Nishi Tetsu's hands were bruised and tired. His whole body was covered with sweat. He could use a cold beer right now.
But of course, this prisoner in front of him has to make things difficult. Tetsu clenches his fist and starts punching the prisoner in the face.
Again and again.
"You'll give me the names of those traitors!" Tetsu shouted at the prisoner.
The prisoner was known by the name of Sosuke. To Tetsu, this prisoner was no more than human garbage. Sosuke was a terrorist, a rather idealistic one.
"I don't have any names, I swear," the prisoner cried out in pain. His face had swelled up to the size of a balloon. He could barely speak.
Tetsu grabbed the prisoner's shoulders. "Do I look stupid to you? Do you think I don't know what you've been up to? You were a coordinator, you organised hit squads against the citizens of this country."
"No! You call those rich fat capitalists citizens. They are parasites to our society. Their companies pollute our world and… and…"
Tetsu punched the prisoner again.
"I'm not interested in hearing a manifesto. I want names and locations. And I want them now."
"Why are you a lapdog to the rich, huh? Don't you want our country to be free?" the prisoner asked.
"I really want a beer right now. But you're making my job harder," Tetsu sighed. He went over to his toolbox and pack of cigarettes.
"W-Wait! What are you going to do to me?" the prisoner cried.
"Relax. I'm not going to burn your eyes or something. I'm a smoker, a bad habit I admit. But thanks to my artificial lungs I don't need to care too much about cancer. Would you like some?"
Tetsu knew that Sosuke was a smoker.
"You're a monster! I won't betray my comrades for a smoke. The revolution will not be stopped until all the bourgeoisie and their dogs are thrown in the very rivers that they polluted."
Tetsu laughed. "I see you're completely loyal to your cause."
The prisoner nodded, uneasily.
Tetsu pulled out a folder. He had a couple of pictures to show the prisoner.
He had five pictures. One picture was of a little hut hidden in the artificial woods outside the capital.
"Do you perhaps recognize this dwelling?" Tetsu smirked.
The prisoner was silent. His eyes were wide open.
Tetsu showed him another picture of a woman with two children.
"Sosuke, do you recognize these three individuals? It took a while but I did eventually find your wife and two kids. You have a beautiful family."
"Screw you! Don't you dare touch a hair on their heads or…"
"Or what?" Tetsu laughed. "I'm a reasonable man. I too love seeing families come together and celebrate their shared lives. But it would be a shame if something bad were to happen to them."
The prisoner glared at Tetsu.
"Look, Sosuke. I can help you if you can help me. Give me the names and I'll spare your family. No one in the agency even knows they exist. This information is only known by me. So let's make a deal."
The prisoner stared at the floor. "Do you guarantee the safety of my family and I?"
Tetsu shook his head. "I can guarantee the safety of your family. But you, you're a dead man walking. You killed too many rich folk. Even I can't pull enough strings to save you. But you can save your family."
The prisoner shook his head and started crying.
"Not only will I guarantee their safety, I can even give them a new life. A simple good life," Tetsu said smiling.
Tetsu produced new documents for Sosuke's family. They'll have a clean slate.
"Your daughters will go to school and be allowed to stay in a nice place with hot running water. Your wife is ill and she needs medicine. I can pull a few strings for her to go to the hospital for free. But all this depends on one thing, giving me the names," Tetsu said as he kneeled next to the prisoner.
"Fine. I'll give you the names."
Tetsu grinned. "Good. I knew you were reasonable."
…
…
When Tetsu arrived in his apartment, there was dead silence.
He had no family or pets. His job as an intelligent agent was the most interesting thing in his life.
As usual, he went to his kitchen and took a food pill and some water.
Cooking was a luxury. Groceries were very expensive in this world, even for an agent. He only bought groceries for special occasions like his birthday or New Year celebration.
Tetsu sat at his computer and went through his emails. He had plenty of mail to get through for tomorrow's presentation.
You see, Tetsu was a rising star in his agency. He busted a drug syndicate a couple of months ago and now he was about to arrest the top terrorist leadership that has plagued the country.
Soon, he will become the Director of the Intelligence Agency and swim in cash.
Tetsu was going over emails. He had many informats he had to keep track of and every night he had to consolidate information into a report for the higher ups.
Then he noticed something unusual. An email from… Momonga.
He clicked on it. The news was shocking, YGGDRASIL was shutting down.
Tetsu sat back on his chair. He couldn't believe it, the game was shutting down.
A single tear fell down his left cheek. Huh, so many memories from that place.
He made friends there. But he hadn't logged in the game for months. Tetsu was ashamed. He was so focused on his job and rising the ranks that he didn't contact his friends.
Tetsu felt ashamed.
He looked at the time. There was only two minutes before the servers shut down.
He knew Momonga was probably there waiting. Even if it was for a few seconds, Tetsu wanted to say hello and apologise for going silent.
So he put on the gear and logged into the game.
The loading screen bar was at 50% but he only had 45 seconds before time ran out.
Tetsu lost all faith in getting in before the server shuts down. At least he tried seeing his friend Momonga once again.
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