Polynya

Chapter 5: A Scar is a Success Story

 

 

Morning comes faster than it should. A flashing icon tells Ryuk that a new episode of Flight Feet,フライトフィート, has been posted. He blinks his eyes open, happy that his room is slightly dark from thick curtains, and rolls to his side.

How did I get back to my bed? he wonders. His thoughts come to a halt as he recalls the Attla spider. A quick glance at the corner of his room and he sees that, at least at the moment, there are no digital spiders waiting to sink their fangs into his flesh.

He takes a breath and sits up, noticing that there is a box on his desk with the Proxima haptic gloves inside.

After a yawn, Ryuk blinks his eyes shut and begins his daily routine of checking Tritanian leaderboards. His attention falls back to Flight Feet. The blue-haired bombshell has recently finished leading her guild through Spider Skull Island. They are now outside the city of Waringtla, home to the Saiduka Giants.

A prompt from Hajime stirs his reverie.

Ryuk selects the strawberry covered honey toast and gets out of bed.

After a quick shower, most of which he spends playing a game of Pong over iNet with someone in his building, he enters the dining room area to find Hajime just finishing up on the toast.

“Did you see your Proxima Haptics? Rakuten delivered them while you were diving.”

“I sure did. I’ll deal with them after breakfast.”

“Good. Care for whipped cream?” Hajime asks, his hair pulled back into a tight bun. The humandroid wears a light blue apron with an image of Totoro on it. Pinned to the front of his apron is a button that says CHEF.

“Please, and where did you get the apron?”

“I’ve worn it before; you’ve just never noticed. I see you’ve slept well,” the humandroid says, his eyes dilating slightly.

“I did.”

He transfers the thick toast from the oven to the plate in front of Ryuk. He returns with the strawberries and whipped cream and adds it to the top.

“I made coffee for a change of pace. Care to have some?”

“Sure,” Ryuk says, just now noticing the smell of coffee. Was I really that lost in my own thoughts?

Hajime returns with a coffee and takes a seat in front of him.

“Um, are you going to watch me eat?”

“What else am I supposed to watch?” the humandroid asks. “Watching humans eat is interesting, to be honest. Some of you become quite animalistic once food is placed before you.”

With what Hajime has just said in mind, Ryuk slowly eats his toast, careful to cut each slice proportionally and making sure not to coat his face with whipped cream. He pauses before finishing the last bite. “What happened to the weapons from yesterday?”

A series of flashes come to Ryuk – Kodai holding a humgun and Gorira smashing into the apartment with a pistol; his brother falling through the coffee table; the scattering glass.

What an experience.

“I’ve put the weapons away for now.”

“In the drawer?” Ryuk looks to the drawer in question. “We may need them if he comes back.”

Hajime nods. “Yes, we may, although I have a feeling that when and if Kodai comes back, it will go poorly for both of us.”

“Then why don’t we leave? Why don’t we run?”

“Run where? It’s an odd situation we’ve found ourselves in. Your family’s men are protecting us downstairs. If they wanted to come at us, they could, right now actually. But they haven’t and they won’t. Similarly, if we leave in a way that raises suspicion, they may come after us. Then again, maybe they won’t.”

“So we are under house arrest?”

The humandroid smiles. “If we wanted to leave, I believe we could. So no, we aren’t under house arrest. I do, however, see this situation escalating.”

“I need to log in,” Ryuk says, in place of anything better to say. When in doubt, escape. There really is no other mantra for a gamer.

“And there goes your monkey mind. Like a monkey, your mind goes from tree to tree, rather than dealing with the situation at hand.”

“I’m dealing with stuff in there too, in Tritania. You, of all people, should know this.”

Hajime nods, considering what Ryuk has just said. “Okay then, what are your plans for today?”

“To get to Polynya, the second floating continent, and try to get into contact with my old guild. It’s not going to be easy. For one, there’s been an attack on the capital city of Porthos so the gates are closed.”

“And what do you hope to gain from contacting them?”

“Advice and hopefully some assistance before things really get out of hand.” Ryuk’s face hardens. “Tamana doesn’t know about NPCs being able to take humandroid bodies. I never discussed this with her when she was with us. But if the Shinigami find out, I do believe our world, this world, will be in for some real trouble.”

“I see.”

Ryuk recalls the serpent woman behind the golden door. “There are other things happening in Tritania too, which may relate to all this.”