The Renegade Chemist

Chapter Be - Second On Line

Change is good. But it never is easy. Sometimes, one finds himself lost in the rushes of time, urging himself with the very question if it was necessary. And its during those times that, even the slightest possibilty is capable of breaking this weak cage apart, to shower one with sublime rain of reality.

Such was the case of Raiden, as he stood before his dressing mirror, piecing the events together. He remembered the way the men, who had murdered Mack, had barked at him.

"We paid you to give the wrong details."

Well it appeared as though Mr Gongard had decided to play dirty. Yet, why would he come and confess his murder to Raiden before sending Mack then? Perhaps, he considered Raiden to be one of those he could pull to his side, by the sole means of money earned at the hand of one who tormented those who toiled, without any proper conviction? Or maybe, Mack was a last minute decision?

Then again, another question persisted. If Mr Gongard could have easily paid off the judge, why did he send Mack in? Or even come to Raiden for 'help'. Well, he knew the answer for the second question. Apparently, he was trying to help Raiden by coming to Raiden for help. Pff... what a dork. Yet what about the former question? Was this some kind of test? Maybe, Mr Gongard himself, was the pawn to another man who somewhere, far far away, sat upon a golden throne, so to speak, metaphorically.

Raiden couldn't be so sure about Mr Gongard but he knew one thing for sure; Mack was no pawn. He had his own sense of righteousness, and his arrow of will pointed to pointing out the truth in a way as discrete as an arrow's point. And now, what was his gift for thinking on his own? Death. The incident could only induce more melancholy and cynicism from Raiden. Yet, those were not the only things it had induced.

He had realised that sometimes, there was no need for sentimentalism. Sometimes, what mattered was what actually mattered. And what actually mattered right now was setting things right for those who remained within the circle of self-realisation. But how was he going to implement that?

He had thought of several ideas, like ascending to the position of a judge by hook or crook; only to serve justice thereafter; he would be overthrown from his work if he had become one then. He had considered becoming a detective but that would put him to the fake judgement of another namesake judge. The bitter truth could not be any clearer. Whatever he wanted to achieve, could not be achieved by any form of conventional method.

In fact, what he was actually really good at, was none of the aforesaid businesses. The problem, was however, that it was not really something that could be much of a use for his goal. Or maybe it was, but even so he did not have the necessary resources for it.

Perhaps, this was not place he should start at. He should probably learn about his enemies first. After all, it was what had been set and practiced for over a millennium by whichever faction was to win in the future. In every single world war ever fought so far - the losing side would be the one that starts with its aggressive, conniving plots. Whereas the winning side would be the one that had been spying on them all the while, with eyes so close, observing unblinkingly like that of a cat. And then it pounces, taking down all earthly glory interlaced with the other side initially.

And that was exactly what he was going to do. The other side had made its move here. They had taken down Mack. Now it was time to strike back. Perhaps, the best place to start would be the bar. The bartender, after all, had indeed, proven himself knowledgable in the last visit. Now would be the time to take advantage of Raiden's own innocent features, however contrasting his character maybe.

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"You again. " The bartender said as soon as he saw Raiden. "The usual, " Raiden, chuckled and replied, perhaps with an air of humour to what the 'usual' was. The bartender, gave a light smile, as he said, "Usual? You have only ever ordered a drink here once! But I suppose, it would account for diet coke. "