Bored, I skim through tea and coffee section. A gourmet brand of mango green tea, Healthy Leaf, is priced at ten mon for eight measly tea bags. I snort. I could buy five boxes of tea for that much. Go eat a bag of dicks, Healthy Leaf.
In my peripheral vision, I catch a glimpse of the lady I helped earlier. She’s lingering at the end of the aisle. When I turn my full gaze on her, she’s picking through oatmeal.
Huh. Once Jin picks his sugar flakes, I usher Jin over to the next aisle for water and juice. We reach halfway through the aisle before the old woman appears again at the end of the aisle.
A pinch of heat pricks me. C’mon, lady… You can’t possibly need something on every aisle we’re on. “Are you done, Jin?”
Jin puts two energy drinks into our basket. “Can we try making ice pops at home one of these days?”
I tap my foot, sneaking glimpses at the woman. My focus snaps back to Jin. “Huh? Sorry, I didn’t hear.”
“Ice pops,” Jin says. “Can we make some?”
Haven’t heard that in a long time. My mom and I used to make those together all the time, before she started withdrawing from everyone. I haven’t eaten one since that I had to leave my old house. “What made you think of that?”
Jin holds up a picture of kiwi slices inside a what looks like a lemony ice pop. “I thought these looked neat. And I found some molds at home.”
“It’s been so cold lately.” “You sure you want more cold stuff?”
Jin nods. “And besides, they’re healthy. So Mom can’t accuse me of eating junk all the time.”
I look at the ice pops for a heartbeat longer. “Alright, if that’s what you want then go for it. Maybe we’ll get a warm break soon.” I glance at the woman again. “Get whatever juice you need on this aisle and let’s hurry home.”
Jin looks at her too, then goes off to get some lemonade.
I feign interest by looking at my phone, but I keep an eye on Jin. He’s too big to get snatched, but still.
Stalker Lady pushes her cart down toward us. My heart catches as she nears Jin, but the old woman passes him and stops beside me again with a friendly smile. “Excuse me, Miss—”
I restrain my annoyance. “Yes?”
She holds out a small pastel blue envelope. “You dropped something.”
“Ma’am I didn’t drop any—”
Stalker Lady pulls back her sleeve, revealing the familiar words: Fall down seven times, stand up eight.
I clear my throat and take the letter. “Thanks. You have a nice day.”
Jin watches through narrowed eyes, but he says nothing.
I open the small envelope and take out the small card inside.
There’s two lines written in chicken-scratch scrawl.
Keep all your doors and windows locked. Solve the puzzle box if you haven’t already.
—Mai
My pulse flutters in my veins. She's okay! I turn the card over to see if there’s anything else, but there doesn’t seem to be anything else. No explanation for what’s going on either, but then again, everything here looks incredibly hurried. I can imagine her hand rushing a message onto the card, shoving it into the envelope, and giving it to the woman before zipping off in her car. I glance up, looking for the lady.
She’s pushing her basket, back down the aisle.
To Jin, I say, “Watch the basket really fast.” Then I jog up to Stalker Lady, “Excuse me. Did you happen to get to talk to the woman who wrote this?”
She adjusts her glasses. “Hardly. She had to leave right away.”
“Did she look okay?” I press. “Was she with someone?”
“She seemed fine but she was in a hurry,” she says. “With the way she was looking around, you’d think she had someone on her tail or something.”
Always in a hurry these days. Even as leader of the Silent Seven, Mai always found time for family and friends. Whether it’s a brief phone call or a text throughout the day. It’s so frustrating to never be able to reach her. Frustrating because it feels like I should’ve seen this coming, a sign, a warning, or something. Everything feels too sudden to be real. As if I’m living someone else’s worst nightmare. Before anything worse can fill my head, I remember the old woman and mutter a quiet, “Thank you. Did she say anything else?”
Stalker Lady rubs at a liver spot on her nose. “She really wanted you to know that she cares about you. And that she wants you to stay safe.”
“I don’t suppose you know what I’m supposed to stay safe from, do you?”
She shrugs. “Beats me. But if I got a letter delivered to me this way, I’d follow that note down to every period.”
I play Lords Of Earth until it’s half- past midnight. I forget how this game can steal the hours away. Yawning, I close my browser and stretch. It feels like I’ve been dead for hours, and I’m just now reviving.
As I get up and turn around, I face Megumi’s empty desk. Even though it's been days already, my body isn’t used to her absence. I still find myself turning, ready with a game comment, ready to ask what she wants to eat for breakfast or dinner, ready to see her four foot ten body hunched at the computer, ready for her to chirp some geeky comment, and still never ready for the icy stab in my gut when I don’t see her.
I turn off my lamp and slip into bed, staring up at the underside of Megumi’s bed frame. The bottom of the mattress faces me. Outside our window, the streetlamp makes a lonely wing of light on the textured plush carpet. I can’t remember the last time I was alone like this. Have I ever really? People have just always been there. Coming. Going. But still there. The silence bothers me. Bothers me like the sharp pinprick of needles burrowing into flesh.
Can’t sleep. I roll over and power on my watch.
Powering on…
A blue rectangular screen projects from the face.
Loading user settings. Please stand by… No customized settings detected. Set user settings now?
Yes No
How do I push yes? There doesn’t seem to be any buttons other than the power button. I frown. Experimentally, I reach out toward the yes option with a hand. It’s solid warm glass, smooth like a touch screen.
>>>Yes
A small, dress-clad hologram of a woman appears in the corner of the screen. She bows. “Welcome new user! I am Lyra and I will be your guide to the Gene Watch interface. Before we begin, I must confirm one thing. You are Jun Mei Akiyama, correct?”
Wow. It already knows who I am? Maybe Heaven preset it somehow?
>>>Yes
“Allow me one moment to confirm your identity to ensure the safety of your personal information,” Lyra says. “Please do not make sudden movements while the scan is in process.”
A beam of blue light bursts from the watch. It sweeps up and down my face.
“Scan complete! Good evening, Jun. It appears that you have 2 new message(s) marked IMPORTANT. Would you like to check them now?
>>>Yes
Lyra disappears briefly while my inbox loads. Then she reappears in a postman's uniform.
>>>ZenGaming: Free Weapon Shop Download Code
Heaven: Tomorrow's Schedule + Teaser For Tomorrow
Dear Jun,
On behalf of everyone at ZenGaming, I've equipped your watch with a voucher code that you can use for any weapon in the weapon shop. Please note that the code is only useable for one weapon and cannot be exchanged or refunded. Enjoy and welcome to the beta team!
Sincerely,
The ZenGaming Team
Redeem now?
>>>No
I go back to Heaven's email.
Hello Jun,
I've taken the liberty of uploading your schedule for tomorrow as well as included a small trailer for what you can expect when you come in. Please review the video and instructions I’ve included in this email with your teammates during your briefing in the Review Room. The game rules will NOT be explained once it’s time to enter the simulator. Also, you should have received a download code from ZenGaming. I
t’s important that you download or rent a weapon before your scheduled simulator session. Other than that, I hope you enjoy the rest of your weekend and see you Tuesday morning.
Best,
Heaven
Would you like to open the attachments now?
>>>Yes
I scroll through my schedule. There’s breakfast followed by briefing, then warm ups, first session in the simulator, then lunch, video log entry, endurance training, break, and MT… Magic training? Lots of physical stuff. I hope getting in the simulator is worth all this.
I switch to the video.
Red text flashes in. Storm the castle in Dynasty Mode!
Five horseback warriors storm across a sunset-lit field with an army racing behind them.
Choose your fighting class! Mage! Ninja! Shogun! Priest! Samurai!
Then the trailer cuts to one warrior swinging his lance around, knocking back the enemies around him with a shockwave of magenta light. Another robed woman raises her staff, calling down lightning to electrocute her foes.
Cooperate with your teammates to take back the castle!
A cowled fighter dismounts his warhorse and runs across the drawbridge.
My breath catches. Tingles swarm through my limbs. It's one of those war beat-em-up games. Those are simple. I probably can't spam buttons forever in the simulator like I would on a console. But still. It looks like it's worth every bit of exercise. I exit my inbox.
Another screen appears.
This Gene Watch has been pre-installed with a free download coupon from the weapon shop. Would you like to redeem this now?”
>>>No
I think maybe I'll hold onto that coupon for a while and try out the rentals. I turn off my watch.
Insomnia festers like a parasite feeding behind my eyes. Keeping them open. Keeping the note on my mind.
Floes of cold creep up my back like ocean waves encroaching on shore. It’s not like Mai to use roundabout methods to do anything. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not too unusual to get a message out of blue in Showguns, but usually mentors save this for giving practice assignments and assessments to assassin trainees that haven’t earned issued phones yet. But Mai abandoned this method the first chance that she got, so if she’s using it now I can only assume that desperate times are nigh on her end.
But her message is just downright bizarre for something she heckled an old lady to deliver. Keeping my windows shut? For what? From who? A message from Showguns is nothing to brush off. But still who would come to an assassin's home? And through the windows of all places? Even if they succeed, it's a bad plan from the get-go. It's one thing to kill someone in the street. That's easy to wipe from PoleControl's records. But breaking and entering—especially into a private home is such a messy deal. Chi sensors know right away an intruder is in the house. And unless you’re working with Showguns IT, you’ll get caught easily.
Whoever this message is about…they either have a pretty good plan up their sleeves, or they have bull balls for brains. Then there’s the other part about the puzzle box. That—I won’t even pretend I understand what that’s about, but it came alongside a warning so I won’t take my chances.
I don’t think I closed all the windows. I push back the covers, tug the soft chenille top-blanket off, and bring it around me like a warm cape.
The hallway clock beats its rhythm. A slow, hypnotic tick-tock that recedes to the back of my mind as I check room after room. My bathroom. Closed. Tammy’s room. Closed. Hall bathroom. Closed. Jin’s room—
The brass knob resists me.
He’s probably asleep. I guess that’s not a big deal since this is the third floor anyway. Who would want to climb all the way up here?
I continue down to the second floor, poking my head into the office. Closed. Bathroom. Closed. Guest bedroom. Closed.
Final stop: the living room.
King has his face in the patio blinds again. In the dark, his pupils shine blue-green. At the sight of me, he does a weird pacing dance and whines.
“What? Is something out there?” I ask, peering into the blinds.
A ginger tom tabby is busy licking his man-parts on top of our fence. Disturbing. But not a threat. I pick King up. “You’re a little too young to be watching that stuff.” I finish at the kitchen. Which, of course, is closed.
Nothing out here. At least for tonight.
4-2 'Ah'
C’mon. I don’t remember the last part of the puzzle being this hard. I turn the shrine over in my hands, pressing the faces with my thumb. A wooden slab gives under my thumb, but only slides forward an inch. Hmm… I try the katsuogi on the roof again. Damn. I thought that was it.
Jin slinks into the kitchen, black hair disheveled and shadows ringing his eyes. He spares the puzzle box a look. “What are you doing?”
“Trying to open this puzzle box.” I dip my mango green tea bag into my mug of hot water. “Used to be able to open it all the time. Now I don’t remember.”
Jin bends forward, squinting at it. “This is that Ise puzzle box, right? Let me see it.”
I hand it to him. Leaning against the kitchen counter, I shovel a spoonful of peaches and cream oatmeal into my mouth. Then I pull my phone closer to check the time. 10:30. I should be going soon. There’s going to be all sorts of traffic on the way there and coming back. But I should still get to the house around 1:30 if I leave by 11:00 and that’s plenty of time to snoop in the mail and get out before the Geisha gets there. “I’m going to be gone for a while. Are you gonna be okay here by yourself? I have to swing by a friend’s house after work so I’m not going to come here until like maybe eight.”
“There’s plenty of food soooo…” Jin’s lips contort into a frown as he strains to push panels. “What the heck? How do you do this?”
Grinning, I muss his hair with my hands. “Told you.” Then I take my dishes to the sink. “You’ve got all day with that, but I’ve got to get out of here before traffic gets terrible. Don't answer the door for anyone, alright?”
"I won't."
I leave him to the puzzle and head upstairs. As soon as I get to the base of the steps, my phone rings with a call from Ken. I pick up. “Hey, Ken. Is everything ready?”
“Yeah, they just finished setting up. They’re just waiting for you to get there,” Ken says. “Don’t forget that the security towers won’t go down until 1:00.”
“I’m leaving the house now,” I say. “I doubt I’ll get there early. Everyone’s driving that direction in the morning.”
“Heh.” Ken goes quiet for a while, then when I reach the top of the stairs, he suddenly says, “Hey, will you do me a favor?”
I check the back of the doorknob for my jacket. “Shoot.”
“Be careful, alright?” Ken’s voice softens. “I know you’re probably used to doing stuff like this all the time, but this thing you’re doing isn’t authorized. I can’t help you if something happens, Jun.”
I clear my throat. "Don't worry, I'll be fine."
Volatile gray skies brood over the stop-and-go traffic and Taitai’s skyline. It’s not raining anymore, but it seems like it could any second, or that thunder could break out, or even lightning.
My heart balloons into my throat. I’m almost home. Is it still the same after all these years? With all the same furniture? The same old pictures? Would it still have crime scene tape all over? My hands quake at the steering wheel at the thought. No. There’s no going back now.
It’s 1 o’clock by the time the block and street names start looking familiar. Midori Boulevard, Chaiiro Street, Kuroi Road. The A-Mart here is still stretches over Akai Avenue and is as crowded as ever: cars parked bumper to bumper and skinny old men with farmer’s tans smoke cigarettes out in front of the entrance. On the other side of the street, the beige and teal drugstore where I used to get ice cream after school still stands. But the rest of the lot has been replaced by a tea bar and a Tohenian BBQ place.
I turn the corner and finally turn onto Cha Avenue. The
streets are cleaner and less raggedy than I remember. No more of the potholes that Mai used to complain about all the time. No trash in the streets from the neighborhood kids throwing things willy-nilly. The asphalt is as smooth and clean as a brand new road. As a kid, Taitai prefecture was always looked down upon as a ghetto because it looked like a slum compared to the rest of the nation, but now it’s so…so different. It almost feels like my past has been overwritten like a game save file I can’t reverse.
Like a hermit, my old house hides from the rest of the block behind a wall of unkempt hedges and trees. Weeds run rampant over the front lawn.
I get out of the car and walk up the driveway. The house seems to grow smaller and smaller with every step, as if it’s possible for a house to devolve into something more infant-like. Or maybe it’s just because I’m the adult now? I head up the portico and push the chi-guard button on the outside panel.
A blue holographic cube appears in front of me. I press one palm to the right face and my other to the bottom face. I stand still. Hopefully, this is the last time I ever have to do any Hound work. The chi circles clockwise in the right face of the cube. Then counter clockwise in the bottom face. Then clockwise at the top. I twist the cube faces in the correct sequence, then wait for the next round of sequences. This is what makes the 220 so godsdamned awful. It’s simplistic, but the wait between each sequence is so long. And there are so many! I kill a good ten minutes here before the security system is disabled and I can finally open the door.
Everything is still in the same place. Plastic-covered couches with the mini suns on their cushions. The flat screen tv still on the black entertainment stand in front of the stairwell wall. Mom’s grand piano and her old radio are still in the corner. One thing I do notice is that nothing is untidy or dusty. Mom wasn’t that much of a neat freak, so I’m assuming that the Geisha took it on himself to make stuff neater without moving it around too much.
Hmph. You don’t live here. Why do you even bother? I take out my phone to check the time. 1:20. The mail won’t be here for ten more minutes, so I guess it wouldn’t hurt to look around a little more. I walk to the dining room and poke my head into the kitchen.
Vicissitude Yang Side Page 29