“The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light.” Romans 13:12. Admittedly a split-skirt dress is a funny form of ‘armor,’ but I would never pass up the opportunity to wear something so classy on the job. Jackie, this one is for you… Please protect me.
I had never before seen such majesty. The sights, sounds, the absolute wonder and spectacle… Almost no part of it felt real to me. And that went well beyond the literal sense, as I reached out to touch a holographic cherry blossom leaf fluttering down into my hand… It felt surreal in my soul. As if it was a mental projection, or a scene out of a video game or avant-garde novel, or perhaps a wondrous, beautiful dream a child conjured up, being emulated in real-time. I walked on a bed of concrete, yet I might as well have been floating on a cloud. The words have not been invented to describe the fervor I felt in my soul.
This was not Japan. It was an idealized, romanticized version of it. I could still see the buildings behind the floats, tall and jagged, blocking out the natural night sky. I knew there was no chance of ever seeing a real, wild cherry blossom in full bloom again. And I knew the corporation responsible for creating this utterly gorgeous display is the one responsible for much of the world’s woes. But, in that moment, I couldn’t care less. All I could do is smile, sob, and experience true, unfettered joy – joy, and heartbreak. For while this was unquestionably tremendous and grandiose, it was also as fake and temporary as everything else. It will soon crumble and be replaced tomorrow with the same litter and stone as the rest of the city. Nevertheless, this is one moment that will forever live on in my heart, fleeting as it is.
What did Japan mean to me, to my heart, to my senses? Is it the smell of freshly-cooked syn-meat and fish over an open fire? The fluttering of the leaves in the wind cutting between buildings? The densely-packed streets? The hundreds of languages and dialects spoken throughout every one of the multi-story pedestrian bridges spanning the roadways far below? The great Chinese-inspired yōkai on full display, silently gliding through the air? The amplified sounds of Hyoshigi, Taiko, and Shamisen playing traditional folk songs? All of these factors, and more, made me weep in equal parts joy and sadness – a joy for experiencing this moment, and a sadness for the home I had left and would likely never see again.
The humorous part of it all is my clan’s mon in prime placement, likely because my mother is on the National Diet. The emblem, a counterclockwise mitsudomoe with narrow blades on a white background, adorned my family’s armor and weapons since the 12th century – we lived on the western banks of Japan back then, before serving the Tokugawa Shogunate. It is one of the oldest mon in continuous service and one of several clans using the mitsudomoe, a point of pride among my family. Pity that they neglected to fit the clouds behind the mitsudomoe itself, but that’s a fairly common mistake. Still, it feels good to see it again, proudly fluttering in the wind alongside more prominent clans. Its mirror image sat on the other side of the banner, the Kobayakawa clan – a sibling house, with both our clans descending from Taira.
I do wish my mother could’ve been here to see the family mon. To know that she made a difference – surely a greater difference than I ever made. I doubt that my father would care much; he was never one for heritage, honor, any of that. But I can vividly picture my mother among the crowd, eyes closed, arms extended to the heavens, swaying and dancing in the wind… A beautiful, elegant, and exceedingly rare sight, if ever there was one.
As I slowly walked through the crowd, awaiting Takemura’s word, all of my senses sampled everything the parade had to offer, taking it in like a starved, parched prisoner being fed their first meal in years. I think I get it, Mom… I always wondered why you danced that day. But now… I think I get it. If only I had the time to do the same, to enjoy the parade for what it was…
I wonder what these parades looked like in Japan. How grandiose they must be… The sounds of hanabi [fireworks] echoing through the cavernous boulevards. The sight of the Emperor himself before his passing, calling out to his subjects like a god addressing his people from atop his gilded throne… now replaced with a portrait and holographic display showing the many accomplishments of his long and storied life. A celebration of one of the last voices from a bygone era, never to return, merely emulated on holographic displays, like echoes in the void.
They say we cannot escape the history which we are destined to create. And today, we will do just that – create history.
“I am in position,” Takemura chimed in over the holocall, “Ready to move. Our parade float is approximately thirty minutes from its destination – I will hold until then. Remember to be careful of drones. I also spotted multiple mechanized infantry units from my location.”
“Understood,” I told him from my vantage point on the bridge, “Moving now.” I thumbed Yorinobu Arasaka’s tanto, tucked neatly in between my legs – blades only, huh. I suppose that’s for the best. With so many soldiers wandering around, it’d do me no good to be seen carrying a gun.
“The first sniper is located across from the elevators, posted in front of a billboard. Use the rafters to reach them.”
“That won’t be a problem,” I whispered as I moved through the crowd, keeping Shinden tucked close to my person. A grand spectacle, indeed – and a grand force to back it up. Should anything go wrong, it will be Takemura’s head, not mine.
“Did you hear that?” I said as I muted Takemura’s holocall.
“Mhm, got tuned into the live feeds,” Judy acknowledged over my other holocall, “Lookin’ for the netrunner now… Fuck me, is it always this gorgeous over there?”
“Not always… We only clean up the garbage on special occasions,” I replied with a lighthearted laugh, “I’m trusting you to be on drone duty as well.”
“Sure, sure – what do you need?”
“If something spots me, I’ll be utterly defenseless. My subdermal armor isn’t capable of defeating their guns, so I need you to tap into their frequency, see if you can register me as a friendly, update their database with my military rank.”
“Ah, so that’s why you brought your dog tags?”
“Mhm.”
“Got it… I’ll try and see if I can spoof your IFF sig. Should work on mines as well.”
“Perfect,” I grinned. Nice to have friends in high places. And she’s a hell of a lot more efficient than T-Bug, that’s for sure.
“And… Done. Should be invisible to the drones and mines now,” she cheered confidently, “Go on, give ‘er a test run.”
Sure enough, I walked right on past a Minotaur without so much as a flinch. It simply shone a light on me, scanning me and allowing me to pass… I have the best girlfriend, without a doubt.
I still wish she could see this in person, though. Perhaps one day I can bring her back to Tokyo, gods willing I survive long enough to see such a plan through to fruition. My Relic attacks are getting worse as of late… I can only hope that nothing happens to me before the day is out.
“You look stunning in that dress, by the way,” Judy teased, causing me to look up and note the camera fixed to one of the floats.
“Heh, thanks…” I muttered shyly, proceeding down the northern balconies on my way to the billboards. Sure enough, there was a sniper, muttering about different persons of interest. A woman in a red dress. A junkie stumbling out of a bathroom. A suit with wandering hands in a crowd. Yet they neglected to note the soldier in black coming up behind them until it was too late.
“It’s done,” I muttered to Takemura, shaking the blood off Shinden and re-sheathing it. The koi fish holograms gave way to the Fenghuang, ruler of all birds, posted on one of the many dashi, followed by a great blue Chinese dragon. I know that my half-Chinese mother would love this… I couldn’t help but stop and admire it, myself, despite a semi-conscious sniper lying face-down on the railing not 20 meters from me. I was not about to kill anyone if I didn’t absolutely have to – not anymore. I’m done with the screams.
Overheard guards talking as I passed… “Hey, there’s a whole bag full of eye candy,” one of them whispered, “Man, fuck, I dunno why we’re even supposed to be inside, we’re missin’ all the good shit.”
“C’mon, choom,” the other guard replied, “Can see women in black dresses all you want back home.”
“Yeah, but not one with the whole sword and kabuki makeup aesthetic, heh,” the first one laughed, “Besides, got the whole hallway mined to hell and back. Anyone so much as walks through without the proper creds – poof! Confetti.” Hm, well I suppose it’s a good thing I’m one of those people. Thanks, Judy…
“V, this is important,” Takemura suddenly blurted out, “Oda is speaking to someone. I’m patching you in.”
“Again – security is substandard,” Oda’s voice rang over the call as I transferred it to Judy on the fly, “It meets none of our norms! Hanako-sama should not be here!”
“You questioning Yorinobu’s orders?” a deep, resonant voice echoed, “Do your damn job.”
“Mmh… understood. Over and out.” The line went dead…
“It is just as we expected,” Takemura said as I headed onto an elevator for an easier ride up, “Oda is here. I will inform you if anything develops.”
I headed outside to be greeted by none other than Johnny, pacing around and snarling like an animal. “I know that voice anywhere, the borged-out ogre himself. Adam Smasher…”
“What?” I recoiled back, “He’s here?” That explains the lack of security… The man is the security. Just him.
“Who’s here?” Judy chimed in.
“Adam Smasher. Johnny claims the other voice is him.”
“What?! Fuck…”
“Not just ‘claimed,’ it is him,” Johnny corrected me, “I’m sure. But hey, it’s good he’s here.”
“Good? Why?”
“I woke up in a world without Saburo Arasaka, so I gotta settle for second-best,” he sneered, “I’ll happily take Smasher served up on a silver fuckin’ platter like this.”
“You mean I’ll take him. In my dress. I’m not equipped for this, Johnny. You know that,” I retorted.
“Whatever! Just do some of that samurai shit! Fuck…”
“We’re not having this discussion. I’m not planning on dying today,” I countered, brushing him aside and walking down the platform.
“What’s up?” Judy asked me, “You okay?”
“Yeah, fine… Johnny seems hell-bent on getting me killed, though.”
“He got some sorta grudge against Smasher or som’n?”
“You could say that,” I nodded, “Smasher killed him. I’d say Johnny has a right to that particular grudge.”
“Shit… Think you can keep it together?”
“I’m gonna have to. I don’t have the firepower to deal with him,” I told her frankly, “If he spots me, I’m paste, no question about it.”
“Well best not get spotted, then,” she quipped, “I much prefer you to be intact.”
“I’ll do my best.” I wasn’t entirely certain how much I could get away with in terms of my choice of attire. But Smasher’s presence was making me regret not planting heavy armor ahead of time – I still had something that could stop a chain shotgun in the trunk of Miyoko, but that will do nothing good when I’m 21 floors above it.
How exhilarating… Just Shinden and I against the world – or against Adam Smasher, though I suppose there’s not much of a power differential there.
I glanced back down at the mitsudomoe adorning the sides. The three connected teardrop shapes supposedly represent the three main aspects of humanity – a person’s mitama. Their body, mind, and soul. Our particular clan has a left-turning spiral, denoting the will of the divine manifested here on Earth. It’s said that wearing it into battle will bring about one’s kami in their weapon, carrying them to victory. Funny, it’s also used as a charm to protect its wearer against fire – that didn’t turn out so well. So I’m not banking on it helping out today, but it’s certainly a morale booster to see it again. Of course, a quick glance a few banners down revealed the symbol of Oda's clan. I guess I should be thankful to have the opportunity to face a fellow samurai in battle. Instead, all I felt was a great pit in my stomach. Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.
“Hm, catwalk doesn’t look too stable,” Johnny noted as I gripped the sides of the railing suspended about 100m in the air, “You sure Takemura hasn’t planned an impromptu slip-n’-slide for you?”
“Shut up, Johnny…” I muttered, focusing on not dying at the moment… FUCK! A panel suddenly came loose, tumbling down to the streets below…
“Told you.”
“Johnny… Not now…”
“V, the second sniper is on level 21, behind some crates in a restaurant kitchen, five floors down and two buildings to your east. The final sniper is on a bridge on level 28,” Takemura said over the holocall, “Head up via the elevator, watch out for mines in the halls.” Yeah, that won’t be a problem.
“Got it, on my way…”
Looks like a hell of a drop down to the 21st. Thankfully I have Judy on the case to prevent the drones from finding me. Otherwise this could’ve gotten really interesting, indeed…
I couldn’t help but find myself back home in that instant. With everything so densely packed… all the drones and soldiers mulling around… The police state of inner Tokyo was exactly like this in my mind. Granted, it felt a lot bigger. And it probably was – nothing does Tokyo like, well, Tokyo. But as far as emulations went, this was about the closest I think any place had ever come. “V, I have another call from Oda,” Takemura spoke again, “Have a listen.”
“We have to announce that public safety has been compromised!” Oda shouted over the call, “We must extract her at once!”
“Arasaka is fully capable of protecting its principals,” Smasher grunted.
“Ask your boss what he values more – Arasaka’s image or his sister’s life!”
“The situation is in-hand. Deal with the swordsman. I will handle the traitor. Over and out,” Smasher hung up.
“V, did you hear? They are onto us, we must hurry!” Takemura shouted in a panicked state of mind as I back-handed Shinden, preparing to strike the sniper with the pommel.
“Understood,” I muttered as I rushed in and smashed the sniper so hard that it broke the glass of his helmet, “Second target down.”
“Good – I will remain in position.” I wonder how they spotted us…
“Judy?” I asked worriedly, “Anything on the bands about us?”
“No, nothin’,” she said with a confused tone, “Maybe they’re using hard lines or short-wave radios.” Hmph… fuck.
“Alright, then we have to assume that they’ve pinpointed my ID by now,” I frowned, glancing down at my dog tags, “Ideas?” Fuck… movement on the floor above me.
“Take the dog tags off and wrap ‘em in some sort of reflective tape or foil, should work to mask the signal,” she instructed, “I also hacked into a local computer’s subnet. Says somethin’ about experiments you might find relevant.”
“Give me two seconds,” I whispered as I approached the man logging into his computer. Oh no, you are not finding Judy…
“You okay?” Judy asked just as I swung Shinden into his temple, forcing his face straight into the keyboard and knocking him out cold.
“Hooh… Yeah,” I breathed out, “What’s the message say?”
“It’s a medical report… Secure Your Soul. Lists a bunch of data…”
“Secure Your Soul – that’s the Relic’s official commercial name,” I replied quietly, “Keep reading.”
“Alright, says here that there were trials of dozens… No, hundreds of people, dating back to the war… You were right, V. Whatever it was that guy you told me about was workin’ on… They’ve been doin’ it for years.”
“Go on.”
“It’s trials to extract people’s engrams. Gives me a whole list of ‘anomalies,’ as they call it – corrupted data, strange personalities, aggressive tendencies… Fuck me… is this what they did to Johnny?”
“I assume so,” I nodded, heading back outside to get my bearings, “I think he was among the first. His engram is quite different to the real Johnny, though – different memories, likely a different personality, and certainly more aggressive at times…”
“Hm…” Judy pondered as I heard static in my other ear.
“Takemura?” I chimed in to his call.
“V, I am here,” he mumbled, “It seems that Oda is on the move. Whereabouts, I don’t know – be alert. He will meet you in an area of his choosing.”
“You said you trained this guy, right?” I asked him, “Any words of advice?”
“Mm, he comes from a humble background, despite his clan name. He has studied with numerous shinobi and learned his craft well. An expert in ambushing and close-quarters combat in every sense – do not underestimate him.”
“I don’t plan on it,” I told him frankly, palming Shinden, “So he’s a ninja?”
“In a distilled sense. He is skilled in the arts of shinobi no jutsu and iaido equally. His weapons of choice are his thermal Mantis Blades. They will make quick work of Shinden – keep your distance at all costs.”
“Hmmh…” This isn’t good… I wasn’t even aware such a thing existed. I thought thermal Mantis Blades couldn’t exist – the heat radiating from them would’ve simply cooked the user’s arm cyberware from the inside. At least, that’s what everyone said at the time… Now I’m really beginning to question my relationship with Takemura. There’s a reason why thermal blades in general are so obscure – a sword glowing white-hot, with enough radiant heat to quite literally melt armor on contact? You’re talking about some of the most exotic alloys on the planet, with a high six-figure cost for just the materials alone. Then you need a forge hot enough to shape the thing, since machining won’t work – they’re simply too hard to machine, it would take months or years to form a single sword. Not to mention that they’ve been outlawed by almost every country on Earth and beyond for their inherent dangers to the user and bystanders… And Oda has two of them. Built into his fucking arms?!
No… No, I can’t do this. I’m not coming out of this battle unscathed. Thermal Mantis Blades would cut through Shinden like it wasn’t even there… It may be a monocrystalline steel and extremely durable, but it’s still steel. It’s not durable if it’s liquid.
Fuck… I need a new plan.
Yorinobu’s tanto pegged my inner thigh, reminding me it was still there. This thing might prove useful, at least as a parrying dagger. I might be able to get one shot off if I can somehow use it to throw Oda off-balance, but… well, no, because he has two blades. And the tanto is a one-use toy, since it’s not hardened like Shinden is. As soon as it hits the Mantis Blades, it’s done.
Alright, then I won’t have a choice. I’ll have to either find Oda first and incapacitate him that way, or if he finds me… well, I just have to end the fight quickly. The longer it goes on, the weaker Shinden will become. FUCK!… Why couldn’t you have told me about this… I could’ve gone in better prepared… Dammit, Takemura…
“V, found the netrunner,” Judy suddenly chimed in again, “North side of the street, level 20 about three doors to your east, there’s a building under construction. Got a lotta power goin’ to it. Gotta be where they are.”
“Alright,” I breathed out, “On my way.”
“Hey, you okay?”
“Fine, just… anxious,” I muttered, palming Shinden as I walked, “I’ll talk to you soon. I need to focus, sorry.”
“Sure, sure.”
Hmm… This man must have some sort of weakness… Something that can at least disable the heating element on his Mantis Blades… If I can get them to cool down, I might have a chance. It’d be my only chance, really… If he cut through my sword, I’d be completely defenseless. And my subdermal armor would do nothing except act as insulation… Fuck. Alright, I see the point when people say naturals are no longer viable– wait… Wait… Naturals…
“Takemura?” I asked as I bent down beside someone else I dispatched with relative ease and impunity, “Do you know if Oda has any sort of EMP shielding?”
“More than you,” Takemura muttered, “Why?”
“You think an EMP grenade could disable his Mantis Blades’ thermal conductors? At least for a minute or two?”
“Hmmh…” he pondered to himself, “Assuming his Blades were extended, yes. But it would not cool the metal itself. That will take time to dissipate. And your cyberware will be doubly affected.”
“I know, I know,” I mumbled in return, “Alright, I can work with that…”
I’m assuming Oda must have trained without his cyberware activated for just this scenario. But most of my tech is analogue, thanks to Vik. My microrotors are controlled by my natural muscles. So I should still have a speed advantage over him, at least… Well, let’s hope it doesn’t come to that…
I tucked a small EMP grenade into my belt, hoping it would be enough to at least stun him for a second or two – that’d be all I needed… Fuck… I can’t believe Takemura neglected to tell me… Why would he do that, leave out such a crucial bit of data for someone he knows to be a melee combatant…
Someone he knows… knows…
“Judy?” I asked with a furrowed brow, “You wouldn’t happen to have access to that Arasaka dataterm, would you?”
“Nah, ditched it,” Judy shot back with a hint of sarcasm.
“Judy…”
“Course I do, how long’ve you known me?”
“Heh… Alright, I need a favor,” I anxiously bit my lip, “I need you to look up Arasaka’s psychological profile of… me.”
“Uh… What, you curious?” she said with a bit of laughter.
“I think Oda would’ve studied my profile extensively… If I know what he read, maybe I can use that to my advantage – do something he doesn’t expect.”
“Ah, I see…” Judy’s voice lit up, “Alright, I’ll see what I can do. Where do I find it?”
“Look up Valerie Tokai, NC770416, that’s my old ID number.”
The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
“Alright, uh… NC770416, got it…” she muttered to herself, “Okay, call you back in a few.”
“Good,” I whispered as I approached the third sniper, apparently inside the building having a cigarette, easy…
“Takemura,” I said as I wrapped up here, “Snipers are clear, and I have good intelligence on the whereabouts of the netrunner. I’m headed there now.”
“Good work, V,” Takemura praised me in return, “I am hearing no immediate chatter concerning us.”
“That’s the problem,” I replied sternly, “I’ve taken out about a dozen guards so far. Someone would have radioed one of these people and found out why they aren’t picking up.”
“Then we must extract Hanako-sama before they have a chance to retaliate,” Takemura insisted.
“Agreed…” I was more concerned with Oda. Takemura, of course, had his own problems, in the form of Adam Smasher. That man would surely be watching Hanako-sama like a fucking hawk by now, just waiting for Takemura to make his move. She was the obvious target; Oda said so in multiple messages.
“V, I found somethin’ you might wanna hear,” Judy said, suddenly interrupting my train of thought.
“Go ahead,” I instructed her, heading onto the elevator.
“Alias, Captain Valerie ‘V’ Tokai, risk assessment: High… Uh, let’s see… It says… V operates under a code of honor which only permits her to use equal levels of force against her opponents. As such, by far the most efficient method of besting her in a one-on-one engagement is unarmed, as she will likely be compelled to sheathe her weapon in-kind unless presented with higher force beforehand. This is how agents were planning on subduing her initially before her companion’s interference… Want me to go on?”
“Mhm.”
“Alright, uh… In armed situations, a typical lone foot-soldier, regardless of weapons used, poses no match for V. Most portable small-arms aren’t of sufficient caliber to destabilize her katana, most shotguns cannot penetrate her subdermal armor without anti-armor flechettes and concentrated fire, and her ability to deflect bullets makes open engagements by single soldiers nigh-suicidal. As such, whenever possible, always ensure at least three angles of fire before engaging, timing shots precisely so that she may not deflect more than one or two rounds in succession. Uh, a footnote - while a formidable opponent, V’s armor is weak and her implants advanced but few, making her particularly susceptible to burns, stun attacks, and shock caused by explosive ordnance… Fuck me, they make you sound like a badass, heh.”
“They all do that,” I laughed, “Interns write this shit, it helps bolster the younger candidates to say, ‘Hey, look at what you can accomplish.’ It’s not really representative–”
“Oh please, don’t sell yourself short,” Judy interrupted, “Anyway… Under absolutely no circumstances should you consider engaging V in any form of melee combat without extensive training AND cutting-edge implants. Always open the distance and use force-multipliers whenever possible, bearing in mind that she is weakest at longer ranges. Furthermore, she cannot effectively deflect rounds with kinetic forces exceeding ~10,000 J without significant bracing… Fuck me, your file’s huge…”
“I think that’s enough,” I told her, hopping off the elevator at the 20th floor, “Basically they expect me to match force-with-force, and he’s probably gonna target my weapon first… Do they say anything about my equipment?”
“Yeah, uh – your sword and a handgun.”
“And nothing else?”
“Nope.”
“Alright…” I quietly ran my hand along the edge of the tanto. That and the EMP grenade would probably save my ass in a couple minutes…
Wait…
Is that… singing?
It is… That is the most beautiful singing voice I think I ever heard…
Hanako-Sama. She was singing Kojo no Tsuki… The taiko drums backed her performance with a great, powerful emphasis… It was sublime…
–
Springtime… A flower banquet in a tower,
Passing cups of sake, casting shadows upon them.
The moonlight falls through the cracked pine branches,
Where is this light of the past?
…
The color of frost paints the autumn encampment,
Many wild geese passed, calling out,
And the swords glistened in the moonlight,
Where is this light of the past?
…
The midnight moon shines over the ruined castle,
For whom does this moonlight shine for?
Only ivy remains on stone walls,
Only wind sings through broken pine branches.
…
The shadow in the sky does not change,
Yet the moon reflects as it has before,
Is this change for better or worse,
The midnight moon shines over the ruined castle…
–
I wonder what she is thinking at this moment… Seeing the castle crumble before her. A castle under siege for over a hundred years, with walls no longer able to weather the storm. Wind and light poured through the cracks… an appropriate metaphor for Arasaka. In a way, I had a sort of respect for it all. It was like witnessing a tremendous monster roaring through the country, being pierced by a lance… a menacing creature, mortally wounded, crawling and fighting to its last breath as people began swarming it like vultures.
And to think that all of this trouble is over a fucking computer chip…
I never wished ill upon these people, despite them doing their utmost to antagonize me. I am only here because of Takemura, fulfilling an oath I made to a man who saved my life. Granted, it’s the same reason I signed on with Jackie and that didn’t exactly turn out well… No… Someone wasn’t coming home after this one, either…
The midnight moon shines over the ruined castle… An evocative image…
“Johnny?” I thought, “I’m scared…”
“Mm… I know,” he muttered, “Just do what he wouldn’t expect.”
“What he wouldn’t expect…”
“Remember, V. It’s all you, no Jackie this time. Gotta watch your own back. But it also means you’re more dangerous. A cornered animal’s likely to put up a helluva fight.”
“Yeah…” I sighed, “Thanks, Johnny.”
“Hey, it’s my ass on the line, too.”
“Heh, I know,” I chuckled, still listening to the music, “It is beautiful, though…”
“Mm…”
Her voice fell silent, met with roaring applause from the crowd as she gave a long bow of thanks…
“You ready?” Johnny asked me one last time.
“Nope,” I muttered in return, palming Shinden and heading into the building…
He’s here… Somewhere… I know it. This place has ‘ambush’ written all over it…
Voodoo boys text, fresh candles… I guess we know where Arasaka was outsourcing its techie skills… But where is Oda…
What does he know about me… Who is he…
Takemura said he comes from a humble background. Someone who rose up through the ranks through sheer, brutal, hard work, much like Takemura himself. Treat him like Diet Takemura, then… Okay. I can work with that…
He is cold, vicious, but egotistical. I bet he's relishing in watching over me. Waiting for his time to strike. I imagine he had his eye on me from the second I struck down that first sniper. He made mention of 'the swordsman' in his radio message, yet he bided his time, analyzing my techniques as I took down each soldier on my way up here, like an animal silently stalking its prey. He would surely be an excellent infiltrator, himself. Pity he became a bodyguard instead, his skills wasted on VIP duty for years.
No… that is his weakness. Hm… VIP duty. Means I likely have more recent experience than he does at the hard side of war. Who knows how long it's been since he's seen a real fight with someone who truly challenged him. He believes I may be such a person, otherwise he would be charging me right now… he's sizing me up. Enjoying it, like an animal wandering through the desert and finding a hidden oasis.
He will want to draw out this engagement as long as he can, not because he knows it'll make me weaker the longer it goes on, but because he needs this. He needs it to justify his own existence, to satisfy his thirst. He needs the fight, otherwise he wasted decades of his life training to clean up street scop. He will not give me his all until he knows he has no other choice… I am a prize to him. A test of his strength and cunning. I have to use that. Either I end this brutally and quickly, or I play to his ego. I will not be a match for him if he gets rid of my weapon, so I'm willing to bet that he won't go for that tactic immediately.
Hm… end it early. Before he takes it seriously. If he chooses to fight at all… What is it that Takemura would do with someone he considers an equal… I think he wouldn't fight it out, because that would mean he'd run the risk of losing. No, Takemura would do his fucking job, rather than bolster his own ego. I must assume that Oda would as well. Then what is he waiting for… He had all the chances in the world…
“V, I have the ‘runner locked out,” Judy shouted, “Quick, now’s your chance!”
I wasn’t so sure about that… I had a sinking feeling that, wherever he was, he would saw me in half the second I incapacitated that techie…”How much time until they trace you?”
“About two mi– fuck… 30 seconds. Hurry, V!” Judy yelled… Fuck. Okay, make it quick…
Where would I be hiding… the hanging beam above, no, would be swaying around… Inside the temporary rooms… no, the plastic sheets covering the doorways would make a noise. I’d need a place with no noise at all, somewhere with direct line of sight… Second story, perhaps? Sitting atop the rafters, hiding in optical camouflage? I didn’t have time to check. I had to pull this bastard now…
“Alright, got it,” I muttered, drawing Shinden and mentally preparing myself. Here goes nothing…
I approached the netrunner from behind, eyeballing the wire running from the back of her head. “All you gotta do is disconnect that wire,” Judy instructed me.
-
The samurai appeared unassuming, even totally open, inviting a pre-emptive strike. But Oda knew he would do best to give her the respect she's owed - there's a reason her company file was as thick as a novella. The semi-formal dress was a deliberate choice, the split skirt and sleeveless top affording her excellent mobility and perhaps concealing a pistol on her inner thighs or groin. The kitsune whiskers are a mark to her kami, calling them to battle. Like most onna-musha, her beauty was as much a weapon as her sword, lulling her enemies into a false sense of superiority. A classic technique of many infiltrators. He harbored no such delusions towards the enemy he watched. She wasn't actually helpless, nor was her sword a decorative item - she was baiting him, her senses sharpened from years of experience. She knew exactly what she was doing. But she also had no idea where he was, evidenced by her frantic glances of the room before attending to the mission. How did Arasaka miss this, he wondered, This woman is a living, breathing liability. No longer…
"わかった、簡単 [Okay, easy enough]," V said out-loud, taking Shinden and prying the netrunner's wire out with the blade. Oda silently watched the samurai, waiting for the perfect moment to strike. Despite being in a conversation with an unknown party - likely Takemura, Oda knew her guard was up – she had her okatana at the ready. An okatana that was unquestionably striking in construction and aesthetic, but not invincible. Her file made a mention of such a weapon, the one she called Shinden, of her unique method of handling it. Deflecting bullets was no easy task for someone as natural as her.
A full-body scan revealed numerous telling advantages he held. While she certainly had reflex-augmenting technology and some sort of speedware, he detected no Sandevistan, not even a pain editor or biomonitor, nor any armor capable of withstanding thermal weaponry. Her body was remarkably basic, using archaic cable-based technology rather than synthetic muscles like most others with her wealth and occupation. Her analogue implants were faster, but less precise and consistent without decades of practice.
Anyone else would've simply glanced at her physical profile and severely underestimated her, given how underequipped she appeared at first glance. Nevertheless, while her talent was stunning, her organic body was a critical weakness, one easily exploited by his specialized borgware. Time to get to work.
Oda dove out of his hiding place behind the windowsill, catching V by surprise but not off-guard. She quickly threw her sword up and sidestepped his initial strike, the radiant heat emanating off his thermal blades hot enough to make her eyes water.
A violent kick was all that was needed to separate the two, with V acrobatically spinning up to a ready stance and slowly retreating, giving Oda ground as they sized each other up.
She anticipated his arrival, perhaps, but not his brutality. And he held no compunctions concerning her abilities - despite her appearance, she was absolutely as fast, if not faster than he was, demonstrating near-perfect coordination and technique even with her organic muscles. Nevertheless, she held to a rigid code of honor, one he knew by heart as well. And she was as weak as any other organic - a body running on its own, unassisted power. A body that can feel pain. A body that will burn like so many others. This surely would be an easy fight. Why, then, did he feel compelled to impulsivity… This feeling was intoxicating…
Something in his gut whispered, something he long-since forgotten. No. He was wrong… This was not going to be an easy fight for either of them. Not with the way she carried herself and handled her weapon - and he was oddly grateful of that fact, despite its hindrances. But as strong as she was, Oda knew he was stronger.
–
Fucking hell, those Mantis Blades are something else… Alright, one thing at a time. First thing's first, crank up the magnetic gloves to max settings. If I lose my weapon, I'm dead.
Show no fear, S*******. Show no pain. No fear. Remember, temperance. You have this.
The fire isn’t real.
The fire isn’t real.
Easy… Focus…
“You should have fled the city, ronin,” Odin taunted me, “Instead, I see that you continue to whore yourself. What a pitiful way to utilize such talent.”
“A bold statement, coming from you,” I hissed back, leveling Shinden with his gaze, "Watching Hanako-sama sleep must be quite exhausting."
“And Takemura, where is he – fearful to show his face in front of his best student?!”
"Best? Bah, I thought this was a battleground, not a comedy club."
"And here I thought it was a brothel. Or are those tactical leather stockings," he hissed back, "What do you want with Hanako-sama, you filthy exile…"
"An audience," I replied bluntly, silently reaching into the small of my back and thumbing my first surprise, "And I will do whatever it takes to make that happen." Enough talk… Be unexpected…
–
Both V and Oda sensed the pleasantries were over, charging at each other head-first, just as Oda wished. But the captain proved resilient beyond his expectations – she was holding an EMP grenade, throwing it directly in his face. He scarred her sword as he passed, the heat sending sparks shooting from the blade as she threw herself forward to avoid the blast.
The detonation was swift and violent – she was cooking it the whole time they were talking. A perfectly timed and executed strike, one which surprised Oda and forced him back. He deployed a smoke grenade as she stopped herself on her right leg, getting ready to pounce again but finding no target in the haze. Natural eyes were her enemy here, granting Oda freedom of movement to restart his vital systems.
You bitch… he muttered in his thoughts as he steeled himself for the next strike, booting his Sandevistan and Kerenzikov boosters. His immense power proved a worthy match for V, diving from atop the second-story balcony and nearly striking her in the head, singeing some of her hair.
Without a second thought, V ducked down and let him sail past, pulling Yorinobu’s personal tanto out of her thigh-high and jamming it directly into Oda’s kidney while keeping Shinden at the ready to counter any blows.
Oda reeled from the shock as V spun Shinden around to rapidly cool the red-hot blade, taking all the time he would give her to ready herself again.
His pain editor kicked in, numbing his left side, yet he struggled to stand up straight when the blade contacted his hip. “見事 [Impressive]...” he sneered from behind his mask, casually pulling the tanto out of his abdomen and reading the engraving. "Yorinobu - The Sleeping Dragon is Awakened." He grimaced behind the mask, realizing its significance - V must have stolen it off of the Emperor's corpse. The filth, the hubris, to not just murder, but defile a resting god… He scoffed at her, running the tanto along his Mantis Blade, melting the steel into a puddle of molten metal on the ground.
–
That was all my backup options… Shit.
No fear. No pain.
Oda shook himself and charged again… His Mantis Blades will cool. Keep stalling…
Strike left, right, block it… Duck down beneath, and uppercut…
–
V cradled her weapon beside her face, presenting the smallest possible target as Oda launched himself forward for an overhead double-strike. She just barely juked his attack to the left, scorching her right arm with his scalding-hot blade and V retaliating with a glancing strike to his right armpit. Oda countered with a vicious attack of his own, slicing into her left arm and instantly cauterizing the wound from the heat. V could feel her blood quite literally reach the boiling point within a split-second, peeling back and grunting in pain. His right Mantis Blade trailed behind, scoring Shinden again and parrying her next attack.
Sparks showered her face, scalding her forehead and peppering her with thin shards of her weapon. V backed off again, wiping away the blood before it poured into her eyes and showing absolutely no affect despite likely being in immense pain. While Oda was puzzled by her choice in cyberware, or lack thereof, he certainly admired her spirit.
A series of primal attacks and counterattacks between them left V’s weapon glowing a kaleidoscope of red and orange hues, emanating smoke from where the dust idly landed on the blade. Finally, she struck a deft blow against his faceplate, damaging the projection and producing hairline cracks along its front.
Oda attempted to switch tactics, relying on using both blades simultaneously to compensate for her advantage in speed and dexterity. Despite Oda having more powerful artificial muscle fibers, a single sword outmatched two - she was able to crank both her arms and her body together to produce truly overwhelming force behind her attacks. What she lacked in mass, she more than made up for in velocity. But that velocity will soon diminish the longer the fight went on, and Oda was more than readily-equipped to sustain such an assault. He crouched down with each strike, protecting his vulnerable head and midsection with his Mantis Blades, tiring her out and gradually heating her blade, not to mention her internal organs from the amount of energy they were burning through.
The flurry of swings produced sparks reminiscent of a fireworks show, the pair of them testing each other's speed in a tremendously dazzling display. Their weapons connected dozens of times in the span of only a few seconds, the constant sounds of metalwork clashing together ringing through the building like machine gun fire.
Oda pushed himself to the absolute limit to keep up with her, though a single misstep was all she needed, allowing Shinden to find its mark on Oda's left shoulder blade. His subdermal armor easily absorbed and glanced the blow off, though it left him stunned - he had not expected V to actually be able to draw blood from him in an open duel like this, without any more cheap tricks of hers.
Despite scoring a clean hit, V sensed she was getting tired, and Oda instantly read her eyes like a book – time for the showstopper, he thought to himself. He leapt up into the shadows, drawing his submachine gun and leveling it at the warrior before unloading an entire magazine. But not at her – instead, he fired his weapon wildly into the air, spraying a hail of gunfire in all directions while his gaze remained fixated on her head. Deflecting rounds from a single path was easy - from 50 different paths, that's something else. Each bullet tracked his vision dead-on, collecting on all sides as V struggled to strike down round after round, foregoing accuracy for the sake of protecting herself. Just as he thought - she was unable to effectively retaliate if she was overwhelmed. But her raw speed and precision was nevertheless a spectacle to behold.
Supersonic cracks echoed throughout the building from V’s sword tip repeatedly breaking the sound barrier, moving so quickly that the wind blew her hair from behind her ears. A passerby may have mistaken the performance for a woman holding an airplane propeller. V pushed her body further than it's ever been and ran her sword faster than even she realized was possible, panting and heaving as his weapon ran empty. She couldn’t take much more of this, and Oda knew it. Shinden was badly damaged and glowing hot from the constant battering. Her body lacked batteries, instead running off of pure internal horsepower – calories. A finite resource, one he would exploit to the fullest.
Oda jumped down to the first floor and retreated behind one of the temporary rooms out of range of any follow-up strike, granting V an extremely valuable few seconds' break while he retrieved his next magazine. As soon as he reloaded, he emerged from behind the plastic sheeting and V's body shot back up into action, immediately deflecting his first five rounds straight back to him while totally ignoring the rest, letting her subdermal armor receive virtually all of the punishment. Internal spalling forced her nanosurgeons into overdrive, and V found herself thanking her lucky stars that she allowed Viktor to replace at least some of the cyberware she got rid of.
Oda recoiled back, the rounds directly striking his chest and catching him completely by surprise. His exoskeleton fed numerous error messages, yet he continued firing all the same.
Shinden began to emanate white light as V ceaselessly demanded more of it, the remaining bullets chipping off pieces of metal like cutting fingernails. The outer shell can be replaced, she thought to herself as she leveled the scorching-hot weapon against Oda again. He fired his last magazine directly level with V’s head – yet her sword did not respond in the way she was expecting. Rounds bounced off the erratic, jagged surface at odd angles, forming jets of smoke and flame from the blade itself.
She instantly changed tactics, swiping at the bullets with the flat of the blade in a desperate attempt to preserve what little life it had left. Permanent bends and ripples began to develop from the sheer force she exerted on it, like a sail giving way to the wind. This is it, she thought, Give it your all, Shinden. Scream so loud that even the gods will hear.
V charged head-first, blocking almost every round before plunging her sword downward, nearly striking home and bisecting the bleeding bodyguard. The pair of them separated once again, with V sprinting back to the open arena floor and glancing around for the telltale glow of his Mantis Blades. Her sword billowed smoke, the woven silk on the handguard becoming blackened and scorched, the blade now irreparably chipped. Oda hid behind a pile of cement, running system diagnostics - his second heart and one bionic lung have both failed. A shot to his liver was instantly repaired by his own nanosurgeons, though the internal bleeding was mounting up.
I will not be bested by a ronin. Time to end this.
–
“That’s it,” Oda growled at me from the shadows, “I have had enough of your games.”
“Giving up already, then?” I sneered back, “Or are you looking for a new gun, coward?” Keep him talking… My sword is far too hot… No, there is no turning back. Shinden will never be the same. But like me, it will wear these scars with pride. You can do this, Shinden. Just give me a little more. Please…
“What do you want with Hanako-sama?” he shouted, “You will not lay a hand on her!”
“To tell her the truth, nothing more!” I retorted, spinning Shinden around me in a vain attempt to cool it… But it was for nothing. The core was practically superheated… I didn’t have much time left.
“So be it,” Oda shouted, leaping out of the shadows again.
–
Oda struck from the second story, not targeting V herself as she expected, but rather her sword. He expertly caught the tip of her blade and sheared it clean off with his right Mantis Blade, his left scoring the entire length of the remaining bits of okatana. V recoiled back as Shinden self-immolated, the heat reaching some 900 degrees centigrade, transforming the blade into a semi-solid. The lacquered wood inside the handle erupted into flames, consuming everything up to the gold-damascened hilt in a raging inferno - her hands included. The fire was so searing that it melted the magnets in her gloves, not that she noticed with the absolute death-grip she exerted over the failing weapon. A plume of fire erupted from the severed tip as the exposed, half-melted inner core instantly vaporized the dust around it, forming a great veil of smoke permeating the air.
But she did not retreat as he expected. Her agony failed to paralyze her. Something felt wrong. Deadly. Horrifying. V’s eyes immediately focused like a bird of prey and she savagely charged Oda before he could recover, leaving all semblance of rational thought far behind as her brain short-circuited from the inferno engulfing her. In that second, he had realized what he had done. As far as the tired Oda was concerned, his enemy became the living embodiment of fury and rage, a savage creature with a totally singular focus and a completely absent mind. Oda trembled in fear before her, seeing the image of a woman's kami married to that of a merciless, wrathful god.
Large chunks of metal and flesh sloughed off Shinden and its caretaker alike. The inner core that had not seen the light of day in hundreds of years was exposed, shining in a brilliant white-hot light as the samurai wielded it with the deep, unfiltered savagery of a woman seemingly possessed by a demon. Oda tried desperately to block her attacks, but was easily overpowered despite his own immense skill. It's as if Shinden took on a mind of its own, commanding its master effortlessly.
He raised his thermal Mantis Blades in a final act to block her incoming strike, Shinden instead slicing clean through the stalks upon which the blades were mounted, cleaving them in half. His weapons fell loosely at his side, leaving Oda scampering away like a scared child before the terrifying blade, drawing his only remaining sidearm, a humble Unity pistol, in a final act of desperation.
–
“Jackie…” I whispered to him in the Konpeki hotel room, lying naked on the bed and trying not to think about the mission ahead of us, “I’m sorry we got wrapped up in this.”
“Hmm… Still awake?” the massive, lovable ball of a man pondered for a second, “Alright, well, uh… You’re afraid of fire, right?”
“I am… Why?”
“Just tryin’a distract you, chica,” he shrugged, “I remember you told me a few days ago at that coffee shop, I asked you why you’re afraid of fire. You said it’s cause all it does is destroy.”
“It… Yeah…” I sighed, “I don’t know, Jackie…”
“Y’know, my dad was a ‘Tino too,” he muttered, “Like me.”
“I know,” I nodded to him, my eyes wandering around the room, “What’s that have to do with anything?”
“Just… lemme get to that.”
“Alright…”
“So my dad was a ‘Tino. Pretty high-ranking one, too. A card he used to pull on Mamá every chance he got.”
“Mm, I’m sorry,” I sighed, turning over and tucking my arm behind my head, trying to get comfortable.
“Anyway, so you know what I did? I became a ‘Tino myself. Not cause my old man was one… well, not in that sense, anyway… Nah, I became a ‘Tino so I could learn how to kick his ass. I wanted to, y’know… give Mamá someone to lean on.”
“I’d say you did just that,” I smiled at his remark.
“That’s the thing, though… I didn’t. Becomin’ a Valentino was the worst decision I ever made. And I made it cause I was afraid of him. I was so afraid of him, I let it consume me… Consume everythin’ I ever stood for.”
“It’s over, now, though–”
“Then you came along, V. I got shot, ran away from home, ended up in the cartel. Thought, y’know, ‘This is it. This is my life now.’ Then I saw you lyin’ on the ground. Saw that drive, that… that fire in your eyes. I saw what I'd lost. And I realized that I was lettin’ my dad control me. Even when he wasn’t there, he was still controllin’ me. I was still afraid of him.”
I don’t know what to say… “And that’s when you handed me the gun…”
“And we went back-to-back, doin’ our best impression of a good ol’ fashioned Mexican standoff, heh.” Mmm… And look at where we are now…
“Why are you telling me this…?”
“C’mon, for counterintel, you sure can be dense sometimes, y’know that?” he quipped, “My father ate at me for years, V. The fear… And I remember wakin’ up one day and lookin’ at myself in the mirror, and I thought to myself, ‘I don’t know who that is.’ I couldn’t recognize myself… My face changed. My eyes… I was so… I dunno… I was just consumed with guilt… rage… of who I'd become, the shit I've done…”
I’d never heard him so vulnerable before…
“He wasn’t beating me… I was beating me… And I met you… and I put it down. I stopped beating myself up…”
“Jackie…”
“V… I told you, this job's killin' you. Whatever’s got you worked up about your history with fire, it doesn't matter anymore… Take it from your big brother. You can’t let it keep burning you.”
–
Consumed with a terrible, fiery pain, V reared up and launched herself into the air. She had charged down a petrified Oda, leaving him struggling to recover as she raised her weapon above her head, the pommel battered and destroyed from bashing a hole clean through his faceplate. Her blood was about 25% pure cortisol and adrenaline by volume, rendering her hands completely numb to the otherwise terrific agony that would have consumed her body. Her nanosurgeons operated with every last ounce of energy to repair the massive tissue damage, keeping her muscles functioning just long enough to hold a steady grip on the burning handle as she screamed.
In a final, brutal strike, V brought down what was left of Shinden on Oda’s head as hard as she possibly could, the blunted and brittle edge shattering in a flurry of sparks and light. It was likely the most powerful single strike she had ever delivered. The weapon was moving so quickly that whole chunks had buried themselves inside Oda and V like shrapnel from a grenade, showering them in molten metallic shards the size of broken glass. The sound was almighty as the broken sword carried on, slamming into the concrete beneath them both with a deafening crack. In an instant, V’s sword was utterly obliterated, the white-hot blade vaporizing into dust and fragments.
Oda collapsed onto the floor, his helmet shattered and his body entirely unresponsive. The fight was finally over.
“震... 震... 震電... [S-Sh…Shinden…]” V stuttered, her body seizing as the fire slowly crackled and danced around her right hand, the pain hitting her body like a truck. “バ...バババ... [Buh… ba-buubuuhhh],” she shivered and violently spasmed, dropping the flaming remains of the sword on the ground. Shinden struck the concrete with a hollow, atonal clang, sounding more like a bent piece of pipe than a priceless family heirloom. The nanosurgeons replaced the skin on V's fingers and hands with a deep, blood-red dermal layer, forming the thinnest of protective barriers from her exposed nerves. Her energy levels left her in a critical state, vomiting and convulsing uncontrollably as her body struggled to cope with what it had just been through. Everything went dark in an instant for her, leaving her a collapsed, broken husk of a woman.
–
Shinden… Shinden… no… no… please… I’m sorry, Mom… I’m so sorry… why didn’t I listen… why didn’t I listen to you… Shinden, I’m sorry… What have I done…
“V! V, what happened?!” a voice echoed in my head…
“M-Mom?… I h…haven't heard y-your voice in…”
“What?! What happened? Your vitals have tanked!!”
“S-Shinden…”
“Your sword? What, what is it?”
“Mom, I'm sorry… It’s… It’s…”
“V, breathe! Don’t you die on me!!”
Mom… Dad… Jackie…
I’m so cold…
My chest… My chest hurts…
I can’t… breathe…
“Can’t… breathe…”
“V!!” a woman shouted… “V, you’re going into shock!! Are you injured?! What happened?!”
“I… c-can't…”
“V, do you have an airhypo?! V!!” Airhypo…? What… What's going on…?
Oda… Airhypo… He would… He would have one… “Oda… please…”
–
V crawled over to Oda’s body, the man barely conscious after the strike. Not even a nudge was enough to rile him awake.
With the final breaths in her body, V managed to roll herself onto his frame and desperately searched for an airhypo, locating one in a magazine pouch on his chest. It may only last a few minutes, but that’s all she needed to consume enough calories to at least see her back downstairs where her car carried emergency rations. She haplessly jabbed the needle directly in her sternum and suddenly the world opened up again, her pupils dilating and her blood pressure spiking to over 180 / 110. She rocketed up and desperately searched for anything that might be edible, finding nothing but cement, two bodies, and the remains of her sword.
–
“Shinden…” I collapsed on the ground and picked up what was left of it, the tip still glowing hot… My sword… was completely destroyed.
“I… I’m here…” I sobbed into the earpiece… “My… sword… My sword is in pieces…”
“What?!” Takemura shouted, “Are you okay?! Is Oda okay?”
“Yeah… Yeah… I glanced back, “I’m… hungry…”
“Jesus fuck, get outta there!” Judy shouted at me, “You’ll be gone in five minutes if you don’t get some food in ya!”
“I know… just… give me a minute…”
I couldn’t believe it… I couldn’t… I couldn’t believe it…
Mom… My ancestors… I’ve disgraced everyone… I’ve… I… I can’t…
–
V broke down in tears, screaming and punching the ground, staining it with blood from her injured hands. Despite lacking a pain editor, she felt utterly numb to her broken, burned knuckles and fingers, slamming her hands on her temple.
“GGGAAAAHH!!” she violently screamed, beating herself with the sword’s hilt, finally crawling into a ball and sobbing, eyes closed and body shivering, filled with agony and an unfettered emotional pain that felt like Jackie all over again. She cradled her sword in her arms, weeping as the blood from her fingers stained the remains of the blade.
–
“V! I’m coming over!!” Judy shouted into my ear as I cried, staring at the remains of Shinden…
“No… No, it’s… you can’t…” I stuttered desperately, “Please…” I can't be seen like this…
“Then get your ass MOVING!!” she yelled at the top of her lungs – no… No, I had to move…
Shinden… I’m sorry…
“Okay… I’m moving…” I gnashed my bloody teeth, “I’ll… see you… downstairs, Goro…”
