Silence In Numbers: File One, page 38
When the doors finally opened he stepped out and took in the room as Sigma greeted him. “You’ve arrived with plenty of time to spare,” the man said as he gestured to his command screens. “They’ve got quite a ways to go, although they’re advancing more quickly than I’d expected.”
“My daughters are not without some talent,” Joseph responded as he looked at the screen. “Is it working?”
“Indeed,” Sigma said with a grin, looking to a large mass of pulsing veins and flesh near Belphegor. “The energy they’re expending fighting, and the blood they shed, is fueling it quite nicely. By the time they make it up here it should be completely ready for the ritual.”
“Then we need only do this once,” Joseph asserted. “That is good. We can dispose of them all once it’s complete.”
“Even your own daughter?” Sigma asked, more out of excitement than actual curiosity. He received only a cold look in return, which made him chuckle. “I didn’t doubt you would do it. Humans are so interesting. What about the other one, will you kill her too?”
“If she gets in the way.”
Sigma grinned and turned back to the screens. “This might become the greatest play I’ve ever directed.”
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Ayane arrived at the house faster than she had any right to expect, bringing the motorcycle she had stolen from the hospital’s parking lot to a screeching halt. She hadn’t even taken the time to change clothes and was still dressed in a simple white t-shirt and black shorts, meant to be slept in. However, her sword was in hand, sheathed but ready. The first thing she did after stumbling off of the bike was run as best as she could over to Reno, falling to her knees beside him. “Reno! Can you hear me?”
To her surprise he groaned and rolled onto his back. “Loud and clear. Really loud, in fact – can we not yell?”
“You’re okay?” she asked incredulously.
“More or less,” he answered. “I’m glad Aegis doesn’t buy cheap models,” He added, pointing to the two pieces of his gun lying beside him. While it was ruined, it had prevented Joseph’s strike from being a fatal blow, leaving him with only a nasty gash across his chest. “It cost me a good weapon though, plus a nice shirt. Mostly it’s my head that’s killing me.”
“You probably have a concussion,” Ayane said, checking his head for blood and thankfully finding none. “Where is my father?”
“He went inside; he was asking if Katsumi was in there.”
“Okay…” Ayane was silent for a few moments before looking at him. “You should stay out here and head to the hospital.”
“Aren’t you supposed to be in a hospital right now? Aren’t you just recovering from some serious injuries?”
“My father is here,” she said in response. “I’m not leaving while he goes after my sister. I’m going in after them.”
“I’m coming with you.”
Ayane paused as Reno held her stare, unwilling to back down; she smiled at his support. “Alright, but you better not die on me in there.”
“You better not, either,” he said as she helped him up. She immediately headed for the door but he caught her wrist, nodding towards their car. “I don’t have a weapon. Let’s stock up first, huh?”
As they stepped inside the house with two cases full of weapons and ammunition, plus more on Reno’s person, an assault rifle in his hands and two pistols on a belt around her waist, Ayane was glad Reno had the foresight to suggest bringing supplies, especially once the door shut unflinchingly behind them and they realized the place they were in. “It looked like a house on the outside…” she said quietly as she took a few tentative steps further in.
“I’m a little torn,” Reno said as he walked beside her. “On the one hand, it’s not a haunted house with ghosts. On the other hand, it’s some kind of fucked-up demonic office building with gore, blood and bodies everywhere.”
“These bodies aren’t decoration,” Ayane said as she knelt beside one. “My father did this; his work is hard to mistake.”
“At least he’s clearing the way for us.”
Their conversation was cut off as a screen on the wall flickered on, and the message that had played for the others played for them – Sigma had it on repeat in order to taunt Katsumi, but it worked now to inform the two of the situation. Ayane glared at the screen as it shut off. “It’s just a game to him – I can’t believe he’s toying with Katsumi. They must be on their way to the top, but they’re going to have him, Belphegor and Father to deal with. I still can’t contact Katsumi in here and she has no idea Father is here now – we have to get to them before they get to the top. They’re going to need our help.”
“And we’re going to give it,” Reno said as he moved over to an elevator and tried the button. “Yeah, I didn’t think it would work; I guess everyone’s taking the stairs.” He stepped back and looked at the numbers above the elevator. “Apparently there are sixty-six floors. Of course there are. I’m just surprised there aren’t six-hundred-sixty-six floors.”
“It’s not supposed to be a kind of ‘number of the beast’ thing,” Ayane explained as she walked the room, glancing at the stairs. “Besides, there’s some debate as to whether that’s six-six-six or six-one-six.”
“So if the sixty-six floors isn’t a number-of-the-beast-thing, what is it?”
“Gematria.”
“I’m sorry, what?”
“It’s a Hebrew system of assigning numerical value to a word or phrase. It’s kind of like Arithmancy, if you’ve ever heard of that.”
“So what does that have to do with this place having sixty-six floors?”
“Well… The numerical value of sixty is related to samekh,” Ayane said as she looked up at the numbers above the elevator. “The letter ‘s’. But, more importantly, ‘samekh’ and ‘mem’ form the abbreviation for the Angel of Death, or Samael.”
“So the six is ‘Mem’?”
“No…” Ayane shook her head, frowning. “Numerical value of six is attributed to vav… or w.”
“’Sw’? That doesn’t mean anything.”
“The only thing I can think of is that when vav is used at the beginning of Hebrew years, it means six thousand. But there are no years indicated by the floors of this building, unless it’s just implied, in which case…” She trailed off, staring at the numbers.
“In which case what?” Reno asked curiously, peeking around at her face. “Ayane?”
“…In which case, this tower has stood for six thousand years, and was built either by or for Samael, the Angel of Death,” she finished as she looked at him. “Belphegor may be here, but this is not Belphegor’s tower.”
“Is that good or bad? I mean, Samael didn’t follow Lucifer, right? He’s one of the good ones isn’t he?”
“He wasn’t – or isn’t – either good or bad. Samael is the closest to the personification of death that exists; he’s basically the grim reaper. That’s not the point, though – this is not Belphegor’s tower, so why is he here? He’s using it for something specific... What is the Prince of Sloth, Lord of Opening, doing in Samael’s tower?”
Reno shook his head. “All of this is over my head; I just know he’s a big monster. A big, bearded monster with really sharp claws and horns and a lot of power.”
“Yes, but it’s his plan I’m worried about.” Ayane looked towards the stairs. “Whatever the case… We can’t do anything until we meet up with Katsumi. That’s our first priority. We have to get to her and warn her that Father is here.”
“Then let’s get started.” Reno matched her stride as they headed for and up the stairs, wary of what was ahead but determined to catch up to their friends.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Date: ???
Time: ???
Location: Samael’s Tower, 23rd Floor
“This is just a waste of our time.”
Katsumi continued to ignore the voice, along with the face it was coming from.
“Katsumi, please!”
She wished it would shut up. She couldn’t remember how she ended up in this room alone, or where her team was, or why she suddenly found it so difficult to move; all she knew was that she wanted it to shut up.
“Just think about it,” the thing that looked just like Ayane said as it slid up beside her. “I may not have a lot of time left; you might not have a lot of time left. Why are we wasting our time apart like this? You should join Belphegor; he can actually help!” Katsumi looked away but the thing just moved closer. “If you turn on the others, all of this can end and we can spend the rest of time together. He can make us immortal! You care about me more than them, don’t you?”
“I do…”
“Then why are you choosing them over me?” Ayane suddenly looked very sad as Katsumi looked back at her. “We could finally be happy. We could have the power to kill Father and then do whatever we want. No more running, no more hiding, no more fighting – for the first time in our lives we could have a normal life! Why are you throwing that away to fight for some company that doesn’t care if you live or die?”
“I…” Katsumi looked down, unsure how to argue. Her mind felt foggy and sluggish; thoughts came slowly and slipped away like sand. She couldn’t find a reason for what she was doing, or a reason that Ayane was wrong, and on top of that she felt so tired of everything. She often felt tired, and now it was worse than ever before. Didn’t Ayane have a point? Wasn’t she what she wanted? “I’m not throwing it away,” she said weakly.
“I’m not blaming you,” Ayane said, looking concerned for a moment. “It’s not your fault. You’ve been fighting to protect me. But I don’t need that anymore. What I need is to be with you. All you’re doing now is hurting me.”
“I didn’t mean to,” Katsumi said sadly as she looked at her. “I want to be better.”
“Then do this for me,” her sister said. “We have no loyalty to Aegis. They haven’t done anything for us. They can’t even help us – they won’t help us. Belphegor will help us. Sigma helped you before, didn’t he? He saved your life with his information. They can help us get rid of Father and be free of everything.”
“But the others…”
“They don’t mean as much as I do,” Ayane said before looking hurt again. “Do they?”
“No,” Katsumi answered with a shake of her head. “Just let me… It’s so hard to think… What do I do?”
“Fight them,” Ayane responded. “I know you don’t want to, but we do what we have to in order to survive. If you don’t, Father will win – he almost killed me last time. Next time, he will. Please, make this choice – I don’t want to die…”
Katsumi stood slowly, unsteady on her feet as she turned towards the door behind her. “I won’t let you die.”
Forty-three floors above her Sigma clapped his hands, letting out a laugh as he watched the screen. “That was perfect!”
Beside him, Joseph had no reaction. Using his advice and the demon’s power, Sigma had managed to direct and manipulate his daughter well. Joseph was somewhat impressed with his skill, but whether or not this would be useful to them had yet to be seen. He watched as Sigma switched the scene over to their new visitors – his younger daughter and the man from outside, who he was surprised to see alive. Sigma was planning something for them as well. It was unfortunate, Joseph thought, that Ayane had chosen to come, but if she was as foolish as her sister, she would share the same fate.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Kurasano shook his head as he stepped through the doorway, rubbing it as he moved aside for Law and Rufus to come through. “This floor is just weird. No enemies but we’re all suddenly split up? Something’s going on.”
“We need to find Major Sama before anything else,” Rufus said. “This ‘Sigma’ seems to be especially interested in her, so who knows if he has some sort of trap meant specifically for her.”
“I already don’t like this,” Law added. “Wait…”
Sano turned with the others as Katsumi appeared in a doorway. “There you are! I guess we didn’t have to worry,” he said with a smile that disappeared as she drew her pistol. She aimed it directly at him and his first reaction was to immediately glance behind him, thinking she saw a demon. He heard a click and turned back to see her look at the empty pistol before tossing it aside and drawing her sword. In a flash she was within a few feet before he even realized something was wrong, but Law saved his life by shoving him out of the way.
The large man brought his arm up and blocked Katsumi’s overhand strike; her sword dug a bit into his arm, sending a few sparks up. He looked into Katsumi’s eyes over his arm for a few seconds and she seemed angry or annoyed until she suddenly withdrew her blade and aimed a horizontal slash at his stomach. He managed to catch the blade and lift her up, hurling her towards the wall. She spun in the air and landed her feet on the wall before launching herself off of it back at the others. Sano still stood in confusion, unable to make a move, but Rufus wasn’t suffering the same problem.
The blond assassin stepped into her path and slid a knife into each hand, twirling each into a reverse grip until she met him. Their strikes came hard and fast, some even causing sparks as metal glanced off metal in a rapid progression. Rufus was faster but Katsumi was stronger, forcing him to deflect her blows rather than block them directly. Added to that, at the moment he was unwilling to go for a killing blow, while that seemed to be what she was doing. Eventually she gained the upper hand and whipped the blade around in a powerful horizontal strike, forcing him to back flip over it and out of the fight.
Sano came in to replace him, finally having realized a reaction was needed. Katsumi reacted to him with more speed than he’d hoped for, and Sano had the unpleasant realization that she had been holding back during their sparring matches. He focused everything into avoiding that sword, getting in a counterattack when he could and landing a few blows. Unfortunately, during a roundhouse kick she caught his leg and kicked out his supporting one, spinning and slamming him into the ground. She attempted to stab down into him but a thrown knife from Rufus knocked her blade off course, causing it to stab into the ground beside Sano instead.
Katsumi shot a glare at Rufus, but before she could withdraw her sword Law charged into her, carrying her away from the blade and into the wall. Sano stood up and yanked the sword free and Katsumi narrowed her eyes, glancing from Law to the approaching wall he was hoping to pin her against. She kneed him once in the stomach to free up a bit of room, then pushed to get more room before shooting her knee straight up into his chin. Taking advantage of the small opening she kicked off his chest and flipped onto the wall, then leapt over him and landed in a run towards Sano.
As she reached him he slashed horizontally with the sword but she slid under it and kicked his legs out, driving her elbow up into his solar plexus as he fell towards her. The blow knocked all the air from his lungs and she shoved him back, then knocked his hands up and sent the sword into the air. She leapt and placed a foot on his shoulder, vaulting up higher and catching the sword before coming down in a slash that Rufus was barely in time to block. Katsumi glared at Rufus and flipped back through the air, landing a few feet away.
Rufus tossed a knife to Sano, who readied it as he caught his breath. Law moved behind Katsumi, leaving her surrounded. “What the hell is going on?!” Sano asked in confusion, looking to the others for answers.
“Yes; why are you doing this?” Rufus added, but out of curiosity.
Katsumi switched her gaze between them after glancing back at Law once. “It’s our only option,” she stated sadly. “If I don’t do this, Aya will die. Belphegor will help us kill Father. He will give us the life we deserve.”
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Date: ???
Time: ???
Location: Samael’s Tower, 18th Floor
Ayane whipped her sword around in a rapid motion, performing dozens of slashes within a few seconds and removing limbs from the demons surrounding her before removing heads. She flicked the blood from her blade and sheathed it in one motion, standing straight. “Demon trash,” she said dismissively. “That’s all that’s left.” She turned to see Reno staring at her.
“Aren’t you supposed to be sick?”
Ayane smiled. “So is Katsumi.”
“Oh yeah. You two do more when you’re sick than I’ve ever done at my peak of health.”
“We’ve certainly put in the work for it,” she said as she looked around the room. “This would be harder if we weren’t following Katsumi. They’ve killed almost everything.”
“You actually sound a little disappointed.”
“In a way,” Ayane admitted. “I just like being able to do something for once. It used to be me and my sister doing everything, you know?”
“You miss working with her.”
She nodded. “And I miss her in general. That probably sounds weird since we never go a week without seeing each other, and we can talk all the time, but…”
“It’s not enough,” Reno said with a smile. “You’re talkin’ to the right guy. I miss my wife and daughter as soon as I step out the door.”
“Yes!” Ayane smiled. “I get that, too. As soon as Sumi leaves I miss her. And it doesn’t feel fair, because even when she visits I can’t fully enjoy it because I know she has to leave soon. Sometimes I miss her even when she’s still there because of that.” She sighed. “That’s why I can’t wait to live with her again. Hopefully she’ll be able to take more time off in the future, too.”
“I really hope this all works out,” Reno added, “because I think we all need a little break.”
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
“She’s being influenced, right?” Sano looked at the others. “I mean, she has to be.”
“I am curious to know,” Rufus said as he lowered his hands and straightened up. “Is this an actual decision, or manipulation? The answer will determine my decision.”
