Pandion (Genera #1)

Chapter 30

Y ajima happened to be in the corridor when Kagesawa reached the dorm rooms. It was past midnight, so skulking around at this hour was nothing if not suspicious. He clicked his tongue at the sight of Kagesawa.

“What’s with him?” Yajima asked.

“Migraine, exhaustion. What have you been up to?”

“Oh, a little this and that.”

“I’m going to put him to bed, but I’d like to have a word with you.”

“Right. I’ll leave the door open.”

“Good.” Kagesawa fished the keycard from Satoru’s pocket and opened the door to their dorm room. He set Satoru onto one of the two beds, removed his tie and covered him with the fresh, folded duvet from the foot of the bed. Once he was sure Satoru was deep asleep, Kagesawa left the room.

Yajima was tinkering with something when Kagesawa entered his room next door. At a closer look, it was a modified palm reader.

“Tsuyoshi-kun.” He didn’t turn away from what he was doing.

“Seems you’ve been busy.” Kagesawa sat on the bed.

“Yep.”

“I think it’s time you let me in on it.”

“You know I can’t do that.”

“You’re not here to tag along for a safe place to sleep. I owe it to Satoru to make sure you’re not going to stir unnecessary shit while on his turf.”

“Trust me. The shit’s necessary.”

“I have something useful for you, if you can convince me it’s necessary.”

This made Yajima turn to look. “Trust you to tempt me with something when I’m frustrated. Man, I miss the old days. You were flaky and messed up, but oh, so helpful. I loved it.” He sighed. “It’s too bad I can’t take you up on that offer.”

“I have access to the servers.”

“You don’t waste time, do you? I’m still struggling to get through. These people have money to throw at security, and sadly, that seems to come with a moderate level of competence. They have a custom gateway derived from the TRX6400, and they’re keeping their stuff up to date.”

“I know.”

“So you finally got over your aversion to hacking? Good for you.”

“Not really. I’m an opportunist at the core. I don’t have the patience to smash my head against the wall.”

“What do you have patience for?” Yajima laughed. “All right, fine. I’m working on something to throw at JufO. They’re officially unaffiliated with the raids—they have their hippy love-and-peace image to uphold—but I have a few sources on the inside saying this was the plan all along.”

“You’re going to avenge Takazaki’s death? Aren’t you always busy with something more important?”

“Sure, but the opportunity did pop up.”

“What are you looking for exactly?”

“Student records. Did you know there are deep ties between JufO and the SEU? I need some names to pass on to certain people.”

This presented an uncomfortable ethical dilemma for Kagesawa. Even phrased as vaguely as it was, he could tell what Yajima was hinting at. If he aided the process, he would be an accessory to murder.

On the other hand, he would also merely be serving justice. There was a vast grey area associated with the uncertainty that his actions would lead to the desired outcome without getting distorted along the way. He could not control all the variables. He could wilfully turn a blind eye, but it would not excuse him from responsibility. Yajima knew this.

“You could have lied.” Kagesawa sighed again. Thinking through this stuff for any sort of an acceptable compromise was such a chore.

“Right. You never were the sharpest tool in the box detecting lies, even with the link. I don’t know… I was relying you’d have enough beef seeing as Takazaki was your friend.”

“It is tempting.” There was an ample serving of anger included with the grief he was trying to keep under wraps for now.

We could keep tabs, make sure it goes right. Would that make it easier?

“I don’t know. How do I make sure you won’t get carried away?” Kagesawa asked. Yajima shrugged.

“I’m not as pumped up about these things as I used to be. We’re getting older.”

“You said you weren’t that close with Takazaki. Why bother?”

“Ah, you know that’s just the shit I say. The man was linked to me. There’s no way that’s not going to be personal. I was there when he died.”

As far as experiences went, it was not one Kagesawa wished on anyone. Yajima would have had to be a psychopath to not care, and ASPD was another common disqualifier from the empath profession.

Kagesawa didn’t have the greatest faith in the vetting process, but while Yajima did have a lax sense of ethics, he wasn’t heartless. Him seeking revenge was not surprising.

“If I let you in, what’s the likelihood of you getting carried away and causing trouble for someone unrelated?”

“There might be some collateral damage, but I do generally try to be mindful of that. It’s not like I could be stuck with you for five years and not have something rub off on me.” Yajima chuckled.

“You make it sound like I’m hell-bent on morals for trying to be a semi-decent human being.”

“From my perspective, it’s an exhausting nuisance, but I guess it’s better than to have any of your DEFD symptoms passed on to me.”

There was plenty of anecdotal evidence for picking up habits from your link, but research suggested the difference between working together with or without a link was negligible, excluding a few rare exceptions. The acquired similarities were likely an expected result of spending so much time with the other person and had very little to do with the link.

“Was that what you were worried about?” Kagesawa didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

“No, of course not. I told you, I was worried about you. I don’t say shit like this often, so the least you could do is appreciate it when I do. Now, give me what you’ve got.” He tossed Kagesawa the palm reader.

It was so heavy Kagesawa almost dropped it. “What the hell did you add to this thing? It weighs a ton.”

“I needed more scope and range. And some other useful features.”

“What period is the hardware from, Yayoi? Sheesh… you’ve added a CX2k series module instead of just about anything after gen5? What’s the latency on this thing…”

“Probably ghastly, according to you, but can you please concentrate? I’d like to get this done while I still have a couple of hours left to sleep.”

“Right.” Kagesawa inserted his port extension and connected to the reader. “Oh Lord, the firmware is ancient! Let me fix that for you real qui—”

“Tsuyoshi-kun, I swear to God.”

“It’ll only take a second.”

How about we leave a present while we’re at it?

What a splendid idea. Yajima would probably notice it eventually, so better leave a fun little note along with it.

With a smiley face?

Oh, yes. Definitely with a smiley face. “I should add that if you make trouble for me or for Satoru, I will have to deal with you.” Kagesawa tossed the reader back to Yajima and removed his extension. Yajima set the reader aside and climbed up onto the bed.

“You’re really fond of your new link friend, aren’t you? Is he nicer than I was?” In typical Yajima-fashion, he wore an amused smile when, in reality, he was probably jealous. Kagesawa could almost feel it even with the link long gone.

“Yes.” Kagesawa smiled back.

“How much does he know?”

“About what?”

“You.”

“We’ve been linked for months, and I’m not exactly secretive with him, so I suppose there’s not much he doesn’t know.” This statement seemed to take Yajima aback.

“You told him about us? I would have thought a straight arrow like him would have withdrawn at that.”

“Actually, now that you mention it, I was probably a bit vague…” It hadn’t been completely intentional, though. Sometimes the details slipped his mind when he was busy trying to remember the general gist of what he was about to say. “But I doubt that would faze him much.”

“Oh? Interesting. I thought all SEU graduates had the minimum of one mace lodged up their ass at all times. Didn’t think that type could accept anything outside their traditional, narrow worldview.”

“I thought you were in a hurry to get a hold of the student records?”

“I’ll get to that.” Yajima fell silent for a moment. “Can’t I enjoy a moment chatting with you? I missed you.”

“You were the one that left.” It had been a shock. Not exactly earth-shattering, but a shock nonetheless. With no note, he’d always assumed Yajima had left because he’d been fed up.

“It was getting bad.” Yajima hugged his knees and stared at the wall across the room.

“It got worse after.”

“Shimizu?”

“I don’t even know anymore. But I don’t want to fuck this up now that it’s been bearable. I’ve been through enough bullshit, so please don’t add to it.”

“I hear you.”

“I should be heading to bed…” Kagesawa stood up to leave.

“Wait!” Yajima grabbed his hand and pulled him closer for a hug. “I didn’t think you cared about me at all. I was jealous and annoyed that you never noticed how I felt. It’s not why I left, but it’s why I didn’t say anything or leave a note. I’m sorry.”

“I’m just glad you’re OK. That’s all I wanted to know. Take care of yourself, all right? I’ve had enough grief for one lifetime.”

I recognise Mentor nearby. Do I connect?

What? Kagesawa stepped back.

I have lost the signal.

“What is it?” Yajima noticed Kagesawa’s confusion.

“I… I’m not sure. Probably nothing. I think I should go, though. Good night!” He most definitely did not want to inadvertently re-link with Yajima, even if that was possible.

Understood. I do prefer the current mentor as well.

“All right, um, sleep well and thanks for the leg up.” Yajima picked up his palm reader and waved a quick bye.

“Don’t mention it.” Kagesawa retreated from the room.