Goro Akechi 06/02 (P5)
—
There is a lot of you that hoped it wouldn't come to this. The other part is sick with relief that it will be done and over with after this.
In the past, your kills have never been on camera. They are done in the Metaverse, where you have a moment of privacy to react. A moment to get emotional distance from the accidents you caused, and look at the bodies with something other than guilt.
You need that divide between reality and the metaverse.
It's a little easier to live with killing people, if you can distance yourself from the act, and tell yourself it's just another person who got stupid. It's an accident, it could have happened to anyone.
It's not true of course. But what you believe does not matter. It's what other people believe about you that matters.
And what they believe isn't too hard to shape, with what you give them. You are a performer by nature, honed by long practice.
But this is a performance you have never performed for an audience. It will collapse that distance you try to keep carefully at arms length.
This is murder.
In the Metaverse, there is no blood, no smell, just a shadow dissolving into dust.
Here there won't be any distance to put between the act. None of the giddy feeling you get from fooling the stupid, nor any of the crushing guilt you feel when you see it on TV.
And today's victim is some stranger, and also Joker. Joker, who is your rival, and maybe your only friend who knows you on some level. Some attic trash, who is weirdly likable. Joker who is leader of the Phantom Thieves, and can not be called or thought of as a friend today. Not if you want to be able to sell this performance.
Besides, you have no friends. You're just a burden with the spite and audacity to stay alive. Few people actually like you on a personal level, and he's probably no different. Just faking like everyone else is.
Like you are.
The thought makes you feel hollow. But its true. And hollow probably isn't a bad emotion to show for this job.
Yes. Hollow. Hang on to the feeling. You are going to need it.
You need to act like this is something you do everyday. Like it's all the routine you pretended it was. It is something you do everyday, but never like this, so no one can know. No one can suspect.
You look at the cameras as if to tell yourself that it's all an act. Three, two, one.
It's showtime.
It's not hard to convince the guard to come in with you. Shooting him is a practiced moment, and you are surprised when he doesn't dissolve into shadows.
Right. This Isn't the Metaverse. Its real. The smell feels distant, and you want to react anyways, but you can't. You look at Joker rather than the camera. He stares at you.
Act two.
You talk to him. He continues to stare.
You prepare your gun, and point it to his head. You should say something. It's the last performance he will ever see from you, so make it good. You smile and try again, only to receive cold silence and a dead eyed stare.
You wonder,what the fuck did they drugged him with.
There is no point in preforming for Joker anymore.
You shoot him.
He falls over wide eyes still staring at you, and you frown.
No coming back from this.
Perhaps it was even a mercy. But the show is not over yet.
You poke him with the gun to be sure. That was stupid. You laugh, maybe at yourself, maybe at him, or even for the camera. You are not sure.
You put the gun in his hand, and position his limbs just so. Then you pocket the silencer. You laugh a little again. Its what Shido would want to see. It's what he will see.
You walk out in slow measured steps, like you didn't leave two dead bodies behind you.
Everything is business as usual. Nothing to see here. All is well.
Act two complete. Now for the finale.
You call him on camera. A little to gauge his reaction, and to get a stay of execution for the Thieves who remain, mixed with a warning.
You wonder if they will see it. You act like they will see it anyway. You hope that they take the cues you are giving them and run with it. Maybe without Joker it won't even be acting.
Shido brings up the director of the special investigations unit, and you know that this is a counter offer. Seven lives for the price of three dead.
If they have any sense they will run. Some of them will live that way, if Shido strikes earlier then you plan.
But then he will be in the spotlight, and you will be in the shadows, ready to strike.
But right now you are a mess. Tokyo is full of eyes, but some places are less prying than others to be while you prepare your masks.
Exit stage right.