[OLD] Book 1: Densetsu.EXEcution

Chapter 2 - Hackers

Chapter 2 – Hackers

                Two human figures stood side by side in the mist and haze of the cold autumn evening. They both had some form of visor covering their red eyes, and their black hair was arranged in differing fashions. One was an arrogant female by the name of Kasta Ashenne. The other was a hotheaded male named Dante. These two had both met Arashi in his past, only to allow him to live further.

                Kasta’s relationship with Arashi had been on a lower scale than Dante’s, to the point where Arashi had consistent thoughts of killing Kasta. The 16-year old girl was a hacker. She had come to Arashi’s home of Malway with one intention—ruining Arashi’s life. Of course she always had fun with her methods. Dante, on the other hand, was a listless murderer who didn’t care for human emotions. The male entity was far from human. His scarf and coat covered most of his pale-violet skin. The visor he wore gave off a feeling that he wished to hide himself from the world around him.

                The cliff held an overview of the cities of Liva, Malway and Daiki. Everything below them looked like a miniature city, and the cars looked like the toy cars you can build yourself from the kid’s meals at several fast food restaurants. “I want to kill them all,” Dante said beneath his breath. As he spoke, he could see the cold air appear around him; he could see his own breath.

                “You’re so violent,” Kasta replied to her companion, “Why don’t you have a little fun with your victims first?” she took up a taunting manner, “That is, if you even have victims.”

                “I have victims!” Dante exclaimed, “You’ll never see them, because I like to kill them in private.” Kasta shook her head with a smile.

                “And by that you mean that you can’t kill someone unless they’re alone,” she laughed, “You probably run away every time you see someone who isn’t alone!” Dante gritted his teeth with anger.

                “Is that a challenge, my lady?” he asked with aggression, “I’ll show you…” Kasta shook her head.

                “Really, just let it go,” she said. “We have more important things to worry about right now. It seems that he is involving himself with our affairs.” Dante smiled at her. He suddenly began to look forward to the games they were about to play.

                Liva and Daiki were the two largest provinces in present-day Japan. They had already been thought of after the great quake of Japan in 2011. Many followers of Li-3 had worried that a repeat of this earthquake and tsunami combination would lead to the destruction of what had been rebuilt after doomsday in 2012.

                Even though many charities had been created to support Japan after the quake, the economy was so poor that not a lot of people could donate more than 1500 yen to the cause. Noting that 1500 yen only adds up to around 20 US dollars, Japan’s suffering continued. In the year 2017, Li-3 proposed a new economic system for Japan called the Metro Dollar, which was greatly based off of Japan’s subway system. It was a form of reward points for carrying out everyday tasks, such as commuting to work.

                The Metro Dollar worked okay for a while, but within time, people stopped taking the subway to work, as work was no longer needed in society. If people would be paid by commuting, there would be no reason to commute. Li-3 called upon a new management for the upper city of Tokyo which was known as ‘LIFE’. This name was an acronym for ‘Living inside a Failing Economy’. The purpose of this plan was to use the economy as a whole to generate more money.