"This is ARCH Elimination Unit B, requesting backup!"
⠀
The transceiver on Antollio's desk crackled hard enough that he could hear the static through the walls of his office.
⠀
"The KKA ARCH has entered the 6th District! It's approaching HQ fast! I don't have anything against this colossal beast! I repeat, suitcase empty!!"
⠀
The transmission cut out.
⠀
For a moment, Antollio said nothing.
⠀
Then the transceiver sparked again.
⠀
"ARCH Elimination Unit B Captain speaking. Without Unit A, we won't be able to save anyone."
⠀
Antollio leaned back in his chair.
⠀
"We're retreating and converting our mission to observation. Don't worry..."
⠀
There was a brief pause on the other end.
⠀
"I'll make something beautiful out of the grief."
⠀
The transceiver turned off.
⠀
Antollio stared at it.
⠀
"...Good grief."
⠀
He rested his elbow against the arm of his chair and propped his cheek against his hand.
⠀
Units A and B couldn't take down Gun.
⠀
That wasn't pessimism. It wasn't even an underestimated assessment of their abilities. Antollio had seen both units in action. He knew what they could do, what they couldn't do.
⠀
Gun was enormous.
⠀
Gun was dangerous.
⠀
Gun was, in almost every measurable sense, a problem.
⠀
"...?"
⠀
The office door slammed open.
⠀
Antollio's eyes moved toward it.
⠀
A young woman in an Argus Directorates uniform stood in the doorway, breathing hard.
⠀
"Mr. Galinozi, sir!" Selia exclaimed, saluting her Post Director.
⠀
"Selia?"
⠀
"The Gun ARCH is on its way to our Post!"
⠀
"Yes."
⠀
"Sir, Unit B has already retreated. Our Captain says we don't have enough people to—"
⠀
"Selia."
⠀
She stopped.
⠀
"Yes, sir?"
⠀
Antollio's voice hadn't changed.
⠀
"Unit A Captain," he said, straightening Selia out instinctively. "You do know I only tell the truth, right?"
⠀
"Yes, I do, sir."
⠀
"This morning, I told you to stay with your unit."
⠀
Selia's expression tightened.
⠀
"I told you you'd be needed today."
⠀
He tilted his head.
⠀
"Why didn't you follow my orders?"
⠀
"I..."
⠀
"Were they unclear?"
⠀
"No, sir."
⠀
"Then?"
⠀
Selia looked down.
⠀
"I only thought—"
⠀
A thin line of golden light passed through her head.
⠀
The sentence never finished.
⠀
Her body hit the floor with a dull thud. Antollio watched her for a moment. He didn't look angry or surprised.
⠀
Just tired. So. Tired.
⠀
"Looks like I'll need to rearrange some people's positions."
⠀
His eyes drifted toward the transceiver.
⠀
"That's a problem for tomorrow..."
⠀
He snapped his fingers.
⠀
Selia disappeared.
⠀
Not just her body, but the blood, the footprints, the slight dent she'd left in the door when she'd thrown it open.
⠀
Even the chair she'd nearly knocked over on her way inside returned to exactly where it had been.
⠀
Antollio looked around his office. Nothing had happened.
⠀
That's how the Truth works.
⠀
Argus Directorate ARCH Elimination Unit B Incident Report #1
ARCH: Gun
Threat Level: KKA (까)
Ability: Takes the form of an amalgamation of guns and metal. Can shoot infinite amounts of bullets. The 9th bullet fired will always result in the death of all nearby civilians. Elegies or people with intense ARCH resonance are immune to this attack.
Weight: 2,894~ tons
Height: 5882.71 cm
⠀
The following is an accurate report on the actions of ARCH "Gun" from 12 & 29 past midnight to 12 & 34 past midnight:
⠀
12&29&00: Gun enters 6th District.
⠀
12&29&03: Gun fires 3 bullets at nearby pedestrians, killing 562.
⠀
12&29&10: Gun begins to move toward Daeun Elementary School.
⠀
12&30&53: Gun arrives at Daeun Elementary School.
⠀
12&30&55: Gun fires 5 bullets into the school, killing 1,549 students, 161 staff, and approximately 253 unknown bodies(?).
⠀
12&31&00: Gun fires 1 bullet into the sky, killing 73,856 and 4,682 unknown bodies(?).
⠀
12&33&38: Young man (victim) approaches Gun, shouting.
⠀
12&33&55: Gun bows down to the young man (victim) and dissipates.
⠀
12&34&00: Young man (victim) collapses.
⠀
List of Deceased in Incident:
Thomas Stewart
Aiko Tanaka
Mateo Alvarez
Leila Haddad
Jackson Collins
Jamal Osei
Joshua Murphy
Freya Sørensen
Dmitri Volkov
Priya Sharma
Luca Moretti
Zahra Al-Saadi
Elias Bergström
Hana Nguyen
Malik Danjuma
Sienna Ellis
Sofía Rivas
Amir Farhadi
Giana Ramsey
Kiara Johnson
Tenzin Dorji
Cassandra Morales
Josh Lee
Nikhil Patel
Eamon O'Rourke
Angelique Gardner
Madeleine Cereno
Finn Atkinson
Elias Calkins
Selam Tesfaye
Ayumi Kobayashi
Jaxon Miller
Liyun Zhao
Sanaa Belkacem
Carlos Mendes
Haruto Fujimoto
Esther Baek
Samuel Okonkwo
Mireille Fontaine
Leo Griffith
Zahid Rahman
Ivana Petrovic
Marisol Vega
Kaito Yamashita
Anika Khan
Rowan Clarke
Fatimah Al-Hariri
Thierry Kouassi
Naomi Feldman
Gideon Weiss
Layla Abadi
Tobias Madsen
Thandiwe Khoza
Marcus Pietersen
Rosalie Becker
Nasser Al-Qadir
Irina Sokolova
Miguel Santiago
Dae-Hyun Park
Aya Ben-David
Rohan Desai
Tatiana Smirnova
João Ribeiro
Eun-Ji Kim
Henry Thompson
Amina Yusuf
Kenji Sakamoto
Rose Dupont
Imani Mbatha
Jorge Castillo
Isolde Reinhardt
Farid El-Amin
Keisha Robinson
Junpei Nishimura
Malik Washington
Mireya Solís
Yukiko Mori
Isaac Barton
Siti Nurhaliza
Rahul Banerjee
Diego Navarro
Nadia Bashir
Nate Dave
Luis Sandoval
Stefan Popescu
Mei Lin
Nikolai Orlov
Carmen Ruiz
Abdulrahman Khalil
Lisa Kappel
Kai Henderson
Rika Watanabe
Sergio Luna
Hafsa Chaudhry
Liam Walsh
Chinedu Onu
Brigitte Schäfer
Arman Nazari
Emiliana Costa
Takumi Arai
Aaliyah Greene
Bashir Ibrahim
Soraya Khatibi
Alejandro Torres
Min-Soo Choi
Nuria García
Trevor Knight
Zainab Qureshi
Remy Laurent
Adisa Adeyemi
Keanu Silva
Xinyi Huang
Omar Benyoussef
Valentina Garza
Qiang Ng
Pavel Zaitsev
Maya Boudreaux
Jibril Mahmud
Aoife Byrne
Kana Suzuki
Leonid Petrovski
Nubia Afolayan
Matteo Romano
Yui Shirosaki
Jackson Rivera
Nour El-Rashid
Thiago Costa
Sanae Fujikawa
Saif Mirza
Helena Brandt
Kwame Mensah
Gabriela Nascimento
Rei Ueda
Veronica Silva
Jae-Ho Kwon
Khaled Abdelkarim
Lila Stone
Oskar Jensen
Anesu Moyo
Mirella Conti
Hiroshi Nakahara
Aminah Noor
Caleb Ortiz
Daria Kuznetsova
Chloé Martin
Waleed Al-Mansour
Ingrid Dahl
Roberto Castillo
Xiaoming Li
Yara Moura
Samson Okeke
Elodie Marchand
Rami Barakat
Fiona Gallagher
Haruka Minami
Linus Berg
Kiana Farrokhzad
Omar Sheikh
Daniela Contreras
Emeka Eze
Bahiyyah Moghadam
Andrej Pavlov
Tariro Ncube
Brandon Pruitt
Kian Ng
Cynthia Burns
Karlie Woodard
Isabel Pearce
Russell Wyn
...
⠀
The Fixer, standing beside Antollio, shifted his weight. "Oh, sir," he said, with an anxious expression on his face, "that's the final part. You don't have to read the names of all the deceased."
⠀
"I know," Antollio said, raising his head from the document.
⠀
The Fixer blinked. Antollio closed the report.
⠀
"And this is the only report of the incident?"
⠀
"Yes, sir."
⠀
"The other recorders were all killed in action, sir. I hope that's not a problem."
⠀
"Did anyone in Unit B die?"
⠀
"No, sir."
⠀
"Then there's no problem."
⠀
Antollio set the report down.
⠀
"Thank you."
⠀
He looked toward the door.
⠀
"Could you bring the boy here?"
⠀
"The boy?"
⠀
"The one who approached Gun."
⠀
"Oh."
⠀
The Fixer seemed to understand why he'd been called in now.
⠀
"Yes, sir."
⠀
He left.
⠀
Antollio waited until the door closed before looking at the report again.
⠀
There was something wrong with it.
⠀
Not the numbers or the casualty count... Not even the unidentified bodies.
⠀
The problem was the final three entries.
⠀
A boy approached.
⠀
Gun bowed and dissipated.
⠀
The boy collapsed.
⠀
Three sentences.
⠀
Just three short sentences.
⠀
Antollio rested his fingers against the page.
⠀
"What did you do?"
⠀
The report, naturally, didn't answer.
⠀
He sighed.
⠀
"Barony."
⠀
The name left Antollio's lips almost casually. Then the office was gone.
⠀
It wasn't destroyed or abandoned; it was absent from his mind and body, as though it had never existed in his reality at all.
⠀
Antollio stood beneath an endless golden sky, reflected in the shallow, golden water.
⠀
There was no ceiling, no floor that he could properly distinguish, and no horizon to separate one from the other. Gold stretched in every direction, impossibly calm, filling the space with a warmth that never quite reached the body.
⠀
Antollio stepped forward.
⠀
The water moved around his shoes in ever-multiplying ripples without making a sound.
⠀
He looked down.
⠀
"Truth?"
⠀
Nothing.
⠀
"Are you there?"
⠀
The surface rippled.
⠀
Antollio waited.
⠀
"So."
⠀
He crouched, resting one hand against his knee.
⠀
"Do you think that boy actually made a contract with Gun?"
⠀
The water remained still for a few seconds before the answer began to appear.
⠀
Letters surfaced in gold, one at a time.
⠀
"I T⠀⠀⠀ I S ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀P O S S I B L E , ⠀⠀⠀⠀Y E S ."
⠀
Antollio stared at it.
⠀
"Possible."
⠀
The letters dissolved.
⠀
"That isn't a yes."
⠀
Nothing.
⠀
"Not a no."
⠀
Nothing again.
⠀
Antollio smiled, his eyes remaining the same large size they had been since he'd woken up that morning.
⠀
"You're being difficult."
⠀
The water rippled again as he stood up straight.
⠀
"Fine."
⠀
He looked across the endless golden landscape.
⠀
"Then I'll need your help."
⠀
A pause.
⠀
"I want as much information about Gun as I can get from him."
⠀
The answer appeared.
⠀
"Y E S."
⠀
Antollio waited.
⠀
Nothing else came.
⠀
"...But?"
⠀
The gold beneath his feet shifted.
⠀
". . . B U T . . ."
⠀
Antollio's expression changed slightly.
⠀
"But what?"
⠀
The answer appeared larger this time.
⠀
"M A K E⠀⠀⠀⠀ H I M ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀F I X E R."
⠀
Antollio stared at the words.
⠀
"A Fixer?"
⠀
He laughed once.
⠀
"Truth, you must have made a mistake in your wording."
⠀
The response came immediately.
⠀
"I⠀⠀⠀⠀ S P E A K⠀⠀⠀ T H E⠀⠀⠀⠀ T R U T H."
⠀
Antollio's smile returned.
⠀
"Of course you do."
⠀
He turned away from the letters.
⠀
"So you want him inside the Directorates."
⠀
No response.
⠀
"Not because you believe he's a particularly promising recruit..."
⠀
Silence.
⠀
"...Because you want him close to Gun?"
⠀
The water trembled.
⠀
Antollio looked over his shoulder.
⠀
"Interesting."
⠀
He began walking again.
⠀
"How much does he know?"
⠀
Nothing.
⠀
"Does he know he made a contract?"
⠀
Nothing.
⠀
"Does he even know what happened?"
⠀
Still nothing.
⠀
Antollio stopped.
⠀
"That's what I thought."
⠀
He looked down at the water.
⠀
"You don't mind if I dabble in a little deceit, do you?"
⠀
The golden letters appeared.
⠀
"A S ⠀⠀ Y O U ⠀⠀⠀ W I S H."
⠀
Antollio smiled.
⠀
"Good."
⠀
He took another step.
⠀
"This is going to be one of the biggest experiments yet."
⠀
He glanced back at the letters.
⠀
"It'll take a lot of mental fortitude, Truth."
⠀
The answer appeared.
⠀
"P ⠀E R⠀⠀F E ⠀C⠀T."
⠀
Antollio closed his eyes.
⠀
"Reality."
⠀
The golden world disappeared as the office faded back into view.
⠀
A young man, Mori Ryunosuke, was sitting across from him.
⠀
He looked exhausted.
⠀
There were dried traces of blood on his clothes, dirt along his sleeves, and a faint tremor in his hands that he was doing his best to hide.
⠀
Antollio didn't speak.
⠀
Mori waved a hand in front of his face.
⠀
"H-Hello?"
⠀
Nothing.
⠀
"Are you alive...?"
⠀
"Hello."
⠀
Mori jumped.
⠀
"—!"
⠀
Antollio blinked.
⠀
"Did I frighten you?"
⠀
"Y-Yes!"
⠀
The boy pulled his hand back.
⠀
"Why were you just sitting there staring at me?!"
⠀
"It's a trick of mine," Antollio said, smiling. "Nothing to worry about."
⠀
The boy stared at him suspiciously before he started glancing around the office instead. It was probably the first time he'd had a chance to properly look at where he'd been brought. Antollio watched him do it. The boy looked at the walls, the desk, the door...
⠀
...Then back at Antollio.
⠀
"Well?" Antollio asked.
⠀
The boy's voice was quieter now. "I think I understand why I'm here."
⠀
Antollio raised an eyebrow. "You do?"
⠀
"You want to know about the Gun ARCH, right?"
⠀
"Close."
⠀
The boy frowned.
⠀
Antollio leaned back.
⠀
"I saw what you did."
⠀
Mori's expression changed.
⠀
"You walked toward Gun."
⠀
"I..."
⠀
"And it stopped."
⠀
Mori looked down.
⠀
"I don't remember doing anything."
⠀
"I know."
⠀
That answer made him look up again.
⠀
Antollio studied him.
⠀
"You don't remember."
⠀
"No."
⠀
"Then that's something we'll have to figure out."
⠀
Mori swallowed.
⠀
Antollio smiled.
⠀
"But first, what is your name?"
⠀
"Mori Ryunosuke, sir."
⠀
"Mori Ryunosuke," Antollio repeated it once. "My name is Antollio Da Galinozi."
⠀
Mori's eyes widened.
⠀
"A-Antollio?!"
⠀
"Yes."
⠀
"You're..."
⠀
Mori hesitated.
⠀
Antollio waited.
⠀
"You're the—"
⠀
"The Golden Truth."
⠀
Mori went quiet.
⠀
Antollio's eyes shone gold for only an instant. That was enough.
⠀
Mori's memories opened.
⠀
Antollio placed his hand on his chin. "Hm."
⠀
"What?"
⠀
"You're alone."
⠀
Mori's face tightened.
⠀
"You..." His voice dropped. "You read my mind...!"
⠀
"You're quite the observer, Ryunosuke."
⠀
"Then you know..."
⠀
He couldn't finish.
⠀
But Antollio could.
⠀
"Your parents' deaths?"
⠀
Mori went still.
⠀
"Yes."
⠀
His voice caught in his throat, and for a moment Antollio said nothing...
⠀
...Before he spoke again.
⠀
"The Ring isn't kind to people like you." Antollio folded his hands. "Not when you're alone."
⠀
Mori looked down at his lap.
⠀
He didn't argue.
⠀
"But you don't have to be."
⠀
Mori looked up.
⠀
"...What?"
⠀
"You can stay here."
⠀
Mori blinked.
⠀
Antollio gestured toward the office around them.
⠀
"This Post has space."
⠀
He counted them off casually.
⠀
"Food. Structure. Community... A place for people who have nowhere else to go."
⠀
Mori stared at him.
⠀
"...You're letting me stay?"
⠀
"For now."
⠀
It wasn't exactly a promise, and Mori seemed to understand that. Even so, his shoulders dropped, and the tension he'd been carrying since he'd arrived finally loosened a little.
⠀
"...Th-Thank you."
⠀
Antollio watched him closely. Mori was desperately trying to hide his relief, but he wasn't very convincing. Antollio averted his gaze before the boy could see.
⠀
Then he said:
⠀
"You stopped it."
⠀
Mori froze.
⠀
"The Gun ARCH."
⠀
"...I don't know how."
⠀
"You walked up to it," Antollio's voice remained light, "and it bowed."
⠀
Mori looked at him.
⠀
"It..." He shook his head. "I don't remember that, either."
⠀
Antollio leaned forward. "I know. That's why you're interesting."
⠀
Mori didn't look particularly reassured.
⠀
"Interesting?"
⠀
"Very."
⠀
Antollio rested his chin against his hand.
⠀
"There are hundreds of thousands of people in the Ring capable of fighting an ARCH."
⠀
His eyes narrowed slightly.
⠀
"Far fewer can make one stop."
⠀
Mori looked down at his hands.
⠀
"Maybe it was just luck."
⠀
"Maybe."
⠀
Antollio smiled.
⠀
"But I'd like to find out."
⠀
Mori looked back up.
⠀
"How?"
⠀
"Become a Fixer."
⠀
Mori stared at him.
⠀
"A... Fixer?"
⠀
"Yes."
⠀
Antollio leaned back again.
⠀
"Someone who's needed by others."
⠀
Mori's fingers tightened around the fabric of his sleeve.
⠀
"...Me?"
⠀
"Yes."
⠀
The answer came too quickly for Mori to argue with.
⠀
Antollio continued.
⠀
"Of course, talent alone isn't enough. There is a process."
⠀
Antollio paused before continuing.
⠀
"There is a competition tomorrow."
⠀
"Competition?"
⠀
"People will come. They'll want to see what you can do..."
⠀
Antollio watched his reaction.
⠀
"...And if you impress them..."
⠀
He smiled.
⠀
"They'll take you."
⠀
Mori's expression tightened.
⠀
"...Take me?"
⠀
"Unless you already know where you belong."
⠀
Mori glanced at the door. The hallway outside was silent. He didn't recognize anyone there, nor did he have anywhere to go or a family waiting for him. And the only person in the Ring who had offered him a place to sleep was sitting across from him, smiling as though the decision were entirely his.
⠀
Mori lowered his head.
⠀
"...I want to stay here."
⠀
Antollio smiled.
⠀
"Good."
⠀
He leaned back into his chair.
⠀
"Then tomorrow, you'll prove it."
⠀
"...Okay."
⠀
"Good!"
⠀
Mori flinched at the sudden enthusiasm as Antollio laughed.
⠀
"I'll have someone show you to your room."
⠀
Mori stood, reaching for the door... Then stopped.
⠀
He turned back.
⠀
"Mr. Galinozi?"
⠀
"Hm?"
⠀
Mori hesitated.
⠀
"Why did Gun stop?"
⠀
Antollio looked at him.
⠀
For a brief moment, the smile disappeared.
⠀
Truth had said it was possible.
⠀
Possible.
⠀
Not certain.
⠀
Not impossible.
⠀
And somewhere in between those two words was a connection Antollio intended to uncover.
⠀
"I dunno."
⠀
Mori stared at him.
⠀
Antollio smiled again.
⠀
"But we'll find out."
⠀
Mori nodded.
⠀
"...Right."
⠀
He left. The door closed behind him. Antollio remained alone, gazing at the incident report on his desk, then at the empty chair opposite him, and finally toward the door Mori had just exited. His smile returned.
⠀
"Let's see what happens."
⠀
Outside, Mori's footsteps disappeared down the hallway. Antollio rested his chin against his hand. He had a boy who could make Gun bow, a possible contract, a competition tomorrow, and an answer from Truth that refused to become an answer. For now, that was enough. All the power he needed.
⠀
"Settle in, Mori Ryunosuke."
⠀
Antollio's eyes glimmered gold.
⠀
"It's going to be a long few months."