11 - Captain For A Reason

[VENICE, 3 DAYS LATER]

“He might kill me as soon as he opens the door.”

“He might not even be capable of opening the door himself.”

“For the first time, I truly have nothing I can expect.”

“This is the equivalent of going straight into the wolf’s den in hopes of becoming friends with the old and crippled pack leader...who isn’t even in the pack anymore.”

“This might even be a setup. Giving me up to the Heisei to be in Kaito’s good books, or in other words, keeping their fat asses alive.”

“Here goes nothing.”

Mukawa knocked on the dark brown door. Kana and Haruki, the two of his allies that he would’ve taken to such risky missions, were behind him, ready to fight or flee at any given moment.

They already had a hard time navigating through the beautiful yet narrowish paths of Venice, they enjoyed the city’s architecture but the fog in their minds disallowed them from really having fun. The rest of Mukawa’s allies were all on standby, ready to arrive once the negotiations were done.

Mukawa knocked on the door again, before realizing that it was open all along. He gave a quick nod to his comrades and slowly entered the building. He could sense the soul presence dwelling in that room, and he checked every corner and every inch for any potential traps. At last, he reached his destination in the small and cozy apartment.

“Why’d you leave the door open?” Mukawa asked. “Feeling extra welcoming? Or forgot to close it after the rest of them left?”

“There is no rest of them.” Zervos said, relaxing in his armchair, spending his time watching a television programme he didn’t even care about. “There’s no one left. I’m just here by myself now.”

“Must be pretty sad. You know, for someone who used to be one of the most important people in the world.” Mukawa sighed.

“Did the stronghold people tell you to come to me?” Zervos asked.

“Nah, we just decided to blindly follow the stars.” Mukawa said. “Just felt like visiting one of the people that were supposed to hunt me down.”

“That’s true.” Zervos said. “The Heisei is probably looking for you everywhere. Kaito might have realized how much of a problem you can be.”

“I’m the reason he doesn’t have that fancy barrier of his...” Mukawa said with pride, before realizing that he’s also the reason Kaito has a supremely powerful soldier at his disposal.

“Take a seat, I’ll make you some coffee. You look like you haven’t slept for ages.” Zervos said, heading to the kitchen. Mukawa hesitantly sat down on the couch, and so did his friends. A few moments later, Zervos came back with cups of black coffee, neatly placing them on the table.

“Let me guess, cyanide?” Mukawa asked, looking at his own reflection in the coffee.

“I’m way past the point of special operations and killing people. I was never a killer myself.” Zervos replied.

“Then tell me, where did it all go wrong?” Mukawa asked. “Why the hell are you sitting here in Venice watching the rivers instead of helping your boss out?”

“Did the stronghold heads also tell you to talk like a dickhead?” Zervos asked, taking a sip of his drink.

“Nope, that’s part of the free package you get when dealing with me.” Mukawa said. “This, however, is the premium package, which means I’m interested in you.”

Mukawa reached for his pocket and showed Zervos the dagger that was essentially the last hope of the contemporary world. He placed it on the table, and Zervos quickly caught onto what was laid out in front of him.

“It looks like a smaller copy of The Replicator.” Zervos said. He reached for the blade, but Mukawa quickly slapped his hand away.

“Because it is.” Mukawa said. “One use, one soul expression, one person. You know where this is going, right?”

“If you aim to seek vengeance against Kaito with this thing, don’t waste your time.” Zervos sighed. “Save yourselves and enjoy what’s left of this world.”

He leaned back in his armchair, taking another sip of the coffee. His eyes were no longer glued to the knife, now they were emptily staring at the television. The programme’s host was rambling about things Zervos could somewhat understand, but he still found no meaning in them, it was just a way for him to kill time.

“The stronghold heads told me to talk to you.” Mukawa said. “But they didn’t tell me that you were a pussy.”

Zervos put his cup back down on the table and took a deep breath.

“My soul expression allows me to weaken the output of other soul expressions and disrupt the flow of soul prowess, essentially weakening and destabilizing them.” Zervos said.

“Interesting.” Mukawa said after a brief pause. “Is that a threat? You know, if you’re gonna attack someone, you don’t really need to explain your ability to them.”

“Don’t you see it?” Zervos asked. “Why do you think Kaito kept me, a pacifist at heart, so close to him? Why did he promote me to the captain of his strongest combat unit and send me off to fight in the war, while knowing that I’m a commander and not a combatant?”

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“And that’s the answer? Your soul expression?”

“Kaito dreads everything that threatens to disrupt whatever process he’s taking care of.” Zervos said. “I assume he was rather disappointed when he found out I survived the war...”

“And that’s why he organized a neat little paradise for you.” Mukawa said, grabbing the dagger and putting it back on himself. “Kana, get the laptop out. Get the connection ready while this guy tells us his sob story.”

“On it.” Kana nodded, placing the dark gray bag on the table and getting the device out.

“I was simply someone who wasn’t supposed to exist in his plan.” Zervos sighed. “He kept me close just so I wouldn’t mess things up for him. And now, he sent me here, he sentenced me to watch everything burn and crumble while being unable to do anything.”

“You’re not the only one who doesn’t want the world to go to shit.” Haruki said. “We are fighting for that very same cause.”

“Fighting?” Zervos asked with a saddened laugh. “You’re fighting something way out of your league.”

He took a deep breath, seeing Mukawa’s visible rejection of what he just said.

“Even with your shiny little knife, you won’t be able to do anything to him.” Zervos said. “You can’t lure him out, you can’t touch him with that knife, and even if you do, what are you gonna do with his godlike power? You haven’t the slightest clue on how to utilize it. Not even Kaito himself does.”

“Hey, let me put it this way.” Mukawa said. “If someone is holding a knife to your throat, threatening to kill you, will you just submit to him and let him cut you open, or will you at least try to fight back?”

“It’s different.” Zervos said.

“It really is not, Ex-Captain Zervos.” Mansa’s voice said from the notebook. “It is my pleasure that we have all arranged this meeting to plan our future moves.”

“See? This guy’s here too.” Mukawa said. “Now, if you choose to die like a quiet little dog, there’s one more person who gets to witness it.”

“Mukawa, knock it off.” Haruki said, pinching him in the arm. “Let him think.”

“Think? Think about what?” Mukawa asked. “Hey, captain, guess what, your neighbors that are soulless? Your friends? The guy that packs your groceries every day? The civilians you see on the streets, minding their own business and enjoying life? They’re all gonna die. And once you’re on your deathbed at ninety something years old, living in the shithole Kaito’s shenanigans caused, you’ll only have yourself to blame for it.”

“And what’s your point?!” Haruki asked. “You’re forcing him to join what is effectively a suicide mission.”

“Inaction is worse than failed action!” Mukawa yelled.

“Mukawa, I understand your frustration. We are frustrated too.” Mansa said. “But perhaps a different approach is necessary.”

“There’s no need.” Zervos sighed.

“I’ve been a variable my whole life.”

“And I’m still one.”

“From someone who Kaito needs to keep in check, to someone this insomniac wants to recruit.”

He reached for his phone and took the case out, revealing an older, small picture of a family. While Mukawa and Mansa were busy arguing, he took a deep breath, devoured by the silence of his own self.

“It’s like you don’t care what happens to you.”

“That’s what she said the last time we met. Right before I was left on my own.”

“And I didn’t learn a damn thing.”

“Mukawa, you are not listening to me. We cannot initiate any type of operations until the conflict between Eura and Naja is settled.” Mansa said. “I have explained this to you many times, and yet your own desire to seek vengeance has reigned supreme over your critical thinking, something you were very praised for.”

“Yeah, let’s make sure that Kaito gets even more time to prepare himself. Let’s make sure that he sniffs us out.” Mukawa said, not lowering his tone. “The later we act, the worse it will be for us.”

“Kaito does not consider the likes of you a priority.” Mansa said.

“And he will once he finds out about the dagger.”

“Which he will not.” Mansa said. “Your objective now is to remain as hidden as possible. Flee the continent, dig yourself up in a bunker, or fly to space if you can. Do you think you are on the same level as Aizawa?”

“I-”

“It is this foolish line of thinking that caused Alby Stirrock to ignore my many warnings and head to Prague himself. He claimed that he will deal with things. We have not heard of him ever since. And it is due to your own sheer luck that he left before you revealed the dagger to us.”

“I’ll help you.” Zervos said, interrupting the heated argument.

“Huh...well, I’m not gonna ask why. I’m just gonna assume you had some deep inner monologue.” Mukawa said. “I’m sure you’ll be very useful.”

“For fuck sake, do you not know how to talk to people?” Kana said, terminating the connection and closing the laptop.

“What matters isn’t the method, it’s the result.” Mukawa said. “And the result is that we have a pretty strong soulful on our side now. As well as a neat human shield.”

“What?”

“The Heisei guys are gonna show us a little bit of mercy now that we have their old captain with us.” Mukawa said. “See what I did there? This guy solves all of our problems.”

“Don’t rely on it too much. Hell, maybe they’ve already forgotten about me.” Zervos sighed. “I bet Jian Fang is a much better commander.”

“You better bet so!” Mukawa said. “She almost killed me, you know? Hey, were you the one who greenlighted that operation? You did a damn great job, you know that?”

“I guess that concludes our conversation.” Zervos said.

“Sorry, but we’re staying here.” Mukawa said. “We’re getting a residence somewhere here, in Venice, and we’re moving our headquarters here.”

“Whatever you think is right...” Zervos said, disheartened.

“It’s all always the same.”

“Hey, by the way, can I ask you something?” Mukawa asked.

“Go on.”

“What do you know about Hiroshi Kamiki?” Mukawa asked.

“Hiroshi Kamiki? That’s...that’s Kaito’s son, isn’t it?” Zervos asked. “Well, I guess I’ve seen him a couple times, and I trained with him once. But other than that...what interests you in him?”

“Was Kaito ever married?”

“No.”

“Shit, well, this makes sense, but at the same time complicates everything a little more.” Mukawa said. “You said you trained with him, right? Was he a soulful?”

“Yes, he was.” Zervos said.

“See, someone from our team is a really good hacker. She managed to search through the web and crack a few archives here and there. We knew about the child and the child’s name and from my own time spying on the GSC.” Mukawa explained. “But we couldn’t find anything, let alone, we couldn’t track his name down anywhere.”

“Now, why would a Kaito adopt a soulful child, shortly after the first global soul event, and keep him relatively safe from the eyes of the public?” Mukawa asked. “And better yet, why were all records of that child completely erased until the year 2022?”