The Supporting Character Supports, and… (1/2)

This week has been a strange one, but at least I have the first half of this chapter finally done? I hope I can the next half by Christmas, and until then, thanks + best wishes for all of you ❤

Chicago

Nebula Headquarters

“Ach-d!”

Within the depths of Nebula’s labs, this odd noise was suddenly heard.

“Director, what’s wrong? What was with that weird sound right then?”

Turning from the files he was arranging, a man looked in confusion at the source of the noise.

Red in the face, Renée Palamades Brinvillier – the woman whom he had called “Director” – smiled sheepishly at the men gazing at her.

“Aah…well,  I wanted to sneeze but then decided not to, so I ended up doing something weird, huh? Hmm, someone must be talking about me…”

Though thick glasses framed her face and the curves of her body were sadly hidden by her plain lab coat, it was undeniable that the woman now speaking was exquisitely beautiful.

Gazing at his boss’s charming, gentle smile, the man collecting data shook his head, sighing with a tired expression.

“Don’t get too ahead of yourself, Director – there’s  no way anyone’s talking about you. Anyway, you should probably get back to work.”

“How – how mean!”

As always, an easy-going atmosphere filled the lab –

But on the other side of a thick pane of glass, where a special drug was being developed, was a much different picture.

In the center of the room lay a shape, roughly the size of a bear.

The skin peeking out of the figure’s sleeves, however, was soft flesh. Whatever was beneath the cloth, it was undoubtedly a human being.

Whether it was because of anesthesia or sleeping gas, the large youth now lay motionless on his oversize bed, researchers mill around his still body.

Gazing at the test subject through the glass window, Renée was suddenly struck by a thought.

“Oh, that’s right. Yesterday’s explosions were pretty serious, weren’t they?”

“No one died, which is a small mercy, but still…it’s that kid behind it, isn’t it?”

“Because he wants to save his friend here! Oh, that’s so sweet – ah, I think I’m touched.”

“…and because you weren’t paying attention to it, our building and even facilities those unconnected with us have suffered severe losses – what do you think about that, then?”

Though the veins in his forehead were nearly popping out, Renée seemed barely seemed to notice her subordinate’s strain. Absentmindedly, she replied:

“Well, then we should just pretend it has nothing to do with us, and if another bomber comes by, blame it on them! How does that sound?”

“If only! That might be able to deal with the police, but this morning, Chairman Karl called me up to tell me, ‘I don’t care what messes you get up to, but you can’t affect the other departments! Smooth things over with that kid right now!’ The news isn’t a secret – it’s already been out for a long time now!”

“E-eh? How…how does he know about Rail?”

Although these words were anxiously shouted, somehow, they seemed to lack a proper degree of panic. Even as she exclaimed, Renée was already pondering the question of “what should I do next?”

Expression vexed as he watched her, one of the nearby researchers chose now to cut into the conversation of this woman whose actions and attitude completely contradicted each other.

“Um, Director, on that other thing…”

“Other thing? Aah..which other thing?”

“A bit back, weren’t you talking about finding another bomber to pin the blame on? Because that might actually be possible.”

“W-what? What do you mean – are you saying there really is one?”

In response to such an absurd question, what Renée received was an equally absurd answer.

“Yes. Such a person really does exist.”

“Wh-wh-wh-what?”

Although Renee herself had first brought up this idea, she looked shocked to have it confirmed.

Seeing his boss’s astonishment, the researcher only calmly continued.

“Well, during my last break, I heard one of my friends in general affairs say…just a while ago, the police…”

—

Just as the gossipy researcher was revealing the information about “Nice” to his superior –

Not too far away, a man specializing in gathering information sat on a soft couch, two women on either side.

However, while one of these women could hardly be called anything than a girl –

The other was the fiancée of a killer.

—

Nebula Headquarters

Chairman’s Office

“Ah, it’s best if you all just quietly stay here for a while.”

“A thousand thanks, Karl sir.”
Hearing the words of the man across from him, the Vice President of the Daily Days, Gustav St. Germain, extended these deep words of thanks.

At the Vice President’s  respectful tone, the old man across from him – Karl Muybridge, the Chairman of the corporation “Nebula – merely chuckled and waved a hand.

“Come on now, no need to be so formal – we’re not working, after all! Besides, things have changed since then.”

In contrast to the Vice President’s sharp appearance, the Chairman had an air that instantly put people at ease. But despite his unassuming appearance, he was one of the few businessmen in the nation who could be considered “truly successful.”

On the sofa across from such a person, two women sat. One, a young girl who sat clutching her camera, seemed unable to stop herself from shaking – while the other, a long-haired woman next to her, wore an unreadable expression as she gazed around with steady eyes.

“Ah, young miss there, with the camera – Carol, is it? There’s no need for you to be so nervous; after all, this is the second time we’ve met. Though last time, you seemed on the verge of throwing up…are you feeling better now?”

“Huh? Oh…um, thank you – thank you for your concern! S-sorry!”

At the inquiry into her health, Carol, the aforementioned photographer, began to tremble violently.

Beside her, the long-haired woman quietly watched Carol’s distress – and as she did, Lua Klein gently smiled.

—

Amidst smoke and gunfire, Vice-President St. Germain had helped Carol and Lua’s escape from Placido Russo.

Afterwards, they had decided to find a safe hiding place for Lua – but as Carol had uneasily pointed out, all the hotels and train stations were sure to be watched. Consequently, the Vice President had realized something:

“Ah…without a car, we can’t leave Chicago. And so, in that case –”

Hence, the present situation, with Carol sitting on a sofa in the office of Nebula’s Chairman.

Yesterday, when Carol had entered Nebula’s inner quarters, she hadn’t been able to process much of what was happening. But now, staring at Chairman, she was belatedly beginning to understand the current situation – and beginning to regret not escaping from Chicago when she could.

—

“Oh, another thing – that miss with the lovely hair, did I hear you say that Placido fellow held her hostage? How terrible – I hope you were alright?”

“Karl, sir.”

“Oh, my apologies, miss – I must have been too blunt. But I just can’t understand that man. And you, you’re with his nephew – Ladd, was it? Are you his girlfriend?”

At the Chairman’s mention of her beloved, a quiet surprise seemed to go through Lua as she lifted her gaze toward the other man.

Seeing the subtle change in her expression, the Chairman gently chuckled.

“Oh – that young man’s kind of a celebrity here. When he was just a child, he broke into this office and almost killed me.”

“Oh, that sounds quite terrifying.”

Seeing his companion’s unchanged expression, the Chairman scratched his head, smiling wryly as he continued.

“It was indeed! Back then, he also said something else: “Mister…hearing your breathin’, it seems like you won’t care whenever you hang. It’d be too boring to kill you, so I’m leaving.” Only when I questioned him, did I discover he’d made a bet with one of his friends, who dared him to come to me… although, really, I think he was just looking to cause trouble for Nebula. But if he wanted to do that, he should have gone to Rude, Beriam, or one of those other fellows with money. Ha ha!”

“Is…is that the kind of thing you should really laugh at? You – you’re joking, aren’t you, Mr. Chairman?”

Despite her fright, Carol couldn’t help commenting on the Chairman’s words. At the same time, Lua murmured, “that does sound like him…”

Realizing what she had just said, Carol turned red. Letting go of her camera, she clasped her head in her hands, as if warding off a growing headache.

“Ah, it’s no matter – because now, I truly know what type of situation you’re in! For now, it’s best if you three stay and hide in the staff’s living quarters. It shouldn’t be for long, though, before things calm down.”

“Thank you very much for helping us.”

Hearing Lua’s quiet thanks, the Chairman beamed widely.

“Miss, there’s no need to thank me – if there’s anyone you should ask, then it’s that evil-looking man next to you. With the promise of priceless information from him, how could I refuse?”

“You said not to speak of business, but it seems like you’ve struck quite a good deal here.”

Hearing the faint mockery in the Vice-President’s tone, the Chairman burst into laughter.

“Ha, ha! Well, if you have any other questions, then you can ask this fellow from Security. He used to work for the Runorata family, so he should know about the type of mafia tricks you should guard against.”

The Chairman turned his gaze to a nearby pillar, receiving a nod from the black-haired man behind it.

In his right hand, the man held a jar filled with sugar cubes, which he was unceremoniously removing row after row of and placing in his mouth.

Seeing the man expressionlessly chew these sugar cubes, Carol felt strangely disoriented –

After the Chairman’s departure left, she turned to Vice-President, calming a little at his composed expression.

“Vice-President , w-what’s going on?”

“Ah…Carol, there’s something I’d like to check with you.”

“W-what kind of thing?”

Seeing Carol’s tense expression, the Vice-President narrowed his already sharp eyes, and put forth this question to the frightened girl:

“…do I truly have an evil face?”

—

Nebula Corporation

Corridor

“Greetings, all – I am Rubik, and I’ll be in charge of your safety now. Just follow me, and I’ll take you to where you spent the night yesterday. If there’s anything amiss then please, don’t be polite, just ask for it.”

Though his words were highly courteous, the man was still incessantly gnawing his sugar cubes as he led Carol and others inside, where Nebula had reserved several rooms especially for its guests.

Although the man’s black aura made Carol’s skin crawl, it seemed to have an opposite effect on the Vice President.

“Rubik…I remember that name as one of our company’s regular customers.”

Words said with every sign of calmness…

In fact, it could be said that they were almost a little too calm.

With a crack, Rubik bit down on the piece of sugar in his mouth. Continuing ahead, he replied in an unperturbed tone –

“…I don’t have any recollection of meeting you before.”

“As Vice President, I naturally often wrote down the names of those who frequently came to us.”

“…ah, that’s right. Until last year, I was often involved in that type of business.”

Hearing Rubik’s calm reply, St. Germain was spurred to continue with his queries.

“You were involved with various organizations, selling information to both us and enemy organizations…and then, we lost contact with you. What happened?”

“Nothing in particular – I just realized the business had no place for me anymore. With that type of guy there… I had no chance at competing.”

“‘That type of guy?’ What do you mean?”

Unable to contain herself, this question slipped out of Carol’s mouth.

Without turning around, Rubik lightly cleared his throat as he divulged the name of “that guy” –

“Young miss, you’re an employee of the Daily Days – you should already be aware of them.”

“That monstrous group of men, only its members knowing who they are, calling itself ‘Sham.'”

—

Trans-continental Railway

Compartment Interior

Sitting in the car of a train hurtling forward at over sixty miles per hour (1), Isaac and his new companion were leisurely continuing their talk.

A decidedly suspicious person, the self-described spy who had admitted to previously watching Isaac was now idly chatting about such espionage –

“The first time I saw you…hm, it must have been in New York, when you were throwing money in the streets.”

“Wow, that really takes me back! And Sham, you really were there, huh?”

“Yes, though I’m afraid to say I took some bills as well.”

“No no no no, that’s great! It’s fantastic that you helped take them, otherwise Miria and me would have never gotten away from the police!”

Seeing the nostalgic smile on Issac’s face, Sham continued with his reminisces.

“And then a year after that…it was on the Flying Pussyfoot, when all those odd events happened.”

“Hold on now, really? You were on that train too?! Wow – that trip really was something, wasn’t it? I tried to be brave, so Miria wouldn’t worry, but in the end, all of my efforts still did nothing!”

“…a coward wouldn’t have been able to just wander around that train.”

“Is that so? In that case, Miria must have been very brave, and I was just borrowing some of her strength! Although, come to think of it, Sham, where were you during all of it? In the dining car?”

At this rather natural question, Sham shook his head as he answered.

“No, I was sitting in a first-class compartment.”

“Is that so…woah, you must be really rich, then!”

“Ha, not really – the money came from a generous patron of mine.”

Although in the end, I was pushed out by that woman without a ticket…

Instead of mentioning this, however, Sham changed the topic.

“You seemed to get along quite well with Jacuzzi and his gang.”

“Aah ha – well that’s because if you look at it like The Romance of the Three Kingdoms… um… right, then that way, Jacuzzi’s like Alexander the Great!”

“That’s quite a lofty evaluation.”

“Maybe, but it’s aaalll true! He truly is great!”

Although not naturally imposing, Isaac now stood proudly as he proclaimed these words.

In reality, his actions were rather ridiculous, impressing others with little more than the sense of a childhood unbefitting his age.

Sham, however, showed no scorn for Isaac’s actions, only narrowing his eyes slightly at his words.

“Mr. Isaac…you and Mrs. Miria have truly encountered quite a lot.”

“Huh? Really?”

“Truly. Take, for instance, that time at the speakeasy – or if you want, there’s the case of the Mist Wall bombings, too…”

“Really? But weren’t there plenty of other people there, too?”

Seeing the honest wonder in Isaac’s face, Sham found himself speechless.

From what Sham saw of the man he saw in front of him, he truly had no sense of self-awareness.

The number of events the two of them had contributed to, the number of lives they had saved or the many more they had merely disrupted – all of that, Isaac was completely oblivious to.

However, his impact had been wholly unintentional, nothing more than the natural results of accidental event.

In the case of the bar, if those two individuals weren’t there…well, then it would hardly be exaggerating to say that the whole course of the United States would have long been rewritten.

Yet he had not set out to do anything – what he had accomplished had been by sheer coincidence. No… from what Sham could see,  he didn’t even know how many lives he had changed.

…right, and that’s exactly why he could do it.

As these thoughts quietly went through Sham’s mind, Isaac, still smiling, turned his gaze to the landscape outside.

Going forward at over sixty miles per hour, the steam locomotive hurtled across the country with the speed the speed of an electric car.

Bouncing on his feet as he imagined his reunion with Miria, Isaac cheerfully turned to Sham.

“It’ll be afternoon when the car arrives. Trains are so fast – it’s nothing like walking!”

“…you’ve walked across the continent before?”

“No, I haven’t…I just think that the next time, I might try it! But if I want to really compete with a train, I’d have to pull along the same number of cars…how would that happen? How’d ya think I could do it?”

“I don’t that’s something anyone could do.”

With a slightly dumbfounded smile, Sham gave this answer.

Suddenly, however, his expression shifted as he turned to Isaac with another, sudden question.

“Isaac, sir…do you believe in God, or fate, or a power of that sort?”

“I do!”

That was Isaac’s straightforward answer.

But to Sham’s ears, these words did not sound like those of a faithful Christian.

Before he had time to inquire further, however, Isaac himself was already rushing forward to explain himself –

“This is something I heard on another car, but a man there, he said that this world has over eight million gods! They’re scattered all over the place – pebbles, trees, mountains, everywhere! According to him, even centipedes are hotspots for gods!”

“Is that so.”

He must be talking about the eight millions gods they have in the East. But in all of my knowledge, I’ve never heard centipedes being described as filled with gods before…

“So, no matter how many gods you worship, it’s okay – just be careful, because that’s the same number of gods that’ll be judging you!  Why, Miria and me once spent the whole night wondering what we should give as tribute to some pebbles. After debating for hours, we decidedly that cough medicine would work…”

“Ah, maybe you can tell me about that some other time…”

Feeling that the conversation was veering into strange territory, Sham quickly turned the conversation back to the topic.

“Let’s say…there was a completely hopeless situation, but because of a certain extraordinary encounter everything was resolved satisfactorily … if such a thing were to really happen, what would you say it was: luck, or fate?”

“Huh? Um, I don’t think I got that all – but everything worked out in the end, didn’t it?”

“It did.”

“Then there’s nothing to worry about! That’s great!”

Though rather ridiculous, these words completely natural coming from Isaac’s mouth.

Hearing it, a smile crept onto Sham’s face.

“In that case…let’s think about it this way. Let’s say – and this is just a hypothetical situation, of course – let’s say that there was a man who had the power of a god and could cause these encounters.”

“Huh? Ah…”

“Let’s say it’s the type of power that, while it might not be very good at solving world hunger, could know all sorts of things and push different people to a variety  of places…for example, it could help two people who want to see each other, or separate two people and cause to them miss each other. Let’s imagine that the god has this type of power.”

“That’d be fantastic! A god who can create bonds between people…it’s like a lottery wheel that makes people fall in love!”

Although Isaac seemed to have confused his description for that of Cupid, Sham only nodded his head, feeling that there was no need to correct him.

“However, this person is only interested in helping those he likes. Whether or not he uses his powers completely depends on his personal feelings…to what degree, do you think, such a person could be forgiven?”

“Oh, um, you lost me there…why would people need to forgive him?”

At Isaac’s question, Sham took a moment to mull over his answer before replying.

“…let’s use another example, then. Let’s pretend…let’s pretend that you were walking in a forest, and you saw a butterfly caught in a spider’s web. Feeling sorry for it, you free it, and feel satisfied, right? Or something similar to that..”

“And?”

“Hm?”

“What does saving butterflies have to do with anything?”

Do I really have to start explaining things from this level?

Though Isaac’s childish words made Sham smile incredulously, he continued his explanation as calmly as before.

“Well, think about this way – you might be saving the butterfly, but in doing so, you’re also depriving the spider of an important meal. And because of the self-satisfying human who pities the prettier butterfly, then it’s possible the spider might even starve to death.”

“Ah, I see – so the butterfly’s good fortune becomes the spider’s bad luck! I get it now…Miria and me used to go whole days without food, so Mr. Spider’s in a real pinch there!”

“Mr. Spider…ah, of course, you’re right. Smug human self-satisfaction…that’s what it all is.”

“But what does that have to do with saving butterflies?”

“Even if no one saves the butterfly, then a bird’ll come along and eat Mr. Spider…or, actually, the bird might eat the butterfly – bad luck for both him and poor Mr. Spider’s stomach, then! Or a branch could fall down and destroy his web, right? So then, in that case…um – ah, right! In that case, it’s not because the person made the wrong choice, but just plain bad luck!

…why does he only refer to the spider with  “Mister?”

At the same time as this trivial observation passed through his mind, Sham felt his thoughts thrown into confusion by Isaac’s words.  Uncertain if these words were profound or naive, Sham felt himself wondering about Miria – if she were here, would Isaac have come to another conclusion? Or would it have simply sounded different?

“That type of thinking is way too simple…”

“R-really? Ah, sorry then – guess I’m just not too good at this!”

“Ah – no, that’s not what I was trying to imply…”

To Sham’s hasty denial, however, all Isaac did was smile and say, “that’s fine, it’s fine!” before continuing.

“Anyways, I guess when it comes to it, even when you take into account things like nature, humans are really like gods – at least when it comes to things like your Mr. Spider and his stomach. But maybe I’ve got this wrong, but, well…if this Mr. Spider tried to eat Miria one day, then I’d wouldn’t care a bit about him going hungry! All I’d care about would be saving her.”

“……”

– what a huge jump in logic. Though I suppose it’s not wrong…no, it still doesn’t feel right.

“Although – I guess we can’t really know exactly how the spider and the butterfly are feeling, huh? They probably have their own ideas about us too – why, if we go off what we’re saying, they might see us like a bolt of lightning! What do you think about that?”

“How should I put this…”

Hearing his companion’s reply, Sham fell into reflection.

Although he had been raised as a human by Huey, Sham knew full well that he was not one. And although he felt his mind to be the same as those of humans, there was no way to confirm this.

The one thing he was certain of was this: he was not human, merely a single consciousness inhabiting many bodies.

At the same time as he had been talking with Isaac, his many other pairs of feet continued to walk about, each one with their own lives and thoughts, all forming one large, collected memory.

Could such an odd, unnatural existence like that truly be said to comprehend humanity?

Countless questions troubled him, but Sham had no time to worry about them now.

Perhaps, if he was to humanity what the human was to the spider…then perhaps, it was possible that he resembled a lightning strike.

And if that was the case –

No matter whether lightning or earthquakes bear ill or good will towards humans, they always cause the same reactions – so if so, how have they really accomplished their point?

As it was, the stone he had pushed forward was already moving.

He had already decided to follow his own road –

However, a doubt still lingered in his heart.

Am I really qualified to decide how to use this power to help or hurt others?

His reason for talking to Isaac then, was because Sham had thought that he might find peace by speaking with someone who had affected so many lives –

But as their conversation went on, he only felt more and more at a loss.

“Oh, so sorry about that – we started out talking about god, didn’t we?”

“Ah…yes, that’s right, we did.”

“Right! So then – sorry, but what exactly was the question…?”

“Well, that is…alright, I’ll state it directly then.”

After all that, Sham decided he might as well try asking what was in his mind.

Having determined to vanquish his doubt once and for all, he now shared his thoughts with Isaac, a man who was today only alive through sheer dumb luck –

“Say that this god became attached to the idea of ‘lasting bonds.’ In order to get these people together, though, would require him to perform some miraculous event. All the while, however, he would have to do it, while keeping the fact that he’s not human from his friends.”

“Huh? He can’t even let his friends know what he is?”

“Because he’s afraid that if they find out, they wouldn’t be grateful – they’d be scared. So scared, that some of them might not even want to be friends with him anymore. In that case…what should he do?”

Sham felt he had put the situation in the simplest terms he could, but he still worried that Isaac would be unable to understand it.

But Isaac, after mulling over it for a moment, merely gave a simple answer.

“So why doesn’t this god just do what he thinks is best?”

“…”

Although Sham had already been half-expecting such an answer, he still couldn’t help but feel it was too simple. However, a feeling of unease still lingered – had Isaac truly understood what he was asking?

“Hey – I can understand how annoying it’d be to worry if people’ll hate you. I mean, each day, I worry how I’d go on if Miria didn’t like me!”

Isaac seemed truly troubled by this, a rare pensiveness appearing on his face

However, this expression only lingered a moment, as Isaac turned back to Sham.

“But, what this god wants is to help people connect with each other, right?”

“Ah? I suppose so.”

“Well then, that still doesn’t stop him from doing that!”

“…?”

Isaac’s sudden words threw Sham into chaos.

In the sudden silence, the only sound that could be heard was the clunk, clunk, clunk of the train vibrating beneath their feet.

Although Isaac’s answer seemed rather irrelevant, his next words helped Sham make a little more sense of his words.

“It doesn’t matter if other people hate them, after all, as long as they know what they’re doing is right! Anyways, if they didn’t help, but got found out anyway…that’d be even more awkward, wouldn’t it?”

Hearing Isaac’s childish yet oddly profound words, Sham felt a peace come over him.

“That’s right. In the end, if they did nothing, then things would get neither better nor worse.”

“I still don’t know if I get everything, but that sounds right!”

At Isaac’s unfounded guarantees, Sham couldn’t help but smile wryly.

I feel a little better after that.

Seeking a simple, scatter-brained man like Isaac Dent to ask – perhaps that had been the best choice, after all.

That was the sentiment slowly dawning on Sham now. And with it, he determined to continue talking with Isaac for the rest of the trip.

It doesn’t stop them from helping others…

 

What an odd way to think of it.

…

Although, come to think of it, I’m not really trying to help them –

               

Just to see how best I can use them.

 —

Same time

Chicago

An abandoned factory

A somber air enveloped the base of Jacuzzi’s gang.

Although it’d been hours since the gang’s arrival, the scarred boy who had thrown the bomb still showed no signs of waking up.

And with the police looking for them, there was no way anyone could find out what was happening, about the news. Effectively, they were trapped.

In this kind of atmosphere –

A sudden voice shattered the silence.

“Jacuzzi? Is Jacuzzi here?”

“Huh? Y-yes! I – I’m here –p-please don’t hit me!”

Seeing the ashen-face member of his  members throttling towards him, Jacuzzi instantly paled. Although the other gang members rarely touched him, he still instinctively flinched at their rough speech.

“Stupid! Who’d want to hit ya? Better be careful I don’t!”

“Ah – ah – aaaah!”

“Alright, alright, stop crying! I found ’em!”

“Aaah – huh? F…found what?  W-what did you find?”

Face alight with excitement, the boy now talking to Jacuzzi was one of the teenagers who’d originally joined up in New York. Although the events here had little to do with them, whether because out of boredom or worry for Jacuzzi, all those recruits had tagged along to Chicago.

And it was such a person now breathlessly reporting to Jacuzzi –

“Graham!”

“?”

At the mention of Graham’s name, Jacuzzi’s eyes widened.

Hearing Graham’s name, every head within the factory turned, the atmosphere instantly buzzing with anticipation.

“R-really? That’s fantastic! Let’s – let’s meet him right away! Where is he right now?”

Seeing the delight on Jacuzzi’s face, the boy hesitated a moment –

Then nervously continued, speaking quickly to get his news over with.

“Right ahead, there’s a store called Dolce – you know it?”

“Um, no…ah, well, I don’t think I’ve been there, but I think I’ve seen it. Is…is he there?”

“It’s a bar, real old-looking..and well, actually, I don’t know why, but…”

As he heard the messenger’s next words, Jacuzzi’s smile froze.

“Graham’s there, fightin’ to the death with a girl in a green dress and a guy who looks like a vampire!”

Chapter Four, 2/2

---

Notes

(1) Narita uses km (as does the rest of the world except the US), but miles are more natural to the US. So 100 km = roughly 60mph