Chapter 29: Good Bait

Feeling even worse after taking his break, Goro made his way to the Mental Shutdown Ward. The first thing he noticed was that it had been expanded since the last time he was there, overflowing into several adjoining rooms.

In one medium-sized room, Maruki had placed Makoto Niijima, Haru Okumura, Ryuji Sakamoto, Futaba Sakura, and Yusuke Kitagawa.

Sae was sitting at Makoto's side, restlessly wringing her hands in her lap.

Sojiro Sakura sat with an arm around Ren's shoulders, at Futaba's bed.

Takamaki and Suzui, who had both known Ryuji for years, had joined his mother at his bedside.

"Is that…Kitagawa-kun?" Togo asked quietly, pointing at Yusuke's bed.

"From your school, right?" Goro said, nodding. "He doesn't have any family."

Togo went to his side and took a little chain of wooden beads out of her pocket. She held it to her mouth and murmured something that Goro guessed was a prayer.

That left Haru Okumura with no one to visit her. Goro found himself drifting to her side. When her father Kunikazu was alive, he used to say absolutely disgusting things about her. When Shido ordered Goro to take out Okumura, Goro's initial reaction was revulsion — after all, Goro knew what it was like to lose your only parent. But the more he got to know Okumura, the more he convinced himself that the old man's death would be nothing but good for Haru. He indulged in the fantasy that Okumura would simply have a heart attack and leave Haru free to live her own life. The first inkling that he was deluding himself was watching Okumura die on TV — he had never witnessed the real-world consequences before, and it was far more gruesome than he'd imagined.

Goro had always imagined Haru as sort of a doll, obedient and lifeless, because that was how Kunikazu Okumura talked about her. But after meeting her in the Metaverse, he knew with certainty that he had misjudged her. She was able to set aside her anger to work with him, but she'd also made it clear how she felt.

Footsteps behind him signaled that someone was approaching.

"Okumura's girl," said Shido quietly.

"You know, I honestly thought she'd be better off without him," said Goro. "But that wasn't how she felt at all. She didn't want revenge. She wanted to change his heart, patch things up."

To Goro's surprise, Shido set a hand on his shoulder.

"I couldn't tell you before, but I want you to know why I tried to clear you in my statements to the police," said Shido. "I forced you to kill Okumura because he was my political rival. Just like all the others. Those lives are on my balance sheet, not yours."

"There's plenty of blame to split. Anyway, she can't die now. Not before I've paid off my debt," Goro said, shaking Shido's hand off and stalking out of the room.

Wanting to get away from Shido, Goro headed back to the visitor's lounge. He was surprised to find Sae there, instead of at Makoto's bedside, but maybe she needed a break. Maybe he could convince her to come home for the night. It wasn't like there was anything she could do here.

For a few seconds, he watched Sae stare at nothing and dab at her eyes. What could I say to her? What could I do for her? There's nothing that's going to make this better. The hair on his arms prickled. Why is it so cold in here? He rubbed at his bare arms restlessly, trying to smooth the hair back down.

He glanced around the room and saw Ren, who had dozed off again. I need to take him home so he can get some sleep. But what about Sae? He didn't want to leave her alone. Couldn't leave her alone, like this.

Paralyzed by the dilemma, Goro stood there pondering. He didn't even hear Maruki's footsteps behind him.

"Could you help me with something for a minute?" said Maruki. Goro didn't move, so he added, more gently, "They'll be fine for now."

Not knowing what else to do, Goro followed him. Maruki led him to a nearby office. The shelves were packed top-to-bottom with files and books, but the desk was immaculate.

"What do you like to drink?" asked Maruki.

"Coffee."

Maruki opened a little fridge from behind the desk and took out two cans: coffee for Goro and green tea for himself. While he fetched more snacks, Goro's eyes wandered around the office and settled on a framed poster. It had a large picture of a filament lightbulb and a quote from Thomas Edison: "I have not failed, not once. I've discovered 10,000 ways that don't work."

Maruki placed a little basket of treats in between them. "Try the chocolate biscuits. Perfect with coffee."

The bitter flavor of the coffee did pair well with the sweetness of the cookies. Goro began to relax, just a bit.

"What's on your mind?" asked Maruki, sipping his tea.

Goro crinkled the can in his hands. "Sae. I want to take Ren home, but I can't leave her like this."

Maruki looked puzzled. "Oh? People stay with loved ones in the hospital all the time. We have accommodations. It's no problem at all."

The cold prickling feeling was back on Goro's arms. He bit into a cookie and chewed it until it dissolved in his mouth.

"Is there something else bothering you?" Maruki asked. "A concern…or a fear, even?"

Fear. At the word, a jumble of sensations pushed into Goro's mind. His mother, crying behind her locked bedroom door. The sound of running water. The plink-plink-plink of droplets. His mother, wrists slashed, in a bathtub filled with blood.

"Sae said this was her greatest fear," said Goro, sidestepping the question. "That Makoto would follow in their father's footsteps and get hurt on a case."

"Ah," said Maruki softly. "Are you worried about what will happen if Sae is left alone tonight?"

"Don't tell me she's strong," said Goro, suddenly heated. "My mother was strong, but she still —"

The words caught in his throat. He couldn't continue. But Maruki, sensing his discomfort, stepped in.

"No, I understand completely. I can inform my nursing staff to keep an eye on her. And I'll watch over her myself, when I can. Would that address your concern?"

"Yes. Maybe. I think so."

Maruki looked at him shrewdly. "What you're feeling right now…this is what you need to tap into if you want to learn how to heal."

"I hate this feeling! All I want right now is to not feel like this!" Goro said angrily, letting go of the coffee can so he wouldn't crush it.

"You're more comfortable with harder emotions. Fear, anger, righteousness. Well, healing is just different than violence. Calm. Vulnerability. Empathy. Those are what will help you mend wounds."

"Vulnerability? Empathy? Come on, what is this touchy-feely crap?" Goro muttered.

"Make fun of me if you want," said Maruki mildly. If he was upset, nothing about his manner betrayed it. His total emotional control was infuriating. Maruki had his life pulled out from under him like a rug — twice — and not only was he not bitter about it, he still had this Pollyanna view of humanity?

I'll show him who's the calm one! Goro thought, grinding his teeth with outrage.

From the doorway, Ren said, "As long as you don't need humility. That one's probably a lost cause."

"Humility? You haven't met very many doctors, have you?" Maruki winked at Ren and they both chuckled.

Ren helped himself to a snack from Maruki's bowl and sat down next to Goro. "Sorry to barge in. I hope I'm not interrupting."

Goro was tempted to glare at Ren, but instead he took on an air of disdain and said, "If you're trying to get under my skin, forget it. I'm so frosty my lips are blue."

"I think I could help you both improve your healing abilities. Maybe it would help if you studied together," Maruki suggested.

"How about a contest? Whoever can heal the most injuries wins," said Ren.

"Wait, what?" said Maruki, dismayed. "You can't compete to heal the most —"

"Stakes?" Goro interrupted.

"Loser takes winner out for one night on the town, all expenses paid by said loser."

"Since when do you have the kind of money to treat me in the manner to which I am accustomed?" said Goro loftily.

"I'll find the money, don't you worry about that. Anyway, you should be thinking about where you're going to find the money to take me out. There's all kinds of stuff I never got to see in Tokyo."

"Hmph. Idle talk. How will we measure it? Number of attempts?"

"Obviously not. Number of completions. Eliminating all cuts, bruises, scrapes, and so on, on a single person."

"That's a high bar," Goro mused.

While Goro thought that over, Maruki broke in. "Wait a minute. Won't this just encourage you all to get hurt?"

Goro shook his head. "Not at all. In fact, we'll want to avoid getting hurt so the other person has fewer chances to rack up their score. And counting only complete heals means we'll want to make each one as efficient as possible."

"We'll need someone to count, I think. How about Hifumi?" Ren suggested.

"With Morgana as backup, maybe?"

Ren nodded. "Sure. Deal."

Goro smiled slyly. "Are you ever going to give me that glove back?"

Ren returned his smile. "You'll have to win it back. Too late to add it into this contest, though. We'll have to do another one."

"Fine. Any objections, Doc?"

"I suppose not, as long as you aren't trying to hurt yourselves for practice." Maruki seemed genuinely pained at the idea.

If he really means it…. Thinking back over his past with Maruki through that lens, Goro saw him in a whole new way. He wasn't like Shido, who made every move strategically, with an eye toward pushing himself higher and other people lower. Maruki's goal all along had been to reduce suffering as much as he could; he hated seeing people in pain, plain and simple. That's why he helped me, even though he doesn't like me. It's why he put everything he had into healing us.

On the other hand, to spare himself pain, Maruki had reduced everyone in his sphere of influence to puppets — that part was still selfish. He cares a lot…but he still isn't any better than the rest of us.

With that realization, there was a stirring in his heart signifying the formation of the Death bond.

"Who do you think will win?" Ren asked, grinning like an idiot at the doctor. Goro frowned at Maruki equally hard.

"Oh, I don't want to take sides…I'll teach both of you as well as I can, how's that?"

Goro scoffed. Maruki probably couldn't help favoring his little pet, but that didn't mean Ren would win.

"All right…I think we've done all we can here, don't you?" said Goro. "Let's go back to my place and get you some sleep."

"Sure. Plenty more to do tomorrow," Ren agreed. "What do you mean me, though? What about you?"

Goro clenched a fist as they walked out of Maruki's office. "I saw on the news that Myojo destroyed Kichijoji."

"Oh God," Ren moaned. "I can't believe it! Destroyed destroyed?"

"I don't know. I want to see it for myself," said Goro. "Anyway, I need to let you into my apartment, so let's stop there first."

"I'll come too. Sleepunder!" said Jose, appearing behind them.

Ren smiled a little. "Sleepover, Jose. Maybe Morgana can come too. Have you seen him?"

Jose bobbed his head. "He said he had to go for a while."

"Typical cat," said Ren. Then, when Morgana didn't appear to scold him, he added, "I guess he really is gone. Well, he can take care of himself."

They headed out, and a few short minutes later, Goro, Ren, and Jose got onto the subway. It was after the evening rush, not terribly crowded, and they were able to sit down together. Goro wondered idly how Jose got past the turnstiles with no ticket, but decided that was the least of his problems. If Jose wanted to join them for the evening, that was fine.

After a few minutes, he yawned. The rhythmic rattle and sway of the subway was making him drowsy. He had hoped to drop off Ren at home before heading out again to see Kichijoji in person, but now that all the shocks of the day had worn off, all he wanted to do was take a hot bath and go to bed. There was a futon in the closet. He could pull that out, throw some sheets on it, and fall asleep with his arms around Ren….

He blinked and suddenly felt wide awake. Jose was looking out the window, Ren was asleep. The other passengers were dozing, reading, or staring into space. There was a sensation of motion and the usual sounds and smells. It all seemed perfectly normal, except….

Myojo.

In less than the blink of an eye, Myojo was suddenly right in front of him.

"You," said Myojo, pointing at Goro. Everything else in the train car stopped moving, then started moving again, but not in the way living things did — more like a swarm of insects, millions of tiny pieces all flapping and scratching independently. The familiar shapes stretched and mutated, nothing holding one shape for more than a few seconds at a time. Even the floor, walls, and ceiling had devolved into this shapeless, undulating chaos.

In the midst of all this, Goro stood his ground. He focused on Myojo, whose face was now hidden behind a mask, a face frozen in mirth.

"I want to talk to you. Man to….me," said Myojo. His voice carried the impression of the rustling of insects, the rush of water, and the void of space, all at the same time.

It seemed pointless to argue, so Goro just said, "What do you want?"

"You haven't used any of your gifts," said Myojo disapprovingly. "I'm starting to think you didn't like them."

Feeling deeply weary, Goro forced himself to ask, "What gifts?"

Myojo's form melted briefly and reformed itself into something like a Buddha statue. "I broke your attachments to the material plane. Such things are necessary for enlightenment."

"You mean when you killed my friends and burned down my neighborhood? That was supposed to make me more enlightened?"

Myojo's face formed itself into a laughing Buddha. "Just so! You'll never be able to master your spiritual gifts as long as you're chained to your life. I only want my specialest boy to shift into a being worthy of the power he holds. You already want to, you just don't know it yet."

Goro stroked his chin. "This is why Yaldabaoth chose me, isn't it? To be the avatar of chaos. That's what he said."

Myojo produced a wheezing sound that might have been laughter or anger, or — as Goro was beginning to understand — both at once. "The Demiurge said that? Of course it did not choose you. It would be as pointless to do so as to play both sides of the chessboard. I chose you as my avatar."

"Why? Of everyone you could have chosen, why me?"

Myojo brushed a finger across Goro's jawline. It felt like ants crawling across his face, but Goro didn't flinch. "Long before you were birthed, you were born to be a wild card. You cross back and forth between good and evil as easily as starlight traverses the heavens. As soon as my faces gazed upon you, I knew they had found my champion."

Goro thought this over. "The Phantom Thieves defeated Yaldabaoth. But that doesn't mean you won, either. Masayoshi Shido is in jail."

"Is he? Or is he bringing my message to the masses on a tank?"

"That's not the real…" Goro trailed off. It wasn't real? To a person who had never met Masayoshi Shido, who only heard of the things he did secondhand, what difference did it make whether the stories were true or false? No more than it would matter if the moon was made of cheese. If the Metaverse, world of the unconscious, had fully taken over the conscious world, what could "real" even mean anymore?

"A thing doesn't need to be real to be true. Everyone knows that," said Myojo. "Gaze upon my domain and tell me what you see."

Goro looked away from Myojo's mask. All around him was nothing but swirling chaos. Pieces of recognizable objects came into view and disappeared just as quickly. It was disorienting, since nothing stayed still long enough to serve as an anchor, but Goro found it satisfying in a strange way. Part of him had never understood other people's desire for structure and routines, for things to remain the same day after day. This part of him felt right at home in Myojo's whirlwind. There was nothing to hold onto, nothing keeping him anywhere in particular. No need to desire things he couldn't have, because he couldn't have anything. It was impossible to take anything too seriously, because it would just be gone in another second. That was comforting.

"I see chaos. Entropy. But there's something beautiful about it, too," said Goro. "In a world like this, nobody is a loser. Or a winner. All the stupid things society spends so much time on…all meaningless."

"Precisely. A perfect world, now and forever. How could it be considered anything else? You, unique among mortals, belong here. This is your kingdom. All you need to do is claim it, and it is yours."

"And my friends?"

"To each their own. They may build whatever reality they like."

"Whose ideal wins, then? When Maruki did this, he was the one who decided whose fantasy was the 'best' one."

Myojo made the rustling sound again. This time Goro had the feeling it was tinged with scorn. "An idiot god has idiot desires. No one's ideal world need subordinate to any other. All of them are the real one, all at once. A perfect democracy: each person perfectly self-reliant, perfectly fulfilled."

"Perfect madness, you mean. Look, I may not be the most patriotic person who ever lived, but I'm not going to let you run amok like some handsome kaiju," said Goro. He could see the truth of what Ren said earlier all around him: normal people couldn't survive in a place like this. Their minds would snap like so many toothpicks. Maybe that was part of this creature's plan.

Myojo's carved smile split the mask of his face until the bottom half fell off and into the swirling chaos around them. He pulled the top half off. Underneath was the most profound darkness Goro had ever seen, with a pinprick of light like a star in the dead center.

The light of the star grew brighter until Goro was forced to close his eyes. When he opened them again, he was back on the subway like nothing had happened. His stop was coming up. A phrase was echoing in his mind, though he was sure Myojo hadn't said it out loud: You can't stop me.

He wrapped an arm protectively around Ren, the warmth comforting as Goro shivered in the humid summer air.

"You lied to me," said Jose, frowning. "You said this is what people wanted. Nobody wants this."

"Some do, some don't. Is it not so?"

Jose was uncertain. "I guess. But my guest doesn't want it. Doesn't that count for more?"

Myojo's smile widened. "If he wants stability more than the rest want chaos, maybe so!"

A golden scale appeared between them, etched with swirling patterns. A little Goro Akechi action figure appeared on one side of the scale, while a number of faceless human-shaped figures appeared on the other. The Goro side weighed heavier.

"Not just him. His friends, too." Jose thought hard. This way of thinking didn't come easily to him, as yet. "Like Sae-san. She wants her sister to recover."

There was a rustling sound, and a number of other figurines appeared on Goro's side of the scale, one for each of his team. The scale sagged on that side.

"Oh my! Hmm, have we accounted for everyone? Yes, I think not," said Myojo.

There was another sound, lower and more like a growl. A figurine of Myojo appeared on the other side of the scale, with the faceless ones. It plunked into the golden plate with a clang, so heavily that all the figures on the other side fell over. Now the Myojo side weighed heavier.

Jose blinked in shock. "Wait, that's not right. Your desires don't count here."

"I'm merely siding with the masses. You can't blame me if they all happen to want exactly what I want. Although…there might be something that could tip the balance back over," Myojo mused. "What might that be, I wonder?"

Jose stared at the scale so long and so hard, he didn't notice when Myojo melted back into the shadows and disappeared.

After a while in silent contemplation, Jose looked down at his hand and saw a little figurine representing himself. He placed it carefully on Goro's side of the scale. It tipped, putting the scales closer to even, but Myojo's side was still a bit heavier.

Something occurred to him. It was the work of a mere thought to make the silver thread binding him to Goro appear. He plucked it, issuing a tiny little sound out into the vast distance. Just one note, but if there were more, they might form a symphony….

Somewhere in a cavern so deep underground that sunlight had never touched it, the being calling himself "Myojo" cast aside his mask. The handsome face didn't clatter to the ground, but was swallowed up by the darkness, waiting for its master to reach out for it once more.

Back in his original form, Nyarlathotep picked up the end of a finely woven chain. The threads representing all the bonds Jose made were tied in neat little bows along the length of it, and the other end terminated with Goro Akechi. Death was the penultimate bond; now the power of nearly every card in the major arcana was connected to him, either by his own efforts or by the silver threads. With the power of the arcana, Nyarlathotep's ability to cultivate chaos would be limitless. Then….

Nyarlathotep shivered in anticipation. Into such a world, it would be simplicity itself to usher in the Time of the Elder Gods. It only took a touch of chaos before humans started clamoring for something — anything — to bring order. They would welcome their new gods with open arms. Even if they somehow rejected their fate, humans fractured into individual realities would have no hope of mounting a resistance. Nyarlathotep's nemesis, Yaldabaoth the God of Control, was out of the picture as well.

The previous year, Nyarlathotep had planned to take control of Goro himself after all the bonds were formed. He had assumed that Goro would want to accumulate all the power he could get, but Goro had chosen not to create any of the bonds that would have strengthened him, relying only on himself. Watching from the shadows, Nyarlathotep learned from that failure and revised the plan. This time, he used Jose to form bonds on Goro's behalf. The plan necessitated distracting Igor and his minions, but such things were trivial to the Crawling Chaos.

Yet, even though all the threads were connected, Nyarlathotep was still unable to harness them. The chain hung limply in his hand and offered him none of the power they offered Goro. There was one final card, The World, representing the end of the journey begun by the Fool and the summation of all that came before. Nyarlathotep had scoured Tokyo for a suitable person, but had found none. He thought that The World might awaken once all the others were in place, but now that the set was complete, The World remained stubbornly silent. There was something still missing.

Nyarlathotep had one last idea. As the arcana bonds were all connected to Goro's heart, perhaps he needed Goro's participation. He already knew that he hadn't succeeded in swaying Goro to his side, but that didn't matter; he had a different plan in motion. He'd planted the seed in Jose's mind, so the idea would seem to come from a trusted friend.

If Goro used his unique ability to unchain the hearts of his confidants, they would have a tremendous amount of power, enough for the wielder to remake reality as he wished. That was when Nyarlathotep could use the chain to harness all their power at once. If The World would not awaken on its own, he would awaken The World.

Ah, humans are such dreary, predictable little creatures. Poke them on the left and they scurry to the right. Put the right bait in front of them, and they'll fight to get into the trap.

Nyarlathotep would have pitied them, if he were capable of that emotion.