn't like not knowing. Not anymore.
He could see the guards through the plated glass. They had guns. All security guards do.
These security guards were different.
What kind of security guard carries around an M4?
What kind of security guard carries around a Mossberg 500?
Tai knew the answer to those questions. Simple and logical.
The kind with something important to protect.
One of them, the taller of the two, stepped out of the booth. He was the one armed with the M4.
Tai had never seen one in real life. Just in video games and on TV.
He walked over to Bruce's side.
Bruce's window went down. The guard leaned close, smiled,
"How's it going, Mr. Givern?" he said, smiling.
"The day just started, Park" he responded, "what do you think?"
Park walked over towards the passenger side, the right side.
"What about you?"
Taichi sucked his teeth.
"What about me?"
Park smiled, a short smile.
"Typical Taichi response" said the other unnamed guard.
They both nodded and the gates opened, whoever was watching had given them access. There was something wrong with this place, it wasn't a shipping yard.
"Your mind's running a thousand miles a minute, Tai" said Bruce as he parked his beast of a car.
"Stop that, all your questions will be answered soon" he said, smiled. Not a good smile.
'How did he know what I was thinking?'
Taichi followed the man he had once known as Marshall, to a locked door, the door to a warehouse, one of many in this part of the yard.
"Bruce Givern" he said, waiting for a few seconds as the light above the door went from a dull red to a bright blue.
A voice-recognition security system for a simple warehouse door?
Now Tai was nervous.
Bruce went inside and the door locked, all in a manner of seconds, Tai hadn't even noticed he was now standing outside alone.
Tai got close to the door. Couldn't spot where the mic was hidden.
"Taichi Kamiya?" he said, a small tinge of uncertainty in his voice.
The lights did nothing. Then the door opened.
"What are you doing, Tai?" Bruce asked him
Taichi smiled. Shook his head.
"Not a thing"
He followed Bruce inside, expected to find something out of the ordinary.
There was nothing inside but rows of shipping crates, stacked as high as the warehouse roof. The corridors led to a various small rooms within the warehouse.
Nothing suspicious, except everything was suspicious.
Taichi followed Bruce who said nothing as he made his way towards one of the various "offices" inside the warehouse.
"You know, Tai, I keep forgetting you're not up to speed on our operations here in Japan"
"It is my first day, Bruce"
"Ever heard of Faraday?"
"Who?"
"Faraday Industries, they specialize in medicine, finance and defense"
"Is that who we work for"
"On paper, you're a security consultant for Faraday Industries"
"On paper?"
"Tai, you're focusing on the wrong part of the story, this is your job, your career, you've done this job for the last 4 years, you're very good at your job, and while you may be in the dark as to what it is you do exactly, rest assured, you'll catch on quick"
"If you say so..."
Bruce smiled, shook his head.
"This is your office, your first order of business for today, is to read, see the pile of books?"
"I do now"
"Read until you can't read anymore, and then read some more, I'll be back soon"
"Wait, is that it, that's my job for today?"
"Yeah, that, and summoning up the courage"
With those words, Bruce was gone, and Tai was left alone.
Summoning up the courage? What could that mean? It didn't matter.
Tai surveyed his new office, it was a windowless room, filled with books, fluorescent lighting and a simple wooden desk. He sat on a very comfortable chair, a small feeling of claustrophobia lingered. Oddly enough, it was the first time in days he remembered he suffered from such affliction. He picked up the first book, its title obscure, no clear sign of when it had been written or for what purpose.
Summoning up the courage?
Bruce's words bothered him and before long, Tai found himself staring at the same page of his obscure tome for what seemed to be an eternity.
There was a knock on the door. Tai put his book down. Felt uneasy.
"You may enter" he said out loud.
"Delivery for a Mr. Kamiya" said the courier.
Tai signed the form and received the package.
Opened the box.
A smaller rectangular box with a puzzle lock.
He smiled.
It would have been impossible for him to solve such a thing just a few years ago.
Taichi solved the puzzle with ease, but was now hesitant.
A hypodermic needle and an unknown solution in a small vial.
'This game again...'
The hours went by and all Tai could do was stare at the needle. The vial. The books he did not understand.
He had already come this far, and they had given him his life back, and then some.
He broke the seal on the vial, filled the needle and injected himself in the neck.
He felt no immediate effects, no drowsy feelings. No euphoria. No rage, nothing about him was different.
He returned to his reading.
When Bruce returned, he found Tai sleeping on his desk, a bundle of books on the floor, the rest, neatly organized on their shelves and on the crude desk.
Tai had read as much as he could, that much, he was certain.
Tai had found himself on the porch of his parents' apartment. A beer in his hand, he was completely alone. His job, whatever it was, gave him no new clues as to what his past was.
He took a swig, and nearly emptied his mug. He had already had 8 beers, and felt nothing. He could have easily called any of his friends, those who were loyal to him, who stood by his side to the bitter end.
He did no such thing.
He wanted to be alone. He wanted to tell them something concrete, give them more than just a miracle. He wanted to give them a reason.
He got up and refilled his mug, last beer.
He'd buy more, he liked the taste, even if they did nothing for him.
Haruhiko's words suddenly came to mind.
Could he live as a man with no past, a man truly free of his afflictions? Would they understand?
His phone rang. An unknown number.
"Hello?"
"Hello, Tai, why are you trying to get drunk?"
"Who are you?"
"I'm Renner, a friend from long ago, but of course, you don't remember a thing, do you?"
"How do you know I'm trying to get drunk?"
"I took a shot, that's what you usually do on a night like this"
"Ok" said Tai, smiled, "what can I do for you, Renner?"
"You should let Bruce know I'm back in the game"
"Somehow I doubt that's good news"
"Same old Tai" said Renner, smiling, "they're lying to you, Tai"
"Maybe, maybe, we'll see"
"Believe me, Tai, they'relying to you"
Tai said nothing, waited.
"You still there, Tai?"
"Yeah"
"See you in a bit"
"Yeah" he said, hung up.
Renner was gone, and the night was gone. No point in drinking anymore.
AN: Well, there it is. As always, I accept constructive criticism. Any comments, reviews are welcome. Can't promise when I will update exactly, but it will be soon. Enjoy.