"Huh? Freya, you're sitting here?"
The sitting girl in front of me looks behind her, attempting to see who addressed her.
It's Anna. A tray sits in her clutches, adorned with more or less the same food items as my plate. A cheerful face is also adorned on her face, seemingly her default expression.
The same way the others seemed shocked at Anna's melancholic demeanor earlier, I've begun to instantiate a similar feeling due to Anna's now cheerful appearance. Although, it's nothing really to make heavy of. She's just changed her face, probably because she's accepted the circumstances of my memory loss.
"Yeah…"
"Huh, that's weird. Usually newer people would do the prying with you, but I guess today's opposite day."
Can we please comment on how Anna's already sitting next to me?
The ginger-haired girl sets her plate down next to mine, sighing.
"Man, that wait was so long! I really should have come earlier!" She says as she picks up her fork.
"What were you doing?" Freya asks.
"Old man Mjolnir called me into the meeting room with a bunch of Forctyr Chiefs that belonged to other branches. They fired so many questions at me, I think I'll go insane if I ever hear a sentence with a question mark at the end." She sighs.
"About what?" I ask.
Anna holds her lip shut.
"About your memory loss, mister!" Anna exclaims, poking me on the nose. "You should be real glad I knew you so well, or else you'd be in a mental hospital rather than Forctyr barracks!"
"?" I tilt my head.
"The only reason you can continue serving in this Forctyr branch is because of me knowing you prior to your memory loss. I know habits, abilities…" The girl begins muttering the rest.
"Is that the only reason?" Freya raises an eyebrow.
"... No. They also deemed Axel free because prior to entering Asgard, and after being attacked, you were given a field test and passed with flying colors. We also need all the hands on deck because of the arising situation near the city's borders."
Looks like all that studying paid off. Prior to entering Asgard, I studied about four thousand pages worth of foundational guides, penal codes, tactical manuals, and leadership texts. It was sleepless. But I managed to get past the barriers.
I can't lie, a part of me dreaded the whiplash after I stated I lost my memory to Anna, so it's nice to see it didn't result in any substantial suspicion against me. Don't get me wrong, there are definitely some raised eyebrows, but I don't think it'll boil any further. Still, I can understand why the superiors are confused as to why I let a lower ranked member know about my memory loss before them.
From this point I just need to assume the position of any old officer.
Wait.
A question surges to the forefront of my mind.
"Why are all the different branches of Forctyr asking about me? Don't they need to worry about their own branches?"
"..."
I want to raise my voice, but I risk breaking character. Axel was soft-spoken.
My teeth begin grinding against each other. The sound of grating scratches along the recesses of my inner body.
Are they all suspicious of me? Is it just one person? Do they know my real identity? How? How did I slip up?
"Axel, are you all right?"
No, no, of course they suspect me. I'm someone from outside the city that transferred inside during a time of high unrest. There's probably hundreds of Gazers with functions that allow them to steal someone's appearance.
Why haven't they done any extra tests on me? Isn't there some kind of magical mind reader? Come to think of it, why do they trust me so much? Do they know? Do they know what I am?
My eyes travel to the crude revolver on my waist.
My eyes vibrate in my skull, widening. The reason why I'm so paranoid was because I told Anna that I lost my memories. Had I never said anything and merely used DD, I could go off the information I attained and use it.
If I just….
My fingers reach towards the weapon.
Then I can do it all over.
No!
I pull my arm back to the table.
The reason why they trust me was because of Loki. Loki tampered with their memories, I need to keep that in mind. They will still suspect me, but at a far lesser level than if Loki were to let me infiltrate without the precautions. As for the memory thing, they contemplated the fact that I scored with flying colors.
I've got to keep my cool.
"Sorry, just had a headache. They've been periodically coming in, and they're a pain to deal with." I say, scratching my head as I smile.
Anna and Freya look at each other, then at me.
"Are you fine now?" Anna says, concerned. "I can take you to the in-"
"I'm good, great even." I chirp back.
"Oh. Well, answering your question regarding all Forctyr branches present, it's because we, the commercial branch, have had a lot of men gone missing within the past few weeks. Actually, a day before you came, we lost another one of our men."
Anna says as she dangles her fork, a piece of lettuce attached to it.
She places it in her mouth before swallowing. "How much do you remember about the four districts, or branches of Forctyr, Axel?"
"Hm, I recall there being Commercial, War, Royal, and Espionage."
Anna gazes at Freya for a moment, who returns the same look. It's a surprised look.
"I honestly find it surprising that I remember more about my job than my own personal memories, haha." I chuckle.
No response.
Anna sighs.
"Well, back to answering your question; Because of the various disappearances, the senators responsible for Forctyr, along with the great Thor, decided to appoint Chief Gunnar of the espionage branch here at the commercial branch."
"He's actually the one that called me over."
Huh?
"—I heard he figured out the identity of the Angle Killer by just by studying the pattern he used to hack at his victims with." A voice suddenly says from behind me.
Scout stands behind me, a smile on his face. In his hands is the same as everyone else, a tray of food.
"May I sit?" He asks.
I nod.
Scout walks over to the seat next to me, then sits down. His tray moves along with him, creating a slight metallic ringing sound as it makes contact with the surface of the table. His hair bobs behind him.
"Yeah, that's true. Chief Gunnar is the top of the line when it comes to criminal investigation. Without him, we'd be a lot worse off!" Anna chirps.
Scout nods. "It brings me ease a bit, knowing that our branch, which has been recently tainted with death, may be cleaned slightly."
Identity. Investigator. Shit.
This is turning into a death note situation, isn't it?
I haven't done anything yet, and there's no need for me to kill anyone right now. As long as I continue my duties as a Forctyr officer, there's no room for error. That much is obvious. But what's wracking my nerves is the inevitable questioning from this Gunnar.
If he's truly a smart one, he'll obviously start with questioning me. He's already questioned Anna. I'm the newest one in here, along with himself. Hm, maybe I can use that fact to my advantage. Anyway, he's going to bring me in and question me for sure. I presume it's going to be testing my 'memory loss'. Hopefully he doesn't have any sort of mind reading ability like Scout, or that'll be an issue.
Though, this is all hypothetical. His target isn't me, it's the cause of the missing disappearances. I'm only concocting these ideas based on the possibility that he'll somehow link me to the disappearances.
I've got little to no information about the guy, so making any further planning is going to be difficult.
"What questions did he ask about me?" I ask, trying to hide the frown on my face.
Anna keeps the fork in her mouth as she gazes up, as if the answer was written on the ceiling. I'm a bit embarrassed to say I looked up as well.
"He asked whether you responded to specific shades of yellow and green."
"Huh?"
"That's what he asked; if you began showing signs of physical discomfort around those specific colors and shades. Signs included grating teeth, tearing up, and vomiting."
I glance away as my eyebrows furrow.
"Huh, that's weird. I mutter."
Those are clearly unnatural reactions.
Wait.
"Scout, what do you know about the disappearances?"
"Hm, that's quite the jump from the previous topic."
"Ah, sorry. Since I've lost my memory, I'd like to fill myself with as much information as I can."
"I see. Well, the one thing that has remained a constant is that disappearances occur after sunset. Another thing that is noteworthy is that about eighty percent of missing persons consist of women, particularly between the ages of 14-25. Men have gone missing as well, but it is a disproportionate amount."
"I see."
Scout's empty eyes travel downwards along with his head.
"It really is a shame. Asgard was once known as the land of Heroes, yet nowadays, they are all absorbed in their own worlds. They can no longer think together as a collective, but as individuals. I pray that they recognize the severity of this situation, and devise an appropriate solution to end it."
"I guess that's how people end up when you give them too much independence…" Anna notes as she continues eating.
"That's not true."
All heads turn towards me.
"That just isn't true. Individuality is important. One of the most important things about a person."
"But there's a limit, no? That is what Anna had said. There is a certain limit of independence people may get." Scout elaborates.
"Even then, I still don't agree. Stripping people of their individuality just makes people mindless drones to society. It removes any sense of agency whatsoever. You strip people of purpose…"
"Isn't purpose given to one by others? How would one know about their purpose if others did not tell them?"
"..."
"I-I don't think we should get into fights." Freya nervously mutters.
"Oh, we're not fighting."
Both me and Scout say at the same time.
We glance at each other.
He laughs.
"I like someone who challenges my view points. It allows me to broaden the horizons of my own views better." He chuckles. "Thank you."
Thank you? What does he mean?
At this point, everyone's done eating, our discussions coming to a close. Around us, various Forctyr officers get up from their tables, placing their trays on a nearby bin of sorts. The sounds of footsteps begin accompanying the chatter that previously existed.
"Man… I'm stuffed… let's go for ice cream…" Anna says, her voice as full as her stomach.
"A contradiction within the same sentence…" Freya mutters.
"I am full, but Jokull's transcends sapient understanding, so you can't apply the concept of fullness to it." After patting her belly, Anna stands up and stretches her back, arching it.
"Well, I-If we go, I'm not letting you have any of my own like last time!" Freya says as she also stands up, tray in hand. "I'll stand my ground!"
"Aww, you're so cute Freya, thinking you can claim independence from me!" Anna squeals, grabbing the raven-haired girl's cheeks.
"Mugyuu!"
Scout stands up, tray in hand. "Well, if we do head for ice cream, we should leave as soon as possible, lest Karl decides to tag along with us."
A collective shudder is visible throughout the group.
"Wait… Haa…" Anna suddenly groans as she slaps her forehead.
"What is it?" Scout asks, walking around the table.
"I forgot I've got a security detail at Bjorn academy in an hour…"
"Can't you just use your accumulated hours? How long is the shift?" Freya asks.
"Six hours. But that isn't the only reason…"
"What is it?" Scout adds.
"Litwich wants to go out for drinks, and I kind of promised him…"
"I see."
"..."
"Well, we should be heading right now, then. The earlier we go, the earlier we'll return. I'll invite Litwich as well."
"All righty!" The girl strikes a pose, before picking up her tray. "We've still got time."
The trio walk away from the bench, carrying their trays in hand. It's clear they're all headed to throw away their trays and go to whatever ice cream store they're talking about. From this view, the size difference is kind of interesting.
Freya is the smallest, Anna is in the middle, and Scout is the tallest. Reminds me of a babushka doll.
Okay, back to prioritize.
My thoughts return to my body, my hands clasping against each other as I assume a thinking position.
My goal is to find either Huginn or Muninn, the sole reason why Sable Veil can't enter Asgard. I don't know if it's classified information, so I need to dig myself a little deeper into the organization. What I mean by that is involving myself a bit further and earn the trust of individuals, preferably higher ranked ones.
That's IF their location is classified, which I assume is, given that they're the boundary separating the city from annihilation.
Hm, I could somehow get the information if I–
"Axel!"
My head perks in the direction my 'name' is called.
Anna stands amongst the crowd, which heads in the opposite direction she faces. She waves her hand, as if to further cement her presence amongst the rest of her compatriots. A bright smile is spread across her face.
Scout stands next to her, as well as Freya.
"You coming?!" She calls out.
Me?
Is she talking to me?
I point at myself, dumbfounded.
Is she seriously inviting me to go… hang out with them? Someone that could very well be a complete stranger? What in the world?
"Who else has the name Axel?" She giggles.
I stand in my seat, still surprised.
No, no, don't be so shocked Kaito. They're probably inviting you as a way of testing to see if you're really the real deal. Yes, that's right, this is another test. What else could be the reason?
Well, two can play at that game. I can use this as an opportunity to gain information bout the whereabouts of Odin's crows.