What a Dog of a World
After leaving Salvador Ortega's office in the mercenary agency, Miki wanted to bolt from Eden right away. From the four people's conversation, she'd realized she'd gotten tangled in something enormous. A group even Salvador didn't know about. Just as she'd become aware of their existence, they must have noticed she'd caught on. And on top of that, she hadn't even heard that Topher was alive. Until now, Miki had lived solely for Topher's revenge. She was still stubbornly insisting he was just missing, but deep down, she'd quietly accepted her brother's death. But now her brother was alive, thriving out in the Wasteland no less. There was no reason not to leave Eden. The Wasteland was a brutal place? That kind of thing wouldn't sway Miki's decision. The days when she'd soaked bread scavenged from trash cans in rainwater had been harder, and the time since thinking her brother was dead had been far more agonizing. And if she was going to die anyway, better to do it by her brother's side. With that in mind, Miki set out to leave Eden, heading to her office first to grab some useful items for Topher since going empty-handed felt wrong. Soo let her go without complaint, even promising to see her off to the Wasteland on her return. ...Of course, she forgot two days later. Anyway, they'd parted on good terms, so who could've guessed they'd meet again like this.
"Miki."
Soo tilted her head at the sight of Miki with a gun barrel pressed to her temple.
"You know her?"
Miki's pupils trembled violently. Was now really the time to ask that? One wrong word from her lips, and her head would get a nice hole punched through it—did they really expect an answer...? And what if she did say she knew her? Would they just brush it off and do what they came to do? Sure, she had no obligation to save someone she'd only met recently, and begging for rescue would be shameless as hell...! But still, asking like that felt kinda off... not cool to tease a person like this...
"Hey."
Miki didn't get a chance to respond.
"Is this bitch your buddy? If you wanna save your buddy, drop your weapons and get on the ground. Cough up the safe's password too, and I'll let you three live."
"The safe?"
Miki must've bluffed that they knew the safe's code to buy a little time. A shining moment for Miki, who ran an errand center without any real muscle.
"Don't play dumb—the bitch already spilled everything. No point denying you're buddies, right?"
The man pressing the gun to Miki's head growled. Soo started to reply in her usual languid tone.
"Miki's a friend’s litt—"
"Do you even know what this bitch has been up to?!"
Not giving Soo a chance to speak, the man bellowed. He was an impatient hothead.
"This goddamn bitch got my only brother chopped to pieces!"
"I see."
"And that's not all! The guy right next to me lost his little sister to a terrorist attack. The one behind had his sworn brother croaked!"
"I see."
"And this one looks fine now, but his heart's fucked—he won't last a year before he kicks it!!"
"I see."
"And you're still gonna save your buddy? You call this kind of bitch a buddy?!"
The nameless man spat his rage, flecks of saliva flying. Soo stared at him blankly and shook her head.
"Miki's not our buddy."
"...What?"
The man was momentarily stunned. If she was gonna lie about not being buddies, why act like she knew her? How could someone be so brazen!
"Don't give me that bullshit!"
"Miki's my friend's little sister."
"Isn't that the same as a buddy?"
"The buddies are these two."
It was true she wasn't a buddy, but drawing such a hard line made Miki's heart ache a bit... That calm voice and expression suggested she'd decided not to help after all.
...What a dogshit world.
Miki had driven people to their deaths, but she had her own grievances. As a mere errand broker—not a full connector—she only hired the worst criminals. After one or two jobs, trust built up; after three or four deals, they let their guard down. On the fifth errand, Miki sent them to their doom. The idiot who'd gotten nabbed by Soo's group was slated for "use" on the next job too. So the mercenaries holding guns to her head now were the same scum. The one whose brother died had reveled in slaughter with him; the one whose sister got caught in a terrorist attack was part of a psycho sibling duo who murdered families; the heart patient was a cannibal bitch. By plan, these three should've died too, but they'd somehow survived.
Wonder if that's their doing too...
The shadowy group that planted malware in Miki to lure out Enoch and Soo. Maybe they'd set this up to kill her now. That's why these must-kill bastards were back alive, guns trained on her.
"Ha, fuck..."
Miki let out a hollow laugh. When Enoch and Soo showed up, she'd accepted death; hearing her brother was alive had pushed that acceptance far away. She'd started clawing for life again, and now death was knocking once more.
"Nothing goes my way in this dogshit world."
She voiced what she'd mulled over in her head a hundred times. It didn't bring relief. Since things had gone this far, maybe drag one down with her—the one she'd originally planned to kill. Even with her arms bound, dislocating a shoulder could let her stab one's heart with the dagger implant in her forearm. That's when she moved to activate it.
"They were all heinous criminals."
Clack—sharp heel strikes echoed.
"The fifty-seven dead so far, and these three in front of me—all heinous criminals. Lowlifes scraping by on the edge of the law."
Blue light flared in Angela's eyes. The same color sparks erupted from the three surrounding Miki.
"Lucky."
Enoch's afterimage slithered forward.
"Yeah, lucky."
Soo beamed. A fresh breeze seemed to blow from her smile. Miki's indigo hair fluttered softly.
"If they weren't, Miki might've taken a bullet."
Criminals made it easy. That whisper reached only Miki's ears. The other mercenaries didn't hear.
Bang—crisp gunshot.
Schwick—flesh and bone sliced clean.
Crackle—neural circuits burned out and shattered, filling their heads.
Screams rang out. Blood sprayed. Curses poured. It didn't last long.
When Miki opened her eyes, a girl with moonlight at her back extended a hand.
"Miki."
"...Ah."
Miki took it, entranced.
"You owe me office cleaning now."
"...Ah?"
"We'll handle the bodies."
Miki's face went blank, like she'd been smacked silly.
"Finish by 11 a.m. tomorrow. That's when we bring your stuff."
That was it. No tearful reunion, no pep talk, no warm comfort. Soo grinned like she'd scored a steal and turned away.
"I'll grab burgers for breakfast. Fighting."
Soo's silhouette against the moonlight was breathtakingly beautiful.
*****
"Soo, do you have no heart for people...?"
"I'm a dragon."
Soo stretched languidly under the full moon as she walked briskly ahead.
"Shouldn't we go back and help now? Even so, just tossing cleaning supplies feels..."
"This way, it'll actually ease Miki's mind."
Despite the gunshots, screams, and dying gasps, the alley stayed quiet. Angela smiled wryly as she scanned it and asked,
"What do you think of Miki's personality, Enoch?"
"...Dunno about the rest, but her pride's sky-high."
He didn't know how she'd acted in front of Salvador, but she'd faced death with composure. Especially pulling that dagger at the end—pure venom.
"Right. Someone who'd overextend to repay a one-sided debt like this."
Prideful but powerless. Enoch knew well what fate awaited such people in Eden. He'd been there before meeting Soo.
"That's why Soo gave her this small task—to lighten the load."
Enoch glanced at Soo. She gazed up at the moon, nearly lost in the neon glow.
"Soo."
Her drowsy eyes turned to him.
"Hypothetical."
"Yeah."
"If Miki Ebner had used innocent mercenaries as errand boys too... what then?"
"Hmhm..."
Soo smiled faintly, hands behind her back, and tottered over to Enoch and Angela. She eyed them both before speaking slowly.
"Wouldn't change a thing."
Soo would've saved Miki anyway. Tossed her a broom, mop, bucket, and set her to cleaning. Come morning, she'd bring cheeseburger sets to eat together. Nothing changed because she was Topher's sister.
"I'm not Eden's absolute justice."
Didn't want to be. The world wasn't black and white. Everyone had different pasts, beliefs. Each with their own colors—why split them in two? Beyond arrogant, Soo didn't want that. She wanted to respect each person's unique beauty.
"Just follow my heart, do what I want. As long as it doesn't cross my line."
She stepped closer, tail swishing, and smiled prettily with neon and moonlight behind her.
"So whatever you two do, I'll stay on your side to the end."
That ticklish smile, swaying tail, softly curved eyes, whispering voice—it all wove into something sweet and breezy, but it weighed heavy on Enoch and Angela. They exchanged bitter smiles and moved forward.
"Gotta live right."
"Can't go crooked, for Soo's sake."
"Then late-night snacks—burgers?"
Soo slipped between them, stepping lightly.
"Burgers for dinner and burgers for snacks?"
"Yeah. Burgers don't make you fat."
"Burgers don't fatten you up. You do that yourself."
"Huh, now that you mention it, Soo—your tail looks a bit chubby, no?"
"Tail's cool, so it's fine."
Moonlight shone a touch brighter than the neon on their path ahead.
*****
Angela, who'd fallen asleep beside Soo, woke to a soft knock.
"...Who is it?"
As she asked, she hacked the door CCTV.
"I'm Yoo Seung-ah, team leader of ECPD Central Investigation Division Team 8. I need to confirm a few things related to the Martin Etmuller murder. Mind cooperating briefly?"
There stood a woman in a beige suit, stiff as a board. The detective who'd been fired up searching the Kaleido Building.