[OLD] Book 1: Densetsu.EXEcution

Chapter 22 - Uprising

Arashi laid his head back against a pillow. He was staying with Saki again. Aquarius, who had been Saki’s companion since shortly after Midori left her, stood idly, back against the wall of Saki’s kitchen. He appeared to be watching Arashi amidst his own melancholy. While Arashi stayed with Saki, he would rarely do anything apart from watch the news on TV. At the moment, he was doing just that.

Today, several government servers were reported hacked in central Alvira city. The cause of the servers’ compromise is unknown, but a mysterious note was found at the scene, signed by the name of Akabani. Translating the name to English from Japanese returns the English words “Red Rabbit”, but the relevance to this case is unknown. Local officials are currently investigating the case. A 28 year-old man in Malway boasts the title of master fisherman today as he…

Arashi stopped paying attention to the broadcast as the eccentricity of the report faded. Aquarius seemed to notice Arashi’s indifference to the case. “What’s up with you?” he asked, shooting a concerned look in Arashi’s direction.

“It doesn’t interest me anymore,” Arashi replied, “Fighting to better humanity is one thing, but how much computers concern it remains to be seen. I would have believed it if I didn’t realize I was working for a tool the whole time.”

“What are you saying?” Aquarius asked, “Do you mean to imply that Kiri was a tool to you?”

“No,” Arashi answered as he stood up, “I was her tool. She was Dominic Arakawa’s. A creation of our enemy…How can I continue to cooperate with someone who could betray us at any moment?”

“I know how you feel,” Aquarius said, “But isn’t it a bit harsh to make any decisions while only listening to one side of the story?” Arashi shrugged.

“It may be one sided,” he said, “But Dante’s coming from a position of experience. Not to mention that Kiri did react in a guilty manner when confronted with the question of her origin.”

“I would hope that you of all people would consider this,” Aquarius said, “That judging someone based on their past is never the right decision. You were placed on trial for execution, weren’t you?”

“How did you know about that?” Arashi asked, growing tense.

“It doesn’t matter,” Aquarius replied, “You were proven innocent in that case. Kiri may have been born to create fear within the enemies of our enemy, but isn’t it also true that the enemy of our enemy is our friend?”

“That’s one way of looking at it,” Arashi said, “but that only makes things worse. Kiri is hurting our friends in that case. I have my suspicions, even if she isn’t actively harming us, she has roots, Aquarius. She could turn on us at any moment. This whole thing seemed weird from the start. The fact that I was the only one I knew who could see her, the fact that she chose me… How do I even know that this isn’t just a big production put on by Desiree?” He grew frantic. “How do I know that everyone in this damned city isn’t against me, huh?”

Aquarius remained calm in his response. “Take it how you will. However that may be, you still have no evidence that what Dante told you is the truth. Perhaps if you gave Kiri a chance, you would see a whole new world.”

“Whatever,” Arashi said, groaning at Aquarius’ lack of emotion. As he left the room, he mumbled to himself, “You AI are all the same…You show no emotion apart from what you were ‘programmed’ with… Ugh.” He hugged Saki as he passed her in the hallway.

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Kiri and Shima separated their hands as they arrived in the middle of the forest along the border of Alvira City. It was called Shroudmist Forest because of the condensed fog that shrouded it. Kiri looked around at the red and brown foxes that were burrowing beneath a large tree.