The lost composer of London

Views of Others

Neku and Joshua were led to their new temporary quarters by a platoon of fully armed soldiers. It was practically barren save a single bunk bed; not even a window to liven up the décor. Neku noticed some discolorations on the walls, and heavy scratching on the floor. He guessed other soldiers had lived here. Maybe the ones leading them.
"Thank you, boys, we can take it from here," Joshua announced cheerily, closing the door between them and the soldiers. He turned back to Neku. "Dibs on the bottom bunk!"

"Whoever calls the bottom?" Joshua seemed to ignore him and plopped down on the bed. He flipped open his phone and typed in a few commands. "Well, whatever," Neku continued. "That was a pretty slick story you gave-"

"Shush dear," Joshua interrupted. He was scanning the room with the camera of his phone.

"What?"

"Not another word," Joshua ordered. Neku scowled, but remained silent. Joshua continued waving his phone over the walls, inputting a few codes every now and then. After a while, he closed his phone and put it in his lap.

"Alright," he said, his face growing more serious. "Cameras and bugs are disabled. What did the Reapers tell you?" A portal opened behind Neku and a folding chair slid out for his convenience.

Neku accepted the seat. "Well, besides trying to bludgeon me with a gorilla, one of them didn't seem too bad. He caught me while I was trying to escape and flew me away from the other two."

"Yes yes, I saw the Noise in the footage," Joshua waved his hand impatiently. "We don't have time for stories Neku, just stick with information that I can use."

Hmm, impatient, Neku thought. That's not totally unusual, but we aren't on a time limit like in the Game. He doesn't get like this in the RG that often. "At least, three of the Reapers are on Seras' side. They don't have much of a plan, but they aren't trying to kill her."

"Don't say her name," Joshua said, now speaking Japanese. "We should stick with our native language when we talk about this too. That way no one can eavesdrop. Did you get any names?"

"Oni and Megan," Neku answered, following Joshua's example. "The one that carried me away didn't give his own. Why all the secrecy?"

"This Hellsing is using a vampire as her personal Rambo, and she's training another. If she gets wind that one of her peons is the most powerful person in all of London, we don't know what she might do with her."

"I think she already believes that the vampire is the most powerful person in London," Neku countered.

"With limitations," Joshua pointed out. "She has to keep her vampire a secret from everyone outside her government, and its power is severely limited in the daylight. A Composer would grant her a much greater advantage."

"And now we work for her," Neku said sarcastically.

"For now," Joshua said. "And as far as Hellsing knows, I'm no more than a form of transportation. And you're a wanted criminal, so she can't send you into the city to do dirty work."

"So why hire us? If she only knows that much, we aren't much of an asset to her."

"I'm not sure. It might have something to do with that meeting they went to while we were here. I overheard the captain mention that it was with the queen while we were waiting for you."

"Hmm," Neku pondered. "Well, we're here. Why don't we look into it?"

Joshua smiled. "Care to go for an evening walk before bed, my friend?" He was speaking in English again.

"Heh," Neku laughed. "Could be nice. But I don't want you bumming around with me."

"Oh, I wouldn't want to impose!" The two stood and exited the room. The hallway was dark and empty.