Nearly a month out from the last update. Between a vacation and several different distractions (Darktide, Pathfinder, Magic the Gathering… You get the drill), plus a few other rewrites for some sections of the chapter, this took a while. Without further ado, let's get right to it!
*Chapter 14: Collecting and Recollecting*
It was another early desert day for Ciaphas Cain, and it began at the wee hour of 5.
Hoshino and I managed to get home at 11 and turned in before midnight without anyone noticing. Despite all assurances for a reasonable call time of 8, I decided to wake already.
It was not due to lingering dreams or an uneasy rest. The conversation I had with Hoshino last night managed to ease my own worries and gave me a more restful sleep than I had in a while, aided in no small part by the fact that I had comparatively luxurious sleeping accessories (a sleeping bag and a pillow will go a long way), which was why I decided to start the day early. My tide-turning melee offensive only proved the wisdom of my chainsword practice drills, and I saw no reason to ignore them for other matters unlike the day before.
As I retrieved my armor from its place under my greatcoat, I saw a few peculiar marks and discolored areas on my uniform. I took a closer look and found myself perturbed at what I saw.
I patted down the signature overwear of the commissariat and confirmed the harrowing revelation that Kayoko's bullets did indeed get stuck within the fabric, a stark reminder of the incredibly risky charge I performed yesterday. Two commissar-worthy suicide charges in one week. I don't like the picture being painted of my time here.
I shrugged those disturbing thoughts away as I put on my armor, changed into another workout uniform and made my way to the school entrance with my weapons and the Shittm Chest (with its artificial occupant unsurprisingly still sleeping through all of it) only to find myself interrupted once again by errant sounds. This time the distinct taps of keystrokes on a cogitator… a computer, echoed from the club room.
I inched the door open once more and found Ayane slowly tapping away on her computer, with occasional glances and taps on her smartphone and tablet.
She didn't even notice as I made my way in, laser-focused as she was on the work in front of her. I creeped up on her to observe what she was working on and simultaneously cringed and marveled at her work.
What was she working on? Research on our enemies on one window, analysis of the weapons on another, accounting for the school's earnings on her tablet and from the schedule on her phone she was keenly preparing for an interest payment and watching for updates. Her hands were a blur as she worked and I could see the light screens reflected on her eyeglasses.
I quietly went to the other side of the room and made use of the coffee machine, preparing two cups of coffee for the both of us. She didn't even notice it grinding away and squeezing out the caffeinated brown liquid, though mercifully enough when I finished with the coffee she started taking a break of her own, leaning on the backrest and letting out a tired sigh.
"Think I need to stop for a bit…" The sound of the chair daintily sliding across the floor indicated that she was going for the coffee machine, and as I turned around and offered her some, I was taken aback by how different she was as she looked at me from the chair.
I knew from personal experience how a little bit of eyewear can change a person, having gone undercover with Amberly for purposes of business and leisure and quite enjoying the difference when she had some on, but the way it worked on Ayane might have had me crying foul for warp sorcery. She usually had the air of your average homely girl-next-door. Bereft of her glasses, she had an enchanting, fey glamour that would have had the boys at the schola fighting over her. If not for those pointed ears, she wouldn't have looked out of place (awkwardly and embarrassedly) fending off suitors at a noble's ballroom. I'm sure if I was a young man, I would've had a go at her too.
But that needn't be relevant at this time.
"Huh… Is someone there…?" Clearly, those glasses weren't just for cosmetic purposes. The way she squinted at me barely ten feet ahead of her, I must have looked like a peculiarly shaped blob hovering over the general location of the coffee machine. Suffused with exhaustion from both her work and her probable lack of sleep, she probably didn't even question it as she rubbed her eyes. "Ugh… I need some coffee…"
"I already made some."
"Eh?" The unexpected reply made her freeze. "Who…" She seemed to have realized the answer in her head, and with the mixture of utter horror and crimson-colored shame on her face you would think she was caught with her skirt and smallclothes down rather than just her glasses. She practically dove for her lenses as though she was trying to stop a krak grenade from priming and jammed them on as she looked at me. "C-Cain Sensei?! How long were you there?!"
I shrugged with our cups in our hands. "Long enough to make two cups of coffee."
"Augh, I'm sorry… I can't believe I didn't notice you…" she mewled in shame as she cradled her face with the hinges of her glasses. Was she more embarrassed by the presumed offence she gave me or the fact that I saw her bare face? She didn't need to feel either.
"No harm done. That's just proof that a little caffeine would be good for you."
I placed our beverages on the central desk and sat down, ignoring her outburst and bidding her to join me.
"O-oh, thank you." She stood up from her chair and joined me at the desk, drinking off the energizing liquid and releasing a sigh. "Th-thanks… I needed that."
"Not the worst way to start the morning," I agreed as I took a sip of my own coffee. It was store-bought stuff, but it wasn't awful, and as a military man and an underhive boy, I knew how to be content. "How long were you up?"
"Since four," she explained to me, and I had to raise my eyebrows at an indecently early hour. She got up even before I did, a fact which I couldn't help but be impressed by considering what she worked on. She noticed my reaction and quickly waved her hands in front of me. "Oh, it was no trouble! I managed to sleep early, and I was just finishing up everything anyway."
"Much to finish up on, I see." And among them a debt payment, which was basically the cornerstone of the club and the school. "Just be sure to take care of yourself as well."
Despite my casual request, she seemed hesitant in her reply. "I hope you're doing the same. What are you doing up this early? Could you not sleep?"
"Surprisingly, I slept well," I assured her, wondering where that unease came from. "I suppose telling all of you a bit more about myself," and that unexpected heart to heart a little later, "managed to ease my own worries. It was relaxing enough, don't worry."
The admission was not the one she expected, and she was at first surprised, then relieved by my answer. "Oh. Well, that's good."
An odd suspicion entered my mind that I couldn't help but voice. "You aren't overworking yourself for my sake, are you?"
It seemed that my suggestion hit the mark, and she grimaced as she looked away from me. "Sorry… You're thinking of so much by being here, I thought that maybe if you had less to think about…"
This was my own fault for being so needlessly dramatic in front of the girls yesterday, a failure as both a Sensei and a commissar. "I'm not the only one. All of you are far more affected by this than I am. No need to overwork yourself on my account." Such light admonishment should also be followed by praise of course, because her productivity and initiative were admirable. "But thank you for your concern, Ayane. It's much appreciated."
"Oh… You're welcome." She seemed pleased by my words, beaming at the assurance as we both indulged in our drinks once again. After another relaxing sip, she spoke up in cheer. "By the way, congratulations on your account passing 4000 followers!"
I froze in the partaking of my coffee at that very unexpected revelation. I finished my sip and slowly put down my cup, then took out my smartphone and then checked my MomoTalk account.
Emperor above, what is this?! My account was nearing 4000, multiplying fourfold after a single day even though I posted absolutely nothing of note. "I didn't even do anything, how did this happen?!"
"You didn't know? Well, I guess you weren't concentrating on it after everything yesterday." She retrieved her tablet and after a few taps handed it to me. "Here! Look!"
I accepted the device with trepidation, morbidly curious for what the catalyst for this unwanted explosion in my fame was once more.
I really wish I hadn't seen it.
It was a video. Specifically, a video of my blitzkrieg assault after I caused a premature explosion of that black bag, full screen in all its dubious glory. What the hell was this?
"That went wild when it was posted yesterday! I think it has more than a million views now!"
People were that interested in watching a ridiculous street fight like this? Firefights were two credits here, was it suddenly more interesting just because I was waving a chainsword around? Perhaps the novelty of a fight resolved the old-fashioned way (chainsword notwithstanding) with all the elegance and delicacy of an ork?
An accidental tap on the screen made it explode with activity as comments flooded the bottom, with awe, disbelief and admiration from hundreds of faceless watchers mingling below. The social connection systems put any comment threads involving my followers in it front and center, with one thread in particular starting with one person on the internet asking if any of this was real, and a barrage of familiar faces coming to my defense.
"It really happened, Sensei did all this to protect us when we went down!"
"That sounds about right, he cut apart that tank when I was in trouble too…"
"I can confirm that he really was that dedicated to protecting us and keeping us safe as we fought together."
"He says he practices as much as he can to fight that well, and I saw just how hard he practices."
"Dedicated even off the battlefield? Now that's admirable."
"Hopefully he doesn't push himself too much…"
It wasn't just Shiroko and Serika there, but Yuuka, Hasumi, Suzumi and Chinatsu were there as well. Good to know they were alright, but with confirmation from reliable witnesses, my reputation as a gallant hero who would risk it all for the safety of his students, a reputation which I would once again have to go through great pains and personal risk to uphold, solidified once again.
"Who even took this video?!" I would call it suicidally stupid to stay in the general vicinity of a firefight for the sole purpose of making a vid and raking in a little internet fame, but given the durability of the average Kivotos citizen, that would be inaccurate. Now, it's just stupid.
My answer was given when I looked at the top and saw the title.
"Sensei went postal on us with a chainsaw and we survived! No editing, no cutting, just REAL, RAW FOOTAGE!"
It was those ridiculous part-timers. How did they even…?
"Apparently the Part-Timers had someone in reserve capture the fight for advertising their group, especially since you were there. They're opportunistic, you have to admit."
These idiots were giving me a headache even when I wasn't facing them. Actually, they were somehow doing a better job of killing me when I wasn't facing them at all by way of forcing me to act like a reckless fool. They didn't even show the potentially shameful display of my entire squad breaking and almost being gunned down, which would have at least given the masses a second thought before sending me off for some derring-do. This was because, according to the description, the bag explosion threw the hapless pictmaker to the ground and had her accidentally delete the beginning of the fight, leaving them with this farce. Why did I have to pay for my enemies' incompetence?!
I might as well take what petty revenge I could.
"If you shot your guns as well as your videos, you might have actually put up a fight. Consider filming instead."
That can be a fair substitute for my own post: Implying that they weren't worth an update of their own. Hopefully, that would dissuade them from any future fixing endeavors.
Speaking of fixing…
"By the way Ayane, could you examine these bullets?"
"Hm? What are these, Sensei?" I handed over the trophies of battle unintentionally delivered to me via firearm. "These seem like normal 9x19 Parabellum bullets to me…"
"They're the bullets Kayoko fired at me over the course of my assault in an attempt to stop me," I casually enlightened her. "When they were fired at me they had the same fear-inducing powers she has, but they seem to be inert now. Could you analyze them for any residue of her powers or if they're completely gone?"
Instead of the positive reply I was expecting, she stared at me in mute dumbfoundedness before swiping her tablet back from and seemingly plunging her face into it. It was an unwelcome, very concerning reaction. "Ayane? What's wrong?"
Only after a few moments of seemingly playing the video over and over again did she finally look up at me in fear. "Sensei…" She started out quietly. "You got shot…?"
I was wondering why that was so strange for her when I suddenly remembered that, while my enemies thought I possessed the same titanic endurance they did and my allies knew otherwise, absolutely no one in the entirety of Kivotos except for Arona and Rin were aware that I had carapace armor protecting me from the traditional firearms of the city. That means that I had just as good as told my medicae that I slept overnight with a few stubs in my gut and never told her, a notion I had to quickly disabuse her of. "Calm down Ayane, I have advanced bulletproof armor protecting me. None of them touched my body and it didn't even hurt, I promise."
She practically collapsed into her seat in fear and relief, breathing heavily from the panic that was now thankfully receding. "Thank goodness… If you had been hit…"
"I know better than anyone what would happen, trust me Ayane, I know that I should look after myself." Chiefly due to the fact that that was my number one priority, but she didn't need to know about that.
"I hope you do…" she said, almost rightfully furious at the unnecessary panic I caused her. "Seriously, nobody else should have to think that you might be dying!"
Her fevered words made me uncomfortably guilty, a feeling only compounded by my phone vibrating in my hand. I looked down at the screen and noted a few private messages sent to me personally over the night, messages I didn't read since I turned off my phone so I could cut myself off from it for the night. Yuuka and Chinatsu had sent general messages of concern telling me not to push myself too hard, messages which I replied to with equally generic but grateful assurances that I wasn't, but then there was Hasumi.
"Sensei, I saw that you got shot. You didn't get hurt too badly, right?"
"Sensei, please answer me as soon as possible."
"Sensei?"
Her sharpshooter eyes managed to hone in on the bullets that managed to hit their protected mark. She probably wasn't the only one who caught that, but out of countless people who saw it she was one of the select few who knew the truth behind my (lacking) durability. She sent me numerous messages of worry over the past few hours and one more just now, wondering if I was simply powering on through adrenaline, so I quickly sent her a reply explaining that I had advanced body armor to assure her that I was alright.
Emperor above, how was it that other people were getting more worried at me being shot than I myself was? This city really was messing with my head.
"… I suppose someone else did, huh," Ayane caught on, her anger managing to make her slight frame more intimidating than it really should be, compounded by how righteous said anger was.
"One of the few who both knew about my fragility and had the eyesight to see it threatened," I illumined her, shaking my head. "Didn't know about my body armor though, just like you didn't." With all the noise on my chainsword and her own dazed state from getting shot herself, Hasumi probably didn't notice the single rifle shot Wakamo landed on me on that fateful last assault on the SCHALE building. That certainly made the past few hours far more stressful than they needed to be for her, I'm sure.
"Just… Try to keep that in mind," Ayane told me in a haunted, halting voice. "I'll be telling the others too. I can't have them panicking when they think you're about to die from being shot…"
She was making a bullet point that stung harder than the actual bullets shot at me that were now in her hand, but I suppose I deserved it from the heart attack I nearly gave her. "I'll allow it…" I replied, the contrition hopefully obvious in my tone.
She seemed to accept my apology as her expression softened slightly into something more cheerful. "Well, you know what I was doing this morning. Are you going for chainsword practice?"
"Quite right I am," I answered her. "It's paying off, don't you think?"
She giggled at that humorous bit of boasting on my part. "Well, I can't argue with that."
She went over to one of the corners of the room and took out a key holster. "Here you go. For you."
I had to temporarily admonish myself for forgetting that I needed to get the keys from one of the other girls for my morning workout. I took them from her gratefully. "Thank you, Ayane."
"It's no problem, Sensei! Will you be going now?"
She'd probably be going back to staring at screens if I did. Can't be having the only other sane person here blacking out from exhaustion and leaving me alone in this desert of madness. "It would be rather wasteful to leave this coffee, even if it doesn't taste the best." I raised my cup meaningfully. "It'd taste better if I wasn't the only one drinking either."
The invitation managed to get a surprised smile out of her, and she grinned as she took her cup and raised it towards me. "Can't argue with that."
It was still a little cold that morning as I crossed the open fields for my chainsword practice, but it was a little warmer from sharing a conversation over a cup of coffee.
Problem Solver 68 didn't have to go far to find rest after yesterday's disastrous battle. After all, part of the reason they were hired in the first place was because they already had an office in the area. It was a crowded, disorganized office whose only appeal, aside from the fact that it existed here in the first place, was that it supported Aru's dorky image of a hard-boiled criminal. Gun racks, scattered documents, a tacky scroll with Aru's old project of doing "one bad deed a day", it was practically a crime film set. There wasn't much good in that, but it was good enough to sleep in.
Honestly, a big reason they were short on money was because Aru chunked a huge part of it on investing in the place. To be fair, it was better than begging for biz in a park tent and having it in the middle of nowhere was a good idea for hiding from the Prefect Team… But not really for getting jobs.
Usually she'd throw a barb or two at her childhood friend about it. But after yesterday, she was in no mood for it. No one was.
There was no doubt about it. If the Sensei was in a fouler mood, they wouldn't be here, they'd either suffering in the Abydos academy or they'd be in Gehenna, at the mercy of the Prefect Team, Aru's dream of being a hard-boiled outlaw and all the fun that came with it basically being over.
But instead, because he saw something in Aru and Haruka, he decided to let them go without a fight.
"Yeesh, Aru's been watching that video all morning, hasn't she?"
"I'd say it's weird that she's watching a video where we were getting our asses kicked, but we technically weren't included and I can kind of understand the appeal, so I'll let that slide…"
Those Part-Timers got their own fifteen minutes of fame on the net by riding on Sensei's while making use of the only talents they really had: being smart enough to film the fight, and being cannon fodder. Or chainsaw fodder, as it were. It was like watching an incredible anime fight on a crappy camera and it didn't even show how things got so bad (IE: He blew up her bag in transit, which she threw at Aru's command, FYI), so she could see the good stuff without being embarrassed online for it. Win-win!
She didn't have to know Aru for as long as she did to know that the Sensei caught her eye the moment she saw him, but the way he acted before and after the fight basically solidified it. She was starstruck, and she couldn't blame her.
Even more surprising was that Haruka got into it. She was watching it too, cradling her shotgun like she was a kid watching the telly with a pillow in her hand. That she could be interested in anything other than Aru was a miracle, but it looked like the Sensei had a habit of making those happen.
She just HAD to be there when the Sensei found out that they were following him on MomoTalk now. That reaction would be absolutely priceless.
Sadly, all the fun had to come to an end at some point. After all, Aru was watching that video instead of answering the phone ringing in the background. There was only one person who knew the office phone number, and none of them really liked him.
In the end, Aru groaned and surrendered to the inevitable by picking up the receiver on the antique rotary dial phone they bought (because again, they had to waste money on her hard-boiled image) and spoke.
"Problem Solver 68. Who is it?" As if none of them knew already.
She frowned as Aru flinched at the conversation that followed. It wasn't fun to watch Aru cringe when talking to this guy. It wasn't the funny kind of cringe when everything was kind of her fault and she could laugh at her being a dork. The other guy was such a massive jerk that he took all the laughs with him.
"We weren't even in the vid- OK, it WAS partially our fault, but still…" Once Aru made the rather feeble excuse, she sighed. "Alright… I'll give you an answer tomorrow…"
The line went dead, and with the way Aru slumped she might as well have been the same. She put the receiver back in its place and sighed.
"So what's the plan boss?" Kayoko said blankly.
"We'll need more money… I think I'll take out a loan from the Black Market…"
"They're probably just going to laugh us out of the bank," their 'department head' continued, pointing out the likely outcome without actually raising any objection. All of them had their bank accounts frozen because they left Gehenna. They only got by this far without them due to luck.
"Well, we're just going to have to try…"
"Sure, sure." The atmosphere was stifling, so she decided to get some fresh air. "I'mma head out for a bit. I'll see you guys at the train station!" Sure this whole endeavor was looking like a waste of time, but a bad idea was better than none.
Wandering the streets of Abydos was just as hot as she expected. She really didn't expect to find anything fun to do, she was just prepping for a whole lot of waiting for nothing by getting her last breath of fresh air before getting to the bank.
Imagine her surprise when she found her fun after barely fifteen minutes of walking the streets. Her expression brightened and her lips mischievously quirked up as she laid eyes on a student of Abydos, accompanied by the talk of the town.
This was shaping up to be way more fun than she expected.
In recognition of the fact that today was collection day, I had all the students stay in the school and have a break. The money man was coming in at 11, so we'd have an early lunch at 10:00 and freshen up before they came. Shiroko in particular seemed rather enthusiastic for the break for whatever reason, and given her proclivities I wished to remain blissfully ignorant to the answer for as long as possible.
"So nothing came up on those bullets? Shame."
"Yes, preliminary analysis showed no traces of any power on it, so for now, it's a bust. Sorry, Sensei."
"Didn't expect anything, but it would have been nice…"
I decided to have Ayane come along with me to purchase our meal. None of the fancy stuff this time. Ramen was good, but man and woman, abhuman or not, couldn't subsist on that alone, so we just got bento boxes from the convenience store.
"So how good are bentos around here anyway?" I decided to ask just so the silence wouldn't be awkward.
"Pretty good for being all the way out here," my bespectacled companion assured me. "It's probably not much compared to what you're used to…"
"Ayane, I was a soldier. I had to deal with eating ration bars and scavenging." And between the exotic cuisine of my subterranean youth and the culinary masterpieces provided to us by the Munitorum, it was depressing that I didn't know which was worse. "I'll be fine with anything."
"Ohh… OK then." She looked uneasily at the bags. "I guess that's part of why you eat so much. You get as much good food as you can because you don't know when you can get it next."
"You make do when you can." I tried not to wince as my gluttonous reputation rose again. That was true enough, but I didn't need to indulge so much that I had to "eat" for two. Or three if she pushed it, considering how voracious my tagalong reality-bending Abominable Intelligence was. I put my foot down on one box for her. She already had her reward feast last night.
"Yeah, I know what that's like!"
My face became stony as a familiar, very unwelcome voice cooed out from ahead of us. Between her silver sidetail, her red and black outfit and the stubber at her side, I couldn't mistake her for anyone else but Mutsuki, the section chief of Problem Solver 68 we faced yesterday.
"We used to camp out in a park tent and take requests from anyone who passed us by, you know?" she said casually, chatting as if we were old friends instead of people she nearly shredded apart with automatic fire and high explosives naught but a day before. "So yeah, it's a good idea to savour the good stuff if you can. Didn't know the Sensei could appreciate that too! You really like to take things to the next level, don't you?"
"What can I say? Making the most of what you get is generally a good idea," I answered just as casually, being careful not to show any sign of surprise or unease as I stepped in front of Ayane.
"Wha-" Caught off-guard by the sheer audacity of the girl in front of her, said companion was momentarily rendered speechless until she recovered the self-awareness to explode at her. "You're from Problem Solver 68! You attacked us with an entire merc squad yesterday! How could you just talk like nothing's happened?!"
"Huh? And who are you supposed to be? Don't remember seeing you in the fight yesterday Four Eyes." She squinted at Ayane, pretending as if she needed those glasses just as much as she did. "Oh, were you cozy back at home base while moving those drones around?"
Our operator flinched at the accurate guess, though probably more from the implication at her cowardice and lacking contributions rather than the fact that she was found out, and I couldn't help but move to defend her honor. "Those drones helped us come up with a strategy to deal with you and provided vital assistance in our time of need. If we actually had to throw her into a fight, that's our problem, not yours."
"Ah, is that what it sounded like?" Surprisingly, she genuinely didn't expect her remark to sting. Given how she acted with her boss yesterday, she seemed a little too used to dealing with familiar people who had the closeness to take her shots at their dignity. "Meant no offense! I know I'd want a techxpert working behind the scenes for us! I'm sure Aru would too, if only because every hard-boiled criminal would need one!"
"Meant no offense?" Ayane practically trembled with rage, clearly not satisfied by the offhanded apology. "You tried to kick us out of our school yesterday and nearly blew up our friends! You even almost-"
She stopped herself, and I knew from the words that she was very offended on my behalf and only stopped to keep my weakness the secret it still was. The interruption clearly wasn't unnoticed by Mutsuki, curiosity sparkling in her eyes. "Almost what? Come on, inquiring minds want to know!"
"Not all inquiring minds deserve to know," I cut her off sternly. "I get it. You're a fixer, so this is probably a job and a joke to you, but it isn't to us." My face didn't quite reach a glare, but hopefully it made my feelings on her positivity clear. "Professionally, we're on opposite sides. Personally, you're pushing it. We're not in the mood for needless conflict right now. Go ahead and change our minds."
Frankly, taking her out of the equation was very tempting, but doing so could motivate the rest of the team to attempt a reprisal or a capture, and we did not need that on a collection day.
"Is that right?" She took the warning in a stride, shrugging it off as if I didn't make it. "Shame. I hoped things could be better on the personal side. Aru and Haruka certainly would." She flashed a toothy grin, looking like she heard the funniest joke in the world. "You oughta check who's following you on MomoTalk now! I guarantee you won't be disappointed!"
"… Ayane, could you check on that?" You would think having one less pair of eyes tracking this little imp sounded like a bad idea, but Ayane wouldn't be able to react fast enough for her anyway. I had to know if I was the recipient of another ridiculous punchline.
"Really Sensei?" She didn't seem to understand it, but she did as I requested and checked on my followers. I could practically feel her eyes bulging without looking at her. "Wha- Aru Rikuhachima and Haruka Igusa?! Why are they following you now?!"
A fine question. Why the frak were they following someone who blew them up, shot them with a laspistol and then tried to saw through them with a chainsword just because I gave one of them their gun back?!
Seeing the absolutely gobsmacked look on my face must have been worthy of late night comedy, because Mustuki was laughing up a riot in the empty streets."I know right?! Who gets their butt kicked by someone and starts following them? " Clearly, having a laugh at everyone's expense was a common amusement that never got old for this girl. "Boss and Haruka are really something else, huh?" Her expression then changed as she focused on me, interest dancing in her eyes. "Then again, after what you did yesterday, I can't blame 'em. You're something else too, Sensei."
So it seemed that this little imp was just as grateful and confused for my act of sparing them and returning her comrade's weapon as her supposed boss and intern were. From there, I could see that she really did have no intention of picking a fight with us, and I relaxed ever so slightly.
"I suppose that's why I'm a Sensei then," I answered rhetorically. "Then again, a teacher can learn as much as a student can. Can you indulge me?"
"Hmm? And what could a student like me possibly tell a Sensei like you? Nothing about our jobs, I hope?"
Even as the smile never left her face, I could see her hands inch towards her gun in reflexive unease before she forced herself to stop. She knew the game better than she let on. There was little point in letting them go yesterday and asking for such information now. Plus, she knew that if I actually went for it, she couldn't put up much resistance anyway. "Consider this a personal question rather than a professional one then."
"Oh-ho?" Her eyes shined with undisguised interest. I'd been baiting all these girls with snippets of my past, and I'd stop doing it when it stopped working or started being uncomfortable. "Now you've got me. What would the Sensei like to know about his students?"
"Your boss seems like she can be hard to work with. Why do you all follow her?"
The question had been nagging at me all night. Aru was more competent than the rest of the criminal fools that infested this city, but she passed that low bar and then plummeted back down below it with the host of other problems she had. Being taken by emotion, an insistence of living up to some ridiculous outlaw image, a lack of long-term planning and so many more faults would make themselves obvious after five seconds. So why did she manage to gather such stalwart followers to indulge her in this ridiculous fantasy at the cost of their own well-being?
Rather than being taken aback by my simple question, the curiosity in her eyes shined even more. "Man, and you're not even offering to buy us out. I wonder, does that have something to do with what you did for Haruka yesterday?"
"I prefer not to waste my time and effort on futile endeavors," I answered her easily, ignoring her accurate guess.
The loyalty that they had couldn't be bought. And if Hoshino was right, I'd been on both ends of that equation without ever being aware of just how much I'd given and received.
So what did Aru give to them, that they gave so much back to her?
"And here you are, trying to save a place like this." Alright, fair point. My words might ring hollow, when the place I was trying to save was practically a sandblasted wasteland, but that problem would eventually end up with me anyway. Might as well plant the seeds of a solution now. "Your idea of what's worth trying is just one thing funny about you."
"I didn't get this job by being boring," I replied easily.
"Sensei…" quietly intoned from behind me, clearly impressed by my feelings on the situation. If she found myself all the more heroic for my efforts, well and good.
"I can see that," Mutsuki chuckled. "Well, I've known Aru since we were kids, and the fun never stopped while she was around, for one reason or another. Following her like this was obvious!"
I guess being amused at your fellows' expense is one of the many benefits of friendship. I don't think it's enough to shape a career and life path over, but that's their problem, not mine.
"You don't want to hear about Kayoko. She's got a whole boatload of issues that you don't need to worry your head off right now, unless you want to stick your neck into some other problems too."
Well, she was right with that one. I was asking this to do away with my nagging curiosity. If I got more headaches out of the answers that would defeat the whole purpose.
"And for Haruka? Aru saved her from bullying. I don't need to say anything else."
I had to suppress a grimace of familiarity. She really didn't. I knew very well how cruel children could be. Whether Haruka's fragile mental state was the cause or the effect of the experience was irrelevant. She was bullied, and her powers, as I took advantage of yesterday, did very little to help on the mental side of things. Where her own incredible durability couldn't help her endure, Aru did, and that secured her loyalty for life.
And unbeknownst to me, I did the same for someone else I knew. Not until last night, at least.
"True enough," I quietly agreed. "You may go now. Give us no reason to pursue you, and we will not follow."
"I'm glad I could teach the teacher," she said cheerfully. "You won't have any problems from us today! We're taking out a loan from the bank! We'll probably waste our time… You know how banks are!"
"I can imagine." I had little firsthand experience with banks over the centuries, my station as a commissar and my performance as a Hero of the Imperium ensuring my financial security, but the few times I was forced to go there back when I was a cadet made me despise their very existence and made me swear to have need of their services as little as possible.
The little prankster took my groaning sympathy with a laugh. "More adult experience, I see! Hope the next time we meet you won't have to shoot at us so we can see more of it! Ciao Sensei!"
She punctuated her farewell by throwing a card at me, which I caught with ease as she merrily dashed off. Considering she aimed it at my chest, which the general public seemed to think was just as bulletproof as the rest of them, it clearly wasn't done to actually hurt me. I looked at the card and forced myself to school my expression.
"What did she give you Sensei?" Ayane said warily as I looked at it.
"… Nothing important for now," I told her. She didn't need to think about it just yet. "Let's get going."
I took one last glance at where Mutsuki had gone. It seemed like her boss wasn't the only one who had a good impression of me.
After all, on that card was their business address, ready for us to go to and deal with at our leisure.
For Mustuki, it seemed that personal affairs were far more important than professional ones. Then again, judging from how she acted, I expected that already.
Ah, collection day. Everyone from the homeless wastrels in the underhives to the richest planetary governors feared the collector ringing the doorbell. I've seen soldiers and warriors who have faced down the galaxy's worst in grueling campaigns and would rather deal with the bugs, the greenskins and the daemons rather than the damn loan sharks, and I honestly couldn't blame them. After all, shooting them with boltguns or sticking them with a chainsword wasn't a solution to that problem (most of the time), and often made things worse. Assuming you could get that far. The worst ones made drawing a weapon on them very detrimental for your health and safety, and then made your future a living hell for daring to make the attempt.
With the knowledge that they had enough money to pay off the interest, and thanks to my efforts a little more set aside, the Abydos girls were reasonably calm. They'd done this song and dance before, and if anything seemed more like they just wanted all of it to be over, handing over the cash to the money man before so they could focus on something actually important.
And I do mean cash. I was no stranger to electronic payment and wire transferring, having made use of it both here and the Imperium, but I couldn't help but feel a light switch going on in my head when I heard the company's insistence on cash-only payment for their debt.
Offhandedly, I asked Ayane if she ever thought of tracking the collectors in any way, just for security purposes. When she answered that she always took note of the plate number just in case something happened to their money, and also had the man's name on hand, I acknowledged her thoroughness. I had a feeling we would make use of that information sooner rather than later.
As was usual for collections, it was an armored truck that rolled up on the sandy pathways to the academy. Engraved on the side of the truck was an octopus protectively (or, perhaps, greedily…) encircling a bag of money, with "Kaiser Loans" lettered underneath. If I didn't know they had a branch in the black market I'd still be suspicious of that logo alone. Whoever designed that needed to be fired.
The trunk of the vehicle swung open to the sides, filled to the brim with lockers for securing money and, from what I remember of armored trucks for banks, other valuables as well. A throng of soldiers also came out from the back, and unexpectedly, they were robots. Colored an ominous black, these seemed to be different models from the usual scrum-heads within the city, with more angular, armored bodies, and armed to a one with autoguns.
I probably should've expected a mechanical contingent. After all, the one who would collect the money was an automaton. One of the city's automatons came out of the car and greeted the girls, clothed in an office suit and red tie and with a pistol on his belt. Crassus Danei, his (or so I assumed) name was, and I had Arona search up on him online to ensure he worked for Kaiser. He did indeed, already working there for five years. He was one of the usual bots that wandered the city, but he decided to tint his lights black and red instead of the typical blue.
"Greetings, Abydos Academy students. Crassus from Kaiser Loans again, here to collect your dues." "Please bring your payment here."
His artificial voice was as flat and cold as a servitor's, as to be expected from a robot, his digital eyes unmoving yellow dots. I only heard of the city's automata for a few moments before I had to give my post-mission impromptu interview, but the few that I saw and heard were far more emotional than I ever expected an Abominable intelligence to be. That this one met my past expectations was of little comfort. Then again, the one in my pocket very much destroyed any other preconceptions I had of them, so perhaps I should stop thinking of normal when it came to AI.
The girls brought up the moneybags to be examined by the guards one by one before they were brought to the trunk. As that business was going on, Crassus walked up to me and looked me over, likely not expecting my presence here. "You are the Sensei? Ciaphas Cain Sensei, if I remember correctly."
I smiled at him. "You remember rightly." I held my unaugmented left hand out to him. No need to give them even a hint of any opening. My right hand was busy with my phone anyway. "A pleasure to meet you. Crassus Danei, their usual collector, if I remember correctly."
His programmed business etiquette had him taking my hand and shaking it with little fanfare, never taking his eyes off me. "That is my name. I was assigned to it for the past few years. There's a lot more activity with this batch though." And I don't doubt that. With Ayane and Serika here, the FTF could push its operations further with a four-woman team and a very competent operator handling logistics and support behind them. He then looked towards the school, with an armored car and a heavy artillery piece. "Even more that I'm hearing, now that you're here. It looks far better than before."
I modestly tilted my head. "It's my job to make things better anyway."
"… So long as they keep paying on time, I'll have no complaints." A few taps on the armored car drew our attention to one of the combat units nodding its head at us, and my counterpart nodding in turn. "Paid in cash with no issues to report. Thank you for another unproblematic collection." He then turned to me, his emotions as unreadable as always. "We hope you'll consider doing business with us, Sensei."
"Thank you for the offer. I'll keep it in mind." Whether I do anything with it is another matter. Crassus kept his gaze for a moment longer before he and the armed guards entered the van and sped off to the bank.
"We made it to another month," Hoshino stated, without any of the relief that it would imply. Given the disgruntled looks all the girls had, it was a sentiment shared among all of them. Despite giving their payment without issue, the girls felt little victory in giving away their hard-earned money to a corporation, no matter how many times they've done it. I felt the same. It was rather unpleasant helping the students put the money on carts to be wheeled out and handed over, less for the effort I spent on it and more for the fact that they were wasting their own on such menial labor when they could be doing things more conducive to their future. The fact that it reminded myself of my own youth in the seedy underhives did not make it pleasant. It only strengthened the unpalatable opinions I had of their debtors.
"… How much longer?" Shiroko asked blankly, to which Ayane gave a quiet answer.
"Our repayment schedule is 309 years," she said, trying and failing to not sound discouraged. "At the rate we're going…"
"Don't say it! If I hear the details I'm going to lose it!" Serika hissed. "We're not going to pay this back in our lifetimes! Why even bother doing the math?!"
Serika's usual outburst did little to offend Ayane. She was more perturbed by her own factual accounting than anything her more outspoken friend could say on the matter. After all, the rage was understandable.
That number put into perspective how absurd the situation was. I'd heard of such long-term debts before, but it never sounded so ridiculous. The Imperial tithe was obvious, given that the Imperium needed all the money, material and manpower it could get to fight for Mankind. Debts and oaths of reparation sworn across entire planets, such as with the Death Korps of Krieg or the Vostroyan Firstborn, were feasible as the burden was spread across billions of people across generations. I've seen bureaucratic and administrative errors go literal decades and centuries without ever being addressed either, and though everyone with a brain considered it phenomenally stupid that it happened at all, the Administratum and the Ministorum handled Emperor knows how many planets. It was awful and inefficient, but it happened.
But a school in a sandblasted desert with little of value but its remaining five students? What utterly shameless, ridiculous madness went through your mind to keep forcing them to keep up with this farce?
This school didn't have 309 years. In fact, considering its most capable student was already a senior, I strongly suspected that unless something changed, it wouldn't have more than one.
Shiroko was gazing off into the distance with an unnerving glare on her face, which only made Serika groan and practically slam a hand into her shoulder. "No Shiroko, you can't go and rob them."
The wolf girl went on staring anyway. "Don't worry, I'm not."
Serika then clenched harder. "You can't daydream about doing it either!"
Shiroko turned to her friend with a frown, more hurt by the spoiling of even her imaginary sport rather than the grip on her shoulder. "Fine…"
Honestly, the idea was looking more and more tempting by the minute. I'd damn myself to the warp before actually admitting that and cementing Shiroko's insistence on solving all our problems with heisting. "We should focus on what's in front of us rather than what's far ahead of us. Back to the club room."
Back within the club room, all of us except for Ayane took our seats as we began the meeting, giving her the opportunity to present to us the fruits of her research. She casted her findings of the group to all of our phones, with the first being the image of some multi-horned, goat-headed daemon. The fact that two of those horns were from a certain wannabe outlaw and the numerals for 6 and 8 were above it told us exactly who all this was for.
"As we all experienced yesterday, the ones responsible for the assault were Problem Solver 68. They present themselves as a fixer agency, but their past jobs basically had them as errand runners. Attacking Abydos is the biggest mission they've undertaken, and the only one where they contracted hired help."
She then moved on to the next slide, consisting of ID photos of each of the girls and their respective profiles. "Despite her insistence on being a company, these four really are all the members of Problem Solver, and all of the titles were merely self-proclaimed by Aru without any official recognition."
"No official recognition?" Shiroko asked curiously. "So they aren't condoned by Gehenna Academy?"
"Quite the opposite actually," Ayane confirmed for her. "They cause a lot of trouble back in Gehenna as well, and their bank accounts have been frozen. They're still considered students, but in all other aspects they're on their own."
They froze the bank account but still haven't kicked these hooligans out of the school? They'd be expelled or, if their offense was grave enough, even executed back at the schola. Then again, it would take far too much effort to kill any of these girls and I doubt anyone around here would have the stomach for it.
"So they aren't particularly strong, and they aren't recognized by any school…" Nonomi leaned on the table in contemplative thought. "So why were they hired to take us out?"
"Those are points in their favor, actually," I pointed out. "They're not very well-known and they aren't associated with any of the schools, so whoever hired them could do so on the cheap and with extra deniability since nobody would defend them if they were caught." After all, less people would bat an eye if a criminal did the dirty work. And the less official it was, the better it was for keeping things under wraps. Who knew how many "unofficial" organizations there were in the Imperium?
"More cloak-and-dagger stuff…" Hoshino said tiredly, and not from her usual charade of aged tiredness. This was real weariness seeping through her. "Man, I want it all to end already." Which was something all of us could heartily agree on.
"Honestly, I think the biggest reason they were hired was because they have an office somewhere around here," Ayane continued. "Sensei and I actually met one of them, Mutsuki, on the way to get our food this morning."
"Really?!" Serika was appalled that one of their enemies was prancing about the district barely a day after they tried to take it over. "What happened?! Did you get into a fight?!"
"We didn't, actually." Ayane gave me a look that told me that she was just as sure, or rather unsure, about the whole situation as I was. "She seemed more focused on just talking to Sensei. Since she seemed to have the personality of a prankster you can take what she says with a grain of salt, but if what she says is true, Problem Solvers as a whole don't really seem motivated to pick a fight with us. Or rather, with Sensei."
The girls turned to me with understanding looks. "Well… I guess with what happened yesterday, you seemed to have made a good impression on them," Hoshino demurred neutrally. "Still, are you sure you can trust her?"
"Perhaps not her," I acknowledged. I then tried not to wretch as I used my social networking to make my point. "But her boss and… The intern have started following my account, and only those two, so at the very least they seem less motivated to try and have a go at us."
"You have to be kidding me," Serika began, and the very idea had all those who weren't aware searching up the two in question and confirming that, yes, they did indeed start following me. "Holy crap, you're right. They did just follow a guy who kicked their asses to the curb yesterday."
A crude summary of yesterday's events, but accurate enough for me not to nitpick. "Because of this, and the fact that they currently lack manpower and the funding to replenish it," something Serika herself saw before all of us did, "we can consider them a secondary priority for now." I nodded to Ayane. "So what did you find out?"
"The weapons we obtained from our second battle with the Helmet Gang were all illegally modified or no longer in production," she explained, changing our screens to the weapons and parts in question, with peculiar focus on that bastardized tank.
"So how did they get their hands on all of it?" Hoshino asked the obvious question.
"There's only one place to get them." Our screens changed once more to a rudimentary, incomplete and darkened map. "The Black Market."
Why am I not surprised that there was a black market in an anarchic city like this? There was one in even the brightest of hive cities, why wouldn't there be one here? My only question was, what the hell even constituted as illegal in a city where battle psykers who could survive tank shots were two a credit?
You'd have to get creative. And given what their creativity birthed so far (that tank), I didn't want to see the rest of it, especially since I would probably suffer an agonizing death from the experience.
"The Black Market," Nonomi glanced cautiously at her screen before looking hesitantly at Ayane. "Isn't that place really dangerous?"
Ayane nodded clinically at her senior. "It's a gathering spot for delinquents of all kinds, all ready to shoot at anything that annoys them just to pass the time. It's also a place where unauthorized clubs perform illegal activities."
"Unauthorized clubs like Problem Solver 68," Shiroko concluded, which Ayane confirmed for her.
"Word on the street is that they were responsible for a few incidents there already. It's possible that their employer first made contact with them there."
"That's our link!" Nonomi excitedly pointed out, leading Hoshino to nod and make her proposal.
"Then it's obvious what we should do next," Hoshino declared with the very rare authority of the club's president that she was. "It looks like we're going to the black market." Having seen the unanimous nods of approval from the rest of the club, she then turned to me expectantly. "Well, Sensei? Have any objections?"
None, really. But we were skirting into illegal territory here. Our current course of action made it clear that they needed to know what I'd been thinking about these past few days.
"None of the plan itself. It's a good course of action," I told them. My tone of voice, however, made it clear that there was more to be said. "However, there's something you need to know before we leave."
My behavior set them into various states of unease and curiosity. Catching onto the gravity of my words, Hoshino was the one to speak first. "Really? What is it, Sensei?"
I leaned on the table and steepled my fingers together. "Truth be told, I have a hypothesis as to who's attacking your academy."
As I expected, my words immediately had the table erupt in a firestorm of activity. "What the hell?! Since when?!" Serika stared at me incredulously.
"Honestly? I've thought of the idea ever since you informed me about the state of the district, but I didn't want to jump to conclusions until I had more evidence," I explained. "I'm still not comfortable with the conclusion. But the possibility will affect us whether or not it's true, so I found it prudent to inform you now."
"Very likely, the mastermind behind the attacks on the academy are your debtors. Kaiser Loans."
The bombshell I dropped left all of them dead silent, staring at me as if they didn't hear me. I couldn't blame them. If it was true, it would be an absolute travesty.
"What…?" Serika began haltingly, unable to believe what she heard.
"That's a pretty messed up thing to think of Sensei," Hoshino voiced the general mood of the club, her expression serious. "Why would they do that?"
"Good question," I acknowledged. It was a ridiculous train of thought, but unfortunately, it had legs. "Let me throw another one back at you. Why would Kaiser even consider lending money to Abydos in the first place? When the sandstorms hit Abydos, when other companies understandably hesitated to lend them money, why did Kaiser go all in on lending money to the district? Do you think they made a return on that investment?"
"… Not even close," Ayane replied, the idea starting to make more and more damning sense in her head. "From the original time of borrowing until now, the school hasn't even raised enough money to cover the principal amount, and now we're only scraping by on paying the interest."
"But didn't you say that they would want the district instead of the money?" Nonomi pointed out, the realization hitting her. "So that would mean the debt would be an elaborate way of getting the district, and money wouldn't matter!"
"What made you think of suggesting this, Sensei?" Hoshino followed up, a logical thing to ask.
"Because of your payment method," I told them. "A common way for criminals to hide their dealings is to conduct business purely with cold, hard cash that's given in person, because it's harder to track than electronic or digital payments."
"It is," Ayane supported me with a pained look. "Unless you run the money through several accounts, it's easier to find transactions made digitally. Handing it over makes it several times harder to track down. And because they're a business that still wants to make money while remaining debatably legal, if they ARE the ones sending delinquents to our school, they might be relying on cheap, deniable proxies to harass the school."
The idea was a blow to the girls. The fact that the ones responsible for their massive losses were also the ones making it several times harder to pay it back because their money, their effort, was never important at all, hit them hard and deep.
"But Sensei, why did you only tell us this now?" Serika tried to keep her frustration down and pointed away from me. "You said you thought of this on the very first day. We could've tried solving our debt problem and our delinquent problem in one go!"
Precisely why I didn't. It was an incredibly naïve way of thinking, but I didn't chastise her. Serika was probably the most emotional member of the group, and such an agonizing new piece of information was cutting into her and making her anger flare. She needed to be calmed down. "Because it would have been irresponsible to make such a paradigm-changing proposal without proper information," I began. "Especially since I'm accusing the ones responsible for handling your debt. Whether or not they're the ones behind the attacks on your academy, whether or not they're actually criminals, any action taken against them will affect your debt payment. Would you have been able to hand in your debt payment calmly if the idea was in your head?"
If I proposed the idea to them, and they acted cold, angry or distant towards the debt collector that came today, or worse, made reckless accusations, that would tip Kaiser off that SOMETHING happened, which would be bad whether or not these people were the ones attacking the academy. That would only encourage them to pressure Abydos in other ways. Now, they have a month to let the idea stew in their heads, cool their tempers and gather more information. Serika didn't like the answer, but even she realized that the very outburst she just had proved my point. "I only even proposed this now because we're heading into the black market district, because we're going into illegal territory."
"Let me be very clear," I told them gravely. "Your debtors being behind the attacks on the academy is probably one of the worst scenarios, because they're going to play dirty. They will make every excuse and take every opportunity to seize Abydos, and if you try to argue with them without ironclad evidence, they'll take the accusation and just make paying the debt back harder. So we'll have to act very carefully. Understood?"
"Got it, Sensei." Hoshino's words were just one among the other voices of understanding and approval among the girls, and she grinned at me. "You were just looking after us, huh?"
"That is my job, after all." And having them commit a (socially) suicidal charge against a corporate army sounded like a headache and a half, and I would have none of it.
"So what does that mean for our current mission, Sensei?" Ayane asked.
"Can you still perform your operator duties all the way here?"
"Yes," she answered confidently. "As long as one of you has a receiver and there's a signal, I can take control of the drone anywhere near the main hub of the city. The black market should be within range."
Perfect. The less people there with us, the better, if only for whatever deniability we could have. Having an extra pair of eyes in illegal waters would be an absolute boon. "Then you'll be staying behind to focus on your operator duties, and so that not all of us will be there. As for the rest of us, I hope you like playing dress-up, because we're going in disguise."
Excitement and curiosity erupted from all the girls, especially from Nonomi, but there was really only one reaction I was focusing on. The moment I saw Shiroko's eyes light up, I immediately raised my hand to silence her.
"And I don't mean with those masks."
The frown on her face would've been a childish tantrum on anyone else. Just because we were scouting out a den of crime didn't mean we were going to commit some of our own.
Or, to put it more bluntly, by the Emperor, Shiroko, we are NOT going to rob a bank!
*Chapter 14: Collecting and Recollecting, END*
Beta-read, as usual, by Doc43Souls. Thank you once more.
And thus ends the setup for the Black Market visit. He's going to have to get used to more than just his clothes, let's just say. He has to work really, really hard to go undercover.
Something to note about Abydos as a whole is that it's a reference, not just to Egypt, but the fall of Egypt due to the invasion of the Roman Empire. It's why it's being invaded by the Kaiser Corporation, which is based on a title for Julius Caesar. It's also why I named the debt collector here Crassus. He wasn't named in the original game, but I just decided to add that little detail here.
And of course, Cain's reputation gets another shot in the arm. He can't go a day without getting a few hundred thousand people wondering what he's going to do next. And all of them are vindicated because he always provides fine entertainment. The fact that you people are still reading this proves they aren't the only ones.
See you people next time!
