Something was not right. His right side hurt and pulsed. Warm fluid spilled onto the hand he held over where it hurt. The man in front of him — he could not remember who the man was, he was just sent to find the man — the man was still standing, a dagger in his hand. The man had attacked him. That was not part of the series of instructions.
He raised the hand, saw it coated with red and thick warm fluid. It spilled over his tunic and his arm.
But the only thought in his head was -Liquidate. Liquidate.- He did not know what to do next, what to think next.
- Liquidate. Liquidate. –
The man ran forward, the metal dagger thrust in front of him.
- Liquidate. Liquidate. –
He placed a bloody hand in front of him, palm facing the charging man.
- Liquidate. Liquidate. –
He shot ice daggers at the man’s heart. He created a long ice dagger, and sliced at the man’s neck.
- Liquidate. Liquidate. –
The man fell in two pieces onto the floor and blood spilled around him. He left the pieces that used to be a man on the blood-soaked floor.
- Exit. Leave building. Return to ______. Return to _______. –
He could not recall where to go. He could not think. He did not know what to do, even about the strange pulsing pain at his right side, the pain that made him teeter-totter as he exited.
Something he knew at the back of his head, if only he could remember it. Blood is also fluid. Blood can ____ to _____. Be able to ______ at least ______ . Why could he not r_______ ?!
- Return to _______. –
Kitchen? Go back there?
- Return to _______. –
The pain grew worse. He tottered even more. He could not think. Just return. Somewhere. Return. He dragged his feet through the main street in a straight line.
He finally reached a familiar set of steps. The swinging door in front of him flickered. He was truly reeling now.
- Return to ______. –
He did not know if he did, but he returned somewhere. Instruction completed. He fell face down, somewhere, the pain stabbing him one last time.
#
Soji felt a cool cloth over his forehead, cool and soothing like his mother always placed when he had a fever. “Thank you,” he automatically said, to whoever placed it there.
“Soji. At last. At last.”
He opened his eyes and saw Yoko’s worried face and strained smile. He found that his right side hurt, quite a lot, that it was impossible to sit up from the pain that made him gasp and catch his breath.
“Don’t move yet, Soji,” Yoko told him. “You’re still healing.”
“Healing from what?” he asked weakly.
She gaped at him. “You don’t remember? You appeared at the kitchen, bled half to death!”
“Ah? I did?”
“You had a big gash, you were bleeding so much. We brought you here.”
He felt around, discovered that his torso was bandaged. He patted and felt a different bed, one of several others in a row beside him. The infirmary. “And then?”
“The heal programmers corrected your lifecodes, stopped the bleeding, let you deep-sleep for several days so you would not re-open the wounds.”
“Ah.”
It was all he could say. He honestly did not know all that had happened. He did not recall falling asleep, or being made to stay asleep. He did not even remember getting into a fight. But he had no choice but to believe her. She had dark rings under her eyes. She seemed so tired.
“Everything’s been so sad lately, without you almost dying on us. So don’t, alright?”
“What do you mean?” Soji asked.
“So many leaders killed or found dead, in close succession. Kitama, Yamato, Hoshino, Yamamoto, Hiroto was the last.” She shook her head. “His highness…” she whispered the next words, “too ruthless…Hiroto, sliced at the neck, beheaded…no man deserves to die like that…”
He cringed. Names of popular leaders, but those who supported a more liberal approach to Pendi, a kinder hand to the common citizens. He sighed. His mother, his kind but tough-minded mother, made him know a bit more than he wanted to know about people in high places. With people like that dead, there was bound to be more death in the streets, sooner rather than later. Deaths like what ended his mother’s life. He had heard about the murders or the deaths before, the day after they occurred, but Yoko reciting those names in a row made him cringe once more.
“Whatever the brigade’s making you do, Soji, make them stop. Resign already,” Yoko pleaded in a whisper, wiping his face with the cloth.
But he did not know what the brigade made him do. And the brigade would not let him resign. He hoped the injury, whatever it was, would give him a relief of service, especially from the shadow barracks.
He wanted to end this not knowing what was going on. He did not know how it would end.
#
The kitchen staff generally attributed Soji’s not recalling anything about the stabbing to shock. Whatever it was that happened, it happened too quickly, he did not know and did not remember. Besides, with so much whispering and death in the air at the moment, it was best not to ask about anything.
“Maybe…that shadow assass–”
“Sh! Don’t say it!”
There were rumors of sightings of a shadow assassin again. Struck without emotion, because he had none. Worked in shadows, but not always in the dark. The only traces left was a dead body. A killer immersed in the dark programs that stole souls, thus interrogations were useless. That kind of assassin had not been seen lately, at least not since the last change of authority over Selatan.
Private guards have been increased to all members of all the councils and even the commanders of the barracks. And yet the shadow assassin continued to strike. He or she was presumably working for the current authority, as all those recently killed had spoken in contention with the king’s wishes. Obviously, people were keeping quiet now.
“IF, assuming, it was HIM…what would they want with Soj?”
“The way he’s so good slicing the onions is sacrilege!” one cleaner chuckled.
“His mushroom soup is illegal in all Selatan except the barracks!” another chimed.
“It’s the rise of a new, better mushroom soup!”
Soji smiled at all of them but kept slicing the tomatoes.
“Shut up! All of you!” the head chef interrupted.
The kitchen grew silent.
The head chef spoke. “You’re all good workers. Most of you have families to feed. It would be best if you kept to the code. That will be all.”
“Yes, sir,” they sighed and went back to work. Soji faced the tomatoes again.
“Soji?”
He looked up and saw Yoko walking up to him. He grinned.
Yoko placed the potatoes beside him on the chopping table. “I have something for you.” She fished into a pocket and took out a memory jade.
“For me?” Soji wiped his hands. He reached out and held the jade by the string it was tied to.
Yoko quite suddenly took up his hand and clasped it in hers, the jade inside their hands. “Record for him. Activate.”
Soji felt the stone in his hand warm gently, then cool. Some of the assistant cooks whistled and hooted beside them. Soji scratched his head and blushed.
Yoko did not react to them, just placed the stone inside his pocket. “The jade will record all that happens to you. You will stop not knowing. At least, I hope so.”
He nodded. “It is appreciated. Thank you.”
“Don’t tell anyone else,” she hastily added, and began to wash the potatoes.
“Next, Yoko yanks Soji for a night out this weekend!” the cleaners hooted.
“It’s…that’s none of your business!” Yoko shouted back and washed the potatoes with vengeance.
“No night out for Yoko and Soji!” the head chef replied loudly and laughed as he approached.
“Awwwwww,” came a chorus from the cleaners and choppers.
“Why ever not, sir?” Yoko asked cheerfully.
But the head chef frowned at them. “Soji, you’re needed at the commander’s office. Also, you’re on leave for a week from the kitchen. Commander’s orders.”
He sighed. His right side no longer hurt. That was probably it. He was well enough to do something for them again. But, a week?
“That’s all they told me, sorry about that, Soji.”
“No harm done, sir, and thank you.” He washed his hands, ensured that the memory jade was deep in an inside pocket, and headed off.
He wanted to get to the bottom of all this, as much as Yoko, maybe more than her. After all, it was his life he did not know. He wished hard that the memory jewel would not be found, would not be taken from him, as he was told to return to barracks…
…as he was knocked down, as he felt himself descending again, to a dark place he could not leave.
…………………
April 19, 2011 at 1:41 am
Soji actually seems to be the most interesting character of the four primaries.
Or maybe hearing him talk without the encumbrances of an accent/broken dialect has sort of revealed that he’s far more capable than the others?
And K’s drawings are great
. Is she illustrating anything else for you or other writer friends?
April 19, 2011 at 2:28 am
- Ehehe. Thank you. I think the enjoyable part of not having the bad Italian/English in this miniseries is me finding out how much he hid from the others, and what ultimately stayed the same with him.
- K is keeping down a job she loves, and she draws what she wants to draw when she wants to draw it (as you could probably see in her tumblr). This is the main reason why the stuff I get are generally portraits, and not stuff you’re likely to see in light novels. When she takes the fancy she draws characters made by me and her other online/offline friends. There is a also a little drawing series she made of her online and offline friends if they were stuck in a zombie invasion. ^^v