[September 2, 2418 - Sunday, 12:30 PM]
Lotus sat with Tsubami in an outside courtyard for a restaurant, the two of them taking a break from trying to understand how the underground actually operated. Riggs and Fists sat with the two, both of them surprisingly patient with the two girls while they tried to find their bearings.
Soon, Madam B, Heido, and I returned to the group to meet up with everyone and see what everyone had found. Very similarly to me and Heido, Tsubami and Lotus barely got anywhere in their investigation for finding Rosa und Grün, the two of them seemingly more defeated than I was.
"Looks like you three are finally back. Find anything useful during your outing?" Riggs asked, looking up at me with a light smirk.
I looked around the area we were in and sighed softly, my gaze crossing everyone who crossed by my eyes. "Yeah, I did. The tree is watered too well for my usual methods. Madam B's sister has this...tactile ability. There's definitely something more happening here."
"Ahh, you've fallen victim to Kanna's Soothing Touch?" Riggs asked, laughing softly and smacked his hand upon his knee. "Well, seems like you've come out a bit more wise about this world."
"Sure, that may be true...but I don't want to be of this world I'm trying to bring down. But..." I said, looking down at my hand then balled it into a fist. "I feel like I could learn something mroe valuable here than trying to be a moral master."
Heido chuckled softly at me and pat my back. "Alright, I've had my down time... I'm refreshed as well, so let's start sniffing out the prey. As the Captain of the White Wolves, I have connections you don't even know."
"Is that how you know Madam K?" I asked, looking at Heido with slight skepticism.
"My cousin knows damn there every famous woman in New Japan. If there's anything his vice is useful for, it's for connections," Tsubami answered then stood up and walked over to me.
I looked at Tsubami and watched as she placed Aurum's coin in my hand. I looked down at the coin and carefully inspected it, identifying it as a trick coin. "What's this? A souvenir?"
Tsubami nodded and crossed her arms with a serious expression. "Lotus got us scammed by this trickster named Aurum of Shikoku. However, I don't think he's as bad as everyone else around here despite being a no good hustler."
"He's not, just very annoying because all he does is cheat. I don't think I've ever seen that guy lose a single game he's made," Madam B commented, exhaling softly as she twirled a strand of her hair around her finger.
I looked back down at Aurum's coin and thought about what Madam K said about him. I balled the coin in my hand then looked around the area once again. "Strange...Madam K informed us about Aurum. Everyone here seems to treat everything like a game.."
"A game? Well these games suck. Tsubami and I even tried to play a pinball machine and even that thing cheats because the flippers are too slow! How are we gonna beat a bunch of cheaters?" Lotus asked with a heavy sigh, lowering her head slightly.
Fists cleared his throat and knocked on the table, getting everyone's attention. "I'm sitting right here. If anyone knows about games, it's me. Kabetori is a maze you have to navigate carefully or else you'll end up at random areas."
"Hm? It seems you have something planned," Riggs said, looking at Fists with intrigue.
"I do," Fists said then pointed at the game cafe in the distance. "The lights of the game cafe just came on and if I know anything about Averice, he and his people love the games there."
I looked over at the gaming cafe and began to think more about the eight pawns Averice had. If any clues about Averice or his pawns were anywhere, a gaming cafe would be the spot. "Heido, I need to borrow about 10,000."
"Done," Heido said, reaching for his wallet before I stopped him. "Oh right, blind trust."
I chuckled softly at Heido and shook my head then glanced over at Fists. "Okay, let's go to the game cafe. We can find something useful there."
"Can I join?" Lotus asked, holding her hand up.
I looked at Lotus and nodded, giving her a smile. "Yeah, you can come with."
"Alright, the rest of us will investigate other areas of Kabetori. We'll meet back up together at 4 PM," Riggs said, standing up and grabbing his Yakuza jacket from the back of his chair.
I nodded at Riggs' suggestion. "Got it."
{Chapter 31: Beauty and the Machine}
Fists, Lotus, and I arrived at Kabetori's gaming cafe, NekoP1, our eyes lighting up as we looked at the massive neon skyscraper before us. A sign displaying their ridiculous prices stood outside the building with ¥1,000,000 needed to stay 24 whole hours.
"Jesus Christ! Are these people insane?! One MILLION!?" Lotus asked in distraught, her face becoming pale as she opened her bag and watched as a tiny dusty butterfly flew out. "Oh God...I'm broke."
"Averice is greedy, but he's noth that greedy. You can come inside and enjoy the services for free. It's just those are the prices if you want to book a room here," Fists explained, looking at Lotus with amusement.
I tilted my head slightly as I looked up at the building then felt Nachah wiggle on my shoulder and looked over at him. "Can't gauge this area either huh..? This is harder than trying to discern who Nanako is influencing every week..."
Nachah hopped off my shoulder then began hopping toward the building before getting scooped up by a random girl wearing an oversized pastel pink jacket. I grunted softly and hurried toward my bunny's rescue, my spirit becoming jealous over someone else holding my white rabbit.
"So cute, poyo..." The girl said softly, holding Nachah up as she looked up at with a blank, yet beautiful gaze.
"Hey! Hey! Hands off my bunny!" I called out, snatching Nachah from the girls hand and hugged him protectively.
The girl looked at me with a slightly surprised expression then locked eyes with me, seeing how bright my eyes had become when I held Nachah. "Wow...I haven't seen this much oxytocin in a while...who are you?"
I began to relax slightly as I stared at the girl, my guard slightly lowering. "I'm Motosaki...and you?"
"My name is Dior, poyo... It's nice to meet you Motosaki," Dior said, bowing toward me before turning away and walking off.
Lotus hurried over to me and gently held my arm, watching as Dior walked off without a word. "What a strange girl...by the way, why did you suddenly become so possessive?"
I looked at Lotus, realizing how protective I had become over Nachah and looked down at him as he rested peacefully in my arms as if he was never in real danger. "I don't know...The things this rabbit has been through, I guess I naturally became protective.."
Fists walked up to me and Lotus, crossing his arms as he looked at me. "You just let a lead slip by."
"Huh?" I asked, looking up at Fists then looked at the entrance of NekoP1. "You mean Dior?"
"She's the highest ranking member of this gaming cafe. We can't let her slip away. I'm going in to try to get her attention," Fists said then took out his wallet, handing me ¥7,000.
"What's that for?" Lotus asked, watching as the money exchanged hands.
"It should cover you for at least a couple hours in case you get hungry or whatever. Also, if you want multipliers for your games, you need money. It's the only way to win here unless you're some God at video games," Fists explained then walked off to go inside the gaming cafe.
"Microtransactions? Is this company ran by a much greedier version of XSphere? Motosaki, are we really going to do this?" Lotus asked, looking at me and noticed me staring down at the cash.
"As much as I don't want to, we aren't given much room to wiggle around. We can't necessary bend the rules without even knowing them yet. All we can do is play the cards we are dealt," I said, looking at Lotus with a mix of confidence and uncertainty.
"Okay..." Lotus agreed, nodding at my explanation.
Lotus and I walked inside the building and were greeted with a kaleidoscope of colors and sounds, the LED lights flashing on the ceiling while jingles reached to every corner of the building. The receptionist at the front waved at us and allowed us through for free, every game, manga, and console available for us to use.
Not knowing where to start Lotus and I began wandering around randomly, trying out a few arcade machines that sat nearby. Lotus played a racing game while I tried my hand at one of the fighting games nearby. The two of us played for no longer than five minutes before coming to the same conclusion.
"These games are insanely hard..! I can't even escape last place on here," Lotus huffed, pressing down on the gas pedel even harder to try to move her digital car faster.
I grunted softly as my character on the screen was essentially one shot by a basic auto combo on the fighting game I was playing. I scoffed and stepped back from the machine. "What the hell, man. Even the smartest man in the world can't get this many frame perfects."
"Motosaki? That you, dawg?" A familiar voice called out to me.
I looked over to where the voice came from then noticed Kaido and Hanna walking toward me, the two of them catching me slightly off guard. "Kaido? Hanna? What are you two hounds doing here?"
"Shoot, we can ask you the same! Kabetori is the last place I'd expect to see you, and you're fitted out? Hold on, is that Lotus?" Kaido asked, looking by me to see her getting ready to crash out on the racing game.
"Ooo! You cheating...screw buckets! How is anyone supposed to have fun here! I'm getting ready to pray an Angel in this building! If I'm a woman of G—" Lotus began then became muffled as I covered her mouth before she completed her incantation.
"You're not popping an Elijah Ultimate in this cafe and we haven't been here for more than ten minutes," I said, gently pulling Lotus away from the racing game.
Hanna giggled softly at the two of us and watched as I brought Lotus back toward the ground. "I guess you came here for the games too? These games are super hard, but my boyfriend found a way to beat them consistently."
Lotus and I looked at Kaido, the both of us speaking at the same time. "How?"
Kaido chuckled at us and slipped his hands into his pockets. "Since you're an Honorary Hound member, I'll tell you for free. Come on, follow me."
Kaido began leading us toward the console area which was tucked away between the manga and arcade areas of NekoP1. Bringing us into his reserved spot, we all sat down in front of a TV, noticing Kaido was playing Beast Brawlers.
"So, I've learned that the CPUs here scale to your skill level," Kaido began, sitting down beside Hanna with a light grunt and picked up his controller to unpause the game. "You see...the better you are, the harder the CPUs will become like so."
We watched as Kaido began sweating on the game, pulling off special combos before the computer broke out of his combo with an Instant Counter. The counter put Kaido's character in a dazed state, leaving him open for an immediate combo and ultimate finish.
"See? I was beating his ass then all of a sudden bro starts button mashing and wins. But, when my girlfriend plays," Kaido said, handing his controller to Hanna.
As Hanna began playing, her Moth Monster character flailed across the screen as if she didn't know how to move her body. Each attack was a whiff and because Hanna played like crap, the CPU's difficulty automatically lowered to keep the game interesting.
My eyes flashed golden as my Insight began to click in my brain. 'There's a rubber banding or a scaling mechanic built into these games? Does the developers know about this..?'
"You Win!" The TV announced with large gold letters plasted across the screen with a reward of 500 Credi.
"Credi? What the heck is that?" Lotus asked, pointing at the screen with interest.
"It's like store points at a regular video game store. Each time you win, you earn Credi which you can use for anything in NekoP1, even reserving a room. It's a bit of grind, but I'm here for the grand prize. An A.U. Premium Card. It allows us inside Averice's casino," Kaido explained, leaning back in his beanbag and watched Hanna continue playing.
"How much Credi do you need for that?" Lotus asked, crawling closer to Kaido with sparkling eyes.
"You need five million Credi for it. We've only got 1,500, so yeah, the dream is remaining a dream for the time being," Kaido said, shrugging his shoulders.
I listened to their conversation while I watched Hanna play the game, my eye constantly glancing over at the notice telling the second player to press start to play. I secretly reached over to the second controller and grabbed it, pressing start upon it and watched the CPU's action get cancelled.
"Oh! Oh snap! I'm kicking his butt, babe!" Hanna said excitedly as she began pulling off combos on an idle opponent.
"Hm? Oh shit, you got him in a stun lock! Hold on!" Kaido said, sitting up with a grin on his face.
"You Win! Perfect!" The TV announced with rainbow letters and a reward of 1,000 Credi.
"Yes! Woohoo!!!" Hanna cheered, standing up on her feet and hitting a small dance.
"Let's go! A perfect win?!" Kaido laughed, standing up and grabbing his girlfriend's hands.
I smirked at the interaction then glanced down at my mask and looked over at Lotus, noticing she was distracted with celebrating with Kaido and Hanna. I grabbed my mask and slipped it on my face before leaving the hideout without a sound.
Fists sat at a gaming console while playing an arcade fighter, his fingers working his controller to pull off combos which kept the CPUs in a stunned state. He glanced over at the screen next to him, seeing Dior focused upon the game she was playing with her lips parted for extra concentration.
Fists looked at both of their scores, both of them neck and neck on the leaderboard with only a 1x multiplier on their screens. He looked back at his screen and hummed softly. 'So, she also knows the stun lock meta...seeing her play in person is impressive...'
Dior purposely stopped playing, allowing the CPU to land multiple combos which left her on blinking red health before she countered with an unlockable counter, breaking the CPU's focus gauge and leaving him staggered. She then pulled off a seamless 100 hit combo, getting the win and extra Credi for completing a daily challenge.
'This girl is insane...' Fists thought to himself before looking back at his screen and grunted, seeing a Loss screen due to him getting distracted for a moment.
As Fists pressed continue, he noticed a Player 2 had appeared on his screen as the fight began. He rose an eyebrow as the player didn't move, only sat still while Fists began playing thinking his opponent was AFK. Getting the win, he noticed he earned double points for getting a perfect win.
'What..? That counted..?' Fists asked mentally, looking around to see if anyone else noticed what he did.
What do you think about this next scene:
Dior glanced at Fist's screen, noticing he was having an easier time on his game then tilted her head, noticing a masked figure sitting upon the other side of the table. "Hm? Who is that?"
Fists continued to win game after game, but noticed Player 2 was beginning to move a lot more then strike him with a combo that took half of his health. He grunted as he noticed the other player had began to player more seriously and took control of his character again.
Dior paused her game and stood up to walk around the table while Fists was distracted then looked at the other screen, noticing a masked figure playing the same game as Fists. He glanced at the figure and rose an eyebrow at him, looking back at the screen.
Fists grunted as the Player 2 began flowing through his attacks, each attack his character threw missing as Player 2 avoided their combo. Player 2 retaliated with a heavy striking combo, leaving Fist's character on 1 HP then Player 2 stopped moving.
"What are you doing, poyo..? Finish the game, you have him," Dior said, looking at the masked figure once again.
I looked at Dior through my mask then looked forward at the screen, setting my controller down and stood up. "There's no need. For a measley 500 Credi, I won't get what I want like this..."
"So, you'd rather throw the game than win? What are you doing here then?" Dior asked, studying my appearance and recognized Nachah upon my shoulder. "Hey, it's Motosaki's bunny...how do you have him?"
I adjusted my mask and walked away from Dior and walked around the table to Fists, watching him win the game and took a glance at his score. "Hm, comparable scores...but I find that your score is interesting to say the least."
Dior looked at me with a hint of confusion, walking toward me and looked at both screens and reading the score. "How is my score interesting? I've been playing these games since I was 16, so of course I'd have these scores."
"I see, you wouldn't mind giving me a personal demonstration would you?" I asked, looking at Dior with a calculating gaze behind my mask.
Dior stared at me for a moment before walking to her seat and sitting down, grabbing her controller and unpausing her game to continue playing. I stood behind her as she played the game, my eyes focused on everything but the two characters moving on the screen.
First, I noticed the 'Press Start for Player 2' was blinking on the screen then I began to look at the two characters. Dior played a swift ninja type character while her opponent was a knight type character, but as I watched her opponent I began to notice tiny habits that the CPUs wouldn't do against players like Dior.
"She's good isn't she?" Fists asked, looking up at me with a raised brow.
I watched as Dior took the perfect win and won double Credi for her win then hummed softly, leaning forward against the chair with interest. 'Hm, she's good...but her opponent isn't too good at being a computer..'
"So, this place has impressive AI for your CPUs for your games huh? Dynamic scaling, rubber banding for the racers. However, your opponent jumped over 30 times that match and didn't adjust...it could be because you're at a skill cap," I said, looking down at Dior.
Dior looked up at me and noticed my light brown eyes gleaming behind my mask. "Your tone sounds accusatory..."
I smiled at Dior behind my mask and chuckled softly. "I'm not accusing you of anything. I'm just curious about how all of this works. I want to become good...just like you."
Fists could hear my deceptive tone in my voice and smirked, chuckling lightly and looking back at his screen. "I doubt you could beat Dior at her skill level. She's the highest here."
"I'm aware," I said, walking off from the two with my cloak flowing behind me.
But I won't have to beat her...
[September 2, 2418 - Sunday, 1:25 PM]
"You Win! Perfect!" The female voice announced on the screen, rewarding me with another 500 credit.
I set the controller down and hummed softly, adjusting my mask as I stared at the winning screen before me. "Playing like Hanna does downscale the AI by a lot...it still doesn't explain why Dior's supposed AI plays like a Silver Rank bot."
"Yo, who is that guy? He's been winning a lot of games the past hour basically," One prestigious NekoP1 goer whispered to his friend, keeping a close eye on me.
"Yeah, either he's extremely good or he probably figured out some exploit. Hm, this is no good for the business... especially since he's not using money to get these wins," The prestigious friend replied, crossing her arms as she stared at me.
I glanced behind me, overhearing the conversation then scoffed softly at them before walking off to another arcade machine. I looked at a DDR like game, seeing Dior using one side while a holographic person was on the other end as her opponent.
I studied her opponent's movements, watching as she hit every step perfectly as if she practiced this song a thousand times. I glanced down at her feet, watching each movement carefully. Her feet didn't move in a robotic way, yet moved gracefully...a human's grace.
"Go, Dior! Hit those moves girl!" One of Dior's fans cheered, clapping her hands together.
"Heh, look at the way she moves," A womanizer commented, sipping on his drink as he watched Dior move.
Nachah watched Dior dance then hopped off my shoulder and hopped toward the dance machine curiously. He tilted his head as he stared at the buttons then pressed one of the buttons, bright lights shining from the small posts on the Player 2 side.
Dior stopped dancing and looked to her right, noticing smoke filling the second player stage and covered her face. She noticed a shadow appear within the smoke before a white cloak flew out of the cloud and land gracefully upon one of the posts.
Once the smoke cleared, Dior's eyes widened slightly as she noticed me standing on the second player stage. "You again...just who are you?"
I moved my hair from the face of my mask, letting out a soft exhale. "I'm your Player 2..."
"Game Start!" The voice announced, arrows beginning to descend down from the top of the screen.
Dior glanced down at my feet, watching as I began to dance on the stage, pressing each button with precision. She gave me a focused expression, accepting my challenge and began playing as well, her gaze shifting between her screen and mine.
Lotus laughed with Hanna and Kaido, tagging along with them as they wanted through the cafe then noticed a small crowd around the DDR machine. "Huh? Guys, look at that crowd."
Kaido and Hanna looked ahead, noticing Dior dancing against me, but they couldn't recognize me with my mask on. They watched as I kept up with Dior for the most part, but I wasn't too focused about winning as I was losing.
I glanced down at Dior's feet, noticing she was hitting every button with amazing precision and elegance. I concluded that it wasn't that she was bad at any of the games, but I was now 30% more certain that this machine assisting her wasn't as innocent as I thought.
I stopped dancing as the finale came and grabbed my cloak, turning away to walk away from the game. "You can take the win."
"Ahh, look at him. Sore loser couldn't even finish the game before quitting," One guy laughed, pointing at me as I walked away.
Dior stopped dancing and watched as I walked off, her gaze fixated on me as she couldn't understand why I was leaving all of a sudden. She looked back ahead, seeing the win screen on her end with a reward of 2,000 Credi.
I adjusted my mother's gauntlet around my arm as I began scouting around, my focus now directed toward other gamers. "There's something going on here that I just can't put my finger on..."
"Hey!!" Lotus's voice called out to me, causing me to turn around and look at her.
"Lotus? You know this guy?" Kaido asked, looking me up and down then looked back at my mask. "Mmm, something about this guy is vaguely familiar..."
"Yeah, it's just something about his stature," Hanna agreed, tapping her chin as she stared at me and squinted her eyes.
Lotus grunted softly and turned around to the two, waving her hands at them with an awkward giggle. "I-I don't know what you're talking about!"
'Dang, she's a terrible liar,' I thought to myself then adjusted my mask with a soft exhale.
"My name is Binah. Is there anything I can do for you all?" I asked, masking my voice with a slightly firmer tone.
"Well, kinda. You see our friend kinda disappeared from us and we're kinda looking for him. Might know where he went?" Kaido asked, staring at me with a hint of skepticism.
"Who's your friend?" I asked, crossing my arms as I stared at Kaido.
'Hm...maybe it isn't him. If it was him, he'd probably just say the direction,' Kaido thought to himself then exhaled, shrugging his shoulders.
"Ah, nevermind. Sorry to bother you, man. Let's go look somewhere else," Kaido said, turning around and walked off with Hanna.
Lotus sighed softly then turned around to me, gently shoving my shoulder. "Hey, where did you go? Why did you just leave..?"
"Because, there's just something about this place that kinda stinks...I'm not too sure every AI these people are playing against are all bots," I answered, looking around as I put my cloak back on.
Dior walked up to me and Lotus, her gaze still fixated on me as she tapped my shoulder. "You. Player 2."
I looked back and met Dior's gaze then turned around to face her. "Come find me this time huh?"
"What's your deal here? Obviously, you aren't here to just play games and enjoy your time here, poyo. You have Kabetori's theatrics, but you don't behave like us," Dior said, her blank gaze studying me intently.
I studied Dior as well, locking eyes with her and could sense a slight increase in spiritual energy. I smirked at her behind my mask then adjusted it lightly. "Says who? I've been playing these games like everyone else. No rules are broken. No foul play."
"T-That's right!" Lotus agreed, nodding her head and gently holding my arm. "He's been winning fair and square, just like the Lord intended!"
Dior looked at Lotus then stifled her laughter, her face showing the most emotion I've seen from her from the past hour. "Fairness? You don't think we play fair? NekoP1 gives everyone a fair chance to win, if you suck, that's your problem."
"What?" Lotus fumed, shooting a small glare at Dior.
Dior looked at the both of us and shrugged her shoulders with a smile, her gaze locking back onto mine. "Tell me...what are you here for, and maybe I could help you out."
"I was here to ask about Averice...but I think I have a better idea. The patrons around here seem to have a close eye on me. Word spreads around here quickly...so I wonder what would happen if I defeated one of Averice's pawns," I asked, staring at Dior and a small ember forming upon my chest.
Lotus noticed the ember forming on my chest again and softly gasped. 'There it is again...what is that flame..?'
Dior stared at me and crossed her arms with light intrigue, her lips parting slightly to speak. "...So, you know who I am huh?"
I pulled out Aurum's coin from my pocket and held it out to Dior. "Seen this coin around before? It's a double tail coin. A trick coin. It comes from Aurum, and I figured this coin would help me figure you out."
"I've taken notice, your AI opponent plays too much like a human and has pretty much the same skill level as you. I've already figured out the exploit you're using to remain at the top, P1," I added, staring at Dior with a discerning gaze.
Dior smirked at me and closed her eyes, letting out a soft giggle. "So, you've figured out how I stay at the top. What good does it do? It's not like I'm hurting anyone else around here."
"You're absolutely correct, people willingly waste their time here and spend their money. However, it stops becoming a personal issue when you begin siphoning funds from your clients...so where does all this money go?" I asked, pointing up at the ceiling.
"The very top...the CEO of NekoP1, your Player 2. It's time people learn the true definition of fairness in this world," I added, my eyes faintly shining behind my mask.
Dior laughed softly at me and placed a hand upon my hip. "A huge accusation you have. You believe my Player 2 is the CEO of this company? Good luck proving that..."
"I don't need luck to do so..." I said, holding my phone out with a photo of Dior's holographic opponent. "I know what she may look like."
Dior stared at my phone screen, a small bead of sweat rolling down her cheek then she glanced up to meet my eyes again with a grin. "Showing evidence to your suspect..? You're a fool, masked bunny man, poyo."
"You're right. I am the Joker in this deck of cards because I refuse to play by your rules. You're sitting right at the edge of the board of a promotion, but I won't let you reach it..." I declared with confidence in my tone.
Lotus grunted softly as she noticed our spiritual energies clashing and held my arm tighter. She looked up at me, wondering how confident I truly was with my claims. She glanced at Nachah, noticing one of his eyes were open, a scarlet red glow flowing from his open eye.
"Miss Dior, it's urgent! The CEO wishes to speak with you," One patron ran up then glanced at me, pointing at me strongly. "Hey, that's the guy! The man that's been winning the games without spending money."
"NekoP1 gives everyone a fair chance to win or lose. Me being better is not my problem. Maybe you should engineer your AI better," I said, flipping Dior's statement on its head.
Dior scoffed at me, turning around and walking off. "Let's go, poyo.."
Lotus watched as the two left then looked at me with slight concern. "Are you sure you're right about this? What do you think is going on?"
"Obviously, this gaming cafe is a money laundering scheme, but it also holds some keys to people we are looking for. And I believe Dior is the scapegoat," I said, walking off then took off my mask while people weren't looking.
"Huh? You think she's the scapegoat? Why?" Lotus asked, quickly following beside me and looking at my face to see my analytical gaze.
"It's easier for a girl like Dior to take the fall. She's young, may only get a year and get out. The cycle starts all over again...also Dior isn't one of Averice's pawns," I said, looking over at Lotus with a smile.
"Eh? But you just accused her of being one. Now she isn't?" Lotus questioned, rubbing her temples to try to piece together my thought process.
I chuckled softly at Lotus and stopped walking, showing Lotus Aurum's coin once again. I flipped it in the air then caught it. "Call it. Heads or Tails."
"Come on, Saki-kun...this is unneeded. I already know it's both tails," Lotus said, puffing her cheeks at me.
"Exactly. They are both tails. That's how this coin flip works. However, that's the glaring issue. If they are both tails, how do you know which one is the real tail?" I asked, holding out the coin to Lotus.
Lotus looked at the coin then back at me, tilting her head. "You don't..?"
I shook my head and looked at the coin and flipped it over. I wiped off the surface of the front tail of the coin and showed it to Lotus. "You'll always know real from counterfeit. No one leaves behind a traceless step."
Lotus stared at the coin for a moment then gasped as she noticed the front tail of the coin had hidden eyes, making the tail look like the shape of a bird facing upward. "Wait— How did you figure this out?"
"It was just golden paint covering the eye of the bird to make it look like a tail. Obviously, we're dealing with a beast we have to trail lightly with," I said, slipping the coin back into my pocket.
"Like a scorpion..." Lotus nodded, sharing a look of determination with me.
"Exactly," I nodded, looking up at the ceiling and hummed softly.
[September 2, 2418 - Sunday, 2:00 PM]
Lotus and I crawled through the open vents carefully, each movement soft against the metal surface to make minimal noise. I watched as Nachah led us through the vents before stopping and I looked through the opening, holding my breath and began scouting.
The room of a luxurious office filled with screens upon each wall, some of them showing feeds from their security cameras. A large desk sat at the end of the room in front of a large window, three monitors resting upon the desk with games and leaderboards on the screen.
"Do you see anything, Saki-kun..?" Lotus whispered, gently tugging on my pants.
I continued to scout the room then noticed Dior standing in front of the desk, but I could not see what the CEO looked like aside from her long black hair. "Yeah...I see Dior and I think the CEO. I'm gonna listen in..."
"...and I'm not too sure where this masked man came from, but I know for certain we're not gonna let him ruin our plan. I hope you do remember that your spot on the leaderboard affects your rewards right? We need every cent we can get," The CEO said, tapping her nail against the desk.
"I know, Ma'am, but I'm not too sure where he came from either. I did manage to beat him when he challenged me. I promise I won't let him get in the way. I know how much overthrowing Averice means to you, poyo" Dior said, bowing at the CEO with her usual blank expression.
The CEO sighed softly and ran her hands through her hair, groaning softly. "I'm just tired of having to pay these absurd monthly fees to that golden prick. I have my own business to run too!"
"How are we gonna attack more customers to come by? The Midas Casino is the most famous attraction in Kabetori and I hate acting all cutesy to reel people in...and don't you think it's time to switch it up?" Dior asked.
I hummed softly and looked back at Lotus, gesturing for her to go back. Lotus nodded and began moving backwards, but stopped as she heard a squeak behind her. I noticed she had stopped then looked back, seeing the fear in Lotus's eyes then noticed the rat on her shoulder.
"Lotus... don't—" I warned through my teeth, waving my hand at her.
Dior and the CEO heard a loud scream and looked up at the vents, the both of them confused as they heard loud banging coming from the metal pipes. They glanced at each other as the movement began to quiet down as it got further from them.
Lotus cried out as she hurried out of the vent and landed on the soft bed, getting up and wiping herself off with panic. "Where is it? Where is it? Where is it!?"
I exited the vents as well and landed on the bed, sighing softly and looking at Lotus as she frantically checked herself. "It's gone, Lotus. You're fine."
Lotus looked at me then sighed a sigh of relief, placing a hand on her chest then gave me a guilty expression. "I'm sorry, Motosaki..."
"It's alright," I sighed, scratching the back of my head.
"Did you...hear anything though?" Lotus asked, stepping closer to me curiously.
I looked at Lotus and nodded at her before glancing down at the floor, trying to figure out a way to explain it to her. "Kabetori is way more interesting than I imagined...and Dior and the CEO are planning on overthrowing Averice and his casino."
"What? What for?" Lotus asked.
"Seems like they are growing a conscious of their own. Apparently, they pay outrageous fees to Averice which hurts their business. I'm guessing because of that the CEO and Dior have been advertising this place to everyone, but it isn't enough," I said, looking up at Lotus.
"I think we might can change them in some way...sure, they are money laundering and scamming, but I believe with the right price..." I said, taking out my White Wolves badge from my pocket with a smile.
Lotus gasped at my idea after seeing my badge. "Ohhh! I get it now! You're gonna recruit them!"
"Mhm...and maybe try to help them right their wrongs. We may not have to take matters to court if we resolve it civilly and with a bit of muscle granted by the city we are in," I said, winking at Lotus.
-------------------
Dior walked into a neon blue simulation room and grabbed a VR headset, taking a deep breath and exhaled softly. She placed the VR headset on her head, the room lighting up with virtual polygonal shapes circling the room to craft a blue virtual space.
Dior began choosing her settings for the game, choosing single player and watched as a horde of drones warped into the area. She fixed her jacket then took on her stance as a timer appeared largely on the ceiling of the virtual space.
"Game Start! Round 1!" The voice announced, followed by a ring of a fight bell.
Dior skipped forward and stomped on the ground, causing a hexagonal digital plate to rise from the ground. She let out a kiai as she struck the plate with a roundhouse kick, the hexagonal disk spinning rapidly and slicing through the drones with ease.
"All Grenade Drones defeated!" The voice announced with a jingle. "Get ready for Round 2!"
Dior braced herself as three Shock Riots appeared in front of her, each person equipped with a electrified baton and a reinforced riot shield. She crossed her arms as she began mentally preparing for the next round then noticed a pillar of virtual light casting down from above next to her.
I landed upon one knee next to her then rose to my feet while fixing my mask on my face. I looked up and noticed the virtual space spit Lotus out from above then I rushed toward her position to catch her.
Dior rose an eyebrow at me then looked to her left, seeing a Player 2 and a Player 3 appearing on the player interface. She looked at the names, her eyes slightly widening as she turned back toward me. "You again! Why are you getting in the way this time?"
I set Lotus down and looked at Dior with a smile behind my mask, chuckling softly at her. "This time, I'm not acting as your opponent. My pillar of light was blue after all."
Dior rose an eyebrow at me then looked ahead, noticing the next battle about to start. "Tch...I don't understand you at all..."
"Round 2! Battle Begin!" The voice announced, giving me and Lotus no time to assess the situation.
Immediately Shock Riot A lunged forward with a dash, locking onto Dior and thrusted his shield forward. Dior dodged his attack and swiftly rounded behind him with a roundhouse to the back of his head. Shock Riot A grunted then immediately countered with a Thunder, a bolt of lightning striking down upon Dior.
"Binah, what's happening right now? We're in a game, but it feels so real," Lotus said, looking around at the blue virtual space around us.
I took hold of the handle of my modular sword and looked at the three Shock Riots all targeting Dior. "Looks like a Virtual Combat Simulator. Something like this costs millions. Let's go help Dior before she loses."
Lotus nodded and used one of her butterflies to shift it into her shinai before dashing behind me. The both of us immediately noticed a shift in our ability to move around, movements we were able to pull off in real life now becoming easier due to the virtual setting.
I crashed my sword down upon Shock Riot B then followed with a flurry circular strike to knock Shock Riot B and C away from Dior. I detached the back blade of my sword then held it out to Dior. "Here. Use this. It has teeth that can shred through steel."
Dior took the sword from my hand and looked at the teeth of the sword, each groove asking to be used against the shields of the Shock Riots. She looked over at Shock Riot A and huffed, rushing toward him and lunged forward with a diagonal rotating slash.
Shock Riot A blocked her attack with his shield then grunted as the teeth of my sword began scratching along the surface and leaving a large gash along the metal. He looked at his shield then went into a defensive mode, the lightning around his baton becoming more hyper.
"Warning! Shock Riot A is preparing Thunderclap! Intervene immediately!" The voice announced then highlighted Shock Riot A.
"Don't worry, I've got this!" Lotus called out, calling upon her butterfly then pointed her shinai at Shock Riot A while leaping in the air. "Here I go!!"
The butterfly flew to the tip of Lotus's shinai and curled itself into a ball of light before unleashing a ray of energy toward Shock Riot A. Shock Riot B rushed toward his ally's aid, deploying Reflect with his shield and deflected Lotus's Ray of Light toward the air.
"Not good!" Lotus called out, landing on the ground and huffed with exhaustion, feeling more tired than usual. "What the heck..?"
"You used two Action Bars to pull that off. You can't use any of your abilities without at least one Action Bar," Dior explained, pointing out Lotus's ATB gauge to the right of her.
Lotus looked to her right and noticed a HUD beside her showing her current HP and ATB gauge. She noticed it was charging at a moderate pace, not quickly enough to spam her abilities, but not slow enough to leave her without options.
I looked at my own HUD, noticing the same progress with my own gauge. I looked toward the three Shock Riots, wondering how I could deal with their incredible defense and defensive options while also managing my own resources.
"Warning! Shock Riot A is about to unleash Thunderclap! Act now!" The voice announced and highlighted Shock Riot A once again.
I adjusted my mask and looked at Dior and Lotus then glanced at our opponents, Shock Riot B and C pacing around with their eyes on us, awaiting our next move. I opened the list of current abilities I knew then noticed one that costed both my Action Bars and a bit of my Limit Gauge.
"Krisis Mind."