“So what are you trying to say? And what was the breathing practice for?”
“A minute of breathing could hardly be considered a practice, but my reason for having you do it, and my hope that you will continue to do it for longer stints, is for you to realize the meaning of your oblique quote for today: repetition is a form of change. Can you think of any other way this could apply?”
“Leveling,” Ryuk says almost immediately. “I mean, there are variations, but leveling can be repetitive, especially if you are doing something such as casting a necromantic spell on a certain creature that gives out EXP, killing it, casting it again. I guess the quote is more about the long game, like writing a novel maybe. You just keep doing the same thing, which may bore many, but there is reward in the end and that reward is change in, um, the thing you originally started.”
“Good, go on, explore that a little more. Tell me of a time in your life not game-related that you grew through repetition.”
“Coming home from Waseda University, I always logged in right away, before doing anything else, you know, to see Tamana.” He swallows the memory down. “We did this every day for the first semester, even if we had a test the next day, even if it was just to do some bullshit in Tritania, like going fishing or going to a drama in Porthos. I liked that repetition.”
“And was it a form of change?”
“I don’t know, well, yes, sure, it was. It increased our closeness.”
“So then, do you agree with the phrase?”
Ryuk considers this for a moment. “I agree with the aftereffects of repetition, the change that comes over time. Repetition itself isn’t a form of change, it is an, um, instrument of change, but I guess referring to it as a ‘form’ works too.”
Hajime lifts an eyebrow. “Good, Ryuk! Repetition can inspire the most profound change known to man. Just think of the social changes and the repeated behaviors that led to them, and think about those oppressed people, the many that there have been, and how iniquitous repetition led them to sudden, often violent, change both to their betterment, and sometimes, their detriment. Many find repetition the epitome of boredom, but I find it fascinating.”
The humandroid smiles, completely enthralled by the subject. “But we can discuss this later. We should leave soon. We’d better not leave your mother and brother waiting.”
(0)__(0)
Ryuk can barely focus on the way to his mother’s office located in Ikebukuro, Tokyo’s famous commercial and entertainment district that has grown up around the fourth-busiest transit station in the world. Outside the sprawling entrance to the station, one can find everything from department stores to Nishi-Ikebukuro, a pleasure district well-known in Tokyo’s water trade.
But none of these things are on Ryuk’s mind as he rides in the backseat of an Uberyota aeros.
He pays little attention to the Bic Camera electronic megastore across from his mother’s building as they land, a place he frequented as a child, nor does he notice the towering height of the Sunshine 60 building, which looms over the Toshima Ward.
His thoughts circle around what his mother may say – that, and seeing his brother again.
“We have to be careful,” he whispers to Hajime.
The humandroid responds with a low grunt.
“I don’t know what Kodai is planning,” Ryuk continues, “or why mother wanted to see us both.”
“It seems that Cain and Abel have reversed roles, or are at least in the process of doing so,” Hajime muses, “although I don’t see you killing Kodai.”
“I’d never,” Ryuk says, shocked Hajime would even mention that.
Silence permeates the cabin of the Uberyota as it lowers onto a clean rooftop.
There’s an arcade to the northeast, a place he frequented as a child with the hopes of winning prizes, and later, a place he visited on occasion with Tamana. They’d play combative games – Takio: Drum Master, Dance Dance – the archaic arcade games were fun, plus they were a great way to get exercise. He recalls a particular time in which she won him an Empress Thun doll in a claw machine, which he subsequently regifted to her.
“Kodai’s already here,” Hajime says as the doors unlock.
Ryuk sees his brother’s aerosSUV, which is black with sleek chrome features. Already inside, he thinks as he walks towards a door on the rooftop. A man steps out, nearly the size of Gorira with the center of his hair slicked back and the sides shaved.
This gets Ryuk wondering, where exactly is Gorira?
Whenever he’s seen his brother’s aerosSUV at his mother’s office before, Gorira would wait outside, keeping the vehicle running. The man nods and Hajime nods back.
Ryuk doesn’t have much time to consider where Gorira is, as they take a flight of stairs down to the top floor.
After Ryuk’s retina is scanned, a door slides open and he’s greeted by a remote sentry attached to the ceiling. The red light on a clear lens between two short barrels blinks as it takes in Ryuk and Hajime.
As the two pass under it, the barrels swivel and follow them towards the reception area, which definitely makes Ryuk uneasy, as it has in the past.
What if it malfunctioned … ?
Up ahead, they see his mother’s personal assistant, Satomi. She’s a clean-cut Japanese woman with impeccable skin, her bangs cut at a sharp angle. She nods for Hajime to move to the reception area, and instructs Ryuk to enter.
It’s then that Ryuk sees a woman sitting in reception, a beautiful brunette with high cheekbones and a dark bodysuit. Hajime steps in front of Ryuk as messages appear on Ryuk’s iNet screen.
Hajime: She’s a MercSecure humandroid, like me. This must be the reason for the absence of Gorira.
Ryuk: Are you saying Kodai got a humandroid?
Hajime: That appears to be the case.
Ryuk takes a step back and peeks over Hajime’s shoulder at the droid. Her eyes flash as a curt smile paints across her face.
“Go in,” Hajime says, “I’ll keep my eye on her.”
“You can sit in reception,” Satomi tells Hajime.
“I’ll stand.”
The tension in the room palpable, Ryuk slips past Kodai and stops before a large door made of bulletproof motoglass. After a decompression sound, the door opens, and after one more sidelong glance at the mysterious female humandroid, Ryuk steps in.
“You’re late,” his mother says instead of hello.
Ryuk gets the sense that she’s had some work done. He doesn’t remember his mother’s eyes being so wide, nor does he recall her ever having a large chest. The next emotion is one of shame – did I just check out my own mom? He chastises himself, but then again, she’s wearing a low-cut blouse and clear, clearly, she’s had work done.
Kodai turns to him, and when his face is clearly out of his mother’s pane of vision, he gives Ryuk a sinister grin.
“Yeah? Fuck you too,” Ryuk says, surprising even himself. He feels adrenaline burst through him and quickly subside once Kodai doesn’t say anything back.
“Ryuk!” His mother snaps her fingers, something she did when he was a child that always got his attention. “What is going on between you and your brother?”
“He attacked me,” Kodai says as Ryuk approaches them. “He pushed me through a glass table.”
Their mother narrows her eyes at Ryuk as he steps up to her big mahogany desk. “You did what?”
“He came over to intimidate me,” Ryuk explains, “and I did what I had to do.”
His mother looks in horror from her youngest to her oldest son. Her face hardens. “Kodai, you weak, stupid boy.”
Kodai gulps, and runs his hands along the front of his suit.