by Jace Kang
Mentally unstable. Aya looked to Kentaro. All their lives, XHumans had been told the Purebreds suffered from all sorts of congenital issues, including many mental-emotional diseases that had otherwise been eradicated in the last several centuries.
Aya had never questioned it, even though as someone who’d uncovered many secrets, she knew the government couldn’t be trusted to always tell the truth. Here was more evidence of that right here, with an image of Ryu in clothes he’d never worn, along with the story of a non-existent wife reporting him missing. How had she never considered they might be lying about the Purebreds?
More curious was the murder: what were the odds that all the cameras around the temple would be shorted just before it happened? It wouldn’t require that high a level of a hack, and indeed, the perpetrator could’ve just bribed a Peacekeeper to erase the footage.
It was time to find out.
“Watch over me.” She coughed up some phlegm and went to sit in a corner, her back to the door. Using her mobile EtherCloud bridge, she jacked into the EtherCloud.
Peacekeeping Headquarters usually appeared as a sixteenth-century Japanese castle town patrolled by Level Three Sentinels, who looked like samurai in court robes.
Now, though, the castle town was surrounded by a moat, and new walls were patrolled by heavily armored samurai—Level Five Sentinels. A Dragon and a Phoenix, Level Eight and Nine Sentinels, circled above it. Maintaining that much complex code must’ve taken enormous amounts of power. These defenses only let in Avatars with appropriate credentials.
With her various Shells maxing out at Level Six, these guardians would be able to see through her disguises, so she avoided Peacekeeper Headquarters altogether.
A million strands of white light emanated from the castle, each representing encrypted transmissions. As she searched for the beam to a specific data node, one with a barely perceptible blue tint caught her light. She held up a prism—her SI’s interpretation of a bandwidth identifier—and noticed the blue thread. It represented an alien bandwidth, specifically Tivari, piggybacking a Peacekeeper signal. Which meant a traitorous Peacekeeper was spying for a hostile alien race.
The signal disappeared into the relay system, making it impossible to trace, but Aya set up an app to monitor for an identical transmission along that bandwidth. Then, she followed the correct thread to the Central North data node. Unbeknownst to most, copies of localized information were stored deep in the system here as backup for twelve hours. Raw footage of the Higashi Honganji Temple last night might still be there.
Usually appearing as an ancient wooden library with Level One Sentinel footmen lounging around it, the elevated security now made it look like a small fortress with several heavily-armored footmen—Level Three Sentinels—patrolling it. They were easy enough to evade with her Shell, and she passed through its doors. Unlike Peacekeeper Headquarters’’ sprawling EtherSpace, the node looked like an old Japanese town, with gridded streets.
Data packets were carried by varying couriers, from Level Three mule carts carrying large loads at slow speeds to Level Seven peregrine falcons on priority delivery. Virtual fingers dancing, Aya quickly programed a Level Five horse Shell and headed to the town library. The Level One Sentinel allowed her through.
Data in the form of scrolls were stacked and organized by time and location. She found the surveillance data for Higashi Honganji Temple around 23:00. Copying the files, she stuffed them into her saddlebags.
Leaving the node was even easier than entering it, and she slipped through the firewall to her private EtherSpace. Now protected, she brought up all video files, organized all angles by timestamp, and merged the audio.
“Ai, compile a 3D simulation.”
The nine-tailed fox appeared and bowed.
Around her, the space transformed into the grounds of Higashi Honganji Temple. Rain pattered on the wooden eaves of the large central building. At another building across the way, the door opened, and the victim, Takashi Smith, stepped out.
“Ai, timestamp?”
“22:59.”
These religious types reportedly held rigid schedules. Perhaps Smith had some duty at 23:00. He wore a white robe with brown skirts, the traditional garb of monks of his sect, which swished as he walked through the courtyard. His feet crunched on the grey gravel. Their order must’ve eschewed water dispersing technology, because raindrops gathered on his shaved pate.
As he reached the middle, the air close to the main building shimmered.
The simulation went blurry and the sound garbled, the sights and sounds becoming a cacophonic barrage. Aya’s head spun at the sudden shift.
“Ai, stop.”
The simulation disappeared around her, and Aya blinked several times to reorient herself in the EtherSpace.
Wondering what had happened, she studied the files. From the 23:10 timestamp on, their sizes grew by nearly a million times, yet none showed any sign of actual tampering.
“Ai, parse the data streams on camera one.”
In a millionth of a second, the fox spirit pulled a single string out of the mess.
“Ai, what’s the rest of the data?”
Six hundred thousand and seventy-two exact copies of the same file, all echoing within a hundred thousandth of a second of each other.
While that might be a clever way to alter a file, it would’ve been far easier just to delete it. One of her hacker friends would’ve planted a virus to delete all copies. Perhaps this was a compilation error? “Ai, besides intentional tampering, what could cause this?”
Unknown.
“Ai, extract a single stream from each of the cameras, recompile the simulation, and play back.”
In a thousandth of a second, Ai had finished the task and the simulation restarted.
When the air shimmered, Aya ordered a pause.
“Ai, what is that distortion?”
Unknown.
“Ai, zoom in on the distortion until I tell you to stop.”
The shimmering air grew larger in the simulation, stopping at tangled threads of light.
“Ai, continue zooming in.”
At maximum resolution.
The surveillance cameras in the temple were too basic to pick up much more than video and audio. Had they been Peacekeeper cameras, they would’ve picked up electromagnetic wavelengths at much higher resolution.
Peacekeeper cameras… “Ai, upload data from my uniform camera from five minutes ago and display.”
The temple scene disappeared, replaced by a two-dimensional view of the coffee shop. She was at the counter with Siena and Kentaro.
“Ai, play.”
The scene played forward with them ordering, up until she’d suggested to Aya that she put on some clothes. The air shimmered.
“Ai, pause.”
The image froze.
The shimmering air looked similar to that at the temple, though not exactly the same.
“Ai, analyze all electromagnetic data and report.”
The anomaly is consistent with an aperture into a parallel timespace.
Was that what had happened in the temple?
“Ai, what would be the effect of that aperture on the cameras at Higashi Honganji?”
Running scenarios… It would likely cause data distortions.
“Ai, return to the temple simulation and resume.”
The temple simulation filled in her EtherSpace. A squat human figure emerged from the shimmering air, dressed in ancient robes and wearing wooden sandals and a ridiculously wide straw hat. His boyish face and pudgy stature made him look adorable.
“Honorable Sir,” he called. It extended what looked to be a wooden platter with a white cube on it. “Would you like some tofu?”
What was tofu? “Ai, search for Tofu.”
An image of a spongy white block appeared next to Aya in the simulation, along with a description. Apparently, it was made from calcium and something called a soybean. It was eaten throughout what was Asia, and then spread to
the rest of the world during the Age of Greed. Apparently, some religious sects forbade eating meat, so their adherents ate tofu instead; then later, health gurus touted it across the globe.
So where had this boy come from, and what was he doing with tofu?
Takashi froze in place and turned around. Setting an open hand on his chest, he bowed his head. “Greetings, may I help you?”
The boy came closer, plate of tofu in hand. “For you, on this rainy evening.”
Takashi eyed it. “What is it?”
“Food. Here.” The boy proffered the tofu again.
Takashi waved his hands back and forth. “It’s late—”
The boy flipped the plate, sending the tofu up into a gentle arc. Takashi tracked its path with wide eyes.
Then, the boy leaped at the man, his delicate little hands transforming into enormous fists. His mouth opened wider than it should have, exposing long, sharp teeth.
Aya would’ve screamed in the real world.
Takashi didn’t have time to. The monster rained a barrage of punches, knocking him back until he fell to the ground. It leaped onto him and yanked his limbs into odd angles. Takashi did cry out then, until one more blow to his head silenced him. When he lay there unmoving, the creature sank its teeth into his body, right below the navel. Its mouth rent cloth and flesh. It pulled back, bringing intestines with it. Blood ran down its jaws as it let out a cackle.
Had she been in the real world, Aya would’ve vomited.
Leaving Takashi in a pool of his own innards, it returned to the shimmering air, stepped into the hole, and disappeared.
Aya jacked out, and found herself panting more from shock than from her pitiful lungs. Her heart raced, going along with the disorientation all hackers suffered from the shift in time.
Siena came up and sat down beside her, two cups of tea in hand. “What’s the matter? It looks like you’ve seen a demon.”
“I might have.” Aya shuddered.
“What are you talking about?” Kentaro plopped down in the seat across from them, a drink in one hand and a platter with three plates of nutritional cubes in the other.
“The murder last night. I just saw footage.” Aya took as deep a breath as she could, only to cough up thin mucous.
“How could you, when the Peacekeepers couldn’t?” Kentaro asked.
“First, who is to say they couldn’t, and the government isn’t just feeding us a lie?”
Kentaro scuffed his foot in a circle on the floor. “If there’s a first, what’s the second?”
“Second, even if they couldn’t, it doesn’t mean I can’t.”
“Go on,” Siena said.
Satisfied Kentaro was cowed, Aya continued. “A monster that looked like a boy from ancient times came out of some shimmering air—like the kind you pulled your dress out of— and attacked the victim. Then, he disappeared back into it.”
“Wait,” Ken said. “Didn’t Master Ryusuke say something about yokai coming from the World of Rivers and Lakes through portals? And that he’d sensed one?”
Aya nodded. He had mentioned something about it. Tea in hand, she stood. “We should go back to him.”
Chapter 16:
The Purebred
W ith Siena chattering in her wrist communicator while waiting for Aya to finish changing, Ken had nothing to do. His ear dot wasn’t able to interpret the Elestrae’s language, and it wasn’t polite to eavesdrop, anyway. He peeked out the door to the café.
Peacekeepers in standard burgundy uniforms patrolled the streets. They stopped every Purebred they passed, holding up a quarter-sized hologram of Master Ryu.
Had Aya tipped them off? Or had she failed to shut down the cameras?
No, if that were the case, the Peacekeepers would’ve come last night. They’d must’ve assumed Ken, a Purebred, had brought Master Ryu to Kujo.
“Sorry to keep you waiting.” Siena’s voice tickled his ear. She was so close that her body pressed up against his.
The same body he’d seen naked. He gulped. “Who…who were you talking to?”
Her expression lit up. “My brother.”
“Is he here?”
“No, he’s offworld.” She pointed up, as if space only went in one direction. “I just had to tell him about Ryusuke.”
Was that a good idea? Could this brother be trusted? Ken shuffled on his feet. “What did you tell him?”
She clapped her hands. “That I had multiple toe-curling orgasms for the first time in centuries!”
Too much information. Heat flared in Ken’s cheeks.
“What are you looking at?” she asked, peering out the window.
“Peacekeepers. They’re looking for Master Ryu.”
“They won’t find him.” She shrugged.
“Why not? He’s meditating out in the open.” He turned his head, his face nearly bumping up against hers. His face burned.
“I created a cloak around him.”
“A what?”
“It’s like a bubble.” She swept her hands out in a wide circle. “The Peacekeepers won’t be able to see what’s inside.”
“Like stealth technology?”
“I guess.” She shrugged again.
“Could you use it on us as we head back? If the Peacekeepers see me, and my ID chip is blown out…”
She shook her head. “I can only channel stationary ones into existence. However…” She tapped her chin and furrowed her brow.
The expression made her less impossibly beautiful, and more cute and accessible. If his face had been hot before, it probably now lit up the room.
She waved her hands in intricate patterns and spoke a few syllables. “There.”
“What did you do?”
The restroom door opened, and Aya stepped out. The Peacekeeper tactical suit had emphasized how bony she was, but the Elestrae’s blue dress hid her stick legs. Her eyes turned to Siena. “Where’s Kentaro?”
What?
Aya’s eyes fixed on him. “And who’s your Elestrae friend?”
Kentaro studied at his hands, turning them over and back. They were smaller and thinner. “What…what happened?”
“Kentaro?” Aya said.
With another word, Siena traced an oval in the air with her finger. A mirror surface appeared.
Gasping, Ken looked at his reflection. His appearance had changed, the features sharper and finer, his complexion fair. Instead of short black hair and brown eyes, flowing coppery locks framed his new face. Green eyes looked back at him.
While being Purebred wasn’t great, he’d never dreamed of becoming an alien. He glared at Siena. “What did you do to me?”
Siena patted him on the head. “It’s just an illusion. An influencing of the molecules around you so that they reflect colors a certain way.”
Aya snorted. “It’s quite an improvement.”
“It’s the image of a lover I had a couple hundred years ago.”
Ken swallowed hard. Why had she chosen a former lover? After watching Master Ryu make love to her no matter how clinical and instructive it was—a part of him held out hope that he might one day get a chance.
Such a silly thought. He was just a Purebred, and she was an Elestrae.
Smiling at him, Siena turned to Aya. “Now you; no human has that color hair. You’re tall for one of our kind, but certainly slender enough.”
“Can you create another illusion?” Ken asked.
“Sometimes the best illusions are simple.” Siena spoke a word. The air shimmered again, and she reached in. This time, she pulled out a headdress of flowers and bright feathers. She placed it on Aya’s head, covering the tops of her ears. “There. You’re wearing an Elestrae dress, so this will match.”
Thus disguised, they left the café.
No sooner did they step out than two Peacekeepers approached.
“Greetings,” one said, “What is an Elestrae delegation doing in Kujo Ward?”
Shaking his head, Ken was about to speak, but then realized he
couldn’t imitate the mellifluous Elestrae voices.
Siena beamed at the Peacekeepers, and their expressions instantly softened. “We come here on occasion. It has an old world charm about it, with the parks and shops.” She waved back to the café.
They nodded, and one held out a holoprojector. The image of Master Ryu appeared and rotated.
One said, “We have reason to suspect this missing person could be in Kujo. Have you seen him?”
Siena looked to Aya and Ken, nodding. “That’s him, isn’t it?”
Ken stiffened. Was she about to betray Master Ryu?
She turned back to the Peacekeepers. “We passed by a park on our way here, and I am pretty sure that was him.”
Aya nodded.
“Which way?” one asked, excitement growing in his voice.
She pointed north. “It looked like he was heading back toward Kyoto Central.”
“When was that?”
She looked to Ken and back. “Not fifteen minutes ago.”
Ken bobbed his head to keep up the act.
“You’re sure it was him?”
“Oh yes, he’s so handsome. Almost as handsome as you.” Siena winked.
Ken and Aya both nodded.
“Thank you.” He held his wrist up to his mouth. “Base, we have a report of Ishihara heading north.”
When the Peacekeepers turned north, Ken looked to Siena. “I thought you were going to betray him.”
Her eyes widened, making her even more beautiful in her shock. She shook her head. “No, there’s so much more I want to learn from him.”
Aya snickered. “Come on, let’s not keep the Cultivator waiting.”
They headed back toward the park, passing another pair of Peacekeepers, who ignored them. A handful of Purebred passersby, including a few Ken knew, gawked and pointed.
When they arrived, the park looked empty.
“Where is he?” Ken asked.
Siena pointed. “There.”
Ken peered at the indicated spot. Nothing was there. He looked to her.
“Come on,” she said, taking his hand.