"…Tony — and his mother." He wrote this on the bottom line of the first page and closed the red notebook.
Then he put out his cigarette, cupped his face in his hands, and leaned back against the sofa.
He stayed like that for about twenty minutes, not even hearing the music playing in the background.
Quite a lot had happened in recent days, and his mind was preoccupied with too many things.
'I hope they're taking good care of you… and feeding the cat,' he thought finally, and, sighing, stood up.
"Got a lot to deal with today… Paymax, let's run a check. Sensors at the building entrance?"
"Apart from your appearance last night with a new acquaintance, nothing out of the ordinary."
"When will the solitium synthesis be complete?"
"You'll be able to use it by the end of this week."
"The secret to the puzzle?"
"There's too little available information, so there are many possibilities. To narrow them down and solve it, you need to interact with it more often."
"The delivery of your copy to the girl?"
"It's already with the recipient."
"Oh... Okay. What's the status with the client? Did you manage to find anything on him?"
"…Partially. This case is very unusual, and the approach to it must be appropriate."
"Do you need help?"
"I'm glad you asked. Upon reaching the Diamond rank, you've gained access to official meetings with faction leaders, as well as entry to the Neocorp tower. Most likely, the investigation will progress significantly if you take advantage of these privileges."
"Got it, I'll think about it. And what's in my inbox… Actually, never mind."
"…Are you really not going to ask about anything else? Anything in particular?"
"You know… Yeah, I am."
"Great. Given the time, I recommend you start…"
"How much money is in my account?" he asked, as if not noticing Paymax's hints.
"After renewing the lease on this apartment and the one below for another month, you have 58,400 Concord credits left in your account."
Feeling warmth on his face, he glanced out the window and realized the sun was shining directly on him. It made him smile a little.
"Life is good after all."
For the next hour, he browsed through catalogs of new motorcycles, eating a vegetable salad, and just passed the time talking with Paymax.
…
"Hmm, so that place where I rescued the girl—the Concord wastelands—is really part of that area with the blast craters I noticed on your body?"
"That's exactly right. That area really did become one of the battlefields of the greatest war of the Peaks in modern history."
"So that's the real reason Dirty Baals settled there. They joined the Scavengers and are collecting what the dunes hide beneath them. And there, maybe…"
"The remains of thousands of other Ryskars. And also something far more powerful and terrifying," Paymax finished for him.
"Wow…"
The realization hit him, and he touched the amulet that always hung around his neck—the claw of that very Ryskar.
"Iron Heart was indeed a powerful Peak of Knowledge, and in his time, his army of steel beasts numbered in the millions." After fully repairing Paymax, the title of the former Peak of Knowledge—Emperor of Machines—shifted to the more commonly accepted name: Iron Heart. "But beyond the profit the Scavengers make from extracting debris from the sand, there's another reason. Rumor has it that the mysterious entrance to the Pit is located there."
"So that's how it is… S-shit." A sharp pain suddenly erupted in his head.
It was as if his brain was trying to surface something, but the pain was blocking that impulse.
As if something was forcing him to forget.
Not to know.
"D-damn, okay, let's drop that subject. So, how's it going with…"
"Mr. Nobody."
"When is… the concert? I heard there's going to be some concert or whatever…"
"Mr. Nobody, you have a message from your broker, Marcel."
"Damn it, let's just go out and buy a motorcycle today…"
"Mr. Nobody, in accordance with directive three, I am required to protect and ensure the well-being of my user. Marcel is asking if you will be participating in today's Selection."
"How the hell is that supposed to help my well-being?!" He snapped, knocking another mug of coffee off the table. "Why should that help me?!"
"Because you forbid yourself from even thinking about it and stare at the notebook with the names of those you've killed every minute. You're doing the same thing you did to that little girl… Only this time, you're trying to deceive not her, but yourself. In most cases, that's usually how it goes with things that would actually help you."
"You don't understand… In this case, it's not that simple." He leaned back against the sofa and pressed his hands to his face. "You didn't see those visions from yesterday. I don't want a future like that under any circumstances… You don't know who I really am. I shouldn't be… I… I'm a villain, Paymax."
"That's just the role you want to play."
"Paymax… I'm a villain. I have to be one."
"…"
For a few seconds, the advanced AI fell silent. Perhaps its friendly mode wasn't high enough to provide the right answer, or maybe it was genuinely pondering the question.
But in the end, it managed to respond exactly as needed.
"In that case, Mr. Nobody…"
"...?"
"…Then be a villain."
"…"
"But today, try to convince not yourself… but everyone else."
Evening had fallen in Concord.
There were two hours left until the Selection of the worthy to become the Champion of Dream.
…
'People need hope... They need to know someone will come for them.'
"…What the hell is that even supposed to mean, old man?"
For some reason, Marcel's words kept looping in his head right now.
"Paymax, I'll agree to go there on one condition only. I cannot win. No matter what. Make sure I don't."
"…May I ask why that's the condition?"
"A goal. They say every person should have one… But no one knows what it really means."
He sighed and walked over to a shelf filled with various items.
"It reminds me of cyclists who dare to take on an extreme downhill run. Once you pick up speed, there's no turning back. Make one mistake — and you crash into hell. During the descent, adrenaline takes over. You don't look around. You only see the road ahead. And when you finally reach that long-awaited success… you're overwhelmed by a euphoria you can't even describe."
"…"
"But only at the very end do you realize… Right past the finish line — there's a cliff. And your brakes? Already gone. That's what a goal looks like to me."
"I'm sorry, I don't quite understand what that's supposed to mean…"
Mr. Nobody didn't answer. Walking over to the bookcase, he stroked a figurine of a gray cat with black ears.
*Pshh…!* Activating a hidden mechanism, the bookcase began to shift, revealing behind it…
"Tonight… something truly horrifying will happen," he whispered with a smile on his face and reached for it.
Behind the bookcase, draped over a mannequin, was a cloak. A black cloak… but it was anything but ordinary.
It was a cloak that perfectly matched the one he had seen on the statue during in his first moments in the Pit.
The cloak of the most terrifying villain he had ever known.
It was Big Brother's cloak.