When YF arrived at Icchome station, he made his way up the stairs to the loading dock. But when he arrived the area was completely empty, devoid of any vehicles public or private. YF’s shoulders tensed, but before he could turn a hand forcefully grabbed him by the collar and hauled him to the right. He turned just in time to see the man step over onto a raised bed with some large shrubs. YF stumbled onto the soil and grabbed the man’s wrist, unsuccessfully trying to pry himself loose before the man shoved him under the nearest shrub. The man then crouched next to YF, looking out toward the street. A car passed slowly, its headlights filling the area in front of them for a few seconds before disappearing down the road. About one minute later a second car could be seen driving carefully toward the station, stopping about a half li from where they were hiding.

“Sun’ll be up soon. Come on.”

The man grabbed him by the arm and pulled him up, the branches snagging against YF’s clothes as he went. When they emerged on the sidewalk, YF could see that it was Uwada, the Viper Sect Enforcer and Erika’s former lover. They quickly reached the parked car, where Uwada opened the door to the back seat and pushed YF inside. YF recognized the driver as Mizuno for one second before the latter stepped on the accelerator and sped off. YF stabilized himself by pressing against the passenger’s seat in front of him, then buckled his harness. He leaned his head forward. “If you touch me again…”

“What?” asked Uwada, glancing back. “You going to do something?”

“We can settle this the Itsugo way.”

Uwada chuckled. “That’s a waste of resources.” He drew a pistol and pressed the engage button. When the whirring started, YF could feel his chest tense up, but he forced himself to stay still. Uwada then reached behind, dropping the pistol in YF’s lap. The enforcer fumbled with the glove compartment for a moment and then tossed back a belly band holster, which rested awkwardly on top of the firearm.

“You a good shot?” asked Uwada.

“I’ve…done a little,” said YF.

“Well the boss needs your arm for just that.”

“What do you mean?” asked YF carefully.

“You’ll see soon enough.”

About one hour later they pulled up to a warehouse, where three clusters of sectarians, about four people each, were gathered in front of vehicles fitted with Kigali’s mods. Uwada exited the vehicle and ushered Mizuno and YF over to the right side, where two large wooden crates were seated on pallets. On Uwada’s signal, the nearest woman shoved a crowbar into the lid of a box, popping it off. Uwada reached into the crate and pulled out what looked like a Special Assault Team submachine gun. He tossed it in the air and grabbed the gun by the handguard, pointing the grip toward YF.

“I need you to activate this,” said Uwada.

YF frowned.

“Deregistered weapons,” said Uwada. “It won’t trace back to you, but you need access to unlock these.”

“And you believe I have that?” asked YF.

Uwada sighed. “You wouldn’t be here if I didn’t. Now get on with it.”

YF grabbed the grip, feeling a gentle tingling through his hand. Uwada pressed a few buttons on the weapon’s display screen. “Sakai Yasufumi Detected. Unit 54, Ward Police. Access Granted.”

A chill ran down YF’s spine.

“How do you think the mercs get these?” asked Uwada. He raised his vape box to his mouth and inhaled, blowing out. He then grabbed another rifle, a semi-automatic infantry issue. YF looked at him in confusion.

“Yeah these too,” said Uwada.

YF held the grip as Uwada repeated the unlocking process. When they were finished unlocking about a dozen guns, YF reached for the infantry issue rifle he had unlocked second. But before he could touch it, Uwada held out an open hand low toward YF, shaking his head slowly. “We don’t have enough, unfortunately. You will have to make do with that one,” he said, motioning with his chin toward YF’s stomach, where the pistol was holstered.

“Is he trying to get me killed?” YF could feel the anger rising in his chest, his hand instinctively moving from his pocket toward the center of his body. Uwada suddenly tensed up, his hand dropping low toward his belt. YF then felt a firm grip on his shoulder.

“Come with me Mr. Sakai,” said Mizuno, motioning with his head in the direction of the warehouse.

“For what?”

“Just come,” said Mizuno, handing YF a clean looking vape box. YF lowered his right hand and took the box in his left, following Mizuno across the main hall and up the stairs to the second floor, down the catwalk and then out through an opening toward the village. YF stared out at the Icchome skyline, the sight filling him with emotion. When viewing Itsugo from the park near his apartment the village felt like a prison, but from up above it had become a place of beauty and hidden potential. YF imagined Hiroyuki standing in an executive office at Aritomo, viewing Itsugo from Nishida City’s tallest building and seeing something similar to what YF was seeing now. Mizuno inhaled from his own vape box and exhaled, leaning his arms on the rail.

“What do you want to know?” asked YF, inhaling from his vape box and blowing out in the opposite direction of Mizuno. The wind caught the cloud of smoke, blowing it straight into Mizuno’s face.

“Oh! S-sorry,” YF stammered, bowing toward Mizuno.

Mizuno laughed and waved at the cloud in dismissal. “Wouldn’t worry about it.”

“But you do want to know something,” said YF inhaling and exhaling again, this time behind Mizuno, watching the cloud dissipate toward the rising sun. “What is it?”

“Captain Maeda getting arrested. How’d that happen?”

YF took some time to inhale from the box once more, blowing out slowly. “It was my fault. I was supposed to inform the Sentinel Office. The office was supposed to get Mr. Hayashi away from the area. I was a bit under the weather, and arrived too late for that. Blue Rose was probably already at the venue by then.”

Mizuno frowned. “I wouldn’t repeat that to any of our guys if I were you. This incident is spreading like wildfire through the ranks. People are not happy about it.”

“Why are you telling me this?” asked YF.

“Because I think you’re a good man, Mr. Sakai.”

“That’s it?”

“That’s rare,” Mizuno corrected. “The boss’ announcement should get Captain Maeda out of jail. But until then things will be a bit tense.”

“And we’ll be waiting out here until the signal,” said YF.

“Precisely,” said Mizuno.

YF thought back to the moment when Maeda was arrested by Blue Rose, and the rage he felt when Reina had simply allowed it. “Now I have a question for you,” said YF.

“Go ahead.”

“Why is it that in an organization so famed for loyalty, betrayal seems like an everyday occurrence?”

“That’s a strong accusation,” said Mizuno. He cracked a smile. “But an understandable observation.”

“You disagree,” said YF.

Mizuno blew out a long cloud of smoke. “There is no disloyalty in Viper Sect, ever. A question of loyalty is existential, it is cause for a major crisis.”

“You can’t seriously believe that,” said YF.

Mizuno gave him a look; a look in which YF could catch the faint but sure sign of sadness.

“So what do you think is your goal?” asked YF. “Can’t be all about money, weapons, and women. Why choose a life like this?”

“We maintain order, Mr. Sakai, order brought about by means others would choose not to employ. I’m sure people have told you what we call ourselves. The gokudo, the extreme path. We don’t deal in half measures.”

“I’ve heard the speech about half measures before,” said YF.

“And what do you think of it?”

“I think it’s bullshit,” said YF. “The extreme path only leads to extreme ends.”

“Can there be a smooth and moderate end without the extreme ones? How would you know what stability was otherwise?” Mizuno countered.

YF chuckled. “Sounds like a good enough justification.”

Mizuno looked annoyed for a moment, but then squinted toward the west, shaking his head. “Can’t be outside for too long.”

“Want to go back?” asked YF.

“What’s it like? Being married.” Mizuno continued to stare at the horizon.

YF scratched his forehead. “More chores, more expenses, more headaches. That quiet time you’re used to having to think. It’s permanently gone. Even when the person is away.”

“How could it be gone even when the person is away?”

“You just think about her all the time,” said YF. “Or him, or they, whichever. It’s not even like the way they talk about it in books or movies. ‘Think about all the time’ is neither romantic or practical, or good or bad. It just is.”

Mizuno nodded slowly. “I think I get what you mean.”

“And you want to know if I regret it,” said YF.

Mizuno only glanced at him.

“No, I don’t,” said YF. “It wears on you but you wouldn’t have it any other way. For people who think a little before they get married at least, I’m sure they’d feel the same.”

“Thanks,” said Mizuno.

“For what?”

Mizuno shook his head. “Nothing in particular.”

“You thinking of getting married?”

“Tough to say. Hard in this line of work.”

YF could feel that Mizuno didn’t want to talk about it further. “Yeah, yeah I could see that,” he managed.

Mizuno pocketed the vape box. “Let’s go back to the others. Machida will make some instant ramen with hakusai. We can play some mahjong while we wait.”

***

It took about a week before they left the warehouse, during which time YF had emptied as many reactor cartridges as he could to practice his shot. The entire ride YF felt a pit in his stomach starting small and growing larger as they left the village and city behind them for the brown, eroded wilderness of the Southern Shore. The area where they were now approaching had been severely eroded and devoid of plant or noticeable animal life for at least a few centuries. Any tales if what transpired there never contained anything good; stories of ghosts and ghouls or murderers and highwaymen.

After some time they started to drive near a set of tall cliffs that blocked any view of the sun. YF looked toward the vehicle’s display panel. He frowned as he saw the navigation indicate that their trip was coming to an end. YF looked out the window and saw the edge of a building that looked like one solid box with windows located very high above the ground. The navigation panel suggested there was nothing where the building stood.

“We going to ram it?” asked YF.

Mizuno shook his head. “The materials we have are softer than the wall, even if they’re harder than the average vehicle armor we can produce.”

“Then?” asked YF.

“The folks inside have an asset they value more than their wall.”

Mizuno pulled his helmet over his head and waited. YF did the same. At about first hour, a few of the guards could be seen leaving from the front of the building. A short time after their replacements arrived. From behind the four sectarian vehicles, a dull brown truck made its way slowly over a hill, throwing large clouds of sand behind it as it did. YF reached slowly toward his pistol. Mizuno grabbed his wrist and shook his head. “He’s one of ours.”

Mizuno, Uwada, and YF exited their vehicle as the truck reached their position and abruptly stopped. The rear truck door slid down, revealing two thickly robed men who promptly walked down the ramp toward them, leaving one robed man inside. Mizuno tapped on YF’s shoulder before going ahead, up the ramp, and into the truck. Inside there were about a half dozen catering carts, all with the bottom sliding doors open.

Around that time, the rest of the sectarians had reached the inside of the truck, lining up along the side walls. The one robed man who hadn’t left the truck ushered them into the bottom of the carts, two to each cart before sliding the doors shut. As YF got into one of the carts, he could clearly see that the man in the robed man was bleeding, a bolt sear visible across his sleeve. YF then felt a tug from Mizuno, prompting him to crawl into the tight, uncomfortable space next to him. The metal doors closed and eventually YF could hear the truck door slide up. As the truck moved, the driver turned on his dash monitor which was audible from where he was crouched.

“My fellow Kazen, I have come to declare that I am safe from harm thanks to the noble actions of the Itsugo Sentinel Office and especially the actions of my neighbor, Itsugo Sentinel Sakai Yasufumi, who spent weeks tracking down the sectarians that had abducted me and rescued me from harm’s way.”

The sound of applause could be heard from the monitor. YF frowned.

“I will now return to my duties at Aoshima Group shortly after consulting with doctors and following a period of recovery.”

There was a brief pause and the faint sound of a page being turned.

“In light of my capture and the increasing security concerns regarding our relationship to the daywalkers, my team and I have determined it is best to increase our stake in Sumida Corporation’s weapons manufacturing and personal protection wing…”

There was an audible murmur through the crowd. Many thoughts swam through YF’s head as he recalled his previous conversations with Hayashi Reina. Whichever memory came to mind, none of them resembled what he was hearing now.

“...in keeping with Prime Minister Iidabashi’s policy of R&D spending and training of the general population to ensure our nation’s long term growth, security, and prosperity.”

The crowd broke into thunderous applause just as the catering truck stopped. It was a while longer before YF could feel the cart he was crouched in moving off the truck bed and down the loading ramp.

“...beef today, Yasuda?”

“You bet!”

“Scan complete. Yasuda Jiro detected.”

“What about breakfast tomorrow?”

“That’s a surprise…but you’ll see soon enough.”

“Can’t wait, come on in!”

There was no more talk for some time as YF could feel the cart being wheeled down a very long hall before turning to the left. It then stopped abruptly.

“You can leave it here, Yasuda, I’ll take it in,” YF could hear a woman’s voice say.

YF heard what he was sure was suppressor fire from some sort of ancient firearm. He then heard someone drag what was presumably the woman’s body toward the door. There was a beeping sound.

“Scan complete. Hosoboshi Karin detected. Please provide a five second voice sample.”

There was a beeping from some sort of device, and then a voice closely resembling the incapacitated woman’s resounded through the hall. “Hello? It’s me, Karin. Let me in.” The voice spoke slowly and deliberately.

The door slid open.

At that moment a loud alarm blared through the hall; the clinking of sliding safety doors could be heard from where YF was crouched. YF felt his cart being pushed roughly in the direction of the door Karin’s ID had opened.

“Yasuda! Thank god you made it. What’s going—”

“Intruder Alert. Intruder Alert. All personnel assemble in Level 5 readiness positions to neutralize the threat…”

Mizuno slid the cart door open and rolled out onto the ground. Before YF could exit the cart, the deafening sound of ejected bolts filled the air.