Chapter 54: Epilogue

"I think Fallrim 76 sucks."

 

The Fallrim series was an old top down RPG originally set in an alternate earth where a force known an Oblivion invaded the world in the year 2075 and in the resulting war, the world was devastated. The original was a hundred years after the war, then another hundred years for Fallrim 2. Then Fallrim 3 broke the mold making it a first person shooter. After that was Fallrim: Vegas and Fallrim 4, which was a result of the franchise being bought out by Todd Jobs, founder of Betheapple Computers. Both those last two version were wildly popular for different reasons, however, when Todd Jobs tried to make a multiplayer version, that was resulted in the aforementioned Fallrim 76. The setting was year one of the Oblivion War and it was not coded well.

 

Kyoko kept talking while they played team matches on Starhammer 20k, "I'm not saying the game is bad, it's just I like using FATS and it just doesn't work in multiplayer. Seventy six might be someone else's cup of tea, but not for me." Toshi slowly ground on setting up in the other team's blind spot with a Prodar cannon rush, "I need another minute, then we can lure them into the killing field." He idled while he waited for his probes to finish harvesting enough crystals for the final push, "And I never played Fallrim before, so I'm just looking forward to seeing what the story is like."

 

Momoko threw the last of her Terg squidlings at the other team, "I'll draw fire as much I can, but my Terg rush is almost spent." She was getting into being a team player lately. No longer did she need to hog all the glory herself. She was seeing the advantages of listening to Toshi and his plans. He was good at tactics, "I liked Fallrim: Vegas for the story, but Fallrim 4 for the game play." Toshi nodded, "Huh. I should try them sometime... Annnnnnnnd... Cannons finished spawning. Bring them into the kill zone, I'll rush to cut off their resources and we'll starve them to death."

 

It actually was a cheesy way to win. Everyone else just built fast and attacked as soon as possible. Toshi's plan was to basically sneak past the other players, set up a base in a blind spot, then branch out and murder their workers so they were cut off from resources. Cheesy way to win, but it worked ninety nine times out of a hundred. Kyoko smiled as the game again announced their victory. Forty wins in a row, "We are on FIRE!"

 

Toshi stopped and turned to look at Kyoko, "Hey, Did you know there is a tournament that is being sponsored by Blizzard Workshop? There's a rather large prize for the winners." Kyoko and Momoko both paused and leaned out to stare at Toshi, "You hard up for money?" Toshi shook his head, "No, but it occurred to me that the computer club doesn't get any respect in this school. What if we entered the Starhammer 20k BBB tournament and... won?" Momoko laughed, "Toshi, your brain damage is showing again." Kyoko nodded, "Seriously. We got some tricks up our sleeves but-"

 

Toshi shook his head, "Actually, I've been watching the footage from last year and frankly, these guys suck!" Momoko looked suspicious. Toshi started talk faster and with more excited energy, "I don't get it. I mean, there is so many obvious game abuses they could use, but everyone just goes for either a slow grinding build or a terg rush. That's it! I have no doubt we could absolutely dominate the game!" Momoko laughed and hooked a thumb towards Toshi as she turned to Kyoko, "Get a load of this guy!"

 

Kyoko wasn't laughing.

 

"Okay Toshi... go on."

---

 

Detective Toku Ito pulled a cinderblock free and stared at it.

 

Ito was standing outside the school where Naora was the target of a drive by shooting. Forensics had already come through over a week before. Something wasn't right. Ito had gone over all the footage. Everything looked exactly like one would expect it to look. He had footage from the store across the street. He had footage from the school camera out front. He had the testimony from all the witnesses. Everything matched up perfectly.

 

That was the problem. It all matched up perfectly.

 

With almost no variation, all of the witnesses saw the same thing, gave the same story, but over all there was almost no variation. You'd expect people to get the color of the car wrong, or what order thing happened. People are unreliable witnesses and there is always something wrong. But not in this case. Everyone saw the same thing. Nobody saw the face of the driver, but everyone gave the same basic description of the shooter. Everyone described the gun the same way. Everyone got the number of shots exactly the same. There were only two variations.

 

The first was the kid who fell. Toshi was running for Naora and for no apparent reason, a kid fell in his path. The kid himself just said he lost his balance. The video looked different. You couldn't tell from across the street, but the camera showed the kid fell back suddenly. No wobble, no flailing arms, he just fell back.

 

The second oddity was the cinder blocks along the top of the retaining wall. It was only one meter tall and looked well made. However, the cinder blocks on top of the wall were loose. Toshi dislodged several as he ran along. Since the shooting, the blocks had been put back in place. Ito examined the block he was holding. The mortar holding it in place had practically disintegrated. It looked worn and old as if in had been decades since it had been applied. Nothing out of the ordinary. He replaced the block and moved down a step and tried to pull another one free.

 

It wouldn't budge.

 

The wall was solid. He asked the school maintenance department how old the wall was. It had been replaced about ten years ago. Maybe the contractors had cut some corners here and there. Except the only blocks that were lose were the ones Toshi had stepped on. Ito carefully, meticulously, tested every brick on the top of the retaining wall, and on the other retaining wall on the other side from the main stairs up to the school. The only bricks that had loose mortar were the ones Toshi was running on.

 

He documented the bricks with his camera and looked about. He started to walk down the street to where the car had been lying in wait. It had been over a week so there was no new evidence to be found, but he kept walking anyways. He continued down the street, looking, watching, seeing if anything was out of place. He noticed a small store down the street. It would have been much further than the investigation team would have traveled. As he approached, he saw a camera in the window. A very old camera that was pointing in the right direction to catch what happened.

 

After talking to the manager, he learned it was an old analog camera. The owner put in a fresh tape every morning and rotated the tapes. He had video back for two weeks. He showed his badge and asked for the tape for the day of the shooting. Taking it, he returned to his precinct and went down to forensics and asked for the tape to be analyzed and a copy sent to him. It was only an hour before he was opening up the attachment and watching the analog recording. The email itself came with a short message:

No evidence of tampering, but I checked the time code you requested and the footage is a bit choppy. Most likely because the tapes have been recorded over repeatedly for years. I doubt it could stand up in court as evidence.

The recording was bad. It had all sorts of artifacts in it. Every once in a while the picture would flicker as an older recording bled through. However, the camera had recorded what happened. It was grainy, distant, and no details were available, but it did record what happened.

 

Ito watched the perpetrator's car pull into a parking spot to lie in wait a good hour before the school let out. If you didn't know where to look, it would be hard to tell that car from any other. He fast forwarded to the point where the car started to pull out and that is when the footage became choppy. He enhanced the video to enlarge where the action was. It only marginally improved. It played out like on the other videos, except it happened in spurts. The video would pause, action would progress, then pause, then progress. At the end, the video paused for a full three seconds at the point where Toshi, more like the pixelated blob that was Toshi, was leaping to tackle Naora.

 

Ito sighed and leaned back. This video was useless. He backed it up, turned off enhancement and watched it again from the point where the car pulled away. It progressed just like before, except the action was way up at the top of the video's field of view. It was even harder to make out what was happening. It reached the point where it froze Toshi in mid air and-

 

Ito paused the video.

 

He backed it up and ran that section again, but this time focused on the bottom of the screen. When the recording got to the same spot where it froze up, in the lower corner of the video a car pulled into the parking spot where the assassin's car had just left. Ito isolated that section and played it on a continuous loop. He watched it over and over for several minutes trying to figure out what was going on.

 

Where the shooting was taking place, time seemed screwed up, but everywhere else in the video, time was moving normally.

 

He could see it in the leaves of the tree just outside the front of the store. He could see it in a small piece of paper that was blown by the wind. He could see it in the car that parked at the same time Toshi was tackling Naora. According to this video, some how, Toshi froze in midair for three whole seconds before time returned to normal. The store was three blocks away. Ito kept examining the window making meticulous notes while trying very hard not to think about how insane this was. He couldn't tell for certain, but it seemed like within a block or two of the shooting...

 

Time was stuttering.

 

He abruptly stopped and searched his pockets. He pulled out a plastic bag with a sample of the crumbling mortar. He pinched it through the plastic and watched it crumble beneath his fingertips. It was as if this mortar was old. Very. Very. Old. He suddenly dropped the bag on his desk as if it had bit him.

 

He stared at it for a very long time.

 

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---

 

Oh Ichiro walked out of his private pool and put on his favorite Egyptian cotton robe.

 

His private chambers were the very definition of opulence. Kings and queens of countries didn't live in such perfection. The reason being, Ichiro, first son of the Oh family, settled for nothing less than perfection. His servants swept into the room to set up his lunch at his favorite dining spot. He so loved the view from his penthouse, but hated the smell of the city. For that reason, he had his porch walled in with glass and special aromas pumped in to give the area the faint scent of cherry blossoms. After setting up, they vanished quickly and quietly as if they were never there.

 

However, Sebas, Ichiro's major domo, remained behind.

 

This indicated that there was business that needed his attention. Sebas' posture indicated that it wasn't urgent, so Ichiro took his time to eat, only addressing Sebas when he had finished half the steak, "What is the issue?" Sebas looked up, but avoided direct eye contact, "It is THAT girl. She is stating there is some problems with an accomplice. She plans to take care of it and wishes to know if we care."

 

Ichiro resumed cutting his meat, "Do I?" Sebas paused then said, "The accomplice was a spy that we hired to watch your uncle and his son. She was useful in-" Ichiro scraped his knife along the plate making an annoying screech. Sebas paused, then nodded, "Understood, sir." Ichiro stabbed a chunk of meat, rare and bloody. He held it up to his eyes, "You be sure to tell Gen that she should not contact me. We will contact HER. Make it clear I am unhappy with how she handled matters. Also, have someone keep an eye on her. She has gotten far too hungry." He put the food in his mouth and chewed thoughtfully. He swallowed and turned to Sebas, "Speaking of appetites. Has mother gotten into any more trouble?" Sebas allowed himself a heavy sigh, "Yes. It seems she is being quite resourceful. I suspect that Gen has been contacting her behind your back, but I have no proof."

 

Ichiro put down his fork, "How disappointing." He picked up his napkin, "Be sure to handle the fallout in the usual manner. Pay whatever is required to make it go away." He wiped the corner of his mouth and tossed the napkin on his plate, "I am no longer hungry." He pushed himself away from the table, "I will be retiring to my recording studio." As he stood up to walk away, he paused, then turned back to Sebas, "Oh. One more thing. I saw a news article the other day. It was about my nephew. I'm curious."

 

"Find out what Kimoto Toshi has been up to."

 

---

 

God walked through his armory, selecting what to bring with him and what to leave behind.

 

Beside him traveled a lesser being that would be called by most mortals as an archangel. His name was First, for he was God's first servant. First was quietly distressed by the unfolding events and fretted with every passing moment, "My Lord, I know it is not my place, but I do not believe this is a wise course of action."

 

God looked at First and smiled, "Thank you. I know you would prefer I didn't leave, but when I am backed into a corner, I don't just roll over. I will NOT sell my angels out. You are family to me." First looked resolute, "We are your servants. We are here to serve you, not the other way around. You do not have to go!" God slowly shook his head at First, "I made you. You are mine and I have a responsibility as your master. You should not suffer because I cannot protect you." He turned and picked up a particularly nasty looking blade made of strange and ethereal energies, "The other gods might be able to force me to send the majority of you to the front lines, but I'll be damned if I just let them feed you into the grinder." The blade disappeared into God's personal dimensional storage.

 

First practically stomped his foot, "And if you go with the host YOU might die as well! We gladly-"

 

God did nothing but flex his aura. The pulse of force was enough to silence First. First lower his eyes and said nothing. God quickly returned to his calm demeanor, "Enough. I have decided. I will go with our required tithe and I will lead them into battle, personally. As long as I am there, I can at least try to stop the others from needlessly throwing away your existences." He sighed, "Their goal IS to kill as many of you as possible. This is nothing more than a move to weaken my position." His expression darkened, "One that will most likely succeed."

 

He reached forward to put a hand on First's forehead and gently smoothed back his white, flowing hair, "You will have a skeleton crew, but I think I have solved the energy problem. There shouldn't be any issues as long as nothing unexpected happens. I suspect the other gods might try and infiltrate my realms while I am gone. If they do, allow it, but make sure they don't know you know. Do your best to mislead them. I know it is a lot to ask of you, but they have to find a perfectly normal, every day, boring planet." God turned back to his equipment and eyed a particularly radiant suit of armor.

 

"If they uncover what we've been doing, we're fucked."

 

---

 

After Toshi, Momoko, and Kyoko had their talk, they resumed playing the game.

 

Kyoko actually seemed interested in the tournament, but she wanted to think about it. It would mean putting the remaining clout the club had on the line. While they were setting up, Toshi noticed movement out of the corner of his eye. He looked over and it was Ruri. He took off his headset, "Oh! Hey! Came to play?" She shook her head, "I got to get home. I just came by to drop off your... stuff." Toshi frowned, "Stuff?" Then he arched his eyebrows, "Ah. Stuff." He leaned over to stage whisper to Kyoko, "She means porn." Kyoko blinked and looked surprised. Momoko just laughed. Toshi got up and walked off a little bit into the stacks with a blushing Ruri, "You enjoy embarrassing me too much, you know that, right?"

 

Toshi rolled his eyes and motioned for Ruri to hand whatever she had over, "How much do I owe you?" She handed him a brown paper bag, "Forget it. On the house. Besides I could only find two manga that matched up with what you wanted... and one of them is just lesbians. Apparently there isn't much of a market for women being dominated by men." She shuddered, "Understandably." Toshi eyed her, "You too, huh?" She looked confused, "Me... too?" She shook her head, "Never mind. Yes, in case anyone hasn't explained it, male-dom porn is just... freaky. That's some creepy, perverted shit." She tried not to look judgmental towards Toshi.

 

Tried, being the keyword here.

 

Toshi didn't care. He eyed the bag and said, "Wait, you have three in here. You said you bought two." Ruri nodded, "I said I FOUND two. That girl who came in? Apparently she is some expert on porn. The only reason I could find these two was because she knew exactly where to look. I mean, I thought I had a good memory, but she's a walking encyclopedia of porn." Toshi nodded as he pulled out the third manga, "You don't say?"

 

Ruri nodded, "Yeah. And apparently she knows two artists who are just getting started in the business and she really recommended that one. I thought you might like it. It seemed like your thing" Toshi wasn't listening. He was just staring at it. The title was absolutely captivating, "Ruri..." He licked his dry lips and cleared his throat, "You said that girl knows the creator of this manga?" Ruri nodded, "Yeah, why?"

 

Toshi started flipping through 'The World Of Moral Reversal', issue one.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"Because I absolutely need to find the author."

 

---

 

And So Ends Book One.

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