Kei's Achievement
The anomaly hunter center called after seeing the articles we’ve been publishing. I am meeting their representative, Guilford Beaufort, for talks.
The Midway Nexus, located in the central linkway, is a familiar spot for meetings, and honestly it’s becoming our top spot for meetings. I was sure I was done with meetings. But with the AHC calling us. We’d have no choice but to answer.
Posh and wearing a deluxe striped suit. Expensive silver watch and proto-plasma blaster on a thigh holster. His eyes are cybered and I can see the EMP threading behind his ears and above his left brow.
He is reading the documents we presented. He takes his time to read them. Then he picks up his cup and takes a drink.
“We’ve met before.”
“We have.”
“It’s odd to meet in such a place. I guess it’s what they say. The birds of the same feathers flock together.”
“I didn’t know you were part of the AHC.”
“And I haven’t seen you since you applied for the 15-month debt DESPITE being already in-debt.”
“So what does the AHC want from our office?”
He smiles calmly.
“Cooperation. We will gladly cooperate with you in terms of expanding your search radius.”
“Explain.”
He offers a data stick. I plugged it on my transmitter. On it are the data from his association. Apparently, it’s not just the anoms appearing that are starting to warp and malformed.
“Our center was focused on the search of the aberrants. With your recent successes, it’s come to our attention that perhaps it’s best if we allow you into our sphere of influence.”
“Your sphere of influence. I’m assuming the AHC has already been hunting down the monsters.”
“We have. We are focused on matters on mutated counterparts.”
He shows me a picture of an Orc. Humanoid creature with pig-like features. Most of them are sentient, though from studies done, they share the same intelligence of the primates and some have shown the ability to use the bones of their peers into a club. Most of them have strength that requires the unaugmented to stay away from them and keep distance.
A good shot to the head usually does it. But there are certain Orcs that are so obese their fat can prevent them bleeding and they go into this berserker state where all the adrenaline in their body erupts. I had seen some Orcs rush on hunters, their bodies were flushed red, and it took the hunters at least four mags to put the orc down. Honestly, scavenging jobs were gruesome, but it did help me understand where to flay, cut, and chop the monsters. This guy was in-charge of my tasks once. It was eight months of butchering jobs and after that. I moved to a new workplace after they decided to employ a butchering company to take on the jobs instead. Better to let cheap labor do it than paying their own men, which didn’t make sense at the time until I saw how much they saved up from hiring cheap labor.
“So you want to expand?”
“No. We’d like your cooperation in the matters of the anomalies we found on certain monster-species.”
“I think those are mutants.”
“What’s the difference?”
He laughs, then narrows his eyes.
“Don’t tell me you started to love the mutants, friend?”
“No. I really don’t care much about their existence.”
“True. You never did care for them much. Not for anything. You were always… single-minded in certain matters. But I appreciate the professionalism.”
I sigh. I cross my arms with the intent of showing my impatience. He understands and changes the subject.
“It’s deluded for anyone to believe that anomalies only happened to humans. We’ve seen that when they clung to the undead and changed locations.”
“I see you’ve been reading.”
“I have to.” He smiles quickly. “You have to know. Besides, I’m sure you agree that you’re only the office to have interest in the anomalies.”
“We already know. Still, what I’m getting from this is you want us to personally handle this. We have people for that now.”
“Oh, I’m sure you’d like to hand this over to your interns and associates, but I believe Miss Kei will find it interesting. I know she’s quite busy, so we talked with you to get the message across.”
Kei’s probably telling Sato about her new conditions. She was quite happy to become somewhat independent in her own office’s affairs. I do worry Sato’s going to be offended, but when I informed Sato about her coming to visit. He sounded like he’s been looking forward to it.
I don’t understand what their deal was. But I think Aidan’s right. Sato wants Kei to succeed him. It explains the leniency and favors. Kei’s good at what she does too. And honestly I kinda envy how she’s able to somewhat achieve this. Despite all the shit she went through.
“Give me the documents and I’ll make sure to let Miss Kei Ma know about your proposal.”
“That’s all I asked for.”
He hands over the documents and the contract. I double-checked the documents and then kept them in my dimenbag.
“Well, I’ve spent enough time here. Have a good day, friend. It’s nice there are still familiar faces around. Please do contact me if your office intends to cooperate with our AHC. I assure you it’s good for our businesses.”
“Yeah.”
After the Shanghai Risk Event, many acquaintances and friends died. I’m not friends with the guy, but seeing assholes like him still strutting around somewhat brings back old memories.
He left the place. I stayed for another hour, watching the wall of clouds separating Upper and Lower Changye before taking the lift back down. Crowded and cold. The usual acrid stench of the air and the bustle of the crowd made me wonder about an old thought I have, but one I never thought of again after what happened with the 12 Demis.
***
Back in the office Kei was already in a good mood. Drinking canned beer to celebrate her achievement. Cheeks flushed and ties loosened. She’s so usually stoic, so seeing her grinning like this really shows how this means to her.
“Well, my assistant. I see you were hard at work.”
She raises a canned beer.
“Someone from the AHC.”
“Oh, those guys. Well, let’s talk about them later.”
Kei throws a can of beer. I catch it and open it. It’s cheap, but it’s the kind of cheap you’d want for things like this.
“Years. Took me years. I lost friends. Lost Eta… but I finally made it. My own office and without Sato nagging me. Well, he’s still our partner in this business, but he wouldn’t throw us into shit like Vultan now.”
That’s good. I’d rather avoid manmade gods and elder vampires.
“So what’s the deal really?”
“Long story.”
“We have time. If you want to tell me that is.”
“Sato’s my benefactor. I was someone who he saw can pull some schemes. I wasn’t really planning to do this. All I cared about is getting up, eating, and survive for another day.”
“Aren’t we all?”
She sits down and drowns herself in a can of beer.
“But the thing is, Akun. I saw that Risk Event. I think you saw it too, right?
“Yeah.”
It had no face.
It had no body.
It was like a tornado of pure energy. Like someone made of the black skies dotted in stars turned it into this creature of pure dead.
The Shanghai Risk Event wasn’t a monster.
It was simply a walking disaster that rallied the fascinated monsters to follow this pure energy and make use of the chaos giving them power to wage a continental incursion. Everything it passed became unnatural and I saw everyone who came to witness that monster into this abnormality you can’t cut or shoot.
It was proof of how fragile we were. A reminder of how tiny we are compared to the vastness before us. Those who stared at the anomaly got their brains fried. Looking too deep into it was so maddening. You can’t understand a damn thing as if your brain refuses to process it.
Normal people just fell to the side of the pavement without a fight. Even those who have so much faith in their God couldn’t understand what they were seeing and pleaded to God for salvation. It took many days. Hell, some even believed the world spent a decade trying to comprehend the world and the Risk Event somewhat put the world into this stasis where we were unable to understand what we were doing.
An instance that lasted a decade. Everyone almost went bad until the Fourth Reich put it down with a device that guards their sovereignty. And you know what’s the worst part of it all?
The Shanghai Risk Event was the trigger. The boom that started all the misfortune. The death marches, the incursions, and humanity fighting harder than ever. Took years to solve and stabilize the world.
“The world went to shit. Even worse than before and all we could do is try to find a job for the day. I couldn’t sell myself and there’s no way I wanted to be a debt-slave. No offense.”
“None taken.”
“So I thought it can't be like this.” She takes another sip. “My life can’t just be just this. So I said to Sato. “I want to have an office of my own.”
She laughs and crushes the can. Kei takes another can and then throws it in the bin.
“Bastard laughed. Told me if I could give him a niche. Something I can specialize in. He’d do me favors. I said I will.”
“And you thought of the anomaly?”
“Nope. Not at first. I started working with the mutants first. Though they might be my ticket. But they were self-entitled assholes. Turns out they are just dumb big kids who wanted to become animals and they got their wish. Thanks to the mutants though, I managed to get some funds. Started running around again, looking for something. Then I came across some footage. Footages of this bastard coming in and out of his apartment.”
She shared a file. It’s her first case regarding anomalies. Guy in his thirties coming in and out of his place bringing a lot of goods that seems to never end.
“Found out his room got warped. Had extra rooms and spaces. Thought it was magic at first, but after stalking the guy and finally knowing his deal was. He was bragging about how he got lucky. How he was fortunate to have extra space. Guy was a monster who dragged girls to these spaces. When I caught him red handed, he was blowing toxic fumes. I was prepared. I was ready and I blew his head off with a teleforce blast to the head. You know what I saw, Akun?”
She grimaces.
“Hundreds of bodies mutilated. He was using the warped space to store his human harvesting center. Organ harvesting gigs like that are everywhere. Hell, when I called Sato about it. He just shrugged. But then he saw the spaces.”
“And that’s how it started?”
“Yeah. I started working with Eta after that. We combed the city and experienced a lot of anomalies. Most of them are common now, but they were rare. Even the AHC didn’t give a shit about these things. Hell, I’m betting the guy who contacted you wanted us to deal with the anomalies happening to the monsters.”
“Bingo.”
She got it right. Kei takes another swing of her beer can and then smiles.
“We’ll take it. But we’ll watch and assess the situation first.”
I throw my hands up in the air. She’s been in this business longer than me. I wonder if it’s easy for her to guess what these people want.
“For now, my dear assistant. You will assist me in this milestone.”
Then her face went solemn.
“And cheers to the people who helped me. Helped us achieve all of this. To Eta and Marv! To friends and allies!”
I raised my beer and cheered.
It felt to me like this is a new start.
Kei's Achievement
The anomaly hunter center called after seeing the articles we’ve been publishing. I am meeting their representative, Guilford Beaufort, for talks.
The Midway Nexus, located in the central linkway, is a familiar spot for meetings, and honestly it’s becoming our top spot for meetings. I was sure I was done with meetings. But with the AHC calling us. We’d have no choice but to answer.
Posh and wearing a deluxe striped suit. Expensive silver watch and proto-plasma blaster on a thigh holster. His eyes are cybered and I can see the EMP threading behind his ears and above his left brow.
He is reading the documents we presented. He takes his time to read them. Then he picks up his cup and takes a drink.
“We’ve met before.”
“We have.”
“It’s odd to meet in such a place. I guess it’s what they say. The birds of the same feathers flock together.”
“I didn’t know you were part of the AHC.”
“And I haven’t seen you since you applied for the 15-month debt DESPITE being already in-debt.”
“So what does the AHC want from our office?”
He smiles calmly.
“Cooperation. We will gladly cooperate with you in terms of expanding your search radius.”
“Explain.”
He offers a data stick. I plugged it on my transmitter. On it are the data from his association. Apparently, it’s not just the anoms appearing that are starting to warp and malformed.
“Our center was focused on the search of the aberrants. With your recent successes, it’s come to our attention that perhaps it’s best if we allow you into our sphere of influence.”
“Your sphere of influence. I’m assuming the AHC has already been hunting down the monsters.”
“We have. We are focused on matters on mutated counterparts.”
He shows me a picture of an Orc. Humanoid creature with pig-like features. Most of them are sentient, though from studies done, they share the same intelligence of the primates and some have shown the ability to use the bones of their peers into a club. Most of them have strength that requires the unaugmented to stay away from them and keep distance.
A good shot to the head usually does it. But there are certain Orcs that are so obese their fat can prevent them bleeding and they go into this berserker state where all the adrenaline in their body erupts. I had seen some Orcs rush on hunters, their bodies were flushed red, and it took the hunters at least four mags to put the orc down. Honestly, scavenging jobs were gruesome, but it did help me understand where to flay, cut, and chop the monsters. This guy was in-charge of my tasks once. It was eight months of butchering jobs and after that. I moved to a new workplace after they decided to employ a butchering company to take on the jobs instead. Better to let cheap labor do it than paying their own men, which didn’t make sense at the time until I saw how much they saved up from hiring cheap labor.
“So you want to expand?”
“No. We’d like your cooperation in the matters of the anomalies we found on certain monster-species.”
“I think those are mutants.”
“What’s the difference?”
He laughs, then narrows his eyes.
“Don’t tell me you started to love the mutants, friend?”
“No. I really don’t care much about their existence.”
“True. You never did care for them much. Not for anything. You were always… single-minded in certain matters. But I appreciate the professionalism.”
I sigh. I cross my arms with the intent of showing my impatience. He understands and changes the subject.
“It’s deluded for anyone to believe that anomalies only happened to humans. We’ve seen that when they clung to the undead and changed locations.”
“I see you’ve been reading.”
“I have to.” He smiles quickly. “You have to know. Besides, I’m sure you agree that you’re only the office to have interest in the anomalies.”
“We already know. Still, what I’m getting from this is you want us to personally handle this. We have people for that now.”
“Oh, I’m sure you’d like to hand this over to your interns and associates, but I believe Miss Kei will find it interesting. I know she’s quite busy, so we talked with you to get the message across.”
Kei’s probably telling Sato about her new conditions. She was quite happy to become somewhat independent in her own office’s affairs. I do worry Sato’s going to be offended, but when I informed Sato about her coming to visit. He sounded like he’s been looking forward to it.
I don’t understand what their deal was. But I think Aidan’s right. Sato wants Kei to succeed him. It explains the leniency and favors. Kei’s good at what she does too. And honestly I kinda envy how she’s able to somewhat achieve this. Despite all the shit she went through.
“Give me the documents and I’ll make sure to let Miss Kei Ma know about your proposal.”
“That’s all I asked for.”
He hands over the documents and the contract. I double-checked the documents and then kept them in my dimenbag.
“Well, I’ve spent enough time here. Have a good day, friend. It’s nice there are still familiar faces around. Please do contact me if your office intends to cooperate with our AHC. I assure you it’s good for our businesses.”
“Yeah.”
After the Shanghai Risk Event, many acquaintances and friends died. I’m not friends with the guy, but seeing assholes like him still strutting around somewhat brings back old memories.
He left the place. I stayed for another hour, watching the wall of clouds separating Upper and Lower Changye before taking the lift back down. Crowded and cold. The usual acrid stench of the air and the bustle of the crowd made me wonder about an old thought I have, but one I never thought of again after what happened with the 12 Demis.
***
Back in the office Kei was already in a good mood. Drinking canned beer to celebrate her achievement. Cheeks flushed and ties loosened. She’s so usually stoic, so seeing her grinning like this really shows how this means to her.
“Well, my assistant. I see you were hard at work.”
She raises a canned beer.
“Someone from the AHC.”
“Oh, those guys. Well, let’s talk about them later.”
Kei throws a can of beer. I catch it and open it. It’s cheap, but it’s the kind of cheap you’d want for things like this.
“Years. Took me years. I lost friends. Lost Eta… but I finally made it. My own office and without Sato nagging me. Well, he’s still our partner in this business, but he wouldn’t throw us into shit like Vultan now.”
That’s good. I’d rather avoid manmade gods and elder vampires.
“So what’s the deal really?”
“Long story.”
“We have time. If you want to tell me that is.”
“Sato’s my benefactor. I was someone who he saw can pull some schemes. I wasn’t really planning to do this. All I cared about is getting up, eating, and survive for another day.”
“Aren’t we all?”
She sits down and drowns herself in a can of beer.
“But the thing is, Akun. I saw that Risk Event. I think you saw it too, right?
“Yeah.”
It had no face.
It had no body.
It was like a tornado of pure energy. Like someone made of the black skies dotted in stars turned it into this creature of pure dead.
The Shanghai Risk Event wasn’t a monster.
It was simply a walking disaster that rallied the fascinated monsters to follow this pure energy and make use of the chaos giving them power to wage a continental incursion. Everything it passed became unnatural and I saw everyone who came to witness that monster into this abnormality you can’t cut or shoot.
It was proof of how fragile we were. A reminder of how tiny we are compared to the vastness before us. Those who stared at the anomaly got their brains fried. Looking too deep into it was so maddening. You can’t understand a damn thing as if your brain refuses to process it.
Normal people just fell to the side of the pavement without a fight. Even those who have so much faith in their God couldn’t understand what they were seeing and pleaded to God for salvation. It took many days. Hell, some even believed the world spent a decade trying to comprehend the world and the Risk Event somewhat put the world into this stasis where we were unable to understand what we were doing.
An instance that lasted a decade. Everyone almost went bad until the Fourth Reich put it down with a device that guards their sovereignty. And you know what’s the worst part of it all?
The Shanghai Risk Event was the trigger. The boom that started all the misfortune. The death marches, the incursions, and humanity fighting harder than ever. Took years to solve and stabilize the world.
“The world went to shit. Even worse than before and all we could do is try to find a job for the day. I couldn’t sell myself and there’s no way I wanted to be a debt-slave. No offense.”
“None taken.”
“So I thought it can't be like this.” She takes another sip. “My life can’t just be just this. So I said to Sato. “I want to have an office of my own.”
She laughs and crushes the can. Kei takes another can and then throws it in the bin.
“Bastard laughed. Told me if I could give him a niche. Something I can specialize in. He’d do me favors. I said I will.”
“And you thought of the anomaly?”
“Nope. Not at first. I started working with the mutants first. Though they might be my ticket. But they were self-entitled assholes. Turns out they are just dumb big kids who wanted to become animals and they got their wish. Thanks to the mutants though, I managed to get some funds. Started running around again, looking for something. Then I came across some footage. Footages of this bastard coming in and out of his apartment.”
She shared a file. It’s her first case regarding anomalies. Guy in his thirties coming in and out of his place bringing a lot of goods that seems to never end.
“Found out his room got warped. Had extra rooms and spaces. Thought it was magic at first, but after stalking the guy and finally knowing his deal was. He was bragging about how he got lucky. How he was fortunate to have extra space. Guy was a monster who dragged girls to these spaces. When I caught him red handed, he was blowing toxic fumes. I was prepared. I was ready and I blew his head off with a teleforce blast to the head. You know what I saw, Akun?”
She grimaces.
“Hundreds of bodies mutilated. He was using the warped space to store his human harvesting center. Organ harvesting gigs like that are everywhere. Hell, when I called Sato about it. He just shrugged. But then he saw the spaces.”
“And that’s how it started?”
“Yeah. I started working with Eta after that. We combed the city and experienced a lot of anomalies. Most of them are common now, but they were rare. Even the AHC didn’t give a shit about these things. Hell, I’m betting the guy who contacted you wanted us to deal with the anomalies happening to the monsters.”
“Bingo.”
She got it right. Kei takes another swing of her beer can and then smiles.
“We’ll take it. But we’ll watch and assess the situation first.”
I throw my hands up in the air. She’s been in this business longer than me. I wonder if it’s easy for her to guess what these people want.
“For now, my dear assistant. You will assist me in this milestone.”
Then her face went solemn.
“And cheers to the people who helped me. Helped us achieve all of this. To Eta and Marv! To friends and allies!”
I raised my beer and cheered.
It felt to me like this is a new start.
